Newsletter 20 Mar 2006

Newsletter: Monday 20th March 2006

Dear Parents

Welcome to our revamped newsletter, which we hope you will find informative and encourage you in your partnership with us as a school. We hope to pass on information that is important to you in the coming weeks but also reflect on things that we have been working on both in and outside of school. If you have any comments about the new format or would like to suggest ideas that may be included please email the office.

Monthly Dates

Sat 25th March

Y10/11 Art trip to London

Wed 29th March

Class 1 trip to Knowsley Safari Park, return at 5pm

Thur 30th March

Group department photographs in school. See separate letter for ordering details

Thur 30th March

Mr Moon visiting Sunbridge Road Mums and Toddlers group

Fri 31st March

Staff and Ex pupils Football match @ Bradford University 6-7pm

Mon-Wed 3-5 April

GCSE Art Exam

Wed 5th April

SCHOOL OPEN DAY. 9.30-2.30. Presentations at 10am, 2pm and 7pm

Thur 6th April

Safety talk on Electricity for Y7/8 pupils

Friday 7th April

Finish for Easter Holidays

Open Day

As already mentioned we have an Open Day on Wednesday 5th April. We have been promoting the school in various ways across the city and are looking forward to meeting new prospective parents. If you do know anyone that is interested please do encourage theme to come along and have a look at the school in session. The PTA are also helping to organise refreshments for visitors during the day, so once again a big thank you to the PTA.

PTA Cleaning Rota

The PTA have yet again responded to a need in school and are putting together a cleaning rota to ensure your children have the best possible facilities to work in. They are looking for parents to commit themselves to helping in school on a rota basis. If you have not offered any help yet can we encourage you to do so. The more parents that we get to help the less often you will be called upon. See any member of the PTA for further details or call in the office.

Football Match

On Friday 31st March our staff will be putting a team together to play our ex students. This follows a previous successful match that we are happy to report the staff won. This gives the ex students an opportunity to draw level. If you are in the vicinity of the University between 6-7pm do pop along and support the staff (or ex pupils!)

Group photographs

As you are aware we are changing the way we do group photographs this year, in the past we have done class photographs which have not that popular with parents for understandable reasons. We have decided to try doing one large group photo for both primary children and secondary children. The ordering details have already been sent out to homes. There is some concern over the ordering procedure but from our point of view this should make it much easier for us to administer your payments. If you don't order one before the day you will have to contact the Photography Company direct and not through the school office. We will review this procedure to see if it is a worth while opportunity for families after the 30th March

Class 2 Viking Day

The children enjoyed an action packed day of events last Wednesday as they continued to learn about the Vikings as part of their topic work. Many thanks to the hard work of Mrs Mitchell and her band of Viking Warriors who made it a huge success. There are pictures on the website of the day.

School Lunches

As of Monday the 20th March we will be offering school lunches to secondary students. Students will be able to choose a number of meals from hot dinners to sandwiches and hot snacks. Prices range from #1.75 - #1.00 and must be pre-ordered on a weekly menu sheet. A team of parents of the school is running this. We may look to extending this to older primary students in the near future.

School Website

When was the last time that you looked at the school website? There have been a number of additions and revamps over the last few weeks as we continue to make this an effective tool for both pupils and parents. Have you looked at children's work and looked at the staff profiles? We are indebted to a team that is building up from the student body who are working on this under the direction of Mr Kershaw.

Car Stickers

We now have produced a batch of car stickers for people to put in their cars to further raise the profile of the school around the city. If you would like any further stickers please speak to the office.

Further Promotion of the School

We continue to promote the work of the school in local churches and with pre school groups across the city. We have put some banners around the city that you may have seen and of course the new car stickers. We are following up contacts with other church leaderships and are looking to speak to an increasing wider community.

School Focus: Day of Prayer

Many thanks to all those who contributed to the Day of Prayer on Friday 10th March. There was a wonderful feeling throughout the day in school as both the young, older pupils, staff, parents and friends came together in prayer.

Below a few brief reports on the day

Prayer meeting Before the start of the school day the school governors, ex governors and some ministers from the city came and joined the senior staff for a prayer meeting. One of the things that came from this time was the word that we do need to focus on spiritual tools for spiritual problems. A word was given to us from 1 Samuel 14:v 6; Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer,

"Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." (NIV)

Primary Devotions

Fourteen parents joined children in the primary department in various prayer activities. The children enjoyed parents in school and the parents that stayed were blessed by the opportunity to share this time not only with their own children but by all the children in the class.

Class 1 Prayer Walk

During the day class one pupils went on a prayer walk around the school both inside and out. A few of the things that they felt God speak to them, as they moved around in prayer, are summarised below; "I love you very much" "I will always be with you" "I will never let you go" "I will care for you" "Wherever you go, I will be with you"

Secondary Break times

Secondary pupils had a number of opportunities to prayer and a number spent their break time prayer over issues ranging from the local community to needs of the school and over personal issues.

Pupils View

I enjoyed the prayer day because I felt I was open to share with everyone. I also enjoyed the activities that we did, I thought they were fun and I enjoyed working with my group.
(Class 4 Pupil)

Prayer Points

A reminder of the prayer points that we would like to continue to lift up in prayer.

• For the promotion of the school in local churches
• For new Christian Families to join the school
• For our relationship with the local community around the school
• For all members of staff
• For the school governors
• For those who are sick in school ((Hannah W (Y9), Alice M (Y9) who are both recovering from operations)
• For our brothers and sisters in Romania
• For our Government, national and local
• For the continuing work of the Christian Schools Trust in our nation and beyond

OPEN DAY: Wednesday 5th April 2006

An opportunity for those interested in the school to visit us during a normal day.

• View the school in session
• Talk to students and teachers
• Presentations: 10am, 2pm & 7pm

Please feel free to pass this warm invite on to family, friends or colleagues

Related pages: Newsletter 3 April 2006

Category: Newsletters

Author: Mr Barton