St. Matthew's School

LOST PROPERTY

Please check that the lost property box does not contain any of your child's belongings. All unnamed lost property will be disposed of over the Christmas break.

CHRISTMAS FAIR

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Christmas Fair such a success. Not only did it raise money (a fantastic £1145.38) which will help to buy things for the children but was also a good opportunity for parents, staff and children to work together which can only benefit our school and its pupils. The most recent purchase by the PTA has been to order visualisers for each class.

What is a visualiser and what can it do?
Place any object (a page of text, a child's work, a picture or minibeast for example) under the camera and it is displayed on the interactive whiteboard or screen. This image can then be captured, annotated over and saved for future use to benefit the children's learning.

Parents, other family and friends of our school are invited to join with children and staff for our

Christmas Service
at St Matthew's Church
Thursday 17th December 10am

Includes Nativity Play presented by children in Reception Class and Years 1 and 2

What time does your child arrive at school each day?

For many children and families their new year's resolution must be to arrive at school before the whistle is blown! Children should be in the playground at 8.45am so they can be in the classroom time for the register at 8.50am.

Thank you to the majority who do arrive on time. It is important to help the children to learn to be punctual, not just at school, and that it is sensible when, for example, arriving for appointments or in later life at work, to arrive a few minutes earlier than the scheduled time.

Individual letters have been sent to parents of children with particularly poor records of attendance and/or punctuality. In some cases the Educational Welfare Officer will become involved. If there are specific issues with which the school could help please speak with Mrs Lightfoot.

Learning is not just for the children!

Congratulations to Mrs Hanlon who has achieved the Higher Level Teaching Assistant qualification. As with all successes Mrs Hanlon has put in a lot of time and effort to achieve this award. Well done!

Here at St Matthew's School we are committed to ensuring that all of us, children and adults, continue to learn and improve our skills and knowledge. Continuing Professional Development for staff is a key priority for our school which ultimately benefits the children.

Details of various local adult learning classes are available from our school office. Courses include computer skills, French, dance and drama.

SCHOOL DINNERS

You can pay online for school meals. Many parents do this already and find it easier than sending money into school each week. You may access the payment site via www.surreycc.gov.uk/schoolmeals. On the payment screen you can either enter our school code ECFE8905 or enter the school name selected from the drop down list.

GOODBYE and WELCOME

At the end of this term we will say a fond goodbye to Mrs Williams who has worked as a teaching assistant here at St Matthew's for many years. We wish her a happy retirement!

We look forward to Miss Child, who has been in school this week, joining our team of teaching assistants.

Mad Science Activity Day!

Monday 21st December
9.30am - 3.30pm
at St Matthew's School

Details and booking/payment forms will be available next week.

Christmas parties

Reception Class - Monday afternoon
Year 1 - Monday afternoon
Year 2 - Monday afternoon
Year 3 - Thursday afternoon
Year 4 - Tuesday afternoon
Year 5 - Wednesday afternoon
Year 6 - Thursday afternoon
Sun Class - Wednesday afternoon

Nursery
Tuesday 10.45am / 2.30pm nursery parents coffee morning
Wednesday and Friday (nursery children only)

Thank you to staff and parents for providing food and other items and helping to make these times so special for the children.