Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
Let us Pray- Gweddiwn
God of light, you sent your Son into the world to guide us and show us how to live. Help us to follow his example by loving and caring for others. Amen.
Advent- Week 4- Love/ Cariad
A very special Christmas List to share with your families this Christmas.
God gave us the most precious gift of His Son at Christmas. Let us all be a gift to each other and share time, care, love, support with each other and with those in need.
On behalf of all the staff, heartfelt thanks to all families for your kind wishes, cards and Christmas gifts. As I often say, we are all very blessed to work with such wonderful children and their families, and we look forward to continuing to build our community and successful partnership into the new year 2024. Nadolig Llawen a Blwydden Newydd dda i chi i gyd! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!
Reverse Advent Calendar
Thank you to all classes for your generous 'Reverse Advent Calendar' donations for the homeless in Wrexham. We delivered all items to Wrexham Homeless-People Helping People and Yellow and Blue (YAB). We are very grateful to everyone for this opportunity to share our love with those less fortunate at Christmas.
More gorgeous pictures of our children at home with their Travelling Crib
Early Years' Christingle Service
Masses during Christmas
St Mary's Cathedral & Coedpoeth Masses
St Francis of Assisi, Llay
St Anne's Catholic Church
Parish of St Richard Gwyn- Chirk, Ruabon & Llangollen
School Holidays
Please note- we break up for Christmas on Thursday 21st December and return to school on Tuesday 9th January 2024
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:- Tulluanod with 92.7%
Dosbarth Palodau-88.5% Dosbarth Parotiaid-84.1% Dosbarth Pengwiniaid-87.8%, Dosbarth Robin Goch- 92.3%, Dosbarth Tulluanod-92.7%. Dosbarth Dryw- 91.9%
Key Stage 2 winners this week are:- Clywedog with 98.7%
Dosbarth Clywedog-98.7% , Dosbarth Conwy-95.5%, Dosbarth Alyn-95%, Dosbarth Dyfi-98.4%, Dosbarth Gwenfro-92%, Dosbarth Dyfrdwy-98.2%, Dosbarth Gwaun-82.2%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TARGET - 96%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE- 92.4% (1.2% improvement on last week! Hope everyone is better ready for Christmas!)
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:Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda- Merry Christmas and a happy new year
See Link
Early Years- Harri has a medal for football, Loura, Olivia, Nelly and Akia and Eliah went to see Disney on ice, Ines is going to Disneyland and Nathan won man of the match in football and Luka watched Wrexham football at the weekend.
Dottie's dance competition (last week's news)
Years 1 and 2-Lauren's sister and Daniela's sister are coming for Christmas, Tiara is going to her dad's shop, Amelia W's grandparents are over from Poland, Szymon is going to Poland, Oyintaena's family are coming from London, Veronika won 3rd place in a gym competition, Dorian's sister is coming back from Poland, Finn is going to Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve, Matti saw Santa's van and Nathan is going to Poland in the new year. Sasha is going to Ukraine to see his family, Daniel went to see his great grandad, Lily's brothers and sisters are moving to Wrexham from Egypt, Kharis is going to Disneyland, Melanie had a super birthday party and her gran and grandad are coming to her house for Christmas, Bobby had an amazing time on the Polar Express, George has learnt a new pattern in taekwondo and Elliot's babcia is coming to his house for Christmas.
Years 3 and 4- Andy's mum has had her baby called Michael, Sophie and Ariana won a trophy in a gym competition, Rupert worked in his mum's shop over the weekend, Joia's mum and baby have come from Ghana to surprise her, David passed a taekwondo competition, Vanessa M and Paulina have been to the Christmas markets. Noah has moved to Wave 6, Lois and Niamh have sang a duet i Brownies, Emilia is going to spend Christmas with her Grandma, Isabella won a dance medal, Hanna and Pati both won medals at a gym competition, Grace went to the Grove Park Panto, Ywan is going to the Philippines on the 28th, Julia M was in Panto last weekend, Ricky was chosen for a Lacara fashion shoot, Cody has his cousins over for Christmas and Niamh is competing in Wxm Swimming gala. Sophie was awarded a certificate, two medals and a trophy for a gymnastics competition and Aditi has won a medal for gymnastics too.
Year 5-Sophie is going to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory next week, Ella won medals in a gym competition, Diego's mummy has had a baby boy, Iris came 2nd in her first ever solo competition, a lot of Ella's family are coming from Finland for Christmas, Anabelle's uncle got engaged, it is Ivy's dog Poppy's first Christmas and it's Sophia's sister's wedding soon. Evie came 6th in a vault competition and won a medal. Mollie won two 5th places and one 6th place in a gym competition and Jian enjoyed his mum and dad's wedding anniversary party.
Year 6-Evie, Ola and Amelia won trophies for gymnastics competitions
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