Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
Let us Pray- Gweddiwn
Jubilee Year 2025
“For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope.” Pope Francis
May is the Month of Mary
Our Lady of Fatima
May 13th
In 1917, in the village of Fatima, Portugal, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children—Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta. She asked them to pray the Rosary every day for peace in the world and to trust in God. Over six months, Mary gave them messages of hope, prayer, and repentance. Today, Our Lady of Fatima reminds us to keep praying and to always follow God's love.
Sports Days 2025
What an incredible week it has been at our school as we celebrated sports days filled with energy, excitement and beautiful sunshine! We are so proud of all the children who took part; their enthusiasm, team spirit, and determination shone through in every race and event. Laughter and cheers filled the air as everyone gave their best, supported each other, and enjoyed the fun of friendly competition. The sun was shining, and the atmosphere was really lovely and was made even better by the involvement of our wonderful parents, especially in the much-anticipated parents' races! What fabulous sports! Even Sister Jacqueline joined in with the Year 1 & 2 sack race! Da iawn. Thank you to all who helped make the events so enjoyable and especially to our wonderful teachers for organising the sports days. It was a fantastic celebration of St Mary's teamwork, effort and community spirit. Well done to everyone involved we’re proud of each and every one of you! Ardderchog!
School Discos Thursday 22nd May
Criw Cymraeg- Non- negotiables
We are progressing well towards achieving the next level of the Cymraeg Campus award. However, in order to help us further, the Criw Cymraeg are setting some 'NON NEGOTIABLE' language patterns to use instead of speaking in English. The NON- NEGOTIABLES we are encouraging everyone to use are
Wedi gorffen- I'm finished Dioch- thank you Croeso- You're welcome Bore da- Good morning P'nawn da- good afternoon
Parents can also help our efforts at school by using these patterns at home, by the school gate and with your friends and families. Diolch for your continued support!
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Attendance Matters
Please note school starts 08:55 and finishes at 15:15.
St Mary's Attendance Race 2024-25
Please remember that 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:-
Dosbarth Robin Goch with 96.2%
Dosbarth Palodau- 95.2% Dosbarth Parotiaid- 85.1%- Dosbarth Pengwiniad-89.9%- Dosbarth Robin Goch- 96.2% Dosbarth Tylluanod- 91.5% Dosbarth Dryw-94.4%
Key Stage 2 winners this week are :-
Dosbarth Clywedog 99.6%
Dosbarth Clywedog-99.6% Dosbarth Conwy- 93.1% Dosbarth Alyn-95.8% Dosbarth Gwenfro-88.3% Dosbarth Dyfrdwy- 98.8% Dosbarth Gwaun- 93.8%
WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TARGET- 96%
THIS WEEK'S WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE -93.5% - an improvement on last week, well done
Class Assemblies 2024-25
Todays' class assembly was led by our wonderful Reception classes on their class topic- Space! All children were real super 'stars' and made us all very proud. Mummies and daddies will be delighted to see their 'out of this world' children this afternoon. We look forward to seeing you all!
SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS
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)
School Dinners- please remember to pre-order meals at home each day
Nursery & Reception-Valentina has had a puppy.
Years 1 & 2-Dryw had a lovely weekend, playing in the sun, enjoying barbecues, and swimming in the paddling pool. Roche’s grandparents are over from Sri Lanka. Nancie- Mae went to Gulliver's World.Hunter has been to see his friend's new puppy. Nikola went to Chester.Antoni went to Poland for his mum and Dad’s wedding and was a ring bearer.Elliot went to Shrewsbury Park. Ameya went to a party.Chinua went to the Arsenal Match in Liverpool
Years 3 &4-Alfie Jay achieved Grade 4 in an endurance ride, George started football training, William went to the park, Matti’s grandma is coming on Saturday to visit. Jaden watched a Wrexham football game on the weekend
Year 5 & 6-It is Daniel’s mum’s birthday on Wednesday and Iris’ cousins are in Disney Land in Paris
Please email school/ Seesaw class teachers to share good news for 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 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
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.
Credits:
Created with images by phonlamaiphoto - "Gold star trophy" • 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"