Headteacher

Newsletter no. 14

12^th December 2025

Dear Parents / Carers,

As we enter the third week of Advent, our focus turns to the theme of love, a gift that brings warmth, connection and hope to our school community. This week invites us to reflect on the love we show through kindness, compassion and generosity, and the many small ways we make others feel valued and cared for.

In school, we will be taking time to recognise and celebrate acts of love, reminding the children that love is not only a feeling but something we actively choose to express through our words, our actions and the way we treat one another. Whether it is offering help, showing gratitude, including others or simply sharing a smile, each act of love strengthens our community and reflects the true spirit of Advent.

As we continue our Advent journey together, may this week inspire us to grow in patience, understanding and appreciation for those around us. We will be encouraging the children to think of one loving action each day, something they can do to bring joy, comfort and kindness to their friends, their families and everyone they meet.

What a wonderful week for Nativity plays we have had. Nursery and Year 2 put on amazing performances- remembering all their lines and all those songs. I am very proud of them all. A big thank you to you all for coming and supporting your child it means so much when their families are there to support them. We also need to give a huge thank you to all the teachers and teaching assistants- without their hard work and endless patience the children would not be given the confidence to perform like that.

As we get to the end of this long Autumn term, we have one week left to enjoy the wonder of Christmas. Next week we have Year 1 and Reception Nativities- I am very much looking forward to seeing them, as I have been hearing the children singing beautifully from my office. Also, on the agenda- the children will have the opportunity to watch a pantomime. We have the Rainbow Theatre coming into school to perform ‘Sleeping Beauty’.

Our term will end on Friday 19^th December with our Carols by Candlelight at 1pm. It is a wonderful way to end the term as a whole school community and wishing one another a very Merry Christmas. Please come along to join us.

Christmas Fair and Christmas Disco.

Thank you all so much for such a successful Christmas Fair this year. Seeing all the children’s happy faces bought a smile to my face and it is why we have the Christmas Fair – for our children.

Your generosity has meant that this year we raised £1500

This money will be spent on the children to enhance the learning opportunities at St Mary’s. We are looking to update our outdoor learning provisions this year.

Thank you to all those who gave up their own time over the last few weeks to get everything ready – it takes a lot of organisation to arrange an event like this. And for those who came in on Friday afternoon to help set it all up. With so much help we got it ready in no time.

The fair would not have been such a success without our ‘Friends of St Mary’s; Miriam’s Mother, Georgia’s Mother, Amariah’s Mother, King’s Mother, Lotus & Khari’s Grandmother & Mother, Kai and Kwansa’s Mother, Hemkrish’s Mother, Annie’s Mother, Kaito, Kamsi and Kosi’s Mother, Priya & Pranav’s Mother, Michaela’s Mother, Leo’s Mother and all who put in so much of their own time and effort to ensure the fairs success.

Golden Table

For the last golden table of this Autumn term I had the pleasure of having lunch with these six, wonderfully mannered children:

Hazel in St Andrew Class

Itua in St George Class

Saatvik in St Bernadette Class

Kenille in St Therese Class

Michele in St Francis Class

Ivan in St Martin Class

It was clear that these six children have good table manners- they were telling me what they like to eat at home & who does all the cooking in the house.

Wednesday Word

Christ

A word from the Saints:

“Prepare a path for God so that he can enter our heart”

St John Baptist De La Salle

Dear Lord Jesus Christ,

Please help us to be open to your love and healing and grow in faith as we celebrate your birth this Christmas.

Amen