SAINT HUGH’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY VOLUNTARY ACADEMY WOODFIELD AVENUE ~ DODDINGTON PARK ~ LINCOLN LN6 0SH TELEPHONE ~ 01522 501137 FACSIMILE ~ 01522 501145 EMAIL ~ enquiries@st-hughs-pri.lincs.sch.uk WEB ~ http://www.st-hughs-school.org.uk

GREGORY HUGHES ~ Headteacher

TO: ALL PARENTS AND GUARDIANS

17th December 2014 Dear Parents

CHRISTMAS 2014 NEWSLETTER

Well I cannot believe it is Christmas time again! Time has flown by and it has certainly been a busy few months! Thank you all for your valued support over the past term.

JOINT CATHOLIC SCHOOL ADVENT SERVICE The choir and children from St Hugh’s, Our Lady of Lincoln and St Peter and Saint Paul’s Secondary School combined for a special Advent Service at Our Lady of Lincoln Church. The drama and music was expertly organised by Miss Blood, Mr Ballard, Mrs Edward and Mrs Brumpton. The children received many compliments for their performance. Thank you to Our Lady’s friends of the church who provided mince pies and refreshments at the end.

END OF YEAR CHRISTMAS LITURGY Year 6 and the Choir will finish the term with a Christmas Liturgy tomorrow at 1.45 pm. Parents and friends of the school are invited. Thanks to Miss Blood and Year 6 for their preparation.

MUSIC, DRAMA AND CHRISTMAS NATIVITY The infants performed the Nativity play “Christmas with the Aliens” to packed audiences over the Christmas period. The children performed wonderfully and it was a joy to see them all involved in such high quality performances. This was no mean feat by the teachers, teaching assistants and parents who made the event so memorable. If you would like a copy of the DVD please contact the school office (£6 for one copy and £10 for two copies). We look forward to many more enjoyable performances in the future.

The choir have had a very busy Christmas period. This week they performed at the Lincoln Cathedral Co–op Carol Service with the Fosse Dyke Brass Band, South Hykeham School, Branston Community Academy School and the Co-op Choir. The Cathedral held over 1000 people who enjoyed a very special Christmas Service. Many thanks to Mr Ballard for his hard work and preparation. He also had his own Carol “Little Boy from Bethlehem” performed for the first time.

Once again we have had tremendous support for the Christmas Children’s Mass on Tuesday 24th December at Saint Peter and Saint Paul’s Catholic Church. Thanks to Mrs Mary Moore for her usual excellent preparation. If anybody would like to be in the Nativity at the 10.00 am Mass this Sunday 21st December at St Hugh’s Catholic Church the practice will be held on Saturday 20th December in the Church Hall from 11.00 am – 1.00 pm

P T O

COMPETITION AND TROPHY WINNERS Congratulations to Maria and Mira who were runners up in the Christmas card competition run by MP Karl McCartney. A number of children received certificates from the Mayor for their excellent designs for his Christmas card. Well done and thanks to Mrs Rutherford for entering the artwork.

ART EXHIBITION The whole school were involved in an art exhibition this term. The theme was ‘Freedom’ and the children from Art club as well as all classes displayed some very impressive pieces of Art using a variety of mediums. Thank you to all who came to the after school event which proved very successful and enjoyable highlighting the talent within the school. A new display entitled ‘10 pieces’ is on view in the school. This depicts children’s Art interpretations of pieces of Classical Music. PARISH LINKS

I would like to thank all the children who took part in the St Hugh Feast Day Mass at School and the Mass at St Peter and Saint Paul’s Church this term. Many parents and friends of the school commented on how impressed they were with the reading, acting and behaviour of the children. We thanked Father John and Father Tom for their hard work as Chair of Governors and Governor respectively. Both received a stole from the school Community as a token of appreciation.

PTA The Christmas Festival and activities this term made a fantastic amount of £2500. This is a phenomenal figure and many thanks go to Mrs Hargrave–Nanton and the entire PTA who worked so hard to make the Festival such a success. Also, a big thank you goes to parents and friends who supported the Christmas events and Mr Storer and Mr Bainbridge who took time off to count the proceeds! The fundraising of the PTA is much appreciated. SPORTS NEWS

The ‘A’ team played in 3 tournaments this term. They were first place in the Sincil Bank tournament and have qualified to play Ermine Academy on Saturday 31st January during the half time of the Lincoln City game. They were top scorers and unbeaten in the City of Lincoln 6 a side tournament finishing runners up. Finally the team finished the year as North Kesteven 6 a side winners beating Manor Leas in a penalty shoot-out final. Thanks to Mr Gosling for taking charge of the team. The Girl’s football team played in a very exciting tournament held at the Priory City of Lincoln School. They played very well and finished overall runners up. Many congratulations!

ATHLETICS Congratulations to our Athletics team who recently took part in the final of the 2014 Indoor Athletics held at The Priory City of Lincoln Academy. The children competed well against a number of local schools finishing a creditable third.

CROSS COUNTRY The Cross Country season starts in the New Year. Children will be notified if they have been selected to represent the school.

SWIMMING Next term Mr Gosling’s class will be swimming. Please note they will start on the first Wednesday back. Well done to Mr Ballard’s class for making excellent progress during their time at the pool.

OUTINGS Year 6 have enjoyed two exciting outings. The first was to Snipedales to investigate Rivers and the second was to the Ice Skating rink in the centre of Lincoln. Mr Gosling’s class enjoyed a Viking day with a modern day Viking roaming around school in full costume! Mr Ballard also enjoyed a Viking morning.

P.T.O

FOUNDATION UNIT INTAKE 2015

The closing date for applications for next year is Thursday 15th January 2015. Once again the school has received a high interest for places. Parents will be notified in April if their child has been accepted. If you know of any children who are new to the area please ask the parents to contact the school as soon as possible.

SCHOOL UNIFORM The children have looked very smart this term and we have received numerous complimentary comments. Can I remind parents to make sure that all clothing items are clearly marked and labelled? It is difficult to return lost property that has no identification. Thank you in advance.

PARENT QUESTIONNAIRES I would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the questionnaires sent out recently. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Your views are very much noted and appreciated. We are currently reviewing all comments. A full breakdown of responses will be reported in the New Year on the website. SCHOOL PARKING

Can I please respectfully ask all car users to observe the 5 mile per hour sign and the school entrance and exit signs? There are a number of pre school children as well as our own young pupils who are crossing the car park area at the start and end of the day. I have also been asked by parents to mention the importance of drivers observing the 20 mile an hour safety zone speed limit on Woodfield Avenue. I am sure we would all agree that the safety of our children is paramount. Thank you.

FINALLY Academically the teachers continue to set realistic and challenging targets for all children. I would like to thank the children for their enthusiasm and endeavour and also all parents for their continued support and interest. In conclusion, I would like to thank all who are involved in making St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School the happy and caring environment it is. I would also like to thank each Governor for the time they have freely given. I am grateful for the considerable extra time given by the Teaching Assistants, Administrators, Cleaners, Midday Supervisory Assistants, Site Manager and Bus Guides who all contribute to make St Hugh’s such a successful school. Thanks go to Phil the driver of the school bus who retires this Christmas. We wish him a happy retirement. On behalf of Mr Kevin Yates our Chair of Governors, staff and Governors, I would like to wish you all a happy and relaxing Christmas and New Year and look forward to welcoming the children back on Tuesday 6th January 2015. Yours sincerely

Gregory Hughes Gregory Hughes – Headteacher Please check the new Web Site which will be regularly updated with Newsletters and updates (the web address is at the top of this letter).

P.T.O

CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES

SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL’S CHURCH Wednesday 24th December – Christmas Eve Children’s Christmas Carol Service 5.30 pm Vigil Mass 6.00 pm

11.30 pm Carols followed by Midnight Mass Christmas Day Masses Dawn Mass 9.00am

Day Mass 11.00am

ST HUGH’S CHURCH

10.00 am Mass Sunday 21st December includes the Children’s Nativity Wednesday 24th December – Christmas Eve 10.00 am Mass of the day 5.30 pm Christmas Carols 6.00 pm Vigil Mass of Christmas

9.30 pm Vigil Mass of Christmas (Polish language) 11.30 pm Carols followed by Midnight Mass Christmas Day Masses

10.00 am and 12.15 pm (Polish language) AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS The clubs starting the first week back are: Infant Dance Tuesday 6th January 2015 Junior Dance Tuesday 6th January 2015 Choir Wednesday 7th January 2015 Film Club Year 5/6 only - Thursday 8th January 2015

Week 2 Cookery Wednesday 14th January 2015 Art Club Thursday 15th January 2015 Italian Thursday 15th January 2015 Football Infants Thursday 15th/Friday 16th January 2015 Movie Making Thursday 15th January 2015

Future Dates

Tuesday 6th January 2015 School reopens for the start of Term 3 Thursday 15th January 2015 Closing date for Reception September 2015

applications Friday 13th February 2015 Break up for half term. School closes at normal

time. Monday 23rd February 2015 Children return to school and half term break Friday 27th March 2015 Break up for Easter Tuesday 22nd April 2014 Children return to school after Easter break. Mon 11th May–Fri 15th May 2015 KS2 SATs week. It is important that Year 6 pupils

are in school all week. Tuesday 16th – Friday 19th June YEAR 5 – AMPLEFORTH RESIDENTIAL Saturday 6th June 2015 First Holy Communion 11.00 a.m. at SSPP Church Sunday 7th June 2015 First Holy Communion 10.00 a.m. at St Hugh’s

Church Wednesday 22nd July 2015 Last day of Academic Year