Dear Parents,

I am writing to you at the beginning of this term, just to update you on some upcoming events.

Pre-loved Uniform

I wrote to you all the end of the Easter term to inform you that the school was planning to start a pre-loved uniform shop. At English Martyrs’ we recognise that school uniform is expensive and as students grow, they can grow out of uniforms. As part of our commitment to ‘Eco-Martyrs’ to help with the environment, we will be opening a ‘Pre-loved shop’. We would like parents to donate pre-loved school uniform that would have been thrown away due to not fitting. These pre-loved clothes will then be available in our pre-loved uniform shop for parents to visit and see if there is uniform they would want. There will be a donation box, if parents wish to make a donation towards the clothes. Once we have received a reasonable amount of pre-loved uniform, I will write again with details of the shops opening times. Please note if you wish to donate pre-loved uniform to the shop it must be of good quality and clean. I hope this will be a small way in which we can all contribute to reducing clothing waste and protect the environment.

It would be marvellous if you had uniform that you no longer needed and you brought it to the main school reception.

Awards Evening

I am pleased to announce that after 2 years without being able to do this face to face, we will be having our annual Awards evening. Also during the school day, Awards assemblies will take place in school for each year group. If your son or daughter has been nominated for an award at the Awards evening, you will shortly be receiving an invitation.

Sports Day

We will on the 1st July be having our annual sports day at Saffron Lane Sports Stadium. Again this has not been able to take place for the last 2 years so we are pleased to be able to see this event taking place again. A letter outlining the arrangements for the day and what your child will need will be sent to you.

End of Term

As you will have noticed the end of the School Term is Thursday 7th July and not a Friday as it has been in previous years. The Day will finish at 1pm. Please note if your child travels on the school buses, the bus companies have been informed of the change to end of the school day and will be at school at 1pm.

Cashless Catering

In line with a number of other schools, from 26th August the school will be moving to a Cashless Catering system. This will mean that cards will need to be pre-loaded before students come to school. Students will not need to carry cash to school to load cards and it means that we will not need machines to take cash and it takes away the need for money to be counted and banked. All payments to school will be made through the Parent Pay system for catering, trips etc. (We will no longer be accepting cash or cheques). The only exception will be charity events when we will collect money in the traditional way. This will benefit both us as a school and you as a parent. Not only will you be able to pay for items and top up students catering cards from the comfort of your own home but you will also be able to access your account at any time to see if there is anything you need to pay for. ParentPay has enabled us to experience a more streamlined, cost effective and efficient payment system in a secure and safe environment. Currently we have 93% of our students who have activated their ParentPay accounts. We will be sending out activation letters to the parents of the 76 student accounts that have not yet been activated.

If you have any problems in activating your account in preparation of our move to cashless in August, please do not hesitate to contact us.

I will write to you all at the end of the term and update you on the arrangements for the start of term in August.

Yours sincerely,

M. Calen

Principal