Dear Parent,

The Friends of St Gabriel’s

It was lovely to be joined by some of The Friends of St Gabriel’s at our assembly on Friday. We had the chance to thank them for their work and to show them the computers and Foundation Phase equipment that their fundraising activities have paid for.

I know that some of you were unable to attend so I’d like to thank you for joining us for some of these activities. It has been good to see new parents and grandparents join us for fundraising events. Your support, whether by fundraising, volunteering or donating items, continues to make a difference to our school!

Special thanks to HSBC (for whom Mrs Christina Maynard works) who donated £1,000 to our school fund in recognition of the work that she voluntarily does for fundraising for the school.

Our School Council will be talking to pupils and staff about what they think they need for the school and will then be pitching their requests to The Friends of St Gabriel’s for ideas to spend the money.

The Friends of St Gabriel’s will be giving each child an Easter Egg on Thursday.

Easter Draw

Very warm thanks to everyone who has donated an Easter Egg so far for our draw on

Thursday . Don’t forget to send in money for your child to buy the raffle tickets for it.

They are 20p or £1 for a strip.

Parent Courses and Workshops

I’m glad that the Numeracy Workshops and National Test drop-in session have been helpful for you. Thank you for attending and helping your child. It will be helpful to know what kind of further workshops you would be interested in taking part in so please complete and return the form at the end of this newsletter if you have any suggestions.

This week in school

It was Palm Sunday yesterday and this is the start of Holy Week.

There are a number of special assemblies running throughout the week and parents are welcome to join us.

Today Holy Week Reflection –The Events of Palm Sunday – led by the Foundation Phase classes.

Wednesday Holy Week Reflection – The Events of Maundy Thursday – 9.05am

Thursday Holy Week Reflection – The Events of Good Friday – 1:15pm

On Tuesday, Little Angels Nursery will be singing songs for our Foundation Phase children.

We break up at 2.00pm on Thursday for the Easter Holidays.

School resumes on Tuesday 17th April.

Attendance

Our current school attendance figure is 93.7% and the class with the highest last week was Class 1. Well done to them!

Mrs Harris has designed a helpful Attendance Leaflet which will be shared with Governors this week before being sent home to you.

In common with all the schools in the Catholic Cluster, no holidays taken in term time can be authorised by the school and, should you require a Leave of

Absence (Holiday) form, it will now only be provided at an interview with Mrs Harris.

Thank you for your continued support for pupil punctuality.

School Lottery

Congratulations to our winner – Amy.

School Uniform

Please use this link if you plan to order any school uniform from Tesco over the holidays because the school receives a small amount of commission on orders made.

https://www.tesco.com/direct/ues/?sc_cmp=clothingattesco

Remember that you can also buy our school uniform from Macey’s, AJP Embroidery and The National Schoolwear Shop.

Thank you

Mrs Sharon Thomas retires on Thursday after over 13 years working with us as a Midday Supervisor.

I would like to thank her very much for the support, commitment and warm care that she has given to children at St Gabriel’s over the years and to wish her the very best in her retirement. Mrs Thomas will provide occasional relief cover if necessary but I know that the majority of her time will be spent with her family and enjoying her leisure.

Good luck and thank you Mrs Thomas!

Final Words

I finish my time as Executive Head on Thursday and, after Easter, Mrs Harris will become the Acting Head and Mrs Williams will become the Acting Deputy. Mrs Waugh will join them in a temporary senior role as an acting member of the Senior Leadership Team. The post of Headteacher for St Gabriel’s will be advertised in the Summer term.

I’d like to thank you very much for the unfailing support that you have shown to me and to all the staff in the time that I have been at St Gabriel’s.

It has been a privilege to work with the whole St Gabriel’s community and to get to know the children.

I have really enjoyed my time here and I am confident that the school will continue to thrive and prosper in the future.

St Gabriel’s – that’s pupils, staff and parents – is a lovely community!

Yours sincerely,

H Vaughan

Executive Headteacher