3rd April, 2020 

Dear Parents

Please forgive the wealth of correspondence from school recently!  I know there is a fine line between keeping the community together and inundating your inboxes and phone lines.  You may be glad to hear that this will be the last communication from me until after the Easter holidays!  Thank you for the warm welcome you have given to staff who have been phoning round – they have enjoyed speaking to you (and to some of your children!) and will resume the calls after the 20th April, so if they haven’t reached you yet, they will do after the Easter holidays!

And what an unusual Easter holidays it is likely to be!  At this time we often have families off on holiday or visiting family or planning exciting day trips, but this year will be somewhat different!  To that end, we are sending through a few thoughts about activities to keep the children busy and entertained over the next couple of weeks.  There’s absolutely no obligation to even look at them – I’m sure many people have made their own plans and we have sent lots of info out previously about PE / Science / Wellbeing etc which may also be relevant -  but if it helps even a few families, that’s great.  The most important thing for all of us is to make the most of this family time and enjoy some different experiences:

Virtual Days Out: On the Wellbeing Ideas sheet here, there is a list of zoos, museums and galleries which have webcam / virtual tours.  Why not make a day of it – visit a gallery in the morning, have a picnic in your garden and tour the zoo webcams in the afternoon!!  Many of the museums (British Museum etc) have children’s trails on their websites which might help to navigate the wealth of materials.

Creative Arts Ideas: There are some fun projects for the children on the Easter Holidays ideas sheet here.  Click here for the Spirited Arts competition. ARTist Challenge KS1 and KS2 Fun Art booklets can also be completed. I was hoping to be able to add the National Theatre which we have signed up to and which is offering free screenings of their children’s shows among other things.  At the time of writing we haven’t received the login, but if we do, we will send it through by email.

Lent and Easter activities: At this very strange time for Catholics – Churches closed during the holiest week of the Church year – it is important that we try as best we can to support our children to understand this holy time of year, despite not being able to physically attend Mass.  Fr Bill is streaming Mass on Easter Sunday and I would encourage you to set up a little home altar (light a candle and put a crucifix / Bible on it) and join in the Mass at home together with him on this holiest of holy Sundays. We don’t have to be super holy but it is important that we each try to find something which suits our individual families – there are lots of ideas given here to help you choose.

KS2 TT Rock Stars Battle: For those who want to keep the academic rigour even in the holidays, do encourage your children to take part in the TT Rock Stars battle which ends on 20th April.  At the time of writing, the current top three are:

Emerald 22543

Coral 18945

Opal 15206

 

And a big shout out to the top three scorers in each class:

 

Amethyst: Erin C (3821), Maddison (410), Ela-Jo (228)

Garnet: Evie A (587), Oliver C (128), (No third place)

Emerald: Abigail (4413), Luisa (4300), Simon (3364)

Sapphire: Nathan (4142), Alicia (3613), Matty (1064)

Coral: Maxwell (2949), Alessandro (2413), Liam (2026)

Opal: Peter (5374), Odhran (1954), Jacob S (1498)

Ruby: Oliver B (2473), Ava (1505), Max (1471)

Topaz: Isla (1260), Samuel H (621), Frank (424)

 

Well done all of you…  and keep it up!  There’s plenty of time for other children to catch up over Easter!  Just go to TT Rock Stars and log in  here . Let the battle continue!!

Wishing you all a very happy Easter break with your families.  At a time of great uncertainty in our world, it is reassuring to focus on the certainty of Jesus on the cross, on the promise of new life and on hope for the future.  Let us remember that Jesus walks with us in all that we encounter in life.  In the words of our school prayer, the words of St John Henry Newman (at a time of great trial and difficulty in his own life) “Lead kindly Light..  Lord Jesus lead me on.”

May God bless you all and keep you always in his loving care.

 

Catherine Burnham

Headteacher

 

Prayer Intentions: 

Maybe you would like to light a candle and say a little prayer daily with your family:  

Pray by name for those you love and for those who love you.

Pray for the victims of the Coronavirus and for those who mourn them.

Pray for the key workers who are undergoing daily battles – physical and mental – to help us.

Pray for those who are lonely and those who are anxious about the future.

Pray for the children who are missing their friends and their usual busy activities.

Pray for the adults who are looking after those children during this difficult time for everyone.

Please pray too for those in our community, including several of our staff members and some of our families, who are facing especially difficult challenges at this time.

May God be with them all and give them his peace.

Ask Our Lady to join her prayers to yours as you say the Hail Mary.

 

 

Governors message

The Governors would like to wish all our children and their families and all the staff a happy and peaceful Easter break. The past 2 weeks have been challenging for all of us trying to adjust to a new way of living, with added pressures for working parents highlighted by some of you.  Thank you to all those who have passed on messages of support to Mrs Burnham and all the staff at Cardinal Newman who have been busy either in school or working from home, juggling many new and challenging priorities over the past 2 weeks, including supporting the most vulnerable and needy in our school community.

 Mrs Burnham has communicated that there will be more structured material covering new learning for the summer term, in line with the curriculum and suitable for a home learning environment, as no one knows how long the closure will last. While it is not possible to replicate the school environment at home, this new material will provide more support and guidance to all parents through the Summer Term.

 It is also good to hear how the parents of our school are supporting each other at this time as you are a key part of the school community – thank you!

Best wishes for a happy  and peaceful Easter from Cardinal Newman Governors

News

Video messages from teachers

Greetings from teachers will be emailed out today - like all communication from school - they are sent for your own personal use and should not be shared on social networking sites.

Internet Safety

Please click here for the updated eSafety leaflets

Weekly photos

You can find some lovely examples here of the learning activities our children have been doing in school and at home over week 2.  It would be great to receive some more for after Easter – we are keen to give the children a shout-out and encourage them with their home-learning.

Wellbeing 

Please see the Nuffield Health article in the wellbeing section of the website here  It is a great resource for children's wellbeing and includes a wellbeing journal and other useful information

 

Three Rivers Academy Notice for Year 6

Notice for Year 6 parents who have accepted a place at Three Rivers Academy for their child for September

You should have received an email from Three Rivers Academy asking you to complete the Enrolment forms online from 1 April.  If you have not received this email, please check your Spam box.  If you cannot find the email please visit the Three Rivers Academy website where there is a dedicated page for Year 6 to 7 transition: Information tab / Admissions / Year 6 to 7 Transition.  This page has  links to the online forms and will be a one-stop shop for information, you are recommended to read the documents posted there before completing the Enrolment forms.  The deadline for completion of the online Enrolment forms is Friday 24th April.  If you have any specific queries regarding the enrolment pack, please email info@threerivers.thpt.org.uk  when your query will be dealt with as quickly as possible.  Please do not telephone the school, in the present circumstances administrative staff are unable to deal with telephone queries.