Dates for your Diary
Tuesday 30th August: first day back. New Four Plus children are in on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings only and then full time from Thursday.
Tuesday 30th August: 9am- refreshments for parents and carers especially our new parents. All welcome.
Monday 5th September: FOBE meeting at 7pm.
Tuesday 13th September: Information evening for Parents of Holy Communion applicants at 6:00pm.
Wednesday 14th September: Class photographs
Monday 3rd  October: FOBE AGM at 7pm.
Tuesday 11th October: Initial celebration for Holy Communion.

 

News and Views
We say goodbye to our super year 6 pupils. They have been quite exceptional in a number of ways this year; this includes their sporting, drama and music abilities, their amazing positivity and also how they have coped and achieved as guinea pigs in the new government tests and standards-they are second to none. We had a special family Mass on Wednesday to celebrate their time and many successes over their time at Bishop Ellis. We are so proud of them all and wish them every success for the future in their new schools. 

Kate and Gerry McCann have asked me to thank everyone at Bishop Ellis - staff, pupils and families for all the support we've given the family over the past seven years and for keeping Madeleine in their prayers. Of course we will continue to fundraise and pray and always have hope.

Thank you to all our parents/carers across the school for supporting your children so well at home and the school community, especially those leaving; it makes the difference to how the children progress and engage in school life.

OFFICE CHANGES
Congratulations to Mrs Kennedy who is our new office manager. Please note that from the new academic year, office hours will be from 8:30-5:00. Please send an email to admin or leave a message on the answering machine outside these hours. Parents dropping off or picking up children for clubs should use the side entrances. Thank you.

Opportunities and Successes this term
Sports day was a great success with the children being very active, developing their skills and competing really well. The weather held off well too. Thanks to Mr Jackson and the staff team for making it such a success.

Our Year 5/6 performance of Shakespeare Rocks was a great success with the children excelling themselves. The £283 raised has gone to Faith in Families. Thank you for your support and generosity.

 

Well done to Faith in Y5 for her super fundraising. Faith cut off her lovely long hair in order to create wigs for children suffering from cancer. The charity is called The Little Princess Trust. Well done to Faith; we are all very proud of you.

 

The school netball, athletics and swimming teams reached the Leicestershire & Rutland regional finals this year. All the teams did really well with the swimming team coming 3rd. Congratulations to all our school sports teams for all their great success over the year.

 

Fitness in School Fundraiser
The children had a wonderful time improving their fitness skills and have raised to date about £1800 (keep sending the sponsor money in). This will be split 50:50 between Loros and The Madeleine Fund. Well done to Aaron in Year 2 who raised an amazing £435 single-handedly. Wow!

Green Flag Renewal
I am delighted to say that the school has been successful in renewing our Green Flag status. A big thank you to our Eco-Warriors, led by Mrs Melbourne and Mrs Moreland and to Gavin Grey (governor) for all their input. The Eco-warriors have also achieved bronze for the travel plan and started the Park & Stride initiative. Thank you to everyone who has taken part and please keep supporting this so we can keep the front of the school safe for the children by reducing the congestion by the school gates.

NSPCC Assemblies and Workshops
The school had a visit from the NSPCC this term to help educate children about how to keep themselves safe. The children really benefitted from this with the older children taking part in some interesting workshops.

The Year 5 children have participated in the ‘Big Sing Liturgy Thing.’ They had a great time learning new songs and dances to create a really special mass with our family of Catholic schools.

Annual Behaviour Report
Well done to all the children in the school for their excellent behaviour. Where standards, on occasion, have slipped below the school’s expectations, pupils have responded really well to the school’s sanction and support system. The governors are particularly pleased with the reduction in racist incidents. The school recently updated the anti-bullying policy in consultant with parents and governors and pupils (see the school website) and has received the local authority Anti- Bullying award and bronze level of the Stonewall Standard, which focuses on homophobia and transgender issues. 

Please remind your child regularly about how to behave appropriately to ensure everyone in the community is well respected and valued no matter their race, culture, gender or life style.

Bullying (several times on purpose): 4 incidents.
Homophobic: 4 incidents of using homophobic language. 
Cyber Incidents: 3 e-safety incidents, all outside of school, all inappropriate use of social media sites. 
Racist: 3 incidents-all inappropriate language. 
Thank you for your support in stamping out racism.

 

FOBE
The summer fair was a wonderful event. Everyone had a superb day and the Maypole dancing was great fun. We raised around £1600 for the raffle was raised. Huge thanks to Andrea Orme and her brilliant team of helpers including the children. 
Thank you to everyone who put a message in the condolences book for the Grey family. FOBE has also purchased engraved, wooden memory boxes for each of the boys and a basketball hoop for home. I am overwhelmed with the amazing support being given by a number of our families. You are all making a huge difference.

Thank you to our wonderful team of committee members and helpers for their creative and generous time input over the year, especially those whose last child is leaving the school this year. The current Year 6 parent members have been an inspiration and backbone over a number of years and we will miss them greatly.

The first meeting of the year is on Monday 5th September at 7pm. Your attendance or willingness to help over the next year would be gratefully appreciated.

Staffing
We welcome Mrs Gunton back following her maternity leave; she will now work 3 days each week (Mon-Weds). We look forward to our two new teachers, Miss Price and Mr Banks, starting, but say goodbye to Miss James. A big thank you to Miss James who has done a great job with her Year 5 class this year and also led the music in school. Those of you involved will know what a terrific job she has done in supporting the choir. We wish her all the best for the future.

We also formally say goodbye to Mrs Bentham, our office manager, who is retiring after 16 years of service to the school. We had a short goodbye assembly for her this week, but will have a celebration mass in September to which you will all be invited. There will also be an opportunity to contribute to her retirement present. Details will be sent out early next term.

Class Organisation for 2016-2017
Four Plus: Mrs Purmah (Miss Room) & Mr Jackson
Year 1: Miss Price (new) & Miss Turnell
Year 2: Mrs McManus & Mrs Tuck/Mr Haresign
Years 3/4: Mrs Padzinski, Mrs Fothergill & Miss Filsell 
Years 5: Miss Mould & Mr Banks (new)
Years 6: Mrs Nimblette & Mrs Moreland 

 

We will arrange for the new staff to be in the playground at the end of the school day in the autumn term so you can meet them. Please feel free to introduce yourself to your child’s new teacher as soon as you can.

A huge thank you to all the staff who work incredibly long hours to ensure the children have a wonderful school experience and make great progress. A high proportion also give up their time voluntarily to run clubs free of charge or attend pupil activities and competitions outside school hours, including weekends. These include: sporting activities, the chaplaincy team, gardening club, Digital Leaders to name a few. Thanks also to Mrs Goldfinch, who has been running a super craft/technology club after school; it was brilliant.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Uniform for the New Academic Year 2016-2017
Well done to the overwhelming majority of children who have complied with the school dress /appearance code. Please refer to the school’s dress code for uniform. In particular, please note the standard for hair styles: colour, tracks, patterns, shaved sides and raised strips should be kept for holiday time. Thank you for your support in this.

School Dinners
As you know, all children in Year 2, Year 1 & Four Plus are entitled to a free school meal. Please can you let the school know which days your child will be requiring a meal and stick to the pattern over the term to help kitchen staff ensure they purchase the correct amount of food. For children in years 3/4/5/6 dinners will cost continue to cost £2:20 per day (£11:00 per week). Again, please stick to the pattern over the term and let the school office know if you need to change. This is now paid through Parentmail.

Y6 Residential
Kit list and medical forms will be sent out at the beginning of the new academic year.
Reminder-Use of School Car Park

The school carpark is a staff only car park. If you are a disabled badge holder or have occasional exceptional circumstances, please contact the school office for access.
On behalf of the staff and governors, may I thank you for your great support and wish you a really lovely summer.

Yours sincerely,
Suzanne Henry