December 2020 Newsletter

Term 2 is soon coming to an end and what an incredible term it has been. We have packed in all the Christmas fun and at the same time been really mindful of the true meaning of Christmas by remembering the homeless, the elderly and those spending Christmas on their own. We may be a small school, but our children have very big hearts!

Thanks must be extended to the PFA who organised a very successful Christmas colouring competition and a Christmas raffle; raising funds for the children. We look forward to many more PFA events in the future as the school slowly gets back to normal.

The highlight of the term has to be Oak class' Nativity. The rest of the school joined in with Carols and Christmas worship songs and music, but the pupils in Oak knocked everyone's socks off with their amazing reading, acting, singing and dancing. I'm sure you have all followed the link and caught up with the Nativity and Carols, but in case you haven't, here's the link again. 

Christmas dinners have been served up and gratefully devoured by festively dressed children and all has been done with great Christmas cheer. A big thank you to Chartwells' staff - Donna and Paul, and to our Holy Cross TAs/dinner ladies - Mrs Conway, Mrs Cook, Mrs Ritchie, Mrs Perrott, Miss Ridway and Mrs Bhatti who have worked hard to deliver the best Christmas dining experience for our children.

A huge thank you to our lovely caretaker, Alfie who has worked so hard behind the scenes to keep our school clean and safe during these Covid-19 times. He has also put up and decorated 2 Christmas trees and even put colourful lights on the tree outside, which has grown so tall without us noticing. Alfie has gone out of his way to ensure that all of us have been able to experience as near a normal festive season as possible.

In January, the school is entering a new era, embracing it's small school status. Teachers have been working really hard to plan for the year ahead and to offer the very best learning opportunities to our pupils - so a big thank you to them. The office team have also worked hard keeping abreast of and acting upon all the DfE Coronavirus guidance that comes into school far too frequently. Their efforts have ensured that our school has stayed open and stayed a safe place to work and learn.

Thanks also to the school Governors who continue to be involved closely in school life. But the greatest thanks has to go to all of our Holy Cross families who have remained resolutely positive and supportive of our school. A merry Christmas to you all. Have a safe and happy holiday and we'll see you all back in 2021!

All the children had a lovely day at school on Wednesday 16th December.

Although a little different from previous years, everyone really enjoyed their delicious Christmas lunch.  Thank you to our school cook Donna and her team, for all their work preparing it for the children, as well as the staff at Holy Cross for serving the lunch.

We can also announce that we have raised approximately £50.00 from our Christmas Jumper fundraiser, which this year will be donated to the Brighton Housing Trust Charity.

Thank you for all your donations. 

Thank you to all those who bought raffle tickets this year, the PFA have raised a total of £216.20 from the event to help the school through-out the year.  

The raffle was drawn on Tuesday 15th December by Mrs Dart, Mrs Gooch and Mrs Clifford and witnessed by Mrs Weller from the PFA.  The winners of the chocolate hamper, chocolate bouquet and pick and mix selection have now all been informed.  Congratulations.

We hope the lucky winners enjoy their prizes!

A huge congratulations to the winners of the PFA Christmas Colouring Competition 2020.

Our Chair of Governors, Sandie Boniface, has now judged all the entries and has chosen her two winners from each class.

The winners, who will each recive a voucher of £10 for Kids Stuff in Uckfield, are:

Logan, Lily, Fletcher, Rubie, Lyra, Joey, Brooke and Tristen.

Well done to everyone who entered.  All of the colouring pictures were amazing.

Every Christmas, pupils from Holy Cross visit local care homes, to sing carols for the elderly and vulnerable people in our community.  Unfortunately, due to Covid, this year we were unable to do this, so the children have created Christmas cards to send instead.

Thank you to Home Instead Senior Care who will be collecting our children's cards and acting as post office, to distribute the cards to the lonley, isolated and elderly people in Uckfield this Christmas.

This year the Uckfield Festival of Christmas Trees is being held virtually, and we are very pleased to once again take part in this important local event, to support the Church, the local community and to keep the magic of Christmas alive in Uckfield. 

Recently, a videographer visited our school and filmed our beautiful Christmas tree accompanied by our amazing Willow Class children singing.

The Virtual Festival of Christmas Trees will be released on Saturday 5th December at 5.30pm.  You will be able to watch the festival via Holy Cross Church's facebook and Youtube page.  We hope you all enjoy it.

Holy Cross Church Facebook Page

Brighton Housing Trust (BHT) is a local charity working to combat homelessness across East and West Sussex. Over the last five decades they have helped thousands of people with complex needs to secure safe accommodation, overcome barriers to work and learning, and address issues such as addiction, poverty and mental health.

We joined their Christmas Bauble Campaign this year to raise awareness of homelessness and the work BHT do to support our local community.

Every pupil at Holy Cross decorated a special bauble with glitter and Christmassy pictures. The pupils each wrote a special message. Our baubles will be posted off to Brighton Housing Trust this weekend so they can decorate their residential services this festive season.

We will also be fundraising for the Trust by asking for a small donation on Christmas Jumper Day 16^th December.  

Each class now has its own Christmas postbox so that pupils can start bringing in Christmas cards for their friends. To ensure Covid safety, boxes will be emptied of cards by adults, who will wash hands before and after handling them. The cards will then be quarantined for 48 hours before being handed out to pupils by an adult. Hopefully these measures will prevent the spread of the virus and ensure everyone's safety. We are trying hard to keep to our Christmas traditions whilst adhering to DfE and local authority guidance.

Our Christmas tree was delivered on Monday after school and unveiled on Tuesday. It's a perfect specimen and has been donated to the school by Michael Grant of White House Farm Christmas Trees, Uckfield. Michael used to be a pupil at Holy Cross Primary School and now he very generously gives the school a wonderful tree each Christmas.

Thank you Michael.

We sadly say goodbye to Mr Harvey at the end of this term.  

We will miss you, and wish you all the best in your new position at a Kent School.

Smartphones, tablets, consoles, and TVs  frequently top the Christmas list, so follow this link to help with the safe set-up of devices :

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers/parents-guide-technology

Have a happy holiday and be safe. 

Mrs. Griffin 

On Tuesday 17th November, Cherry class participated in a virtual tour of Uckfield Library.

The children thought of questions to ask prior to the tour and enjoyed seeing the books they had asked about. The children were amazed to learn they could borrow up to 20 books in one go for free. Mia commented 'I like the princess books.' Skye said 'I liked when she read the pea book.' We are now all looking forward to visiting the library when it reopens. 

Years 1 through to 6 have been looking at what a computer scientist is in relation to our Gender Balance in Computing DfE programme.

Fortunately, one of our parents, Mr Weller, was kind enough to answer all of our computer science questions. Mr Weller studied Computer Science in 2000 and now runs a business in Uckfield. He has also been a frequent visitor into our school by running a Raspberry Pi Computing Club last year. 

Here are some of our questions and responses from Mr Weller:

What does your usual day of computer science look like?

Each day can be quite different. Because I run the business, I’m often on the phone to customers finding out what they need next. Other times I have to fix things that have broken (or ‘just stopped working’), or even visit customer’s offices for meetings. Most of my time is taken up with actual coding however, and I spend a lot of time in front of computer screens (I have three screens on my desk connected to a single computer).

Did anyone inspire you to become a Computer Scientist?

There are two people who inspired me. My dad wrote many computer programs and worked on computers for much of his life, including on computers that used punch cards (these were new when he used them, but are antiques now). The other person is Alan Turing, who was one of the code breakers during the World War 2.

What would you recommend to me if I wanted to become a Computer scientist?

‘Play’ with computers and learn how to program them. Scratch is a great way to learn some of the basics of programming, but there’s also Python and Visual Basic if you want to start making ‘real’ computer programs. I know of many real programs that started out as a hobby or just to learn how things are done.

As we approach the end of 2020 the governors of this very special school would like to thank you all for the contributions you have made to get us through this year so successfully.  

Huge thanks to all staff members who have maintained a safe and secure environment for our children. 

Heartfelt gratitude to classroom staff for keeping education going through the initial Lockdown, for all the motivational videos and for welcoming back pupils before the summer break. 

To all the children a virtual hug and pat on the back for taking on the challenge of learning in bubbles and 'catching up'. You're all stars. 

Last, but not least, to all the parents and carers who coped so well with home learning and then made sure that the children attended school regularly once the doors were opened again, thank you so much. ??

You all deserve a very happy Christmas and a stress free 2021. 

I count the days to Christmas
and I watch the evening sky. 
I want to see the angels
as to Bethlehem they fly.

I'm watching for the wise men
and the royal shining star.
Please may I travel with them?
Is the stable very far?

I count the days to Christmas
as we shope and bake and clean.
The lights and tinsel sparkle, 
and yet deep inside I dream

That as we tell the story
of Lord Jesus and his birth,
the things of every day will fade 
as heaven comes to earth.