No 20 for week ending Friday 12 February 2016 Page 1 of 6

No 20 for week ending 12 February 2016

As the proud Deputy Headteacher, I have

the pleasure of writing to you all this week

as Mrs O’Hara has been on an intensive

training course for four days! I know that

she will certainly be ready for a break next

week.

Once again it has been a week filled with a variety of

activities.

Pupil Premium Award 2016

On Monday, we were thrilled to receive a letter of

congratulations from the Parliamentary Under

Secretary of State for Childcare and Education, Sam

Gyimah MP, for our achievement with Pupil Premium.

Here is an extract from the letter.

‘The reason you have been selected is that you are one

of the high achieving schools in the country in terms of

the attainment and progress of your disadvantaged

pupils since 2011. It is clear that you and your staff

have provided your disadvantaged pupils with a good

start in life and prepared them well for secondary

school. I would like to congratulate your governors,

parents and pupils for their hard work and success,

and thank you for your leadership in making such a

difference to the future success of your pupils.’

It is an excellent reminder of all the important

learning that goes on each and every day, and that

our partnership of School, Parents and Governors is a

strong one.

Sport

BASKETBALL SUCCESS The basketball team consisting of: Adam, Daniel,

Ethan, Iziah, Jack, Julina, Leonie, Lewis, Philippa and

captain TJ, played extremely well under the guidance

of Coach Wendy at the Warden Park tournament on

Wednesday. In fact, they played so well that they

finished as champions! It was the first time that St

Wilfrid’s have lifted the cup for ten years! I was able

to watch the entire time and was very impressed with

their skills and sportsmanship. They all played very

well together supporting and guiding each other in all

of their games. Many congratulations to them and to

Coach Wendy who gives of her time freely to enable

the children to have this experience. They showed

many of our learning values on the court, especially

collaboration, resilience and ambition. At the award

ceremony at the end Iziah was awarded with the MVP

for the boys which I learnt meant MOST VALUABLE

PLAYER. Well done to him and all the team. Wendy

joined us this afternoon at our celebration assembly

where TJ and Iziah presented her with some flowers

to thank her for running the Basketball club every

Tuesday after school. Her coaching and support has

helped to take our team to victory!

GYMNASTICS On Monday, Terry Harris held the final day of

gymnastics development training for our teachers for

the moment. As Mrs O’Hara has previously stated, the

quality of gymnastics throughout the school now is

very high. I was very impressed with the control,

strength and clarity of movement that the children

were showing on Monday.

No 20 for week ending Friday 12 February 2016 Page 2 of 6

CRICKET Geoff Brailey and Matt Parsons were in early on

Tuesday morning giving some of the children some

excellent cricket skills to work on. All we need now is

some good weather to dry the field!

CROSS COUNTRY Cross Country will resume the second week back after

half term. I will send out letters to all KS2 children

prior to the start.

Deanery Mass for teachers

The teachers attended a Deanery Mass on Monday

after school at St Paul’s Church in Haywards Heath. All

the Lewes Deanery Schools were represented and

during his homily, Father Martin Jakubas praised all

the teachers and senior leaders for ensuring that the

teachings of Christ are lived throughout all areas of

school life. Each school was given a special candle to

commemorate the Year of Mercy to use in school.

Safer Internet Day

Tuesday was National Internet Safety day. This year it

was marked by separate presentations and tasks by

the E-Safety crew. For the oldest children in the

school, they focussed on points such as the reasons

for having age limits for certain areas and ways to

keep safe. Years 3 and 4 were asked to see if they

could identify some of the key logos. The crew used

their initiative and researched points which were age

related and thought provoking. To the younger

children they highlighted safety through a story and

taught them a simple rhyme. All classes were given

different tasks as follow up work for the day. A final

assembly for the whole school highlighted to all

children the importance of the internet but also gave

them some important reminders on how to stay safe.

I was not only very impressed with the way the crew

organised the presentations, tasks and assembly but

also how much knowledge all the children have about

being safe around the new technologies. They also

reminded the older children that they have to be 13

to have Instagram, snapchat and Facebook and 18 for

some other social media accounts!

A useful website for parents and carers is

http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-

day/2016

Well done and thank you to Julina, Jared, Carter,

Sophia, Maddie, Mirella, Mimi, Vraj, Philippa, and

Olivia.

No 20 for week ending Friday 12 February 2016 Page 3 of 6

4MF Pizza Express Trip

4MF enjoyed a trip to Pizza Express in Haywards

Heath on Tuesday. The children had a fun morning

designing and creating their own pizzas which they

were all able to take home to enjoy. Mr Fox informed

me the children were a credit to the school. Well done

4MF! A big thank you to Mr Fox for coordinating the

trip. 4EE will be visiting Pizza Express on Wednesday

16th March.

Ash Wednesday

To mark the beginning of Lent all

the Key Stage 2 children joined

Father Rick and the parish, for

Mass at St Wilfrid’s Church where

they received the Ashes. Father

Rick spoke of how difficult Lent

can be. He reminded the children that it is a time for

repentance as we wait and prepare for the wonderful

celebration of Easter. After half term he will join us at

school to enable the children in KS2 to have a time for

reconciliation.

KS1 and Foundation had a special liturgy in the hall to

mark this special time in the Church’s calendar. As

usual the ‘Alleluia’ was placed in a box until the joyous

time of Easter. This was led by Mrs Brown and Miss

Cannon. Thank you to Father Rick for the Lenten

Calendars which he has bought again this year for all

the children. Father Rick is so supportive of the school

in all that it does. We are very lucky to have him!

3SB Class Assembly

Well done to 3SB who held their class assembly

yesterday. The theme was the Liturgical Year and the

children clearly explained to the both Key Stages

about the Church’s Seasons and the colours which are

used during these. They acted out a drama in

response to the Gospel reading of Jesus washing the

feet of his Disciples. Thank you to Mrs Barton and 3SB

for reminding everyone of this.

Thank you to all parents, carers and other family

members who attended and supported the children.

SATs Information for Year 6

On Thursday evening the Year 6 teachers led an

information evening for the parents about the SATs

tests this coming year. They highlighted all the

changes that have been implemented from the

Government. The latest documentation talks of a

scaled score. We are awaiting final details of this.

Ms Roberts, our maths subject leader, has produced a

times table booklet which will be useful for all parents

and has been sent out by the office. As many of you

are aware, the school has always taught the times

tables in order that all the children can access and

solve a variety of calculations where a sound

knowledge of multiplication facts is key. Next year

there will be a timed online times table test for all

year 6 pupils, as part of their end of Key Stage SATs.

No 20 for week ending Friday 12 February 2016 Page 4 of 6

Music News

ORCHESTRA Yesterday morning I had the fantastic opportunity of

joining Mrs Frost, Mrs Sumner and twenty of our

children who currently play instruments, at the

locality orchestra morning at St Paul’s Catholic

College. My goodness, what talented children you

have! The children really excelled themselves and

were a credit to both yourselves and our school. They

really enjoyed being part of a larger orchestra which

was a wonderful experience for them. An added thrill

was that four of our ex-pupils, who play the cello,

were playing alongside our current five cellists. Thank

you to all the parents for the transport to and from

the venue and to Mrs Frost for co-ordinating.

CHORAL WORKSHOP Mrs Novis took eight year 5 children to Christ’s

Hospital School today for the annual Choral

Workshop. There will be more about this in the next

newsletter.

St Wilfrid’s Twitter

If you are able, please follow us on Twitter as we are

endeavouring to tweet news and events as they

happen or as near to the time as possible. Search for

@s_wilfrid and click follow.

Finally, I will take this opportunity to thank you for

your continued support for all that we do here at St

Wilfrid’s. I can hardly believe where this year has gone

as we are now half way through! Have an enjoyable

half term week with your children. We look forward to

seeing them well rested and eager to resume their

school learning on Monday 22nd February.

Kind regards,

Sheila Peart

Forthcoming Dates:

Music Workshops at Burgess Hill School for Girls

Wednesday 24th and Friday 26th February:

Service of Reconciliation with Confessions 25th and

26th February:

Year 3 Roman Day Friday 26th February

World Book Day Thursday 3rd March (Pupils will be

asked to dress up on this day- British Authors

preferably)

No 20 for week ending Friday 12 February 2016 Page 5 of 6

Science and Engineering Week w/c 14th March

Pizza Express Trip Class 4EE Wednesday 16th March

Class Assemblies:

Friday 4th March- 2MB

Thursday 10th March- 5LC

Thursday 17th March- 1RH

Open Classrooms:

3.15-3.45pm (Tuesdays)

1st March

12th April

Remaining Inset Days for the current academic year:

Thursday 24th March 2016 (Maths)

Friday July 22nd July 2016

INSET DAYS FOR NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR 2016-17

Please note that these coordinated dates give parents

an opportunity to plan and book holidays next year

amd take advantage of cheaper prices! Please

remember that holidays during term time are not

authorised!

Monday 5th September 2016 Child Protection

Friday 25th November 2016 (this also ties in with St

Paul’s College)

Friday 17th February 2017 (Music)

Monday 24th/Tuesday 25th July 2017 (these days tie in

with St Paul’s College)

…………………………………………………

Contact Information:

Please remember to always ensure the office always

has up to date contact information for you. If you

change your phone numbers or move house please

inform the office at your earliest convenience.

Guitar Lessons:

There are a few places for guitar lessons for Y1-Y6

pupils with James from West Sussex Music. Learn to

read music and play fun tunes with your friends.

Group lessons are £79 for the term of ten lessons and

individual lessons are £120 or £170 for either 20

minute or 30 minutes.

Book your place now as places are limited

at www.westsussexmusic.co.uk following the 'Making

Music' tab. For any further information, please

contact the office 08452 082 182 or

music@westsussexmusic.co.uk

Online Payments:

We would like to encourage parents to pay online for

trips etc. (if you have lost your logon please ask the

office to issue a new one). There WILL NOT be an

additional charge for paying online and you can also

keep track of your payments.

Active Kids:

Active Kids is back! When shopping at Sainsbury’s you

will collect 1 voucher for every £10 you spend.

However, this year you’ll receive all your vouchers on

one piece of paper. The vouchers will allow us to

purchase some new sports equipment for the children

to use in school. Please spread the word!

Scholastic Book Fair Monday 7th-Thursday 10th

March

No 20 for week ending Friday 12 February 2016 Page 6 of 6

Tomfoolery Party

Tickets are now on sale online for this wonderful

event, please go to www.pta-events.co.uk/stwilfrids/

or leave an envelope with the money enclosed at the

School Office. The Tomfoolery Party will take place

on Friday 11th March from 6pm until 7.30pm in the

school hall. We are very excited about the ‘Beans on

Toast’ show coming to St Wilfrid’s. The show will be

packed full of energy, dancing, singing and magic.

There will be plenty of audience interaction and even

a dose of hockey cokey to join in with. Pre-school,

Foundation and KS 1 children must be accompanied

by an adult. KS 2 children can attend without an adult

(please provide emergency contact details). Tickets

will cost £7.50 per child and £2.50 per adult and sold

on a first come first serve basis.

Mother’s Day Craft Workshop

On Thursday 3rd March we will be holding a Mother’s

Day Craft Workshop from 3.15pm until 4.45pm in

6PR’s classroom. Children from all year groups are

welcome. We have so many interesting and creative

things for the children to make to give to a loved one.

Again the cost of attending will be £7.50 and tickets

will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. Tickets

are now available to purchase online. Go to www.pta-

events.co.uk/stwilfrids/ Tickets are limited and will be

sold on a first come first serve basis.