Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
Let us Pray- Gweddiwn
Advent- Week 3- Joy/ Llawenydd
KS 2 Christmas Concerts 2023
Huge congratulations to all junior children on their incredible concerts this week. It was a joy to watch each class perform on the stage, and so wonderful to see how each child has grown during their time in St Mary's. The children oozed confidence and you could see how much they have enjoyed singing, dancing and acting! AMAZING! A special well-done to our Year 5 and 6 children for their performance in Ty Pawb and thank you to Erddig Rotary club for inviting us to perform and for kindly donating the proceeds to our school. (More information to follow)
Once again, I wish to thank all our FANTASTIC staff for their hard work behind the scenes, organising and preparing the children to such a high standard. DIOLCH O GALON. Thanks also to all parents for purchasing tickets and providing the wonderful costumes. What an amazing school family!
Whole School Advent Mass
Today, Fr Jaspher celebrated Mass in school as we approach the third week of Advent. The children led the readings, offertory procession and prayers and everyone behaved very reverently, as always. It was a beautiful celebration and another wonderful opportunity to prepare for the coming of Jesus on Christmas Day.
Reverse Advent Calendar
Thank you to all classes for your generous 'Reverse Advent Calendar' donations for the homeless in Wrexham. Our Eco team will be making special shoeboxes to be distributed during the final week of term. We are very grateful to everyone for this opportunity to share our love with those less fortunate at Christmas.
Early Years' Travelling Crib
Final Week Festivities
Please note- we break up for Christmas on Thursday 21st December and return to school on Tuesday 9th January 2024
Christmas Dinner- Thursday 14th December
A big thank you to Mrs Pierce (School Cook) and her wonderful kitchen staff team for preparing a delicious Christmas lunch for all our children. Everyone had a wonderful meal and enjoyed a festive film afternoon as a special Christmas treat.
St Mary's Christmas Jumper Day- in aid of Nightingale House Hospice
Thank you to everyone for supporting our school Christmas jumper day today. We raised a fantastic £224 for Nightingale House Hospice, a very important local charity.
Good Luck and Hwyl Fawr to Isabella
After the Christmas holidays on 11th January, Isabella will be leaving St Mary’s to embark on a very exciting adventure with her family. Isabella will be moving to Florida in the United States. Isabella has had a fantastic time at St Mary's and is going to miss all her friends. She would like to thank all the teachers for their support during her time at the school.
As a school family we would like to wish Isabella and her mummy and daddy all the very best in America. We hope that they will be very happy and have lots of fun meeting lots of new friends. We hope that Isabella will stay in touch and will pop to see us if she is ever visiting Wrexham in the future! Good luck and God bless.
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:- Dryw with 97.4%
Dosbarth Palodau-82.3% Dosbarth Parotiaid-80.8% Dosbarth Pengwiniaid-91.8%, Dosbarth Robin Goch- 97.3%, Dosbarth Tulluanod-93.8%. Dosbarth Dryw- 97.4%
Key Stage 2 winners this week are:- Conwy with 94.8%
Dosbarth Clywedog-92.7% , Dosbarth Conwy-94.8%, Dosbarth Alyn-89.4%, Dosbarth Dyfi-92.8%, Dosbarth Gwenfro-94.4%, Dosbarth Dyfrdwy-93.2%, Dosbarth Gwaun-90.7%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TARGET - 96%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE- 91.3% (More poorly children this week but a slight improvement on last week! Hope everyone is better soon!)
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: Hwyl! Wela i ti yfory! Bye- see you tomorrow
See Link
Early Years- Lennon went to Liverpool and went on the fairground rides, Elliott went to the Christmas market in Belle Vue Park and visited a skate park in Liverpool, Nathan scored two goals for his team and Nancy went to watch Cinderella with her mummy. Willow enjoyed breakfast with Father Christmas at the weekend and Ashani went to the cinema to see Princess Peaches. Noah got a medal for doing a challenge at physio on Monday, and is going to see Santa on Sunday. Dottie went to the Polar Express n Telford and is in a dance competition this weekend.
Years 1 and 2- George has received his green stripe belt in tae kwondo, Mateusz is going to Poland for Christmas and Antoni has received his green stripe in tae kwondo. Amelia M's granny is coming over from Poland, Veronika is in a gymnastics competition on Sunday, Daniela is in a gymnastics Christmas concert on Saturday, Nicolas has moved up to yellow belt in Tae Kwondo and Franek passed Wave 2. Nazif has achieved an A pass in Taekwondo green stripe belt! Elena is going on holiday, Joanna B is having a sleepover with Veronika, Sasha is excited to go to Ukraine and Katlyn is going to see the lanterns at Chester Zoo.
Years 3 and 4- Noah got man of the match in rugby, Noah, David and Emily went on the Polar Express, Ricky has been chosen by a fashion company for a photo shoot, Julia M is starring in panto this Sunday, Grace has had her ears pierced, Rozalia got bronze in a fencing competition in London and Martha has been to see the Chester Zoo lanterns. David, Julian and Daniel have got their yellow stripe in Tae kwondo, Joia and Florence are in a Delta show this week. Leon has got his yellow belt in tae kwondo. Franek is performing in a new show in the theatre, Zuzanna and Liliana are dancing in a show called Pinocchio, Pola and Alfie-Jay have been to the cinema at the weekend and Mitchell, Saoirse, Tony, Arthur, Ariana and Melvin D have made their First confession.
Year 5- Mollie and Evie are in a gym competition on Sunday, Matilda is doing a Christmas gym competition, Molly is in a gym show on Saturday, Janelle's cousin is just six month's old and Theo went rubbish picking at the weekend with his dad. Alexandra passed her Wave 1 in swimming, Ivy, Sophia and Annabelle enjoyed Ella's party at GoApe.
Year 6- Zofia passed her Tae Kwondo grading and is now a yellow belt, Evie and Ola have a gym competition this weekend. Lily has a new baby in the family- it's her step dad's cousin and Bella Rose is going to FlipOut on Sunday
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