The Chronicle

Dear Parents

The first full week back to school hasn’t, apart from the weather, disappointed and I am delighted to highlight several key events that have taken place.

The week started off with all of our J6 children taking part in first aid training.   I am grateful to Mrs Lammas for arranging the delivery of the training; we now have two classes of first aiders and although I hope there will not be the need for them to use their new skill anytime soon, it is certainly good to know that so many of our young people have learnt the basic skills required in first aid.

You may have heard about the wonderful cream tea event that Mrs Simmonds co-ordinated with the help of several parents on Tuesday this week.  The smell of freshly baked scones, the perfectly displayed tables and outstanding performance of the youngsters attracted many compliments from our visitors.   The children enjoyed entertaining local parishioners and grandparents; even the poor weather couldn’t dampen their spirits.  My thanks to all involved particularly Mrs Simmonds, Mrs Olden, Mrs Wildey, Miss Kefalas, our parents and not forgetting our talented performers and Mini Vinnie representatives.  I believe that many of our guests have the date of next year’s event already in the diary!

Father Kevin celebrated our whole school Mass on Wednesday this week, the feast of St Mark.  It was a truly wonderful and prayerful occasion and I’d not only like to thank Fr Kevin but also the children who helped at Mass in any way; Mrs Jackson-Mayne, Mrs Olden and Mrs Simmonds and the whole school for their uplifting singing.  Thank you!

Yesterday afternoon I was greeted by the beaming faces of children and staff members after they returned from the F1 JLR Regional Primary School Challenge at Princethorpe.  Not only did they win several categories, including best engineering, they were also the overall winners!  The extensive preparation by Mrs Hardwick, Mrs Spillane, Cadie Hardwick, Jimmy Loftus, Zach Rose, Soren Wasley and their parents and the sponsors certainly paid off as their results were tremendous.  They should all be incredibly proud of what they achieved.  In addition to thanking , I am very grateful to our sponsors and parents for their support both before and after the competition.  There is more coverage and photographs of the event later in the Chronicle.  Good luck for the national finals Speed Stingers!

We were blessed to hear some outstanding performances at this morning’s assembly.   After a super opening from our violin ensemble, we heard the simply lovely voices of Bella and later, Andrea.  I was so impressed by their delivery of the songs - they have wonderful voices and I look forward to hearing them sing again.  Congratulations to all the recipients of awards - I am proud of you all and of how much effort you invest into achieving your success.  Congratulations to our new Junior 6 prefects; I wish you well in your new role as you uphold the school rules and ethos and help to set a good example to our other pupils

Next Tuesday there will be a visitor in school from Holroyd Howe.  Sally Crewe is a nutritionist and will be talking to children throughout the day about food groups and the importance of healthy eating.  There will be a selection of fruit tasting pots and root vegetables for children to try.  If you would like to discuss anything with Sally before she meets the children or you have any questions about the information she will be sharing, she will be available from 8.00am on Tuesday 1 May in the foyer outside the School Office.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank the many people who made my birthday yesterday very special by way of a friendly smile and a good wish.  I hope that whatever you have planned for the weekend you have a relaxing and enjoyable time with your family.

God bless,

Robert Duigan