Autumn Term Newsletter 9 December 18 th 2014
It has been a very busy first term with lots of changes and new challenges. Both children and staff have worked extremely hard and are now excited that the holidays are almost here, so that we can all have a well-earned rest!
As part of our preparation for Christmas we have had some excellent productions over the past fortnight, with a wonderful Infant Nativity, ‘Children around the World’, as well as thoughtful assemblies from Year 3 and 4 and a splendid Carol Concert last night from Years 5 and 6. The children did themselves proud and were well supported by family and friends who came along.
Thank-you for your very generous donations at these events which raised a fantastic £394. This will be shared between two charities for the homeless, Shelter and the Cardinal Hume Centre in London.
Photographs from the different events can be found on the school website. I would encourage you all to browse our new website. We have tried to upload all the key information that you may need and hopefully made it easier to navigate. www.ourlady.surrey.sch.uk
If you have any ideas to further improve or any key information you feel would be useful which isn’t already included, do let us know. I would like to thank Mrs Dawson and Miss Glynn for their hard work in bringing this project to fruition.
On a personal note I would like to thank you all for your support this term and wish all families a very
Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2015.
Mrs Hickman
Whole School Mass of Thanksgiving
Parents and parishioners are very welcome to our end of term Mass tomorrow, Friday 19 th at 9.00 a.m.
The PTA Christmas raffle will take place after the mass.
School finishes tomorrow at 2 p.m.
PTA
Thank you to the committee members who provided refreshments for the infant plays as well as providing all children with a Christmas end of term treat, specially delivered to the infant children by
Father Christmas on Wednesday. The PTA also paid for the theatre group who performed Alice in
Wonderland for the whole school on Tuesday, as well as organising the end of term raffle. We do appreciate the hard work that they do for the benefit of the children in the school.
If you are interested in joining the PTA please come along to the next meeting on Jan 15 th 2015 in the staff room.

Parish Donation
We thank all the parishioners of Our Lady of the Rosary for their very generous donation to the school.
We received £2300 - the proceeds from the Christmas fair, which will go towards the cost of replacing our hall floor. The floor will be replaced over the Christmas holiday.
Year 3 Trip to St Alban’s
On Thursday 4 th December Year 3 went to the town of St Alban’s. We visited the cathedral and the
Roman museum. We learned a lot about St Alban and how he died because he was a Christian. We dressed up and acted the life of St Alban. In the museum we saw some beautiful mosaics although some were broken. We went by coach and had a good day even though it was cold.
Lucy Hill
Year 3 Roman Day
Last Thursday we had our Roman day in school. I had a great day as I was dressed as a Roman emperor.
We had a man from Chertsey museum who let us use beeswax to write and taught us some Latin words.
I enjoyed making the Roman honey biscuits.
James Jennison
Year 5 Trip to Westminster Cathedral and Natural History Museum
On Wednesday 3 rd of December, Year 5 went to London on a school trip to the Natural History Museum and Westminster Cathedral.
This is all about it…
First we went to the Natural History Museum, and divided in to four different groups; and all went our separate ways. In Mrs Dawson’s group, we went to the Blue Zone and looked at the Dinosaurs. We saw many different and massive fossils we came to a room with a colossal animatronic T-Rex that moved its head and arms! In the Earthquake section of the exhibit there was an Earthquake Simulator, where you stood in a fake Japanese Shop and the floor started to shake while we held on to railings at the side.
Meanwhile, in Mr. Morgan’s group, we went to the enormous mammal exhibition; the Blue whale was huge!
We also saw how heavy the blue whale was compared to Mr Morgan!
After lunch, we went to Westminster Cathedral to watch a nativity play/carol concert. When there were carols being sung, we joined in with different schools. We saw a real donkey (named Larry) and a sheep. There was also a fake camel called Humphrey. We sung many known carols, for example, ‘We three kings’. Rhea also read a bidding prayer in front of all the schools present!
On the way back, we were singing Christmas carols on the coach. Report by Eoin, Freddie and Rhea,
Year 5.
Year 5/6 Football
Year 5/6 boys played in a friendly football match against Riverbridge on Wednesday night.‘In the firsthalf they scored 2 goals from corners and 2 good goals in the second half. We nearly scored in the

second half but their defence was too good. For some of our team this was the first time they had played in a match for the school. Every-one enjoyed the game and we thank Mr Howick for refereeing and Mr Morgan/Miss Roberts for organising’ Paul-Louis Year 5
Headteacher’s Awards
I was thrilled to present my first headteacher awards this week. Two children from Year 6, Mia Higgins and Scarlett Summerton and two from year 5, Rhea Falleiro and Ella Bolster have all collected twenty gold merit stars. They each received special badges in achievement assembly. Well done!
Choir entertain residents in Grovebarns
The choir went to Grovebarns on Wednesday afternoon to sing carols and Christmas songs for our neighbours. The audience was very appreciative and full of praise for this Christmas treat. Some of the residents also joined us at the infant nativity play which they also thoroughly enjoyed.
Multi-Cultural Week January 19 th – 23 rd 2015
The week beginning Monday 19 th January will be a multi-cultural week at school. We will be sharing and learning about different cultures as well as looking at what it means to be British. We are really keen to share and celebrate the different cultures and nationalities in our school. Our large map of the world is still in the foyer of the library for you to pin point your family place of origin. If you are not able to come into school please send the information in to your child’s class teacher and we will add your name to the map.
We would also like to invite parents and grandparents to share information about their nationality (this includes Britain). For example, you might have a particular tradition, item of clothing, song or story that you could share with the class. If you are willing to visit your child’s class during this special week please contact the class teacher to arrange an appropriate time and day.
Miss Stevens
Admissions for Reception Class 2015
A reminder please that the school supplementary information form and accompanying documents need to be completed and returned to the school by the 15th January 2015.
Punctuality
This term we have experimented with not giving out late cards to children. However I have noticed in the past two weeks the number of children arriving at school at 8.45 or later has increased. The children need to be on the playground before the bell rings at 8.45. Parents need to be aiming to arrive at school by 8.40. It is important that the children are on time for school to ensure a smooth start to the day. This is also an area monitored by the education welfare officer on his regular visits to the school.
Next Term
The school will reopen for the children on Tuesday 6 th January 2015. Our first Mass will be Friday 9 at 9.00 a.m. in the school hall. All are welcome. th