Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been lovely to see so many of you at our Class Information Sessions this week. We hope you find these sessions helpful. These sessions will continue over the next two weeks for Y2, Y3, Y4 and Y5 – please see the dates below. The slides used in the sessions will be sent home shortly afterwards.

This week in school

Movie Night

Thank you to the Y6 parents for organising the Movie Night yesterday which raised an amazing £562 for Y6 end of year activities. A huge thank you goes to Peppe Pizza in Kingston, who kindly provided the pizzas at no cost. They went down a treat with the children!

Macmillan Cake Sale - a message from the Mini Vinnies

A big thank you to all the Y5 and Y6s who brought in cakes to sell at the Macmillan cake sale. We raised £287.22 which will support the charity’s important work, supporting people living with cancer.  Thank you too, to the Mini Vinnies for organising the sale.

Pupil Parliament Candidates

This week, a group of Y6 children who were putting themselves forward to be our school’s representatives in the Richmond Schools’ Pupil Parliament, presented their speeches to the KS2 children. They spoke on the topic of whether children under 14 years old should be given smart phones and they showcased some excellent oracy skills. The rest of the children then voted for the most persuasive speech…

The voting was extremely close and congratulations to Dylan and Alianna for being chosen to be our Pupil Parliament Representatives.  Well done to all those who took part for being great role models.

Next week in school

CAFOD Harvest Fast Day

Our Mini-Vinnies are definitely busy! In assembly today they told the children about CAFOD Fast Day on Friday 3rd October. Children are invited to bring in a £1 donation to support CAFOD’s work overseas on this day. You can find more about the work of CAFOD here https://cafod.org.uk/

Poetry Week

We are looking forward to celebrating Poetry Week next week.  Children have been encouraged to bring in a poem on the theme 'Play' to share with their classmates. (This can be one that they have read in a book or one that they have written themselves.) Each class will then vote for their favourite poems, which will be read out in assembly.

On Tuesday 30 September, Y4 and Y6 will be attending an online workshop with poet Tomos Roberts to explore the emotional and historical significance of Remembrance though poetry. He will also be sharing the very first reading of his new poem.

On Thursday 2 October, we will celebrate National Poetry Day in school with an assembly, where children will read out the poems they have voted for.

Piano Concert – Wednesday 1st October

Children in all classes who are learning the piano in school or at home are invited to perform at the piano concert taking place on Wednesday 1st October from 3:30pm in the school hall. Children should bring the pieces that they have prepared to play into school on Wednesday morning and Mrs FitzGerald will practise with them.

Information for Parents

PTA Class Reps and Class WhatsApp Groups

At the PTA AGM meeting last week we welcomed the new PTA class reps for this academic year. Our class reps play an important role in the organisation of our fundraising activities. They also act as administrators on the PTA Class WhatsApp groups. The purpose of the PTA Class WhatsApp group is to support communications from school and the PTA in addition to Arbor Mails. As such, all communications on the Class WhatsApp group must adhere to the Class WhatsApp Group which is available on the school website:

https://www.st-elizabeths.richmond.sch.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=2186&type=pdf

Thank you to our new class reps for taking on this role and for giving their time for the benefit of our school!

Bike and Scooter on site

Please can we remind you that scooters and bikes should be pushed and not ridden on school grounds for safety reasons.  We also ask that bikes and scooters are placed in the scooter pods and bike racks and not left on the ground where they could cause a trip hazard. Thank you for your co-operation with this.

Reception places in September 2026

The application window for Reception places for September 2026 is now open and the closing date is January 15th 2026. If you, or someone you know, is interested in a place at St Elizabeth’s, please encourage them to visit the Admissions page on our website where you will find information about the application process and school tours. We warmly welcome applications from Catholic families and from those of all faiths or none.
https://www.st-elizabeths.richmond.sch.uk/page/?title=Admissions&pid=21

‘Helping children with…’ webinars for parents 2025/26

Achieving for Children’s Mental Health Support Teams are delivering a series of webinars for parents of primary-aged children. The ‘Helping Children with …’ series of webinars will cover a range of common difficulties experienced by children and will aim to share evidence-based strategies to help parents and carers support their children with these difficulties. Continue reading about ‘Helping children with…’ Webinars for parents 2025/26 for webinar information.

Upcoming dates

September

Mon 29th 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Y3 Class Information for Parents Session in school
Tue 30th 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Y2 Class Information for Parents Session in school
Tue 30th 11– 12 noon Reception 2026 Parents tour

October

Wed 1st 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Y4 Class Information for Parents Session in school
Wed 1st 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Piano Concert
Thurs 2nd 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Y5 Class Information for Parents Session in school
Thurs 2nd All day National Poetry Day
Fri 3rd All day CAFOD Harvest Fast Day
Mon 6th p.m. Y4 Local area walk
Thurs 9th 11 – 12 noon Reception 2026 Parents school tour
Thu 9th p.m. Y3 Visit to Holly Lodge
Fri 10th All day ‘Children’s Mental Health Wear Yellow Day’
Tue 14th 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Phonics workshop for Reception Parents
Thu 16th 9:30 a.m. Harvest Mass led by Y4 – Parents & Carers welcome
Thu 16th 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. PTA Bingo night
Tue 21st 11 – 12 noon Reception 2026 Parents tour
Tue 21st All day Y6 WW2 day, Museum of Richmond & Dance workshop
Thurs 23rd a.m. Last swimming lesson for Y6 & Y4
Fri 24th 3:15 p.m. Half-term holiday begins

November

Mon 3rd All day School closed
Tues 4th 8:45 a.m. School returns

Attendance and punctuality this week

Congratulations to Y4 for having the highest attendance rate this week at 100%!

This has been a brilliant week for punctuality with a very low number of lates. This gives our pupils the best start to their learning. Thank you for your efforts and please do keep it up. Well done to Y2 and Y4 who had the best punctuality this week.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines and the staff of St Elizabeth’s