st. margaret’s ce primary school ‘grace, strength, love’ · ‘grace, strength, love’...

Headteacher: Mrs Rachel Kershaw Week ending: Friday 13th September 2019

St. Margaret’s CE Primary School ‘Grace, Strength, Love’

Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through Him who gives me strength

Dear Parents and Carers, Welcome back to the new academic year and our bumper first edition of the newsletter, as there’s lots to update you on! A special welcome to our new Reception children and their parents, and to all the other new families who have joined our school commuinty this week – I hope you will be very happy as part of St Margaret’s. Welcome also to our new staff who are all settling in well – Mrs Carpenter (SENCO); Mrs Greenough (Y6 teacher); Miss Lewis (Y5 teacher) and Mrs Stevenson (Reception TA). It’s been a wonderful start and I have been so impressed with the children’s attitudes to learning and behaviour over the last week as we have launched a range of new approaches. The teachers have been working very hard over the summer and the last week to be ready for our maths mastery launch, and as a whole staff we had maths mastery training on the INSET day, and then our dedicated team stayed on until 6.30pm last night for 3 hours of further training with our new scheme. We have been lucky enough to secure matched funding from the Department of Education for our new maths programme, as it is one of only 2 schemes approved by the DfE for effective delivery of a mastery curriculum. I’ve spoken to children from several year groups this week, and seen some of our brand new practice books in action, and I have been delighted to see how motivated and enthused they all are. We want to give parents the opportunity to hear about our ‘Power Maths’ scheme, so we are holding a maths meeting for all parents on Monday 23rd September at 3.15pm – all welcome to attend. Those of you who have already been in school this week, will have noticed the huge improvements to our site over the summer months. We now have fantastic LED lighting and emergency lighting installed across the school, and what a difference it makes! Our new heating and pipework installation continues to progress at a rapid rate, and we are delighted with what we hope will be an efficient and effective new system come the winter months. Thank you to all of you who have donated to the Governors building fund, this is much appreciated, because as you know, as a C of E school we have to pay for 10% of all works ourselves. Anybody who stills wishes to add their contribution can do using the link: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/10193 Thank you. There is still work to do around school to make things look more aesthetically pleasing and we will be starting this shortly. I will be holding my annual meeting for parents to discuss the School Development Plan for this year on Wednesday 25th September at 3.15pm. During this meeting, I will give an overview of our SATs achievements, and outline our priorities for further development this year. This is an opportunity for all parents to hear our successes and next steps, and ask any questions they may have about our priorities, so please do join me if you can. Finally, I’d like to remind you that we all want your child’s time at St Margaret’s to be a happy and successful experience, and we are always available to support in anyway we can. I operate an open door policy, and am usually always around on the school gates for any quick queries. If you wish to make an appointment with myself or any member of staff, please do this via the school office. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, Rachel Kershaw, Headteacher

A reminder that an opportunity for you to meet your child’s new teacher is arranged for next week: Tuesday 17th September at 3.10pm for Y1 & Y2 parents Wednesday 18th September at 3.15pm for Y3 & Y4 parents Thursday 19th September at 3.15pm for Y5 & Y6 parents These meetings will provide you with valuable information for the year ahead, so we look forward to seeing you there. There will also be a phonics meeting for Reception parents on Friday 20th September at 3.10pm . All meetings are in classrooms.

As part of our Harvest celebrations, Brighton & Hove City Mission will be with us on Wednesday 2nd October to lead an assembly and collect donations for the food bank. A list of needed items is attached below. Thank you for your support with this, as we teach the children how vital it is to support others less fortunate than ourselves.

https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/10193




Our fantastic Forest School launches………………. This week saw an exciting new development in our curriculum here at St. Margaret's, as we embarked on our Forest School adventure. Lots of preparation and generous funding from the PTA have helped to get this project off the ground and the first three classes (and Mr Jones!) have really enjoyed connecting with their natural environment through team building activities, a stick rhythm session and personal challenge too. Pupils from Years 1, 4 and 5 will be involved this term, with the other year groups getting their chance later in the year. Different year groups enjoyed activities such as blindfolded tree hugging, times table focused rhythmic drumming and the human spaghetti game in their first sessions, and the pupils will all be looking forward to a wide range of nature focussed outdoor activities over the coming weeks. More information and pictures coming soon! Mr Jones.

Welcome back to the new school year, and a special welcome to our new Reception parents who are now a part of the Friends of St Margaret’s School (PTA). Our first meeting of the year will be on Monday 16th September at 3.10pm in Y1 classroom. Please do come along to the meeting to hear our plans for the year. Upcoming dates this term Friday 4th October – mufti day – children wear their own clothes and donate £1 Wednesday 16th October - movie night @ 3.10pm – further details to follow Friday 8th November – mufti day – children wear their own clothes and donate £1 Friday 29th November - wreath making class (adults only) in the school hall – further details to follow Friday 6th December – mufti day – children wear their own clothes and donate £1 Week commencing- 9th December - Nativity photos and refreshments at performances Friday 13th Dec - Big pantomime with Santa’s grotto. Start time 5.30pm - performance at 6.30pm - finish 8.15pm – further details to follow We look forward to seeing you on Monday!.

We will be hosting our annual coffee morning for parents to support the Macmillan Cancer charity on Friday 27th September at 9.20am (after celebration assembly). Please do join us for this if you can, and we would appreciate any donations of cakes to be given to the school office on Thursday. Thank you for your support.

British food fortnight Caterlink ( our caterers) are celebrating British food for a fortnight, with some special menus – see below for further details.




Upcoming dates this term 2019 / 2020 MONDAY 16th Reception children in full time from today

3.10pm PTA meeting – all welcome (Y1 classroom)

TUESDAY 17th 8.30am Kate Williams (Longhill Head) on gates to meet prospective Y7 pupils and parents

Guitar lessons start

3.10pm Year 1 and Year 2 Meet the new teacher session (classrooms)

WEDNESDAY 18th 3.15pm Year 3 and Year 4 Meet the new teacher session (classrooms)

THURSDAY 19th 3.15pm Year 5 and Year 6 Meet the new teacher session (classroom

FRIDAY 20th 3.10pm Phonics meeting for Reception parents (classroom)

MONDAY 23rd 3.15pm ‘Power maths’ Meeting for all parents (Y4 classroom)

TUESDAY 24th

Year 1 – Isadora and Ronnie Year 2 – Betsy and Freddie Year 3 – Matilda and Isla Year 4 – Astrid and Jasmina Year 5 – Ceri and Kai Year 6 – Toby and Lottie

Congratulations to all the children who have achieved an award this week!

Dates for the year A full schedule of events for the whole year will be released next week, but please be advised that

some of these dates are provisional at the moment as it is too soon to make certain bookings. Other dates will also be added as the year progresses, and we shall send out updated dates termly, like we did last year. Each week in the newsletter we will publish the next few week’s dates, and dates will be available on our school website over the next week.

Commendation certificates

Winning Housepoint team this week: DIAMOND Team in the lead for the end of half term treat: DIAMOND

Class with the best attendance this week: Year 6 with 98.98%




WEDNESDAY 25th 3.15pm School Development Plan meeting for parents led by Mrs Kershaw

THURSDAY 26th

FRIDAY 27th 9.20am Macmillan coffee morning (all welcome to join us)

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER

MONDAY 30th Black History month

TUESDAY 1st October 3.45pm Years 3 – 6 - World Cup Rugby Festival @ Longhill

WEDNESDAY 2nd 9am – Brighton and Hove City mission assembly – Harvest – FOOD BANK COLLECTION DAY

THURSDAY 3rd School Census day

FRIDAY 4th

SATURDAY 5th Mufti day – children wear own clothes and donate £1

World Teacher’s Day

MONDAY 7th Individual photos

Y1 trip to Woods Mill

TUESDAY 8th Pm – KS2 Badminton Festival (selected pupils)

WEDNESDAY 9th Year 3 trip to Michelham Priory

THURSDAY 10th

FRIDAY 11th Girls football competition at Brighton College (selected pupils)

MONDAY 14th

TUESDAY 15th 3.20pm – 6.20pm Parents evening plus SEN consultations

3.45pm Deans partnership Y5 & Y6 girls football competition – St Margaret’s hosting

WEDNESDAY 16th 10am Whole school Harvest service in Church (parents welcome to join us)

3.10pm Movie night for all pupils organised by PTA (further details to follow)

THURSDAY 17th 9.15am Cats Protection league assembly followed by KS2 workshops

3.20pm – 6.20pm Parents evening

FRIDAY 18th

MONDAY 21st Year 6 to PGL Windmill Hill all week

Year 2 trip to Drusillas

Year 5 trip to Science observatory

TUESDAY 22nd

WEDNESDAY 23rd

THURSDAY 24th

FRIDAY 25th Modern Marvels film booth arriving at St Margaret’s for 2 weeks

pm – Treat for winning housepoint team

3.05pm / 3.10pm School finishes for half term

HALF TERM MONDAY 28th OCTOBER – FRIDAY 1st NOVEMBER

MONDAY 4th NOVEMBER 8.40am School reopens for pupils

Modern Marvels film booth at St Margaret’s for 2 weeks

TUESDAY 5th

WEDNESDAY 6th 3.45pm Y5 & Y6 Indoor mixed cricket at Longhill (selected pupils)

THURSDAY 7th Flu Vaccinations – Rec – Y6

FRIDAY 8th Mufti day – children wear own clothes and donate £1

SUNDAY 10th Remembrance Sunday




MONDAY 11th Anti-Bullying week

10am Whole school Remembrance service in Church (parents welcome to join us)

TUESDAY 12th

WEDNESDAY 13th

THURSDAY 14th

FRIDAY 15th INSET DAY (school closed to pupils today)

MONDAY 18th

TUESDAY 19th 2.00pm Open afternoon for Prospective Reception Parents September 2020

WEDNESDAY 20th 9.30am Open morning for Prospective Reception Parents September 2020

12.45pm KS2 cross country event at Waterhall (selected pupils)

6.00pm Open evening for Prospective Reception Parents September 2020

THURSDAY 21st

FRIDAY 22nd

MONDAY 25th

TUESDAY 26th 9.30am Open morning for Prospective Reception Parents September 2020

WEDNESDAY 27th

THURSDAY 28th Y5 & Y6 writers to Rudyard Kipling school for writers workshops (selected pupils)

2.00pm Open afternoon for Prospective Reception Parents September 2020

FRIDAY 29th St Margaret’s Church Christmas Tree Festival starts today (until Sunday 2nd Dec)

DECEMBER

MONDAY 2nd 6pm Schools Christmas Concert at Brighton Centre (Year 5 pupils)

TUESDAY 3rd

WEDNESDAY 4th 10am Whole school Advent service in Church (parents welcome to join us)

THURSDAY 5th

FRIDAY 6th Mufti day – children wear own clothes and donate £1

MONDAY 9th

TUESDAY 10th 9.30am KS1 Nativity performance (hall)

WEDNESDAY 11th

THURSDAY 12th 2.00pm KS1 Nativity performance (hall)

FRIDAY 13th Christmas Jumper Day

5.30pm Pantomine and Santa’s Grotto – further details to follow

MONDAY 16th

TUESDAY 17th

WEDNESDAY 18th Christmas dinner day for all pupils

6pm KS2 carol service at St Margaret’s Church (parents welcome to join us)

THURSDAY 19th pm – Treat for winning housepoint team

FRIDAY 20th 3.05pm /3.10pm School finishes for Christmas

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY MONDAY 23rd DECEMBER – FRIDAY 3rd JANUARY

Monday 6th JANUARY 2020 8.40am School reopens for pupils

NOTICES

st. margaret’s ce primary school ‘grace, strength, love’ · ‘grace, strength, love’...

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