Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Pupil Learning Meetings
Pupil Learning Meetings will be held on Wednesday 2nd November and on Thursday 3rd November from 3.30 pm until 6.30pm. Pupil books will be available for you to look at and appointments will be held in the school hall. We will be using School Cloud as a booking system. You should have received an email via ParentPay informing you of the booking system. The information is also attached here.
Appointments will run to time as teachers will be using a timer. This is to avoid inconveniencing people with long waits. We understand that sometimes there is a lot to say, but would ask that if you have further questions when the timer runs out, you message your child’s teacher later via Dojo and arrange another opportunity to talk.
We are inviting pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 to the meeting with their parents/carers. This is to help them to engage in their learning and understand their strengths and next steps. It will allow parents/carers, pupils and staff to decide together the best way we can support the children’s learning.
Apart from Year 3 to Year 6 we request that parents do not bring children with them as we do not have the facilities or staff to accommodate them. We thank you for your co-operation in this matter. Car parking will be available in the Church car park. Access into school is through the front door.
If you have any issues booking an appointment, please contact the school office for advice.
Open Events for New Admissions:
Below are the details of our next open day events:
Tuesday 8th November 2022 at 10.00am
Thursday 10th November 2022 at 1.30pm
Thursday 17th November 2022 at 5.00pm
We hope to see you at one of our open events, please kindly email us at stmarysdavy.admin@trafford.gov.uk to register your interest for one of our open events.
Thank you.
Dear Parent/Carer,
I would like to extend a warm welcome back to school for the new academic year to all of our children and parents, especially those of you who are new to our school family. I hope you will find St Mary’s to be a friendly, welcoming place. Staff are usually available at the end of the day but if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via Class Dojo or email/telephone to the school office. Apologies for the length of this Newsletter, there is a great deal of information to share at this time of year!
Working in Partnership Agreement/School Travel Plan/Acceptable use of ICT
This week, the children will be bringing home a copy of the Working in Partnership Agreement, Travel Plan and Acceptable Use of ICT Agreement. The partnership between school and home is crucial to securing good outcomes for all our pupils. Therefore, we would be grateful if you could discuss both of these documents with your child and return them, signed, as soon as possible. The Values are absolutely at the heart of all we do here at St Mary’s and are part of the everyday language that we use in school with the children.
Reception Collection
On occasions, someone other than the usual carer for your child may be collecting at the end of the day. If this is the case, for security purposes we operate a password system. Please contact the school office or the Reception class staff to let them know who will be collecting your child and provide a password already agreed with the person collecting.
Voluntary Help
In school, we really appreciate the time that parents and grandparents are able to give in order to support our children’s education, and we are now able to welcome volunteers back into school once DBS checks have been completed. If anyone else can spare an hour or two on a regular basis or even be available to help out occasionally, then please let us know by telephoning or calling in to the school office or speaking to your child’s class teacher at the end of the day.
Equipment in School
Just a reminder – apart from Year 6, pupils should not bring pencil cases into school. All equipment will be provided. Only pupils who have pre-arranged agreements with class staff should bring fidgets into school and most children who require a fidget have been supplied with one by the pastoral staff. Last year, the number of children having fidgets became quite a distraction in class - particularly for children who don’t need them.
Your child’s class teacher will inform you which day your child will be doing P.E. on. On those days, your child should come to school in P.E. kit i.e. black shorts/joggers (depending on the weather), plain white t-shirt, trainers and school jumper/cardigan.
Open House Meetings
The Open House meetings are a great opportunity for parents/carers to meet their child’s new teacher and find out what the key learning will be for this year. This year, all of the meetings will be held in person straight after school in your child’s classroom. The half-termly overview will be given out and discussed at this meeting. If you are unable to attend, we will send the information home with your child. The dates for the meetings are included below on the dates for your diary section.
Parking on Cornhill Road
Parking is always challenging around schools and unfortunately, we are on a particularly busy road. St Mary’s church very kindly allow us to use their carpark at pick up and drop off times and I would urge you, if you have to drive to school, to please park away from Cornhill Road. The road gets very congested, especially when we have buses going both ways. We work in partnership with our community and work to maintain good relationships with our neighbours. Please park considerately and do not block driveways, even for a short time. Many thanks for your support in keeping our children safe.
Breakfast and After School Club
Mrs O’Leary and her team are ready to welcome the children back to Breakfast and After School club. If you would like to make use of our wraparound care, please pick up a booking form from the school office. Bookings must be made via the office and not via Class Dojo.
Attendance
If your child is unwell and cannot come to school, it is essential that you inform the school office via telephone or email. Please do not message via Dojo about absences, as class teachers are not always able to check their messages in the morning when they are teaching. It is the office who record attendance and they will be the ones following up if your child is not in school.
I would also like to remind you that absence during term time for holidays is not permitted, unless there are exceptional circumstances. If you are considering taking your child out of school, you need to collect an Application for Authorised Absence During Term Time form from the office then complete and return it to school for my attention. For your information, attendance is classified as follows:-
98% - 100% Excellent
95% - 97.9% Good
90% - 94.9% Unsatisfactory
Below 90% Persistent absentee
Our attendance figures are reported to the local authority and all cases of pupils whose attendance is giving cause for concern will be followed up by the school office and Trafford to see how we can best support families to ensure their child is attending school regularly.
School Meals
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a free meal in school under the Universal Infant free School Meals scheme. Meals for KS2 pupils cost £2.40 per day. If your child wishes to change between school meals and bringing a packed lunch, we need a week’s notice so that we can order food in advance.
All children in Reception and KS1 are provided with a piece of fruit or vegetable for their morning snack and will not therefore need to bring an additional snack with them. In KS2, children are able to bring a healthy snack to school with them to eat at morning playtime. Please refer to our Whole School Healthy Eating Policy (available on the school website) for further information. All children should bring a named water bottle to school with them and they will be encouraged to drink throughout the day. Only water is permitted in water bottles.
Homework/Reading
Your child’s class teacher will inform you of the requirements for homework and reading at the Open House meeting, however I just want to impress upon you the importance of reading with your child. Reading is the single most important thing you can do at home to support your child’s education. Being a fluent reader supports children in all areas of the curriculum and gives them the skills they need to support their education for high school and beyond. Even when your child has mastered phonics and can decode, it is crucial that reading at home continues so that children develop understanding and analytical skills. Please make sure that your child, whatever their age, reads every day.
Dates For Your Diary
Please find below some important dates for your diary. As new events are added or if things change, we will get the information out to you as soon as possible. For Open House meetings, please collect your child from the playground then enter school via the main office to give staff time to set up the classrooms. Fabulous Finishes are an opportunity for you to come into school to find out what your child has been learning in a particular topic. These were very well-established prior to the pandemic and we are very much looking forward to getting them started again. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all events will be face-to-face this year following on from two years of remote/blended activities.
|
Event |
Date |
Time |
|
Playleader Training |
12..9.22 |
Afternoon |
|
Year 3 Open House |
12.9.22 |
3:25pm |
|
Year 5 Open House |
12.9.22 |
3:25pm |
|
Year 6 Open House |
13.9.22 |
3:25pm |
|
Year 6 to Church |
14.9.22 |
10:00am |
|
Year 1 Open House |
14.9.22 |
3:20pm |
|
Secondary School Entrance Exam |
19.9.22 |
|
|
Reception Open House |
19.9.22 |
3:20pm |
|
Year 4 Open House |
19.9.22 |
3:25pm |
|
Year 2 Open House |
20.9.22 |
3:25pm |
|
Year 5 family Worship |
22.9.22 |
9:15am |
|
Year 6 trip to Apple Store |
27.9.22 |
Morning |
|
Year 3 to Church |
28.9.22 |
10:00am |
|
Harvest Festival in church |
29.9.22 |
9:15am |
|
Year 5 Rocket Workshop at UGS |
4.10.22 |
1:30pm |
|
Year 4 Family Worship |
5.10.22 |
9:15am |
|
Year 5 trip to Salford Quays |
10.10.22 |
All day |
|
Year 3 Family Worship |
19.10.22 |
9:15am |
|
School Closes for Half Term |
21.10.22 |
3:20pm |
|
School Opens |
31.10.22 |
8:45am |
|
Year 4 to church |
2.11.22 |
10:00am |
|
Pupil Learning Meetings (KS2 pupils to attend with parents/carers) |
2.11.22 3.11.22 |
3:30-6:30pm |
|
Year 5/6 E-Safety Workshops |
3.11.22 |
Afternoon |
|
Year 2 Trip to Manchester Airport |
7.11.22 |
All day |
|
Reception Fabulous Finish |
9.11.22 |
9:00am |
|
Whole School Flu Immunisation |
10.11.22 |
|
|
Remembrance Service (Year 6 Family Worship) |
11.11.22 |
10:45am |
|
Remembrance Parade (Urmston) |
13.11.22 |
Morning |
|
Year 1 Family Worship |
16.11.22 |
9:15am |
|
Reception trip to Imagine That |
16.11.22 |
All day |
|
Year 2 Fabulous Finish |
17.11.22 |
9:00am |
|
Year 5 to church |
23.11.22 |
10:00am |
|
Year 6 trip to Stockport Air Raid Shelters |
23.11.22 |
All day |
|
Nativity Dress Rehearsal |
5.12.22 |
Morning |
|
Year 3 Fabulous Finish |
5.12.22 |
2:15pm |
|
Experience Christmas |
6.12.22 |
Morning |
|
Nativity Performance |
6.12.22 |
2:30pm |
|
Nativity Performance |
7.12.22 |
9:30am |
|
Year 6 Fabulous Finish |
7.12.22 |
2:15pm |
|
Year 1 Fabulous Finish |
8.12.22 |
9:00am |
|
Year 4 fabulous Finish |
8.12.22 |
2:15pm |
|
Year 3/4 Christmas Party |
12.12.22 |
Morning |
|
Pantomime – Beauty and the Beast |
12.12.22 |
Afternoon |
|
Year 5 Fabulous Finish |
13.12.22 |
2:15pm |
|
Reception/Year 1/Year 2 Party |
14.12.22 |
Afternoon |
|
Christmas Jumper Day |
15.12.22 |
All day |
|
Christmas Dinner |
15.12.22 |
|
|
Christmas Service in church |
16.12.22 |
9:15am |
|
Year 5/6 Party |
16.12.22 |
Afternoon |
|
School closes |
16.12.22 |
3:20pm |
We are looking forward to working closely with you all over the coming year and I hope you soon settle into the school routine.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do come and talk to us. We are always willing to listen and if we work together, we can provide the best possible opportunities for our children. Thank you for your support.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs A Daniel
Headteacher
Extreme Weather Warning
As I am sure you are all aware, Monday and Tuesday are forecast to be ridiculously hot. We have been sent guidance from Trafford on how to keep the children and staff as safe as possible in the heat.
The Reception/KS1 mini sports event will be kept brief and should be over before the heat of the day. We will be outside for no more than 20 minutes and we will keep to the shade as much as possible.
Reception/KS1 children need to wear PE kit - shorts and white T-shirt for both days.
Children in KS2 are also welcome to wear their PE kit (shorts and t-shirts) if they would like to on both days.
Your child needs to put sun cream on before coming to school. They are welcome to bring sun cream in to apply more before lunch if necessary. They will need to be able to do this for themselves.
They must also bring a hat to wear on the playground.
Playtimes outside will be kept short and children will be outside for no longer than 20 minutes at lunchtime. We will keep them to shaded areas as much as possible.
Your child must bring a refillable water bottle. Staff will remind children to have drinks and will refill water bottles as necessary.
Hopefully by Wednesday, we will all be feeling a little more
We have a busy few weeks coming up – as we always do at the end of the year. I thought a reminder might be useful.
|
Date |
Event |
Clothes |
Time |
|
30.6.22 |
Sales close for Pamper Hamper tickets |
|
12 noon |
|
1.7.22 |
Hamper Draw in Golden Assembly |
|
|
|
4.7.22 |
Year 4 Commonwealth baton ceremony to Urmston Primary |
Uniform |
Morning |
|
6.7.22 |
Reception Family Worship |
|
9am |
|
7.7.22 |
Transition morning Year 6 visits to new schools All pupils visiting new classes for the morning
|
Uniform
|
All day Morning
|
|
7.7.22 |
New reception children visiting |
|
Two groups 9-10am and 10:30-11:30am |
|
11.7.22 |
Sports Day |
Black shorts, trainers and their allocated colour t-shirt. School jumper if required. |
Afternoon – leaving school at 1pm for a 1:30pm start |
|
12.7.22 |
Year 6 Production (Year 6 families welcome) |
|
6pm |
|
13.7.22 |
Obstacle course tbc – more information will follow |
PE kit plus change of clothes and footwear |
All day |
|
15.7.22 |
PTA Barbeque – more information to follow |
|
Evening |
|
18.7.22 |
Reception/KS1 Sports at Woodhouse Primary |
PE Kit and school jumper |
Morning |
|
18.7.22 |
Reports home |
|
Afternoon |
|
19.7.22 |
Transition morning |
|
Morning |
|
19.7.22 |
Year 6 Leavers’ Party |
|
6-7:30pm |
|
20.7.22 |
Whole School Picnic – families welcome to join us |
Uniform |
Leave at 11:45am |
|
21.7.22 |
Year 6 Leavers’ Service in church (Year 6 families invited) |
Uniform |
9:15am |
|
21.7.22 |
School Closes for summer |
|
3:20pm |
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Daniel
Dear Parent/Carer,
It has been a busy first week back at school- full of learning, fun and excitement. For the first time, probably since before Christmas, we have had all our staff and the vast majority of our children in! I sincerely hope that disruption due to covid is beginning to settle down at long last.
This week, Year 2 have welcomed Miss Parkar who will be covering Mrs McAllister’s maternity leave for us. She has settled in very quickly to our school family and we hope she enjoys her time with us.
Today, we say a temporary farewell to Mrs McAllister who begins her maternity leave. I am sure you would like to join with me in wishing her and her husband the very best of luck and all our love for the safe arrival of their beautiful baby. We look forward to meeting baby McAllister very soon- but not before Mrs McAllister has had chance to have good rest and put her feet up for a while!
Best wishes for the Bank Holiday weekend.
Mrs Daniel
Happy Easter!
What an absolute joy it was to have the school family back in church this morning! Huge thanks to Year 6, Father Chris, the church team and the school staff for making it all possible.
It has been another challenging term, as we continue to contend with staff and pupil absence whilst maintaining our focus on the wellbeing and learning of the pupils. The children, as always, have been magnificent and I hope you enjoyed coming into school for our Pupil Learning Meetings this week. We are immensely proud of the effort and enthusiasm that the children put into their learning, and I am sure you are too.
Have a wonderful Easter, enjoy the break and we will see you again on Monday 25th April.
Collection for Ukraine
Please see the message below from our friends at church:-
Hello everyone
Thank you all so much for your ongoing support and the wonderful amount of donations that are being sent to help the refugees from Ukraine.
All donations are being taken to Trafford Veterans who are working with other organisations to ensure that all donations are getting to where they are most needed.
I understand that lorries full of donated goods are leaving for Poland on a regular basis.
Below is the updated list of items that we are currently being asked to donate.
St Mary's church is open, the door off the car park, from 9-12pm Monday to Friday plus Saturday to receive donations.
Thank you so much for your ongoing support and prayers for all affected by this war.
MEDICAL (In Date)
- First aid kits, Field bandages, Cold/Flu treatment, Antiseptic cream, Bandages, Sterile dressing, Wound closure strips, Multivitamins, Vicks Vapour rub, Barrier cream, Cough syrup, Antiseptic body wipes, Tourniquets, Emergency Foil Blankets, Surgical tape.
FOOD / DRINK
Protein bars, 3 in 1 coffee sachets, Small packets of nuts/raisins, Peanut butter in plastic jars, Cupasoups/Super Noodles/packet soups
TOILETRIES
Wet wipes, Pocket tissues, Pampers, Sanitary towels, Tampons
CLOTHING
- New Thermal vests/pants, Balaclavas, Shoe inserts, Hand and feet warmers, Opaque tights for warmth for men and women (large size ) Snoods, Fingerless mittens, Hats, Scarves
ELECTRONICS
- USB and micro USB Powerbanks for laptops and Phones, Lightning charges for iPhone and Micro USB
Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. 7th – 13th February
This leaflet provides simple advice and guidance to parents and carers about how to make conversations about your child's feelings part of everyday conversation.
The leaflet, which was created alongside the Talking Mental Health Animation & Toolkit (https://www.annafreud.org/schools-and-colleges/resources/talking-mental-health-animation-teacher-toolkit/) features an introduction from our Patron, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge who supported the 'You're never too young to talk mental health' campaign stating the campaign's resources "demonstrate how we can help children express their feelings, respond appropriately, and prevent small problems from snowballing into bigger ones."
** Please note**
On Friday 11th February, we will be raising money for the Children’s Society (we usually raise money for this charity through our Christingle service, but due to Covid restrictions, this has not been possible this year). The Children’s Society provide specialist support that empowers young people to make positive changes and rediscover their hope.
We are asking children to come to school on Friday in rainbow colours; multi-coloured clothes, wearing rainbows or choosing a colour of the rainbow (no football kits please) in exchange for a donation to be made to the Children’s Society via the following link:
I am pleased to be able to share our latest Ofsted report with you. We were inspected on 10th/11th November 2021 and we have received the final report this week.
I am delighted with the report and I really feel that the inspector took the time to really understand what we are about as a school. The inspection we had was a Section 8 Inspection which happens when a school is already graded as 'Good'. In a Section 8 Inspection, the school does not receive a separate grading for each section of the inspection framework and does not normally change its grading. The inspector judged that St Mary's remains a 'Good' school and she was very impressed with all that she saw, and with all of the improvements since the previous inspection. She was bowled over by the passion and enthusiasm our children have for their learning.
The inspection was very focussed on curriculum (particularly reading, maths and foundation subjects) and what it is like to be a pupil in our school. There is a small point for development, as there always will be. However, there is a huge amount to celebrate and I couldn't be prouder of our school community. The report will be published on the Ofsted website next week but I can now share it with you prior to publication.
Thank you to everyone who is part of our school family. You all help to make our school the wonderful place it is.