01.12.2023

This week has been relatively quiet in school; however, the Christmas preparations are all in full swing. We would also like to remind everyone that costumes are due in by Monday. Many thanks to all those which are already in.
On Monday, the whole school enjoyed a frosty morning of forest school activities. Children split into groups and did some tree work. On Thursday, the Yogi Group came into school for the morning, to do some work in year groups on mental health and wellbeing. The sessions were enjoyed by all children.
This week KS2 have been continuing their persuasive writing in English. Last week you should have received a personalised letter persuading you to attend our Christmas production. This week our persuasive posters will be going up around school and next week we will be filming our adverts. We hope to put the advert on our social media page for you to enjoy.
And finally, today, we held our very first spelling bee competition. Mrs Jones was overwhelmed with the number of children putting themselves forward to compete.   The children were tested on the year group spellings they are learning. This term’s winners were:

congratulations to all our winners.
The Spelling bee trophy for KS2 was awarded to Alice for the most correct spellings overall in KS2.
In KS1 we needed a tie-breaker where Reed was awarded the trophy for being the overall winner.
Our next spelling bee will take place before the Easter holidays where we would love to see even more children compete for points for their teams. The more practise the better. Please could the trophies be returned to school towards the end of the next term.       

Reception Children – please can all children in Reception bring in a photo of themselves celebrating their birthday and another of them celebrating Christmas. They need to be sent into school by Wednesday 6th December ready for a RE lesson. If the photos need returning please can they be named on the back. Thank you.

Walk 2 School – our next Walk to School is arranged for Tuesday 5th December. As always, any children taking part will enjoy breakfast together when they arrive at school. We will meet at 8.20am in the carpark at the back of Cowan Bridge Village Stores.

REMINDER: Juniors – on Wednesday 6th December all KS2 children will be filming a persuasive advert using green screen technology on the iPads. They are invited to wear Christmas jumpers or T-shirts instead of school jumpers. They cannot be green as they will disappear on the video!  

REMINDER: Christmas Lunch – all children have had a Christmas Lunch ordered for Tuesday 12th December, if you DO NOT want your child/ren to have a Christmas lunch in school, please email me to OPT OUT.  Payment will be available on our SchoolMoney online platform.

REMINDER: Seasonal Sickness – it is that time again for coughs, colds, flu and outbreaks of norovirus, which impacts on us all, and not in a good way! We are therefore reminding you all of the importance of being vigilant for diarrhoea and vomiting (D&V) episodes. Thorough hand washing with liquid soap and water is the most effective preventative measure, however, in the event of infection, children with D&V should not return to school until they have been symptom free for 48 hours. There is infection control guidance in the parent advice section of the website.

After School Clubs –
Junior Herbalist Club – Tuesday – 3.15pm – 4.45pm
Tracy has space to add more children to the Herbalist Club after Christmas. Sessions cost £3.00 each week and upon completion of the course, children will receive a certificate of attendance and a badge. The club is aimed at children aged 7+. All children who have attended in the Autumn term have had a brilliant time and have gone home with lavender bags, cinnamon lip balm, rose hip syrup, cough drops and many other goodies. Please email Mrs Knapp to register your child’s interest.
Dance – Wednesday – 3.15pm – 4.15pm – for children in Y1 to Y6. The club will start on Wednesday 10th January and run through to Easter.  The cost for each half-term will be £12.00 – (£2.00 per session). Payment will be set up on SchoolMoney – please email me to book your child(ren)’s place.

School Council Christmas Jumper Day – the school council has arranged a Christmas Jumper day for Friday 8th December. Children are also invited to join in a decorated gingerbread person competition. All details are on the poster attached.   

Panto – we are all heading to the Pantomime on Wednesday 13th December – including Nursery children who attend on this day. A full information sheet will follow next week. Payment of £5.00 is available on SchoolMoney. The PTFA have kindly agreed to fund the cost of the coach and put towards the ticket cost to make this an affordable festive treat for all the children.

School Times – please may we politely remind everyone that school begins at 9am and finishes at 3.15pm. School doors are open from 8.50am and all children should be in school, sat at their tables ready for lessons by 9am.  We are increasingly seeing some children late to school each day – this impacts ALL children’s learning. If you arrive after 9am, please come to the office entrance.

Stamps – we have a large quantity of barcoded stamps in the office – if you would like to buy any at the current cost, please pop into the office and we can sell them – just in time for the Christmas cards! £1.25 First Class and 75p Second Class.

SchoolMoney – end of month reminders were sent earlier today.

Puddle Suit – Mrs Wilson has a red fleece lined puddle suit, unclaimed from forest school, please let us know if your child is missing one.

PTFA News –
Raffle – all children will be coming home with an envelope of raffle tickets to try to sell to family and friends. Please return any sold or unsold tickets to school by Friday 15th December. If any families would like any more tickets, please pop into the office.      
Santa’s Grotto – the PTFA have very kindly organised for Father Christmas to visit us at school on Monday 18th December. He will be all set up in the Hobbit House (aka Santa’s Grotto!) Children will be taken down in groups and will all receive a gift. The PTFA are asking for £5.00 donation per child towards the cost of the gifts. Please send in to the school office in a named envelope by 4th December. Pre-school children are welcome to join us at 3pm. If you do not want your child to visit Father Christmas in school please do let us know. Thank you.
Easy Fundraising – please don’t forget to support the PTFA by using the Easy Fundraising website or downloading the app – it’s straightforward to use, and schools can raise amazing amounts of money. All you need to do is create an account and set your cause to St Peter’s School Leck, the website is https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stpetersceprimaryschoolleck/

Coming up this week