Dear Parents,

This week in our assemblies we have been learning about advent and this special time of waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas day, comparing it to waiting for other exciting events in our lives. We have been thinking about taking time to reflect in our busy day – finding time to be quiet and still so that we remember what Christmas is really all about.

Rabbits Class have been talking about the part of the Christmas story where Angel Gabriel visits Mary and tells her she is going to have God’s son, and they have been thinking about how amazing that was. I had fun in Rabbits yesterday when they were learning all about the story of Moses and how he was saved by being placed in the basket amongst the reeds. The children enjoyed telling me the story and what they had learned from it. They have been practising writing gift tags using the words ‘to’ and ‘from’ and have been using these words to write letters this week.

Otters Class have been continuing their discussions about the Old and New Testaments, focusing this week on the story of the lost sheep and what Jesus is teaching through that parable. They have been busy using their measuring skills to measure length, such as how long the playground is and to compare lengths of objects. They are also learning to measure capacity, looking carefully to check how much liquid is in a container and to record it as ml.

Badgers Class have been exploring local habitats and describing the animals that would be found in local woodlands, what they need for food and why this habitat is suitable for their needs. They are having fun learning how to become a knight and are planning a story using their imagination to create shields and flags with coats of arms and thinking of the commands they would be giving as a knight.

We had a fantastic St Matthew’s turn out at the Cobham Light Parade last Friday evening – a big thank you to everyone who took part in the parade and who helped on the stall. There was a great and exciting community atmosphere to the evening and all of the lanterns looked amazing in the dark, so definitely worth all of the effort that went into them, both at home and at school. We are collecting back any sticks or tea lights that are not wanted at home as we can re-use them next year.

The school fair was a great success and was buzzing with activity and had that same lovely community feel. Nina and the PTA did a brilliant job of organising all the Christmas stalls and activities so that there were lots of exciting things to do throughout the school. So much effort is put into days like this and as a school we really appreciate the time and care taken to ensure that an event is successful. Through the Lantern parade stall and the Christmas Fair we managed to raise £1630.54! So a very BIG thank you for every part played.

Our ‘Lights, Camel, Action!’ rehearsals are well under way and everyone is practising their lines, actions and dances ready for the performances. Next week we will all be practising en masse on the stage to pull it all together and the week after we have our dress rehearsal and filming rehearsal, which is always very exciting.

Please can all costumes be in (in a named bag) by Monday 5th if possible so that we can make sure that we have everything we need for our rehearsals.

We have a ticket system for each performance of ‘Lights, Camel, Action!’ so that everyone gets the opportunity to enjoy the performance – please can you complete the form indicating your preferred performance by Monday 5th December, then we can start issuing the tickets later in the week.

With the cold weather, it is understandable that children may wish to wear warm boots to school – if this is the case, please ensure that your child has a pair of school shoes to change into as boots are not part of the uniform. On very cold or snowy days children will be able to change into their boots for playtimes.

Otters cake sale has moved from this Friday to next Friday, 9th December and Rabbits class have their cake sale the following Friday, 16th December.

Our after school care club has got off to a really excellent start and we are pleased to extend the offer to include Tuesdays as well as Wednesdays and Thursdays from January. Letters and forms are coming home in book bags – please fill in forms and send payment to reserve places by the end of term. If you are interested in the club extending to include a Monday or Friday, please let the office know also.

Well done to Rania and Samuel for completing their sticker charts.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Hutt

AWARDS OF THE WEEK

SUPERSTARS

Rabbits: / Phoebe and Anthony M for being absolute superstars and being incredibly helpful when practicing our dances.
Otters: / Rania for having such amazing listening when practicing the Christmas dances and always following instructions so perfectly!
Badgers: / Bligh for having such a fantastic hard working attitude.
Enterprise Award
/ R – George for working really hard on writing his name correctly and not giving up. Wow, you are getting better and better!
O – Seren for working hard in all areas and making such great progress.
B – Kitty for working so hard this week and always showing really good listening.
Environment Award
/ R – Bethany for being a super role model when tidying up in the classroom.
O – Thomas J for tidying up a big pile of Mrs Harman’s books – thank you!
B – Sophie for reminding us to save electricity and switch off the lights.
Spiritual & Moral Award
/ R – Olivia for giving excellent answers and joining in brilliantly during our RE discussion.
O – Ava for writing such a thoughtful prayer thanking God for baby Jesus.
B – Isabel for being a really kind and helpful friend.

DIARY DATES

Friday 9th December / Otters cake sale at 3.15pm

GATE DUTY w/c 5th December 2016, Parents of:

Mon 5th Sophia A, Tue 6th Dylan B, Wed 7th Bethany B, Thu 8th Charlie C, Fri 9th Adele D

Notices

PTA News

A very big thank you to everyone who helped out,baked cakes, made gingerbread houses, donated items, wrapped hampers, and came along and made the Christmas Fair so much fun on Saturday!It had a great atmosphere .

Thank you also to everyone that helped on the St Matthew’s stall on Friday night.

In total we raised a brilliant £1630.54!

Nina


St Matthew’s Christmas Post

Our post box will be open from Monday 12th December in the library area. Our final collection will be on Tuesday 20th December. Please mark your envelopes clearly with both name and class, and band together in class if possible, to ensure the Post Boys & Girls in Year 2 are able to deliver correctly!!

Shelves

We are looking for some shelving to put up in our newly decorated PE shed – if anyone has any spare shelves that they are happy to donate, please contact Sam in the office. They can be‘free standing’ or shelving that you attach to the walls. Thank you!

MESSY CHRISTMAS – lots of fun, Christmas Crafts, songs, stories and food at 10:30am – 12:30am. Everyone welcome at the United Reformed Church on Stoke Road.

Horsley Choral Society

Christmas Music and Carols – Saturday 3rd December @ 7.30pm at St Andrew’s Church, Cobham. Please see website for more details:

Missing Coat

Please could we ask everyone to check their school coats this weekend – we have a missing coat in Badgers class – it has the name Lily Thornton in it but belongs to Lahna. Thank you very much.