Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary School Parent Portal - Issue

Dear Parents

Thank you for all your support during this half-term and most especially for maintaining the routines and social distancing which have been so important to us throughout. We are delighted that we have got to the end of the half-term with no bubbles closed and only one member of staff having to self-isolate! This reflects the decrease in infections locally, as well as our care in preventing transmission within school.

As noted last week, until the guidance to schools reflects this more positive picture, there will be relatively few changes in the arrangements within school. These were outlined in last week’s newsletter which can be found here: None of us – the children most especially – have an appetite for more bubble closures or self-isolation and so we will continue with these arrangements for the time being. We are continuing to plan within school for a range of events including a Y2 Florence Nightingale celebration, a Y6 Leavers Production and a whole school Thanksgiving Mass, but would ask parents to be aware that we are very dependent on the guidance to schools and cannot yet guarantee whether these will be in person or via Zoom. We will continue to do the best we can for the benefit of the children.

This week has been a busy and exciting one in school. Year 3 have started their Egyptians topic with a virtual workshop from the British Museum. They took an online tour of the museum and then focussed in their session on some of their 8 million artefacts! A real WOW moment to begin the Egyptians topic!

Miss Nolan, who leads our “Flourish” PSHE curriculum, has been championing “Celebrating Diversity Day” today with a range of Paralympics-themed workshops! Year 5 Emerald Class have spent their Mission Week focussing on Celebrating Diversity – for their service, they enjoyed working outdoors with Y1 to teach them a paralympic sport (Boccia). All children across the school have found role models in Paralympic athletes this week and considered the attributes of confidence, resilience and determination to succeed. We hope this will inspire the children in their future lives too! Photos can be found here https://padlet.com/CardinalNewman/utr9o5lu8owpzxmz

Please remember in your prayers our Year 3 children who will be making their First Holy Communion in June and July. To support their preparation through the parishes, we have also been doing some work with them in school. Today, in lieu of the usual Children of the Eucharist sessions, Year 3 worked with Fr Richard and myself on their understanding of the Blessed Sacrament. Thank you to Fr Bill for facilitating Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel for both classes and the children were impressive both in their insightful questions and in their thoughtful prayers and responses to the liturgy. We pray that their thirst to learn more about the Eucharist may never diminish and that they may always yearn to be with Jesus in Holy Communion.

The government announced that from Monday 17 May, international travel can gradually resume as destinations are added to England’s ‘green list’. Can we please remind parents that people should not travel to ‘amber’ and ‘red’ countries, and that strict rules on testing and quarantine remain in place to protect public health and the vaccination programme. Further information can be found in the guidance on red, amber and green list rules for entering England.

On our return to Cardinal Newman on 7^th June, I will be away with the Year 6 classes on residential at Henley Fort, as we begin a very busy and exciting second half of the Summer Term.

I wish you and your children a good rest over half-term – let’s hope the sunshine will last throughout the week!

All best wishes

Catherine Burnham

Notes

New Starters September 2021 - If you have a child starting school here in September, please return the online application form by June 7th. An email went out last Friday with this link for this.

Online News - The children are making excellent use of the computer suite at school and are very keen to improve their skills. Children’s inquisitive natures coupled with their attraction to take risks make it necessary for us to provide methods of educating and policing their online activity. We are confident that we have installed robust systems of monitoring and filtering computer usage within school. However we are not complacent and are therefore providing frequent online safety lessons for all classes throughout the school, educating the children on how to stay safe online.

We are aware of instances of children among our school community viewing inappropriate/ pornographic images via search engines or the TIK TOK social media app.

Online dangers will always exist, and it is our duty as part of our home/ school partnership to encourage parents to discuss online safety at home and to talk to children about what they do online.

Does your child know what to do if they feel uncomfortable by the content they are viewing?

Does your child feel they would be in trouble if they shared their concerns/worries with you?

Are your settings/ parental controls still effective?

What is the age rating of the social media platform that your child is using?

Useful Websites:

Key found - This key was found near the school. Please contact the school office if it belongs to you.

Reception donations - We are running low on boxes of tissues. Please give to your child or pop them into the school office if you would like to donate. Thank you.

School Dinners - Please book your child's hot dinners on Scopay at least 1 week in advance. The menu can be found here.

Tennis club on Fridays before school (for Years 3/4 only) - If you need any further information, there is contact information at the bottom of the booking page https://taketennislessons.co.uk/product/cardinal-newman-tennis-breakfast-club-friday/

Holy Communion Shop - We have some special offers 24/7 online at www.firstholycommunion.co.uk for Cards, Gifts, Shoes, Banners and Balloons for First Holy Communion Along with Holy Communion Dresses and Boy’s Suits in all sizes. Our Shop is based at Clothes Line 368 Grand Drive West Wimbledon London SW20 9NQ. We are now taking appointments for Suits and Dress fittings have a good collection of Communion Suits and Dresses, Gifts, Cards and all accessories in the shop as well as online. sales@firstholycommunion.co.uk, www.firstholycommunion.co.uk

Alley Catz - For all new starters: for an hour slot with a dedicated advisor, please ensure you book an appointment. Please book as soon as possible to reserve your preferred date. This can be done via our website following the link below: https://www.alleycatz.co.uk/pg/13/Booking. For existing pupils: if you wish to book an instore appointment, please do so at https://www.alleycatz.co.uk/pg/13/Booking

Telephone orders : please be aware that we are unable to take telephone orders during August and the first week in September. Please note:

Whilst the store will be open to all throughout the summer, priority will be given to pre-booked appointments
Exchange period during the summer is extended to start of September
Shortages - please note that we remain subject to container delays with our manufacturers so early booking/purchasing is highly recommended.
We are unable to take telephone orders during August and the first week in September. www.alleycatz.co.uk 01932 221883

28th May, 2021

Notes

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