Welcome back to what is always a busy and exciting term at school in the run up to Christmas! There are lots of performances and celebration opportunities coming up - details of dates and times are provided below.

This week in assembly we talked about our value of Respect and reminded children of simple ways they can show respect to people around them, as well as reminding children of our school rules and expectations. The children have demonstrated excellent Respect this week by saying "Good Morning" and by holding doors for their friends. Our focus on Respect will continue for the term, with a simple and demonstrable focus behaviour each week.

A Message from The Matthew Tree Project

Dear Victoria Park Pupils, Parent/Guardians & Staff,

Thank you so much for your fantastic and generous donation of Harvest Festival foods which weighed an enormous 141.85KG - absolutely amazing !!!!!

We would like to sincerely thank you all for organising the food collections. We are always thrilled to receive your donations as we heavily rely on this and any fundraising to be able to continue the vital work we do for the communities.

We are incredibly grateful for your ongoing continued support as the client numbers are starting to increase again due to the cost of living crisis.

Once again from all of us and the families who benefit from this, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Kindest Regards,

Sue Brooks (support centre manager) and

The Matthew Tree Project team

A Message from Moose

Dear Parents/Carers,

Due to the high demand we have been experiencing, Moose will be expanding our numbers on a Monday. We have availability for Mondays in Term 2 starting on the 7th November. Please do contact us if you require this date and if you require any other Mondays, you will be able to book via your Magic Booking account. We also have some additional limited availability for other days during Term 2. Do contact us if you require places.

The Moose Team

Bonfire Night at Victoria Park

Bonfire Night is back! Here are the details from the organisers:

• Sat 5th November - Victoria Park
• Guy competition at 6:15pm
• Fire lit at 6:30pm
• Food, drinks and more will be available.
• No Fireworks please! (Sparklers are O.K.)

Ukraine Christmas Appeal

We have been asked by the charity "From Bristol With Love" to set up a donation point for their Ukraine Christmas Appeal. The charity are collecting new presents, clothes, toys and puzzles to provide a gift for children and babies still in Ukraine. Please look at the letter we received from Councillor Brenda Massey and Dr Razvan Constantinescu for full details.

Our donation point is inside the school building, so you can bring your donations to the front office, or children can give them to their class teachers. In order to arrive before Christmas, donations should be received by 18th November. Please do not feel that you have to donate - the cost of living is increasing and for some this will not be possible. However, if you are able to, your donation will be hugely appreciated.

PTFA Christmas Cards and Holiday Cards

Christmas Card and Holiday Card order forms will be coming home soon! The children have made some lovely designs for these cards. Purchasing cards or other items with your child's design raises funds for the PTFA to support activities for the School. 

This year, all orders will need to be placed with the card company directly online. We have asked the company for an extended deadline for orders and will confirm this soon. If you have any problems placing an order online, please let the PTFA know by email at victoriapark.ptfa@gmail.com. 

Christmas is just around the corner - here are some advance dates of our performance and celebration events taking place in school, all of which have been added to the website calendar.

• Friday 9th December at 5pm - "Carols in the Park" - join us in Victoria Park to sing some favourite Christmas Carols. Wrap up warmly and bring a torch! (Weather dependent.)
• Monday 12th December at 1:45pm - KS2 Carol Service at St Michael and All Angels church (this involves children in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6).
• Tuesday 13th December at 9:00am - Reception Christmas Singing Performance (in school) for parents and carers.
• Tuesday 13th December at 2:15pm - Year 1 Christmas Singing Performance (in school) for parents and carers.
• Wednesday 14th December - Christmas Lunch in school (children and staff only).
• Thursday 15th December at 9:30am and 2:00pm - Year 2 Christmas Nativity Performances (in school).
• Friday 16th December - last day of term and "Christmas Jumper Day" - children may wear a Christmas or winter-themed jumper instead of their school jumper (optional).

Other Information

The Ashton Park Sports Christmas Holiday Programme is now available for parents to book. Bookings are to be made via School Hire by clicking this link. Head to the Holiday Camps page and you will see all of the activities on offer for December.

For details of a new After School Kids Yoga Group (4-7 year olds) starting in the area, click the flyer below:

There are still tickets available for this year's winter show from Travelling Light Theatre Company called "Belle and Sebastien". Click on the poster below for more details:

We are saddened to hear of events in the local park where school aged children have being approached and in some cases assaulted by a group of older children/young adults. This has affected some of our pupils and some from other local schools. As the nights draw closer and the weather turns more wintery, we know the park is often a lot quieter. Our thoughts are with the families immediately affected, and as a community we can pull together to help our children feel safe and report incidents to the police.

We all hope you have a lovely weekend!