Newsletter 13

Friday 9 December 2022

Notices and Reminders

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

This week at Thomas Coram
What a cold week we have had at Thomas Coram, it truly does feel like Winter now! We are now in full Christmas mode at TC, with our Christmas trees in the hall and dining hall. It was great to celebrate RE day this week and think about the birth and life of Jesus. It was also a great first opportunity to invite parents in to see the work the children had produced. It was fantastic to have so many parents join us in the classroom and be able to discuss the work the children had created. Year 3 were making Christingles and I saw quite a few with missing raisins as they walked through the gate – I think they may have been eaten as they left the classroom. Year 4 were lucky enough to make peppermint chocolates for Ashlyns care home and I did see some children eating one as they were leaving – I hope they tasted good Year 4? I loved Year 5’s clay nativity scenes which were completed on a hand print and then painted. I saw some fabulous examples. Year 6 were busy making advent calendars and I saw some great examples of Christmas ideas behind the windows. I am looking forward to next week and our last full week before the Christmas holidays!

Worship 
On Wednesday, Father Stuart led worship and was discussing gossip with the children and talking to the children about how hurtful gossip can be. 4AP then led the class worship around a similar theme and did a role play of gossip spreading and the impact that has. They also said, before speaking think: Is it kind? It is true? Is it necessary? 

St Peter's EOT Service 
We will be holding our end of term service at St Peter's church on Wednesday 21st December at 10:30 am. Both Victoria and Thomas Coram will be attending, so due to both schools attending, seating may be limited. But we do strongly encourage parents to attend. 

Letter from Director of Public Health
We have been asked to share this letter with you regarding the increases of cases of Scarlet Fever and Group A Streptococcus (GAS) across the country. 

Poppy Appeal
This week, we were awarded a certificate to tell us we had raised £248.77 for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Well done TC!

Road Safety
A reminder to not block the car parking area outside of the school at drop off and pick up times. Please park in the marked bays so people can continue to use the road to get in and out. Please also drive with care as it has been reported there has been some fast vehicles travelling up and down Swing Gate Lane.

Idling cars
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.

Request from Year 5
Do you have any spare material? Year 5 are looking for red, orange or yellow material (such as sheets, tablecloths, wide ribbon, etc) for a display we would like to create. Ideally it needs to be thin so that we are able to cut it and a minimum length of 50 cm. If you do, please can it be sent in BEFORE the Christmas break to 5DH. Many thanks for any help.

Herts Music Service message below:
We were fortunate enough to visit your children yesterday and demo some singing with them. We had a lovely time and we really hope the children did too. If your child would like to consider having singing lessons at school, then our singing teacher Miss Simpson has some availability. If you follow the link below, it has all the information you need in regards to the signing up process and costs.

Music Lessons (hertsmusicservice.org.uk)

If you have any questions, feel free to email DacorumMusicEnquiries@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Parent Forum
Thank you to the parent reps who attended our first parent forum meeting yesterday. It was great to hear the concerns you all had and hopefully I was able to address these concerns and give a solution to them. The meeting notes will come out with next weeks bulletin. But, an area of concern that was raised and we spent some time talking about, was road safety and pollution. I would like to set up a working party where we can gather ideas on how to improve this. If you would like to join this, please email the office and I will be in touch early next term to get something set up. 

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. 

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. 

Friends of Thomas Coram
We are still short of Christmas volunteers to help run the class parties on Thursday and Friday next week, if you are able to help out then please sign up here. 

Our fabulous Silent Auction is now live with bidding due to close at 7.30pm on Friday 16 December you need to bid now!

Stars of the week - 

3SB - Alvie - for having the confidence to host the Christingle quiz for the parents with Florence. You did so amazingly well!

3SG - Kara - for her detailed work in RE this week. Well done.

3EW - Betsy - for always being smiley and positive even when things get tricky. You are a ray of sunshine.

4HS - Sky - for an excellent attitude to learning over the last few weeks.

5DH - Olive - for always demonstrating the Thomas Coram values and is a pleasure to teach. 

5KS - Xander - for the great effort he has put into all his lessons, well done and keep it up!

5RG - Matilda - for always trying her best across all lessons and with a smile!

5JR - Aurelie - for her outstanding attitude to her work as well s being a fabulous example to her peers. Well done Aurelie. 

6WT -  All of 6WT - for super focus and effort with our recent assessments.

6RM - Ava LW -  for being very kind, a good friend to others and working hard every day. 

A full calendar is available here                   

• 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
• Mon 9 Jan - First day of Spring Term

Information attached this week

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

• Mind Hertfordshire Novi Luma app
• Flu Catch up sessions
• FOTC 'What's happening Wednesday'