Friends of St. Mary’s Association

As mentioned last week, we are hoping to relaunch our PTA under the new name: Friends of St. Mary’s Association. As parents, you will automatically become members of this group when your child starts school. The aim of this association will be to raise funds for our school whilst building community links.

In a recent letter we asked if any parents/carers would be willing to take on the crucial roles of Chairperson and Treasurer - unfortunately we didn’t get any volunteers.

Two parents have kindly agreed to organise the Summer Fete but without a Chair, or Treasurer, we would be unable to organise any other fundraising events (this would be a real disappointment to our children and would prevent us from purchasing much needed resources for them).

If you think you may be able to take on either of these positions (both roles could be shared) we would love to hear from you. Please speak to Mr Briggs (or Mr Ellis) or email the school at: stmarys@hgfl.org.uk.

Thank you in advance.

 

One World Week 2015

Next week we will be celebrating our annual One World Week. The aim of this week is to celebrate different customs and traditions from around the World. The following activities will be taking place:

Day	Activity
Mon	Each class will research a specific world issue and produce a report or presentation
Tue	Hinduism Workshops
Wed	Passport Morning: Pupils will visit each year group to find out about the countries they have been studying. Before entering each classroom they will get their passport stamped. Whole school Dress-up Day (please see below for more details).
Thur	The ‘Small Earth Games Company’ will teach the children different games from around the World.
Fri	SCHOOL CLOSED – STAFF INSET DAY

 

Passport: Dress-up Day

Each class has picked one country to research in detail.

Next Wednesday 21^st October we are inviting all pupils to come to school wearing clothes associated with this locality. This could be the national costume - or simply clothes that are the same colour as their national flag. Please see below to find out the country each year group is studying:

Class	Country
Early Years	Spain
Year 1	India
Year 2	China
Year 3	Wales
Year 4	USA
Year 5	Brazil
Year 6	Greece

 

October INSET Day

Reminder: School will be closed next Friday 23^rd October due to our staff training day and also the following week due to the Half Term break. All pupils return to school on Monday 2^nd November.

 

Curriculum Open Afternoon

On Tuesday 17^th November, from 2pm, we will be holding our Curriculum Open Afternoon in school. This will consist of a tour of the school, information about how we are going to assess your child without levels and will end with a coffee afternoon in the school hall. We will send home a separate letter, with further details, nearer to the date.

 

Pupil Safeguarding

Due to the safety and welfare of the children, particularly as the staff do not know all the parents, we kindly request that parents do not stop and look into playground or call to the children when passing.  We are not always sure if the adults are known to the children.  Thank you for your co-operation with this.

 

School Meals

We have recently had a number of children without a paid hot meal or packed lunch.  As you can imagine, this causes a lot of extra work in phoning for lunch to be bought in and disruption in the dinner hall at its busiest time.  It is also very upsetting for the child and the food we receive is supplied on portions ordered and therefore we can only give the child what is left over.  Please can you regularly check the history of your bookings and note days that you will need to provide a packed lunch.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter. 

 

Calling all accountants or auditors

The school has the Governors’ Fund Accounts and a Private Fund Account that need auditing each year; one set closes 31^st March and the other closes 31^st August. If you think you would have time to audit these accounts for us please get in touch with Mrs Law, Finance Officer for more information.

 

Voluntary contributions to the Governors Maintenance Fund

Thank you very much to everyone who has sent in a contribution. We know some parents wait for the reminders, which are being processed now. In order to reduce administration we will request that the whole school voluntarily contributes for the Academic Year 2015 – 2016 but if you wish to send more or less, just amend the request slips accordingly. If you wish to consider Gift Aiding your donation, which means we can get 25% more, of it at no extra cost to you, please contact Mrs Law, Finance Officer, for more information. Many thanks.

 

Diary Dates – Autumn Term 2015

See below for the main events taking place this term. For a complete list - please refer to the calendar on our school website:

http://www.st-marys.hillingdon.sch.uk/

 

Date	Time	Event
Monday 19th October	All day	Start of One World Week
Tuesday 20th October	All day	Hinduism Workshops
Wednesday 21st October	Morning All day	Passport Morning All pupils to wear clothes associated with the country they are studying (please see Weekly Newsletter dated the 9th October 2015)
Thursday 22nd October	All day	Sports from Around the World – led by the Small Earth Games Company
Friday 23rd October	All day	SCHOOL CLOSED: TEACHER INSET DAY
Monday 26th to Friday 30th October		School Closed: Half Term Holiday
Monday 2nd November	8.40am	All pupils back to school
	10am	Groundwork Trust Assembly
Tuesday 3rd November	All day	Years 4 and 5 Victorian Brick Making Workshops
Wednesday 4th November	9.30 – 10.30am	Years 2 and 5 Mass (Church)
Wednesday 11th November	9.30 – 10.30am	Years 3 and 4 Mass (Church)
Monday 16th November	All day	Start of Friendship and E-Safety Week
Tuesday 17th November	2pm – 3.30pm	Curriculum Open Afternoon
Monday 23rd November	3.30 – 4.30pm	Last Week of Chelsea Football Clubs
Wednesday 25th November		Year 5 – Last Swimming Lesson
Monday 30th November	All day	Test Week (all pupils)
Wednesday 2nd December		Year 6 Carol Concert – Westminster Cathedral
Tuesday 8th December	5.30 – 6.30pm	Pavilion’s Carol Concert
Wednesday 9th December	2 – 3pm and 6 – 7pm	Early Years and Key Stage 1 Christmas Productions
Friday 11th December	8.30am	Last Kent and Early Bird Maths Groups
Wednesday 16th December	2 – 3pm and 6 – 7pm	Key Stage 2 Christmas Productions (Years 3 to 5)
Thursday 17th December	9.30 – 11.30am 6 – 7pm	Mother Goose Pantomime (Whole School) Year 6 Carol Service (Church)
Friday 18th December	9.15 – 10.30am	End of Term Mass
	1.30pm	School finishes for Christmas
Monday 4th January	8.30am	All pupils return to school