Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
Let us Pray- Gweddiwn
November- Month of the Holy Souls
During the month of November, as a Catholic community, we pray for the souls of the faithfully departed that they may rest in the peace of Christ in Heaven.
The Messengers of Christ, led by Mrs Wilkinson have placed a book of remembrance and reflection on the prayer focus table outside Mrs Acton's office. Children and staff are invited to write the names of family and friends who have passed away and any words of prayer and reflection. During the month of November, we will offer up all the prayers and reflections within our book of remembrance during our weekly whole school assemblies.
Friends of St Mary's Christmas School Fayre and Santa Dash
Well done and thank you so much to everyone for attending our first ever school Santa Dash and Christmas Fayre! It was a joy to come together as a school family and join in the festive spirit and have lots of fun. Da iawn to all classes for taking part in the dash, for organising their own fundraising stalls and games, to all families for your generous donations, to all external stall holders and to everyone for helping us raise much needed funds for our school. AMAZING!!!
So far, including all monies taken for the Christmas Fayre and the Christmas Film night, we have raised an incredible £2,000!! This is a phenomenal amount of money and will be used to purchase the outdoor & indoor benches we very much need!
Huge congratulations and huge thanks to Mrs Astbury & Mrs Edwards (Chairs of the Friends) Miss Green (Secretary), Mrs Robertson (Treasurer) and all other Friends' committee members, staff members and extra helpers for all their hard work behind the scenes. An event on this scale does not happen by magic! We are incredibly grateful to them and thank them wholeheartedly for their commitment and dedication to continue to make our school the best it can be for all our children and their families. Diolch o galon.
A big thank you to Father Christmas and his cheeky elves for dropping by to share wonderful story-time sessions at St Mary's, especially at this very busy time of year. It very special to see the excitement in the children's faces as they saw Father Christmas and we were very grateful to him for bringing his lovely sleigh and letting us take some memorable photographs. Diolch yn fawr iawn Sion Corn! Thank you so much to all parents for their patience- Santa was definitely a very popular person last night!
DIOLCH MRS DAVIES!
40 wonderful years of dedicated service in St Mary's!
In 2023, Mrs Gill Davies (Senior Teaching Assistant) completed 40 years working in St Mary's. Words cannot express how special and important that Mrs Davies is to us all in St Mary's and we cannot thank her enough for everything she brings and has brought to the lives of children and staff alike- am seren arbennig!
Mrs Davies started her career in St Mary's as a student Nursery Nurse back in 1982 when my little brother was a pupil in her first class! She has always been a firm favourite with the children, sharing her love of the outdoors, music, craft and the Welsh language and culture with us all.
Mrs Davies is one of a kind; warm-hearted, patient, loving, caring- everything a parent could wish for when handing their very young children into the arms of a 'stranger' when starting school for the first time as a Nursery or Reception child.
We are so grateful to you Mrs Davies- a wonderful and dedicated professional, a trusted and supportive colleague and a bundle of fun! Diolch o galon Mrs Davies. Here's to the next 40 years!
Christmas Concerts 2023
Once again, we are pleased to be able to invite parents and wider family members to attend Christmas concerts in the junior hall in school this year. Sadly, the company who has professionally filmed our Christmas concerts for many years is no longer available to film our concerts. At present, we are doing our best to source some appropriate equipment to enable us to film the concerts ourselves and will do everything possible to be able to share the recording with families, free of charge. Miss Edwards is very kindly working with one of our parents who has offered his specialist advice and support to plan how the concerts can be filmed and shared with parents. More information to follow.
Tickets for concerts
This year, we will charge a nominal fee of £1.50 per ticket to enable us to purchase the video/sound equipment we require to film our own concerts. Tickets can be bought via ParentPay.
Polite Request regarding Babies and Small Children at Christmas Concerts
Wherever possible, we ask that you do not bring babies and pre-school children to the Christmas concerts. There are at least 2 concerts for each year group to support families to make childcare arrangements, where possible. The staff work so hard to prepare the children for the concerts enabling them to feel confident enough to perform in front of an audience. Any background noise can be very distracting for the children, and it would be a such a shame for any parent to miss their own child's speaking part. Thank you for your understanding. Please see Mrs Acton if you have any questions or queries. Diolch.
Erddig Rotary Club- St Mary’s Year 5 & 6 Concert evening- Monday 11th December- 6pm in Ty Pawb
Each year, up until the Covid- 19 pandemic, the Erddig Rotary Club have held an annual Christmas community concert within the borough and have invited a different school to take part each year. Last year, the Rotary Club were delighted to see the return of the community concert and asked St Mary’s Year 5 and 6 children to perform their Christmas concert in Ty Pawb theatre. Due to the success of the event, the Rotary club have asked us to perform our Year 5 and 6 concert again and we are delighted to accept the kind offer. We will be very proud for our children to perform in a community venue in Wrexham and look forward to sharing our children’s talents, skills and enthusiasm. The Rotary Club will be selling tickets at a cost of £5 each and all proceeds will be generously given to St Mary’s. This will include a glass of festive mulled wine and a mince pie. There will be approximately 100 tickets on sale on a first come, first served basis. (Letter sent to Y5 & 6 this 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 98%
Dosbarth Palodau-90.4% Dosbarth Parotiaid-90.2% Dosbarth Pengwiniaid-98%, Dosbarth Robin Goch- 96.5%, Dosbarth Tulluanod-89.2%. Dosbarth Dryw- 92.6%
Key Stage 2 winners this week are:- Gwenfro with an almost perfect 99.2%
Dosbarth Clywedog-97% , Dosbarth Conwy-96.8%, Dosbarth Alyn-95.6%, Dosbarth Dyfi-97.6%, Dosbarth Gwenfro-99.2%, Dosbarth Dyfrdwy-95.7%, Dosbarth Gwaun-97%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TARGET - 96%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE- 95.3% (much improved on last week and almost at our 96% target)
Please help us achieve our target next week!!
Free School Meals- Are you eligible?
May I remind all families who are eligible for free school meals to make an application via the link ‘Free school meals | Wrexham County Borough Council. This will not only provide your child with a daily free meal in school but will also allow parents the opportunity to apply for a Pupil Development Grant (PDG) | Wrexham County Borough Council to help with the cost of uniforms, resources, equipment and devices etc. By making your application, school will also receive the correct amount of funding from Welsh Government.
Please note:-
Your child is eligible to receive free school meals if you or your child receive the following...
• Income Support (IS)*
• Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA)*
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Income-related Employment Support Allowance (IR)
• Child Tax Credit - providing you’re not entitled to Working Tax Credit with an annual total income below the HMRC set limit
• Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Working Tax Credit 'run-on' - the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit - if you are working you must be earning less than £7,400 per year (£616.67 per month) to qualify for free school meal
From September 1st, all primary aged children (Reception- Year 6) in Wrexham can have a free school meal as part of the WG universal offer. However, if you are in receipt of the above benefits, please remember to make an application via the links above as well to ensure access to the PDG and to enable school to receive the additional funding.
I urge all families to take up this wonderful universal offer. Diolch
School Dinner orders
Please ensure that school dinners are pre-ordered at home. Teachers should not be ordering meals in school, as previously advised by WCBC. Thank you
Patrwm Yr Wythnos
The Criw Cymraeg’s ‘Patrwm yr Wythnos’ (Phrase of the week) this week is: Ble mae? Where is?
See LINK
Class Assemblies 2023-24
Today Dosbarth Alyn led the whole school assembly on the Titanic. The children were amazing and confidently shared their learning with us all. Diolch Alyn- we are very proud of you all.
Parents are invited to join us from 14:15 in the school hall. We look forward to welcoming you all.
Please see the list of class assembly dates for the school year ahead below:-
Early Years
Years 1 and 2-Szymon is excited to go to Chester, Amelia M is performing in Pinocchio with Delta, Nicolas is going to a motorcross race on Saturday, It's Logan's baby's birthday and Oyintaena, Finn, Logan and Daniel are going to the water slide. Elliot had the best time visiting York over the weekend- he went to Harry Potter adventure and to the Christmas market. Melanie had a fun time at Dylan's birthday party and George D is setting up his own ninja business.
Years 3 and 4- Vanessa M passed Wave 4, David has started taekwondo lessons, Isabella is raising money with her dance group, Julia M is Pinocchio with her dance group, Emilia had her operation and is doing well. We look forward to seeing her back in school next week. Years 3 & 4 had a great Feat of Christ the King party as part of the Religious Education topic work.
Year 5- Anabelle has joined a new gymnastics club, Michalina's Godmother's daughter's birthday is this week, Andrea is going to Rodrigo's birthday party and Rodrigo is having a bowling party.
Year 6-
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