St Ambrose Catholic Primary School Weekly News

Follow the example of Jesus 7th September, 2017

Attendance & Holidays

Regular attendance at school, together with arriving at school on time each day is vital for children to do well and fulfil their potential. Latecomers can be a disruption to the class. I

would also like to remind you that if your child has a medical appointment you are requested to show the appointment card to Mrs Griffiths in the School Office. Please could you try and avoid tak-ing your child out of school unnecessarily as this disrupts their education. All holidays taken in term time count as an unauthorised absence and are recorded as such, appearing on children’s records.

Thank you to all parents who managed to get their child into school each day and on time during the last academic year. Our whole school attendance record was improving steadily and we

managed to reach our target of 96%.

Please help us reach our target this year! The children love the Mr Potato Head weekly competition with fantastic rewards for the

winners!

Dear Parents/Guardians

Welcome to the new school year at St Ambrose! I hope you all had a lovely summer break, spending quality time with your children.

I’m looking forward to another successful year which I am sure will be as rewarding as previous years in terms of enjoyment and achievement and I hope that together we can build on those past successes. At St Ambrose we especially recognise that a strong home-school partnership makes a great difference to your child’s education and we will continue to carry out our responsibilities to the very best of our ability in order to help all of our children reach their full potential in all aspects of school life.

I would like to extend a special welcome to those children and their families who are new to St Ambrose!

The School Day

A reminder that the children should enter school from 8.45 am onwards where an LSO/Teacher will be in their classroom to greet them.

Lessons will start at 8.55 am Morning Break at 10.45 am

Nursery sessions are as follows: 8.45 am - 11.45 am (Mornings) 12.30 pm - 3.30 pm (Afternoons)

Classes for September 2017

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Mrs Ward (Miss McCarry, Nursery Teacher) and to Miss See Y1 Class Teacher who both got married in the Summer Holidays. We wish them both much happiness in the future!

School Uniform

The children all look very smart in their school uniform! Just a reminder that boys can wear short or long grey trousers and that girls are permitted to wear either a green skirt or green pina-fore. Please note that grey skirts/grey pinafores are not school uniform.

All children are required to wear black sensible shoes for school. We will contact you to request that you bring in the correct footwear for your child if they are wearing unsuitable shoes. May I also remind you that your child is to have a white t-shirt and green shorts/skirt for PE with the appropriate pumps/trainers. No football kits please. Junior children also require a swimming kit, ie swimming trunks/costume and girls need a swimming cap. Without the appropriate kit, children will be unable to participate. Please could you ensure that names are on all items of kit and uniform. All items of school uniform and PE kit can be ordered online from mandsyourschooluniform.com. Thank you for your support.

Dinner Money

Dinner money is £1.80 per day, (£9.00 per week), payable each Monday, in advance. Children in

Reception, Y1 and Y2 are entitled to a “Universal Free” school meal each day. Please note that we still

require you to fill in the relevant forms for Free School Meals even if your child automatically receives

one. School is awarded vital Pupil Premium money for each child registered as Free School Meals.

Forms may be obtained from the School Admin Officer, the One Stop Shop or Education Awards, P.O.

Box 2013, Liverpool L69 2DY.

Classes for this academic year will be taught by the following:- Nursery: Mrs B Ward & Miss Lee (am) and Mrs O’Connell (pm) Reception: Mrs Harris & Mrs Van Flute Year 1: Miss See & Mrs Butterworth (am) and Mrs MacKenzie (pm) Year 2: Mrs Jones & Mrs Milton (all day) and Mrs Mackenzie (am) Year 3: Mr MacKenzie & Mrs Ryan Year 4: Mrs Sadiq & Miss Cameron and Miss Jones Year 5J: Mr Stinchomb & Miss Gleave, Mrs Daly (am) & Mrs Moore (pm) Year 5B: Mr Byatt & Mrs O’Connell (am), Mrs O’Grady (pm 2x per week) Year 6: Mrs Walker-Ravena & Mrs O’Grady Year 6:Miss Morgan & Mrs Moore

School Dinners We constantly encourage our children to lead healthy lifestyles and all children are encouraged to have a school dinner which is nutritionally balanced for optimum health. Throughout the day in school all children have access to dinking water, are

provided with fresh fruit and are encouraged to exercise. If your child has a packed lunch please consid-er healthy options and remember that they do not need snacks or fizzy drinks at breaktimes. We also sell toast at each morning break. We are gradually phasing our packed lunches so Reception and Year 1 are not permitted to bring in a packed lunch. Breakfast Club There are places available in our Breakfast Club which opens each day from 8.00am. Children should arrive no later than 8.20 am as time is needed for the children to eat their breakfast and for the staff to clear away before school starts at 8.55 am. The price per session is 50p per day and includes a healthy choice of breakfasts and drinks.

Monies Please could you ensure that any cash you send in to us is in a sealed envelope with your child’s name on it and the purpose for which it is being sent (trip, lunch, etc). Thank you.

Medication If your child requires any essential medication to be administered during school time then a

consent form must be completed beforehand. School staff are not allowed to administer any medica-tion without written consent and the medication must have been prescribed by a doctor. Please do not send any other medicines into school with your children.

If your child requires an inhaler please make sure that they have 2 inhalers in school, clearly labelled with their name.

School Nurse Please note that the School Nurse, Cathy Rowe, will be running a drop in session for parents to express any issues, worries or concerns they may have regarding their child. We will inform you of the day and time as soon as we have been notified but, in the meantime, if you need to make an appointment to see her please speak to Mrs Ward in school. Thank you.

Parking Just a reminder that we continue to carry out our Road Safety Campaign, “Respect and Pro-tect us” following the incident outside school some time ago where a child narrowly escaped being knocked over. Enforcement Officers will continue to make their presence

known and will issue on the spot £70 fines to any car causing wilful or unnecessary obstruction. Please ensure that you do not park or stop to drop off your child directly opposite the school gates. The safety of your children is paramount.

Please remember that the school is also a dog-free zone.

END-OF-YEAR CLASS PRIZES

A huge congratulations to the following children who won the end-of-

year class prize. They each received a book as a reward. Well done!

Class Progress Effort

Nursery am Oliver Livingston Hannah Chadwick

Nursery pm Spencer Binmuda Amelia Bowness

McCaw

Reception Reece Humphries Jessika Hamilton

Y1 Daniel Korpal Imogen Hayes Ellis

Y2 Liam Smith Alex Pyclik

Yr3 Callum Ross Klaudia Szylakowska

Y4J Alina Szymanska Kioma Hill

Y4S Ruby Ryan Amanda Evers

Y5W Terence Parry Wiki Siatecka

Y5B Elsa Esona Anthony Falls

Y6 Ruby Reynolds Rose Evers

Calderstones Park

As part of the national Heritage Open Days festival, all families and children are welcome to join the Family Fun in Calderstones Park for the Reader’s Courtyard Fair which takes place this Saturday 10 am—5 pm.

There will be lots of family-friendly fun with free sessions at The Storybarn throughout the day, craft workshops and demonstrations from The Reader's Knit & Natter group and the Big Children's Book Swap (bring along a book to swap!). There will also be a bouncy castle, face painter and market stalls from Independent Liverpool's network of small businesses.

What's On 10am - 5pm - Independent Liverpool Stalls Hourly Storyhunter Sessions Hourly Heritage Tours Bouncy Castle / Face painting 10am - 11am - Bunting Decorating Workshops 11am - 2pm - Knitting, Crochet, Embroidery & Pom Pom Making Workshops 11am - 4pm - Regular Shared Reading Taster Sessions

12pm - 3pm - The Big Children's Book Swap

It will be a great day out for your children and at the same time, will promote their reading for fun!

The event will include regular guided tours exploring the rich history and heritage of the park so it is well worth a visit!

Autumn Term dates for your diary ..

I look forward to another very successful and happy year in school. If you have any queries or questions then please do not hesitate to contact the school. We are always here to help!

MrsO’Neill

Headteacher

Friday 22 September Jeans for Genes – Non Uniform Day

Tuesday 26 September School Photos

Friday 29 September School Assembly & Macmillan Coffee Morning

Friday 6 October CAFOD Harvest Fast Day

Tuesday 17 October Parents Evening @ 3.30 pm Reception and Yrs 1 - 6

Wednesday 18 October Parents Evening @ 3.30 pm Reception

Friday 20 October Harvest Festival Celebration Service in Church

Friday 20 October Children break up for Half Term

Monday 30 October Children return to School Autumn Term 2

Wednesday 1 November Feast of All Saints – Whole school service in Church

Thursday 2 November Years 5 & 6 Visit to Liverpool Philharmonic

Children’s Bookshow Performance by Daniel Morden

Wednesday 22 November Yr 6 Visit to Empire Theatre - Performance of War

Horse

Friday 24 November School Christmas Fair

Friday 1 December Christmas Lunch for Pensioners in the Community

Thursday 7 December Feast of St Ambrose – Whole school service in Church

Tuesday 12 December EYFS Christmas Production

Wednesday 13 December KS1 Christmas Production

Friday 15 December National Christmas Jumper Day

Wednesday 20 December KS2 Christmas Production

Thursday 21 December End of Term

St Ambrose Catholic Primary School Term Dates 2017/2018

Autumn Term 2017

Starts: Monday 4th September 2017 (INSET) – Friday 20th October (33 days)

Children back in school on Wednesday 6th September

Half Term: Monday 23rd to Friday 27th October

Re-opens: Monday 30th October

Ends: Thursday 21st December (39 days)

Christmas: Friday 22nd December – Wednesday 3rd January 2018

Number of days: 72

Spring Term 2018

Starts: Thursday 4th January 2017 – Friday 9th February (27 days)

Half Term: Monday 12th February to Friday 16th February

Re-opens: Monday 19th February

Ends: Wednesday 28th March (27 days)

Easter: Thursday 29th March – Tuesday 10th April 2018

Number of days: 54

Summer Term 2018

Starts: Wednesday 11th April 2018 – Wednesday 23rd May (30 days)

May Bank Holiday: Monday 7th May

Half Term: Thursday 24th May to Friday 1st June

Re-opens: Monday 4th June

Ends: Friday 20th July 2018 (34 days)

Number of days: 64

Total number of days: 190

INSET Days 2017/2018

Monday 4th September, Tuesday 5th September 2017

Friday 9th March 2018

Monday 18th June, 2018

2 twilight sessions – 3 hours per twilight (equivalent of 1 INSET day)

Total number of days + INSET Days = 190 + 5 = 195