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Holy Family Catholic Primary School

Weekly Newsletter

Thursday 13th July 2017

At Holy Family Catholic School we will inspire our children to achieve personal excellence

for themselves and for the glory of God.

“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Dear Parents,

It has been a busy few days at Holy Family School. I am not sure how many people read this newsletter (I hope that I’m not writing to myself!) but I would urge you all to read this edition in its entirety. You will see what a busy and vibrant place we are. This is our last full week of the year and the parents, children and adults have been working as hard as ever. We really are living out our belief in the mantra ‘every day counts’. You will not here talk of ‘winding down to the holidays’, ‘I’m so busy,’ or ‘the last few days of term don’t matter’. We have six weeks holiday to be tired!

In the past week lots has been happening: we had a fabulous Summer Party raising lots of money for the school; class teachers have written end of year reports for the children; two delightful (if rather large!) micro pigs arrived from Essex; our ukulele group entertained their parents in the hall at their wonderful concert; Shelldash came to stay for one day to see his old friends (thank you Sofia); all the children and adults enjoyed an entertaining magic show; we have appointed three new teaching assistants for September; our newly formed Gaelic football team played (and won!) their first match against St. Raphael’s; Year 3 entertained their parents with a recorder concert; our netball team went to St Vincent’s for a friendly match; children have met their new teachers and spent time in their new classrooms and tomorrow we have Sports Day!

Thank you to everyone for ensuring that the children of Holy Family get the very best that we can offer every single day.

Mr Doherty - Headteacher

There will be no Achievement Assembly tomorrow

due to Years 2, 3 and 4 Sports Day.

Achievement Assembly will be on Monday 17th July at 9:05am. The children named in this newsletter will be presented with their

certificates on Monday.

On Wednesday there will be a Leavers Assembly at 9:05am.

A chance to say goodbye to staff and some of our families.

Parents are welcome to attend.

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Good Bye and Thank You

Saying good bye to families is something that is part and parcel of being a primary school Headteacher.

I, along with the staff wish them well as they leave and continue their journey elsewhere.

This good bye however does not fall into that category.

Saying good bye to the Moran family is like watching them walk away with a pillar from our atrium.

This good bye is felt deeply and here is why…

A school is simply a building unless it has children - Abigail joined with the first intake of children in

September 2012. One of our founder children, the reason for our being.

Tommy’s skill set was quickly and rightly identified and he was an 'observer' on the Governing Body in

the first year becoming a Foundation Governor the following year. He was also on the Resources

Committee and became Chair of Resources.

He had the lovely task of being on the interviewing panel for finding our first Deputy Headteacher and, so

you know who to apportion partial blame to before he leaves us, he also was on the panel that appointed

me as your Headteacher, September 2016.

Sarah helped set up the initial PSA in Oct 2012 as Vice Chair. Sadly, this ceased in 2013 but as

fundraising still needed to be done it got done through Sarah’s determination and considerable hard

work. She was then asked to restart the Friends of Holy Family Association again a year later and was

Chair until Easter this year.

Beth then joined in 2014 and Meghan followed in 2015 – a ‘Holy Family’ family!

It doesn’t stop there! The girls Aunty Marie made a financial contribution in 2013 to get the new school

library up and running and has provided a bag full of rosary beads on a couple of occasions for the

children after her trips to Medjugorje.

It is natural to want the best for our own families and to go the extra mile for them, they are our family,

that is what we do. What do you say though when you meet a family who go the extra mile for families

they don’t know and families that have yet to even exist. The Moran family have shown a love for what

our children now and in the future can be, by working so hard to make Holy Family School a special

place.

I, along with staff, governors and you all want to thank them for all they have done. We know you never

did it for thanks or recognition and your generosity will not be forgotten. Each term we will award The

Moran Trophy. This trophy will be awarded to a pupil who has made outstanding progress. I hope that

you will recognise this as a testament to what you gave to us to allow us to progress and flourish.

We wish you all the best as you leave us and thank you most sincerely for everything you have done;

May the road rise to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home

And may the hand of a friend always be near.

Finally, I know that it is not very Catholic to talk about magic but we have definitely been touched by the

Moran magic!

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Goodbye and Good Luck

At the end of this academic year we are sad to be saying goodbye to four members of staff.

Mr Alex has been at Holy Family School since it started. In fact, he was here before the school started as he was part of the construction team that built the school! Mr Alex has been the caretaker of our school and a parent. He has shown a tremendous commitment to Holy Family and been dedicated to his role as the school has grown from having just sixty children to over three hundred. He has also led lunch time activities in the cage for all the children. Mr Alex is a valued member of the staff team and I know that he will be greatly missed by parents, children and his colleagues. Although he will no longer be working for the school, he is still a parent so it is not a final goodbye! We are hoping to make an appointment before the end of term.

Miss Wagner is also leaving us after two and a half years. She is going to another school within the Diocese to train to become a teacher and, God willing, she will be qualified this time next year. In her time at the school Miss Wagner has worked with children on a 1:1 basis and been a teaching assistant in Year 1 and Year 2. Last year she became a HLTA and this has involved taking large groups and classes throughout the school. While we will miss her greatly, we are pleased and proud to see her going on to further her career. I know that she is going to become an excellent teacher and maybe one day she will be back at Holy Family………. Good luck Miss Wagner!

Miss Kelly and Mr Morrissey are also leaving us after a year at Holy Family. They have both successfully completed their first year in teaching and we are very proud of the teachers that they have become. It is rare to find such skilled and hard working newly qualified teachers. It may only have been a year but they have both made enormous contributions to the school - Miss Kelly buying our very own star and Mr Morrissey starting a Gaelic Football Club. Most importantly though is the impact that they have had on the thirty children in their classes. Parents in 2M and 3K will know how respected and loved these two teachers are. We would have loved to have kept them both longer (I did try!) but the pull of Ireland was just too great - how can we compete! We wish them both all the very best. They are fantastic teachers and their new schools are lucky to have them.

AGV Youth FC Football Trials

The club are seeking new players and will be running team trials for the forthcoming season 2017/18.

Girls and boys aged 7 - 12 are invited.

Qualified FA accredited and DBS checked coaches.

Location: AGV Sports Ground

Alwyn Garden

Acton

W3 OJH

Trial Dates:

Saturday 15th July 2017

U7’s / U8’s / U9’s 10am - 11am

U10’s / U11’s / U12’s - 11:30am - 12:30pm

Cost - Free

For further information please contact: 07718274174 / 07584999434 / 07471685095

Or email : secretarycopley@gmail.com

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Welcome to Holy Family

In September we will be welcoming four new class teachers to the school:

Miss Sweilam will be joining from another school within the Diocese and will be our new Early Years Leader and Reception class teacher. I have worked with Miss Sweilam in my last school and I am delighted she has joined our team. She is an outstanding teacher and I know that she will have a considerable impact in the school and I can not wait for her to start!

Miss Forrester will be our new Reception teacher. She is newly qualified teacher and has spent five years working as an Early Years Educator in an outstanding Catholic primary school within the Diocese.

Miss Shoolman has been appointed as a Year 3 teacher. She has been working in the school through an agency for two days a week since January so she knows the school and the children. We are pleased that she will now be working for us on a full time basis.

Miss Robertson will be teaching in Year 2. She is a newly qualified teacher from St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Miss Robertson will be working alongside Miss O’Connell, our Key Stage 1 Phase Leader.

All the new teachers have been spending time in the school getting to know the staff, school and children so that the transition in September will be as smooth as possible.

In addition to this we have appointed a new music teacher and P.E. teacher. Both will be working in the school for three days a week.

We have also recruited three new teaching assistants: Miss O’Sullivan, Mrs Daymond and Mrs Tziora. All three will be excellent additions to the exceptionally strong team of support staff that is already in place.

Please be assured that we have recruited the best staff available and I am very pleased with the staffing team in place for September. Bring on the new year!

I should mention our Governors at this point. They have read through numerous applications and been on lots of different panels. The governors are volunteers, they give up their time for the benefit of our school - thank you. I am particularly grateful to them for their insistence on excellence and being prepared to make difficult decisions - Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

End of Year School Reports

Today your child brought home their end of year report. I do hope that you have the chance to share the report with your child and that you have celebrated all their achievements. Next steps have been identified in the reports and perhaps some of them can be addressed over the summer. The teachers have also included their end of year assessments. If there is something in the report that you are unclear on or you would like to discuss, please do make an appointment to see the class teacher one day next week. They will make the time to meet with you.

Reminders

After School Clubs: There will be NO after school clubs next week other than Happy Days.

School Dinners: I have been made aware that there are a number of children taking school dinners that are not being paid for. From next year we will have a system in place to prevent children from taking dinners that they have not paid for. I am also aware of a number of parents that have run up significant dinner money debts. This is unacceptable and from September children will not be fed if there are debts.

ParentPay: Please ensure that there are no outstanding payments - debts can not be carried over to September.

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Classes

2017 - 2018

Today your child met their new teacher and spent some time in their new class. They were all very

excited - children and adults!

Some Year groups have been mixed - Reception, Year 2 and Year 3. In most years we will only

change children when they move into a new phase (EYFS - Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 1 - Key

Stage 2). However we will always consider the possibility of mixing year groups if we feel it benefits

the cohort as a whole.

Why mix cohorts ?

There are a number of reasons why we decide to mix classes: to ensure classes are balanced in

academic ability and to ensure a balance in pupil needs - EAL, SEN, emotional and behavioural

Classes can change from one year to the next - pupils change and we have a turnover of pupils. In

some instances, this can create an imbalance in a class. This is when mixing classes can be very

necessary and beneficial to the year group as a whole.

When we do mix classes, a great deal of thought and time goes into it. We gather children’s views to

ensure that they have had input. Their happiness is a key consideration when any changes are

made. To this end, we have tried to keep friends together.

Class teachers, the SENCO and Senior Leaders have been part of the process and we have only

acted in the best interest of the children.

Sports Day Years 2, 3 and 4

Friday 14th July 2017

Tomorrow we will have our Sports day at St Augustines’ Priory. It promises to be a wonderful day (no rain!) and we are all looking forward to it.

Parents need to drop children off at St Augustine’s at 10:05am and then pick them up at 2:15pm unless you are staying. The children need to wear their House colours:

St George – red,

St Andrew – purple,

St Crone – yellow,

St Patrick – green,

St David – blue,

St Cecelia – orange Please remember to provide your child with a healthy lunch, water, sun hat and sun cream. We are so lucky to be able to have our sports day at St. Augustine’s, making use of their amazing facilities. I know that you will be respectful of their grounds and staff. We are blessed to have such wonderful neighbours.

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Staffing: 2017 - 2018

I am pleased to tell you that next year Miss Maddie will be a teacher in training - by the end of the year she will be a fully qualified teacher. She will be based in Year 2 Paul next year.

In Key Stage 2 teaching assistants are shared among the year group. They are not based in one class.

Year Group Teaching Assistant Teacher

Nursery

St. Gabriel

Mrs McGrath Mrs Kelly - Keegan

Mrs Willis

Mrs Beazer

Reception

St. Mary

Miss O’Sullivan Miss Forrester

Reception

St. Joseph

Mrs Daymond

Miss Bliss (LSA)

Miss Sweilam

(Early Years Leader)

Year 1

St Anne

Mrs Tziora Miss McGarrigle

Year 1

St Therese of Lisieux

Miss O’Connor Miss Aherne

Year 2

St Peter

Mrs Forshaw Miss Robertson

Year 2

St Paul

Miss O’Connell

(Key Stage 1 Leader)

Miss Maddie

Year 3

St Josephine Bakhita

Mrs Ghobrial

Mrs Zielinska

Miss Glynn

Year 3

St. Vincent de Paul

Miss Cunnane

Year 3

St. Nicholas

Miss Shoolman

Year 4

St. Damien of Molokai

Mrs Crowley Mr Wright

Year 4

St. Bernadette

Miss Linnane

Year 5

St. Maximilian Kolbe

Mrs Assi

Mrs de Sousa

Miss Murphy

Year 5

St. Oscar Romero

Miss O’Sullivan

(Key Stage 2 Leader)

Year 6 St John Paul II

Year 6 St Teresa of Calcutta

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Thank you Friends of Holy Family

On Tuesday all the children watched the most fantastic magic show. The children and adults in attendance were thoroughly entertained. Once again an enormous thank you to the Friends of Holy Family for buying this treat and giving each child a magic wand. These treats are only possible because parents support the events run by the Friends. Thank you. We should also thank our School Council for having such a wonderful idea. They have done a great job this year.

Friends of Holy Family

A big, big thank you to everyone that helped to make the summer Party such a success for our children. The final amount raised isn't finalised yet but we always wanted it to be more of a party for the children than a fundraiser and I think we achieved that! Lots of parents gave up lots of time and we really are grateful for your time and energy.

We do hope that the children have enjoyed telling you about the magician and the pigs which they have met this week. It has been a fabulous week for the children and we would like to thank the staff for being so accommodating with our treats for the children. Finally, it has been a magnificent year for the Friends but we know we cannot do it all with you. Thank you once again and we wish you a relaxing and fun summer and look forward to having many of you working with us again in September.

Friends of Holy Family Committee.

I can’t thank the Friends enough for all they do. The Parent Reps do a magnificent job and the Summer Party was a tremendous success - the focus was children having fun and that was certainly achieved! Our school is blessed to be served by such a committed parent body. I must recognise the work of Fiona Beazer , Chair of the Friends - always working in the background to make sure events are successful. Last Friday she was still collecting litter in the playground long after the party had finished!

I am looking forward to working with you all next year.

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Gaelic Football Match

Well done to the Holy Family Gaelic football team who played against St Raphael’s School on Monday. Mr Morrissey has been training them for just a few weeks and this was their first match. He must be an amazing coach and we must have terrific players because we won!

“On Monday we went to St Raphael’s School and played a Gaelic football match. It was an extra special trip because we got to see Ms Ward again! We won 5 - 4 even though we had been losing 4 - 3 at half time. The parents and teachers gave us a really good team talk at half time and we then tried much harder .We really played to win. Everyone in our team deserved to win because we worked together and got better throughout the game. We could not have won without Mr Morrissey because he had been training us for weeks. The children will also like to thank the parents for cheering us on and supporting us. When other people show they believe

in you, it makes a big difference.”

Paddy Carroll (Year 4)

I was told that the support of parents was amazing so thank you so much for coming along.

St Vincent’s v Holy Family

Netball Match

On Wednesday, Holy Family netball team played a friendly match against St Vincent’s Primary School and unfortunately lost 10 - 2. This was our first ever match and we played really well and that’s what matters. This was a practice match for next year and we showed how well we could play as a team, especially in the build up to Maia’s and my goals. We learnt a lot from this match and we are looking forward to playing many more matches next year.

Molly Copelin 4M

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Thank You Friends of Holy Family

I am sure that you have heard all about our new

friends! They have been the most wonderful guests,

full of charm and mischief! On Tuesday Mr Morrissey

learnt that you can’t leave cage doors open for a

second longer than necessary - Stacey was headed

for North Ealing Station! I think we have all fallen in

love with them and we wish they could stay longer.

The children have completed pig related work and

the language that I have heard from the children is

amazing. We aim to give the children memorable

learning experiences and this most certainly counts

as one.

A huge thank you to Mr Alex for taking delivery of

our friends at the weekend and looking after them so

well, it is not easy to move two rather large micro

pigs - I have the scars to prove it!

Thank you to the School Council for having such a

great idea and the Friends of Holy Family for buying

this amazing treat for us.

On Sunday Stacey and Janey return to their home in Essex, judging from the size of their tummies I

think they will miss our very generous children as much as we’ll miss them!

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Community News

The Hanger Hill Garden Estate are working on a Crowdfunding Project which will benefit our school children in years to come. They hope to include bug hotels and a wildflower meadow in the middle section between the two one way roads on Princes Gardens. This will help to improve road safety with more places to cross and make it easier to see cars.

Go to www.spacehive.com/westactoncherrytreewalk where you can register and donate money in support (you can give as little as £2). We need as many people as possible to get involved, so they can persuade local businesses, large sponsors and funding organisations to back the project.

Please do support this very worthy initiative - thank you

Year 3 Recorder Concert

Children in Year 3 have been learning the recorder in music lessons this year.

On Tuesday morning they performed for their parents.

Everyone was impressed by how much the children have learnt in the year. I was able to pop in for a small part of the concert and I have never heard sixty recorders sounding so good! The children played the different notes accurately; read music and played in time with one another. The recorder is a fantastic lead on instrument and I hope it has inspired some of our children to take on a musical instrument.

A big thank you to the parents and family that came along and packing the Atrium!

Important Dates

Friday 14th July: Years 2, 3 and 4 Sports Day (AM) at St Augustine’s Priory

Monday 17th July: Year 3 Class Trip to Lego Land

Monday 17th July: Achievement Assembly at 9:05am - Parents very, very welcome

Tuesday 18th July: End of Term Mass at 10am

Tuesday 18th July: Nursery Term Ends

Wednesday 19th July: Leavers Assembly at 9:05am

Wednesday 19th July: 1:30pm - End of Term

Monday 4th September: INSET Day - School Closed

Tuesday 5th September: INSET Day - School Closed

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Attendance Matters! Week Beginning 3rd July 2017

RC: 97.3%

RM: 95%

1A: 96%

1G: 98.3%

2C: 98.7%

2L: 97.3%

2M: 99%

3K: 95%

3S: 96.3%

4M: 98.7%

4W: 97.3%

Well Done Year 2M

School Target 96.5%

64% of classes are above target this week.

A slight drop in attendance last week. With one final push we can meet our target. This year our whole school attendance figure stands at 96.3%. We can only afford to have one or two children missing school between now and the end of term if we are going to meet our target.

One or two Leave of Absence forms have appeared in my office this week so I am a little concerned…….

Summer Term 100% Attendance

Well done to the following children that have achieved 100% for the whole of the summer term. Well done children!

RC: Filippos, Nayu, Lucas, Aleksandra, Leah, Mia, Clara, Jorge, Luna, Emily, Meley, Olivia, George

RM: Charlie, Luca, Charles, Lena, Goncalo, Alisia, Cameron, Theo, Luke, James, Mateo, Patrick

1A: Sophia, Mia, Joseph, Selihom, Ricardo, Amelia, Eva, Meghan, Yanet, Ran, Rina, Finbarr, Phoenix, Rhodes

1G: Louise, Thomas, Clementine, William, Artemis, Omar, Roisin, Dylan, Leon, Evie, Max, Sara, Adrian, Arthur, Tara

2C: Jay - Junior, Lizzie, Charlotte, Saki, Ali Kanaan, Jeremi, Beth, Ryoka, Nicholas

2L: Aoife, Yafet, Joshua, Lucia, Haru, Nikolaos, Lara, Naz, Melika

2M: Antonio, Sena, Maja, Samson, Joel, Maximilian, Victoria, Charlie, Ani

3S: Gabby, Saam, Hero, Ben, Lamek, Andi, Ethan, Michal, Monica, Wiktoria, Ziggy, Dina

3K: Adit, Charles, Kenda, Liliya, Zak, Bradley, Carlianne, Maria, Emmelia, Samuel, Feliks, Orestis, Marco, Muiris, Kiyomasa, Kinga

4M: Riona, Ali, Zuzanna, Daniel, Travis, Adonay, Chloe, Abigail, Daisy, Alfiie, Alex, Sabra, Oliver, Yuna

4W: Charbel, Magda, Paddy, Peniel, Myriam, Mona, Moustapha, Sato, Lia, Alicia, Karol, Mar, Indie, Jack.

The One Hundred Club

And here they are…. The children who have not missed a minute of any single day since September 2016 - an extraordinary achievement:

RC: Jorge Gallardo, Luna Inoue, Meley Petros RM: Cameron Isaac - Simon

1A: Ricardo Ghobrial, Rina Takasaki, Finbarr Thomas

1G: William Kozien, Omar McCaw - Iqbal, Evie Ngui

2L: Joshua Fuller, Lucia Grist 2M: Ani Tchulluian

3S: Hero Colvin, Andi Hita, Ethan Ivens, Ziggy Vucic 3K: Anh Tran

4M: Zuzanna Czarnecka, Adonay Filmon 4W: Karol Oyrzanowski

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Work of the Week Elijah Rueter

Year 2L

“Look at my handwriting, Mr Doherty!”

With these words Elijah came bounding into my office with a huge smile on his face - much like the one in this photo!

The improvement in Elijah’s handwriting has been amazing. This has only happened because he is trying his very best and is determined to improve. Come in and take a look at his work, I know that you will be impressed.

Elijah was making comparisons between Nelson Mandela and Pope Francis. He explained how both men lived and live out their beliefs. I was very impressed with Elijah’s understanding. There is some great R.E. teaching going on in 2L. Well done Elijah and thank you for sharing your work with all of us.

When I was thinking about the improvements that Elijah has made in Year 2, I was reminded of one of my favourite Mandela quotes:

“Your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great?”

‘achieving personal excellence for

themselves and the glory of God.’

Well Done Certificates

RC Gabriel Rueter & Marcel Lino

RM Amelia Krol & Judah Vance

1A Meghan Moran/Ysmin Alshafi & Sophia Amunugama

1G Patrycja Grabinska & Grace Mesfin

2C Zofia Kuras & Beth Moran

2L Haru Maeda & Bartosz Malik

2M Nicola Komosinska & Darko Dragovic

3K Sophia Hamblin & Amelia Lampitt

3S Zuzia Gruzewska & Andi Hita

4M Daniel Duczmal & Abigail Moran

4W Euan Foley & Angel Hamblin

Reading Shelfies

Gold Certificate: Emilly Musz

The Moran Trophy

‘Outstanding Progress’

This prestigious cup will be presented to a child that has made exceptional progress during the Summer term. Teachers have nominated children in their classes and there are some worthy contenders. It is going to be a tough decision. The first ever winner will be presented with the trophy on Wednesday morning at the Leavers Assembly. The Moran family will be with us and it promises to be a very special occasion. Do try and come along.