Dear Parents and Carers,

As we come to the end of another busy and productive half-term, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. It has been a pleasure to see our pupils engaging enthusiastically in their learning and making progress across all areas of school life.

As we break for the half term holiday, I hope you and your families have a restful and enjoyable time. We look forward to welcoming the children of St Gabriel’s back refreshed and ready for another exciting term ahead.

Best wishes,

Mrs Maria Harris

Dates for your Diary

• Friday 21st February: Older members of Eco Ministry planting trees locally
• Friday 21st February: Year 1 Class assembly (Y1 parents / carers are welcome) at 9:15am in our school hall
• Monday 24th – Friday 28th February: Half term break (school is closed)
• Monday 3rd March: Reception and Year 1 Class trip
• Wednesday 5th March: Ash Wednesday Mass in school for pupils and parish
• Thursday 13th March: Year 3 (Miss Veale) Class trip
• Monday 17th March: Reception Hearing Screening (in school)
• Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th March: Parent Consultation Meetings (booking arrangements after half term)
• Thursday 27th March: 3:15pm Upper School Disco (tickets for sale via ParentPay after half term)
• Friday 28th March: Reception Class assembly (parents / carers are welcome) at 9:15am in our school hall
• Thursday 3rd April: SCHOOL CLOSED TO PUPILS: Staff Training day
• Friday 4th April: Pupil Eisteddfod (pupils can wear traditional welsh clothes, welsh sports teams or welsh flag colours: red, green)
• Thursday 10th April: 3pm Lower School Disco (tickets for sale via ParentPay after half term)
• Monday 14th – Friday 25th April: Easter break (school is closed)

Clubs

The system we have trialled this school year of providing short burst experience clubs have worked really well. The children that have attended have been very positive and attendance numbers have been consistently strong.

Given the nature of the clubs, size of room and the number of staff available, we know you appreciate that numbers are limited. We have tried to make this fair in terms of letting you know in advance the options and when the request form will be going ‘live’.

We are further refining our place requesting process to try to share the experience of our clubs as widely as possible. To do this, when we put the request form out, we will be asking for you to state the interest in clubs in order of preference if there is more than one club available for your child’s age. In this way we hope for a larger number of children to be able to take part in the opportunities offered.

Year of the Jubilee

The Catholic Church celebrates a Jubilee Year every 25 years as a special time to reflect on God’s love, mercy, and hope. The theme for this Jubilee is “Pilgrims of Hope,” reminding us that, even in difficult times, our faith guides us forward.

To launch this special year, our pupils have been exploring what hope means to them through artwork, prayers, and acts of kindness. Their reflections and creativity have been truly inspiring, showing how even small gestures can bring light to others.

This year is an opportunity for all of us to grow in faith and find peace in God’s presence. We look forward to continuing this journey of hope together as a school and faith community.

Friends of St Gabriel’s PTA

Our thanks go to our dedicated team of parents and friends of the school who work very hard to fund raise for our school projects.

We are pleased to share the dates for Upper School (27th March) and Lower School (10th April) discos which will be available to book after the half term break.

Going on sale today, is the option to buy a Mother’s day gift or gifts. It is £3.50 per gift on ParentPay. Your child will then be able to choose a gift(s) from the selection available on Thursday 27th March.

Chartwells: Our School Canteen

We are very pleased to share that our canteen was recently inspected and we have received notification from the Environmental Health Inspector that the top rating of a 5 (very good) from the Food Standards Agency has been maintained once again.

Congratulations to Chris and her team in our kitchen – we are pleased that your standards and hard work is validated!