St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School Newsle�er—No. 12

Friday 1st December 2017 At St Francis of Assisi we believe God is at the heart of our school. As a school community, we work together to provide a caring,

s mula ng nurturing environment, where every child can discover their true poten al and grow closer to Christ. As pupils and staff we encourage in each other a love of learning. This is a place where we can all belong and where diversity and difference is celebrated. We rejoice in each other’s uniqueness and respect the dignity and beauty of each individual. Using our gi(s and talents we will

ac vely seek to make a real difference - by caring for one another and caring for our world.

KS1 Na�vity

We welcome all parents to our KS1 Na vity ‘A King is born’ on Tuesday 12th December at

2.00pm and 7.00pm and on Wednesday 13th December at 7.00pm. The PFA are selling

programmes ( ckets) a(er school next Monday and Tuesday £2.00 each. The children

par cipa ng should arrive at 6.30pm.

KS2 School Carol Service – ‘Bells Ring Out’. Tuesday 19th December 7.00pm

All children in Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 are par cipa ng in the School Carol Service this year. Please may I ask you to support the school and ensure full a=endance for what is sure to be a lovely fes ve service of music and readings. They should arrive at The Friary Church no later than 6.40pm on Tuesday 19

th December. Children should arrive in full school uniform,

with no accessories.

Please be mindful of heavy traffic in the local vicinity and allow �me accordingly

If your son/daughter is in Recep on or KS1, please come along and join us! Children in Recep-

on and KS1 should sit with their parents.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SCHOOL WILL CLOSE FOR CHRISTMAS AT 1.25PM ON WEDNESDAY 20

TH DECEMBER

Reconcilia�ons 4th and 5th December

Next week, as part of our Advent prepara on, children who have received the Sacrament of

Reconcilia on will be offered the opportunity of receiving the sacrament of God’s forgiveness

again. Please may I ask you to talk to your son/daughter before next week so it does not come as

a surprise. Naturally, this is voluntary.

Full Governing Body

Earlier in the week, the full Governing body met, reviewing the school development plan and

planning strategic direc on for the school. The Governors are delighted to confirm that

Dr Simon Piggo= was elected Chair of Governors and Mrs Sue Faulkner Vice Chair of Governors.

All the details of the reformed governing body will be available on the website in due course.

School Christmas Fayre

As you’re aware, St. Francis of Assisi School Christmas Fayre begins this evening at 4.30pm and

finishes at 7.00pm. The PFA have been working relessly in prepara on and I am enormously

grateful for their efforts; I hope that you are able to come along and support the PFA for what is

certain to be a thoroughly enjoyable occasion!

Note from Fr Simon

This Sunday is the 1st Sunday of the Advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Advent is a word that can be

translated as "coming" or "arrival". It is the coming of Jesus Christ that we are preparing for during this

season. It is easy to think that we are preparing for Christmas, the first coming of Jesus, but we know

that this has already happened. Therefore we are really preparing for the Second Coming of Our Lord

Jesus Christ when he will return in glory to finally establish his rule among us. We want to be ready for

his return or when he calls us from this life. Christ himself tells us 'stay awake, because we do not know

when the master of the house is coming'. Advent then is not the me to celebrate Christmas (which

starts on 25th December, not ends!), but to once more ensure that we place our faith in Christ and en-

sure the house of our soul is in fiLng order. In that respect the priests of the parish will be in school

next week to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconcilia on with those children in years 4, 5 and 6 who have

made their Holy Communion.

Chartwells Christmas Lunch

-Thursday 14th December

Online orders must be placed by

Sunday 3rd December.

Please note if your child is en tled to

universal free school meals

(this includes, Recep on, Year 1 and

Year 2) a Christmas Lunch will

be provided for them.

You do not have to do an online order.

Note from Mrs Campanaro—Kung Fu

A big thanks to Crawley Kung Fu School for delivering self

defence workshops to our Year 3 & 5 pupils during An -

Bullying week. As well as being very useful, the experience

was great fun and thoroughly enjoyed by all the children.

Well done to all those children who entered our An -

Bullying Compe on. The winners are as follows:

Dana Minster, Olivia Michalska, Ben Lloyd, Amelia

Nowak, Oliver Baillie, Olivia Duszynska, Emma Skinner,

Isobel Skinner, Giulia Aceto, Ruby Jarre=.

The overall winner is:

Dayna Hilton-Hogan from St Pio class.

Well done everyone!

Thank you to St Pio Class, Miss Barnes and all the

parents who joined us for their class assembly.

Nativity Programmes will be on sale in the small hall on

Monday 4th December and Tuesday 5th December

from 3.00pm, priced at £2.00

Programmes will not be numbered and will be limited

to 4 per family (for the 3 performances) with any

spare programmes available to purchase at

a later date.

If you are unable to get into school, please send your money

in an envelope with the details of the programmes you require.

Christmas Fayre 4:30pm-7pm

Come and join us TODAY for one of our biggest

events of the year. We have so many fun things for

you and your whole family.

Listen to great Christmas music, visit Poppy from

trolls and of course the big man himself will be

making an appearance, you can visit him in his

gro=o. Make some sand art Christmas decora ons,

decorate a plate or mug, don’t forget some fun

games for kids and you may be lucky to win on the

tombola or raffle. Why don’t you make an evening

of it and buy your dinner from the pizza/pasta van

who will be serving during the whole event.

We would like to thank you all for your generous

dona ons over the past few weeks. Thanks to those

who have helped at Santa’s workshop, and have

volunteered during the Fayre on stalls or seLng

up/clearing up. This event could not happen

without your support.

Let the fun and games begin.

Note from Mr Lambert—School Council

The School Council

spent this week

coming up with new

lunch me rules

when ea ng.

They shared these

rules in assembly this

morning

Congratulations to St Therese Class of Lisieux for achieving

100%

Breakfast and A:er School Club Payments

Please can we request that any outstanding debts

for the breakfast and a(er school club are cleared

by the end of next week. It is important that we

are able to close and balance these accounts by

the end of term. Thank you.

Year Four Go Back in Time.

On Wednesday 15th November, Year Four turned the clock back one hundred and fi(y years to experience a

Victorian school day. Children began their day with a nail and ear inspec on and those deemed clean

enough were allowed to enter through the boys and girls entrances to take their places on benches with

slates and chalk to work on. Throughout the morning they were re-

minded that 'children should be seen and not heard'. Lessons included

Recita on, Arithme c, Handwri ng, Needle Cra(, An Object Lesson and

of course Drill.

In the a(ernoon, children discovered more about the working life

of children and the hardships they suffered.

They also reflected on how their life compared with children

in the past. It was a brilliant day for everyone involved

and we would like to say a huge thank you to

parents and carers for the amazing Victorian Costumes.

It really made the day special for the children and

adding to their immersion

in the experience.

Medical and Dental Appointments

Can I ask you all to be mindful when making appointments

for our children for the den st and the doctor. While we

appreciate that on occasions you have to make emergency

appointments in school me, we have had 220 sessions lost

through appointments since the beginning of term. If you

can make an appointment a(er school, that would be

helpful.

St. Mary: Nila Mahesan

St. Joseph: Leo Pereira

St Francis: Alesha Bagambe

St. Anthony: Alicja Marzec

St. Bernade�e: Emily Tomiak

St. Clare of Assisi: Rosalia O’Reilly

St. Therese of Lisieux: Mateusz Fortes

St. Vincent de Paul: Amelia Kuich

St. John Paul: Blake Griffiths

St. Maximilian Kolbe: Kiara Jacques

St. Pio: Ma�hew Benne�

St. Philip Howard: Suvanetha Sureshku-mar

St. Peter: Alexa Burns

St. Paul: Gail Enriquez

St. Mary: Lydia Gunning

St.Joseph: Amelia Piggo�

St. Francis: Olivia Michalska

St. Anthony: Macarah McGovern

St. Bernade�e: Alicja Syznalik

St. Clare of Assisi: Tristan Upton

St. Therese of Lisieux: Oliva Duszyn-ska

St. Vincent de Paul: Zuzanna Pieniadz

St. John Paul: Jerin Thevasagayam

St Maximilian Kolbe: Dyler Ferreira

St. Pio: Kian Whale

St. Philip Howard: Aaliyah Wright

St. Peter: Giulia Aceto

St .Paul: Alexa Richardson

Diary Dates

December

Fri 1— PFA Christmas Fayre 4.30pm-

7.00pm

Mon 4—Advent Service at 9.05am led by

St Francis– Parents Welcome

Mon 4—Reconcilia on at 1.30pm

Mon 4—Na vity programmes on sale

from 3.00pm

Tues 5—Reconcilia on at 1.30pm

Tues 5—Na vity Programmes on sale

from 3.00pm

Fri 8—Immaculate Concep on Mass at

9.05am—Parents Welcome

Note from Miss Chester—Na�vity Illustra�ons

Thank you for all the entries for the Na vity Illustra ons

compe on. We have had lots of great pictures to choose

from!

Congratula ons to the following children - please look out for

their illustra ons in your KS1 Na vity Programmes.

Agata Przezdziecka, Kayla Enriquez, Isla Charles,

Dylan Jayasundera and Angelika Pytka

Note from Mrs Cockrill—Netball

Yesterday, our netball team played in a Year 6 tournament

at Thomas Benne=. They played excep onally well: they did

not lose a single game nor conceded a goal. Of the five

matches they played, they won three and drew two. They

demonstrated great sportsmanship and represented St

Francis brilliantly. We are very proud of them!

Well done to Olivia Brown, Yasmin Szatkowska-Ribeiro,

Marcel Chudy, Celine Landicho, Sean Mackey, Maria Kintu,

Tommy Zinga, and Ellise Mann.