Welcome Back

Welcome back – we hope you had a good break. We have a really busy half term ahead with events such as our Health and Book Weeks, various class trips, Sports Days and end of year masses and assemblies. We have listed the main diary dates at the bottom of this newsletter but please visit our website for a complete list:

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

BT Volunteers

Today, Years 1 and 2 were visited by a representative from British Telecom who led workshops with the children. These sessions had a focus on developing good communication skills and strategies for coping in the event of an emergency.

BT will be working with other classes on the following dates:

Monday 8^th June: Years 3 and 4

Friday 19^th June: Years 5 and 6

Year 6 Trip: Chessington World of Adventures

Next Tuesday 9^th June, Year 6 will be visiting Chessington World of Adventures. The children will leave school, by coach, at 9am and should arrive back for collection at 5.30pm.

If the children are running late for any reason, we will let you know as soon as possible - via our text messaging service. Children may wear their own clothes and they require a packed lunch in a named, disposable bag.

Yr 6 PGL Meeting

On Monday 8^th June, at 3pm, we will be holding a meeting for all parents of children in Year 6. We will be discussing the arrangements for the upcoming PGL residential trip and there will be an opportunity for parents to ask any questions they may have.

Healthy Fortnight

Over the next two weeks we will be holding our annual ‘Healthy Fortnight’ in school to promote the importance of exercise, healthy eating and adopting a healthy lifestyle. The following activities have been planned:

Mon 8^th and Tues 9^th June: Tae Kwon Do Taster Sessions

Mon 8^th June: Key Stage 1 and 2 NSPCC Assemblies

Mon 8^th June: BT Volunteers Good Communication Workshops (Years 3 and 4)

Tues 9^th June: Year 5 Health Assembly (3pm)

Mon 15^th and Tues 16^th June: A-Life Heathy Eating and Fun Fitness Workshops

Wed 17^th and Thur 18^th June: Saving Londoners’ Lives First Aid Workshops (Years 1 to 6)

Fri 19^th June: BT Volunteers Good Communication Workshops (Years 5 and 6)

Please send your child into school with their PE kit on Monday and ask them to leave it in school for the entire week. Thank you.

Year 5 Class Assembly

Next Tuesday 9^th June, Year 5 will be performing their class assembly. The theme of this assembly is health and fitness. All parents, carers and family members are most welcome to attend. The front entrance to school will be opened shortly before 3pm for all visitors to make their way to the hall.

Whole School Procession

Next Friday 12^th June, Father Nicholas will be visiting to lead a procession for the whole school. This will start at 2.30pm and finish before the end of the school day. All parents, carers and family members are most welcome to attend.  Please could the Year 3 First Holy Communicants bring in their Communion clothes to wear for the Procession.

Book Week

We will be holding our annual Book Week during the week beginning Tuesday 16^th June. We have planned lots of exciting activities throughout the week to promote a love of books and reading.

Tues 16^th June: Bedtime Stories (separate letter to follow) 5 – 6pm

Fri 19^th June: ‘Fables’ theatre show (Early Years and Key Stage 1)

Fri 19^th June: ‘Myths and Legends’ performance (Years 3 to 6)

Fri 19^th June: Dress Up Day. All pupils are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. Prizes will be awarded for the most imaginative, home-made costumes in each class.

Throughout the week, the children will also be completing lots of fun, book related tasks in class.

We did make a booking for illustrator/author Korky Paul to visit during this week but unfortunately he needed to cancel due to an unexpected book tour of Spain. Instead we have booked for author Pippa Goodhart to work with each class in September 2015. Pippa has written various award winning books including the ‘Winnie the Witch’ series (Korky did the illustrations), the hugely popular picture book ‘You Choose’ (winner of Mumsnet Book of the Year 2011 and York Library’s Favourite Picture Book Ever) and fiction for older children including ‘Raven Boy’. To find out more about her books please visit the following website.

http://www.pippagoodhart.co.uk/

Crazy Hair Day

Thank you to everybody who returned their filled ‘Sweet Cup’ yesterday! These will all be used at out Summer Fete on the children’s tombola stall.

Next Thursday 11^th June, we will be holding a Crazy Hair Day in school. We are inviting all pupils to come to school sporting an unusual hair style in return for bringing in boxed chocolates, wine or spirits for our Summer Fete adult tombola. Thank you for your support in advance.

Summer Fete 2015

Our Summer Fete will take place on Saturday 13^th June, from 12 – 3pm. There will be lots of stalls and attractions to enjoy including swing boats, a bouncy castle, high striker, children’s carousel, candy floss, BBQ and bar. Please save the date in your diary!

Donations of Toys, Books, DVDs and Nearly New School Uniform

During the Summer Fete we will be holding a nearly new toy, book and DVD stall. We will also be selling second hand uniform. If you have any items (that are in good condition) please bring them into school, either on Thursday 11^th or Friday 12^th June. Unfortunately we do not have the space to be able to accept any donations in advance of this date.

Do you work for Barclays Bank or the Royal Mail?

Both Barclays and the Royal Mail offer generous profit-matching schemes for their employees. Many other companies offer this as well. Why don’t you ask your company if they would like to help your child’s local school (even if they only profit match for a stall or two)? Maybe you work for an organisation that could donate a raffle prize. All of your efforts increase the success of the school fete.

Thank you to everyone who has already made donations of their time, gifts and promises - they are all appreciated (please keep them coming)!  Please send all offers to us by Wednesday 10th June (either by emailing: stmaryspta@outlook.com or by contacting Sarah Wells on 07855 998693).

Auction of Promises Plea

Unfortunately we have had a disappointing response to our request for promises. So far we have only received four offers and we really need at least ten to make this event viable. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a job that you consider could be transferred into a promise. We would be really happy if you could donate your time: 1 hour of ironing, 2 hours of babysitting, making a birthday cake, washing a car, offering a pedicure/manicure, hair-cut, cooking a meal, language lessons, sewing lessons, painting, donating a high quality item, photography (to name but a few). We really hope you are able to donate your time towards such a worthwhile cause. Please send all offers to us by Wednesday 10th June (either by emailing: stmaryspta@outlook.con or by sending a note via your child’s book bag).

St Mary’s PTA need a new Treasurer

We would like to thank Dave Cronin for giving up his time and being a very dedicated treasurer for the last nine years! It will be very sad to see him leave. The fete will be his last event and it would be very beneficial if a new treasurer came forward as it would be very useful if they could ‘shadow’ Dave on the day. Ideally the new Treasurer needs to have book-keeping/accounting experience. Please send an email to stmaryspta@outlook.com if you are interested or would like more information.

Ice-cream Cartons With Lids

The fete planning team would really appreciate any donations of clean, ice-cream plastic containers (with lids). Please send any donations into school by Wednesday 10th June. Thank you for your help in advance.

Fruit at Break Times

All pupils in EYs and Years 1 and 2 are provided with free fruit/veg during their morning break time (this is a part of the School Fruit scheme). Pupils in Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6) are invited to bring in their own fruit, or vegetables, to eat during their break. Please do not send in other snacks for your child to eat during this time (e.g. cereal bars or crackers) as the idea behind this initiative is to encourage the children to eat more fruit. Thank you.

Upcoming Events:

Date	Event	Time
Mon 8th to Fri 12th June	Health Week
Tuesday 9th June	Year 5 Class Assembly Year 6 Trip to Chessington World of Adventures	3pm
Thursday 11th June	Crazy Hair Day
Friday 12th June	School Procession
Saturday 13th June	SUMMER FETE	12 – 3pm
Mon 15th to Fri 19th June	Book Week
Tuesday 16th June	Bedtime Stories	5 – 6pm
Friday 19th June	Book Week Dress-up Day (pupils come to school dressed as their favourite book character)
Tuesday 23rd June	Early Year’s Class Assembly (Nursery combined from 12.30 – 3.30pm) Year 6 trip to Greenwich	3pm
Thursday 25th June	Years 3 and 4 Trip to Legoland
Friday 26th June	Year 5 Trip to Legoland
Mon 29th June to Fri 3rd July	TEST WEEK
Tuesday 30th June	Year 1 Class Assembly	3pm
Wednesday 1st July	District Sports
Friday 3rd July	Early Year’s Trip to Bekonscot Model Village and Railway (Nursery attending all day)	8.45am – 3.30pm
Monday 6th July	Early Year’s Sports Day (Nursery combined from 8.45 – 11.45am)	9.30am
Tuesday 7th July	Year 6 Transition Day
Wed 8th to Fri 10th July	Year 6 PGL
Thursday 9th July	EYs Sports Day Back-up (Nursery combined in the morning if this extra event is needed)	9.30am
Friday 10th July	Years 1 and 2 Trip to Whipsnade Zoo Last Day of Mrs Sullivan’s Early Bird Maths Group
Monday 13th July	Years 1 to 6 Sports Day	9.30am to 12pm
Tuesday 14th July	Year 6 Leavers’ Mass	9.30am – 10.30am
Wednesday 15th July	Year 5 Trip to London Zoo
Friday 17th July	Years 1 to 6 BACK-UP Sports Day	9.30am to 12pm
Monday 20th July	Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly Annual Pupil Progress Reports to go out	2pm – 3pm
Tuesday 21st July	Last Day of Term (finish at 1.30pm)