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Welcome back to everyone. I hope you had a good Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year.
New Intake
On our return to school we extended an especially warm welcome to the new intake joining Class 2 this term. Additionally, we said ‘hello’ to those children who have come into some of our other year groups. We are pleased to have them all here with us and are certain they will soon make friends and settle well into their various classes.
Deputy Head Appointment
I am very pleased to be able to tell you that on our return to school we have a new Deputy Head - Miss Clitheroe - whose appointment was made by the Governing Body just before Christmas. We have also recently welcomed a new member to the Admin team, Mrs. Maria Tilbury, working in the front office every afternoon.
Tsunami Appeal
Like everyone we were all devastated to learn of the tragic situation in Asia. Naturally we wanted to respond with the desperate need there and we quickly got under way with our first event, supporting Radio Dream 100’s Mufti Day (non-uniform day) on the first Monday back at school.
The generosity of children, parents and staff was overwhelming and it was especially heart-warming to hear of children who had brought in their own pocket money as well as the money given to them by their parents. We raised an unprecedented £742 for our latest Mufti Day and we thank everyone for their generosity.
By the time we go to print we will also have had our Tsunami Appeal Concert. Our own children are dancing, and Choir and instrumentalists are taking part together with extra guest appearances and we are also told there may be a ‘Staff Aid’ number! There will be extra fundraising taking place during the evening including a raffle. We will tell you more about the Concert next month, but as a ‘last minute’ insert to this Parish Magazine, we have been allowed to add the total raised from the evening which came to £908, another tremendous effort and very many thanks to everyone who was involved in any way.
Christmas Carol Services
The deadline of the last Parish magazine did not give us time to report on our Christmas events in church which were highly successful. The Juniors performed to a packed church on the Tuesday night. It was good to include Christopher’s organ rendition of ‘The First Noel’ and the recorder group, with Miss Jones and Miss Salmon, playing ‘Good King Wenceslas’.
The choir sang well, enhanced by the solo verse from Chloe Cumming and later her duet with Megan Smith. The volunteer readers also did very well linking the carols. Many thanks go out to all the staff for the parts they played but special mention goes as always to Mrs Saunders who encourages all of our children to sing so well and give life to their performances. I am also appreciative of the support given by Guy Smith and his work-force for helping transport all of the staging & equipment to and from church, Paul Siddall for playing the organ, the bell ringers for their welcome and Chris Page for all his work for us at church. The retiring collection of £300 will go to the ‘Light up a Life’ children’s cancer charity.
Wednesday afternoon saw us back in church for the infant Nativity. The children read clearly, sang with enthusiasm and looked brilliant as they created the tableaux. Many parents and friends took the opportunity to photograph them at the end of the service. It was like a major photo call and the children were very impressed. A collection of £115 was taken at the end of this event and will go towards sponsoring our six pupils in Albaraca.
Upper School girls in the Choir visited Vyntoner House & Five Stacks Residential Home to give a rendition of traditional carols. Their singing was well received and they thoroughly enjoyed their visit, taking time to get to know some of the residents while there. They particularly enjoyed the sweets offered as a treat! They look forward to visiting again next year.
One or two other events took place in December. We are very grateful to everyone who helped and/or supported our Christmas Fayre. An enjoyable, busy evening ensued and I do hope that everyone had a good time. Just over £1,700 was taken on the evening, for which we are grateful.
Thank you to all the parents and children who supported the Book Fayre; it was a great success and we made over £250 which was spent on books for the School Libraries. Another ‘thank you’ goes to all those who helped at and came along to the Junior Disco; the children had a good time and thanks specially go to Mrs. Hennessy who organised the evening.
Upper School Science Museum Trip
World War II Museum
I was very pleased and impressed with my guided tour of the Second World War Museum created in Class 7 by the children in response to a three day challenge set by Mrs Saunders. Bethany showed me around the exhibits and members of the class took turns in talking about their work.
Music
After a fresh launch, music tuition started in the New Year for a large number of children who are taking lessons on keyboard, violins, flute, and guitars. Elly Torry, our teacher from Essex Music Services, now gives lessons on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and on Wednesdays when she is not taking individual lessons, she is involved with teaching groups of our children as part of our timetable. We are pleased to have her with us, and look forward to working with her over the months to come.
South East Essex Christian Hospice (Offering hospice care through Fair Havens and Little Haven )
Dear Mrs. Saunders and the children,
Clacton Light Up A Life Service
Thank you all so much for coming along to sing at the Clacton Light Up a Life Service. It was very kind of you to attend and sing so beautifully. We really appreciate the time and effort involved by you all at what is a very busy time for everyone. These services offer a special opportunity for people to remember their loved ones at a time of year that can be very difficult for them, so thank you once again for your help in this. Over this Christmas and into New Year, may you enjoy the blessing of God’s presence, power and peace.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Parmenter, Hospice Chaplain.
ICT, Maths, Science Work Books - £2
On display in our foyer are some KS2 work books for Maths, Science and ICT. They have sold well so far. The ICT book is particularly suitable for any adult who is beginning to learn to use a computer or who is a basic user who wishes to improve their skills. Please feel free to take a look at them yourself and if any member of the community would like to buy one, please just pop in to the school office.
December ‘100 Club’
Congratulations to the winners of our latest draw:
1st: £75-Mrs. P. Dean No. 52, 2nd: £50-James Ferneé No. 18 and 3rd: £25-Mrs. M. Dan No. 48.
Remember the ‘100 Club’ is open to anyone in our community over the age of 18. If you would like to support us in this way, please just contact the office on 01255 820823.
Nicky Saunders’ CD
Our very own Mrs. Saunders has recorded a CD of devotional songs called ‘Reflections’ (CD £10). There are some beautiful tracks on it and we have copies for sale at the office. We also have CDs (£9) and cassettes (£5) of her first recording, ‘Closer to You’. Buy yours now!
Visit to the Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
We were all very pleased when Mrs. Saunders was granted an allocation of tickets for the ballet after some years of applying. On 2nd December 45 children and 5 adults boarded the coach for what became an excellent school visit and a memorable experience. Here is Rachel’s account of the day:
The Choir’s Ballet Visit
The ballet was excellent. It was excellent because some of the time they were standing on their big toe and twisting round. It was beautiful and all of the dresses were gorgeous except for the two ugly step-sisters. Cinderella’s wedding dress looked gorgeous because it was so sparkly and it had a really long train. They both looked beautiful. It was great.
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FEBRUARY 2005 