Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for all the kind messages we have received this week regarding our Ofsted report. It has been lovely to share this good news at the beginning of the New Year! We celebrated the result with the children today in our Values Assembly and told them how very proud we are of each and every one of them, and all they bring to our school family. Thank you, again for your continued support of our school community and your child’s education.

Also in our assembly today we wished Mrs Goldsmith all the very best as she starts her maternity leave. Ms Thompson and Mrs Diver will be teaching Reception class while Mrs Goldsmith is away, both of whom know the class very well, and are looking forward to the term ahead. We are all very much looking forward to hearing Mrs Goldsmith’s baby news soon and we wish her well at this very special time.

And some more good news! We received a letter today from Damian Hinds, Minister for Schools, commending the school on our pupils’ achievement in the Y4 Multiplication Check. Our average pupil score of 24.5 out of 25 make St Elizabeth’s one of the top 200 performing schools in England for the multiplication check. We have attached a copy of the letter to this email. Congratulations to our current Y5 pupils who worked hard to learn the tables and all their practice on Times Tables Rock Stars!

This week in school

Piano Concert

Well done to all the children who performed at the Piano Concert on Wednesday this week. It is great to see how the children are progressing and also a valuable experience for them to play in front of an audience.

Y4 Assembly

Y4 led the school assembly this week on the theme of community. They dramatized Jesus’s call to the apostles to follow him and explored how we are invited to follow Jesus in our words and actions each day. They also sang the Community song beautifully – thank you Y4.

Y3 and Y6 visit to the Richmond Synagogue

This morning our Y3 and Y6 classes visited the Richmond Synagogue as part of their study of Judaism. This is a fantastic opportunity for our children to learn about the different parts of the synagogue and develop their understanding of and respect for other faiths. We would like to thank the volunteers at the synagogue for giving their time to show the children around and making them feel so welcome. Oliver in Y6 said” I learned so much. The synagogue was fascinating. The Torah is broken up into 52 chunks. Each week one chunk is read. It takes one year to read the entire Torah”.

SEND APDR meetings

Mrs Compton has been holding Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) meetings this week with parents of children with SEND. This term’s targets will be sent home to parents of children with SEND shortly and the next APDR meetings will be held at the beginning of the Summer Term.

Next Week in school

Explorer Dome

The Explorer Dome will be in school on Wednesday 24th January to hold Science workshops for a number of classes. Y4 will be learning about ‘States of Matter’, Y5 will be learning about ‘Space’ and Y6 will be exploring ‘Light’. These interactive workshops bring the curriculum to life for the children and help to make their learning memorable.

Y2 Scooter Training

On Thursday 25th January, the Y2 children will be having a scooter workshop led by the Richmond Safety Team. This is a really important session and all children will take part and scooters will be provided for those who do not have them. Please see the letter sent home earlier this week for more details.

Information for parents

Tips for safe Smartphone use

Mrs van den Driessche would like to share a poster regarding safe smartphone use for primary school children. We know that some of our older children may start to use smartphones as they prepare for secondary school and it is important to set boundaries with your child from the start. Please find the poster attached to this email and discuss it with your child. Parental controls are essential to keep your child safe. Please do also remind your child that they can talk to you, their parents, or a trusted adult at school, if they have concerns about anything they see or receive online.

PTA Ceilidh

We are looking forward to the Ceilidh on Friday 2nd February which is being organised by the Y6 parents. This is an evening of country dancing for the whole family which promises to be great fun. Please see the ParentMail which has been sent out today and we hope to see you there.

Chaplains’ Bring and Buy Sale

The Pupil Chaplains are organising a ‘Bring and Buy Sale’ taking place at 3:15pm on Wednesday 7th February in the school hall. They are asking for all children to bring in a pre-loved toy or book in good condition which will be sold to raise money for Small Steps, a local charity which supports pre-school children with physical disabilities and their families. Please see the Pupil Chaplains’ letter for more details.

Upcoming dates

January

Wednesday 24th EV Y6, Y5 & Y4 Explorer Dome in School Hall

Thursday 25th Y2 Scooter Training

Thursday 25th 3:15 p.m. Tag Rugby match v St Stephens (away)

Friday 26th 9:00 a.m. PTA meeting at school

February

Thursday 1st 9:10 a.m. Assembly led by Y3 – parents invited

Friday 2nd 7pm PTA Ceilidh evening for parents and children

5th – 9th Y6 Cycling Proficiency

Tuesday 6th 9am - 9:30am Y5 Parents’ Meeting: Sayers Croft

Thursday 8th No swimming lesson this week

Thursday 8th 9:15 a.m. Y1 Class concert – parents welcome

Thursday 8th 2:30 p.m. Y2 Class concert – parents welcome

Friday 9th 9:15 a.m. Reception Class concert – parents welcome

Monday 12th to Friday 16th Half-Term holiday

Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week is 96.63%. Congratulations to Y4 for having the highest attendance at 100%! This is closely followed by Y3 with 99.33% attendance.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines