Monday 9th December 2019 Please see our PTFA Facebook Page Contact school: sch.164@educ.somerset.gov.uk Website: https://stbenedictsjuniorschoolglastonbury.org/
Year 4 and Year 6 members of Glee Club spread a little seasonal cheer when they visited St. Benedict’s Care Home last Tuesday. They performed their set of Christmas classics to a enthralled audience of residents. Glee Club leader, Teaching Assistant Becky Grenter, was delighted with the impact of the visit, “It’s so nice to bring a bit of joy to the community, especially at this time of year, and I thought the children were brilliant!”
Mr Ranger, who was lucky enough to enjoy the performance, too, agreed, “It’s wonderful for the children to see what a positive impact their actions can have on others; I couldn’t be prouder of our pupils.” The school are now in talks with the Care Home about more shared events in the New Year. Huge thanks to Miss Grenter and Glee Club.
All we want for Christmas is… a new website. Chess guru, Associate Governor and friend of St. Benedict’s, Mr Roger Parsons, has been manfully keeping our website updated for more years than he planned to! We could not be more grateful for this. Our Christmas present to him, and to all of you, is a brand new website. It is currently under construction and will be hitting a screen near you in the New Year. In something akin to an Olympic torch moment, Mr Parsons will then hand the website over to Mrs Lawford who will be running operations from the school office. We hope this will be in place by the time we return on Tuesday 7th January, and we appreciate your patience while the transition between the websites takes place. We have been made aware in the last week or so that some of you have not been receiving e-mails; this is down to our provider and is something we think we have now sorted out – sorry for any inconvenience. If you ever think you may have missed a newsletter, please contact us. On this note, please ensure we have your correct e-mail details: see the reply slip at the end of this newsletter.
As usual, there will be no clubs in the last week before Christmas, so this week will be the last session this term for every club. A Spring Term clubs’ letter will go out in the first week back. I am really grateful to all staff who have taking their time to run such a broad range of clubs this term and I hope the children have enjoyed them – please remind your child to thank their club leader/s this week.
On Friday 6th December, year 4 went to Bristol museum to look at Ancient Egyptian artefacts. We did a workshop on Amelia Edwards and got to look at replicas of the sort of things ordinary Egyptians would use. Then, we got split into groups and went to the Egyptian gallery. Inside were all sorts of interesting things. From beautiful blue Scarab Beetles to amazingly decorated sarcophagus’, we were amazed by the objects.” As soon as we arrived, I could feel the excitement around the room.” they said. Written by Freida & Venus. Other comments: “I liked looking at the bones and the Egyptian boats and the detail on the coffins was amazing.” Amy-Jane “It was very interesting and I learnt things from the pupils.” David Reakes (parent) “The children were so engrossed in what the workshop leaders were saying; I learned a lot about Ancient Egypt myself.” Mike Derbidge (parent) “It was brilliant! I learned lots of interesting new facts and a lot about mummification.” Ena “It was more interesting than you can imagine. I was amazed that life in Ancient Egypt was so similar to our own modern life.” Silas “The children were really engaged and they enjoyed linking their Egyptian learning to the diary of Amelia Edwards.” Mrs Ford “It was great to see the children handling the objects and artefacts and it really helped them to link their learning to real life.” Miss Lowe
Last Friday evening saw festive revellers and bargain hunters head to St. Benedict’s for a fabulous few hours of Christmas cheer. The event was organised by our energetic PTFA who created an incredibly warm and festive feeling that was commented on by many parents. Santa himself took residence in our new reading area whilst the Hall was alive with festive sights, smells and sounds, including gingerbread, chocolate, arts and crafts stalls and the raffle – for which there was an array of fantastic prizes. We also had candy floss on offer and the police ran a ‘name a Police Bear’ stall to help us raise funds – a real community effort! Outside in the courtyard, hotdogs and burgers were the order of the day, washed down with a festive performance from our brilliant Glee Club Singers (thanks once again to Miss Grenter!) and drinks from our Spider Class Café. Back indoors, the stars of the show were the Year 6s who had created an amazing range of stalls to keep children and big kids amused – from Christmas pong to wrap your friend in tinsel (thank you to Mrs Brown and Mrs Chambers who have kindly paid for me to be wrapped at some point before Christmas!). Thanks to everyone that came along, to all Year 6s that stayed to help raise money for the school, and to all the adults who helped – we couldn’t have done it without you. A final HUGE thank you to our tireless PTFA, Sharon, Trudi, Tina and everyone else that helped to organise and run what was a really enjoyable evening. We raised £1000. When added to the £600 the PTFA raised at the Frost Fayre last weekend, this totals an incredible £1600. If anyone out there would like to be a part of our brilliant PTFA, please let me know – in the New Year, we will be turning our minds to BENFest in June, and we need all the help we can get!
ATTENDANCE CHAMPS! Attendance for 2nd – 6th December : Cat Class: Unicorn Class: Chameleon Class: Owl Class: Spider Class: Tortoise Class: Peacock Class: Leopard Class:
97.3% 94.4% 94.2% 98.2% 92.6% 91.6 % 95% 95.7%
Weekly Awards:
Head Teacher’s Awards:
Teachers’ Awards:
STARS OF THE WEEK
Cat Class: Unicorn Class: Chameleon Class: Owl Class: Tortoise Class: Spider Class: Leopard Class: Peacock Class:
Caspar Spencer N/A - trip N/A - trip Lucas Toby Ethan Ruby
Jakob Rosie N/A – trip N/A - trip Amber Otto Elysia Sammie
Miss Grenter and Glee Club for their amazing performance and bringing a smile to the faces of the St. Benedict’s Care Home residents.
PARKING PROBLEMS It has come to my attention that some parents/carers are parking dangerously outside school. This is a particular problem at the back of school (opposite Proper Job). The message from the children of St. Benedict’s is clear… “DON’T PUT OUR LIVES IN DANGER!” It may be more convenient for you, or save you finding a space somewhere else, but you are risking lives if your car obscures a crossing place. Please do not park on yellow lines, even if just for a few minutes. Also, could you please not leave your engines running whilst waiting by the school. Children are particularly affected by air pollution as their lungs are still developing and it can increase their risk of a range of long-term issues including asthma. I’m sure we all share the same hopes for the children in that they are able to live happy and healthy lives, and small steps like turning your engine off will have that positive effect of improving air quality. Thank you in advance for your co-operation.
Carol Service Tuesday 10th December As ever, we will be running a St. Benedict’s Christmas postal service with our post-box situated by the pews. Please ensure the following information is on every card to make sure it gets to the correct person: The week ahead FULL NAME OF THE PERSON RECEIVING THE CARD, THE CLASS THEY ARE IN.
This starts from Monday 9th December.
Christmas Jumpers Wednesday 18th December The staff are wearing Christmas jumpers in support of Save the Children to help create a brighter future for children. The children are welcome to join us in wearing Christmas jumpers or a Christmas themed outfit. Please bring a donation for the appeal. Those children not taking part should wear full school uniform.
We will be holding our annual Christmas Service on Tuesday 10th December in St Benedict’s Church, 1.45pm for 2pm start. Please do come along and join us.
Christmas Lunch Wednesday 18th December Once again, the Glastonbury Festival Charity has very kindly funded our whole school Christmas lunch and we are pleased to be able to offer every child a free Christmas lunch on Wednesday 18th December. Please complete the menu form (sent home last week) advising us of your child’s choice and return it to the class teacher tomorrow (Tuesday 10th December).
The week ahead 10th December DASH club (8.00 – 8.30a.m.); Carol Service in St Benedict’s Church 2 p.m.; 3.15 – 4 p.m. – Lower school football club; 3.15 – 4 p.m. – Film club; 3.15 – 4 p.m. – netball club; 3.15 – 4.30 p.m. – Drama club; 3.15 – 4 p.m. – Eco club Wednesday 11th December DASH club (8.00 – 8.30a.m.); 9a.m. – 12 noon – Year 6 visiting St Dunstan’s for talk about Drugs; Glee club 3.15 – 4p.m. th Thursday 12 December DASH club (8.00 – 8.30a.m; Cosmic Yoga club 3.15 – 4p.m.; Upper school football club 3.15 – 4p.m; Lower school and Upper school Art clubs 3.15 – 4 p.m. th Friday 13 December DASH club (8.00 – 8.30a.m). Monday 16th December DASH club (8.00 – 8.30a.m.); 3.15 – 4.15 p.m. Chess match – pupils vs staff. Dates for your diary Tuesday
Date Tuesday 10th December
Class All
Tuesday 17th December Wednesday 18th December Wednesday 18th December Friday 20th December Monday 23rd December 2019– Friday 3rd January 2020 Monday 6th January Tuesday 7th January
Unicorn & Cat All All
Event Christmas Carol Service in St Benedict’s Church 2 p.m.– you are all welcome to join us. Year 3 Christmas play to parents 6 p.m. for 6.30 p.m. start. Christmas Lunch – free to all children – menus to follow.
All All
Christmas Jumper Day – wear your Christmas jumper to school and bring in a donation for Save the Children Last day of Autumn term Christmas Holidays
All All
Inset Day First day of Spring term – everyone expected back at school.
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In a bid to go paperless we would like to continue sending newsletters etc. home via email. If you are not currently receiving information from the school via email , and you are happy to, please complete the reply slip below and return it to the school office as soon as possible. Parent/carer of:________________________________________Class________________ Email address:_____________________________________________________________