Dear Parents

Great news to share this week!  The planning permission for the hall extension has finally been approved by Elmbridge Council and we are good to go!  If we have the funds, it is hoped that the work might be able to start before the end of the Summer Term 2020 and will be completed not too far into next Autumn Term.  You may have seen the Governors’ fundraising update in the entrance lobby – please see the note from Governors elsewhere in this newsletter.

In other fundraising news, the Parents' Association has arranged a professional videographer (one of our parents) for our Christmas productions.  The productions will be filmed and parents will be able to buy the recordings in aid of the Hall Extension Fund.  More details to follow so do watch out for those!  There have been requests for this service ever since I have been at Cardinal Newman, so I hope that this will be good news for parents as well as raising lots of money towards the hall!  We will also facilitate a photo call at the end of the productions so that parents can take their own photos at that time. 

We have been very busy in school this week.  On Monday PCSO Philip Jebb visited us to talk to the children about Road Safety, while on Tuesday we had around 30 writers from several other local schools join our own Y6 writers for an Able, Gifted and Talented workshop based on rap and poetry.  The children were very enthused and the writing outcomes were great.  We will repeat this opportunity for lower KS2 in the Spring Term.

Today, Year 3 children from Topaz Class have had the opportunity to compete in a mini-Olympics tournament against other schools.  It is so important that all of our children have a chance to compete and represent the school, so thank you to the parents who supported with transport (alongside the minibus!) and those who were able to collect from the venue, making the logistics so much easier!  We were very proud of all of our children for their great attitude – well done Year 3 Topaz! 

Finally, some sad news for us, but some exciting news for Mrs Bates!  She will leave on 6 December to begin a new and exciting role beyond the world of the school office!  We are extremely grateful for all her dedication and hard work over the last fifteen years and we will be very sorry to see her go.  If you think you have what it takes to be Mrs Bates’s replacement (or you know someone who does), please do see the advert on our school website here.  We wish Mrs Bates all the very best in her new role.    

All best wishes for the weekend
Catherine Burnham

GOVERNORS' UPDATE
Thank you to everyone who has responded to the Hall Extension fundraising so far.  As you know, the total we want to raise is £150,000 and we are already making inroads into this with a £50k donation from Elmbridge Community Infrastructure Levy and an initial £10,000 donation from the Governors’ Fund.  Your regular donations to Governors’ Fund will continue to be added to the Extension Fund month on month – thank you for these.

This week we have also been advised of a bursary donation from the charity committee of a parent’s company (Miller Insurance) which is fantastic!  If you are aware of any other possible sources of funding – from your company or a charitable trust – please do let the governors know.

ST ANDREW'S DAY - MARKED ON FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER
We will be marking St Andrew's Day (30 November) next Friday and children may wear their scouting, guiding or St John Ambulance uniforms.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH - TUESDAY 17 DECEMBER
Children who have full time school lunches will automatically have a Christmas lunch on 17 December.  Children in Years 3 to 6 who have part time lunches or packed lunches but would like a Christmas lunch, please order it here and make payment by Monday 25 November.

COFFEE AND CONVERSATION PARENTS' FORUM
You can find the minutes of last week's meeting here, including discussion of our updated Relationships and Sex Education Policy.

DRESS AS A HERO COLLECTION
Photos of the day can be found here.  Opal Class raised £246.75 for Help for Heroes - thank you.

BOOK FAIR
Our Book Fair raised £1428.42 which means the school has earned over £700 in books - thank you to everyone who supported it.

FOOTBALL THIS WEEK
Well done to our boys' teams who beat Grovelands on Tuesday this week - Year 5 won 10-0 and Year 6 won 8-3.
Our girls' team took part in the ERPSSA Years 5 and 6 tournament at Royal Holloway on Thursday.  They came second in their group and lost on sudden death penalties in the quarter-final.

INTRA-SCHOOL SPORTS MULTI SKILLS COMPETITION
This year, Cardinal Newman will be holding an intra-school Multi Skills Competition each term.  The aim will be for children to compete in a range of small active games designed to get them moving and thinking about improving a range of movement skills.  Last week, Reception and Key Stage 1 classes started the competition brilliantly and it was great to see everyone joining in and earning points for their houses.  Well done to St John Bosco house for winning with 614 points!  Key Stage 2 classes will have their competition on Tuesday 26th November.  Photos from last week are here.

PA NEWS
The Year 2 Cake Sale raised £190 - thank you to everyone who supported it.
Christmas Fair - raffle tickets have gone home this week and from Monday Year 4 will be collecting Christmas jumper donations from outside the school office.

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