Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
Let us Pray- Gweddiwn
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024 – You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself
God of love,
Who writes love in our hearts, instil in us the courage to look beyond ourselves and see the neighbour in those different from ourselves, that we may truly follow Jesus Christ, our brother and our friend, who is Lord, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Nursery Admissions to St Mary's Catholic Primary School- Sept 2024
This week, we held our Nursery open morning and welcomed prospective new families to our school. We were very grateful to our amazing Year 6 tour guides who confidently took our guests around the school. All families were most impressed! Da iawn pawb. If parents are aware of any other families who were not able to make the open morning and would like to visit our school, please do ask them to contact the school office and we will happily arrange another opportunity to visit. Diolch.
Children's Mental Health Week 5th-11th February
Our Eco Team and School Council are teaming up to plan some exciting Children's Mental Health week activities for us all based on this year's theme 'Our Voice Matters.' We look forward to a 'Break the Rules' day, collaborative indoor and outdoor activities, an 'Express Yourself- dress up day' and much more. Poster to follow next week with more information.
School Uniform Giveaway-Weds 31st January at 3.15 pm
Once again, we will be holding a pre-loved school uniform giveaway in the junior dining room. We have lots of different sizes of jumpers, cardigans, trousers and skirts along with other items of clothing. Please bring a bag and help yourself! Everything is free!
Siaradwyr yr Wythnos- Welsh speakers of the week
Attendance Matters
Please note school starts 08:55 and finishes at 15:15.
Please remember, children should not worry about having to stay off school if they are poorly. Children should only attend school if they are fit and well enough to do so. Routine appointments, holidays during term-time, days off for birthdays however, are not valid reasons to stay off school.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding with this very important matter.
Foundation Phase winners this week are:- Pengwiniaid with 97.6%
Dosbarth Palodau-93.1% Dosbarth Parotiaid-95.5% Dosbarth Pengwiniaid-97.6%, Dosbarth Robin Goch- 87.6%, Dosbarth Tulluanod-95%. Dosbarth Dryw- 91.8%
Key Stage 2 winners this week are:- Dyfrdwy with 98.9%
Dosbarth Clywedog-94% , Dosbarth Conwy-97.4%, Dosbarth Alyn-89.1%, Dosbarth Dyfi-90.8%, Dosbarth Gwenfro-96%, Dosbarth Dyfrdwy-98.9%, Dosbarth Gwaun-97.9%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TARGET - 96%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE- 94.2% - similar to last week.
Please help us achieve our target next week!!
Patrwm Yr Wythnos
The Criw Cymraeg’s ‘Patrwm yr Wythnos’ (Phrase of the week) this week is: 'Pwy sy' eisiau...? 'Who wants...?'
See LINK
Class Assemblies 2023-24
Today, Dosbarth Dyfrdwy led a fantastic Eco assembly by 'rapping' and sharing important information about trees, oceans, rivers and the ice-caps. and the action we can all take to protect our wonderful world. Da iawn Blwyddyn 6. You were ardderchog!
We look forward to welcoming parents to watch the assembly in the hall at 2:30.
Next week- Dosbarth Conwy will be leading the whole school assembly.
Please see the list of class assembly dates for the school year ahead below:-
Early Years- Ines is having her party at Banana Ben's this weekend, Nancy went to the beach with her mummy and nanny at the weekend and Noah had a sleepover at Granny and Grandad's. Zayden went to Edinburgh at the weekend with his family, Ashani is going to Spain in 9 weeks, Maria's babcha is coming to stay soon and Enzo's mum made pancakes!
Years 1 and 2- George has joined swimming lessons with his little sister, Mason's mum has passed her driving test and Mason is very excite about driving on lots of adventures with Mum! Zaneta has passed Wave 1, Matthew and Sahasra have joined tennis club, Hunter has passed Wave 3 and good luck wishes to Tommy who has his Taekwondo grading on Saturday. Fiadh is going ice- skating, Neave is going for a sleepover with her cousin to her grandmother's, Mia is going to Liverpool, Joanna B is going to Kiki's for a sleepover and Lily M's brother and sister are coming over from Egypt. Daniela has earrings, Logan's mummy passed her driving test and Dorian can spin 7 balls on his body at once!!
Years 3 and 4- Niamh has moved to Sharks Plus in swimming, Dylan is going Go Karting on Saturday, Grace has a new baby cousin called Albie and Natalia's cat celebrated his 4th birthday this week. Scarlett and Blossom have been to Florida and enjoyed meeting Stitch, Zion has started swimming lessons and Taekwondo, David has moved to green belt in taekwondo, Vanessa M is going to see her grandma in Poland and Thea's auntie is having a baby boy. Jerome's mum is having a baby girl.
Year 5-Ella is going to watch Wonka at the cinema, Ella did a forward roll and a cartwheel on the beam in gymnastics, Alexandra is getting new glasses, Michalina is going to Chillfactor this weekend, Iris had fun in Disneyland, Sophie got an important part in a show called The Olympians, Nathan had a room 'makover and loves it and Annabelle and Alexandra are having a sleepover.
Year 6- Gabby was fabulous in her West End to Broadway show in the Storyhouse in Chester, Issy G is going to be an aunty again as her sister is expecting a baby in August.
Local Support for Families
At this difficult time of austerity, please see some information about local services that are available to provide support to families in need.
Please contact school if you find yourself in a difficult situation and need some help/ support to signpost you to an appropriate service. Your requests will be handled in confidence and with sensitivity. Diolch. Mrs Acton.
If you need help from our foodbank there are a few simple steps to follow. THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP IS TO GET A FOODBANK VOUCHER.
In order to provide the most appropriate help for the circumstances of your situation we work with local agencies. If they feel you are struggling to put food on the table, they will issue you with a foodbank voucher. The local agency can also provide long term support if needed to help address some of the issues behind the reasons for your crisis. Agencies we work with include: Citizens Advice, housing support officers, children’s centres, health visitors, social services and some local charities.
1. GET IN TOUCH WITH US.
If you call or email our foodbank we can talk through your situation and put you in touch with a relevant local agency.
2. ARRANGE A VISIT TO THE REFERRAL AGENCY.
They will discuss your situation and supply you with a foodbank voucher where appropriate.
If you can’t afford food, you can call 0808 2082138 (freephone) to speak to a trained and independent Citizens Advice agent (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm). Please note this number is for people who do not have enough money for food – if you are a local organisation or charity that works with people who might need the food bank, please contact us directly.
Alternatively, please call 0300 330 1178 to speak to Wrexham’s Citizen’s Advice Bureau, who will be able to issue you with a food bank voucher if necessary.
3. BRING YOUR FOODBANK VOUCHER TO YOUR NEAREST FOODBANK CENTRE.
You can find a list of our local centres and opening times here. When you arrive, we’ll welcome you with a warm drink and our trained volunteers will chat with you about your situation. We’ll also discuss any dietary needs you may have and exchange your foodbank voucher for a parcel of three days of emergency food. We’ll also help to support you in any other ways that we can. Most of our foodbank centres offer a cafe style environment and our aim is to provide non-judgemental support at the point of crisis.
If you have any further questions our FAQ’s page may help, or feel free to give us a call.
Yellow and blue (YaB group ltd) is a social enterprise non profit project. Underpinning community projects including positive pathways, food provision and social isolation beating events and activities. With a digital vision within the community - we aim to support vulnerable groups whilst creating a vibrant, supportive and uplifting experience. Creating moments, chances and smiles when people need it most.
Please get in touch by emailing:- info@yellowandblue.org
Pupil Development Grant
The Welsh Government funded Pupil Development Grant is available to help towards the costs of a child’s school uniform and equipment, for those on a low income. Any child eligible for free school meals in the year groups listed below are eligible. However, those receiving free school meals due to transitional protection arrangement would not be eligible.
Depending on the school year your child will be entering in September 2021 you could receive a grant of £125 or £200. Link
Anyone eligible for free school meals and in the following year groups will qualify for the grant: Entering reception class in primary school, Entering school years 1 to 11, In a special school, special needs resource base or pupil referral unit and are aged 4 to 15.For any looked after children of compulsory school age who are not receiving free school meals, please email uniformgrant@wrexham.gov.uk for an application form.
Welsh Courses for Parents
Are you interested in becoming a volunteer in school?
Here at St Mary’s we are very keen to involve parents, grandparents and family members in the life of the school. We are always looking for volunteers to help out a wide range of activities such as school trips and walking the children to sporting events. We are also very happy to invite volunteers to share special skills, interests or experiences to enhance the children’s opportunities or provision e.g. gardening, sewing, sharing job skills/ experiences etc.
If you would like to be involved in any volunteer work for the school, please click on the link and complete and return the forms attached.https://stmarys-wxm.co.uk/about-us/forms/volunteer-form-2/
Please note:- All volunteers will be subject to DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) clearance. Thank you
Many thanks.
Welsh Government Announcement
Physical punishment of children is now illegal in Wales. Children have the same protection from assault as adults. This is to protect children and their rights. To find out more visit: http://gov.wales/EndPhysicalPunishment