Newsletter October 2022

St Philomena’s School October 2022

Headteacher's Half Term Round Up

Welcome to the first newsletter of the academic year, and welcome to the 23 new pupils who started their school journey at St Philomena’s on the 5th September I hope they and their families already feel part of our school community

This half term has absolutely flown by Every week has been busy, with six school trips, a beach clean, a Philomini Stay and Play session, two class assemblies, a parent craft morning and an afternoon tea with the local community The sheer volume of work undertaken by the children this half term is clear to see in every classroom and in every exercise book The classrooms are alive with walls displaying all their work in progress, with topic related artwork and independent writing tasks Everyone is certainly ready for the half term break!

I never fail to be surprised at how much can be packed into a class assembly, and this was certainly true for Forms I and II this half term Not only do these assemblies develop individual confidence and public speaking skills, they enable children to really understand what they have been learning and how many of their subjects are connected They bring the curriculum to life Educational visits reinforce and add challenge to the curriculum They provide opportunities for pupils to learn new skills, share new experiences, problem solve alongside their peers and become more aware of risk My thanks to all the teachers who planned and organised the class assemblies and educational visits this half term

As we say goodbye to the lovely weather of the past few months, please remember pupils return to school after half term wearing winter uniform Please click on the following link to access the Dressing for Excellence booklets: http://stphilomenas com/uniform/

I hope you all have a lovely half term break and look forward to seeing you all again when we return to school on Monday 31st October

HALF TERM HIGHLIGHTS

Pupils at St Philomena's have had some wonderful experiences this half term, with school trips to the beach, Thrive Outdoors, Birch Hall, Hasty's Farm, Jimmy's Farm and the Naze.

Beach Day

Thrive Outdoors

Birch Hall

Jimmy's Farm

Form VI at the Naze

HIGHLIGHTS

Our new Head Boy and Head Girl started in their new roles at the beginning of term. It has been a busy six weeks. We have supported our local community, held class assemblies, invited parents to join us for activity mornings and held a birthday party for Bertie Bear in Reception Class.

Head

and Head

Celebrating Bertie Bear's birthday

PUPIL ACHIEVEMENTS

In assembly each week we celebrate the achievements of our pupils both in and out of school. We are always proud to celebrate their hard work, whether it be for sport, music, reading and volunteering. .

Macie and Bobbie S for their achievement in their Links Karate grading. They are now 9th Kyu Red Belt.

Joseph W for receiving the Chief Scouts Silver Award. This is the highest award a Cub can earn. Well done Joseph.

Emily H, Rebecca A and Wren W completed the Summer Reading Challenge at the library and are now 'Gadgeteers'.

Zach R for incredible achievements in swimming with Clacton Sharks, winning: 'Improver of the Year'; The Fred Eastman Development Squad Cup; the U11 Boys Medley Cup and the U10 Sweeney Cup.

Jude M for gaining a merit in his Grade 1 drum exam.

STEM

GREEN TEAM AND SCHOOL COUNCIL BEACH CLEAN

On Wednesday 6th October most of our newly appointed Green Team and School Council completed their first official duty. They were delighted to support Raff Mathews in a beach clean in Clacton on Sea as part of the "Pay it Forward" scheme for The WeTwo Foundation. Raff will be heading off to Antarctica in November as one of 10 students selected from across the UK to join a research expedition. We look forward to welcoming Raff back into school at the end of the year to talk to the pupils about his adventure.

Welcome to our Reception Class

It has been wonderful welcoming our new Reception children to St Philomena's School. It seems impossible to believe that most of the children have been in school for just six weeks - they have already been on their first school trip to Hasty's Farm, they take part in whole school assemblies and they love to learn! A special mention to our five previous Philominis who have been fantastic role models and helped the new Reception children quickly settle in to St Philomena's School life.

St Philomena's Enrichment Programme

Celebrating some of the out of hours learning at St Philomena’s

Lego Club

Recorders

Indoor Sport

This term has seen an average of 70 children staying after school each day to take part in our after school enrichment programme. We currently run 19 activities from Monday to Friday, with 5 external coaches and teachers offering Drama, Dance, STEM, Football, Golf, Basketball and Multi Sports.

Towards the end of the Autumn Term the online form for Spring Term enrichment activities will be sent out to all parents. Please complete the form as soon as it is released so we can organise the groups and ensure enrichment can start on Day 1 of the Spring Term. Numbers are limited for each activity so please only sign up if your child is able to attend every week and for the full hour.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

As a Catholic School in the Brentwood Diocese, we follow the ‘Come and See’ Catholic Primary Religious Education programme from Reception to Form VI. The programme allows children to explore the teachings of the Catholic church through the use of age appropriate resources and activities.

Each year group have their own list of topics to consider throughout the academic year which coincide with the church calendar. This term pupils are studying the three themes of Domestic Church, Baptism and Confirmation, Advent and Christmas.

Our School Values

Tuck

SCHOOL MESSAGES

The tuck shop is open every Friday morning during break time. With a wide variety of sweet and savoury snacks available, all items are 50p. A big thank you to our parent volunteers who come in and help run the tuck shop.

We are back on ClassDojo. Thank you to all those parents have signed up. If you experience any technical issues with the app, please pop into the office and we will help you. You do need to be running the most up to date version of the app to receive all whole school and class story messages.

Stay and PlayPre-loved Uniform

After half term we will be going back into our winter uniform. If you have any summer uniform you would like to donate, please bring it to the school office where it will be gratefully received.

Our next Stay and Play session is on Tuesday 8th November 2022, from 9am to 10.30am. Please contact admin@stphilomenas.com to book a place. The induction morning for our new Philominis due to start with us in January 2023 is on Tuesday 29th November from 9am to 12.30pm.

Please sign up to Amazon Smile and raise money for school funds. Amazon will donate 0.5% of all eligible purchases when you shop. https://smile.amazon.co.

AUTUMN TERM FIXTURES

Wednesday 2 November 2022 U11 football 7 aside Frobisher

Thursday 3 November 2022 U11 netball Mistley Norman (held at St Osyth School)

Tuesday 8 November 2022 U11 7 aside football Great Bentley

Wednesday 16 November 2022 U11 7 aside football Frinton Primary School

Tuesday 22 November 2022 Indoor athletics competition Tendring Schools

Thursday 24 November 2022 U11 netball Frinton Primary School

Wednesday 30 November 2022 ISA Cut Hedge Cross Country Competition Gosfield School

Thursday 1 December 2022 U11 7 aside football Mistley Norman School

Thursday 15 December 2022` U11 basketball To be confirmed

What’s On… St Philomena’s Diary of Events

November Event

1st School Open Morning, 9am to 11am

2nd

U11 Football Match v Frobisher Primary

3rd U11 Netball Match v Mistley Norman

4th Flu vaccinations

8th Philomini Stay and Play, 9am to 10.30am

U11 Football Match v Great Bentley

10th Form VI Trip to Sutton Hoo

11th Remembrance Service in School led by Form V, 11am (parents invited to attend)

16th Form III Class assembly, 9am (parents invited to attend)

U11 Football Match v Frinton Primary

17th Road Safety Visit for Reception and Form V

22nd Indoor Athletics Competition

23rd Form VI class assembly, 9am (parents invited to attend)

24th

U11 Netball Match v Frinton Primary

29th Philomini induction for January 2023 starters

30th ISA Cut Hedge Cross Country Competition

December Event

1st

U11 Football Match v Mistley Norman

2nd Form IV class assembly, 9am (parents invited to attend)

6th Reception Nativity Performance to parents, 2.30pm and 6pm

7th Forms I and II Nativity Performance to parents, 3pm and 6pm

What’s On… St Philomena’s Diary of Events

December Event

8th Christmas Concert at St Mary's Church, 7pm

9th Forms I and II Nativity Performance to parents, 6pm

14th Christmas Lunch

Forms III to VI Christmas party, 6pm to 7.30pm

15th Reception to Form II Christmas party, 6pm to 7.30pm​

U11 Basketball Match tbc

16th​

Whole School Christmas trip to Electric Palace Cinema, Harwich

Last Day of Term

January Event

3r​d

INSET day

4th Return to school