No 36 for week ending Friday 3 July 2015 Page 1 of 6

No 36 for week ending 3 July 2015

Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you all for ensuring

that your children have come

into school ‘sun ready and

protected’. It has certainly

been a sweltering week but

our wonderful pupils have, as

always, not let it affect their attitude to learning and

we have seen some stunning work. On the very

hottest day (Wednesday) Mrs Peart and I, along with

other senior leaders Ms Carroll and Ms Cannon,

carried out a full day of formal lesson observations

and we were delighted with the standard of teaching

and learning we witnessed. Well done everyone. I

hope that parents will be able to visit classrooms next

Tuesday for the final exhibition of work. Classrooms

will be open from 3.15 until 5.00. Don’t forget to

collect a raffle ticket when you leave and your name

will go into the draw for a bottle of champagne!

Arts Week

Throughout the week, pupils have been exploring a

wide range of art techniques and studying the work of

painter Georges Seurat. In many classes pupils looked

in detail at pointillism and used this distinctive

technique to investigate colour and light. The

particular painting used as the main focus was

Bathers at Asnières and it was amazing to see how

pupils interpreted this masterpiece and in the older

classes learnt new vocabulary along with new skills.

Code Club

This highly successful club

continues to flourish after

school on Thursdays.

Scratch club at lunchtime is

also buzzing with excited

computer programmers

designing and creating new games. We are grateful to

No 36 for week ending Friday 3 July 2015 Page 2 of 6

Mr James who coordinates both clubs and we are also

indebted to American Express employees Neil and

Kerry who support the after school club with Mr

James. Along with Mr James, big thanks must go to

parent Mrs Bradley who initiated the Code Club and

secured the assistance of American Express

colleagues. This week Coders were working on

designing and programming a ‘virtual tour’ of our

school. The results are brilliant and the club was also

attended by Dan Powell the South East coordinator of

Code Club. He was clearly very impressed with what

he saw! The club will continue next academic year.

The e-safety crew have spent the last few weeks

designing an e-safety

screen saver for our

school computers. All

the designs were

excellent, but the one

chosen by the Chair of

Governors and I was

designed by Sofia

and Vraj. Well done to them! Don’t forget the e-

safety meeting for parents on the 14th July at

6.30pm.

Music

On Wednesday we were treated to a keyboard

concert by out budding musicians. Lessons are taught

by Mr Pope through West Sussex Music Service. Well

done to all our performers!

Last week we heard from our guitarists taught by

James Clark and he has sent this message:

“Well done to the guitar pupils who performed in

assembly last Friday and thanks to the school for

being very supportive. If you are interested in guitar

lessons with West Sussex Music, all you need to do is

apply online and we will do the rest. Or, feel free to

contact me with any questions you may have

(james.clarke@westsussexmusic.co.uk).”

First Communion children’s Mass and tea party

On Tuesday

afternoon, we had a

most lovely

Eucharistic

Celebration and tea

party for friends and

families of all our

first Holy

Communion children.

Over ninety attended

and the occasion was a most joyous one! Thank you as

always to Father Rick for celebrating Mass for us and

thank you also to wonderful Mr Simpson for the music

and also to families for providing the delicious food.

No 36 for week ending Friday 3 July 2015 Page 3 of 6

The whole event was a very powerful reminder of the

distinctive and precious character of our Catholic

school. On Sunday, our school choir will travel to the

Amex Stadium to celebrate the Diocese of Arundel &

Brighton’s Golden Jubilee. The choir will proudly be

wearing their special St Wilfrid’s Angels t-shirts.

Marigold Competition

Well done to all those pupils

who nurtured their classes’

marigolds in readiness for the

Burgess Hill’s Marigold growing competition. St

Wilfrid’s came a magnificent second after

Oakmeeds School! We were delighted with the result.

The gardening club under

the guidance of Mr

Caraiman sold some of

their delicious produce at

the brilliant WilFest last

weekend and made a

handsome profit! Well

done to our keen

gardeners.

Classes for Next Year

At the end of this academic year we will be saying

goodbye to a number of staff who are moving on to

new schools or new experiences. We say a fond

farewell and a big thank you to Mrs Franklin who

retires after over twenty years with St Wilfrid’s. We

also say goodbye and good luck to Mrs McCarthy who

leaves us after sixteen years to join the staff of St

Paul’s as Primary Outreach Adviser. Ms Harman leaves

to take up a full time Masters Degree in Education at

Sussex University and Ms Wynne and Mrs Tomkins

leave to join Infant Schools in West Sussex. We also

say goodbye to Ms Boulton who is moving out of the

area and in September joins a school closer to her

new home.

We are delighted that despite an impending and well-

reported recruitment crisis in the teaching profession,

we have been able to appoint talented teachers who

will join our existing outstanding team. The table

below sets out the new appointments. Pupils will have

an opportunity to meet their new teachers on Friday

17th July and Ms Driver and Ms Zuniga will meet their

classes on the 20th. A separate letter concerning the

year 1 classes has been sent out today.

Classes for 2015-16

Current Class

Moving to teacher(s)

New Class name

Incoming Reception

Miss Jackie Cannon or Miss Michelle Lea

FJC or FML

FJC

Either Miss Rachel Hildyard or Miss Louise Driver

1RH or 1LD

Letters sent out separately

FRH

Either Miss Rachel Hildyard or Miss Louise Driver

1RH or 1LD

Letters sent out separately

1GB Mrs Maureen Brown (4 Days)

2MB 1 day with Mrs Gillian Frost (Thursday)

1LW Mrs Marian Watson (4 Days)

2MW 1 day with Mrs Gillian Frost (Friday)

2MM Mrs Hannah Zuniga

3HZ

2MB Mrs Sarah Barton

3SB

3MF Miss Emily Eversden)

4EE

3HH Mr Marcus Fox

4MF

No 36 for week ending Friday 3 July 2015 Page 4 of 6

4SB Ms Liz Carroll

5LC

4SU Mrs Clare Watts

5CW

5LC Mrs Frances Novis

6FN

5NM Ms Trish Roberts

6PR

We look forward to welcoming Mrs Zuniga, Mrs

Watts, Miss Eversden, Miss Driver, Miss Lea and Mrs

Frost.

A meeting for our incoming Reception class parents

takes place on Monday 6th July at 6.30pm.

St Wilfrid’s is now almost completely full with pupils

on waiting lists in almost all year groups. This reflects

the continuing and growing popularity of our school.

Child Protection and Pastoral Care

Child Protection and Safeguarding Policies can be

viewed on our website and a reminder that Mrs Peart

and I are the two designated safeguarding officers at

the school.

At St Wilfrid’s, safeguarding is a top priority and all

staff receive regular training.

We have a number of pastoral support systems in

place at school which include access to our Learning

Mentors. Parents are also reminded that the

RAINBOWS groups offer pupils support through

challenging times if they are experiencing loss through

bereavement or family break up. Please speak to me

if you feel that your child may require support from

RAINBOWS, or if you require information about how

RAINBOWS might help your child.

Diary dates:

7th July 3.15-5.00pm: Exhibition of Children’s Work -

Collect a raffle ticket when you leave and you may

win a bottle of champagne!

Tuesday 7th July: Year 4 Recorder Concert- 2.30-

3.00pm

Wednesday 8th July: Sports Day- Please ensure your

child wears the correct coloured t-shirt for their house

Thursday 9th July: St Wilfrid’s Music Concert

Friday 10th July: St Wilfrid’s International Day led by

our Young Interpreters

Tuesday 14th July: E-Safety Parent’s Evening- 6.30pm

Inset Days for next academic year:

Thursday and Friday 3rd and 4th September 2015

Friday 23rd October 2015 (Writing)

Thursday 24th March 2016 (Maths)

Friday 22nd July 2016

Finally, a very big thank

you to the small and very hard

working number of Friends Of St

Wilfrid’s Committee for

organising and coordinating the

immensly succesful WilFest last

Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th July: Year 6

Production ‘Ice Quest’ - 7pm

Monday 20th July: Year 6 Leavers Mass- 2pm

Tuesday 21st July: Sports Assembly

Wednesday 22nd July: LAST DAY OF TERM-

Leavers Assembly 1.30pm followed by picnic

on field 2.30-4pm School finishes at 3.15pm

but parents/carers may pick up children from

2.30pm

No 36 for week ending Friday 3 July 2015 Page 5 of 6

Saturday. It was a wonderful event which was enjoyed

by everyone present. We thank the Committe who

spent many hours making sure the day ran smoothly.

This was a first brave attempt to try something very

different to raise funds for the school and to provide

an opportunity for the school community to come

together. Well done to them- it was a great success! A

letter from the Chair of the Friends is included in this

newsletter.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Kind Regards

Angela O’Hara

Office Email Address:

Please note the office email changed a long time ago;

please ensure when emailing the office the new email

address- office@stwilfridsbh.org.uk. If you email the

old email address- office@st-wilfrids-burgesshill.w-

sussex.sch.uk we will no longer receive your emails.

Thank you

Swimming:

UPPER AND LOWER JUNIOR INTERHOUSE

SWIMMING GALAS

Please note there has been a change to the day on

which the Galas will be held:

THE GALAS WILL NOW BE ON TUESDAY 7TH JULY

Please ensure your child has their swimming kit with

them, together with an extra towel.

Unfortunately due to lack of sufficient viewing space,

parents are not able to attend these galas. Thank you.

SWIMMING BADGES AND CERTIFICATES

All swimming badges and certificates must be ordered

before

10th July 2015.

Badges ordered after this date will only be handed to

the children in the new school year.

Think Family:

Free courses to help improve job prospects

Mid Sussex Learning & Training Support is offering

free training courses in Burgess Hill and Haywards

Heath to help improve people’s employability.

Workshops include food safety, how to write a

business plan, building self-confidence and health and

safety. If you know of any families that would benefit

from this please get in touch with the team for more

information and to book a place on any of the

workshops. The workshops run until 23rd July. Email

admin@sussexlearningsolutions.org.uk / Tel: 01903

204931.

Events:

The Little Mermaid

"Turning Pointe School of Dance returns with another

beautiful story ballet, based on the Hans Christian

Anderson original fairy tale of a mermaid, who falls in

love with a prince and will do anything to win his

love."

The production involves 150 local talented young

people and is an exciting mix of ballet, modern, tap

dance, aerial work and singing

Show is at the Martlets Hall Burgess Hill on Friday

10th 7.30pm & Saturday 11th July at 2pm & 7.30pm.

Please book tickets through the Martlets website or

call 01444 242888

Record Breakers:

The Summer Reading Challenge takes place every year

during the summer. You can sign up at your local

library, then read six library books of your choice,

No 36 for week ending Friday 3 July 2015 Page 6 of 6

collecting stickers and other rewards along the way-

all FREE!

Find out more at www.westsussex.gov.uk/libraries

and www.recordbreakers.org.uk

WilFest

WilFest - Our first ever Live Music Festival was held on

Saturday on a gloriously sunny day. All the hard work

and planning over the past year paid off and all those

who joined us enjoyed an afternoon of great live

music from the marvellous bands, and children’s

entertainment in the kids arena with activities ranging

from Weird Science to Football Coaching to

Popsteps. All of this was alongside the BBQ, the Beer

and Pimms tent as well as our coffee and cake stand

and all the wonderful stall holders. The gloriously

sunny forecast saw ticket sales more than double in

the final 2-3 days leading up to the event, and whilst

this was fabulous news for WilFest it also meant we

ended up in the very unfortunate position of having to

turn people away at the gate. We apologise to all

those who were affected by this, and extend our

thanks to those of you who graciously accepted this

disappointing news on Saturday. All of the planning

(food and drink, toilets, volunteers etc.) for WilFest

was based on previous May Fayre attendance, and so

to avoid disappointing the hundreds of people who

had purchased tickets we had to limit additional entry

as we could only cater for a certain capacity.

I would like to thank the Friends committee for their

hard work and dedication to putting on the event, to

all the volunteers who gave up their time to support

WilFest both before and on the day, and to all the

Bands, stall holders and Simon Daniels who

contributed towards making the day so

memorable! We are still totting up the final figure

and will share the total we raised as soon as we can.

If anyone would like to discuss WilFest or any other

matters please email me on

stwilfridsfriends@gmail.com – Cath Smith – Chair of

the Friends PTA

Tea towels

The children have been busy drawing self - portraits

for tea towels which will be on sale before the end of

term. Unfortunately pre-ordering online has now

closed; however we will be ordering some surplus so

there will be some stock available if you haven’t been

able to pre-order. Please note that we will only order

a certain amount so we do not have surplus stock.

Further details will follow.

Friends summer discos

The Friends discos will be held on Tuesday 21st July.

The Foundation and KS1 disco will take place from

5.30pm to 6.30pm and costs £2.50. The KS2 disco will

take place from 7.00pm until 8.30pm and costs £3.00.

You can pre-order your tickets online at

https://www.pta-events.co.uk/st-wilfrids/ if you are

able to volunteer to help please contact us.