Friday 19th November 2010

Dear Parents and Carers,

Book Fair Week
Next week is Book Fair week, and this year it will be in the new library after school every night next week. On Wednesday morning at 9am there will be the opportunity for parents and carers to visit the book fair without your children, so you can have a leisurely browse &
maybe buy a Christmas present or two. All the money we raise is going back into the school library in the form of new books for every age group.

Christmas Mini-Market
On Friday 3rd December we are holding a Christmas mini market from 3 - 4.30pm. There will be gift stalls, tea & mince pies, and Christmas craft activities for children. If you know anyone who makes cards or gifts and would be interested in a stall, please contact Andrea on
07711 574722.

St Joseph’s Parish Christmas Fayre
This exciting annual event is an important fundraising and community event for the Parish. The Fayre is being held in the Parish Hall on Saturday, 27th November, at 2.00pm and the school will be organising a stall as part of the event. Please come and bring you families.

Today your child is bringing home an envelope containing some Grand Draw tickets for a draw that will take place at the Parish Christmas Fair. Tickets are 50p each or £2.50 for a book. (1st prize is £100!) Please could you support the Parish by selling a few to family and friends?! Please return stubbs/money/tickets to the school -whether sold or not - by next Friday 26th November. Thank you for you support!

The school will be running a stall using packets of sweets as prizes. To help support this we will be having a non uniform day on Friday 26th November. Can all children who are wearing
their own clothes bring in a box/packet of sweets/chocolates to be won as a prize on the day. We are also selling products that Y1 children made last year with Bristol Brunel Academy pupils.

Denominational Transport
Bristol City Council has opened consultation on the removal of free transport to denominational schools. This will significantly affect all families whose children attend Catholic secondary schools in other parts of the city.

Currently children aged 11 to 16 are entitled to free travel to their nearest suitable school preferred on grounds of religion or belief, where the distance from their home address to the school is more than 3 miles.

The link for the consultation form is
http://www.opinionsuite.com/bristol/site/departments/children-and-young-peoples-services/travel-to-denominational-church-schools/consultation/consult_view
and is quite simple:-

Option A I do not agree with the proposal
Option B I do agree with the proposal

Please can you support our families by responding to this consultation which closes on the 14th December 2010

Updated Contacts/Medical
If your child’s contact details or any new medical conditions have changed since the end of last term, could you please let the office know as soon as possible.
Community Carols Around the Tree
On Wednesday 8th December from 3.45-4.45pm there will be an opportunity to join the school choir to sing Christmas Carols around the Christmas tree, followed by minced pies. We want this to be a special community event and we hope you can all come.

Cabot Circus Concert
The choir will be singing in Cabot Circus on Thursday 9th December, raising money for the Ronald Macdonald House which is an independent charity which provides Home from Home accommodation, for critically ill children. We will also be collecting money for this charity when we sing around the Christmas Tree the previous day.

School Uniform
As you may have heard on the news, the price of cotton have spiralled and the company that supplies the uniform can no longer absorb the increase, so as of the 1st January prices will
increase on average of 25%. If you would like to take advantage of this year’s prices, please make sure that you place your order as soon as possible either by post or on the website www.schoolwearforless.com/schools/stjosephsrcprimarybs163qr/

Chatsworth Road Boundary Wall
We have had a number of enquiries regarding the condition of the school boundary wall on Chatsworth Road. We have received a report from an independent structural engineer which states that the wall is safe and stable - although unsightly. We will continue to monitor the wall on a regular basis.

Morrisons Lets Grow Vouchers
Please could you ensure that you send in any Morrisons vouchers by Monday 22nd November as we need to send the order off during that week.

School Attendance
Well done to Mrs Rollings class again with 96% attendance, Miss Wright’s and Mrs Joseph’s classes with 97%, Mrs Ford’s and Mrs Bells’ classes with 98%.

Punctuality
As you know we are currently trying hard to address the issue of lateness. Our records show us that the most punctual classes last week were Mrs Mantle’s and Mr Conlon’s.

Still too many children are coming into school late each day.

Drumming Club
There will be Drumming Club on Thursday 25th November.

Spare Clothing
If you have any spare underwear, socks, tights, trousers, we would be most grateful. These will be used as spare clothing in school.

Term Dates for 2011
· Term 3 Tuesday 4th January to Friday 18th February.
· Term 4 Monday 28th February to Friday 8th April.
· Term 5 Tuesday 26th April to Friday 27th May.
· Term 6 Monday 6th June to Friday 22nd July.

Celebration Assembly
The usual time for these assemblies will be returning to 9.10am on a Monday morning with assemblies finishing by 9.30am. There will be a celebration assembly on Monday 22nd November, at 9.10am. The following children will receive a headteachers award:-

Mariah Ahmed, Irene Raju, Kai Drysdale, Nathan Long, Robyn Halliday, Meikel Quirke and Vivian Johnson.

Dates for Diaries
Monday 22nd November - Book Fair Week
Friday 26th November - Non uniform day (bring a packet of sweets)
Saturday 27th November - Parish Christmas Fayre
Tuesday 30th November - Lifeskills visit – Y6
Wednesday 1st December - Advent Mass in Hall – 9.30am
Friday 3rd December - PTFA Christmas Market
Wednesday 8th December - Community Carols around the tree
Monday 13th December - Foundation & KS1 Performance – 9.30am
Tuesday 14th December - End of consultation on denominational transport
Tuesday 14th December - Foundation & KS1 Performance – 2.00pm
Wednesday 15th December - Infant Party
Thursday 16th November - Carol Concert – 2.00pm in Church
Friday 17th December - Christmas Mass – 9.30am in Church
Friday December 17th - Christmas Disco
Friday 17th December - End of Term 2
Tuesday 4th January - Start of Term 3

Best wishes


Matt Condon,
Headteacher