Thursday 12th November
Dear Parents,
DITCH THE DARK DAY (SUSTRANS)
The children will take part in St Teresa’s first ‘Ditch the Dark Day’ tomorrow (13 th November). On this day we
encourage you to walk to school or part of the journey to school with your child. If you drive we would ask that
you would park a short distance away from the school and walk the remaining journey to school. We also ask
that the children add colourful or reflective objects to their uniform such as high visibility jackets, armbands
and hair bobbles. Or you could pin reflective things onto jackets such as tinfoil, buttons etc. There will be prizes
for the ‘brightest’ children in school! This is part of a drive to encourage healthy options to the children of our
school. We hope you will support this event.
CURRICULUM CONTENT
Please find enclosed the curriculum content for each year group in the school. This will inform you of what the
children will be learning during November and December and will enable you to talk with them about what
they are doing in school.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Please find enclosed the revised attendance policy in school. This can also be accessed on the school website
www.stteresasprimary.org. Full attendance is paramount to your child’s success in school and we monitor
attendance very closely. We do realise that there are exceptional circumstances when your child must stay at
home. This policy will inform you as to how we manage attendance in school and how you can support the
school in this regard.
FOST CHRISTMAS FAIR
As advent approaches and the season of Christmas draws near, school life will become very busy. We look
forward to celebrating this time of year with you all. Friends of St Teresa’s Association (FoST) will host their
annual ‘Christmas Fair’. We promise that you will scoop up great bargains and ideal gifts for Christmas. At the
same time enjoy carols from the school choir and even get a special visit from Santa! Please support this event
in our school to not only raise much needed funds for the school but to reward the FoST team for all their hardwork in preparing for this event. There will also be some great prizes on offer that night as part of the raffle,
details of which will follow soon!
FOST TRIM TRAIL PLAY AREA HAS ARRIVED!
We are delighted that the new Trim Trail Play area at the front of the school is being installed this week at a
cost of just over £20,000. This has been possible due to recent funding from the Big Lottery Fund (£10,000)
and of course the tireless work of our amazing Friends of St Teresa’s who worked so hard to help us make this
possible. We also received a very generous donation of £1000 from the McKee Family and Safeway’s Eurospar
on the Springfield Road. The new play equipment will transform the playground experience for our children
and will further support the school in developing healthy lifestyles for the children of our school. I cannot thank
enough the FoST, Safeways Eurospar and of course you the parents of our school who support their events so
well!
OPEN NIGHT
We would also like to invite the children who are due to start school in September 2016 and their parents to St
Teresa’s annual Open night on Monday 14th December at 6.30pm. We hope you will get a real flavour of
what St Teresa’s can offer your child in the years ahead. Your son/daughter is very welcome to attend the Open
Night with you and we promise that they will enjoy the evening.
St. Teresa’s Primary School ~ Glen Road, Belfast, BT11 8BL ~ Principal Mr. T. Rodgers
T 028 90 611 943 ~ F 028 90 605 644 ~ E info@stteresas.belfast.ni.sch.uk ~ W www.stteresasprimary.org
Parent/Teacher Consultations:
A reminder that on the 26th November the school will close at 12.00pm and will be closed on Friday 27th November to
accommodate parent/teacher consultations. The arrangements for meeting teachers are as follows:
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Primary 2 : Primary 2 classrooms
Primary 1, Primary 3: Key Stage 1 Hall
Primary 4 : Music room
Primary 5, Primary 6, Primary 7: Key Stage 2 Hall (main school foyer).
Please note if your child has had a recent individual education plan meeting with your child’s class teacher, there is no
need for an additional meeting on this occasion.
Staff Development Training:
It is important that parents are aware of the focus of staff development this year which includes: developing a phonics
programme, ‘Jolly Phonics’, in P3 and P4, improving the teaching of writing, developing a line of progression in maths
and mental maths strategies, developing play based learning in the Foundation Stage and developing whole school
planning in Literacy and Numeracy at all levels. Please see the school website for more details in the School
Development Plan. You will be invited, during the year to workshops that will help you reinforce at home what we are
aiming to do in school. This will begin with a P1 workshop for parents on Jolly Phonics in January 2016. To
accommodate training for staff the school will be closed on Tuesday 8th December (as already outlined in the school
holiday list).
SYRIAN CRISIS APPEAL
A reminder that the school is supporting The Syrian Crisis appeal. The children in each class will be asked to bring in a
piece of stationary as follows:
Primary 1: Pencil
Primary 2: Rubbers
Primary 3: Rulers
Primary 4: crayons
Primary 5: Colouring pencils
Primary 6: Sharpeners
Primary 7: Pencil Cases
These items will then be gathered and made up into complete pencil cases. The
filled pencil cases will then be donated to the Northern Ireland Community for
Refugees and Asylum Seekers (NICRAS) who will distribute these to children of
families who are refugees here in Northern Ireland. This will certainly bring a smile
to children in very difficult circumstances. Items should be sent into the class
teacher by Friday 13th November. The wearing of the ‘Halloween Costumes Day’
raised a total of £280.80 which will also be donated to NICRAS. Thank you very
much for your much needed support!
CLASS ASSEMBLY INVITE
We would like to invite the parents of Mrs Conlon’s Primary 2 class to their child’s class assembly on
Friday 13th November at 9.30am in the KS2 hall. Mr Hughes’ Primary 5 class are having their class assembly on
Friday 20th November at 9.30am in the KS2 hall.
ANTI-BULLYING WEEK 2015
A reminder that the school will take part in this year’s anti-bullying week from Monday the 16th November to Friday 20th
November. The school has a revised anti-bullying policy which can be accessed on the school website. Each class will be
carrying out a range of activities that week to ensure children are well equipped with the knowledge and skills to help
them overcome bullying.
P4 Parent Meeting
A reminder that there is a meeting for Primary 4 parents in the Foundation Stage hall on Wednesday 18th November 2015
at 7pm as part of the preparation for your child’s reception of their First Holy Communion. It is vital that the parents of
Primary 4 children attend this meeting.
Yours Sincerely,
St. Teresa’s Primary School ~ Glen Road, Belfast, BT11 8BL ~ Principal Mr. T. Rodgers
T 028 90 611 943 ~ F 028 90 605 644 ~ E info@stteresas.belfast.ni.sch.uk ~ W www.stteresasprimary.org
Principal
St. Teresa’s Primary School ~ Glen Road, Belfast, BT11 8BL ~ Principal Mr. T. Rodgers
T 028 90 611 943 ~ F 028 90 605 644 ~ E info@stteresas.belfast.ni.sch.uk ~ W www.stteresasprimary.org