Family Letter number 15
Autumn Term, 18th December 2008
Dear Parents,
After the disappointment of our Fayre being cancelled the previous week we would like to say thank you to everyone who supported the Christmas Fayre last Friday, and especially to everyone who helped to organise the event. It was lovely to see so many people at the Fayre. Thank you.
Farewell to Mrs. Yates
I am sure you would wish to join us in wishing Mrs. Yates every success in her new role as an advisor in Stoke on Trent, and thank her for her contribution as SENCO here at St. Michael’s over the past 3 years. Mrs. Yates will be replaced by Mrs. Church who will join us in January and will be in school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
We have now been informed by the Methodist Church that our children filled a total of 120 shoe boxes for the Operation Christmas Child project. A wonderful response for this appeal. Our sincere thanks to the families.
Christmas Productions CollectionThe retiring collections raised will be collected by a representative from the charity Barnardo. On behalf of Barnardo we would like to thank all parents, grandparents and friends for their donations.
Christmas Holiday Reminder
School closes today and reopens for pupils on Monday 5th January 2009.
Years 4, 5 & 6 Football
Big thank you and well done to all those children who played in the recent matches against The Willows and Whittington Primary Schools. You all represented yourselves and the school superbly.
New York Marathon
Many of you will remember Fiona Highfield who was a member of our P.T.A. Her husband Mike is competing in the New York Marathon in her memory. If you would like to make a donation the link is htpp://www.runningsponsorme.org/mikehighfield.
School Worship and Ethos Committee Parent Representative
Our School Worship and ethos Committee meets six times a year usually on a Thursday at 3.30 p.m. The Committee has two parent representatives and there is currently a vacancy. If anyone is interested in joining the Committee or finding out a little more about its work please contact me via the main school office.
Before School Supervision on the Playgrounds
Recently a number of children have been arriving at school very early. Please be aware that staff are not on the playgrounds until 8.40 a.m. and children should not be entering school before that time. Thank you for your support.
Governors’ News
“Thanks for sending in your thoughts about communications from the Governing Body. We will be updating you after each meeting on matters that may affect you. For this first instalment, we thought it would be useful to remind you who the Governors are and their specific roles:
Chairman - Dave Piggott
LA Governor - Glynn Southall and Dave Piggott
Parent Governors - Rachel Poulton, Janine Pearce, Mark Hargate, Viv Wyss, Nik Ellis.
Foundation Governors - Rita Athersmith, Trevor James, Reverend David Beedon (Ex Officio)
Community Governors - Alison Staines, Liz Wilson.
Staff Governors - Helen McKay (Ex Officio), Lyn Elcock, Jackie Twomlow.
We are also please to announce a new Foundation Governor, Peter Whitehead, who has a child attending St. Michael’s. An accountant by trade, we have already set Peter to work on our School Worship and Ethos Committee.
Our next meeting is 22nd January.
Merry Christmas from the St. Michael’s Governors.”
Vacancy in School Kitchen
There is a vacancy for a relief catering assistant in the school kitchen. Guaranteed hours are at the Annexe on Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes – 1½ hours per day. Possibly more hours during the week. If you are interested or know someone who is interested please contact Jo for more details on 01543 510780
Neighbourhood Watch Information
Please be aware of 2 burglaries in Lichfield on Friday, during the day, a house in Newbold Close, Darwin Park was burgled. A window was smashed, and a large amount of property stolen including electrical items and jewellery. On Saturday afternoon between 2.00 p.m. and 4.25 p.m. a house in The Pines, Boley Park, was burgled, and again a large amount of property stolen including TV, 3 laptops and jewellery. You may recall another burglary last Tuesday afternoon in Bracken Close. While there is nothing at present to link these, it is unusual during daytime. Please be very alert to anything suspicious, including vehicles driving slowly round the area, and report details to the police immediately.
Unfortunately there were 2 more burglaries on 15th December. A house in Jockey Hill, near the rugby club, was burgled between 9.00 a.m. and 9.40 a.m. A rear window was forced, and a large amount of property stolen including TV, computers and jewellery. Secondly, a house in Curlew Close, Boley Park was burgled between 1.00 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. Again a rear window was forced and 3 TVs, 2 computers, stereo and jewellery stolen. This now makes 5 burglaries in this area in the last week, all daytime. 2 residents yesterday afternoon reported a suspicious male in the Birchwood Road/Maple Grove area, looking at all the houses while talking on his mobile phone. Unfortunately a police search failed to locate him. One resident took a photo of this male, which is currently being checked by police. It may well be connected. Please continue to be very alert, and report anything suspicious to the police immediately.
We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
P.T.A. News
Christmas Fayre Success.
Thank you to everyone who supported this event.
It was a bit (a lot!) chaotic at times, but we’re sure you’ll all agree it was (finally!) a fabulous Christmas Fayre. The children seemed to have a good time, and we had a lot of support too. Thanks to everyone who stepped in at short notice to run stalls and help us set up and clear up afterwards. We reckon we’ve made around £1600. This is fantastic given the tight time frame! (And the fact we had no bar, reduced BBQ stock, and had to write-off the mulled wine etc.)
If you have any feedback -positive/negative then please let us know so we can bear this in mind next time we organize a Fayre.
It’s been another very busy year for us. Merry Christmas everyone and here’s to 2009!
St. Michael’s PTA would like to thank ‘explore, learn, create’ of Market Street, Lichfield for their very generous help with our Christmas gifts for our infant years.
Christmas Cards for Schools - Thanks Marie
This was the first year we organised the sale of your Children’s personalised Christmas cards. We’ve received a lot of positive comments about this venture, and thanks is due to our treasurer Marie Stanton who researched the best deal, booked a slot and sorted out all the orders. We made around £500 through the sale of these cards alone, which will be spend on equipment across the school years. Thanks also to Mrs Elcock who co-ordinated the venture within school, and has helped and supported us for another year with our many endeavours.
Yours faithfully,
Miss Helen McKay
Headteacher.