St Mary’s Catholic Primary School

NEWSLETTER

Newsletter Number: 61 3rd September 2010

OUR SYMPATHY:

It was with great sadness that we received the news of the death of Paul Winfield on 21st August 2010. Mr Winfield served as Headteacher of St Mary’s School from 1992-2003. Our School Mass on Sept 8th will be offered for the repose of his soul.

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CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME:

We congratulate Mr McCavera and his wife on the birth of their new son, Danny. Danny McCavera was born on July 26th. Mr McCavera is delighted to be back at school for a rest!

We also welcome Mrs Kakol to Uffington class and Miss Lightfoot to Malmesbury class.

Another St Mary’s welcome to Mrs Kirvar who is doing a placement in Ermin class and will also be working with Salisbury and Ridgeway class.

We welcome Mr Priday our Teaching Assistant for outdoor learning and Mrs Warwick as Teaching Assistant in Barbury.

FAREWELL:

As you are probably now aware, Fr Liam is leaving as parish priest of St Mary’s after 17 years. He is moving to St Peter’s in Gloucester. We wish him all the best, although we will dearly miss him. Fr Michael McAndrew will be the new parish priest of St Mary’s. We will be celebrating Fr Liam’s time with us by putting on a special assembly on Friday 24th September at 2.15pm. You are all very welcome to join with us in wishing Fr Liam our best wishes.

We will be collecting money for Fr Liam so that we can present him with a gift to show our appreciation to him. A letter will be sent out on Monday.

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HEALTHY PACKED LUNCHES:

Thank you to those who said they would be interested in this service. We hope to start healthy packed lunches by the third week back in September.

Can I also remind you that school lunches and trips can be paid for on-line. Please see Mrs. Stonell in the office if you want to find out more about this service.

It is hoped to start on line communication with parents via email in September. For example newsletters will be distributed this way as will menus. It is a requirement that all schools are to communicate electronically by 2012. Thank you to all those who have already sent their email address to the school office.

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CHANGE OF DATE:

The date for our July T.D. day has been changed from Fri 1st July to Monday 4th July. There will also be an additional T.D. day on February 28th. This additional was granted by the previous government and the Coalition government have honoured it.

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EXTRA DAY HOLIDAY:

When the holiday dates were arranged there was a spare day to play with. Now that Pope Benedict’s activities are happening over the weekend, the extra day’s holiday will be tagged on to the Christmas holidays which means that school reopens after the Christmas break on Wed Jan 5th 2011.

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THE POPE’S VISIT:

On Friday 17th September, The Big Assembly takes place. This is an education event for young people and the Pope will be in attendance and addressing the crowd. St Mary’s School will be represented by Mrs Brown, Abigail Brown, Ellie and Lucy Brown. The school will follow The Big Assembly via a live satellite, singing the songs and joining in the prayers. I have dedicated Friday 17th Sept as a Pope day and the children will be doing activities around that theme and finding out about Cardinal John Henry Newman who is to be beatified on Sunday 18th September in Birmingham.

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FIRST AID:

Miss Clarke has replaced Mrs Brookes as the official school first aider. She will be responsible for liaising with the school nurse and co-ordinating care plans. We are very fortunate in having 5 qualified first aid people in school.

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

Wed 8th Sept Mass in school for Our Lady’s

Birthday (Paul Winfield RIP)

Fri 17th Sept The Big Assembly

Fri 24th Sept Fr Liam’s assembly

Assembly Dates

Ridgeway 1st Oct (Lent Harvest Fast Day)

Salisbury 8th Oct

Ermin 15th Oct

Waylands 22nd Oct

Half Term

Silbury 5th Nov

Avebury 11th Nov

Malmesbury 19th Nov

Uffington 26th Nov

Barbury 3rd Dec

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Cardinal John Henry Newman

Pope Benedict XV1