MENU PARENT LOGIN Headteacher's Newsletter 26 November 2021 Dear Parents, Advent – Week 1 Hope The first Sunday of Advent in 2021 will be Sunday 28 November. After a tumultuous year, there is comfort to be found when we pause to read, pray, and reflect over the course of the Advent season in which we celebrate Christ’s birth. CAFOD have produced a lovely family Advent calendar filled with reflections, scripture and family activities you may want to use. https://cafod.org.uk/Education/For-families/Family-Advent-Calendar The tradition for the first Sunday of Advent includes lighting the candle of hope. Prayer for Hope God of hope, we look to you, for your renew the face of the earth. Through the gift of your Son, our Lord Jesus, we follow you on the path of dawn. Enlightened by your love and wisdom, help us to lead each other and all creatures back to your open arms. Amen. Advent Please find our Advent Newsletter attached with the events happening over the next few weeks. We are really pleased to be opening up some events to parents. We have carefully considered the benefits and risks and have planned activities to take place in the safest way possible. Sacramental Programme Our Year 3 children are preparing to start their Sacramental Programme. The children and their families will be attending Mass on Sunday to become enrolled on their sacramental journey. Please join us in praying and supporting the children and their family on their special journey. Pastoral Drop-in The next drop in for parents is on Tuesday 30 November from 1:30 to 3:30pm. You can sign up for a call with Mrs Gee by following the details below. Please visit https://stvincentscatholicprimary.schoolcloud.co.uk to book your appointments. PTA Christmas Fair: Thursday 2 December 3:30 - 6pm Preparations are now well under way for our after school Christmas Fair. Miss Hobday’s choir and the Sunshine Club children have been practising their festive songs to get us in the mood and a group of Mini-Vinnies have been busy making reindeer food to sell on their stall. Father Christmas’ elves are dusting off their outfits and our teachers, teaching assistants and PTA helpers are planning fun games and activities for the children to take part in. As well as all of the traditional tombolas, ‘The Orchard Spa’ will be open for nail and glitter body art and there will be a snowman treasure trail on the school field. In the junior hall we will be serving refreshments such as Irish coffees, mulled wine, mince pies and hot dogs. For those wishing to stay outdoors, there will be a pizza van and a coffee van selling hot drinks and cakes. We know that it’s cold and wet this time of year, but we will have our gazebos out and our hats and warm coats on, ready for any weather! We hope that you can all join us. Christmas Jumper Day: Thursday 2 December To ensure we are all feeling extra festive, Thursday 2 December will be a Christmas jumper day for all children. Reading Curriculum - Phonics Scheme Update We are excited to announcement that we will be introducing a new phonics scheme to support the teaching and learning of early reading and phonics in our school. The name of the scheme is ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised’. There is a ‘For parents’ section on the website if you would like to have a look for more detail here: www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ Parents will be receiving more information shortly about the scheme, the resources and the reading aspect. There will also be phonic information sessions for parents to attend. We are very impressed with the new scheme, and the new books and resources our children will enjoy. Our new scheme will ensure our children continue to acquire systematic phonic skills and apply them in their early reading and writing. Mini Vinnies ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ The Mini Vinnies collaborated with the Year 6 Sports council in a whole school project for the local charity ‘Home Instead’. The challenge was to resource and make as many Christmas cards for the ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ appeal, to spread some festive cheer to the lonely, elderly and isolated in our community. The cards were collected last week from the Charity, who were delighted with the response of our school to this vital project. We are also pleased to share that our Mini Vinnies are on the front cover of the Mini Vinnie magazine attached. Please do take a look at the good work all of the Mini Vinnies have been working on. #Show Racism the Red Card Following on from the work we have been doing in this area, we have included below information for parents from UNICEF about how to talk to your child about racism. Some parents worry about exposing their children to issues like racism and discrimination at an early age. Others shy away from talking about something they themselves don’t feel comfortable discussing. Yet others, especially those who have experienced racism, simply do not have such choices. Studies have shown that by age 5, children can show signs of racial bias, such as treating people from one racial group more favourably than the other. Ignoring or avoiding the topic isn’t protecting children, it’s leaving them exposed to bias that exists wherever we live. Children who encounter racism, can be left feeling lost while trying to understand why they are being treated a certain way, which in turn can impact their long-term development and well-being. How to talk to your child about racism The way children understand the world evolves as they grow, but it’s never too late to talk to them about equality and racism. Here are some age-appropriate ways to start that conversation and explain that racism is always wrong: Under 5 years At this age, children may begin to notice and point out differences in people they see around them. As a parent, you have the opportunity to gently lay the foundation of their worldview. Recognise and celebrate differences – If your child asks about someone’s skin colour, you can use it as an opportunity to acknowledge that people do indeed look different, but to point out things we have in common. You could say, “We are all human, but we are all unique, isn’t that amazing!” 6-11 years Children this age are better at talking about their feelings and are eager for answers. They are also becoming more exposed to information they may find hard to process. Start by understanding what they know. Discuss the media together – social media and the internet may be one of your children’s main sources of information. Show interest in what they are reading and the conversations they are having online. How you can help Parents are children’s introduction to the world. What they see you do is as important as what they hear you say. Take every opportunity to challenge racism, demonstrate kindness and stand up for every person's right to be treated with dignity and respect. Trafford Sunrise Pastoral Workshops Please see below the upcoming December free online parent workshops. Flyers are attached for the upcoming workshops and included in the details below. Please note that there are a limited number of spaces, so register early to ensure you can get a place by clicking the links below/in flyers attached. Please let Trafford Sunrise know if any families would benefit from having an interpreter at a workshop. The workshops will promote the emotional wellbeing of children and families with particular emphasis on cultural diversity and social justice. Age 5-12 December Workshops Anxiety Tuesday 7 December 2021 10:00am - 11:30am https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kcO-uqTstGtAePuSeUg0HXrxsAfnjMdIY Behavioural Difficulties Wednesday 15 December 2021 10:00am –11:30am https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlceigqD0tH9SPm5Yw1o5JJ42GedMl6iHn Parent Champions Are you a parent who speaks an additional language to English who can offer support to another parent with limited English? Can you offer your time on a flexible basis – this could be by telephone or via remote means e.g. Zoom, Teams Are you a parent who would like support from a speaker of your home language in understanding school communications or to help you support your child’s learning? We would love to hear from you! We are looking to set up a register of parents who are willing to support other parents. We are going to call this group our Parent Champions Last year we asked parents to contact us about supporting other parents with limited English. We are hoping to re-launch this soon and ask any interested parents to email the school FAO Mrs Tiernan giving your details, naming the language offered and your availability. Thank you in advance. Family Activities The winter issue of Raring2go! Altrincham & Sale magazine is now available and has lots of local information for families about festive days out, children's clubs and classes, tutoring services, crafts, recipes and much more. We hope you will find it a useful resource. The link is https://bit.ly/R2GAltrincham-Winter21 Attendance figures for previous week Each week we report attendance. Please note we do not authorise holidays in term time. Attendance Percentages Highest infant class attendance Reception Mrs Lawrence’s class 99.33% Highest junior class attendance Y3 Mrs Jennings/Mrs Needham’s class 99.33% Overall school attendance 96.78% *Please note that disability related absence is not taken into account when calculating best attendance We aim to be a listening school and offer an open door to parents. Mrs Farrell (deputy head teacher based in the junior department), Mrs Tiernan (deputy head teacher based in the infant department), and I are very happy to answer any questions you may have. Yours sincerely, Mrs A Harrop Headteacher Headteacher's Newsletter 26/11/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 19/11/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 12/11/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 05/11/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 22/10/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 15/10/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 08/10/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 01/10/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 24/09/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 17/09/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 10/09/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 23/07/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 16/07/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 09/07/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 02/07/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 25/06/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 18/06/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 11/06/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 21/05/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 14/05/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 07/05/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 30/04/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 23/04/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 01/04/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 26/03/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 19/03/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 12/03/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 05/03/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 26/02/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 05/02/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 29/01/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter - 22/01/2021 15/01/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 08/01/2021 Headteacher's Newsletter 18/12/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 11/12/2020 - Headteacher's Newsletter 04/12/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 27/11/2020 - Headteacher's Newsletter 20/11/2020 - Headteacher's Newsletter 13/11/2020 - Headteacher's Newsletter 06/11/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter Headteacher's newsletter 23/10/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 23/10/2020 16/10/2020 - Headteacher's Newsletter 09/10/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 02/10/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 25/09/20 - Headteacher's Newsletter 18/09/20 - Headteacher's Newsletter 11/09/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 04/09/20 Headteacher's Newsletter 24/07/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 17/07/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 10/07/2020 - Headteacher's newsletter 03/07/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 26/06/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 19/06/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 12/06/20 - Headteacher's Newsletter 22/05/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 15/05/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 01/05/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter RE Newsletter Summer 2020 Safeguarding Newsletter Summer 2020 24/04/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 17/04/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 27/03/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 20/03/2020 - Headteacher's Newsletter Parent Advice - 18/03/2020 13/03/2020 - Headteacher's Newsletter 06/03/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 28/02/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 27/02/2020 Coronavirus advice Lenten Activities 2020 21/02/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 07/02/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter RE Curriculum Newsletter Spring 2020 31/01/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 24/01/2020 Headteacher's Newsletter 17/01/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 10/01/2020 Headteacher's newsletter 13/12/2019 Headteacher's Newsletter 06/12/2019 Headteacher's newsletter 29/11/2019 Headteacher's Newsletter 08/11/2019 Headteacher's Newsletter 01/11/2019 Headteacher's Newsletter 18/10/2019 Headteacher's Newsletter 11/10/2019 Headteacher's Newsletter 04/10/2019 Headteacher's Newsletter 27/09/2019 Headteacher's newsletter 20092019 Headteacher's Newsletter 13092019 Headteacher's Newsletter 06092019 Headteacher's Newsletter Contact the School St Vincent's Catholic Primary School Orchard Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA15 8EY Main Contact: Headteacher Mrs Harrop SEN Contact: Mrs Tiernan and Mrs Farrell Tel: 0161 911 8040 admin@stvincents.trafford.sch.uk View Calendar Admissions Newsletters Term Dates Events 03/12/2021: Y3 Advent Reconciliation Service for Mrs Needham and Mrs Jennings' class 06/12/2021: Reception Nativity dress rehearsal 06/12/2021: Y4 Christmas Concert dress rehearsal The Sunshine Club School Clubs Parent Pay Testimonials Previous We couldn't be happier with St Vincent's, our children are really happy there. - Parent Survey Next 1 2 3 4 5 © Copyright 2021 St Vincent's Catholic Primary School - All Rights Reserved. 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