Dear Parents/Carers,
As we reach the end of another year, I would like to thank each one of you for continuing to support all aspects of school life. This is not always easy, I know, as we all have our own views and opinions and sometimes decisions made don’t seem to reflect these. However, as we strive to bear witness to Christ we are all challenged to look outside ourselves to continue to nurture our loving community, based on trust and an understanding that each person is a precious gift from God; something we all aspire to achieve on a daily basis.
Our mission statement, continues to be our driving force; in recognising that we all ’Care, Learn and Respect’ each other as gifts from God, and as such we have to accept a shared responsibility to nurture, support and celebrate each other in times of difficulty and times of joy. As we always remind our children and as they remind us, the way of Jesus is a challenging pathway but an essential one to true happiness and success.
Success, we have celebrated throughout the year and I suppose this is best demonstrated at the start and end of our school. In coming to the close of their first full year our Reception class have just thrived and we are so proud of every single one of them. It is always soinspiring to see the confidence with which such young children grasp every learningopportunity, and grasp they have! They are certainly ready to continue travelling through school and we are all looking forward to seeing where this journey takes them next. As they get ready to walk through the gates, on their final day, again, we couldn’t be more proud of our Year 6 children, who have embraced every challenge, problem-solved and taken great strides forward in becoming independent learners. They are leaving us with a real sense of ‘who they are’ and an understanding that real leaders serve others; this is exactly what they have done as they have given something back during this year through their roles in school. On behalf of everyone in school, I would like to thank them for leading our community and hope many of you will be able to join us on Friday 17th July at Our Lady’s Church at 9:30am when we celebrate their time with us.
This year has been a time of change; we will be saying goodbye to Miss Deakin who has worked tirelessly for the past 8 years and has given so much to our children and wish her every success in her new role at St Francis Catholic Primary.
We have also been blessed with Fr Joseph as our Parish Priest over the past 2 years and wish him a safe journey back to Nigeria and every happiness when he leaves (and presides) at our final school mass of the year on Friday 17th July.
We also welcome Mrs Gudgeon to our school team next year.
Time in school is shared by many but is facilitated by a group of people who work tirelessly, with great passion to bring learning to life. I know that Our Lady’s is a special place because of the team of staff who strive relentlessly to support every child in developing a strong self-belief, helping them to take risks and realise that anything is possible. I know I often use these words but we are all truly blessed with the staff team who nurture our children; they really have been sent by God… I know you will join me in thanking them for the wonderful vocation they bring to life on a daily basis. As we look ahead to September, we know there will always be new challenges but we pray we can continue to remain true to our real mission, aspiring to bring God’s Kingdom to life here on earth.
As we approach 2015/16 there are so many things to look forward to as we welcome another new group of children into Reception and put our faith in our new Year 6 children to lead us. As we have introduced our new curriculum this year, we have problem-solved and made changes along the way. Our main focus has been to bring learning to life whilst enabling children to progressively develop their skills.
To support us I would also ask that you please ensure that all family holidays are arranged outside term time. When children miss periods of time, they miss important building blocks which are essential to future learning. All our term dates for 2015/16 are available on the school website and a new copy is being sent within this pack. Changes to Government Policy now make it impossible for the governors to authorise leave in term time unless circumstances are judged to be exceptional. Please support us in this as saying no is never easy.
We have also again included the helpful uniform leaflet which we hope will support you on those tricky shopping excursions when you are being cajoled into buying the latest fashion item! Please can I also remind you about earrings, as they cannot be worn during PE lessons; the best time for piercing is right at the start of this holiday giving small ears enough time to heal. (We are also bringing a special introductory offer for an outside PE kit on separate sheet)
Within this pack we have included your child’s annual report and, as always, we do like to hear your thoughts and would now appreciate any feedback, please could you complete the evaluation included and return it to school.
Looking forward to next year we hope that we can continue to support each other as we all grow to love Christ. Placing this mission at the centre of all our interactions will support us as we head towards a new academic year. On TuesdaySeptember 2nd at 8.45am we return to school for the start of our new school year.
Thank you again for all your support over the year, I hope you have a happy and safe summer holiday and we look forward to welcoming you back in September.
Yours sincerely
Miss M.Haggerty
Head teacher
