A big welcome back after the Christmas break. I hope you all had a restful and peaceful holiday and had the opportunity to spend some quality time with your family. The new school newsletter is now available on our website and this includes some important dates for this term. Let’s hope 2018 is a happy and successful year for all the school community.

Mr L J Duncan

We all had a real treat today as our school guitar players performed for the whole school. They did a number of Christmas hits and were supported by Mr Charlton our guitar teacher. Well done boys and girls you were all fabulous!

The children enjoyed a fabulous Christmas lunch today. There were lots of crackers to pull, friends to talk to and sprouts to eat!

Well done to our ‘Friends of the School’ group who organised and carried out our school Christmas Fayre. What a great event it was and very much enjoyed by all. A fabulous £2172.70 was raised for the school, which will go towards enrichment learning activities and resources for our children. We have had many comments from parents saying how well organised the event was and how accessible it was to everyone involved. If you purchased a raffle ticket on the day please check the winning numbers below. If not already collected, could all winning tickets be shown at the school office where prizes will be handed out.

Chocolate Hamper Prize – to be claimed

Ticket Number  – 988 

Winning raffle numbers

 

Consultation on Admission Arrangements for Academic Year 2019-20

Where changes to admission arrangements are intended all schools are required to consult before these are determined and published. The policy for consultation is available at: proposed admission policy 2019-20. The consultation period will run from Monday 4th December 2017 to Monday 22nd January 2018.

A consultation response form is available by request from the school.

The Governing Body will consider all comments received before they determine the arrangements for 2019-20.

 

The recent snowy weather has been great fun for all the children. They have enjoyed building snowmen and playing in the snow during playtimes.

Can I remind parents that, during these winter months, it is important that the children are dressed appropriately so that they can keep warm. The children should have a warm coat, a hat, gloves and scarf. Can I also ask parents to be extra careful when entering or leaving the school premises so as to avoid any slippages or falls. Thank you.

Mr LJ Duncan

Our children were centre stage last night at the Mayor of Seaham’s Ecumenical Service at Christ Church, Seaham. They sang a piece of music from ‘Peacechild’ and performed a very moving liturgical dance to the music Silent Night. Thank you to all who attended this very festive event.

On Friday 24^th November our children celebrated a Youth Friday ’17 liturgy in school. The focus was to celebrate and remember our diocesan youth service. Our Youth Friday theme was ‘Yes! The mighty has done great things for me.’ Our Year 4 children attended a liturgy at St Joseph’s, Murton, along with our other cluster schools. During this time the children were introduced to our new Partnership prayer as part of ‘Forward together in Hope’. The prayer was written by children from St Mary Magdalen’s and includes parts of the mission statements of all our cluster schools. The logo was designed by Ami Simpson, a past pupil of our school.

Dear Parent/Carer,

Please find in the school performance section of our website a copy of the final Ofsted inspection report, following our short inspection by Fiona Manuel (Her Majesty’s Inspector), carried out on 1^st November 2017. I am delighted to share the main findings of the inspection with you and I am pleased to inform you that our school continues to be Good and safeguarding is effective.

The report highlights many positive aspects of our school and acknowledges all the hard work carried out by all members of staff since our last inspection. It identifies our school as a calm and industrious environment where a culture of warmth, inclusivity and good humour prevails. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength and pupils attend well and enjoy coming to school.

At St Mary Magdalen’s all staff continually strive to ensure the children in our care receive a full and well-rounded education. The inspection report highlights that many parents agree that this is certainly the case. One parent’s view encapsulated the views of many passed onto the inspector, ‘This is a fabulous school that is entirely focused on the spiritual, educational and emotional well-being of its pupils.’

Thank you for your continued support

Mr L J Duncan