Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
Let us Pray- Gweddiwn
Jubilee Year 2025
“For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope.” Pope Francis
Year 6 Retreat- Friday 11th July
Today, our Year 6s together with Mrs Gillett, Mrs Hall, Ms O'Connell, Sr Jacqueline, Mark's mum and I, are off on an outdoor retreat to Erddig. We are all looking forward to spending time together in the fresh air and sunshine, reflecting on our time in St Mary's and sharing our hopes, dreams and worries about the future. It is always a beautiful opportunity to reflect, pray and share in a very special time together before leaving our school to move on to high school
Year 6 Leavers' Mass for Y6 parents and family members- Tuesday 15th July 10am in the cathedral
We look forward to celebrating our leavers' Mass in the cathedral at 10 am. Could all Year 6 parents/ family member arrive and be seated at the back of church by 09:50. Many thanks.
Year 6 Leavers' Silent Disco & BBQ and Beach Party - Weds 16th July 4:30-6:30 in school
On Wednesday 16th July, our Year 6 children are invited to a Leavers' beach party on the school yard. There will be food, drink, music, dancing and LOTs of fun! We look forward to a final St Mary's PARTY together and hope all children can join us!
Getting Ready for September
We pride ourselves on the excellent standard of our children's uniform and presentation in St Mary's. We expect that all families follow our consistent rules to ensure that these high standards are maintained. Please see below the information from our school prospectus before purchasing new uniform, shoes and before visiting the hairdressers or barbers ready for September 2025. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.
Please note:- Trainers are NOT part of the school uniform and children MUST wear black SCHOOL SHOES not trainers please.
Key Stage 2 (Y3-6) Stationery and Resources needed for September
Years 3-6 only- Please provide your child with the following items:-
* Pencil
* Blue handwriting Pen
* Pencil HB
* Colouring Pencils
* Glue Stick
* Jotter/ Note pad
* Rubber/ Eraser
* Sharpener
* Ruler
* Felt tip pens
* Highlighter pens
PLEASE NOTE:- PUPILS IN FOUNDATION PHASE DO NOT NEED A PENCIL CASE (Nursery- Year 2)
School Annual Reports to Parents
Today, all children's annual progress report from their class teacher, will be uploaded to the new MCAS Parent App together with a link to their national assessment results (Years 2-6). Attendance data is available on the App in real time to enable parents to monitor their child's current and cumulative attendance.
On Monday 14th July, between 3:30 and 5 pm, teachers will be available in school should you wish to discuss any aspect of your child's report. Please click on the link to indicate when you will be able to attend
Link to Form to book appointment, if needed
Attendance Race Results
DOSBARTH ROBIN GOCH!
DOSBARTH DYFRDWY!
The winning classes will be enjoying a special treat next week. Da iawn pawb
Summer Picnic
A huge thank you to all the wonderful Friends and volunteers who helped organise such a fantastic Family Summer Picnic! From start to finish, everything was beautifully arranged, and we were lucky enough to have the sun shining down on us all.
It was an afternoon full of laughter and fun, with face painting, welly throwing, the ever-popular bottle stall, teddy tombola and a brilliant raffle which will be drawn next week at our Archie Fest. There was something for everyone to enjoy, and it was lovely to see our whole school community come together in such a joyful way.
We’re also delighted to share that so far around £1000 was raised to support our school; thank you to everyone who donated, helped out, or simply joined in the fun.
What a special way to celebrate the summer together!
Archie Fest
Our ARCHIE FEST- Football crazy day will take place on Wednesday 16th July during the school day. Lots of fun activities planned to raise money for Archie's chosen charity. All children to bring a minimum donation of £2 to take part in all activities- please bring more money to donate to this wonderful cause, if you can. All children need a plain t-shirt to bring to school on Monday to decorate for the Archie Fest
Summer Bumper Raffle- Archie's Charity ' Young Lives Vs Cancer' and the Friends of St Mary's
Raffle tickets for some wonderful prizes are being sold and the proceeds will be used to support Young Lives Vs Cancer and St Mary's Friends. Tickets are soon to be available online- watch this space as it will be updated asap. A GO FUND ME page to support Archie is also being set up.
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Please note- School closes for the summer holidays on Friday 18th July and the children return to school on Tuesday 2nd September 2025
Nasal Flu Immunisation Team Reminder
A member of the immunisation team will be coming into school to collect the nasal flu forms (current nursery to year 5) week commencing 14.07.2025. We are kindly asking parents and carers to return their child's flu nasal forms by Monday. Diolch
Attendance Matters
Please note school starts 08:55 and finishes at 15:15.
St Mary's Attendance Race 2024-25
Please remember that 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:-
Dosbarth Tylluanod with
Dosbarth Palodau- 96.2% Dosbarth Parotiaid- 87.3%- Dosbarth Pengwiniad-95.8%- Dosbarth Robin Goch- 86.9% Dosbarth Tylluanod- 96.8% Dosbarth Dryw-96.3%
Key Stage 2 winners this week are Clywedog with 98%
Dosbarth Clywedog-98% Dosbarth Conwy- 90% Dosbarth Alyn-94.3% Dosbarth Gwenfro-90.6% Dosbarth Dyfrdwy- 96.7% Dosbarth Gwaun- 96.9%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TARGET- 96%
THIS WEEK'S WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE -93.8% - an increase- well done.
Forthcoming events and dates for your diary
Friday 11th July- Reports to Parents/ Leavers' Retreat day
Monday 14th July- EY trip to Xplore/ Report feedback evening (optional)
Tuesday 15th July- Year 6 Leavers' Mass (cathedral) Parents of Y6 invited
Weds 16th July- Archie Fest & Leavers' party
Friday 18th July- Last day, Own clothes day, Leavers' assembly
SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS
Please be aware that there is no cover in the school office between these hours:-
08:30-09:00 (mornings)
11:45-13:15 (lunchtimes)
15:10-15:20 (afternoons)
School Dinners- please remember to pre-order meals at home each day
Nursery & Reception
Years 1 & 2-Yemi went to church for a flower show and he saw Kelly and Sasha. Michael might be going on holiday soon. Lena is getting a lizard.Kiki’s Dad is going to be 40. Isabella went to a BBQ with her Nanna and Grandad and cousins. Elliot has been to McDonald’s. Freya and Nancy enjoyed their joint Hawaiian birthday party. Owen went to his Grandad’s house. Nathan has been to McDonald’s with his cousin Micah. Joanna went to McDonald’s too. Oliver watched a film at the cinema. Alice is going to Isabella’s house soon. Danny went to Kiki’s birthday party. Jacob had a play date with Oliver. Nancy went to Hallie’s house to play. Lennon might be getting another cat. Sasha’s Grandma is coming to visit from Ukraine. Kharis has moved house.Fiadh has had her ears pierced.Seth went to the Bishop’s birthday party.Daniel went to St. Gilles church to join in activities with Explore. Abigail, Nancie-Mae and Zofia competed in a gymnastics competition. Zofia came 1st, 2nd and 3rd.Nancie-Mae and Abigail came 6th. Nancie-Mae received a trophy in netball for good shooting and good marking.
Years 3 &4-Daniela came 4th place in gymnastics.Franek is going to the cinema.Melaine has two chicks. Jaden won a trophy in football.William is going to a football match. Next Sunday, Ariana is going to her cousin’s gender reveal.Lily is going to spend next weekend in a tree house!Mateusz had a sleepover at Gabriel’s house.Ariana and Lily went to Abigai’s birthday party.Madison had her boxing grading on SaturdayGeorge is going camping this weekend.Erin has a very jazzy plaster cast!Melvin D won a football medal. Akain is going to a birthday party.Artur, Julian and Szymon went to Leon’s birthday party.Florence went to a dance competition. She won a 1st in modern, 1st in quartet, 3rd in ballet and 3rd in tap- WOW! Congratulations!Dylan competed in a swimming gala. He received seven medals - gold, silver and bronze. He has been selected to move to Junior Performance. Dylan, we are so proud of you!Clara and Mitchell had a play date at Arthur’s house.Franek went to a festival in Poland.Sophie came 3rd and 5th in her gymnastics competition.Tony’s aunty and uncle came to his house.Vanessa went on her dad’s motorbike.Scarlett’s aunty is having a baby.Artur, Benj,Dylan Rene and Tony are going to Scout camp.Benj’s uncle celebrated his 97th birthday on Saturday.George is going to Penycae Scout camp.
Year 5 & 6-Noah won most improved player of the rugby season! Niamh received a medal for 100m backstroke, competing in a swimming gala at the weekend.Diyon is leaving us early to make his First Holy Communion in India. We wish him all the best in St. Joseph’s.Grace has started ballet lessons on Saturdays.On 8th August, Isabella is going to Portugal to visit her family.Theo has moved to silver in swimming.Michalina and Emilia have moved up to group 2 in horseriding
Please email school/ Seesaw class teachers to share good news for our weekly newsletter. Thank you.
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.
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
Support the Friends of St Mary’s
to raise much needed funds for the benefit of all our children Friends of St. Mary’s School are now registered with easyfundraising, which means you can raise FREE donations for us every time you shop online. Over 4,000 shops and sites will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself!
These donations really mount up and make a BIG difference to us, so we’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign up and support us. It’s completely FREE and only takes a moment.
Do it today- Sign up by clicking on the link below
Please encourage your family and friends to do the same.
Credits:
Created with images by PRASERT - "Top of the wood table iin front of the white beach." • jc_studio - "Picnic basket toasted ham and cheese sandwich, copy space" • phonlamaiphoto - "Gold star trophy" • Maya Kruchancova - "cupcake with sparkler on old wooden background" • Irina Schmidt - "Adoralbe little toddler girl with rainbow and heart painted with colorful window color during pandemic coronavirus quarantine. Child painting rainbows around the world with the words Let's all be well"