Ripon Cathedral School Update

What a lovely day the Year 3 children had at Bewerley Park on Tuesday. The weather couldn't have been better and the children were great! They took part in all the activities, cheered each other on and showed resilience and courage when faced with challenges that were unfamiliar to them. Well done Year 3, we are proud of you!

Wednesday was a very special day for Reception and Year 6 as children from the two classes became buddies! The classes met together for the first time to practise and then lead a worship for parents and carers about the importance of friendship. After worship, the children took part in some activities together with their new friends, and then spent some time later in the week learning a song together for European Day of Languages. It has been wonderful to see the Reception and Year 6 children seeking each other out on the playground at break and lunchtimes, playing together and even reading stories together in the Reception reading area, and we are looking forward to seeing the partnership between the two classes develop throughout the rest of the school year.

Today we have celebrated European Day of Languages in school by learning how to say some key words and phrases in a range of European languages. The classes each shared one thing they had learnt with the rest of the school in Celebration Worship this morning, including singing The Wheels on the Bus in Swedish, reciting numbers in Slovakian, and a German duet between Reception and Year 6! The purpose of the day was to raise children’s awareness of the range of different languages spoken across Europe, and how important language learning is to help people to communicate.

We are very sad to report that Mrs Smith-Bennett will be leaving the school in October, as she relocates to the south with her family. Mrs Smith-Bennett has been a wonderful member of our support staff team for the last 3 years, and we will all miss her kind and caring nature, and her hard work and dedication to the children. We wish Mrs Smith-Bennett – as well as Ivy and the whole family – all the very best with the move. Our existing staff will support Miss Mayes with Year 1 over the coming weeks and this transition will begin next week.

We were joined on Monday by our friends from Open the Book who told the story of Naomi and Ruth. The story from the Old Testament focuses on loyalty, as the widowed Ruth refuses to leave her mother-in-law to return to her own family, instead going with Naomi to Bethlehem and eventually marrying there. The children were asked to reflect on the idea of loyalty and who they would devote their time to helping. Open the Book were assisted by Seb, Cleo, Phoebe, Ivy and Millie, who helped to bring the story to life.

On Wednesday 1st October we will be holding our Harvest Festival in the Cathedral at 2pm. Year 3 and Year 4 will lead the service, but all pupils will be in attendance and families are welcome to join us. We are once again inviting donations for the Food Support service at Ripon Community House. Please bring donations of tinned or dried food into school, including the following items:

Baked Beans

Tinned Meals i.e chilli con carne, curry, stewed steak

Tinned Vegetables

UHT milk

Cereals

Pasta

Pasta sauce

Many thanks in advance for supporting our local community.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week celebrated in today's worship:

Nursery - Sam for super hard work and perseverance all week!

Reception - George for showing wonderful respect to his teachers and friends. He has also shown himself to be a responsible learner by working hard to complete the star challenges.

Year 1 - Oliver Y for having a fantastic week, shining brightly in everything he does, especially in phonics. His focus, determination and positive attitude make him a fabulous role model for others.

Year 2 - Alfie for beginning the year with a fantastic attitude to learning and listening to feedback to try to improve his work.

Year 3 - Ellie for her fantastic contributions and team work on our school trip. She showed courage and perseverance.

Year 4 - Elliott for wonderful effort this week, always showing respect and taking responsibility for his learning.

Year 5 - Grace D for always trying her best and being a proactive learner. She consistently follows the school 'be' rules.

Year 6 - Poppy for great contributions and for being a good role model to others.

Monday 29th September - 7pm Claro Lounge, Friends' meeting

Wednesday 1st October – 2pm Harvest Festival at the Cathedral led by Year 3 and Year 4

Wednesday 8th to Friday 10th October – Year 5 Residential to Lindisfarne

Wednesday 8th October – 9am Year 2 Class Worship

Wednesday 15th October – 9am Year 1 Class Worship

Monday 20th and Wednesday 22nd October – Parents Evenings

Thursday 23rd October – Flu immunisation programme

Friday 24th October – SCHOOL CLOSED for Staff Training

We emailed a message from the committee of 'The Friends' last week and hope many of you have Monday (29th September) at 7.30pm in the Claro Lounge in your diaries! This is the first meeting of the year and they would love new people to join them. It’s a great way to meet other parents, feel more connected to school life, and make a big difference to what we can offer our children.

One of the first fundraising events this year is the Scholastic Book Fair which will be running 8th to 13th October. The book trolleys will be in the yard, weather permitting, or in the long corridor near the hall. Payment can be by card or cash. Commission is received on every sale which means school can purchase more books.

A Bag2School collection has been organised for 8th October. Items can be brought in any type of bag or sack and left near the bike racks just inside the front entrance. Please bring at drop off as they often arrive early for collection. Unfortunately we do not have space in school to store bags brought before the day, thank you.