We thank God for a good start to the new term with a clear sense of God’s presence amongst us. The theme of our first whole school assembly on Tuesday, was WELCOME. We are delighted to welcome back all our pupils, including some who were unable to attend school in person at all last year. We are also pleased to welcome new children who have joined the school this term. Some are from our local community and others have come from other parts of the world, bringing their rich cultural and personal experiences to share with us. We are so grateful for the increase in our numbers and in the enthusiasm of the new families to play their part in our community. We do appreciate the way established families are reaching out to new families, explaining how things work at CFS, offering practical help and support and building new friendships.

We also spoke in the assembly of the need to look beyond our walls and extend a welcome to others who are in need of support and friendship. Several pupils, parents and families have responded immediately and have been active on the class WhatsApp groups, suggesting how we can offer practical help and resources for newly arrived Afghan families in the city.  We are planning to liaise with Bridge2, a local charity where one of our new families is working, to co-ordinate donations through school. The main items needed are unused or second-hand clothing and personal hygiene items. We will set up collection points in different areas of the school - Lower, Middle and Upper, where your children can bring your donations.   

Swimming starts again on Monday 13th September for Middle School and Thursday 16th September for Lower School. You can purchase caps, goggles and costumes from the school office. We have sufficient staff this week to walk the Middle School children down the hill and back again but would be very glad of a parent volunteer from 20th September; the times involved are 9.50am - 1130am. As the weather is so unpredictable, we ask you to ensure that your child has a waterproof coat to wear on the way to swimming. On Thursday, we are looking for a minibus driver to take Year 3 down to the University pool at about 9.00am and return to collect them at about 10.15am. If there were two or three volunteers for either of these roles, this could be done on a rota basis, so it need not be every week. Please contact Mrs Sharples on ks@cfschool.org.uk if you are able to help.  

Worship assemblies will start again on Tuesday, 14th September.  After such a long time without opportunities to meet together for prayer and worship, we are making it a priority this year to re-establish prayer and worship at the heart of the school’s life.  So we warmly invite parents to join us at 8.45am to 9.15am in the Hall.

COVID testing and isolating information  
If pupils develop symptoms, they must stay at home and arrange for a PCR test as soon as possible, then isolate for 10 days. Adults who are double vaccinated should also book a PCR test but can leave home whilst they await results. Children in the household should also book a PCR test but we ask that they stay home until their results come through. If they develop symptoms after that, they are asked to do another PCR test and await results at home. Please continue to inform school if your children have symptoms and are taking or have taken a PCR test.

We continue to encourage Lateral Flow Testing every Sunday and Wednesday evening for Years 7 to 11. Form teachers will check with pupils each Monday and Thursday morning that they've taken their test. If a child forgets on an occasion, please supervise them taking the test when they get home that evening. 
 
Water  
With current COVID mitigation measures in place, we regret that it is not possible for pupils to fill up their bottles at the water fountains. Please could we remind parents to send in sufficient water (two bottles in most cases) especially on hot days. Teachers will put out jugs of water at various locations, but it is obviously easier for your child to just reach into their bag to get a drink.

We have recently added some forthcoming events this term to our website calendar; please do check these out. The most important one for parents is Tuesday, 19th October 7.15pm to 9.15pm, when we will be holding our Parent and Friends Collaborative (PFC) meeting (postponed to 16th November). Please put the date in your diary as our PFC meetings are a vital part of building our community, both socially, spiritually and practically. We are looking forward to seeing at least one parent from each family. As part of this meeting, there will be an opportunity for new families to meet together to find out more about the life of the school and ask questions.