Back in May a rain-sodden Rishi Sunak ensured that the fourth of July 2024 would be remembered as a significant date, when he announced that the country would be going to the polls on that day. Fast forward six weeks and the rain is still falling (putting paid to yet another attempt at KS2 Sports Day), but the political landscape looks very different. Events of this magnitude mustn’t go unremarked at school, so a whistle-stop explanation of our electoral system found its way into today’s assembly. We hope that our new government prioritises education so that we can continue to strive for the very best outcomes for our children. 

‘Moving Up Morning’, took place this week with children spending the morning with their teacher for next year. We also welcomed the parents of children joining Reception class in September on Wednesday evening; Mrs O’Donovan was also present to meet new parents. 

Year 1 enjoyed a fantastic trip to Brooklands Museum where they explored collections of classic racing cars and vintage aircraft before going on-board Concorde. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to accompany the children on this trip. 

There’s lots going on next week: the Choir have their Summer concert at 4pm on Monday; District Sports takes place at Charterhouse on Tuesday; Reception class visit Sayers Croft on Wednesday; KS2 Sports Day (take 3) on Thursday and the Discos are on Friday – I’m exhausted from just typing it. 

KS2 Sports Day - third time lucky… 

Next Thursday our KS2 children will be heading over to Glebelands for Sports Day in the afternoon. Your child should wear a coloured t-shirt to match their house – please avoid football shirts. Parents and carers are very welcome to attend. Entry will be through the staff car park on foot at the east end of the site, not before 1pm. We expect to be finished by 2.45pm. There will be a member of staff from St Cuthbert Mayne present to sign parents in. For safeguarding reasons it is very important that parents stay with our Sports Day group and do not wander the site - it is essential that we adhere to this request as failure to do so risks jeopardising use of these facilities in future years. Please be aware that there are no toilet facilities for adults onsite. 

Fatima – BLUE Lourdes RED Walsingham – YELLOW Jerusalem - GREEN 

Mr Thomas Hall

Head of School  

Liturgy

Last weekend was the feast of St Peter and Paul. These heavyweights from the New Testament both had very different journeys of faith. St Peter was given the task of building the early church by Jesus, while St Paul switched allegiance from being a persecutor of Christians to devoting his life to evangelisation. They are both what the youth of today might call influencers; the product that they were promoting is called The Kingdom of God. Christians are called to continue their good work. 

Living God, help us to follow you and to share our faith with others, through our actions and our words. Amen. 

ONLINE SAFETY ADVICE

GET ACTIVE SHOUT OUT BOARD

Each week our Sports Captains are out and about in the playground keeping a look out for children who are exhibiting a particular school value through the way that they play during breaktime. The slide below is displayed during our Celebration Assembly on Fridays. Congratulations to the children listed below.

WEEKLY CELEBRATION CERTIFICATES.

Attendance

At St Cuthbert Mayne we place great importance on school attendance. Please see the graphic below which illustrates the cumulative effect of continued poor attendance at school. In the first instance we will always work closely with families to support improvement in attendance when necessary.

On 19 January Mr Hall wrote to parents outlining the possibility of Penalty Notices being issued to parents in the event of unauthorised absences. School attendance is rarely out of the headlines - this BBC article details plans to increase the minimum fine from September 2024.

The cost of a family holiday outside of term time can be eye-watering, but we would urge all parents to consider what sort of message they are giving their children about the value that they place on education if they choose to take their children on holiday during term time.

Useful Links:

Fines for parents for taking children out of school: What you need to know

School Attendance Policy

Positive Parking

We continue to be very grateful to all our parents that park and stride/cycle/walk to school, and to those that park safely and respectfully around the neighbouring roads.

We are aware that some people continue to park on the yellow zig-zag lines outside the school and the church car park. Rule 243 of the Highway Code states that road users must not park near a school entrance; for the safety of all the children at St Cuthbert Mayne, we would ask that all members of our community adhere to this rule and do not park on the yellow zig-zag lines.

We must also ensure that we are polite and respectful to local residents at all times.

Please show your children, by your actions, that positive and respectful parking is a way to show that you care about other pedestrians, neighbours and road users. Be a good role model!

For helpful information about road safety please visit: https://www.think.gov.uk/

Classlist

Classlist is the most effective way of staying touch with other parents. Please click this link in order to sign up.

Safeguarding

Keeping children safe is everyone's responsibility at St Cuthbert Mayne. Please see below for some useful links and resources for all families:

Family Lives – very useful parental information website, provides lots of links and resources - they also have a telephone support line for parents/carers. Parenting and Family Support - Family Lives (Parentline Plus)

Mental Health support – suitable for lots of families, especially at this time of year. Mental health support - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

NHS Talking Therapies – it may be helpful for any parents to be able to talk to someone and this is a self referral service Home Mind Matters Surrey - NHS Talking Therapies (mindmattersnhs.co.uk)

Family Conflict – SCC pages for parents. Our resources for reducing conflict between parents - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

Your Sanctuary – Domestic Abuse Support Services. YS Home (yoursanctuary.org.uk)

Relate – resources for relationships –

Get Help | Relate

Find your online centre Relate

Drug and Alcohol Support Services

i-access Drug & Alcohol Service : Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (surreydrugandalcohol.com)

Catalyst – substance and mental health support

Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Service in Surrey (catalystsupport.org.uk)

Citizens Advice – another more general link but useful for newsletters at this time of year

Citizens Advice

Family Information Service – Families can search for services near to them

Family Information Service - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

Online Understanding your child guides – Free for all Surrey residents – use access code ACORN.

Online Learning (heiapply.com)

Our Safeguarding Team: Mr Hall (DSL), Miss Wilkin (DDSL), Mrs Chalstrey (DDSL)

As a team we are always here to support, to be a listening ear, and guide in anyway you feel appropriate. Do get in touch with any member of the team via phone 01483 274961 or email DSL@stcuthbert-mayne.surrey.sch.uk

You are not on your own and many individuals or families do come and ask. 

Mary’s Meals would like to invite you to collect all your foreign currency* no matter how old or obscure.  Clear out your drawers and have a look under the sofa.  Currently, the charity feeds over 2.4 million young children one good meal every day in their place of education – by giving Mary’s Meals your foreign coins and notes, you can help feed the next hungry child.

Mary’s Meals feeds in over 18 countries.  Because of our low costs, we can do this for as little as £19.15 per child per year!  *We will also take UK coins/notes that aren’t legal tender

Donations can be left in the Cranleigh Parish Office, which is outside the SCM green school gates - double white patio doors - on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday mornings.   With thanks from Tracy in the parish office.

Our calendar for the term can be found here.