St Leonard’s RC Primary School Newsletter

We shine in the light of Jesus

In Pursuit of an Ethic of Excellence!

1.12.17

Class of the Week

A�endance

Rec 98.33% Yr3 97.77%

Yr1 96.34% Yr4 87.02%

Yr2 88.31% Yr5 99.14%

Yr6 89.92%

Whole school a�endance for the week

96.33% (our target is 97%+)

Golden Assemblies

22.12.17

Golden Assembly

Congratula,ons to all the children

who received an award this week.

Recep,on – Robyn P & Thea M

Year 1—Jamelia J & Charlie R

Year 2—Phoebe G & Tobias B

Year 3—Ruby L & Logan P

Year 4—Jamie L & Wiktoria R

Year 5—Paige O & Kian G

Year 6—Jude M & Lucy C

Christmas Events at St Leonard's

Please download our school app via

your app store for more up to date info.

‘OurSchoolsApp’

4.12.17

The Singing Wind—with our great friend Chris

Bostock. This is a celebra,on of music and story

telling for recep,on through to Yr4. Parents are

invited to a�end. Start ,me 2.00pm.

5.12.17

Our children will be singing at Sainsbury’s from

10-12

6.12.17

Christmas Carol Service at St Patrick’s Ryhope.

The Mini Vinnies will be collec,ng dona,ons of

toys which will be presented to the Salva,on

Army during the Carol Service on the evening of

6th December at 7.15pm. All are welcome.

7.12.17

9.15am Christmas Carols with KS1

2.30pm Christmas Carols in the Hall with KS2

8.12.17

Christmas Market 9.30—11.30am

15.12.17

Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Lunch

15.12.17

KS1 and Recep,on Performance of A King is Born.

Satrt ,me 2pm (Tickets have now been sent

home)

18.12.17

pm Christmas Party Y3/Y4

19.12.17

Breakfast Story Time Recep,on and KS1

19.12.17

2.00pm —Christmas with KS2 Year 3 & 4.

20.12.17

9.30 am —Christmas with KS2 Year 5 & 6

pm Y5/ Y6 Party

21.12.17

Panto Sunderland Empire

AM

22.12.17

pm KS1 / Recep,on Party

Liturgies and Masses

14.12.17—Whole School Mass

The masses may be subject to change if a

funeral is arranged for a Thursday.

Please join us for our celebra,ons.

Punctuality

Our best class this week was Year 5.

All aboard!

On Monday we are going to be going

on a Polar Express Journey.

Children are invited to come into

school in their pyjamas and join in the

fun of watching Polar Express film and

then enjoy a cup of delicious hot

chocolate. The event will be the

springboard for developing reading and

wri,ng skills during the last few weeks

of the autumn term.

There will be no charge for this event.

Can you solve these Polar Express word

problems?

1) When Kelly got on board the Polar

Express, there were 31 seats available.

The train has a total of 159 seats. How

many seats were already filled?

2) The conductor looked at his pocket

watch to see what ,me the train would

be leaving. It read 8:37 p.m. If it takes

the Polar Express 3 hours and 15

minutes to get to the North Pole, what

,me will it be when it arrives?

3) Santa leM presents for Aubrie, Jus,n,

Neil, and Ross. Those presents totalled

28. If each child received equal amount

of giMs, how many giMs did each child

receive?

Do you want to build a snowman?

Yes! And Eshaan, Ben and Kris,an

did. Look at the class blogs, there

may be some fantas,c fun in the

snow pictures for you to look at!

Bullying is the unacceptable, repeated and deliberate

a�empt to hurt, frighten, threaten or

humiliate one person or group by

another person or group. This can be

face to face or online.

Good Manners

At school we expect the children to use good

tables manners. This is enabling the children to

develop good e,que�e and good social skills.

Those children who have a school meal are

always provided with a knife, fork and spoon. In

the main, the food provided is to be eaten with

their cutlery and not fingers!

We have no,ced that some children do not cut

their food either. We would ask you to

encourage your child to use their knife and fork

appropriately. As part of this newsle�er there is

a poster we use in school. You may want to use

this at home to support the development of

good manners.

Good manners are social skills that help your

child succeed in class, with friends, with future

employers!

We are also keen to reduce lunch,me food

waste. It is very difficult to see the waste bin

filling up when we know there are many people

who go hungry in our area, the country and the

world!

We do encourage the children to eat as much of

their meal as they can. All of the food is

prepared in the kitchen and is of a good quality.

The staff in the kitchen are monitored regularly

to ensure the food they provide con,nues to be

of a high quality.

We ask for your support in these ma�ers.

Silver Smileys

Seth Graham received his Silver Smiley.

Gold Smileys

Jack Booth, Niamh Teunissen and Callum

Coates received their Gold Smiley.

Well done and congratula,ons to you all.

We value hope

Sunday marks the beginning of Advent. During the month of

December we will be reflec,ng on the significance of Advent and the

values of hope, joy, peace and love.

“Hope is a feeling that something you want is likely to happen.’

Oxford Dic,onary

“Hope is a wish in your heart of good things to

come. “

“Hope means that no ma�er what difficul,es

I face and no ma�er how hard ,mes get I know

my sunshine will come.”

If you have an Advent wreath at home you

might want to use or adapt this short prayer as

you light the first candle.

We light this first Advent candle, the

candle of Hope.

In the light of the flame, we wonder

about Hope.

In the light of the flame, we begin to

wait for Jesus to be born.

In the light of the flame, we see one

another, and know that God is with

us.

Dear God, as the Advent season begins, we come to you looking for

hope. When everything else we rely on fails us, our only hope is in

you. When we do not understand what has happened, we hope in

you. We can hope for be�er days because we trust you. We know you

and we know you are here with us no ma�er what we are facing.

Some of us see only darkness this ,me of year. Some of us find life

overwhelming. Some of us are filled with Advent joy. Wherever we

find ourselves this week, Loving God, remind us that our hope is in

you. Be with us on this journey. Amen.

Travelling Cribs

Each day, during the month of

December, two children in every class

will be invited to take the

Travelling Crib bag home with them.

The bags contain a book, a crib,

candle and card.

Please take some ,me to talk about the na,vity scene, read the book

and reflect on the real meaning of Christmas.

We ask that all the components of the bag are returned so that the

bag can go home the following night with another child. Please send

us a photograph of the crib bag being used in your home. Thank you.

Developing Good Manners in St Leonard’s RC Primary School

We hold a knife and fork

correctly.

We speak quietly while we

are at the table.

We ask to be excused if we

want to leave the table.

We eat with our mouths

closed.

We only use our fingers if it

is finger food. Otherwise we

use our knives, forks and

spoons.

We are careful not to ,p

our plates, bowls trays and

spill our food.

We try very hard not to

make a mess. If we drop

food on the table or the floor

we pick it up or we ask for

help.

We always show respect and

sensible behaviour. We do

not throw or grab food from

another person.

We are always well

behaved we keep our feet

s,ll, speak kindly, sit

sensibly and keep our

hands to ourselves.

We always show RESPECT especially during lunch,me.

We always say “Please” and “Thank you”.

Chris Bostock is coming to our school on Monday 4th December

Told in story, sound and song, The Singing Wind tells of a boy who hears on the wind how he can save his

people. He is sent to the four corners of the earth where, guided by the wind, he learns of the power, value and

wonder of fire, earth, water, and wind. He returns home to a great welcome and is feted for his wisdom and

knowledge.

Performed in the round, the audience will be as much a part of the performance as the 3 musicians and

storyteller. The Singing Wind

incorporates folk tales and myths

from Greece, Norway, Africa and the

North American Plains. There’ll be

links to Language, Wri,ng, Science

and Music.

What strength does it take to follow

your dreams?

Will you use what you have learned,

when you have faced your the

greatest fears?

What do you hear in the wind, and

what can we learn from the wind?

Parents are welcome to come to the

school to see the performance of The

Singing wind.

Vocabulary Ninja

The Vocabulary Ninja Blog is a wonderful teaching resource. A place that is full of vocabulary based content

growing by the day, all of which is free!

The Vocabulary Ninja Blog can be accessed via this link : vocabularyninja.wordpress.com

Primarily, you will discover the Vocabulary Ninja daily Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Word of the Day resources,

which are free to download. These resources also go live on Twi�er and Facebook every day! So follow us on

social media too!

In school the teachers use these resources to help develop the children’s vocabulary. There is no reason why

parents shouldn't access the resources either!

Shinobi is for KS2 and Grasshopper is for KS1 children.

Vocabulary Ninja is commi�ed to enhancing vocabulary based learning and ac,vi,es to all classrooms, teacher

and pupils across the world. At Vocabulary Ninja they believe that a child’s exposure to varied and high quality

vocabulary will have huge impacts on understanding, a�ainment and confidence.

Follow Vocabulary Ninja on Twi�er @VocbularyNinja and Facebook @VocabularyNinjaLive to keep up to date

with the resources, especially our KS1 and KS2 word of the day.

“Words unlock the doors to a world of understanding!”