Welcome to a New School Year

We hope that you and your family have had a lovely summer. We are very excited to have the children of St Gabriel’s returning to us and look forward to welcoming all our new starters.

Father, please pour out
Your blessings upon our
whole school
community so that
everyone grows in the
knowledge of Your
truth, love, wisdom and
peace. In Jesus name we
pray. Amen.

Collection and Drop off Arrangements

MORNING DROP OFFS

If your child has been allocated a place in breakfast club:

• Breakfast club opens at 8:15. Breakfast club doors close at 8:35 am.
• LAST ENTRY for breakfast club is at 8:35am – this is to ensure that they have sufficient time to eat their breakfast before moving to their class at 8:45.

If your child does not attend breakfast club:

• The school gates open at 8:45 am. Children need to be in school by 8:55 am when the gate closes.
• Lower school pupils (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) enter their classes by their external classroom door.
• Upper school pupils (Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6) enter the school through the silver gate and walk through the hall before entering their classrooms.

COLLECTION

Reception are collected from the outside area by their classroom door. Please check the phased collection times for reception class for the first week as provided in your welcome pack. From NEXT WEEK, Reception are collected at 3:05 pm – please form a line outside their classroom door.

Year 1 are collected at 3:05 pm from their classroom door.

Year 2 are collected at 3:05 pm from their classroom door.

Year 3 are collected at 3:10 pm from the school playground.

Year 4 are collected at 3:15 pm from the school playground.

Year 5 and 6 are collected at 3:15 pm from the front of the school. (Note if your child is in Year 5 or Year 6 and you would like them to walk home, please ensure the electronic walkers form is completed)

Dates for your Calendar:

Key Dates for School Year (2023-2024)

• Friday 1st September – Staff INSET training day (school closed to pupils)
• Monday 4th September – Cluster Staff INSET training day (school closed to pupils)
• Tuesday 5th September- Staff INSET training day (school closed to pupils)
• Wednesday 6th September – Pupils return to school
• Friday October 20th – Cluster Staff INSET Training day (school closed to pupils)

Term dates can be found at Term dates | Newport City Council

School Meal Booking from the START of September 2023

From September 2023 all Primary aged pupils in Newport local authority will be able to receive a free school meal at lunch time should they wish.

To manage this our booking system for school meals is going to change.

FROM SEPTEMBER 2023, Parents / Carers will need to pre-book the meal they wish for their child by 8 am via ParentPay before the booking closes for that day. This is so our kitchen can effectively cater to the significant increase in meals being ordered that we are predicting.

Booking can be undertaken in advance and amended up until 8 am on the day linked to the order placed.

If you need help getting ParentPay set up, or if you need help in using ParentPay – please do see Mrs Lekkas in our office.

The booking system for free school meals is now live within ParentPay. (New Reception parents will be given logins for this system this week).

We will set up our school messaging text system to send a reminder message each Sunday evening so that bookings can then be made (if they haven’t already) for the week ahead.

It is important that bookings are made so the kitchen can plan the increased food ordering appropriately.

If you forget to book and your child would like a school meal, we of course would not see them go hungry. If this scenario occurs, a cheese sandwich meal option will be provided.

Before ordering, talk with your child about the meal options that they like to eat as the food ordered and prepared for your child will be the meal choice you have booked.

School Uniform and PE Kit Uniform

THE PE KIT UNIFORM FOR PUPILS

Please be aware that PE kit uniform is an official part of school uniform since our Governors made the decision to maintain pupils arriving in SCHOOL UNIFORM PE kit and therefore fully maximising the time allocated for PE rather than spending lesson time changing.

To be worn to school on PE day:

• Black shorts
• PLAIN white t-shirt
• PLAIN black tracksuit / jogging suit / hoodie may be worn when it is colder.

Footwear:
Pupils will need strong trainers with good grips.

Note – If you have plain black trainers for school shoes, these can also be worn for PE.

THE SCHOOL UNIFORM FOR PUPILS

Autumn/ Spring term:

• Blue school sweat shirt or cardigan (can be embroidered with a school logo)
• Light blue school polo shirt
• Full length, dark grey tailored trousers
• Grey knee length skirt or grey pinafore
• Grey or black tights
• White or grey socks

Summer term:
As Autumn / Spring, plus the additional options of:

• Blue and white checked summer dress
• Grey knee length shorts

Shoes:

• Fully black footwear – All pupils are required to wear sensible black footwear for school therefore, high heels are not allowed in the interest of safety.

Jewellery:

• The wearing of jewellery is discouraged.
• A watch and stud earrings may be worn but they are the responsibility of the child. All jewellery must be removed by the child for PE and Games.

Please have long hair tied back

Healthy Schools – Drinks in Schools

A part of the Governing body responsibility under the ESTYN school inspection framework is Healthy Eating. Our Health and Wellbeing Governors have recently begun reviewing school processes, starting with drinks in school. As was the case historically before the expectation fell away during the blurred lines of hubs and also COVID 19 restrictions, we will be returning to the statutory requirement of water only in water bottles that pupils have with them throughout the day and at breaktime.

The full Welsh Government document can be read here: healthy-eating-in-maintained-schools- statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities-and-governing-bodies.pdf