1. family and parenting
2. children

BULLETIN
December 2014
Issue No. 128
Dear Parents
Christmas has got off to a great start with the various performances from Nursery, Reception, Forms I and II. The
Nativity Plays captivated parents, grandparents and friends. Considering the children are so young each put on a
tremendous performance.
The disco ran by The Friends, too, was a huge success. I didn’t know the school had so many talented dancers.
The Carol Service in St Mary Magdalene Church was extremely well attended, as it is every year. Forms III to VI
sang like angels bringing the true meaning of Christmas to life. This would not be possible without the expert
guidance and tuition of Mrs Sally Vincent. The school is much indebted to her for all the work she does with the
children.
On Monday the school had a visit from Santa Claus. He asked me if all the children were being very good and I
just had to say, “Yes, indeed they are. The children at St Philomena’s School are always good.” Santa was very
pleased and said he would visit them all at Christmas.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helps with the smooth running of the school, parents,
volunteer helpers, The Friends, all the support staff, the Governors and the teaching staff for all their effort and
hard work throughout the term, especially at this time of the year.
I hope everyone has a peaceful and restful holiday and I would like to wish everyone A VERY MERRY
CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Barbara McKeown
Headteacher
“Baby Jesus is Born”
This year’s carol service at St. Mary Magdalene Parish Church was well
attended once again. The service included a varied selection of carols and a
number of readings and poems. All of the children in Forms III to VI were
involved. The congregation were impressed by the beautiful singing and
eloquent readings. The children had all worked very hard and Mrs Vincent was
very proud of their efforts.
£381.82 was collected towards East Anglia’s
Children’s Hospices—our charity for this year.
Staff News
We would like to welcome Mrs J Reis,
the new Reception teacher, to the
school. She said she has never been
so happy in her teaching career.
Accelerated Reader
The winners of the prize draw this half term were Ella
Sneddon for the lower school and Aimee Newson for the
upper school. Well done to all achieving 100% in their
quizzes.
“Let the Children Live!”
The
school
invited Pauline
Allan to receive
a cheque for
£1630
on
behalf of the
charity.
She
talked to the
children
and
explained the
work that the
charity does and how the money raised would
make a difference to the children that they work
with in Medellin, Columbia. Mrs Allan was delighted
with the amount donated especially as St.
Philomena’s is such a small school.
Jake Diplock (7)
Patrick Dooley (8)
Ziggy Harms (7)
Tabitha Kennedy (10)
Amelia Kirby (8)
Lucy Robinson (7)
Gabriella Symonds (8)
Amelia Walec (8)
Milla Wiggins (9)
Pupil Achievement
Football—Man of the Match x 2, Frinton & Walton Football Club
Swimming—200 metres
Football—Man of the Match x 2, Frinton & Walton Football Club
Trophy for 1st place 100m Butterfly Stroke, Clacton Swimming Club
Primary Ballet—Merit
Prep Test—Piano
Cricket—Certificate of Achievement, Frinton Cricket Club
Tap—Grade I (Distinction)
Star Award for ballet
Farewell
The school said goodbye to Gracie Goodman, Mia
Lee-Taylor, Seren Page, Paulina Wojarska and
Wiktor Wojarski. They will all be missed by their
friends and teachers and we wish them well for the
future.
Birch Hall Adventure Centre
The children in
Forms III and
IV enjoyed a
fabulous
day
taking part in
three outdoor
education
activities. They
went
on
a
Nature
Walk,
exploring
the
local area, built
shelters in the
Bush Craft session and learned how to work
together as a team on the Low Ropes Course. The
day also included a number of fun team-building
games to help the children trust each other. Many
children couldn’t decide which activity they enjoyed
the most and thought that the whole day was
“brilliant.”
Crucial Crew Visit
Organised by Tendring District Council the event
consisted of ten scenarios from agencies including:
Essex Police, RNLI, Railway Safety, Only Cowards
Carry, Essex Fire Service, TDC Emergency
Planning, Anglian Water, Alcohelp, Red Cross and
Road Safety.
The children
found them very
informative and learnt a lot of good safety advice.
They really enjoyed the morning.
Sacred Heart and St Francis Church
Children in Form I
enjoyed their visit to the
church as part of their RE
topic on Baptism. Father
Michael spoke about the
main
components
of
Baptism and the children
were able to use their
topic
knowledge
to
answer a number of
questions.
Lighting the Advent Candle
The first Advent candle was lit by Mrs McKeown
during a special assembly.
The first candle
represents the first week of Advent. Advent is the
period of preparation for Christmas and for the
second coming of Christ. The circle of evergreen
represents the everlasting love of the Lord and the
candles represent the light of Jesus which will
guide us through all our days.
Reception visit to gardens
Children in the Reception Class enjoyed an autumn
walk to the Railway Gardens and to the Secret
Gardens to look for birds. They had been learning
about birds in class and had made bird feeders to
take home. They had a lovely time trying to spot
birds and played some games .
Netball
Well done to the girls who
played their first competitive
netball match against Holland
Haven School. They were
narrowly defeated 3 – 1 but the
score did not reflect their overall
commitment and performance.
Mrs Westlake and Mrs Bingham
were very proud of them all. A
big thank you to all the parents
who came to support the team.
Team: Faith Dodds, Chloe and
Holly McDowell, Alexia Mina
(Captain), Pippa Norris, Alice
Pettican and Holly Witt.
Sporting Success
Aimee Newson was awarded the Dance
Foundation Award for Junior Modern
Dance. Ishani Kadambi has continued
her karate success with Silver kumite,
EKKA
East
Anglian
Karate
Championship, Gold kumite, Central
England International Open Karate
Championship, Birmingham and Links
Karate Club awarded her Best Karate
Competitor of the Year & Best B Squad
Competitor.
Tabitha Kennedy in Form VI was
awarded the Challenge Cup for winning
the 100m Butterfly Stroke at Clacton
Swimming Club.
Well done girls.
“We Three Kings” by Nursery and Reception
The youngest children of the school delighted their families with a wonderful performance of “We Three Kings”. They
told the story of the first ever Christmas and how the three Kings travelled to Bethlehem to find the baby in a manger.
This very special story celebrates the birth of Jesus and the gift of love he gives to us all. The children all performed
with enthusiasm and thoroughly entertained their audience.
“The Nativity” by Forms I and II
Forms I and II joined forces for their version of the traditional nativity. The children had learned some lovely songs and
dances and their families were impressed by their wonderful performances. Well done to all the children for putting on
such an entertaining show.
Father Christmas Visits
In spite of his hectic schedule Father Christmas managed to squeeze in a visit to the
children at St. Philomena’s. All the children gathered in the hall to see him arrive with one of
his trusty elves! The children sang “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolf the red nosed reindeer” to him
and then he handed presents out to the youngest children of the school. He was very
impressed with the children’s singing and wished them all a Merry Christmas!
Mrs Oxley’s Christmas Piano Concert
St. Nicholas Concert
Mrs Oxley’s young pianists performed a variety of
musical pieces for their parents. The children have
worked very hard and are playing with increasing
confidence. Mrs Oxley was very proud of the
children and some were presented with prizes for
special effort or achievement.
Thank you Mrs Oxley.
The end of term concert provided the school’s young
musicians who have lessons with Mr Anthony, Mr
Ashworth and Mrs Arber
an opportunity to
demonstrate their musical abilities. The varied
programme included pieces played on the guitar,
drums, piano, flute, clarinet, saxophone and
recorder. The teachers were all thanked for their
dedicated teaching. Mr Whitfield, who co-ordinated
the event, was very proud of the efforts of the
children, especially as the concert included our
youngest ever musicians at 5 years old.
Well done everyone.
Mrs Arber’s Recorder Concert
Christmas Cakes
All children in Forms III and IV have been taking
recorder lessons with Mrs Arber and performed a
couple of pieces to demonstrate their developing
musical skills to their parents in a special concert.
Thank you Mrs Arber.
Carols at Parkers
The upper school choir (children from Forms V and
VI) delighted the customers at Parkers Garden
Centre with a selection of festive songs. Thanks to
Mrs Norris for accompanying the children.
Panto Visit
Reception, Forms I and II had a lovely time at the
panto “Jack and the Beanstalk” …. Oh yes they did!!
Thanks to Mrs Green for accompanying the trip.
Children in Forms
V and VI decorated
Christmas Cakes
last week which
were then judged
by the rest of the school. There were some
imaginative creations, but the overall winner was
Alexia Mina. Thank you to Mrs Vincent for helping.
Friends’ Christmas Disco
The children had a wonderful time at the disco held
at McGrigor Hall. Lots of children joined in the fun
and particularly enjoyed the snowman game.
Thanks to the Friends for organising this fun event.
Christmas Jumper Day
All the school joined in to
celebrate this national
event. The children (and
staff!) wore some very
festive jumpers and in
doing so raised money
towards the ‘Save the
Children’ charity. Thanks
to
everyone
for
supporting this event.
Spring Term
We return to school on Wednesday 7th January.
See you then!
Many thanks to Mr Phil Anthony for playing the cornet on Remembrance Day. Continued thanks to Mrs Austin and Ms Lloyd for
maintaining the front gardens and to Mrs Kennedy for running After School Scrabble Club. Thanks to Bible Explorer
teacher, Rev Stallard, for engaging the children in learning about the Old Testament and thanks to Mrs Geldard & Mrs
Norris for accompanying the children to church for Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.