Dear Parents and Carers / Annwyl Rieni a Gwarchodwyr,

The Rhos St Christmas-show machine rumbles inexorably forward and we are all very excited to be on the brink sharing all the hard work and preparation that has taken place over the last few weeks with you all next week. Tickets have been selling very well, so please get in touch with the school office if you haven’t managed to get yours yet. We are also in the process of taking posed cast photos which will be available for sale at each performance.

Attendance
Good school attendance is key to helping children have the best possible start in life, to support and maximise their potential learning opportunities. There is clear evidence which links educational achievement to good school attendance. Rhos St School is determined to provide the best education to the children they serve. In recognition that school attendance and attainment are strongly linked a robust attendance procedure has been developed to support pupils learning. Please see the attached: Improving School Attendance information from the Welsh Assembly Government which outlines the importance of school attendance and the policy and procedures that support good attendance.

STATUTORY FRAMEWORK
The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him/her to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his /her age, aptitude, and ability and to any additional needs he/she may have either regular attendance at school or otherwise. A pupil is required to attend regularly at the school where they are registered as a pupil.

Furthermore, Section 444 states that:
“If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty of an offence.”

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/444

Rhos St will use a variety of strategies to intervene at an early stage to encourage improved attendance of individual pupils and assist to overcome any barriers that may be preventing the expected level of attendance. Persistent absence in Wales is set at below 90 % all pupils below this level are a concern for school and will require monitoring and intervention. The use of school attendance data and coding of pupils is fundamental to tracking and monitoring pupil and school performance. Strategies to improve a pupil’s attendance may be school-based or involve joint working with other education services and partner agencies to ensure the most appropriate support for the pupil is in place supported by the parent/ carer.

Welsh Government in December 2023 changed the threshold for a pupil being persistently absent from previously being any pupils whose attendance was below 80% to those whose attendance is below 90%. This increased expectation underlines the importance attached to regular school attendance and the need for local authorities, schools, and families to work together to achieve this outcome.

Belonging, Engaging, Participation Guidance Welsh Government Guidance 293/ 2023

Christmas Tickets
Tickets are still available for our Christmas performances:

3rd December Christmas Fun with the Early Years (Yrs. N & R) 9.30am – 10.30am
4th December The Nativity – Matinee (Yrs. 1 & 2)
The Nativity – Evening (Yrs. 1 & 2) 1.30pm – 2.30pm
5.30pm – 6.30pm
5th December Christmas Fun with the Early Years (Yrs. N & R)
Panto Pandemonium – Matinee (Yrs. 3, 4, 5 & 6)
Panto Pandemonium – Evening (Yrs. 3, 4, 5 & 6) 9.30am – 10.30am
1.30pm – 2.30pm
5.30pm – 6.30pm

In order to adhere to fire regulations two tickets per-performance will be available to purchase, from the school office, per-family. Nativity and Panto Pandemonium tickets cost £2.50 per ticket, Christmas Fun with the Early Years cost £5, as there is a craft element and refreshments are provided at the event. For safety reasons there will be strictly no ‘on-the-door’ access to any of the shows without the appropriate ticket.
Additional tickets are now on sale, subject to availability, from the school office. Due to the anticipated limited number of additional tickets, only two additional tickets per-performance per-family will be available. Any subsequently remaining tickets will be available for sale on the day before the individual performance.
Tickets can be purchased directly from the school office, or a clearly labelled envelope, with payment, your child’s name, class, and the performance/s for which the tickets are required, can be sent in with your child.
Cast photos will be available to view and purchase on the day of the Early Years, Infant Nativity and Junior Panto Pandemonium performances.

Size of Wales
Yrs. 3 & 4 had a very informative and enjoyable time on Monday in their deforestation workshop, linked to their topics. They learned all about the damage cause by deforestation and what we can do to help preserve our wildlife and wild spaces.

Christmas Jumpers
Many thanks to everyone for the fantastic response to our PTA Christmas Jumpers for Chocolate Day yesterday. The children looked fantastic in their finery and a huge mountain of chocolate was kindly donated to the PTA Christmas Fair.
We have three more Christmas Jumper Days scheduled this term:
• Friday December 6th – Christmas Jumper Day (scheduled to avoid our Christmas shows)
• Thursday December 12th – Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day (£1 donation to Save the Children)
• Friday December 20th – Christmas Jumper Day (end of term)

There is no pressure whatsoever to purchase a Christmas jumper, own clothes on these days are fine. We will also be running our Christmas Jumper Exchange, in the foyer, where jumpers can be swapped; a great way to update your Christmas look for free! Just leave a jumper and take a new one!
Any donations of Christmas jumpers, for the Exchange, are very gratefully received. Just leave your donated jumper on the back of the blue chairs in the foyer.

Christmas Fair
A huge thank you to our, always brilliant, Rhos St PTA for organising such an enjoyable festive event yesterday. The school hall was transformed into a Christmas Wonderland of stalls, activities, and games. Many thanks to all the members of the PTA, parent volunteers and staff members who gave up their time to run the event. Thank you also to parents, carers, family, and friends who came along to support us in such numbers. The Christmas Fair raised a fantastic £1281.48 which will be used to provide enrichment activities for the children of the school.

Name the Elf
I had very mixed feelings yesterday when I discovered that the two giant elves, that had been hanging round my office, had finally found their new homes. They have definitely been getting in the way somewhat and have been caught making themselves at home on more than one occasion. But they did add a wonderful Christmassy ambience to the place, which I’m sure that they will take with them as they take up their new residence with the winners of the PTA Name the Elf competition Eva and Toby. Well done to them both. Huge thanks also
to Emily Jackson, who so kindly donated one of the elves to the PTA.

Raffle Prizes
Please see below the list of our PTA Christmas Raffle winners. Thank you so much to the members of the school and local community who so kindly donated the fantastic prizes, and to everyone who purchased a ticket. The prizes can be collected from the school office.

Prize Ticket Number Winner
Wine Vaults Gallon of beer 1115 Noa Swan
Jay Reigns recording session 0983 Justya Kupins
Ruthin Castle sparkling afternoon tea for 2 0332 Elle Rowlands
Union Wrestling Dec 28th tickets x 4 1250 Rayne Jones
Union Wrestling Dec 28th tickets x 4 1648 Jayne Williams
Park Place 3 mystery prize 0751 Jess Geddes
Park Place 3 mystery prize 0763 Mal
Park Place 3 mystery prize 0431 Emma H
Vale Golf Centre voucher 0752 Jess Geddes
The Pet Sitter Ruthin £30 voucher for Farm & Pet Place 1058 Eden Jones
Handmade by Nanny dinosaur teddy 0078 Gareth Edwards
Asudres Bar cocktails for 4 people 0781 Reece Jones
Kellogg’s Cereal hamper 1033 Rhian S&L
Pop Ins, 2 hours domestic 1640 Linda Jones – Corwen
Automark dash cam 1759 Junior
Automark dash cam 0392 Nicola Brown
Automark dash cam 1726 Natalie Davies
Automark dash cam 0382 Elianna Bett
MKM £50 Amazon 0806 Kathy- Ellie Sandbrook
MKM echo dot 1650 Jayne Williams
Llanbenwch £10 voucher 1080 Emma Taylor
Bartley’s Tyres £30 voucher 0483 Thea Littler-Healey
Bartley’s Tyres £30 voucher 0540 Isla Wilson-Pickles
Splash-N-Dash Valeting Free Mini Valet 1074 G Liddy
CJ Valeting Exterior Valet 0183 Lesley- Mia & Esme
Tesco Vera Wang perfume 1013 Kara Astbury
Tesco Wine 1036 Deanne
Leyland Arms Sunday lunch for 2 0537 Isla Wilson Pickles
Shorecliffe 3 day first aid course 0185 Lesley-Mia & Esme
Port 0912 Hannah Vallance
Fizzy Wine 0967 Louise Thew

Influenza Vaccinations
Please can all flu-vaccination forms be returned to school as soon as possible please. The vaccinations are scheduled for the Reception to Yr. 6 classes on December 13th.

Urdd Sports Club
Please see the flyer attached for the Urdd Sports Club scheduled to begin in February 2025.
Scan the QR Code of follow this link to book a place on the course: Urdd – Gweithgareddau

Weekly Wellbeing
This week’s wellbeing quote is from Oscar Fingal O’Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. This quote helps to remind us of the positive side of the long nights and cold weather:

“Wisdom comes with winters.”

Oscar Wilde

Achievers
This week’s fantastic achievers are: Henry, Myah, Arlo, Teddy, Elsie, Eden, Chloe, Elliot, Freya, Daisy, Daniel, Rupert, Kai and Kiara. Sebastian and Cecily shared their badminton certificates and Jess shared her gymnastic medals. Very well done to this week’s amazing achievers.

Yours sincerely / Yn Gywir

Andrew Davis, Headteacher / Pennaeth