Newsletter 12

Friday 2 December 2022

Notices and Reminders

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3

This week at Thomas Coram
Wow I cannot believe we are now into December; this term has just seemed to disappear in a flash. I am so excited for my first Christmas at TC and to be able to see all the fabulous things that are going on. Throughout the week, I have been lucky enough to hear the singing from the Year 3 children ready for the Christmas production. As the end of term approaches, we will be saying goodbye to a few members of staff. Miss Handley will be leaving us at the end of term, she has been working hard as a 1:1 and we thank her for all her support. We will also be saying goodbye to Miss Walker, who will be joining Victoria School as Assistant Head and a Year 2 class teacher. A huge congratulations to Miss Walker but also a sad loss for us at TC. Mrs Giles will replace Miss Walker as the phase leader and Mr Mclellan will be starting after Christmas as 4SW’s new class teacher. I know all staff and parents will stand with me to wish them luck and congratulations.             

Worship 
On Monday, we spoke about having trust and faith even when times are challenging, on Wednesday the children looked at Trust with Chloe and discussed the importance of having trust in difficult times.

Road Safety  
Yesterday, I spoke to the year 5 and 6 children about ensuring they are being safe when crossing the road, please could you have a conversation with your child if possible, about safety when crossing the road. 

Pens  
We have decided to let all children in Year 5 and 6 use pens. Pen licences are quite out of date and can have a negative impact on the children, so from now all children in Year 5 and 6 will be able to use a black pen. We are still discussing Year 4 children and when they will use pens. 

Attendance and punctuality
Just a reminder of how important attendance and punctuality is for all children. We appreciate there will be times when children are unwell and need to remain off school, or they are late for unavoidable reasons such as unexpected traffic due to accidents but allowing your child to sleep in is not a valid reason. So please do try to ensure that children are coming in and on time as much as possible. Also, as a general reminder, if a child is off sick or a term time holiday is being taken, work will not be set for your child.  

Captains Club
Please note that registers for Captain's Club are run on a Friday morning so if you make a booking for the following week after then, also email wraparound@thomascoram.herts.sch.uk with booking details so we can manually add pupils to registers and advise staff who to expect.

Reading World Cup 
To celebrate the World Cup and Reading, we have launched a competition in school to promote a love of reading and encourage children to read more diverse books. There are pictures up in the corridor to encourage the children to read books from countries that are in the World Cup. Class teachers are also talking to the children about this. Prizes will be awarded in the New Year. 

Year 3 Christmas production  
The Year 3 Christmas Production will be running on Tuesday 13th December at 1:30pm and Wednesday 14th December at 6:30pm. The children will need to be back in school by 6:15pm that evening to get them ready for the show. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible there. Don't forget to sign up for your tickets. 

Pollution  
As a school, we would like to reduce the air pollution created during drop off and pick ups, this is something we will be exploring this year and I will be discussing with the parent reps. One suggestion we have for the time being is, when parked outside the school, awaiting drop off or collection times, could you please turn off your engines. This will not only save the environment but will also save petrol, as your engine won’t be running unduly.  

RE Day  
On Tuesday 6th December, TC will be having a special RE day to celebrate the birth of Jesus and Christmas, the children will be completing different projects throughout the day, which we would like to invite you in to see at 2:50pm that afternoon. We will open the classrooms and you can then come in to see your child’s work. Dismissal will be the same and you will need to wait outside the classrooms for your child to be dismissed at 3:25pm. If you have children in more than one class, you will be able to go to each of the classes during that time. We think it will be a great opportunity to demonstrate our work and start to invite parents in. I hope to see as many as you as possible and will give more information closer to the time.  

Air Up Water Bottles
We have noticed a few children with Air Up water bottles in school. A number of children are complaining of feeling sick after drinking from them, so please don't send your child(ren) in with them. 

Parent Forum  
I am looking forward to meeting the parent reps next week and for them to be sharing your views, I hope to be able to answer the questions you have raised and come up with a solution for most of the queries.  

Book Donations and Wish List 
Thank you to those parents who have donated books.  If you have any of the books form the Year 3 –6  recommended reading list, that you would be happy to donate to the school, please send them to the office.  

We are also going to be creating a wish list of new books for anyone who would like to buy a book for the library or reading corners in the classrooms. 

Rotary Boxes
Please make sure any Rotary boxes are returned by Wednesday 7 December. 

Policies
All our latest policies are on our federation website. Our behaviour policy has recently had some updates.

Friends of Thomas Coram
There is still time to sign up for our upcoming Christmas Events and don't forget to buy your raffle tickets here. We are also selling our wonderful FOTC Honey which will make a lovely stocking filler and don't forget to link your Amazon account to the FOTC. Free money from Amazon - just for doing your shopping! 

We are still short of Christmas volunteers, if you have any spare time and think you could help out at any of our events then please sign up here. 

Stars of the week - 

3SB - Josh - for always being a pleasant, hardworking member of the class and not minding when I keep telling them what to do with the percussion instruments in the production. 

3SG - All of 3SG - Mrs Giles was very proud of the whole class this week, they behaved impeccably on their Geography trip and then completed some very detailed maps when we returned to school. 

3EW - To be announced Monday

4HS - Frank - for trying really hard to follow the school rules and expectations.

5DH - Emily - for settling into life at Thomas Coram so easily. Welcome Emily. 

5KS - Xavi - for his excellent engagement in lessons and perseverance with challenging tasks. 

5RG - Thea - for her positive commitment to her work and excellent contributions in class. 

5JR - Paul - for his fantastic effort in all subjects and for being such a great role model for the class. Well done. 

6WT - Ryan - for being a superstar in French lessons this week. 

6RM - Nathan - for his can-do attitude to his reading assessment and for always working hard, contributing to lessons and generally being lovely. 

A full calendar is available here                   

• Tues 6 Dec - RE Day parents invited in at 2:50pm
• Thurs 8 Dec - Parent Forum meeting
• Fri 9 Dec - FOTC dress down
• Tues 13 Dec - Y3 Christmas Production 1.30pm
• Wed 14 Dec - Y3 Christmas Production 6.30pm
• Thurs 15 Dec - FOTC Christmas Parties
• Fri 16 Dec - FOTC Christmas Parties
• Fri 16 Dec - Whole School Panto 
• Tues 20 Dec - Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day
• Wed 21 Dec - End of term Christmas Service at St Peter's 10.30am
• Wed 21 Dec - Last day of term 1.00pm finish

Information attached this week

This weeks flyers/attachments/letters are below please click on for more information;