10th January 2025
Dear Parents and Carers,
This Week in School
I would like to start today’s newsletter off by saying a very Happy New Year to all our St George’s families! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break, although I imagine it feels like it was an age ago.
It has been a quiet start to the term, with the cold weather being most noticeable since we returned. It has been good to see the children coming to school wrapped up snugly in their coats, hats and gloves, and the temperatures haven’t stopped them getting out to play and enjoying the fresh air and exercise at playtimes.
The children’s behaviour was excellent at our start of term Mass on Wednesday, and it was delightful to see how our younger pupils are maturing, becoming more able to sit for longer periods of time in a formal setting. I have set the children the target of joining in with the singing more confidently, as this time around they appeared to be shy and a little reluctant to make their voices heard, despite the hymns being familiar ones that they have practiced regularly.
End of Day Pick Up
For any parents who are new to the school, I would like to explain our system of releasing the children at the end of school day for collection. The school day finishes at 3.30pm.
EYFS and Year 1 children are collected directly from the areas directly outside their classrooms.
For Years 2 – 6, the children are walked to the playground by their teacher. They then wait here with the class teacher to be collected by a parent or carer. The teachers wait for a considerable amount of time with the children, often in the cold and rain, as understandably some parents have to queue in the lane to pick up when the car park is full. The teachers monitor movement in the lane, noting when the queue has dispersed, and ensuring there are no more cars waiting to enter the school grounds. Once the last few cars park up, the children are released to these parents. At this point, when there are no more cars queueing in the lane, then and only then do the teachers take the remaining children to Afterschool Club. When this happens, the parent will receive a small charge from the After School Club. We believe this is fair as teachers cannot be expected to continue to wait for parents who are running late to arrive.
We ask that parents show understanding to school staff, both teachers and After School Club supervisors alike, when a child has had to be taken to After School Club in these circumstances. They are merely following the school’s procedures and have no control over bills being issued or withdrawn. Thank you in advance for your understanding in this matter.
Parent Support Group - School Disco
The children are very excited at the thought of attending the annual school disco, and we are looking for a few more parent volunteers to provide support. It would be wonderful to ensure that this much-loved event can go ahead and we need your help to do that! Please get in touch with Laura (Mum of George and Jack in Year 5 and Year 1) or the office staff to let them know if you are available to lend your support. This could be with supervision of the disco, face painting, glitter face tattoos or preparation of food. It is likely that the KS1 and KS2 discos will be held on different evenings. We will provide further information (dates, logistics etc.) very soon, so watch this space!
School Uniform Policy
To endeavour to promote a disciplined and purposeful atmosphere and help the child to take a pride in belonging to St George's, the wearing of the school uniform is expected.
We allow children to wear their PE kit on the day they have PE, however children should still appear smart and adhere to the school uniform policy on these days. I have outlined below what this is.
It is expected that in winter, pupils wear a school jumper with their PE kit (preferably with a logo).
As PE kits are worn throughout the school day, dark trainers are requested so that pupils look smart. If trainers are brightly coloured, pupils should wear school shoes into school and change into trainers for the lesson, changing back again afterwards.
Our uniform expectations are in line with other schools and in secondary school, children will be sanctioned for wearing items other than those listed as acceptable. Therefore, it is important to prepare pupils for this by adhering to the uniform policy in the primary setting as well.
Staff members will be monitoring that the policy is adhered to, and we appreciate your support and understanding with this.
Please can I make parents aware of the following requirements from our school uniform policy:
Shoes
Sensible flat, dark shoes
No trainers
PE Kit - Sports
White t-shirt preferably with the school logo
Navy blue shorts
Daps/plimsolls for gymnastics
Dark trainers suitable for junior games, not brightly coloured.
Jewellery
Under no circumstances are items of jewellery including bracelets, rings, or earrings to be worn. For children with pierced ears, only small single studs will be accepted.
Hair
Any hairbands or hair accessories must be of a reasonable size and in school colours – white and blue.
Hair longer than shoulder length must be tied back.
Hairstyles must be neat and tidy with no extreme styles e.g., no lines, patterns or colours applied to the hair.
The full policy is available on the school website.
It is also very important that every item of clothing is named. We regularly have piles of unnamed uniform that we are unable to return to its rightful owner and have to discard or sell as we can’t hold onto to all of it.
I hope you have a restful weekend.
Best wishes,
Edwina McDonnell
Headteacher
Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday 15th January – Year 2 join the 9.30am Mass in St George’s Church. Parents welcome.
Wednesday 22nd January – Year 3 join the 9.30am Mass in St George’s Church. Parents welcome.
Wednesday 5th February – Year 4 join the 9.30am Mass in St George’s Church. Parents welcome.
Thursday 6th February – Chaplaincy Commissioning Service at St George’s Church. Parents welcome.
Monday 10th February – Parents’ Evening – 5 pm – 7.30 pm
Tuesday 11th February – Parents’ Evening – 3 pm – 5.30 pm
Wednesday 12th February – Year 5 join the 9.30am Mass in St George’s Church. Parents welcome.
Saturday 15th February – SCHOOL CLOSED for half-term
Monday 24th February – SCHOOL REOPENS
