Author: Mary T McMillan (Head Teacher)

St Mary’s R.C. Newsletter 4th June 2015

What is happening after half term ?
Mon 8th June	More than Dance team to work with Year 3 KS 1 and KS 2 tennis club after school
Tues 9th June	Year 4 Educational visit to Great North Exhibition and Laing Year 6 pupils have their scholars bus experience in preparation for secondary school
Wed 10th June	Selected pupils in Year 2 Tri-Golf Festival at Kingsmeadow 1pm—3pm
Thurs 11th June	Non Uniform Day with a “SUMMERTIME THEME” £! Per child/family—to contribute to Peace Garden Fund 6pm Meeting for Parents of Reception 2015 in school hall

Good Luck to the football team as they compete in the final of the Bishops Cup tonight….

Lateness = Lost Learning
5 minutes each day	3 days lost
10 minutes each day	6.5 days lost
15 minutes each day	10 days lost
20 minutes each day	13 days lost
30 minutes each da	19 days lost
Attendance—every day counts
365 days	190 School Days	Absence
100% attendance	190 days attendance	0
95 attendance	180 days	2 weeks absence
90% attendance	171 days	4 weeks absence
85% attendance	161 days	6 weeks absence
80% attendance	152 days	More than 1/2 term
75% attendance	143 days	9+ weeks absence

Weekly News

I have started to hear singing as I walk through school, so know the children are starting to learn songs for the “Musical Showcase”.
Mrs Sanderson is our very own Gareth Malone with children's choir and adults choir. It’s not too late to come along on Wednesday evenings at 6pm to join us and make a guest appearance in the showcase. If your children can do such a great job I am sure we have some parents/carers or grandparents who could swell the numbers and add to the volume.

ST MARY’S FAMILY CEILIDH, FRIDAY 10th July 2015
Child’s name ……………………………………………………………………………...................
Year………………………
I would like to purchase the following tickets and enclose a cheque/cash for the amount below. (Please place in an envelope marked ‘Family Ceilidh’)

Music through the Decades
Each Family, regardless of how many children you have at school will be offered 2 tickets.
To help address the demand for tickets for the end of term event Music Through the Decades, we are going to have three performances. So please use the form below to indicate your preferred choice for your 2 tickets to attend showing our 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice.
The charge is £3 per ticket to support the fund for the Peace Garden.
If there are any remaining then we will le parents know and they will be offered on a first come first served basis.

Music through the Decades	Tuesday 7h July / 9.30 am Show	Tuesday 7h July / 1.30 pm Show	Wednesday 8th July / 4.30pm Show
Name
Child in Year

E-Safety Advice for Parents -Please find below information circulated to schools and requested to be passed on to parents from the NSPCC.
Do You Really Know Who Your Children Are Talking to Online?
Chances are that if you have a child approaching their 'tweens' they will soon be clamouring for a) a mobile phone b) a social media account c) a games console - all of which could enable them to chat to complete strangers anywhere in the world.
The days of a family PC in the corner of the living room are long gone. Most of us carry the internet in our pockets these days so it's not surprising that our children want the same easy access. And once children get to nine or 10 years old they are in any case eager to go online and chat to their friends without a parent watching over their shoulder.
However, according to Ofcom, one in ten children aged 8-11 who go online say they have seen something in the past year that was worrying, nasty or offensive.
We all want to keep children safe online and many parents will at some point take action, like installing filters on their home broadband to stop children seeing unsuitable material. But filters don't protect children from strangers contacting them through social media, mobile apps, or online games.
The NSPCC wants to see all online accounts for under-16s set up to block messages from strangers, prevent users making their location or contact details public, set profiles as private by default on sign-up, and alert children to the risks if they choose make their profile public.
Until these steps are taken by industry we all have to be extra vigilant about children's safety. So it's essential to have regular chats with your children about what to do to keep themselves safe, and stress that it's ok to come to you for help.
The good news is that lots of parents are talking to children about online safety - since the NSPCC launched its latest online safety campaign in January around 400,000 parents have spoken with their children about the issue.
However, we're still concerned that some parents are missing out vital topics when they talk to their children about staying safe online.
For example, children have told us they want parents to talk about how to manage apps that track your location, but only one in five parents say they've covered this in online safety conversations.
And if parents aren't talking to children about things like location or privacy settings it can leave them at risk of online grooming. We've seen horrendous cases where offenders take a scattergun approach, targeting hundreds of children at a time online, often posing as another young person.
So we want all parents to make sure their online knowledge is up to date by checking out our updated Net Aware guide, published this week.
Among 12 sites that have now been added to the guide are Tapatalk and Pheed, which many parents may not be familiar with, plus well-known games like Call of Duty that allows users to chat online.
The guide now covers a total of 60 social networking sites, apps and games popular with children and is free to access at www.net-aware.org.uk
The digital world is here to stay and it's our job to make sure the next generation take their first steps online safely; aware of the risks, but confident about how to get where they want to be, just as our parents once taught us how to cross the road.
Claire Lilley
Head of Online Safety at NSPCC

As parents of pupils at St Mary’s RC Primary School look out next week for an invitation to come along to hear what “Forward Together in Hope” is all about, save the date on Tuesday 16th June at 6pm in the school hall.

Bishop Seamus invites us to join in with: “Diocesan Prayer “Forward Together in Hope”
Glory be to the Father—in whom we live and move and have our being. Glory be to the Son—whose name we bear and who calls each of us to be his disciples; to build his Kingdom and to go out into the world and bear its fruit. Glory be to the Holy Spirit—pouring out grace and guidance, forming us and renewing us. Inspire us all in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle to live the Gospel, be open to change and move forward together in hope. Amen.

	QUANTITY		TOTAL / £
Adult		@ £5
Child		@ £3.50
Family		@ £15
TOTAL