News

RE Learners at St Georges Junior

On Thursday 20^th June, Eve and Jack from Year 5 attended a greater depth in RE event at St George’s Junior school. The morning was led by Fr Andrew, a Salesian priest and Head of RE at Salesian school, Battersea. The children worked with other pupils from our local deanery schools to think about some religious concepts more deeply.  Eve and Jack really impressed Fr Andrew with their knowledge and religious literacy. The morning concluded with a delicious lunch!

The Good Shepherd Celebration

On Thursday 27th June, Mrs Burnham and Miss Bealin-Kelly accompanied the Year 4 Prayer Council to the annual Good Shepherd celebration at Worth Abbey. Bishop Richard led the celebration for the schools of the diocese with the focus on the Year of Prayer. It was a lovely joyful celebration.

Some quotes from the children:

Sofia: "It was amazing to see the artwork each school had made about the Our Father, I love how everyone pictured the message".

Mia: "I was amazed at the size of Worth Abbey inside and I liked seeing the side chapel with the tabernacle.  Also the event helped me to see the size of the diocese and I liked looking at all the different school banners".

World Faiths Week

Monday 8^th July marks the start of our World Faiths week at Cardinal Newman.  Year groups will encounter and dialogue other worldviews during the week in their RE lessons.  It is an opportunity to learn more about others who hold a different worldview, alongside helping to build a culture of peace and respect.  On Monday 15^th July the PA have kindly funded a visit from Judaism for Schools who will lead workshops for children in YR-4.  This will allow the children to ask questions and dialogue with an authentic Jewish believer. 

Coffee and Conversation

The final Coffee and Conversation for this year will be held with Mr Flower on Friday 12th July at 8:40am (after drop off) in the hall.  All are welcome and we have included a focus specifically on the current KS2 children with regard to smartphones being handed into school.  We hope that as many parents as possible will be able to attend. Those who cannot attend are welcome to share thoughts or questions via email to the school office ahead of the meeting.

The themes for this meeting are:

Uniform: Annual feedback on uniform is welcome.  This year's question is: Our current uniform has a number of options for pupils (particularly for girls) - this allows choice, but can also look untidy when all together in the different options.  Would we settle on one uniform choice for summer and one for winter?  Previous parent consultations have discussed topics such as - updating the PE kit to a more modern (more expensive) fabric (decided against last year but happy to revisit) and the value (or otherwise) of the distinction of keeping different girls and boys uniforms (parents decided to keep the distinction as allowing the girls to celebrate their own identity as girls).  Parental views are welcome.

Smartphones: Our current policy allows Y6 children who walk home from school to hand in their phone at the office.  Is there parental appetite to change this policy (not allow phones to be handed in - so therefore no phones in school at all) or not?

A group of parents are keen to develop a culture of "smartphone free childhood" within our Cardinal Newman community.  This is a decision which can only be made by parents as it affects home life, not school life, but it would be interesting to share views on this topic together so that parents can support each other to make the best decisions for their children.

National Online Safety: Wake Up Wednesday Guides for Parents 

We would like to make you aware of our ‘online safety’ advice, guidance and support page called ‘Wake Up Wednesday - what parents / carers need to know’.

Wake Up Wednesday, created by The National College, aims to inform parents and carers on topics such as social media platforms, gaming, and IPad security. They include top tips, important reminders and reality checks on a wide range of online safety topics. They are a great resource to keep up to date with the issues children may encounter. 

We will post relevant articles of interest that should help you and your child here on our website.

We thank you for your ongoing support in assuring the safety of our pupils online.