1 School Newsletter January 2019 Welcome back! Welcome to the first newsletter of 2019, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We look forward to another amazing year at St Alban s and thank you for your continued support. Mr Brannigan January highlights New playground markings! Our KS1 children have been making excellent use of the new playground markings which include a zebra crossing, a dartboard, a number board, map, maze and various other educational and activity based features. The new markings have proved a big hit with the children and provide a host of opportunities for education, exercise and of course, play.
2 Hopes, dreams and aspirations Monday 14th January was our Hopes, dreams and aspirations PSHE / RE day across the school, where the children were encouraged to dream big dreams about the future for themselves, others and the wider world. Every child across the school had the chance to think through their aspirations for their future careers and each year group focussed on a different world issue in the afternoon, from protecting the environment and promoting fair trade to studying role models like Martin Luther King or Malala Yousafzai. Wonderful story teller Kevin Graal, an experienced story teller and author, visited St Alban s Catholic Primary School for a two day residency this week. The children enjoyed lively performances and workshops which developed their oral and written story telling skills. The children loved Kevin s extensive repertoire of traditional stories, riddles, songs and games from around the world. He was wonderful, he made the children laugh and they did lovely writing! St Alban s Primary School had a grant from RC Sherriff Trust, a local charitable organisation, towards the cost of the residency. Go to http://www.rcsherrifftrust.org.uk/website/grants1.htm to find out more.
3 Shakespeare workshops Jo Stokes returned to St Alban's again this year to deliver some more fantastic Shakespeare workshops to every class in the school. The workshops were brilliant and all of the children enjoyed being involved. There were opportunities to act out freeze-frames from some of Shakespeare's most famous plays and even the opportunity to get to grips with some Shakespearean language!
4 Just Jog On Friday 18th January, every child at St Alban's challenged themselves by participating in the 'Just Jog' initiative. This involved the children jogging at their own pace for 20 minutes whilst trying to complete as many laps as possible. The children showed determination and resilience as they pushed themselves towards achieving their own personal bests. A tally of laps was kept so that the children now all have their own personal targets ready to beat for next term's 'Just Jog'. There was a wonderful atmosphere throughout the school as the children worked as a team to motivate and support each other. Well done St Alban's! Netball On Tuesday 29th January, St Alban's played an exciting match against Esher Church Primary School. It was an evenly matched battle and, despite the score being 8-2 to Esher, there were some excellent performances from the St Alban's players.
5 Upcoming events World Book Day 15.03.2019 This year we are celebrating World Book Day on 15 th March as Y6 are out on their residential the previous week. Mr Leahy, a local author and a parent in Year 1, is joining us to run sessions on the key issues of inclusivity and acceptance addressed in his first children's book, The Monster Cafe (inclusivity/acceptance) and of course, read the story. Mr Leahy is also holding a launch event at Mada Deli Café on Bridge Road, East Molesey on Thursday 7th February, the day of nationwide release. Please see the flier attached for full details. World Down s Syndrome Day 21.03.2019 On 21st March, we will be celebrating World Down s Syndrome Day again to raise awareness of Down s Syndrome throughout our school community. It is held on the 21st of the third month of the year, recognising the 3rd copy of chromosome 21 that all people with Down s Syndrome have. The children are invited to wear odd socks on that day. The idea behind this is that human chromosomes look like lots of socks hanging on a line. People are asked to raise awareness by wearing odd socks with the understanding that it doesn't matter what the socks look like, it doesn t matter that they are different, they are both socks. In the same way, people with Down s Syndrome and people without, may have some differences but differences don t matter, they should all be celebrated; ultimately we are all the same - all human. It would be lovely if you talked about Down s Syndrome and why we are wearing odd socks with your child this at home. Please visit https://worlddownsyndromeday.org/ for more information.
6 Information for parents Home Link School Workers Attached is a document describing the role of Teresa Doe, our Home Link School Worker. Home School Link Workers are an early intervention/prevention service, operating during term-time, to work with families to reduce current issues affecting their children and prevent future difficulties. For more information, please refer to the HSLW document attached. Invitation to parent survey Dear Schools, We are happy to announce that we are updating this year s Golden Boot Challenge competition! Why the update? The competition has been successfully running throughout schools in Surrey for 10 years, with 200 school taking part in the challenge last year. As part of the Surrey Schools Air Quality Programme run by Surrey County Council throughout this academic year 2018/2019, we are updating The Golden Boot Challenge to incorporate elements of Air Quality and Health. The aim of the Air Quality Programme is to increase pupils and school communities awareness on the health effects of poor air quality. It has been reported up to 36,000 premature deaths a year are linked to air pollution in the UK and schools are particularly vulnerable due to the congestion created outside the school gates. As a successful sustainable travel initiative, the Golden Boot Challenge encourages pupils, parents and schools to choose more sustainable alternatives to the car on school journeys. We hope by incorporating a new active/healthy and environmental element, it will further motivate them to make the choice to travel sustainably. What are the next steps? Before developing the challenge and updating the current website, we would like to consult with as many parents and teachers as we can through the use of a short online survey. The survey is open for two weeks (until 4 th February 2019) and will be completely anonymous. The surveys can be found on the public Surrey Says Consultation website. Parent Survey: https://www.surreysays.co.uk/environment-and-infrastructure/the-golden-bootchallenge/ Teacher Survey: https://www.surreysays.co.uk/environment-and-infrastructure/the-golden-bootchallenge-teachers/ Kind Regards, The Safer Travel Team Surrey County Council
7 Messages from the school office Additional INSET day Please note that there will be an additional INSET day on Monday 24 th June 2019. The school will be closed (to all children) on this day. All school dates, events and holidays can be found under the School Calendar section of our website. School gates A reminder that school gates open at 8.40am and close 8.55am. Please bring your children into class as early as possible in the morning to maximise learning and ensure all parents/carers are off site before the gates close at 8.55am. Parking Please can all parents/carers always show consideration to our neighbours when parking their cars at drop off or pick up. We have received complaints from local residents regarding parents parking or waiting in front of drop kerbs. Please always try to leave drop kerbs clear so residents can enter and leave their property if they wish. Please can we also ask that you do not leave your engines running whilst waiting. Request for toys! An appeal from our Reception classes for toy donations please. We would love to receive toys in good condition, in particular wooden train tracks/trains/vehicles, complete jigsaws, Little People figures and any other small world toys. If you have any of these and would be happy to part with them, please bring them to the Reception class door where they will be gratefully received. Please only toys in good, safe condition and no cuddly toys. Snow Friends Another call for volunteers to offer their help clearing snow in the event of a heavy snowfall. Our Snow Friends would need to be contactable and available to come to school before 7.30am, to help the Caretaker clear snow ahead of the school day. Obviously this is an infrequent event but we would love to build up a list of willing volunteers should we ever need to call them. If you think you could help, please email your name and preferred contact number to the school office: admin@stalbans.surrey.sch.uk Please note that volunteers would only need to come in to help if contacted and help would be offered at one s own risk. Volunteers would need to wear suitable clothing and footwear. We would be most grateful for your kind offer of assistance with this. Local information Chertsey Museum will be running two different craft activities for 5-12 year olds during February half-term holiday. Please see attachment.
8 Attendance Cup winners Every month our Attendance Cup is awarded to the class with the highest attendance. Attendance figures 19/12/2018 30/01/2019 St Bernadette 96.97% St Francis 96.98% St Thomas 97.70% St George 96.98% St Peter 98.81% St Joseph 98.10% St Paul 96.90% St Elizabeth Ann Seton 96.85% St Josephine 98.04% St John the Baptist 96.77% St Mother Teresa 95.79% Well done to St Peter who achieved the highest attendance over the past month. Congratulations also to St Joseph who came in second place and St Josephine who were third. Every class that achieves over 97% receives a house point each. Therefore the top three classes plus St Thomas will receive a house point this month. Spring term 1 2019 events Friday 1st February Y2 St Joseph fundraiser Thursday 7th February 9.10am Y6 class assembly Friday 8th February Y2 St Peter fundraiser Friday 15th February Y1 St George fundraiser End of Spring Term 1 - school closes at normal time