St Francis’ Catholic Primary School Maryland Park Stratford London E15 1HB Tel: 020 8534 0476 Fax: 020 8555 3068 Email: info@st-francis.newham.sch.uk 20th October 2014 Dear Parent/ Carer, Black History Weeks This week we will have various assemblies to celebrate Black History. The assemblies will be as follows: Monday 20th October at 9:15 - Poet Ronnie McGarth – all parents are invited Wednesday, 22nd October at 9:15 – African Drumming Performance by the children of St. Francis’ – all parents are invited Friday, 24th October at 9:15 – Performance Poetry presentation by 2D, 2K and 4G – parents with children in these classes are warmly invited to attend. Also, please remember we will be celebrating our Black History work with you after half term on Thursday, 6th November at 2:30 and Friday, 7th November at 9:15. The children will provide an exhibition of what they have learned and will be able to present information and answer questions about their topics during these sessions. Head boy and girl At St. Francis’ we believe it is important to provide the children with as many opportunities as possible to help prepare them for the future. This year we have decided we would like to extend this by providing more opportunities for the children to be leaders within the school and the community. So, we have created a Head boy and Head girl role; this will be a role open only to children in year 6. This year we had 13 children apply by filling out an application and creating a two minute oral presentation on a topic that was given to them by the school. The children did extremely well and made us proud, the way they often do. As a result, the Head boy is Pascal Marimootoo and the Head girl is Tinu Fakunle. They are ably supported by deputies as follows: Esther Armah, Manuel Leye-Huerta, Georgina Odunsi and Victor Sesay. Class assembly There will be a class assembly for 5K on Friday, 14th November at 9:15; parents with children in this class are warmly welcome. Coffee Morning Our next coffee morning will be on Friday, 21st November 2014 at 9:15; the school nurse will attend to discuss healthy lifestyles. Headteacher: Ms Natasha Scott Half term break Please note that the half term break is from Monday 27th October to Friday, 31st October 2014. We return to school as normal on Monday, 3rd November. School uniforms The children have started the school year looking beautifully in their school uniforms. I am always extremely proud to see them around the school looking so smart and particularly their sea of blue in assembly. However it is important that all children are wearing full school uniforms this includes school shoes not trainers and girls wearing hair accessories in only navy blue, black and white. Supervision before school The school’s gates open at 8:40 am; two members of staff are on the playground from 8:45 am to supervise the children. Birthday celebrations Please remember that for birthday celebrations the children can share a healthy snack with their classmates however we will not be able to hand out sweets and cakes. We do from time to time also give the children a small treat to celebrate special events in the school however we will only ever do this in moderation. Bikes/scooters Please ensure that your children get off from their bikes/scooters before entering the playground; children riding around on a busy and full playground pose a health and safety risk. Snacks at break time The children are allowed to bring a snack at break time however please ensure that this is a healthy snack such as fruit or cereal bar; crisp, sweets and chocolate are not permitted. Carers We realize from time to time parents may need to leave the country for emergency situations or planned visits abroad. If this is the case can you please let us know that this is happening and who will be caring for your child during this time so we can update the emergency contact information. This is particularly important if someone other than a parent will be caring for your child. Pupil Information Sheet Your child brought home a pupil information sheet with the information that the school has about your son/daughter. Please check that the information is correct. If there is anything that needs to be corrected please do so and send it back to school by as soon as possible. It is important that we have up to date contact information so that we are able to keep you informed about what is happening in the school via text message and contact you in an emergency situation. N. Scott Head Teacher Headteacher: Ms Natasha Scott