Dear Parents and Carers,

We had our last Class Information Session yesterday and it has been lovely to see so many parents attending these over the past couple of weeks.  We hope that you found these sessions useful.  The slides used in the sessions will be sent through to you next week.

This week in school

Poetry Week

This week, we have been celebrating Poetry Week and on Tuesday, Y4 and Y6 attended a Remembrance Day Poetry Workshop with poet Tomos Roberts. They enjoyed the first reading of his new poem and also explored how he used the word 'silence' as stimulus for writing this poem. 

The children also brought in poems on the theme 'Play' to share with their classmates. Our budding poets read their poems out in class and then a few of these were read out in Assembly on National Poetry Day. It was such a joy to hear about what play means to them! Some of the staff also shared a group poem, reading Allan Ahlberg's ‘Dog in the Playground’ for everyone's enjoyment!  Thank you to everyone who brought in a poem to share!

Sports Update from Mr Sagar and Mrs Knowles

Y6 Rugby inter-house competition

To celebrate England's Red Roses winning the Women's Rugby World Cup at the weekend, Y6 participated in the first inter-house competition of the year - a Tag Rugby competition.  The games were all close affairs and played in good spirit.  After three games, St Teresa of Calcutta were the clear champions winning all three of their games. Well done Y6!

Rugby opportunity for girls - Saturday 4th October

Also to celebrate England's Rugby World Cup success, Red Roses Marlie Packer and Rosie Galligan will be at Barnes RFC on Saturday 4th October from 9.30 am. This is a brilliant chance for girls to be inspired and a perfect day to give rugby a try and meet a world champion! 

Next week in school

‘Children’s Mental Health Wear Yellow Day’

On Friday 10th October we will be celebrating ‘Children’s Mental Health Wear Yellow Day’ in school.  Mrs Compton, our Well-being lead, will be leading an assembly which will explore how we can all look after our mental health and children are encouraged to wear something yellow to show that ‘we are brighter together’. 

Wearing yellow is completely optional and children can wear any yellow item you have at home: a ribbon, a t-shirt with some yellow on, a hat etc. Please do not feel that you need to buy anything new for your child. 

Wear Yellow Day is organised by the charity Young Minds.  You can find out more about how to support your child’s mental health by visiting their website at: https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/

October – The Month of the Rosary

October is known as ‘The Month of the Rosary’, and on October 7th we will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary with Pupil Chaplains leading the Rosary in our Celebration of the Word assembly.  Pupil Chaplains are encouraging families to say the Rosary during the month of October.  Children may also like to bring in Rosary beads from home to use whilst saying the Rosary during the month of October.

Information for Parents

Save the date!  PTA Bingo Night on Thursday 16^th October

Parents and children are warmly invited to the PTA Bingo Night on Thursday 16^th October from 6:30 to 8pm.  This is always a very popular, fun filled evening.  Details of how to book your tickets will follow shortly. 

The Y4 parents who are organising the Bingo Night have the following message:

We would be very grateful for donations of the following to be used as Bingo prizes:

• Games and toys (e.g. unused gifts)

• Stationery items (packs of pens, fun rubbers, note pads, art activities etc.)

Please drop your donations at school from Monday 6th of October. Children may take their donations into their classroom each morning up until and including the morning of the Bingo Night.  Thank you in advance for your support - the more prizes, the more opportunities there will be to win. We hope every child can win a prize. 

Thank you from the Y4 parents.

Breakfast Club

We currently have some spaces in the school Breakfast Club which happens every day in the Food Tech room from 8am.  Mrs Donaldson and our team of Teaching Assistants welcome children of all ages and offer a healthy breakfast to give the children a great start to the school day.  Please contact Mrs Donaldson at admin@st-elizabeths.richmond.sch.uk if you have any questions.

Message from Miss Delia in the Nursery

Please can we remind parents that children must not play on or with the nursery toys at the end of the school day.  This equipment is for use by Nursery children only.  Children should also not eat snacks on or around nursery equipment.  This is to keep children with allergies safe and discourage vermin entering our site. Thank you.

Bikes and Scooters 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 parents supervise their child placing their bikes and scooters in the scooter pods and bike racks, especially in the area by the astro-pitch.  This area is part of the playground and scooters and bikes on the floor cause a trip hazard.  Thank you for your co-operation with this.

Upcoming dates

October

Thurs 9^th  11 – 12 noon  Reception 2026 Parents school tour

Thu 9^th  p.m.  Y3 Visit to Holly Lodge

Fri 10^th  All day  ‘Children’s Mental Health Wear Yellow Day’

Mon 13^th p.m.  Y4 Woodland Walk in Richmond Park (Please note change of date)

Tue 14^th  9:00 – 9:45 a.m.  Phonics workshop for Reception Parents

Thu 16^th  9:30 a.m.  Harvest Mass led by Y4 – Parents & Carers welcome

Thu 16^th  6:00 – 8:00 p.m.  PTA Bingo night

Tue 21^st  11 – 12 noon  Reception 2026 Parents tour

Tue 21^st  All day  Y6 WW2 day, Museum of Richmond & Dance workshop

Thurs 23^rd  a.m.  Last swimming lesson for Y6 & Y4

Fri 24^th  3:15 p.m.  Half-term holiday begins

November

Mon 3rd  All day  School closed

Tues 4^th  8:45 a.m.  School returns

Awards this week

Millionaire Reader

Congratulations to Elijah in Y4 for becoming a Million Word Reader this week!  Well done Elijah!

Values Awards

Congratulations to the following children who have received a Headteacher’ Award for living our School Values this week:

Y1 – Marley

Y2 - Margherita

Y3 - Richie

Y4 - Paloma

Y5 - Leo

Y6 - Kit

Attendance and punctuality this week

Congratulations to Y2 and Y4 for having the highest attendance rate this week with both classes at 99%.

Very well done to Y5 and Y2 for having the best punctuality this week.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines and the staff of St Elizabeth’s