S T. M A T T H E W ’ S C . E . P R I M A R Y S C H O O LSPECIAL EDITION OF FRIDAY NEWS

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Christmas 2014

Our Hopes for Christmas! Peace and goodwill to all! The children have had the opportunity to reflect on their own personal hopes and wishes for this festive season. They wrote some thoughtful prayers which have been used to decorate our beautiful Christmas tree in our school entrance. Some are also on display in St. Matthew’s Church. If you are at any of the St. Matthew’s services over Christmas, please take a minute to read some of the prayers.

Christmas ‘And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.’

It was Julius Caesar who boasted, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” At Christmas we can think of a few shepherds. They came; they saw, they worshipped – and then they spread about the news of the birth of the Child. In those days shepherds were not considered important. Many people of their day looked down on them. They were good enough only for looking after sheep. Yet it was to them that the news of the birth of a Saviour was first given. The shepherds heard the news from angels. They believed the angels, decided to go down into Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the Saviour of the World lying as a baby in a manger. They told Mary and Joseph about the angels, then, before returning to their sheep, told everyone they met in the town about the baby they had seen. We too may not be very important, but the angel’s message can also speak to us. We have been given the privilege of being able to hear about and then meet Jesus - good news of great joy to us and all mankind. What is our reaction? Do we, like the shepherds, come and see and worship, or simply let the news pass us by? This Christmas the good news is still the same. Come and worship the Saviour.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK!

On behalf of the staff of St. Matthew’s,

we would like to take this opportunity in wishing you every

blessing at Christmas and a

Happy New Year

Mr C. B.Cole Executive Headteacher

Miss C. A. Richardson Head of School

Mr. D. Davies Acting Deputy Head of

School

Key Stage One performed an upbeat version of the traditional Nativity Story.

Key Stage One dazzled audiences with their festive rendition of ‘Christmas Praise’. This traditional nativity told the story of Jesus in a fun way. Year Two took charge and acted fantastically as different characters whilst Year One sung as the cheery choir.

The performance started with Mary feeling surprised after a visit from the Angel Gabriel, who shared ‘Good News’. This harmonious tune included brilliant solo singing performances from Jessica and Judi, who impressed everybody. Mary then told Joseph about the shocking but exciting news and they started their long journey to Bethlehem with their ‘Little Donkey’. After a while the tired, expectant mother and her fiancé arrived to the busy streets to find somewhere to sleep but sadly there was no room in any of the inns. Kindly, one busy innkeeper offered them a humble stable to stay and there the baby boy was born in a manger.

After a while, shining stars rose to mark the birth of the Lord. These were then spotted by some intelligent and inquisitive wise men who decided to follow the star, even though they were from a ‘Land Far Away’. Whilst they were journeying on their camels, some sleepy shepherds had quite a surprise… Myriads of angels flew to visit them, singing soulfully to invite them to visit the new born king. The angelic girls danced joyfully, praising the new born lord and led the shepherds and their sheep to the humble stable.

Whilst excitement filled the air, King Herod was beginning to feel angry as he believed he was the ‘Only One King’. He made this very clear through his funky but serious dance moves, even frightening the wise men on their long journey…

Despite travelling for a long time, the shepherds finally arrived to worship the saviour. They were then followed by the wise men, who carried three special gifts. They presented gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Messiah. Everybody then joined in to celebrate this ‘Christmas Praise’ rejoicing in that the Lord sent down his light.

Overall Key Stage One performed fabulously! The acting was loud and clear, the singing was tuneful and happy and the costumes were cheerful and vibrant. All in all, this contributed to the sharing of festive cheer, as well as reminding everyone of the true meaning of Christmas.

CHRISTMAS PRAISE

Key Stage Two Carol Service! Key Stage Two led the community in a thought provoking Carol Service enabling all to think about the traditional Nativity Story.

Not only did the children sing a variety of traditional carols and modern festive tunes, they also entertained the audience with their rendition of ‘Joy to the World’ played on handbells - a first in St Matthew’s. Year 5 led the yuletide proceeding with the Key Stage Two choir supporting. There was a notable solo performance form Anjli Raja, who wowed and silenced the audience of her performance of ‘Silent Night. Readers told the story of the first Christmas from the Bible as well as through poems and dancing reminding us all of the true meaning of Christmas.

Angel Express! Foundation Stage celebrate the birth of Jesus This Christmas the children in Reception enjoyed a very ‘angelic’ interpretation of the Nativity story. The show opened with a group of angels in heaven having a tea party on a fluffy cloud, when all of a sudden… ‘News! News! Read all about it!’ An angel newspaper delivery arrived with amazing news! A special baby was going to be born!

This news instantly sent ripples of excitement throughout the angel community. What special gift could they give to the baby? ‘I know!’ says one. ‘We could sing a song for the baby!’ An angel conductor took it upon himself to try to whip the angel choir into shape. Unfortunately the angels needed a lot of practise because at first they sounded absolutely terrible! Would they be ready in time? Mary and Joseph had arrived in Bethlehem! There wasn’t much time left!

Soon baby Jesus was born and as time and practises went on, the angels were given updates on the exciting news from Bethlehem. The conductor was getting more and more bossy, but fortunately the choir was beginning to sound better and better with each practise. Tensions were high as the shepherds and three wise men visited the special baby.

Luckily the practising and meticulous direction from the conductor paid off, and when it was time the angels flew down from heaven and sang their beautiful song to the Baby Jesus, welcoming him into the world. This was the most demanding show the Early Years have performed to date, with a large proportion of children having to learn large parts and difficult stage directions. Well done to everyone involved! Thank you also goes to all the parents that helped the children learn their lines and the lyrics.

Celebrating Christmas Whilst remembering the true meaning of Christmas, the children have had the chance to enjoy Christmas parties, Ice-skating

Christmas crafts, In-house and take part in the Secret Santa organised by ‘Parents United’. With your support the children bought over 1600 presents for their families and friends.

In addition the Christmas Raffle to give ‘Frosty the Snowman’ a new home raised £210 and Frosty now lives with the lucky winner - Faith Rausch-Allen.

Nursery Crib Service What little treasures! Christmas really began for the Nursery children when they visited St. Matthew’s Church for their Crib service. The children really impressed Reverend Richard as they helped him retell the Christmas story and place the Bible figures in the stable. The children demonstrated their outstanding knowledge of the events of the first Christmas and the importance of this very special time! They are certainly excited about this wonderful Christian festival!

Text Santa! Packing for Save the Children Year Four and Six demonstrated compassion and kindness to the community by helping pack bags at Morrisons at the beginning of December. The children were like Santa's elves, busy helping others get ready for Christmas. This was all for 'Text Santa' and the customers kindly donated money to charity for Years Four and Six packing their shopping neatly away. Despite being hard work, the pupils felt proud to support charities such as hospices and cancer research. Everybody said it was amazing to support the local community as well as important and needy charities at this special time of year.

What a great event! The whole school took part in the exciting project called iSingPOP. iSingPop is a brilliant primary school singing project that brings together school, church and community by using the entire school to produce its very own pop CD. It took 3 days to learn and record the songs, and then on Thursday 27th November the children performed them at a big concert held in St Matthew’s Church. The entire community came along to celebrate the achievements of the children. Many thanks to the hundreds of parents and carers that supported the two iSingPOP concerts yesterday. I am sure you will all join me in congratulating the children on such wonderful performances and it was lovely to see so many of you there. Our thanks has to extend to St Matthew’s Church for their support in making this project possible and to Georgia, the Youth Worker from iSingPOP, for her enthusiasm and for working with the pupils throughout the week on this very exciting project.

Operation Christmas Child St. Matthew’s took part in Operation Christmas Child Appeal again this year. After the success of previous years, and having discussed where the shoe boxes of presents were to go, the pupils appreciated the importance of such gifts being created and sent to the many children that are less fortunate than themselves. Robyn, an organiser from the charity spoke to all the pupils to give them an insight as to the importance of these special gifts. Children worked individually and in small groups to create shoe box gifts for children in Africa. In total, over 100 shoe boxes were collected. We are sure the children in Africa will get a great deal of enjoyment from them. Well done everyone

Spreading the Christmas message in the Community St. Matthew’s certainly have tried to spread the Christian message in the community this year in lots of different ways. A group of Year Four ventured through West Drayton to deliver festive cheer to different members of the community this Christmas. The talented group of children visited Franklin House and represented our school fantastically. Singing harmoniously, the children made everyone in the room smile. After the first song, the audience was clapping enthusiastically. Throughout their performance, the children were thoughtfully and passionately delivering the messages of joy and cheer. After the performance, the children deservedly were awarded drinks and muffins. Kindly the children then spoke to the residents and wished all a Merry Christmas! Undoubtedly the children should be very proud of their spectacular performance and the compassion they showed to our local community. Everyone at Franklin House was smiling at the end of the performance due to the wonderful singing as well as care the children of St Matthew’s displayed for others. In addition, a group of enthusiastic Year Six children passed on the Christmas spirit to a group of elderly people. The party is held annually for people who have, in the past year, been a victim of crime. The children braved the cold as they travelled to the West Drayton Community Centre in high spirits, in order to deliver the Christmas message to the community. The children serenaded the elderly with a mixture of Christmas Carols and songs from the Christmas performance and other Christmas songs, all of which received cheers and round of applause, with some of the community members even asking for more. The children really did St Matthew’s proud and the elderly thoroughly enjoyed being entertained by the children.

On the High Street! Spreading a little festive cheer!

The children of St. Matthew’s all took the message of Christmas out onto the High Street on 18th December for all to hear. Passers by were entertained with Christmas carols and songs which told the story of the first Christmas. Despite the cold and bitter wind, the children managed to encourage some audience participation as everyone enjoyed getting into the

Christmas spirit. A collection was taken for The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Many thanks to all parents that came and supported their children and donated to this worthy cause.

Christmas Carol Singing Thirty Key Stage Two children enjoyed taking part in the Uxbridge Carol Concert held in The Pavilions Shopping Centre. The children were joined by other local primary schools and sang out the message of Christmas to the music from the Salvation Army Band. The children particularly enjoyed the Christmas address given by Bob Hartman, who visited the whole school earlier in the day to deliver his Christmas message and led some festive singing. The children joined in the Christmas Rap and captured the attention of all that listened and through this, he told the importance of the first Christmas and the events of that very special time.

Delicious Christmas Dinner! Turkey and Crackers! St. Matthew’s certainly have tried to enjoy this festive season and this week has been no exception. With Christmas parties and Ice Skating beginning the week, the whole school sat down to enjoy their Christmas dinner together on Wednesday. The staff turned into waiter / waitresses and served the pupils with their delicious dinner and the hall was filled with Christmas music which was enhanced by the bangs of the Christmas crackers!

Merry Christmas Everyone

Our End of Term Awards At the end of term, we always present lots of certificates and awards for a range of different achievements across the curriculum. These are in addition to our weekly merit and attendance awards. Here is our list of award recipients:

Merit Awards RNC Jahnae-Li Jacob-Gordon RML Archie Bath 1ES Harithra Maharaj 1TH Talia Moraldo 2LK Nazar Pathan 2NB Jeshan Jebananthan 3SM Arya Parekh-Ansari 3MN Kieran Field 4AW Kai Martin-Haj 4WW Katherine Ramirez 5EG Lacey Bath 5SB Hadi Al-Atrash 6KJ Victor Anohu 6LB Lenny O’Brien

Writing Awards - for fantastic improvements in Writing: Foundation Stage Neo Williams Key Stage One Sara Bentham-Rice Key Stage Two Aryan Sharma

Gray Award Iona DiTullio - for fantastic progress in Mathematics Percy Award Alfie Lunnon - excellent progress across the curriculum

House Points - pupils with the most house points this term:

1ES Grace Anstey 1TH Lexanne Sta ana 2LK Jessica Coles 2NB Oliver Marsden 3SM Chloe Santos-Coney 3MN Yusuf Sajidh 4AW Chloe Leon 4WW Paige Maylin 5SB Christopher Ngo 5EG Hansini Kammila 6KJ Evie Mannakee 6LB Kacey Adamson

The winning house for this term was St Teresa - well done to all pupils in this house!

131 children who received their Bronze Attendance Awards for being in school every day this term.

Christmas Hampers Showing compassion and kindness. As a way of supporting our local community this Christmas, the children in each of the classes have been incredibly creative and made a Christmas Hamper for local, less fortunate people. The classes entered into a competition for the best dressed hamper and as you will see from the photographs, the children certainly put a great deal of effort into their hamper. From Penguins at the North Pole to Christmas Trees and Reindeers pulling a sleigh filled with goodies, classes were very imaginative with their designs. The judges faced the difficult task of selecting the winning hampers (1 from each Key Stage), but finally, after hours of discussion, decided that the winning classes would be:

Reception, 1TH and 3MN

Thank you to all those who took part and contributed to the hampers. It seems a shame to unwrap them!