Ripon Cathedral School Update

Well done to the staff and pupils in Year 1 and 2 for their fabulous Nativity play which took place in the Cathedral yesterday. The show, entitled A Bundle of Joy, told the story of Grumble the Donkey who was very cross about all the visitors disturbing his sleep in the stable at that first Christmas. It was only when he saw the baby Jesus that “all his grumbles disappeared” and he recognised the joy of Christmas. There was plenty of joy on display with the wonderful singing and acting from the KS1 children. A lovely moment was had when the rest of the school and families in the congregation joined together to sing Silent Night. Thank you to all those who joined us in the Cathedral for this special occasion.

We enjoyed our school Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day last Wednesday. The children looked very festive in their jumpers and other Christmassy items, and loved sitting in the hall with their teachers to share their lunch. There was even music, dancing and a little singalong!

Last Friday all our younger children were surprised by a special visit from Father Christmas! Throughout school everyone enjoyed wearing party clothes, playing games or watching films.

The Young Voices club were invited to sing carols at Lister House care home on Friday 6th December. A group of the singers from Year 4 and 5 put on their best festive headgear and prepared to entertain the residents, singing traditional carols such as Away in a Manger and Silent Night, as well as lively renditions of Jingle Bells and Rudolph. Well done to all the singers who represented the school beautifully and got chance to practise singing to an audience in advance of the Young Voices concert in January.

A couple of weeks ago Year 5 were delighted to receive letters from their pen pals at St Peter’s Primary School in Leeds. The children from St Peter’s introduced themselves to their new pen pal telling them a little about themselves including who they live with, if they have pets, what their favourite subjects are school are and what their hobbies are. Some even shared a joke or two! The children have spent time this week working on their replies and we will get them in the post this weekend! The children are very excited about meeting their pen pal in the summer term when we go to their school and soon after we will welcome them to our school!

As part of their DT learning, the Year 5 children have been exploring ways they can upcycle products in order to look after our environment. They all brought in old t-shirts from home to upcycle into a bag. Firstly, the children looked at what uses bags have, the different types and styles of bags and what they were made from. They practised some stitches by hand, including running stitch, back stitch and cross stitch. The children then had to choose a user for their bag and design it. They created a template from paper for the exact size and shape, then pinned to the t-shirt and using chalk drew around it. Then using fabric scissors they cut out our design. After the children hemmed the pieces of material and tacked their bag together. They used the sewing machine to sew the main part of the bag and then added handles using hand stitching and we have even started to add some fastenings and other decorations. The children were delighted to share their creations in a fashion show in the Key Stage 2 celebration worship last Thursday.

Year 4 have also been busy designing Christmas stockings. It has been wonderful to see their sewing skills improve. For both classes, huge thanks are due to Mrs McGee who has helped the children with their sewing.

Congratulations to this week's stars who were celebrated in our worship time this afternoon.

Nursery - Harry for being responsible for his coat and hanging it in the correct place.

Reception - Axel for trying hard with his phonics and making great progress with recognising his sounds and blending them together to a make words.

Year 1 - Jack for growing in confidence so much over the term and for making brilliant progress in his reading.

Year 2 - Amelia for being an absolute superstar this week! Amelia has been putting 100% into all the nativity songs and she's not stopped practising her lines too! What a super, confident role model she is.

Year 3 - Edward for flourishing in his independence in all areas of school life, we are all really proud of you!

Year 4 -Kacper for excellent focus and determination with his sewing project.

Year 5 - Arlo for his excellent use of colour and perspective in his different portraits in art.

Year 6 - Isla for being a caring and compassionate member of the class. Isla has been helping her peers with their work as well as being a great friend.

We ended our term as always with our Superstars assemblies, where we celebrated all the great things taking place in school throughout the term. Each class gave a short presentation about some of their favourite learning from the term, which included Design Technology projects, artwork, writing, Forest Schools and musical performances. The Superstars for the term were then presented with their special picture frames which showcase the wonderful things they had done that term and will be on display in school throughout the Spring Term.

Huge congratulations to Emilia, Lula, Jack, Betsy, Rosie, Olivia and Missy, our Autumn term superstars!

Mrs Walsh chose a Superstar Class of the Term. This award went to Year 5 for demonstrating our school values day in day out.

Pupil Premium Message from North Yorkshire

Redeem your vouchers for free holiday activities and food this Christmas

On Monday 25th November we issued vouchers to all families whose children/young people are eligible for free places on FEAST activities this Christmas. You should have received this via email or text, from a platform called Holiday Activities. Follow the link in this email/text to redeem your voucher and book your child’s place on some of the fantastic activities on offer in our area.

Don’t worry if there’s a waiting list - it doesn’t always mean that an activity is full. To ensure that a wide range of families get to take part in FEAST, providers to wait a number of days after vouchers are issued before accepting any bookings. Please request a place and you should receive a notification from Holiday Activities if your place is confirmed.

If you believe your child is eligible and you have not yet received your voucher, or you have lost it, please contact the school office.

To learn more about FEAST, and for information on activities, eligibility and how to manage your bookings, visit the website.

Friday 20th December - Break up for Christmas 3.15pm (no Oscar's after school)

Monday 6th January - Training Day (Oscar's available to book)

Tuesday 7th January - Return to school

We are so grateful for all the hard work the Friends of the School have put into fundraising and community events this term. We are pleased to announce that the Christmas Fair took £499.45 on the day. After expenses, this means school will receive £347.45, which is great! Thank you for all support.

We hope that all the children who came along to the school disco last Friday enjoyed themselves. There were sparkly glitter tattoos, party games and a great DJ, so we can't see why not! Thank you to all the parents, staff and older children who helped make it such a great evening.

Email: admin@riponcathedral.n-yorks.sch.uk
Website: www.riponcathedralschool.org.uk
Location: HG41LT, United Kingdom
Phone: 01765 602355
Facebook: facebook.com/riponcathschool