Welcome to our St Mary's Weekly Newsletter!
***IMPORTANT***
Industrial Action- NEU Wednesday 1st February 2023
As per my letter sent 25.1.23 via email and Seesaw, I wish to inform all parents and carers that the school will be CLOSED to all children on Wednesday 1st February following a risk assessment conducted by the Acting Chair of Governors, Acting Vice Chair of Governors and I.
Other proposed days of strike action are Tuesday 14 February, Wednesday 15 March and Thursday 16 March where further risk assessments will be conducted and parents will be contacted in due course.
As I am sure you will appreciate, the decision to close school is never taken lightly but where staff have elected to take lawful industrial action, school leaders have to take appropriate steps to ensure the health, safety and well-being of all pupils.
CRIW CYMRAEG- Poster Competition
Criw Cymraeg have invited all classes to design a CROESO posster to welcome people to our school. We look forward to seeing who wins this super competition. Pob Lwc!
NURSERY OPEN MORNING 2023
A HUGE DIOLCH and WELL DONE to all our Year 6 representatives who conducted guided tours around our school during our Nursery Open morning on Thursday. The children were INCREDIBLE- very mature, confident, articulate, polite, respectful...the list could go on! We are all immensely proud of them. What a wonderful advert for our school! All parents and grandparents were very complimentary and the school was wonderfully 'sold' to each visitor. Da iawn pawb. A special thank you to all children in all classes as well. You were a wonderful example of what it means to be a part of the St Mary's school family! Ardderchog pawb!
Notice from Mrs Roberts- Year 2 Owls
This is a heartfelt request to our Polish families to share this message with friends and family. Diolch, dziękuję.
Diocesan Family Prayer Group Notice
Would you and your children like to connect with other families across the Diocese? The Marriage and Family Life Commission are starting a new Family Prayer Group, to run fortnightly from Monday 23rd January 2023. Online via Zoom from 6:00pm - 6:45pm. Come and join us as we explore our faith in the home as a family, through the sharing of our favourite faith traditions, reflections on scripture, hymns and prayers. For more information and to sign up, please contact Jeanie at mfl@rcdwxm.org.uk , telephone: 07542 268728, or at ‘Marriage and Family Life, Diocese of Wrexham’.
Attendance Matters
Please note school starts 08:55 and finishes at 15:15.
From September, please DO NOT book routine appointments or holidays within term-time. The governors of St Mary's will not authorise holidays taken within term-time.
Please support us to ensure all children are in school on time to receive their education as long as they are fit and well to do so.
Following the WCBC policy, arrivals after 09:15 when the registers close, should be marked as an absence.
Attendance Letters to Parents
A number of parents have received letters regarding pupil absences before the end of term. In line with the revised WCBC attendance policy, schools are now required to inform parents using template letters when pupil absences hit certain triggers, regardless of whether absences are authorised for illness or not. This is to ensure that parents are kept informed about the current levels of attendance and to ensure that schools have appropriate measures in place to monitor absences and safeguard all children.
As a school, we ask that parents keep us informed about the reasons behind any absences and any underlying health/ medical conditions that could affect attendance.
We do appreciate that there have been a significant amount of 'bugs' going around that have affected many of our children. Please do not hesitate to contact school if you would like any further clarification or information. Diolch.
St Mary's Attendance Race
Our Whole School Attendance target is 96%
Once again, we narrowly missed our target.
Foundation Phase- Winners are ... Dosbarth Owls with 93%
Puffins-85.8% Parrots-89.5% Penguins-92.2%
Robins-88.7% Owls-93% Wrens-92.7%
Key Stage 2- Winners are ...Conwy with 98.3%
Clywedog-86% Conwy-98.3% Alyn-97.7%
Dovey-95.8% Gwenfro-96.3% Dyfrdwy-97% Gwaun-87.1%
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.
Free School Meals- Are you eligible?
May I remind all families who are eligible for free school meals to make an application via the link ‘Free school meals | Wrexham County Borough Council. This will not only provide your child with a daily free meal in school but will also allow parents the opportunity to apply for a Pupil Development Grant (PDG) | Wrexham County Borough Council to help with the cost of uniforms, resources, equipment and devices etc. By making your application, school will also receive the correct amount of funding from Welsh Government.
Please note:-
Your child is eligible to receive free school meals if you or your child receive the following...
• Income Support (IS)*
• Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (IBJSA)*
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Income-related Employment Support Allowance (IR)
• Child Tax Credit - providing you’re not entitled to Working Tax Credit with an annual total income below the HMRC set limit
• Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Working Tax Credit 'run-on' - the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit - if you are working you must be earning less than £7,400 per year (£616.67 per month) to qualify for free school meal
From September 1st, all Reception children in Wrexham can have a free school meal as part of the WG universal offer. However, if you are in receipt of the above benefits, please remember to make an application via the links above as well to ensure access to the PDG and to enable school to receive the additional funding.
I urge all families to take up this wonderful universal offer. Diolch
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
Criw Cymraeg's Brawddeg Yr Wythnos
The Criw Cymraeg’s ‘Patrwm yr Wythnos’ (Phrase of the week) this week is:
‘Dw i’n hoffi ti’. This means 'I like you.' https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZYIw03UK3Mgeow8FJRyMW0HFNqe66Z8I/view?usp=share_link
Good news!
Early Years- Puffins, Penguins and Parrots will be hiding outside to count birds for the 'Big School bird watch' today.
Year 1 & 2- Liliana is getting a puppy, Zuzanna's mum is home today, it's Evelina's dad's birthday and she's going swimming, Andy has futsal and scored a goal and Benjamin started playing football for Brymbo. Daniela has started a dance class, Melvin has moved up to Wave 2 and Maya has moved to Level 1 in swimming. George went to Rhos library on Monday to work towards his Beaver reading badge.
Years 3 and 4- Aiden attended a birthday party with Diego and enjoyed it, Cody has a basketball tournament soon, Daniel is going to sleep at a hotel overnight soon, Olivia is going to a big judo competition in Chester soon, Patti is having a night in with her auntie and Owen is excited to go to Diego's birthday party. Alexander's baby cousin will be called Lorenzo, Henri, Noah and Joseph are going to a football camp this weekend, joseph has moved up to Wave 6 , Matilda has completed her silver swimming challenge and Theo has moved up to Wave 5. Julia M has a dance award, David passed Wave 7 and Mark passed Wave 4.
Year 5- Albert's cousin is going to university and all Dosbarth Gwenfro enjoyed welcoming all the nursery visitors. Alec has moved up from rookie lifeguard to water polo, Euan has passed Wave 7, and Nicole and Maya are going ice skating and are having a sleepover.
Year 6- Natasha W is playing her first match on Sunday
Creepy Crawly Show- Years 1 and 2
Years 1 and 2 were treated to a 'bug'-tastic creepy crawly show in school on Thursday. It was a joy to see the delight in the children's faces as they learnt all about the different creatures and had the opportunity to hold many of them too! A super day!
Key Stage 2 Clothing Exchange
This week KS2 held a sustainable clothing swap shop. It was a great opportunity for us all to refresh our wardrobes with some ‘new-to-you’ clothing while also being kind to the environment. We brought in any gently used clothing that we no longer wanted and swapped it with others for something new. Not only were we able to get some new clothes, but we also helped to reduce waste by reusing clothing instead of buying new. It was a great success and was enjoyed by all. We can't wait for our next sustainable clothing swap shop!
'No to Landfill'- Donating to Nightingales Charity Shop
After a very successful pupil and staff clothing exchange, left over items were taken by some year 3/4 children to Nightingales' charity shop in the city centre. Next week, some representatives will be volunteering their time to help sort the donations. Wonderful community work pawb! This is a great example of our St Mary's community spirit! Gwych! Great!
WCBC SCHOOL TERM DATES
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.
If you have any further questions our FAQ’s page may help, or feel free to give us a call.
Yellow and blue (YaB group ltd) is a social enterprise non profit project. Underpinning community projects including positive pathways, food provision and social isolation beating events and activities. With a digital vision within the community - we aim to support vulnerable groups whilst creating a vibrant, supportive and uplifting experience. Creating moments, chances and smiles when people need it most.
Please get in touch by emailing:- info@yellowandblue.org
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.
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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