Headteacher’s Weekly Newsletter 26.04.2024

 Friday 26 April 2024 

Dear Parents and Carers 

I have been lucky enough to have spent a great deal of time on the playground this week and it has been lovely to see so many of our children enjoying the good weather playing football, netball, basketball or swinging merrily on the monkey bars. At St Mary’s we are working hard to work with one another in harmony and we are starting to see some lovely relationships develop between different groups of children. Thank you to our committed staff who role model positive behaviour everyday and support our children when they need it most. 

Greek Day 

Year 4 and 5 became Greeks for a day and enjoyed some high-quality enriched activities. Thank you to all those parents who contributed and helped us provide this opportunity. You can still pay for this if you haven’t done so already. 

Monday Drop-Ins 

Emma Kennedy is available on a Monday morning if you would like to discuss anything. Please drop in to the office. 

Governor meetings 

Full governing body meetings are held six times a year and are made up of a variety of community, staff and school members. Each governor also attends regular committee meetings. The governors are in place to set the school vision alongside the headteacher, ensure financial accounting is as it should be and ultimately hold myself to account. It has been decided that the governors will write a brief update 

after a full governing body meeting so that you are aware of what is going on in school from their perspective. 

After-school activities 

As a school, we provide a wide variety of after-school activities at a cost of £1 for a one-hour session. Many of our staff give up their time every week to provide these amazing enriching experiences. If your child attended a club last week but you have yet to pay, pleas pay for this by Sunday evening or your child will not be able to attend the club as we have a waiting list for most of them. As I have said in several newsletters now, if you would like your child to attend a club and are experiencing financial difficulties you must speak to the school. I have sent reminders, made phone calls but now will have to turn your child away as they are not a statutory part of the curriculum and we do not have to offer these for free. We want to build relationships with our families but avoiding our efforts to make contact with you will not help the situation or support your child. 

Inter-House Competition 

The House Captains, alongside Mrs Eaglestone have created a project to earn even more house points in a final push before the end of term. Merits can be earned for completing a variety of home learning activities. You will have received further information today in a letter your child has brought home. 

I hope you are able to start your Inter-house competition and support your house this weekend. 

Attendance Class with overall best attendance	Year 1 – 98.28% (Miss Gardner’s Class)
Overall School attendance	96.96%
Lates	34 pupils late this week / 181
Unauthorised absence	5 unauthorised absences from 3 /181 pupils