St Cecilia's News

End of September 2022

Autumn term

Dear Parents,

Refining the curriculum

I hope that the Autumn term is going well for you, the children are truly settled in to their new classes and working hard. Don't forget to keep an eye on our website for details of the curriculum that your child is studying - you can find full information on the Knowledge and Skills area. As we say Remember our Curriculum Knowledge and Skills. (ROCKS) On our staff training day this year we looked again to further enhance our curriculum for History, led by Mrs O'Dwyer and Geography, led by Mr Caulfield. They have been out in classes this week looking at the children's progress in these areas and will update the website over the coming days with a refined and revised plan for these two subjects.

Fundraiser

Thanks for coming along to our Marsden Morning in aid of the Royal Marsden Hospital, we really appreciate your generosity, currently, over £600 raised, we will have a definite figure next week when electronic payments are received.

PTA Meeting
Thanks to all those parents who either attended the PTA meeting in person or online on Tuesday of this week. Thanks to those parents who have come forward to help with the role of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. At our next meeting on Tuesday 11th October we can look forward to nominations and election.

I did mention at the PTA meeting that our Early Years' sandpit has been out of use all through the pandemic due to the advisory notice on cross infection in the sand. During that time the local families of foxes have enjoyed the additional play space and the 7 tonnes of sand, which are heavily soiled, need to be removed, the sand pit repaired and then the sand replaced with fresh new sand.

We are hoping that parents will be able to help with this task over two Saturday mornings, October 15th and November 5th - as they say - "many hands make light work." You can see that we have created an invite below on a Google Form, if you are able to help, please sign up and Mr. Fowler, who is coordinating this repair, will be back in touch. We will need wheelbarrows, if you can lend us one for the sandpit repair works please let us know on the form. If you are good at carpentry and can offer some support we would be glad for that too, not on those dates but in the period in between them. The interior of the sandpit needs strengthening to give it a few more years of usability.

Workshops
Parent workshops are starting up again, please see details of workshops both in school with Adapt to Learn and online from the NHS below.

Headlice

I rarely even mention them, but we are seeing some cases of headlice in school, please make sure that all long hair is tied back when your child comes to school. We suggest that parents check their child's hair at least once a week with a fine hair comb and magnifier - they can be difficult to see! There is plenty of advice online, don't forget that if your child does have headlice, once you start treatment it's best to replace their pillows and to hot wash their bedding.

School shoes

Please remember that school shoes in Years 1-6 are plain black, without any detail or colour stripes and are not trainer style. Now that we are back in school a while and the shoe shops have restocked we do need all children in the correct shoes. See our Uniform guide for examples of black shoes. We do need the support of all parents, working as a community, to ensure that our standards are maintained.

Finally, please don't forget that we have a Sutton Catholic Schools event at St Philomena's on October 7th and the school is closed. We will be working with our local Catholic primaries on developing the curriculum.

Best wishes,

Vince Burke

Head Teacher

PTA Sandpit Support Google Form

Click here to support the PTA in repairing the sandpit.

Parent Workshop - Supporting children with anxiety, increasing resilience

Now that we are through the pandemic we are able to recommence our workshops and briefings for parents to support you in understanding the schools curriculum and to support you with learning at home and with parenting in general.

Our first workshop of the year welcomes the team from Adapt to Learn. This workshop will support parents of children who can have periods of anxiety, who need strategies in supporting their child to become more resilient. The pandemic has certainly had an impact on children, it has affected each family very differently. Some children carry anxiety with them, they can be anxious over the simplest of things. If you need support in helping your child we can recommend this session to you.

Adapt to Learn have sent a flyer which I have attached for you below.

To book please RSVP using the space on the invite:

Event Information

Book a place here online for Supporting children with anxiety, increasing resilience

This workshop will centre on a discussion about how anxiety impacts us all, how to

respond to it and how to build resilience in both ourselves and our children.

Tea and coffee will be served from 0845 ready for a prompt 0900 start, please make sure to be on time.

The price of this workshop is being met from the school budget. Places are limited, please only book if you are committed to attending. A £10 cancellation fee applies for no-shows.

When?

Wednesday, Nov 2, 2022, 09:00 AM

Where?

St Cecilia's Catholic Primary School, London Road, Worcester Park, Sutton, UK

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Anxiety Coffee morning flyer 2022 (2).pdf

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Adapt to Learn

Details of our provider for this workshop

Black History Month

Next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday we welcome a professional music group who will bring the joy of African chants and songs to the school.

Key Stage 1 pupils will be using a new online resource in which leading Black actors read stories to the class - https://tatastorytime.com/

Key Stage 2 classes will be using texts which feature black characters. It's good to see more inclusion in the books availaible to primary schools - you can see many of the books we are purchasing here: https://peters.co.uk/diverse-and-inclusive-books

We continue to invest in literature to reflect a wider range of ethnicities and our history curriculum has been adapted to include the Windrush era and its effects on modern Britain - this will feature in the Y6 curriculum later this academic year.

Flu vaccinations on 25 November

We've been asked to share the following information with you from the NHS about their upcoming Flu Vaccination Day here at St Cecilia's.

"All children from Reception to Year 6 will be offered, on Friday 25 November, the flu vaccination through a nasal spray.

The vaccine offered is given as a simple spray up the nose. It is painless, very quick to administer, and serious side effects are uncommon.

This vaccination programme is designed to protect your child against influenza (flu) which can be an unpleasant illness and, although rarely, can sometimes cause serious complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia.

By having the flu vaccination, children are less likely to pass the virus on to friends and family. This will help to protect those who are at greater risk from flu, including infants, older people and those with an underlying health condition. In addition it will prevent time off school and work for family members who care for their child whilst unwell.

The flu vaccine provides protection against the strains that are predicted to circulate in the coming season. These strains may change from year to year which is why we recommend the vaccination every year.

A consent form and letter will be sent through your child’s school. We have a short animation on YouTube explaining why children are invited to have the vaccine in school - see the video below.

After the vaccination is administered, your child will be given an information leaflet about any potential side effects to take home for the parent/guardian with the date of the vaccination on. This is to be kept in the child/young person’s health record (red) book.

For further information please visit the NHS website vaccination page.

This is an informational video for parents that highlights the importance of the flu immunisation and provides guidance on how to consent online for their child’s nasal flu immunisation.

We've also added a video for your child which provides information for them about the flu vaccine nasal spray.

NHS Flu Vaccination Webpage

NHS Parent Workshop - Getting children in to school

See the flyer below for details on these workshops that are being held online across this part of London to support parents of children who are reluctant to attend school in the morning.

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PRIMARY PARENT WEBINAR - GETTING INTO SCHOOL.pdf

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