Venerable Edward Morgan Catholic Primary cylchlythyr ysgolion 2023-24, rhifyn 5, 5 Gorffennaf '24 / school newsletter 2023-24, Issue 5, 5 July '24

Community

Holly Bank Residential

Pupils recently visited Holly Bank Residential one of our local care homes, to sing a range of songs to the residents. This is always well recieved by the Residents and the children enjoy singing their favourite songs.

First Holy Communion

Pupils in Year 3 recently celebrated their First Holy Communion at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Connah's Quay. It was a wonderful special occasion in the parish. The pupils then celebrated in school with a special cake, enjoyed by all their peers as well.

Caring for Shotton Trees at Dee Park

Some of our Junior Pupils have recently been down to Dee Park to remove Tree Protectors from Trees we have previously planted. It was amazing to see the growth of the Trees and see how much they have flourished in their new environment and to have the opportunity to work with the fabulous Dee Park Rangers who maintain the Dee Park Community Woodland. You can find out more of what they do from here.

Visiting the John Summers Clock Tower

On the morning of Wednesday 3rd July, Year 5 and 6 went for a very pleasant walk down to the river to visit the site of The John Summer Clock Tower Building.

They have been looking at John Summer and his relationship with Shotton and the Clock Tower, as part of their Summer Term theme work.

Wilsons Auctions have taken on the restoration of the Clock Tower and site works, and the school had a link with this project through Carl, father of Jack in Year 6, who was able to facilitate a visit.

Although the children were not able to enter the Clock Tower building (due to it being part of an ongoing restoration project), they were able to admire its exterior, visit the community garden and to take in the history of the location through the information boards scattered around the newly developed areas.

They were joined on their walk by some parent volunteers and they would like to say a special thank you to them for coming to help. Diolch!

Looking after our Neighbourhood Bees

Dosbarth Willow and Dosbarth Cherry talked about how important flowers are for bees and thought of ways they could highlight this in the community. They made thank you cards for people who had lots of lovely flowers in their gardens and then delivered them to our neighbours surrounding the school.

ATTENDANCE

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

We want every child who comes to Venerable Edward Morgan to be happy and feel like they belong to our school family. In order to achieve this pupils need to attend school as often as they can.

Poor attendance can have a negative impact on your child’s self-esteem and friendship groups. Poor attendance will also have an impact on your child’s progress through the curriculum. They can’t make achievements against this curriculum if they are not here.

So …Why does every day attendance matter? Well… here is some data to highlight the impact poor attendance can have.

• Half a day off in a week = 90% attendance
• 1 day off in a week = 80% attendance
• One and a half days off in a week = 70% attendance
• 2 days off in a week = 60% attendance

However, we do understand that there are times when attendance is not possible. We put these into 2 categories. Authorised and unauthorised.

Authorised Absence

If your child is unwell we would expect you to make the judgement as to whether they would be well enough to attend school. Please let school know on the first morning of any absence so school can record the correct attendance mark promptly. If they are unable to attend school then they will have an “I” recorded to signify they are off ill. We can also give a recording of “M” for a medical appointment. However, we kindly ask, where possible, that all medical and dental appointment are made after school hours or during school holidays. We would expect, again where possible, pupils to be able to come to school before and after their appointments.

We do like to help where ever possible and so if your child has more than 10 days (20 sessions) absence the school may contact you to see if there is anything we can do as a school to help you.

Unauthorised Absence

If a child does not attend school and we do not receive notification as to why, from either a phone call or letter, then it shall be recorded as unauthorised. Late after registration is also counted as an unauthorised absence, if no reason is provided. Any incident of 10 sessions missed through unauthorised absence will be investigated by the school and may result in a referral to the education inclusion team.

Request for Leave of Absence

It is possible to request leave for your child for a special occasion or holiday.

The decision as to whether the absence can be authorised lies solely with the head teacher. Parents do not have an automatic right to withdraw pupils from school during the school term for a holiday. The head teacher will make the decision and may include the following contributory factors:

• Time of year
• Length of time
• Overall percentage of attendance
• Impact on the child’s learning

You are able to request up to 10 days absence which must be done where possible at least 28 days before the period of leave. Please use the Application for Leave of Absence During Term Time Form. The head teacher will then assess each case on its own merits and report back to you detailing as to the reasons why the request has been approved, or indeed, unapproved.

There are other circumstances where absence may be approved, some of which will not affect attendance, such as Educational and/or residential visits, educated off site etc…

Punctuality

Being on time for school is another way you can support your child being ‘School Ready’. For some children arriving late when the class routine has started can be very unsettling and can have an impact on the rest of the day. Children really hate being late for school. It can make them anxious and upset, about attending school. If you have problems in getting your child to school on time you must let the head teacher know as soon as possible.

Our school gates open at 8:45am and the bell rings to signal the start of the school day at 8:55am. It is advisable to have your child in school for 8:45am. If you need to drop your child off earlier we have a breakfast club which starts at 8:15am and pupils in Reception to Year 6 are able to attend. Please ask in the office how to book. Lateness can add up to a lot of lost learning.

I hope this helps you understand why attendance and punctuality is so important to us at Venerable Edward Morgan – but more importantly why it is important for your children.

Thanks for Everything

It is with real sadness that we say goodbye to our School Caretaker, Mr Tony Allen, at the end of term.

Mr Allen has kept the school "spick and span" for the last 5 years. His dedication to ensuring the school is clean and safe for all our learners has been second to none.

It must be mentioned how well he managed the site during the pandemic, ensuring all staff had enough PPE and cleaning equipment and ensuring the million and one rules and regulations that were thrown at us on a daily basis, were followed. Not an easy task!

Mr Allen hasn't just been a 'Caretaker' he has been a valued member of our school family, showing true care and kindness to all the pupils, staff and parents he dealt with.

Thank you Mr Allen, VEM is going to miss you very much.