Holy Cross Catholic Primary School
NEWSLETTER
21st November 2014
(01983) 292885
www.holycrossrcpr.iow.sch.uk
admin@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk
The last two weeks have certainly been action packed and it has been great to see so many of you in school
supporting some of these learning events. The pupils have really enjoyed these activities and they have clearly
learned a great deal.
Y3 & Y4 have been focused on Vikings while Y1 & Y5 have been preparing for the museum takeover day at Osborne
House on Saturday. YR & Y6 have also taken advantage of Osborne House to support their learning. YR spent a
morning learning about bulbs with the gardeners at Osborne and then helped to plant over 3000 daffodil bulbs, so
fingers crossed for next spring! Y6 have studied the ice house at Osborne and have produced information leaflets to
help visitors in the grounds to understand what it is and how it worked.
It was great to see so many Dads & Lads taking advantage of our focused writing event on Wednesday evening. The
boys managed to produce a whole book in just one hour and a big thank you must go to Mrs. Broadhurst for
arranging such an engaging activity and of course the biscuits and milkshake. We will be looking at a range of
opportunities, events and activities to promote writing to all pupil groups over the coming year.
Thank you to everyone who made the effort to come to the Head’s Tea after school on Wednesday. I really enjoyed
the opportunity to hear and answer your questions and talk to you about future plans. The next informal session is a
Coffee Morning and will be on Wednesday the 7th January from 8.45-9.45 am in the school hall. I look forward to
seeing you there.
On Thursday the school hall was transformed into the Globe Theatre as the school took advantage of enjoying the
live performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona broadcast by the Royal Shakespeare Company from Stratford.
Pupils enjoyed half time popcorn and took advantage of the live question and feedback session to ask the cast
questions about the performance.
Museum Takeover Day Pupils from Y1 & Y5 will be taking over Osborne House this Saturday as part of this national
event. Y1 will be running craft activities on a Victorian Christmas theme in the Exhibition Room whilst Y5 will be
taking part in the guided tours as experts on the exhibits. Guided tours start at 10.00am and run through to 3.00pm.
To book a place on a tour, please call into the Reception Area at Osborne House. Admission is free to English
Heritage members but normal admission applies to everyone else.
In the press
“We're being taken over! If you come down to Osborne on Saturday 22nd November, you’re in for a big surprise! As
part of the nationwide Takeover Day, we've invited Holy Cross Primary students to takeover for the day. Students
will help with our Festive Guided Tours and offer children's activities in the exhibition room.
Takeover Day is a day on which museums up and down England are being taken over by children and teenagers.
Independent charity Kids in Museums is teaming up with the Children’s Commissioner for England and Arts Council
England to help place children and teenagers at the heart of museums.
So join us for a different type of Osborne experience and see it through their eyes!”
Peter from Y5 and Anna Moreton, Osborne’s Audience Development and Volunteer Manager gave an interview to
BBC Radio Solent this morning to promote this weekend’s event
As part of the review of Holy Cross’ Vision and Mission statement we agreed that we would endeavour to ensure
that every pupil leaving Holy Cross is Confident, Aspirational, Resilient, Enquiring and Spiritual (C.A.R.E.S). In
developing our new curriculum, we have been thinking about ways in which we can support pupils to develop these
attributes. We believe that by encouraging independence, pupils will grow in confidence around their own abilities
and gain an understanding of the resilience needed to achieve their dreams.
To support this independence in school we would like to encourage you to use the drop off system in the mornings.
Pupils should make their way to the playground where they will be supervised by a teacher from 8.30am.
Please could the parents of pupils from Year 2 onwards to support us by encouraging your child to come into the
main school building independently in the morning (unless you urgently need to speak to your child’s class teacher).
We have spoken to the pupils about this change in expectation and how we believe it will help them to develop as
C.A.R.E.S learners.
Our Education Welfare Officer conducts regular visits to review attendance and lateness. She has asked us to focus
on lateness in the mornings. The school register closes at 9.00am any pupil coming in after that time is marked as
late and it counts against our overall attendance figure. Our Target this year is 96.5% attendance.
Please could I remind parents and pupils that School opens at 8.45 am pupils should arrive on site between 8.30 and
8.45 ready to enter the building and prepare themselves for the school day. Teachers often prepare activities in this
15-minute slot. Pupils who regularly arrive late or just before 9.00am are missing 1 ¼ hours of learning time a week.
One of our key objectives this year is to improve communication with parents. Please could you support us by
communicating as quickly as possible any concerns you may have about what your child is reporting to you at home.
The Class teacher remains the first point of contact concerning pupils in their class.
Class teachers can be emailed through admin@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk or through their school email addresses:
Y6, cathy.ody@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk ,
Y5, Kathy.Mather@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk ,
Y4, Wendy.webb@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk ,
Y3, Jenny.broadhurst@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk , Rob.martin@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk ,
Y2, Laura.mcburnie@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk ,
Y1 sophiecollings@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk ,
YR Gill.hilson@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk ,
I can also be contacted at the following email address: Timothy.eccles@holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk .
DIARY DATES
Please remember that diary dates are available on the school’s website at www.holycrossrcpri.iow.sch.uk where
there is a Parent Google Calendar.
Saturday 22nd Y1 & Y5 Osborne House Visit for ‘Museum Take Over Day’
Sunday 7th December Town Carol Service St James’ East Cowes
Tuesday 9th December – Holy Cross Carol Service for parents (TBC)
Friday 12th December Christmas Jumper Day
Wednesday 17th December Y5 & Y6 Mayflower Trip
Wednesday 17th December Y R, Y3 & Y4 Christmas Production
Thursday 18th December school Christmas Dinner
Friday 19th December – Last day of term
Monday 5th January 2015 – Return to school
Children’s Liturgy at St David’s Church East Cowes on Sunday 23rd November – All Welcome
fident, Aspirational, Resilient,
A Holy Cross Pupil C.A.R.E.S is Con
Enquiring & Spiritual
Holy Cros
s
M
is
s
io
n
S
tatement
We serve th
e
p
e
o
p
le
r
o
und us,
We
c
a
r
e
a
b
o
u
t our earth.
We learn an
d live in
g
r
a
c
e
a
n
d
peace by
putting Jesu
s fi rst.
We fi nd an
d
u
s
e
o
u
r
t
alents,
We kn
o
w
w
e
’r
e
lo
ved by You.
We make ou
r cho
ic
e
s
fi
r
s
t
b
y asking
“
W
h
a
t
w
o
u
ld Jesus do?
”
Holy Cross Vision Statement
To enable every child to discover the
ir
talents, realise their potential and
achieve
their dreams by living, laughing an
d learning
together, anchored in the love of Ch
rist.