All pupils have had a fun and informative week, taking part in lots of interactive experiments and investigations as a part of our Science Week. Every class also took part in a visit to the Life Education Bus, to find out more about the body and how to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Please ask your child about some of the activities that they have been involved in.

 

After School Competitions

If your child is invited to attend an after school competition, we kindly ask that you return the reply slip - even if they are unable to take part. This will enable us to be able to offer the place to another child. Unfortunately we had to withdraw from the Tag Rugby Competition this week due to a lack of replies, leaving quite a few children disappointed! Thank you in advance.

 

Year 5 Class Assembly

Year 5’s Class Assembly will take place next Tuesday 3^rd May. All parents, carers and family members are most welcome to attend. The front entrance to school will be opened up, by a member of staff, shortly before 3pm.

 

Year 2’s Assembly

Year 2 performed their assembly for parents, and the whole school, this week - teaching us lots about our ‘wonderful world’.

Thank you to all the visitors who came along to watch.

 

Year 6 SATs Timetable

The end of Key Stage 2 SATs will take place during the week beginning Monday 9^th May 2016 according to the following timetable:

Date	Test
Monday 9th May	English Reading Test
Tuesday 10th May	English grammar, punctuation and spelling tests
Wednesday 11th May	Mathematics: Paper 1 arithmetic test and Paper 2 reasoning
Thursday 12th May	Mathematics: Paper 3 reasoning

If you are interested in finding out more about what these tests will look like, please take a look at the sample test papers on the government website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-2016-sample-materials

 

Mrs Attipoe & Year 5 Cake Sale

Year 5 held a cake sale yesterday to raise money for Mrs Attipoe to support her with her cancer treatment.  The sale was a huge success and raised £363.50.  Thank you to the parents who donated cakes from all classes, the parent helpers organising the sale and those that attended the sale.  If you would like to donate directly to Mrs Attipoe you can do so via this link: https://www.gofundme.com/xmmbhytw

Sunflower Project

Again we ask if anyone is able to donate bags of compost and/or plant pots to enable the pupils to grow sunflowers.  Sadly if we do not receive any more donations of compost we may have to abandon the project.  Thank you to those parents that have already donated compost and this would be used for a gardening project in the school anyway.

 

Thank you to those parents that have donated Lego for use at lunchtime.  We would also like to ask for donations of boxes of tissues for the classes.  We are most grateful for the support we receive from our parents and local community. 

 

May Day

As we’re sure you are aware, school is closed next Monday due to the May Day – we hope you enjoy the extended weekend!

 

PTA News

Friends of St Mary’s - Change of Name

You may be aware the St Mary’s Parent and Teachers Association (PTA) was re-named Friends of St Mary’s. After feedback from a number of parents it has been decided to revert to the original name of St Mary’s PTA. Parents have suggested that they can relate to this name and feel it has a greater connection for them. So with that thought in mind I would like to welcome you to a Summer Fete Preparation Meeting in the Church Hall on Monday 16 May at 8pm – 10pm.

As you know this is our main fundraiser of the year and parents have always played an important role in making this a fun day for everyone. If you would like to be involved in the preparation or would like to man a stall on the day, please come along to the meeting. We would ideally love to have a couple of parents from each class to be PTA class reps, this means that you can pass on news and information to the parents you know and meet in the playground. This can be an easy and friendly way of finding out what is going on. This also works well if you find it difficult to get to PTA fete meetings. If you feel unsure about getting involved but would like to meet other parents, please come along and have a cup of tea!  If you would like to be involved in some way but cannot attend the meeting, please email stmaryspta@outlook.com. There will be additional meetings as the date draws closer.

 

Please help to secure our main raffle prize……

As you know this year our summer fete will be on Saturday 25th June, 12noon -3pm. Please put the date in your diary. We are really looking forward to an afternoon where parents, children and teachers can join together for lots of fun whilst earning funds for the school. We really need your support to approach your company to see if they could offer us our main raffle prize. Many businesses are happy to do this, they have budgets for working in the local community and they will receive free advertising within the fete programme etc. Ideally we need a commitment/pledge from a company by Tuesday 2^nd May.

 

Some parents work for companies who, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility Policy (CSR), can offer profit-matching schemes. These schemes can hugely boost the profits of the event, these profits are all passed onto the children to ensure they have an innovative and enhanced learning environment at St Mary's. Please contact Sarah Wells (07855 998693) and Sue Serret at stmaryspta@outlook.com if you can help with profit matching or asking your company to donate the main raffle prizes. Thank you to all those parents and companies who have offered gifts so far.

 

Offering a holiday home……….

Another wonderful prize could be the offer of a week or weekend away in a property or mobile home. Therefore, we were wondering if any parents, families know anyone that own a holiday home or mobile home that they might consider offering this as a raffle prize. So many families cannot afford a holiday, we thought, what a wonderful gift, a week or weekend away abroad or in the UK. Obviously in school holidays! Again please get in touch with Sarah (07855 998693) or Sue at stmaryspta@outlook.com

 

Launch of St Mary’s PTA Facebook page

We are really excited in launching this page very soon and hope it will be another way of engaging easily with each other within in our school community to promote events and fundraising ideas. More information will follow in future newsletters!

 

Upcoming Diary Dates

Date	Time	Event
Mon 2nd May		School Closed – May Day
Tues 3rd May	3pm	Year 5’s Class Assembly (School Hall)
Mon 9th May		Year 6 – Start of KS2 SATs Week
Tues 17th May	3pm	Year 1’s Class Assembly (School Hall)
Mon 23rd May	2.15pm	Maths Curriculum Open Afternoon (all parents invited to visit school) Start of Maths Week (Sponsored xTables)
Tues 24th May	3pm	Year 4’s Class Assembly (School Hall)
Mon 30th May		Start of Half Term Break
Mon 6th June		All pupils return to school (8.40am) Start of Health Week (PE kits needed all week) Beginning of Year 6 Bikeability