Tag Archives: catholic schools

New nursery at Christ the King School

We are delighted to announce that from 1 January 2019, a nursery will be opening in our parish school as part of an Early Years Unit. It will provide half day placements for 32 children, 16 in the morning and 16 in the afternoon.

Huge benefits to the whole school community will include:
* Enhancing early years education at the school, with continuity of provision reflecting the ethos and culture of the school.
* Early years provision within a faith-based setting for local families, and the support of strong and effective parental links from the earliest opportunity.
* Ease of transition for a nursery-aged child going into Reception
* The opportunity for children to attend nursery at the same site as their older siblings.
* Pupils will not miss out on the start of the foundation phase where trained staff are able to appropriately address their individual development and cultural needs.

One parent writes: “This would be an excellent addition to this wonderful school and would help with the transition for pupils starting Reception. It would help tremendously for continuity of education so that children at a very young age do not have to attend two different schools… long overdue.”

Children are entitled to a part time nursery place from the start of the term following their third birthday. Your child can start full time education in the September following their fourth birthday. Attendance at the Early Years Unit does not automatically entitle a child to a Reception place in the same school. If parents are offered a place for their child within the nursery, a new application must be made for entrance in to the Reception class of the school. So applications for admission to the Early Years Unit in January 2019 can now be made and forms are available from the School Office.

2019 is going to be an exciting year with the establishment of our Early Years Unit. We have a highly skilled and enthusiastic team of staff ready and waiting to begin the new year with our youngest pupils.

Mrs Sue Miles and Fr Matthew

Governing our Catholic schools

Attending two important meetings of Christ the King School Governors this week, I was reminded of the dedication of those who volunteer for this service to our schools and the Church. Both Christ the King and Corpus Christi schools have made and are making vital decisions about their future at present, and will continue to do so, as they both hope to set out to seek new head teachers in September. Simply put, the Governors are responsible for deciding who is admitted to the school, who teaches them, making sure they are taught in the best way possible, and sharing out the cash to do it all. Pretty important stuff!

It’s a long time since being a Governor (or Manager in the old days) was a sort of reward for being a good parishioner. The responsibilities are tremendous, and so we should all be very grateful to those who volunteer to be appointed by the diocese. One of the healthiest signs in our 3 Churches that I have seen in recent time was the very good response I received when I invited people to put themselves forward to be a Foundation Governor of Christ the King. The Archbishop’s education office was amazed when I told them how many had stepped up…

In Church schools the majority of the Governing body represent the Church and are called the Foundation Governors. They are appointed by the Trustees of the diocese, and will outnumber the other governors (head, elected staff, elected parent(s), local authority rep etc), thereby protecting the Catholic nature of the school.

For me it’s an inspiration and pleasure to work alongside our dedicated school governors, and someone said to me recently that they get the least recognition for such great responsibility.

So – consider yourselves well and truly recognised and thanked, fellow Governors both past and present!

Fr Matthew