Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for bringing your donations for the Christmas Morning today.  Our team of parent organisers will now make these into beautiful hampers for the Tombola on the Christmas Morning which is taking place on Friday 28^th November from 9am.  There will be a fantastic selection of stalls for you to buy Christmas gifts as well as the International Food Stall.  Each class will also be singing carols during the morning.  Please do check the communications sent out by the PTA for details and we look forward to seeing you there!

This week in school

Christ the Redeemer Joint Choir Concert

Yesterday we held the first joint concert with St Osmund’s, one of our fellow Christ the Redeemer schools.  The KS2 choirs from both our schools performed a number of songs and even joined together to form one large choir to sing ‘This is Me!’  All the children performed brilliantly and it was a lovely for us to come together with our neighbouring Catholic school. 

Richmond Pupil Parliament

Our Pupil Parliament representatives, Dylan and Alianna, took part in a Pupil Parliament Day last week where they joined with other pupil representatives from schools across our borough.  They presented their speeches on the topic of: ‘Should children under 14 have a smart phone?’ and met the Mayor of Richmond.  The Pupil Parliament plays a key role in ensuring that the voices of children are heard in the borough and teaches the children about democracy.  Thank you, both, for representing St Elizabeth’s so well!

Jubilee Year Celebration

This afternoon our school joined with schools throughout the Archdiocese of Southwark for an online Jubilee Year Celebration.  As we approach the end of the Jubilee Year in January this was a chance for us all to reflect on the ways in which we have been Pilgrims of Hope in the school and the wider community.

Y4 Pilgrims of Hope

Continuing our journey through the Jubilee Year, on Monday 24^th November our Y4 children will be making their own pilgrimage to St Elizabeth’s Church, which is a diocesan Pilgrim Church for the Jubilee Year.  There, they will meet Georgia from St Elizabeth’s Youth Ministry who will lead them in a Celebration of the Word.

PTA Calendar Front Cover Winner

Congratulations to Benjamin in Y6 for his winning entry in the PTA Calendar competition!  We loved the detail of his design and how he had included our House Saints. 

Well done to all those who submitted an entry to the competition.  The standard was so high this year with beautiful artworks representing our school community. You can see all the entries for yourself as they will be printed on the back cover of the calendar.

Assemblies this week

CAFOD World Gifts

On Monday Gillie from CAFOD paid us a visit to tell the children about CAFOD World Gifts which has been chosen by the Mini Vinnies as our Advent Charity.  Gillie showed the children how they can put their faith into action by raising money to buy practical items that will make a real difference to people’s lives across the world.  Each class will be carrying out fundraising activities throughout Advent so please do support them in this.  We started our Advent fundraising early with a collection after the concert this week – thank you very much for your contribution.

St Teresa of Calcutta

St Teresa of Caluctta, one of our House Saints, was the focus of our Catholic Social Teaching assembly today.  We looked at her life and shared her message that we should spread love everywhere we go and let no one ever come to us without leaving happier.  The children thought of ways that they could make others happier through their words and actions over the next days and weeks.

Sports Update from Mr Sagar and Mrs Knowles

On Monday, fresh from their strong performances at the Borough Tournament, the Y6 & Y5 Girls played their next football league game against Holy Trinity School.  It was a close match and in a dramatic final moment, St Elizabeth's was awarded a penalty and Mia calmly slotted it into the roof of the net. All the team played well, with Beatrice being voted St Elizabeth's 'Player of the Match' by the opposition.

On Friday, St Elizabeth's took part in the Borough Cross Country Run in a frosty Bushy Park. First up was the girls' race ... they sprinted towards the first corner with Arietta in the leading group and she was the first of our runners to cross the finish line.  In a similarly spectacular start for the boys, Aidan led the St Elizabeth's team for the whole race.  Well done to all our St Elizabeth's athletes! 

Thank you to our parent supporters who helped with transport today, and a special thanks to the team of parent volunteers who organise the Friday Running Club for training our children every week.

Next week in school

November – Month of Holy Souls

We will be continuing to share photographs of loved ones who have died in our assemblies throughout November.  Photographs can be printed on paper or framed, and will be on display on our ‘Friends in Heaven’ table in the school hall throughout the month.  We will pray the Eternal Rest for our loved ones in each assembly.

Information for Parents

Pupil Chaplains’ Prayer Packets

The Prayer Packets have been really popular and you are still able to order one for your family if you would like one. You can order your Prayer Packet for £12 in the Arbor Pay shop or send in cash. We would love to see how your child is using their prayer packet with your family. Please do send a photograph into the school office FAO Mrs Diver.

Wednesday Word             

There will be an RE and Catholic Life newsletter next week.  In the meantime, here is the Wednesday Word for this Sunday’s Gospel.

https://www.paperturn-view.com/wednesday-word/good-news?pid=MTA101634&v=163.4

Upcoming dates

November

Mon 24^th   pm   Y4 Pilgrimage to St Elizabeth’s Church

Wed 26th   pm   Y5 Local area walk

Fri 28th   a.m.   PTA Christmas morning with carol singing by each class

Fri 28^th   2:45 p.m.   Y4 Clarinet performance – parents invited

December

Mon 1st   Last full week of clubs

Tue 2^nd   11 – 12 noon   Reception 2026 Parents tour

Weds 3^rd   a.m.   KS1 Reconciliation Service led by Y2– children only

Thu 4^th   a.m.   KS2 Advent Reconciliation Service led by Y3 – children only

Fri 5^th   2:00 p.m.   KS1 Christmas disco for all children in Rec, Y1 and Y2

             6:00 – 8:00 p.m.   PTA Christmas Disco

Tues 9^th   pm   Y6 Pilgrimage to St George’s Cathedral Advent Service

Wed 10^th   2:00 p.m.   Christmas panto in school for all classes

Thu 11^th   10:30 a.m.   Last swimming lesson for Y5 & Y3

Thu 11^th   7:00 p.m.   KS2 Advent Carol Service

Fri 12^th   10:00 a.m.   KS1 Nativity Performance

Tue 16^th   12 noon   Christmas Lunch

Wed 17^th   9:30 a.m.   Reception: Carols around the tree

Thu 18^th   2:00 p.m.   Anticipating Christmas Mass prepared by Y5 – parents and carers welcome                   

Fri 19^th   2:00 p.m.   End of Autumn Term Children to be collected at 2 p.m. 

Awards this week

Values Awards

Congratulations to the following children for living our School Values this week:

Reception: Tymoteusz

Y1: Felix

Y2: Ella

Y3: Evelyn

Y4: Margaux

Y5: Oleksandr

Y6: Audrey

Million Word Readers

Congratulations to Daisy and Rita in Y4 for reading 1 million words, and to Emma in Y4 for reading a fantastic 10 million words!  Well done everyone. 

Attendance and punctuality this week

Congratulations to Y5 for having the highest attendance rate at 100% this week, closely followed by Y3 at 99.3%.

An excellent week for punctuality in all classes!  Well done to the Y5 children once again, for having zero lates this week!

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines and the staff of St Elizabeth’s