Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary School Parent Portal - Issue

In school this week, we have been continuing to focus on the celebration of Eastertide and we were blessed to have a whole school Mass for Eastertide on Thursday with Father Bill. Year 1 (Yellow Class) children led the Mass beautifully with clear loud voices and confident participation. Fr Bill was very impressed with their reading and the whole school were proud of how beautifully the children have developed since they joined us in Reception. Well done Yellow Class!

Topaz Class have also been good ambassadors for the school at Mass this week (their Mission Week), as they joined the parishioners of All Saints for their daily Mass with Fr Richard on Wednesday. Topaz Class chose “Toilet Twinning” as their class mission! They were very enthusiastic about explaining this to us in their Class Collective Worship this morning and are proud to have raised enough money to sponsor 5 toilets at a school in a developing country which will now be twinned with our own school toilets! It is great that our children begin to recognise that the things they take for granted in their own school are not available to every child in the world and that they can use their gifts to help to support other people.

Most of our Year 3 children are preparing for their First Holy Communion this year and as part of this preparation, we have been supporting them to take part in some traditional acts of worship. This afternoon, we followed the ancient tradition of “crowning” Our Lady with a crown of flowers – a reminder of the Crowning of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven (Fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary). May is “the month of Mary” in the Church calendar and it is a great time for the children to remember that Mary is a good example to us of someone who loved and trusted God completely. Next week, the Year 3 children will have the opportunity to think about meeting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

For Year 2 and Year 6 children, the focus has been firmly on preparation for their forthcoming national tests – starting next week for Y2 and the following week for Y6. We have been working hard as a staff to encourage and support these children to help them to achieve their full potential, while recognising that tests are only one small facet of our threefold school mission: Learners, Believers and Friends.

This week we were delighted to receive an email from a parent highlighting how kind and caring our children are at Cardinal Newman. Three of our Year 6 boys had taken great care of a toddler who fell over in our playground and hurt herself quite badly. After receiving the email, I congratulated the boys and thanked them for being great ambassadors for our school. We know that parents often choose to send their children to Cardinal Newman School based on how they think our Year 6 children turn out. Far more important than their SATS results is how they respond to each other with love and respect for everyone. Well done, boys!

Hope you have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend.

Catherine Burnham

Bank Holiday - Monday 6 May
The school is closed on Bank Holiday Monday.

Vacancies
We currently have vacancies for a KS1 Class Teacher and a part-time Finance Manager. Our part-time office roles often attract parents who would prefer to work in term-time, so if you know anyone who is qualified to work in finance and is looking for a part-time role to fit around the children, do please let them know about this vacancy.
You can find information about both roles and how to apply here.

Hay Fever Medication
If you would like to keep hay fever medication in school for your child, please bring it to the school office with a completed Medication Request Form. The medicine must not be left in your child's school bag.
A reminder of the advice from our school nurse - antihistamine medication is most effective when given every morning to prevent symptoms rather than being given during the day after symptoms occur. Giving the medication every day also builds up resistance.

Boxes of Tissues
With the hay fever season upon us classrooms and the school office would be very grateful for any donations of boxes of tissues. Thank you.

Topaz Class Mission Week
On Tuesday morning children in Topaz class took part in a sponsored walk around the school field as part of their Mission Week. The children were raising money for the charity Toilet Twinning, which helps thousands of people have access to clean water and sanitation. They carried buckets in the same way as many children around the world who have to walk daily to collect fresh water. They raised over £300!

There are more photos here.

Year 5 Netball Rally
Well done to our netball team who reached the 3rd/4th place play-offs at the ERPSSA Year 5 Netball Rally on Tuesday where they drew 0-0 with Cleves. Please look here for the full scores and team.

Year 2 Writing Workshop

Five of our Year 2 children (above) enjoyed a morning at St George's College Junior School on Thursday. At an Able Writers' workshop they discussed the book "Matilda" and took part in drama and role play before writing their own story "Boy in a Cave".

Celebrating Difference Day - Friday 7 June
During our Celebrating Difference Day children will be taking part in a range of activities to experience different cultures. This will include experiencing food, music and dance from around the world. We would be delighted if parents would like to come into school to speak to a class about their country's culture or perhaps bring in some food for children to try. If you would like to take part, please email the school office. Thank you.

Thank You
Mrs Cronin would like to thank everyone who has supported her fundraising for Children with Cancer UK. Her cake sale at school on 5 April raised £183 and following her London Marathon run on Sunday she has now raised an amazing £4,000.

3 May

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