Executive Headteacher 16th December 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

What an action packed few weeks it has been!  The season of Advent is always an interesting time to work in a primary school.  We have the joy of hearing and seeing our young children prepare for Christmas and the coming of Jesus.  Our Year 6 children took responsibility for leading us into the season this year; decorating our tree during the Advent Assemblies.  Our Reception children excelled with their production of the ‘Star who would not shine’  and  Nursery children sang their hearts out in their Christmas sing-a-long.  I was amazed to see the confidence of our young children, many of whom had never even stood on a stage until now!  The sound of our Year 5 children during their concert at St. Joseph’s Church was spine-tingling; soloists and readers were excellent.  Last, but by no means least, we had the nativity play from our Year 2 children.  It was a well-performed, heart-warming show and a wonderful interpretation of the Nativity story. I can only tell you how incredibly proud I was of each of our children in their performances,  and I can only imagine how special these moments were for each of you too!   They were, as I would say…..’super bobby-dazzling!’

Pope Francis tell us: Advent increases our hope, a hope which does not disappoint. The Lord never lets us down.

Our world is not always as just and loving as we would like it to be.  But the coming of Christ and His presence among us, gives us reason to live in hope.  His light will shatter the darkness so that we can be liberated from our fears and prejudices, so that we are never alone.  Let this Advent season be a time for bringing hope, change and fulfilment into the Advent of our lives.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you all very much for your never ending support during this year.  Thank you for supporting the PFA events that were organised, School Fund,  Book Fair and the Amazon wish list.   Your contributions and support to these events allow the school to provide outstanding resources and learning opportunities for your children which we would otherwise not be able to afford.

I am sure you would join me in thanking the Staff at St. Joseph’s for all their achievements this year.  In addition to the normal working day, you can appreciate the many extra hours spent behind the scenes planning, assessing, preparing and organising to ensure your child receives the best quality education.  This is only possible through the hard work and commitment of a very dedicated team whom I have the pleasure to work with.  A very big thank you to them all for what they contribute to St. Joseph’s.

You will have noticed the ongoing work at the school as we ‘reclaim’ some of our school playground area by resurfacing with artificial grass, so it can be accessed all year round by the children.  We are delighted with the results thus far and know that it allows us to use areas that were once inaccessible for most of the winter months due to the mud factor!  We hope this work will be completed by the New Year…..we might even use it for sledging should the snow appear!

Finally, on behalf of the Governors, Staff and Children of St. Joseph’s School, I wish you and your families a very happy, safe and enjoyable Christmas with every best wish for 2022!

https://youtu.be/0dOiZkuAb3Q​

Miss McFlynn

16^th December 2021