We are incredibly grateful to Pastor Dave and all at Riverchurch for allowing us to host some of our concerts in the church again this year. We know that many of you appreciated this last year - it made the concerts extra special as well as enabling easier access for those who need it.
To ensure that we do not exceed safe capacity at Christmas Concerts, in school and at Riverchurch, we need parents to book virtual tickets. There are no paper tickets this year.
We will have a list of how many tickets were booked per child and will use this to tick off your arrival (similar to the way we check in the children at PTFA discos). You are required to book seats to guarantee entrance. If we have anyone arrive who has not booked they will be asked to wait until everyone has been admitted and then invited in if there is sufficient space.
Please complete the forms (linked below) to request up to 4 tickets per family to view a Concert (one performance of Coch; Oren; Melyn & Gwyrdd or Glas / Porffor).
Dosbarth Coch (including Nursery)
Dosbarth Melyn & Dosbarth Gwyrdd
Dosbarth Glas & Dosbarth Porffor
Please note that this is 4 in total and not 4 for each parent with parental responsibility or 4 for each child if there are siblings in the same concert. Also, as there are two performances of the concerts for the Melyn & Gwyrdd and Glas & Porffor concerts, please note that we can not provide 4 for both performances.
However, you may request additional tickets on the form and if we can accommodate your request, we will.
Where school is aware that separated parents both want tickets 2 will be allocated to each parent. If a family has children in different concerts, it will be 4 tickets for each child. It is possible to select the 4 tickets across the performances e.g. 2 on Tuesday and 2 on Thursday or a family can all attend together at one performance only.
However, there will be some families who do not need 4 tickets and so this enables us to provide additional tickets where possible.
The forms will close at 9:30am on Friday 5/12/25 and we will let parents who request additional tickets if we can accommodate this by the end of the day. It is likely that we will be able to meet your request, and that we will have spare tickets to allocate, however, this cannot be guaranteed until we have gathered the responses to the forms.
We ask for £2 per person (collected on the door, not in advance). Teas and coffees will also be on sale, as will raffle tickets (thank you to the PTFA for their help with this).
Whilst we charge for the concerts, the money raised goes towards school fund. In previous years this has paid for a cracker for Christmas Dinner (even if you're having sandwiches) and a Christmas Book (Father Christmas visits on party day to give these to our infant children). The PTFA have offered to help with the cost of the parties and so, if we raise enough money from the sale of tickets, we may be able to replenish school fund enough to offer support to parents with the cost of school trips next term.
The PTFA are also organising our raffle again this year. Tickets will be on sale in advance as well as at the concerts and prizes will be drawn after the final concert on Thursday 11th December. More details to follow.
If possible, we will arrange for the children to visit the church in advance for a rehearsal - dates and times will be communicated to parents.
Consent for these visits are covered by the Routine Visits Form that you have completed.
A very small minority of parents who have not signed this form & will be contacted next week via email. If consent is not provided, children will not be able to take part and will need to remain in school with another class.
If you know your child is not going to be in school on the day of a performance please let us know as soon as possible so that we can reallocate lines. Late notice impacts on the other children and can upset the running of the performance.
Please park legally and responsibly, whether a concert is in school or at River Church.
Please don't be late to school this week during concert week Timing is tight!
Safeguarding / Data Protection
We're sorry but filming and photography cannot be permitted at concerts this year – we have children across the school taking part who we need to safeguard. We will, however, post photos and possibly rehearsal clips on our Google Classrooms at the end of term – these are for personal use and should not be shared on any social media channels.
Similarly, please do not request class lists from us for Christmas Cards - we are not permitted to give out this information.
Dosbarth Coch (including Nursery)
Doors will open at approximately 9:30. If it's cold please wrap up warm. We're really sorry, but we will not be able to allow you in any earlier and we cannot be precise on our timing as we will need to bring across chairs from the canteen after breakfast club.
Parents of Nursery children may wish to take them home after the performance - Nursery will, however remain open until the normal end of the session for everyone who needs it.
Concerts at River Church (Melyn & Gwyrdd and Glas & Porffor)
Address: River Church, 10244 Tram Rd, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2JF
Doors will open as soon as the PTFA are ready - this should be by 09:30 & 13:30 but maybe earlier. The PTFA will be selling raffle tickets and to serve you tea and coffee whilst you wait for us to arrive.
When we arrive we will go to a room at the rear of the church (where we can leave coats etc) before coming in to start the concert. We will return there after the performance.
We will need to return to school promptly for lunch so there will be no time for the children to speak with you, sorry.
If you wish to take your child home early after the afternoon performances, we will be able to dismiss them to you from the back room in the church.
If you would like them collected by anyone else please let us know in advance.
Having collected your child early, you are welcome to make your way back to school to collect any siblings too. Please listen carefully to instructions at the end of the concert to help us ensure this goes smoothly - you may well arrive before us, so please be patient if asked to wait until we have more staff back on site to help with dismissing. Please do not disturb the school office unless absolutely necessary - dismissal will not take place via the office.
A small number of seats will be reserved for staff conducting the concerts, Governors and members of the PTFA helping. I am aware that this is unpopular with a minority of parents but this is a complaint that has been discussed in the past with the PTFA and Governing Body and ultimately this is my decision to make as headteacher. I am very grateful to those who give up their time to help us and it is the least we can do to thank them. Governors attend on average 9 meetings a year, many of these will last 2 hours. The PTFA work hard to support the school and without their support so many things would not go ahead. There is a significant commitment to both roles. I hope that the vast of majority of parents will support me in this decision.