School News

E-MAIL for PREP SCHOOL

prepschool.office@stcatherines.info This is the new email address that has been set up to allow parents to communicate directly with the Prep. School. Parents can also mark emails to the attention of individual members of staff and these will be forwarded on your behalf. The office will be checking the inbox regularly throughout the day.

E-MAIL for PREP SCHOOL ABSENCE
PrepSchoolAbsence@stcatherines.info As long as you put in sufficient information in your E-mail as to the reason for the absence, and make sure that you sign a print out, this can replace the legally-required letter. Print outs will be kept by the classteacher ready for you to sign.

PROJECT 125

Work continues apace on the Sports Complex and Performance Centre. The Sports Complex is on course to open at the end of the Autumn term and the shell of the Performance Centre will have been fully constructed. All this work has been fully financed and the fitting out of the Performance Centre will be undertaken when further funding allows. Details of this development, photographs of progress and a short videocam of the building works can be seen by following the link to the School Development area on the school website www.stcatherines.info.

Mr J Foord

INTERNET SHOPPING GATEWAY

Use our St. Catherine’s School internet shopping gateway to access your favourite on-line shopping sites and you could be raising money for the PTA at the same time as taking advantage of some great special offers. St Catherine’s Senior School PTA and St Catherine’s Prep School PTA have jointly established a new web shop through buy.at whereby we will receive commission on purchases made through the gateway. The web site address is www.buy.at/stcatherinesbramley through which you can access a variety of different retailers, who include John Lewis (commission rate 2%), Marks & Spencer (3%), Early Learning Centre (4%), GAME (3%) plus many more great sites with varying rates of commission from 2% to 12%. Funds raised through this joint venture will go towards purchasing key items of equipment for the new buildings which will be used by both the senior and the prep school students and staff in a variety of ways. This could include up-to-date gymnastics equipment, pianos for the four music practice/teaching rooms, piano for the performance space, sound and lighting equipment and a variety of other additional items to enhance the new buildings. Some of these items may be brought into use earlier than the completion of the building if funds allow. So please have a look at our new web shop. All you need to do to ensure the PTAs receive the commission is to access the sites via the gateway. No further information is required and no codes need to be remembered.

STAMPS
Thank you for all the stamps I have collected throughout the year. However, please don’t forget to save stamps as these can be used to help the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham. Please ask all your family and friends too. Mrs Chaventré

BIRTHDAY TREATS

We would kindly remind parents that as a School we aim to be a nut free environment. Whilst girls are welcome to bring birthday treats to School we would ask that all packaging is carefully read to ensure that any products comply. If home made cakes are brought into School could you please also supply a list of ingredients.
Thank you for your support.

AFTER SCHOOL SNACKS

A reminder that any snacks brought in by the girls must be nut free and ideally a healthy option.

Girls have recently been reminded in Assembly that we are a nut-free school and therefore any after school snack brought into school for consumption before a match or activity must be nut free.
Thank You. Miss Bartholomew

Guildford Museum
Guildford Museum runs an exciting junior club one Saturday per month for young people interested in history and archaeology. Activities include themed art and craft or outings to places of historical interest. Membership costs £13 and for more details regarding the activities that take place please contact:- Guildford Museum Castle Arch Guildford Telephone: 01483 444750 museum@guildford.gov.uk

Dates
Wednesday 8th September Kit Drop Off 9am—4pm Thursday 9th September First Day of Term WINTER UNIFORM - Sisters to be Photographed FRIDAY 10th September WholeSchoolPhotographs WINTER UNIFORM Monday 13th September IndividualSchoolPhotographs Welcome Talks

Contacts

Please can we ask every St Catherine’s family to remember to let the School know as soon as possible if any contact details are changed. This is important for the safety of the girls, as we might need to get hold of you very quickly in an emergency. The data we hold is as good as the data you kindly give us and we do our best to keep our records up to date. If in doubt, please contact the relevant School Office by email with your updates or to request a new ClarionCall form.
Very many thanks.

LOST PROPERTY

Lost Property - there has been a large collection of unnamed lost property on display outside the FI & LII cloakroom and in the courtyard (when the weather has been fine). These items will remain on display until the end of kit drop-off at the beginning of next term and then will be donated to charity or to the Second Hand clothing shop.

Please can we ask that you check that all items are clearly named over the Easter break as some labels do get worn. We are working hard to encourage the girls to be careful to put their kit and equipment away in their desk or locker.

SECOND HAND UNIFORM

WHY PAY MORE WHEN YOU CAN GET IT FOR LESS
The Second Hand Uniform shop is now open twice a week. Tuesday 8.35am-9.30am Friday between 2.30pm -3.30pm. We should be grateful for any old uniform that you have in good condition. Please look through your daughter’s uniform and leave anything you wish us to sell on your behalf, with all your contact details, at the school office or with us at the shop. If you need to contact the PTA's Second Hand Uniform team please send an E-mail to cris.nigelbottrill@btinternet.com with Second Hand Uniform as the subject.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO JOIN OUR TEAM
If you are willing to volunteer to join the team please E-mail the above address.

Eco Warrior News

In the autumn term St. Catherine's Preparatory School was awarded the Eco School's Green Flag, which is the highest award for this project. Well done to all the Eco Warriors, past and present, and all the girls and their families for their commitment and enthusiasm to the project. To celebrate this we held a Girls Go Green week from Monday 12th October to Friday 16th October. There were lots of environmentally friendly activities all week, including a Walk and Cycle to School day on Monday 12th October, a switching off the electricity afternoon and a special eco assembly. On Wednesday 14th October we held a mufti day when the girls dressed in green clothes or came as an endangered animal of their choice. The money raised from this event was sent off to the World Wildlife Fund.

Reminders

Please can Parents remember that the school requires a letter of authority before a girl can be released at the end of the day, either to another parent or adult. This also applies when girls are taken to a party.

Please remember all girls are required to wear their blazer to and from school. Fleeces are only to be worn during PE and fixtures. Thank you.

Sometimes parents come to school to collect their daughters and to watch matches with pets. We would respectfully request that you leave pets / dogs in cars. If you do need to exercise the animal, then we would ask that you do this outside the school’s grounds so as to avoid waste pollution, in particular of playing facilities where this constitutes a potential risk to the girls’ health. There is access just beyond the school entrance in Station Road to the old railway line which is excellent dog-walking territory!

Medical appointments Parents are kindly reminded that if their daughters are being picked up from school during the day for medical appointments, the girls must be collected from the red sofa and signed out at Reception. A letter to notify the school of any appointments will ensure that the girls are ready in time for collection.

NEW SCHOOL BUS FROM ESHER
A new school bus will be starting from The Bear Pub, Esher after February Half Term and there are still a few spaces left if parents of any Prep School parents would like their daughter to join.

Horsley/Clandon bus route
There are some spaces available on this parent organised bus service. If you are interested in finding out more details then please contact Mrs Cheese 07876 567947 or Mrs Cocke on 07963 883168.

Parking

Senior School Could we please ask for your assistance during drop off and collection times to ensure that traffic is able to move freely at these times. The Estates Department have requested that parents refrain from parking on the double yellow lines in the senior school driveway and to ensure the entrance way is clear so that the school buses have free access to the site.

Prep. School It would also be appreciated if at drop off times parents could encourage girls to exit the car safely and swiftly. Please do not leave cars parked in the drop-off zone.