St Mary's Catholic Primary Weekly Newsletter - 29th April 2022

Welcome to our new St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!

Happy Easter to you all!

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed a very happy and peaceful holiday with your families. We look forward to another busy half term with lots of exciting learning experiences to enjoy!

St Mary's Catholic Primary Reviewing our School Vision and Developing our Curriculum Rationale

A very big thank you to all learners, parents, staff, governors and our church community who were consulted and provided valuable feedback on what it is that we want for our learners by the time they leave our school. All responses were collated and discussed in detail during our staff training day on Monday. It was lovely to see clear and common threads from all stakeholders; evidence that our school vision and mission is shared and owned by us all.

Please see draft vision statement below:-

Our vision statement will form part of our curriculum rationale and will reflect our vision and values and our inclusive, innovative and creative curriculum for our children.

We will continue to prepare for the implementation of Wales' New Curriculum (September 2022) and will keep all parents and carers up to date with our progress towards designing our curriculum and assessment procedures, in line with WG guidance. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

'A Twist in Time'

This half term, our whole school topic is 'A twist in time' with a focus on learning about the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the 1950s. Over the next week or so, each class will be starting their topic with a 'Super Start' or 'Wow' day to initiate collaborative planning. Our Nursery, Reception, Year 3 and Year 5 classes have had their special days this week- Nursery had a dress up 'Royal' day on Wednesday, Reception had a dress up day and a 'special visitor' today, Year 3 had a red, white and blue dress up day and Year 5 had a 1950s style sports day and hat parade on Tuesday! Fantastic!

Puffins' Royal Day

What a super day in the Puffins' class. Everyone dressed as princes, princesses, kings and queens. They all listened to stories and videos about the Queen and some royal characters. Thy took royal portraits, created a Welsh guard for their palace, designed and built castles, palaces and crowns. They even created a royal dance and rode on their 'horses'. What a wonderful way to start their new topic.

Local Support for Families

At this difficult time of austerity, please see some information about local services that are available to provide support to families in need.

Please contact school if you find yourself in a difficult situation and need some help/ support to signpost you to an appropriate service. Your requests will be handled in confidence and with sensitivity. Diolch. Mrs Acton.

If you need help from our foodbank there are a few simple steps to follow. THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP IS TO GET A FOODBANK VOUCHER.

In order to provide the most appropriate help for the circumstances of your situation we work with local agencies. If they feel you are struggling to put food on the table, they will issue you with a foodbank voucher. The local agency can also provide long term support if needed to help address some of the issues behind the reasons for your crisis. Agencies we work with include: Citizens Advice, housing support officers, children’s centres, health visitors, social services and some local charities.

1. GET IN TOUCH WITH US.

If you call or email our foodbank we can talk through your situation and put you in touch with a relevant local agency.

2. ARRANGE A VISIT TO THE REFERRAL AGENCY.

They will discuss your situation and supply you with a foodbank voucher where appropriate.

If you can’t afford food, you can call 0808 2082138 (freephone) to speak to a trained and independent Citizens Advice agent (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm). Please note this number is for people who do not have enough money for food – if you are a local organisation or charity that works with people who might need the food bank, please contact us directly.

Alternatively, please call 0300 330 1178 to speak to Wrexham’s Citizen’s Advice Bureau, who will be able to issue you with a food bank voucher if necessary.

3. BRING YOUR FOODBANK VOUCHER TO YOUR NEAREST FOODBANK CENTRE.

You can find a list of our local centres and opening times here. When you arrive, we’ll welcome you with a warm drink and our trained volunteers will chat with you about your situation. We’ll also discuss any dietary needs you may have and exchange your foodbank voucher for a parcel of three days of emergency food. We’ll also help to support you in any other ways that we can. Most of our foodbank centres offer a cafe style environment and our aim is to provide non-judgemental support at the point of crisis.

If you have any further questions our FAQ’s page may help, or feel free to give us a call.

Yellow and blue (YaB group ltd) is a social enterprise non profit project. Underpinning community projects including positive pathways, food provision and social isolation beating events and activities. With a digital vision within the community - we aim to support vulnerable groups whilst creating a vibrant, supportive and uplifting experience. Creating moments, chances and smiles when people need it most.

Please get in touch by emailing:- info@yellowandblue.org

Pupil Development Grant

The Welsh Government funded Pupil Development Grant is available to help towards the costs of a child’s school uniform and equipment, for those on a low income. Any child eligible for free school meals in the year groups listed below are eligible. However, those receiving free school meals due to transitional protection arrangement would not be eligible.

Depending on the school year your child will be entering in September 2021 you could receive a grant of £125 or £200. Link

Anyone eligible for free school meals and in the following year groups will qualify for the grant: Entering reception class in primary school, Entering school years 1 to 11, In a special school, special needs resource base or pupil referral unit and are aged 4 to 15.For any looked after children of compulsory school age who are not receiving free school meals, please email uniformgrant@wrexham.gov.uk for an application form.

Welsh Courses for Parents

Are you interested in becoming a volunteer in school?

Here at St Mary’s we are very keen to involve parents, grandparents and family members in the life of the school. We are always looking for volunteers to help out a wide range of activities such as school trips and walking the children to sporting events. We are also very happy to invite volunteers to share special skills, interests or experiences to enhance the children’s opportunities or provision e.g. gardening, sewing, sharing job skills/ experiences etc.

If you would like to be involved in any volunteer work for the school, please click on the link and complete and return the forms attached.https://stmarys-wxm.co.uk/about-us/forms/volunteer-form-2/

Please note:- All volunteers will be subject to DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) clearance. Thank you

Many thanks.

Welsh Government Announcement

Physical punishment of children is now illegal in Wales. Children have the same protection from assault as adults. This is to protect children and their rights. To find out more visit: http://gov.wales/EndPhysicalPunishment

Support the Friends of St Mary’s

to raise much needed funds for the benefit of all our children Friends of St. Mary’s School are now registered with easyfundraising, which means you can raise FREE donations for us every time you shop online. Over 4,000 shops and sites will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself!

These donations really mount up and make a BIG difference to us, so we’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign up and support us. It’s completely FREE and only takes a moment.

Do it today- Sign up by clicking on the link below

Please encourage your family and friends to do the same.

Keeping everyone safe- Covid 19

Local Authority advice remains that all children and staff who are displaying symptoms of illness or testing positive on an LFT or PCR test should not come to school and continue to isolate.

In addition to the 3 classic symptoms of a cough, high temperature and loss of taste or smell, we are noticing that many children who are testing positive are also displaying some of the following symptoms :- vomiting, headaches, runny nose, sore throat (symptoms similar to the common cold)

Thank you for your support and understanding.

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