Newsletter 15
Friday 13 January 2022
Notices and Reminders
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3
This week at Thomas Coram
What a great week back we have had. The children came in raring to go on Monday. We spoke in worship, about how some of us may be nervous but lots of us were excited to be back to school and how it is good to have a routine back after the long Christmas break! The whole school have been looking at a story named The Wisp this week and are all producing work based around the beautiful story book of a refugee family. The illustrations in the story are fantastic and lots of the children have commented on the illustrations. Year 5 also had their Shang Dynasty day this week and learnt about dragons, ancient Chinese writing and looked at some mystery dragon bones. All of the children said what a great day they had.
Worship
On Monday, we looked at our new value: perseverance. We spoke about what the word meant and how important perseverance is in life. On Wednesday Father Stuart also spoke about perseverance and how important it was to persevere when things are tough. On Thursday we had our first whole school singing assembly – which was fantastic. 6RM treated us to a class worship on Friday about refugees to link in with our whole schoolbook The Wisp. Well done 6RM.
Welcome
We would like to welcome two new members of staff who have joined TC this term. Mr Mclellan who will be teaching 4SW and Mr Baxter as a Teaching Assistant.
Snack and Lunches
Just a general reminder, for snacks at break and packed lunches, the children should not be provided with sweets, chocolates and fizzy drinks. Please also ensure the items are nut free.
Communication
Reminder – if you have any concerns, please speak to your child’s class teacher face to face or send an email to admin, you can also speak to one of the phase leaders Mrs Giles for Year 3 and 4 and Mrs Munro for Year 5 and 6, Miss Williamson can also be contacted if you have any concerns.
School site
Recent Ofsted inspections have focused heavily on safeguarding, if you need to come onto the school site, please do so via the school office (if it is not a drop off or pick up time) as we cannot have parents walking through the building unless they are accompanied by staff. Can I also please request, that when on school premises appropriate language is used and that you are courteous towards staff members.
Book at Bedtime
On Thursday 26th January, we are inviting parents to come back to school between 5:30 – 6:30 to look at the showcased work the children have produced and hear teachers reading to the children. We are hoping this can be an opportunity to see your child’s work, but also see how teachers read with the children and the questioning techniques they use. I will send out further information about the structure of the evening next week.
Whole School Photo
A whole school photo is being taken on Monday 16 January to commemorate King Charles III Coronation. There will be the option to purchase a copy of the photo should you wish. It will be a mounted, 20 x 8 photo and will cost £22.95. It is entirely optional and you are under no obligation to purchase one.
Year 4 choir
Prior to Christmas the Year 4 choir performed in the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Tring. It was so lovely to hear and see our pupils performing to a church packed with family and friends. Thank you to Mrs Giles and Mr Halls for all their hard work organising this.
Changes to lunch menu next week
Thursdays lunch is a special census day lunch. The choices are below and come with potato wedges and salad. Desert will be Ice-Cream cups, jelly or fruit. There will be no jacket potatoes this day.
Red - Beef Burger
Green - Quorn Pattie Burger
Blue - Baked Chicken Burger
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. Remember to email the office if you would like to be part of our working party to help make the roads safer and reduce pollution!
Book Donations and Wish List
This term we are going to be focusing on ensuring that the books the children have in school are suitable for their age range. 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.
TC pupils volunteering
A number of pupils volunteered with the 1st Berkhamsted Scout Group last Sunday collecting Christmas trees. While most of the school community were fast asleep in bed, the children were out from 7.30am until 12pm in the cold and later on in the rain, collecting Christmas trees from members of the public who had booked them to be collected and taken to the Council tree chippers to be recycled. The children did so well dragging the trees from people's house into a big pile so the Scout Leaders and helpers could come and pick them up in big vans to take to the chipper machines in town. Their parents and leaders are very proud of the hard work they put in, some trees were very heavy and the heavy rain from 11am was not kind to them. A big well done to Josh H, Tommy H, Elliot G, Austin J-S, Florence P, Eliza P, Darcy P, Jarvis P, Daisy R, Violet R, Joseph K, Freddie B and Zach R.
Please find below the link to view/download the Spring 2023 Parenting Courses and Support Brochure for Dacorum: They have a free online course on 24 January for Anxiety and Attendance (6pm-7.30pm) and 15 March for helping your child manage anger (1.30 - 3.00pm). You can book a place by emailing jnethercoat@hobshillwood.herts.sch.uk
Lamda Lessons
We have been asked by a local Lamda teacher if the school is interested in providing Lamda lessons for our pupils. This would be a lunchtime club and would cost £20 for 30 minutes. The lessons are typically in groups of 2 - 4. If you are interested please could you contact the school office so we can see if there is enough interest to offer this.
Stars of the week -
3SB - Nola and Amelia - for working really hard in Maths to understand perimeter.
3SG - Jude - for being a superstar this week, he has been working hard on getting his answers written down and sharing his ideas.
3EW - Hugo - for his positive attitude and adaptability in a week of changes. Congratulations on being a big brother now!
4HS - Charlie - for showing exceptional engagement with classwork in his first week back after Christmas.
5DH - Violet - for always putting 100% effort into everything. She perseveres when tasks are challenging and produces work she should be extremely proud of.
5KS - All of 5KS - for having such a positive start to the Spring Term. Well done!
5RG - Jennifer - for her eagerness to participate in Maths lessons. She has worked hard adding and subtracting fractions this week. Well done!
5JR - Charlotte - for working hard in every lesson and being a positive role model to her peers.
6WT - Gregory and Ava - for working really efficiently to set up their science experiment and then sharing the outcome with the class.
6RM - All of 6RM - for great interest and discussion about refugees for our class worship.
A full calendar is available here
- Mon 16 Jan - Whole School Photo
- Tues 17 Jan - Growth Mindset Workshop
- Thurs 26 Jan - Author visit - Angela Freer
- Fri 27 Jan - FOTC Film Night
Information attached this week
This weeks flyers/attachments/letters are below please click on for more information;
This week at St Peter's
Details of services at St Peter's can be found here.
To read the latest news from St Peter's click here.
