Dear Parents/Carers, As our students are aware, this half term we are honouring the values of the Catholic pupil profile by being eloquent and truthful. We have seen some excellent examples of students living out their faith by being focussed on always telling the truth and not being afraid to be eloquent about proclaiming the Gospel. We ask students to live out these important Gospel values in their everyday practice as members of our Catholic school community. This week our year 11 students continue with their mock exams. We are very mindful about the stress that examinations places upon our young people and the pressures facing our students. It’s really important that students are attentive to their mental health and we ask our Lord Jesus to guide them to discern the pathway to help and support should they need it. The Pastoral Hub that has been established since September is an excellent resource for students who are in need of support for their woes or worries related to exams or any other aspects of their life. The generosity of our school community never ceases to amaze me and Sunday evening last week was a testament to this. A group of Sixth Formers accompanied by Mrs Jarrett, Mrs Anderton, Mrs Smith and myself supported at Our Lady of the Angels Church Nuneaton at the Winter Night Shelter. No task was too difficult for the students and they rose to the challenge in preparing and cooking for members of our local community. I’d like to thank our students for all their hard work. I know it is much appreciated by the Winter Night Shelter Volunteers. I’d like to take this opportunity to remind students about staying safe on their journey to and from school and when out and about in parks and open spaces. At the start of the new term, we encourage you to remind your child about personal safety, ensuring they keep themselves safe on line, off line and also keep their belongings safe. Finally we have introduced an extra voluntary mass for staff and students on Fridays from 2:50pm – 3:20pm. Should your child wish to attend they will need to obtain a “mass Pass” from the RE office. This is another way of promoting the Catholic life of our school community and we look forward to celebrating mass twice weekly on a voluntary basis with students and staff. I wish you all a pleasant weekend. Mrs Thomas Acting Principal

Issue 16

18th January 2019

Catholic Life Message from the Pope

“With so much to do, we often neglect what is really important: our spiritual lives and our relationship

with God. So let’s stop and take time to pray!”

Our Faith in Action…….

Catholic Life

Saint of the Week

St Anthony was born into a wealthy landowner family in

Coma, Egypt. He is known by numerous titles including,

the Father of all Monks, Anthony the Great, Anthony of

Egypt, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony

the Anchorite and Anthony of Thebes. He is said to have

lived until he was 105yrs.

At the age of 34, St Anthony, then a Monk, disposed of all his worldly wealth and lived a life of

solitude and prayer in the desert. For a period of twenty years, his home was a small abandoned

Roman fort, to where people would bring him food, join him in prayer and seek his healing powers.

In 311, St Anthony travelled to Alexandria to comfort the many imprisoned Christians destined for

martyrdom during the Diocletian period of persecution. While he anticipated execution for doing so,

it didn’t happen.

St Anthony is often referred to as an early hermit, although he interacted with his many followers

and preached the Gospel. Saint Athanasius, his biographer, said, “Anthony was not known for his

writings nor for his worldly wisdom, nor for any art, but simply for his reverence toward God”.

Following St Anthony’s death, a Coptic Orthodox monastery was built by his followers in the

Eastern Desert of Egypt in his honour. It continues to thrive as a religious and pilgrimage centre

today.

St Anthony’s Feast Day is 17th January. He is the Patron Saint of skin diseases

including, shingles

St Anthony of Egypt (251-356)

Information

Winter Night Shelter donations from St Thomas More School! Well done to everyone and thank you for

supporting this worthy cause.

Jesuit Values

On Sunday 13th January a group of year 12 & 13 students along with myself, Mrs Anderton and Mrs Smith prepared food for the homeless at the night shelter at Our Lady of the Angels church.

This half term

we are

focussing on

Eloquent

and

Truthful

as our values.

Information

Project Rugby is coming to you. TOUCH RUGBY & CONTACT RUGBY SESSIONS

AVAILABLE FOR BOYS & GIRLS (No experience required)

Wasps RFC are offering Rugby coaching through their after school clubs from January 2019.

When: Every Monday (from 14th January 2019) Where: Nuneaton Old Edwardians Rugby Club, Weddington Road, Nuneaton

Time: Between the hours of 3.30pm and 5pm. Age: Yr7 – Yr11

All coaching will be delivered by qualified & experienced coaches from Wasps RFC and all

participants will have the opportunity to receive Wasps tickets to a game during the season. The offer is open to both boys and girls and nobody will be turned away. There will also be taster

sessions to introduce participants to gain an understanding of the game. Rugby is a fast, vibrant and exciting game and Wasps RFC will ensure that you will be coached

correctly in a safe and enjoyable environment whatever your skillset!

.

Attendance and Punctuality

Excellent attendance and punctuality to school are imperative to ensure students achieve their very best. This year we are having a real drive on these two key areas and we expect

students to attend school regularly and be on time each day. I would like to take the opportunity to remind parents/carers

that each day absent from school is equal to 5 hours of learning lost. Holidays in term time will not be authorised (only in exceptional circumstances) and parents/carers may

receive a fixed term penalty notice. In regards to punctuality the school gates close at 9am so

any student arriving to school after this time will be late and consequently given a C1.

If a student is late twice in a week a C3 consequence will be issued.

If your child has an illness related absence please contact the

school by either calling 02476 642400 or email attendance@st-thomas-more.net.

We require all our parents/carers to notify the school of your child’s absence or this absence will be recorded as

unauthorised

Information

Please check your child’s Internet use

Can I urge you to regularly check your child's mobile phone to 'parent' their viewing? It is always disheartening to see how upset parents are when they have to learn from us what

inappropriate websites their child has been accessing. You should also be checking who their “friends” on social media sites are.

Do they know all those so called friends? We are still struggling to educate our youngsters about safer online use. Where parents/carers do regularly check and educate their child about staying safe there are very few or no problems at all. Too many of our children (generally very

well raised, good children) still put themselves at risk by thinking they know who this ''unknown 12 year old from another school' is, but has turned out to be an adult with

questionable intentions!

Safeguarding Team

Behaviour Policy

http://www.st-thomas-more.net/assets/Uploads/policies/Behaviour-Policy-2018.pdf

Instagram

Please follow us on Instagram

@ sthomasmorecatholicschool for exciting updates about

St Thomas More Catholic School and Sixth

Form College.

Key Dates

Wednesday 9th January Year 11 Mock Exams start

Friday 25th January Year 11 Mock Exams finish

Tuesday 5th February Year 7 Safer Internet Day

Thursday 7th February Year 13 Mock Exams start

Monday 11th February Year 8 Options Assembly

Protecting Children’s Privacy online A parents, carers and

educators Guide Please click the link below to view the guide.

https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/protecting-childrens-privacy/

Uniform Policy

http://www.st-thomas-more.net/assets/Uploads/policies/SCHOOL-

UNIFORM-Sept-2018-19.pdf

Subject

ATTENDANCE LADDER

TOP TEN FORMS

7th – 13th JANUARY 2019 10SH 11CE - 100% 8ES 11ML - 97.7% 11PW 11GH - 97.6% 7SN - 97.4% 7TL - 97.2% 8MEG - 96.8% 10OE 11AY - 96.7%

Warwickshire Secondary School pupils recorded 8,895 half day sessions of absence due to holiday in the Autumn/Spring term during academic year 2017/18. This is an increase of 1,816 on the previous year.

Information

LEAVE OF ABSENCE DURING TERM TIME UPDATED INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

The Supreme Court recently reached a decision in the case of Platt v Isle of Wight Council which has clarified the law on unauthorised leave, including holidays, during term time. The parents of children of compulsory school age are required to ensure that they attend school on a regular basis. The Supreme Court has made clear that attending school ‘regularly’ means that the children must attend school on every day that they are required to do so. As such, the parents of any child who is absent from school without authorisation for any length of time are likely to be considered as committing an offence under s444 of the Education Act 1996. Head Teachers retain the ability to authorise leave in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006. When considering such requests for a leave of absence, the school are obliged to act within the law. Head Teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application. If the leave is granted, head teachers are able to determine the number of school days a child can be absent for. It is for the Head Teacher to decide what is ‘exceptional’ and it is at their discretion if the circumstances warrant the leave to be granted. The school can only consider Leave of Absence requests which are made by the ‘resident’ parent. Each application for a leave of absence will be considered on a case by case basis and on its own merits. Where applications for leave of absence are made in advance and refused, the child will be required to be in school on the dates set out in the application. If the child is absent during that period, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence, which may result in legal action being taken against the parent(s), by way of a Fixed Penalty Notice. Failure to make an application for leave in advance can also result in a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued to the parent(s). All matters of unauthorised absence relating to a Leave of Absence will be referred to the Attendance, Compliance and Enforcement Service of Warwickshire County Council It is important to note, Fixed Penalty Notices are issued to each parent of each absent child, (for example 2 children and 2 parents, means each parent will receive 2 invoices in the amount of £120 each, totalling £240 for both children, this is reduced to £60 per child if paid within 21 days). Where a Fixed Penalty Notice is not paid within the required timeframe as set out on the notice, the matter will be referred to Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services to consider instigating criminal proceedings under S444 Education Act 1996. Fixed Penalty Notices are issued in accordance with Warwickshire County Council’s Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices.

Your child’s progress academically as well as socially is our shared priority

Warwickshire Secondary School pupils recorded 8,895 half day sessions of absence due to holiday in the Autumn/Spring term during academic year 2017/18. This is an increase of 1,816 on the previous year.