St. George’s CE Primary School Newsletter – December 2015
Happy Christmas
We’ve had a brilliant and busy end to the term. We’ve enjoyed the nativity, our carol service, Father
Geoff’s last Holy Communion, Christmas lunch, Superstar trip, 144Club and 20:20Club treat,
Confident Voice Society treat and Christmas jumper day. Phew! We’re ready for a holiday.
Attendance and Punctuality
Attendance
Punctuality
Year 1
95.6%
Year 1
96.5%
Year 2
96.8%
Year 2
98.2%
Year 3
97.2%
Year 3
96.9%
Year 4
95.5%
Year 4
97.8%
Year 5
96.9%
Year 5
98.1%
Year 6
97.4%
Year 6
97.7%
Thank you to all parents who make sure
their children are on time every day.
Well done to everyone who has managed
to get to school on time for the 8:30am
start.
Remember expected attendance is 96% or
better.
Outstanding attendance is 98%.
New Website
www.st-georges.wandsworth.sch.uk
We have made some improvements to our school website so it
is much easier for you to use and much easier for us to keep up
to date. It looks great and is really easy to read on a mobile
phone as well as a tablet or laptop. The most important parts for
you are the message board and the calendar. If we have
important notices or you want to check dates, they are the
places to look.
We will keep posting videos and useful resources on there for
you and will always let you know about these in Family Learning
sessions.
You can also see our Twitter feed on there so if you aren’t a
‘tweeter’ you can still see all of the good things we’re up to.
Try to get into the habit of checking it once a week. Your child’s
class also has a class page with all of the important information
about their topic this term, their trips and their assemblies. We
hope you will all use it so that we can communicate with you
easily and effectively.
Waitrose
A huge thanks to our new
neighbours, Waitrose Nine
Elms, who donated 100
mince pies to us for our
Nativity coffee morning.
They were delicious.
The Christmas Forest
A really big thanks to ‘The
Christmas Forest’ on
Lavender Hill who donated a
6 foot Christmas tree for the
school hall. It looked
beautiful with all of the
kindness baubles hanging on
it.
Ice Skating
Last week, the Year 6 children went ice skating at Somerset House in central London. They all tried
really hard to stay upright!
Father Geoff
Today, Father Geoff held his last Holy Communion with us in church. It was a beautiful service
and we all wished him well in his retirement. So many of you have expressed your gratitude and
thanks to Father Geoff and I know he is touched by your kind thoughts and words. He has been
a great example to us of service and wisdom and we will all work hard together over the coming
months to live up to his example. He has been an integral part in making St. George’s the school
it is today and we are so grateful to him for his hard work and commitment. Thank you so much
Father Geoff.
School Shoes
School PE kit
We’ve had lots of broken school shoes just before
the holidays.
Can all parents please make sure that children have
black school shoes on after the holidays. Trainers
and boots must not be worn. The children look
dignified and ready to learn in full school uniform
and it is required for a Superstar badge.
Please make sure that you buy a
school PE kit if you don’t already have
one. Children will go outside for PE
whenever possible in the winter
months so please make sure they
have a black or navy tracksuit top and
bottoms with them for PE lessons.
Some PE days have changed after
Christmas so please read the letter
that has been sent home.
Twitter
Follow us @stgeorgeprimary
Coffee with Mrs Collymore
Thank you to all the parents who came along to the coffee morning and shared their thoughts
and ideas with me. I’ve listed some of the main ideas below and will be following up on these
over the next few months. I’ll need YOUR help because this is YOUR school. Look out for more
coffee drop ins and requests for help with events.
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more coffee mornings/afternoons/evening events
sponsored events to help to subsidise school trips
family quiz nights
‘Charity of the Year’ fundraising events
crèches for family learning events
events to involved dads more
If you have other ideas, come along to the next event and share them with us.
Teach the Children – A Christmas Reflection
I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I
opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his
finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. "What are you doing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw he
had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous character we all know.
He then answered me with a simple statement. "TEACH THE CHILDREN!"
I was puzzled; what did he mean? He guessed my question, and with one quick movement pulled a miniature toy bag from behind the
tree. As I stood puzzled, Santa said, "Teach the children! Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that now-a-days
Christmas has forgotten."
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it in front of the fire place.
"Teach the children that the pure green colour of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, representing the everlasting hope
of mankind, all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven."
He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR.
"Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a Saviour for the world, and the star was
the sign of fulfilment of His promise."
He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE.
"Teach the children that the candle symbolises that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded
of Jesus who fills our lives with light."
Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH and placed it on the tree.
"Teach the children that the wreath symbolises the real nature of love. Real love never ceases, like Gods love which has no beginning
or end."
He then pulled from his bag an ornament of HIMSELF.
"Teach the children that I, Santa Clause symbolise the generosity and kindness we feel during the month of December."
He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF.
"Teach the children that the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Saviour. The red holly
represents the blood shed by Him."
Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said,
"Teach the children that God so loved the world that HE gave us HIS only SON... We thank God for his very special gift."
"Teach the children that the wise men bowed before the Holy Baby and gave HIM gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We should
always give gifts in the same spirit of the wise men."
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a SUGAR CANE and hung it on the tree.
"Teach the children that the sugar cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the staff helps to bring back lost sheep to the
flock."
He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL.
"Teach the children that it was the angels that announced the glorious news of the Saviour's birth. The angels sang 'Glory to God in
the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men."
Suddenly, I heard a soft tinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL.
"Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring to guide us to God. The bell symbolises
guidance and return. It reminds us that we are all precious in the eyes of God."
Santa looked back and was pleased. I saw the twinkle in his eyes as he said, "Remember, teach the children the true meaning of
Christmas and do not put me in the centre, for I am but a humble servant of the One that is, and I bow down to worship HIM, our
LORD, our GOD."
Thank you
From all of us to all of you, thank you so much for your kind
words, cards and gifts. We really appreciate it. The team
would all like to wish you a very happy Christmas and our
best wishes for 2016. See you next year.
School starts on
Tuesday 5th January 2016 at 8:30am
Check the website for other dates
next term.