Well can you believe we have reached the end of our very first term...and what a packed one it was too!
As our Christmas preparations draw to a close, I am sure you are all gearing up at home and that the Christmas excitement is almost too much. The countdown in our house is now almost on an hourly basis too, (at the time of writing, it is 12 sleeps, 6 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds!)
A Christmas countdown clock is available for you to check up during the week ahead!
This week’s blog is to let you know what is happening during this week and also, we have included a few festive sites to keep everyone occupied whilst the cleaning fairies organise the housework for the big day!
Monday
Dust off those party frocks and best clothes, as Monday sees our fantastic Christmas party! The children have worked really hard all term, so now is the chance for them to let their hair down and boogie the afternoon away. The children will be allowed to come to school ALL DAY in their own clothes, complete with hair gel, glitter and perfume!
Santa’s elves have been very busy wrapping all the gifts for the children AND organising all the party food. A huge thank you to all the elves behind the scenes who have been bagging and wrapping for the last few weeks – you can put your feet up now!!
Christingle Service
This year’s Christingle service takes place up at St. Joseph’s Church on Tuesday 16th December at 7.00pm. Although it is quite late, it would be lovely if there could be some Angels, Kings and Shepherds there, complete with their Christingle kits. We have these on sale in school for 50p.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we shall be putting the finishing touches to the lovely Christmas decorations that the children are making. We will make sure that they are sturdy enough to last for at least 30 years, so you can hang them on the tree all the way to your child’s adulthood!
Friday
The last day of term, sees a real treat. Our Christmas Carol Service, led by Years 5/6 will be held up at St. Joseph’s Church at 10am. We ask that the children arrive in school as normal, for registration. We shall then be walking all the children up to Church for the service, which should last around an hour. Please ensure that the children are wearing a very warm coat, gloves, hat and scarf for that day, as the weather is extremely cold.
The children will obviously not be able to buy toast on that day, so it would be helpful if they could bring a small snack for after the service, which they will be able to eat in the Loretto Centre at Church before their return.
We really do need lots of parental support to accompany the children up to St. Joseph’s, so please let any member of the team know by Tuesday of you are able to help out. Many thanks to the people who have already volunteered!
The afternoon sees the Parent’s Panto. It is always a really fantastic production and a fitting end to the year. All the children, (and staff) leave the hall in festive mood, ready to start our preparations at home.
Photographs
The children’s photographs were distributed last week. Please do let us know if you haven’t received them and we will do our best to sort them out for you.
Reading books
We are thrilled with the progress that the children have made in their reading this term, so in order to keep the momentum going over the holidays, I have sent two books home. It would be really helpful if you were also able to find just a few minutes each day to practice your child’s high frequency words, both reading and spelling. These words are the ‘glue’ that hold together all the texts that your child will ever read and so are vital in their reading development.
Also, as a plea, could I ask that ALL reading books which your child has at home, are returned on the first day back in January. The stocks in the library are somewhat depleted at the moment, and so we will have an AMNESTY when we return. Many thanks for your support with this.
Festive Fun
We have had such good feedback from these websites which were put on last week’s blog, that I have included them again! Maybe you could get your child to print of the letter to Santa on Christmas Eve and leave it under the tree on Christmas Eve!
Nativity stories
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/re/b-dag/ngfl-container/re-unit1-en.html
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/christianity/nativity/index.htm
http://www.refuel.org.uk/curric/infant_topics/christmas/christmas.html
http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/christmas/nativity/nativity.html
http://www.snaithprimary.eril.net/nativity.htm
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/word/cross2.gif
Just for fun!
http://www.emailsanta.com/ write a letter to Santa and see the reply appear before your very eyes!
http://www.northpole.com/ a real favourite of mine! The disco dancing Santa is fabulous!
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/ a very interesting site, explaining all about the customs and traditions of Christmas.
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/meaning.htm I loved this story! Maybe one for Christmas Eve?
http://www.star28.net/snow.html?msg=they this made me giggle! Get the penguin to write your name in the snow. What about trying this to help with the spelling of those tricky words?
http://www.learn-ict.org.uk/resources/rudolph/rudolph.htm Rudolf is missing! Read this lovely interactive story with your child. A great way of developing those comprehension skills.
http://www.funranch.com/games/tree/index.htm decorate the online Christmas tree
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/snowman_v4.html build your very own snowman...without getting your hands cold!
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/winter/ some great ideas for Christmas crafts to doat home, using all those empty boxes.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/christmas/ Christmas crafts
http://www.nevada.edu/~blake/Christmas.carols.html why not sing through some of these traditional Christmas Carols in preparation for Friday’s service?
http://www.ylw.mmtr.or.jp/~johnkoji/hymn/xmas/index.html christmas carols to sing along to.
http://www.btinternet.com/~edward.caution/ oh this is just fabulous! Karaoke anyone?? Just scroll down for the Christmas songs. Go on – I’ll bet you can’t resist just singing along!
http://woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/teacher/christmas.html lots of different activities for you to try at home
http://christmas.iboard.co.uk/ lots of Christmas online activities to try. I really like the writing ideas, which use a framework and a wordbank to help. Why not print some off to bring in to show?
On behalf of all the staff, we wish you a very happy, peaceful and holy Christmas. We hope that Santa brings you everything you ask for and that we all return safe and happy in the new year.
Merry Christmas!
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