ST MARY'S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
Christmas at St Mary's 2020
This year, Christmas will feel different for everyone. We aim to keep as many as the normal events and celebrations in school as we can for the children. We appreciate that it is upsetting that parents are unable to come into school but we hope this dedicated Christmas page will go some way to make everyone feel involved. Please keep checking the page to see how we are celebrating this special time of year.
Thursday 17th December 2020
Dear Parents,
As we reach the end of another busy term I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you very much for all your support, kind words, gifts and well wishes to myself and all the staff. They are greatly appreciated. We all know it has been a challenging time for the whole school community. However once again the team work approach between school, governors and parents has helped alleviate some of the strain.
This term has seen the need for us to use our new remote learning platform; I am pleased to say that despite a few technological hitches this has been successful. Well done to St Francis’, Year 6 class and St Augustine’s, Year 3 class for persevering with it and managing to overcome any of the difficulties they were experiencing.
Celebrating Christmas this term in school has been a very different experience. Although we were unable to have live audiences in to watch the Reception, KS1 nativity and KS2 carol concert the children were able to rise to the occasion and deliver fantastic performances. I do hope you have enjoyed watching these via our website or from the memory sticks. The KS2 carol service has now been added to the secure page of the website and the link sent to you.
Christmas dinner was also a huge success; the children enjoyed wearing their Christmas jumpers and eating their hot school meal. We had such little waste compared to previous years. In the afternoon a surprise virtual visit by Father Christmas also added to the excitement. Thank you to FOSM for organising this. Thank you also for your very generous donations to Children in Need – we raised a total of £159.67
I do hope you all have a restful Christmas break and that we all return safely to school in January. I know that whatever challenges we may face at the start of Term 3 we will continue to work together to overcome them.
Take care and Best Wishes
Kathy Burden and Staff
Tuesday 15th December 2020
Please join us for tomorrow's Mass at 9.30am. This will be led by Fr Eugene and we will be joined virtually by Holy Family Primary School. The link is via Periscope:-
Dates for Christmas Celebrations
|
December |
Event |
|
Friday 4th |
Sacrament of Reconciliation with Fr Eugene (Yrs 4 – 6) via Periscope Chaplaincy team will lead Advent reflection virtually |
|
Wednesday 9th |
Virtual pantomime – Robin Hood (all classes |
|
Thursday 10th |
KS1 - Holy Family Church virtual tour |
|
Friday 11th |
Chaplaincy team will lead virtual Advent reflection into classes |
|
Wednesday 16th |
Christmas Lunch (children may wear a Christmas Jumper) and Class Parties during the afternoon |
|
Thursday 17th |
Christmas Mass with Fr Eugene via Periscope at 11am |
|
Thursday 17th |
Virtual Celebration Assembly at 2pm |
|
Friday 18th |
Christmas activities in class |
|
Friday 18th |
End of term 2 – close at 1.30pm |
These will all be in line with Covid and social distancing guidelines. Further details to follow.
Christmas Performances
Key Stage 1 Christmas Performance
We are very excited to tell you that Years 1 & 2 will be putting on a Christmas Nativity play this year. While Covid restrictions mean that many schools have not been able to organise a Christmas performance, we are delighted that our children will be able to have this experience which is such an important part of the school year.
As you would expect, this year’s performance will look a little bit different. Year 2 will be leading the Nativity, acting out the story ‘Are we Nearly There Yet?’ which follows Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. They will be supported by Year 1 who will be performing dances to songs throughout the story. The children will perform on stage in the hall to one other class as a dress rehearsal, and then to another class as their main performance. The performances will be carried out in line with Covid and social distancing guidelines.
Reception
Reception will also be doing their own nativity and performing it to their buddies and one other class.
As we cannot invite families to come and watch the two Christmas plays this year, we will be filming the performance and will be showing this on a secure link on the website. We will also provide each family with a copy of the play on their own memory stick, free of charge as soon as we can if they wish. We know this will not be the same as watching the children perform in person, but we hope it will be something that families can keep and enjoy in years to come.
KS2 Carol Concert
KS2 children have been busy rehearing signing to Christmas Carols. We intend to record a virtual Carol Concert which will be loaded on to the school website for you to enjoy.
Advent
Please find below the Advent Booklet from Holy Family Parish. It is full of the message of Christmas, along with recipes and activities.