St William of York Parent Newsletter - Friday 6th June 2025

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This week's letter from Mrs Mayers...

Dear Parents and Carers

What a week it's been! Our Year 5 and Year 6 pupils had an unforgettable school journey to Shropshire packed with adventure and discovery. The highlights included visits to Cadbury's World, Chester Zoo, Blists Hill Victorian Town and the magnificent Warwick Castle. There are lots of photos of the trip on our school website here. A huge thank you to Ms Webster, Mr Morris, Miss Barber, Miss Murphy and Mr Kane for making the trip such a success. 

Back at school, a special thanks goes to Miss Richards for her hard work in keeping everything running smoothly and making sure everyone was looked after. Next week, we will have our SWOY Day Picnic on Friday 13th June at 2.30pm in the school playground. Please send contributions for the picnic in with your child in the morning - parents are welcome to join us. 

Wishing a very Happy Eid to all those celebrating today!

Kind regards 

Hayley Mayers (Headteacher) 

Congratulations! 

We're delighted to share the wonderful news that Ms Thorn and Mr Taylor have welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world - Jamie Taylor. 

Congratulations to the proud parents on the arrival of their little bundle of joy. We're sending love and best wishes to the whole family at this special time. 

Ms Thorn and Mr Taylor would also like to pass on their thanks for the gifts and kind words from everyone - they have been truly touched by your generosity! 

Music Lessons - Waiting list

If you would like to add your child to the waiting list for small group violin / brass lessons - click here to add their name. 

 

Please check if your information is correct.

You should have received an email asking you to log into the Arbor Parent App / Parent Portal to check the information is correct. This includes emergency contact information, people with permission to collect etc. Please do check this information is correct - there are instructions in the email - which was resent on 29 May 2025 to all our parents/carers.

Yr6 Swimming 

Yr6 will be swimming from Monday 16th June - Friday 27th June 2025. Please make sure you have completed the permission form and indicated if you can accompany the class to Forest Hill Pools. 

School Information / Reminders

Arbor logoArbor Parent App / Portal

81% of our families have logged into the Arbor Parent App / Portal. Thank you to everyone who has already logged in!

Please can all parents/carers make time to download the app and login. You will have received an email entitled 'Welcome to Arbor'. To ensure you continue to receive messages from school.

We will be streamlining communications & payments - all on the Arbor Parent App:

  • Text messages are expensive to send, therefore we will be moving to in-app messages (which are free to send). Please ensure you have notifications switched on. This will also keep messages in one place.
  • Payments - you can make payments online for school trips & music lessons. Nursery parents & carers can pay for lunches & additional hours (if applicable).

If you have an outstanding balance, you will be able to see this when you log into the app - if you think the amount is incorrect, please contact the office.

PE Kits - Please check 

When your child brings their PE kit home today, please could you double-check to see whether they have accidentally scooped up another child's clothing/trainers. If you do have another child's clothing/trainers, please drop them into the office when we return after the half-term break.  

Please also ensure your child's PE bag has their name written inside.

image of saving pigYoung Savers Club will be in the main hall on Tuesday 10th June, from 830-9am.

Help your child get into good saving habits - find out more online (link below), or pop along and have a chat to Bernie & Pamela on Tuesday morning.

Please note that parent ID is required to open an account.

https://pluscu.co.uk/young-savers-account

Summer Fair Preparations 

SWOYSA are busy planning our Summer Fair, which will take place on Sunday 6th July from 12pm - 2.30pm.

They are currently asking for help with the following: 

  • Could you/your workplace donate something as a raffle prize? 
  • Do you have any plants to donate that could be sold at the fair? 
  • Could you sign up to help on the day? 

Please speak to your class rep if you can help in any way. 

Do you have any sheets that you could donate to school? 

Yr6 are busy preparing for their Leavers' Play and they are beginning to think about costumes.

We are very fortunate that Mrs Tossell kindly helps to make the costumes for Yr6 every year - she is very talented!

This year, we are in need of some old sheets that can be sewn to make some costumes. If you have any plain cotton sheets that you could donate to Yr6, it would be greatly appreciated.

Late Collection

We understand that, from time to time, unforeseen circumstances can result in occasional lateness. Please telephone the school office if you are running late so we can let your child and their class teacher know. We must also ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children, and this includes managing the impact of late collections. Please see our Late Collection policy here. 

School Uniform - please ensure your child's clothes have their name on.

Please do make sure that you check the school uniform list before you buy or replace any items of clothing.

Key things to remember: 

  • Trainers are NOT uniform 
  • Polo t-shirt: white
  • School shoes: black 
  • Trousers: grey 
  • Skirts: navy 
  • Hairbands: plain black or navy
  • Summer dress: light blue gingham 
  • Tights/socks: plan grey or white

Absence Requests

In August 2024, the DfE published new statutory guidance for improving attendance; this is reflected in our school attendance policy, which you can find here.

Section 5 details guidance on requests for authorised absences. There is limited scope for requests that can be approved so please read this section carefully when submitting a request.

You can submit a request for an authorised absence via the form on our website, which is linked here.

Medical / dental appointments during school hours

Where possible, please organise for appointments to take place outside of school hours.

We understand that this is sometimes unavoidable. If this is the case, please let the school office know asap, and please provide a copy of the letter / email received confirming your child's appointment. 

Jpg of cartoon childrenRainbow Breakfast and After School       Club at SWOY

  • Drop off from 7.30am for Breakfast Club
  • Collect at either 4.15pm or 6pm for After-School Club

Book your place in advance! Our school office is unable to book spaces.

Email: Rainbow.ASC@hotmail.co.uk Text or Whatsapp: 0785 477 4096

Dates for your diary

Yr4 Swimming
All Day
from 02 Jun until 13 Jun
02
June
Yr3 Pizza Express Trip
All Day
10
June
Young Savers (Credit Union) club in the hall
8:30am – 9:00am
10
June
Yr6 Transport for London Workshop
All Day
11
June
SWOY Governors' Day
All Day
13
June
SWOY Day Picnic
All Day
13
June
Thumbnail for Instagram post created 1 day ago
swoyschoolse23 View Post
An unforgettable day at Warwick Castle We watched the skies come alive during the Falconry Quest and felt the ground shake with the mighty trebuchet demo What a way to end our fantastic school journey!
1 day ago
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