Friday, 7th January 2022

Happy New Year and Happy Epiphany to all!

It has been lovely welcoming back the children after their Christmas holidays and seeing how well rested and content they are. They all told me lovely things about their break and showed gratitude towards every present or experience they have received.

We focused on the Feast of the Epiphany in these short two days with a class Act of Worship and a Key Stage Mass on Thursday. The children completed learning on the symbolic meaning of the gifts baby Jesus received from the Three Wise Men, whilst they applied their art skills when they created a collage piece based on the Epiphany. They also reflected on the gifts they can bring to the new year and offered a gift themselves to someone in their community wrapped in a handmade Epiphany box. We also blessed our classroom by following a long standing Catholic Tradition where we marked our classroom door with the letters and numbers 20+C+M+B+22 referring to the names of the 3 Wise Men and the new year. By doing this we invited Jesus to be a daily guest in our class and to be with us in our comings and goings, our conversations, our work and play, our joys and sorrows.

General information:

The children will start swimming this term on Wednesdays. Swimming counts as one of the children’s PE lesson. On Wednesdays (starting from next week, 12.1.2022) the children will need to come in their full (warm) PE uniform. As of their swimming outfits, we have 2 procedures in practice in school. Some children (especially boys) might decide to wear their swimming shorts underneath their PE kit and have the rest of their kit (towels, etc) in a clearly labelled bag ready to take it down to the pool. Another practice is to have their kits in school and use the lunchtime break to get changed in the allocated toilets, where we can ensure separation and privacy. All children must be changed into their swimming kits before leaving the school, ensuring a more swift access to the lesson. After their swimming session, the children will have access to a quick shower and then get changed back into their PE uniform in the allocated changing rooms.

Any questions regarding swimming, please feel free to contact me.

Later this term, on 24th January (Monday) we will take part in a class trip to visit the Bhaktivedanta Manor as part of our Other Faith Week. I am looking for three parent helpers to accompany us and help the class as during the trip smaller group activities are organised for us. If you are able to support, please let me know. Many thanks in advance.

Have a nice and safe weekend,

Ms Varga

P.S.: Thank you so much for your very kind and generous gift at the end of last term. I really appreciate your warm gesture.