Weekly Post – 17th November 2023

St Michael’s Weekly Post

17^th November 2023

A note from Mrs Arkwright:

I would like to say a very special thank you for all of the support we have received this week leading up to and during the Ofsted inspection. We are so proud of our children who exemplified how amazing they are, whether it was in the classroom, on the playground or talking to the inspector. The staff team worked tirelessly, showing so much dedication and commitment. The Governors were so supportive, as ever.

We are all so grateful for the overwhelming kindness we received from our parent body – be it a reassuring smile, a kind word, the provision of cakes/biscuits/chocolate and the fantastic engagement with the parent survey.

It will be several weeks before the final report will be available to share with you and until that point, unfortunately, we aren’t able to provide more details regarding their findings.

Thank you once again to our wonderful community who all play a very important part in making St Michael’s such a special school.

What a busy week we have had. The children kicked off the week with ‘Odd Sock Day’, receiving a special assembly from our amazing school council to mark Anti-Bullying week. They shared the differences between banter and bullying, as well as a chance to shout loud and proud about how bullying is not welcome here at St Michael’s.

The children (and adults) thoroughly enjoyed the Explorer Dome event this week, experiencing the wonder of the night sky, the joy of Greek mythology and the vast expanse of space inside the amazing pop up dome.

Today we celebrated Children in Need with a visit from Pudsey Bear himself and BBC Wiltshire filmed our children doing a fantastic job with their ‘Bearpee Challenge’. Thank you for all of your donations, we hope that we have raised lots of money for this special cause, but it’s not too late to donate if you haven’t yet done so – https://donate.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/

Parking – pick up and drop off

A polite reminder to all parents to please park near The Green/Square and not on Back Lane or on St Michael’s Close when dropping off or collecting your children – thank you.

Picture News

Story: Community centres, libraries, businesses, and churches across the UK have been set up as free warm spaces to help provide warmth and companionship during the winter months.
Question: How can we show compassion to others?
Virtual Picture News: Found here: www.picture-news.co.uk/discuss

School Photographs

We hope that you have all received the links directly sent from Tempest of your child’s school photographs. For those parents who are yet to order online, you have until Sunday 26^th November to take advantage of free delivery back to school.

Flu Vaccination

As a reminder, please complete the online permission form to give consent or decline the nasal flu vaccine on the following link by Monday 27^th November, ready for the vaccination on Wednesday 29^th November.  If the form is not completed by this date your child will not receive the vaccine in school.

Messages from the PTA:

Bag2School – 4^th December
There will be a Bag2School collection taking place on Monday 4^th December. If you have any unwanted clothing, bags, shoes etc. please do bring them into school on this date. A full list of items accepted is found on their website. This will raise funds for our school so please do donate as much as you can, it is a good excuse for a clear out!

Christmas Wreath Making will take place on Thursday 7^th December from 7-9pm in the school hall. Tickets are £30 and include all materials and festive treats – just bring your secateurs! There will be a bar serving mulled wine and prosecco. Tickets can be purchased using card or bank transfer using the following link or by emailing aldbournepta@gmail.com.

 Christmas Fair – Saturday 9^th December 12-3:30pm
Join us at the St Michael’s School Christmas Fair on Saturday 9^th December from 12pm to 3:30pm for an afternoon of family fun. There will be craft activities and games to play, children’s Christmas jumper swap shop, stalls for Christmas shopping, Christmas trees (available to pre-order and collect on the day via Aldbourne Post Office) as well as festive food and drink. Father Christmas will also be joining us with presents for the children who visit him. Put the date in your diary, we would love to see you there.

Message from St Michael’s Church:

Please join us for a Christmas Sale on Saturday 25^th November from 2-4pm in the Aldbourne Memorial Hall in aid of St Michael’s Church. There will be Father Christmas giving out small presents and other activities. We would like to invite children to design a Christmas card which will be judged on the day by a local artist. Please include name and age on the back of the design.

Term 2

TD days

Friday 5^th January 2024

Monday 19^th February 2024

Monday 24^th June 2024