St Mary's Catholic Primary Schools Trust

Headteacher

Newsletter no. 24

Friday 13th March

Dear Parents and Carers

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone that has engaged in our PINS project (Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools). Those of you who attended the coffee mornings and completed the parent surveys -Thank you. The information we received will enable us to reflect and improve our practice for both our children and their families. We are striving to improve the education for all our children and to support our families in the best way we can.

Year of Peace

Last year, Pope Francis declared 2025 to be the Year of Hope for the Catholic Church. Inspired by this message, our school community has chosen to focus on Peace as our theme for the year ahead.

Throughout 2026, the children will be exploring what peace means in their daily lives and how they can help to build peace in different ways. We will reflect on how we can bring peace to our classrooms, our playground, and our wider school community. We will also think about how we can extend this spirit of peace to our local area of Croydon and to the wider world.

Our focus on peace will also be closely linked to Catholic Social Teaching, which reminds us that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. In particular, we will reflect on the principles of Human Dignity, Solidarity, and The Common Good. Through these teachings, the children will learn that we are called to care for one another, stand together as one human family, and work towards a world where justice and peace can flourish.

As part of this journey, pupils will take part in prayer, discussion, and activities that encourage kindness, understanding, forgiveness, and respect for others. These values lie at the heart of our Catholic faith, our St Mary’s Way and help guide us in living out the message of Christ each day.

At the same time, we will remember in our thoughts and prayers the many children and families across the world who are living in countries affected by war and conflict. We will encourage our pupils to develop compassion and awareness, praying for peace and for those who face hardship and uncertainty.

We look forward to sharing this special focus with the children and seeing how they can become peacemakers in their own lives.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

School Uniform

Can I please remind you of the importance of ensuring your child is wearing the correct uniform.

Our uniform policy clearly states that children must come to school every day dressed in the correct uniform.

Light blue polo T shirt

Royal blue Logoed sweatshirt or cardigan.

Navy blue or black coat / Jacket

Black shoes (they must be able to put them on and remove them themselves)

Girls – Navy blue trousers/ shirt / pinafore dress / light blue summer gingham dress

Boys- Grey trousers or shorts.

On PE days:

White T shirt with the school Logo

Navy blue tracksuit bottoms Or Royal blue shorts

Trainers (if these have laces, children need to be able to tie them)

The PE uniform should only be worn on the days your child has PE and swimming lessons in school

Year 1- Monday and Friday

Reception -Tuesday

Year 2- Thursday

We have a no earring policy in the Infant School. So please ensure ALL earrings are removed. This is to keep your children safe. They are active learners and we do not want an accident to happen while they are at school.

Attendance and Lateness

We are continually monitoring our attendance and lateness here at St Mary’s. We take pride that we are in the top percentage of schools for our attendance.

However, in recent months we have seen a slight decline in our attendance data.

Can I please remind you of the importance of bringing your child to school every day.

As our attendance policy states, a child should attend school regularly and on time because;

▪ A good education will help give him/her the best possible start in life

▪ Clear research evidence shows the link between poor attendance and low achievement

▪ It develops an understanding of the importance of having a good attendance record. Children pick up the message that their presence is important which will hold them in good stead when they enter the world of employment. Employers want to be sure that people they recruit are reliable

There is no legal entitlement to term time holidays. Holidays should not be taken during school time; these adversely affect the child’s education and are strongly discouraged.

Persistent lateness (after the register is closed) is regarded as non-attendance and is punishable in law.

▪ Fixed Penalty Notices may be levied by the Educational Welfare Service for unauthorised absence and persistent lateness (more than 10 times in a half term). (Croydon Council Good Practice and Procedures in Attendance (Revised) 2008)

Please ensure your child is brought to school every day by 8.55am when our registers are taken.

At 9.00am our registers are closed and your child is then marked late if they arrive into class after 9am.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The Big Lent Walk

This year our school will be taking part in the CAFOD Big Lent Walk.

As part of this initiative, each year group will be going on a walk to help raise money for CAFOD. CAFOD is a Catholic charity that supports people in need across the world, regardless of their religion.

Through our Big Lent Walks, we will live out our Lenten journey by showing solidarity with others and helping those less fortunate.

Walking plans:

Nursery and Reception: Walk around the school grounds
Year 2: Walk to Park Hill Park on Wednesday 25th March
Year 1: Walk to Park Hill Park on Thursday 26th March

Instead of asking for sponsorship this year, we will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 27th March.

Children are invited to come to school wearing their own clothes and bring in a £2 donation.

If every child brings £2, we will be able to donate £400 to CAFOD, helping to support our brothers and sisters around the world who are most in need.

Thank you for your continued support.

Our New Additions

The Nursery children are looking after chicks. The eggs arrived on Tuesday and the children were lucky enough to watch many of them hatch on Wednesday. They will look after them over the coming days and have an opportunity to hold them.

Wednesday Word

Healing

A word from the Saints

“Prayer is certainly the most wonderful medicine in the world”

St Hyacinth

Dear Lord Jesus

Help us to see you more clearly- to believe in you and to share your light and healing with all those around us.

Amen