Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
Welcome Back to School-Croeso yn ol!
Let us Pray- Gweddiwn
Our Lady's birthday- 8th September
It has been lovely to welcome everyone back to school after the summer break and we are all enjoying settling back into school life with our friends. A special word of welcome to any new children who have joined our school family- croeso mawr!
Thank you so much for your commitment to uphold our very high standards and expectations for presentation; uniform, hairstyles, jewellery etc. Your continued support and cooperation is very much appreciated. (Please see information from the school prospectus regarding acceptable hairstyles and wearing jewellery)
Please note- shaven heads, extreme haircuts, tramlines etc are NOT permitted.
Reminder regarding P.E. Kits
Children should wear full school P.E. kit to school on their P.E. day. Our school P.E. kit consists of a school burgundy t-shirt, blue P.E. shorts, black P.E. pumps/ trainers. In the colder weather, children may wear dark coloured jogging bottoms or leggings. Cycling shorts, very short fitted shorts or coloured/ patterned shorts are not school P.E. kit.
Updating Your Data and Parental Consent
Please remember to ensure that school has your child's up to date contact details- phone numbers, address, medical needs, allergies etc. It is essential that school has the correct information , especially in an emergency situation. Please use the school MCAS app to update information. Diolch
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Safeguarding of all children
Teachers and school staff are responsible for 'handing over' children to parents/ carers or other pre- advised adults/ older siblings. It is vital that parents inform the school office, if a different person is collecting your child at the end of the school day.
Staff will not 'hand over' a child to another adult if school has not been informed. This is to ensure that all children are safeguarded in our care. Many thanks for your support and understanding.
Home / School Communication
As a school, we do our best to ensure that we maintain clear and regular communication with all families. As we now have the MCAS (My Child At School) App, we are able to review how we use Seesaw. Next week, a letter will be sent to parents to share how each form of communication will be used going forwards. Many thanks. If you haven't already done so, please sign up to Seesaw and MYCAS.
Next Week...
Pupil Voice Assembly- Mrs Robertson and Miss Davies will inform the children of the Pupil Voice opportunities on offer for the year ahead and how children can put themselves forward for a position to support us to make further improvements to our school.
Friday- Reception class photos taken by the Leader
Attendance Matters
Please note school starts 08:55 and finishes at 15:15. Please ensure that al children are in school by 08:55.
St Mary's Attendance Race 2025-26
Once again, our attendance race is on! Each week during our whole school assembly, the weekly attendance figures for each class will be announced and displayed on the attendance race display in the school hall and reported in the weekly newsletter (from next Friday). The classes in Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 with the highest overall weekly attendance will be awarded the prestigious attendance trophy or shield to keep for the week.
At the end of the school year, the winning class will have the opportunity to have a well-deserved reward! In addition, on an individual basis, ALL children with consistent 100% attendance for the year will receive a special attendance badge.
As I explained to the children in assembly this week, 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.
First Holy Communion Classes 2025-26
If you wish for your child to make their First Holy Communion next summer, please contact the parish catechists in your own church. First Holy Communion preparation is provided in individual parishes and not in schools. (Year 3 children upwards.)
St Mary’s Cathedral Parish: Sacramental Preparation for First Holy Communion 2025/26.
Children in School Year 3 and above and belong to the Cathedral Parish and regularly attend, with their family, Mass at the Cathedral or Coedpoeth are able to register to take part in the preparation programme. Registration for the programme must take place before the end of September by sending an email to secretarywrexhamcathedral@rcdwxm.org.uk giving detail of: Child’s name, date of birth, date and place of baptism, school attended and school year. Parental name, postal address, telephone number and contact email address
· If child has not been baptised at the Cathedral then copy of Baptism Certificate must be provided by registration
· Passport of Mass attendance must be collected before the end of September which must be brought to each Mass to record attendance. Passports are available after each Sunday Mass
*If not a Cathedral Parish Member or if regularly attend Mass at another parish then enquiries about First Communion preparation must be made at that parish.
St Francis Of Assisi Llay l Parish: Sacramental Preparation for First Holy Communion 2025/26.
The First Holy Communion preparation for next year in Llay is open to children of families who live in and attend Sunday Mass regularly at St. Francis of Assisi. Those wishing to enrol their child should send an email to:- o.thompson58@btinternet.com giving details of: Child’s name, address and date of birth, Date and place of baptism, Name of school & year, Contact details of parents
Please be aware that there is no cover in the school office between these hours:-
08:30-09:00 (mornings)
11:45-13:15 (lunchtimes)
15:10-15:20 (afternoons)
Being mindful of this, we ask that parents/ carers do not arrange to contact the office or pick up your child/ren between these times, as we are unable to guarantee that anyone will be available to attend to the gate. Should there be an emergency and you are unable to contact the office via telephone, please contact your child’s teacher via Seesaw.
Whilst we recognise that this may be inconvenient, we really do not have any other option at this time and ask for your patience, kindness and understanding.
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
Nursery & Reception-Skye has started dance lessons and got a certificate
Years 1 & 2-
Years 3 & 4-Fiadh won a medal in her dance competition.Elliot went to a theme park over the summer holidays. Kiki had her friends round her house to play. Matthew’s cousin had a sleepover at his house. Seth moved up to wave 5. Joanna has a new bike. Daniel went on holiday over the summer holiday. Marianna went to Tenpin with Kharis. Lena went to Poland over the summer holidays and her tooth fell out. Joanna went to Snowdonia. Neave went on holiday. Franek visited his family in Poland and went to the beach while he was there.E velyn moved up to Wave 5.Zera moved up to Wave 6.Nathan had a big family get together in Poland.J aden went to the Liverpool Arsenal game. Christo moved house. Martim went to Harlech castle. Sarah went to Romania and had lots of fun playing with her cousin on the beach.Maria went to Greece.Blossom went to Malta.Hanna went to Scotland and WhiteCross Bay.David went to Spain with his family. William went to a 1st birthday party. Nicolas went to Poland and to Corfu.Lily went to France and to Finn’s party. Rylie went to the beach.George went to Turkey with Tommy. Erin went to Scotland and she went on her first camping trip. Mateusz went to the beach and to AirHop with Gabriel.Georgie went to Spain with her family. Veronika has a new pet hamster. Lauren went on holiday to South Wales in a campervan.Finn played in the golf Mini Masters tournament. David went to Marine Land.Nicolas came 3rd in a motor cross competition. Erin and Katlyn completed the Wrexham library summer reading challenge.
Year 5 & 6 -Serah did her Holy Communion over the summer holidays! Madison has a new doggy called Rocky,George was an alter boy for the second time on Sunday! Melvin D won another trophy in football for playing really well. Dylan went to a swimming competition in Swansea and won 6 out of 7 medals for various strokes. Rene won a medal and a trophy in a football competition. Benj went to London and Tenpin. Andy has his first game of the season on Saturday and he is playing Rene’s team. Max is getting a tooth removed tomorrow so he is looking forward to being pain free.
Please email / Seesaw with any special good news or remind your child to tell their class teacher so that all good news can be shared on our weekly newsletter. Thank you.
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.
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, your child 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.
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.
Physical punishment of children is 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
Support the Friends of St Mary’s
to raise much needed funds for the benefit of all our children Friends of St. Mary’s School are now registered with easyfundraising, which means you can raise FREE donations for us every time you shop online. Over 4,000 shops and sites will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself!
These donations really mount up and make a BIG difference to us, so we’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign up and support us. It’s completely FREE and only takes a moment.
Do it today- Sign up by clicking on the link below
Please encourage your family and friends to do the same.
Keeping everyone safe- Covid 19
Local Authority advice remains that all children and staff who are displaying symptoms of illness or testing positive on an LFT or PCR test should not come to school and continue to isolate.
In addition to the 3 classic symptoms of a cough, high temperature and loss of taste or smell, we are noticing that many children who are testing positive are also displaying some of the following symptoms :- vomiting, headaches, runny nose, sore throat (symptoms similar to the common cold)
Thank you for your support and understanding.
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Credits:
Created with images by LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS - "closed laptop, green apple, notebooks and color pencils on desk with welcome back to school lettering on black" • phonlamaiphoto - "Gold star trophy" • mariusz szczygieł - "Christian holy communion" • vegefox.com - "danger risk" • Maya Kruchancova - "cupcake with sparkler on old wooden background" • Irina Schmidt - "Adoralbe little toddler girl with rainbow and heart painted with colorful window color during pandemic coronavirus quarantine. Child painting rainbows around the world with the words Let's all be well"