Christmas at St. Stephen's!

With the Christmas season soon upon us, please find a list of the activities happening in school during December. As with everything we organise, these are all dependent on the current Covid situation within the school. Thank you in advance for your patience.

CHRISTMAS MARKET - Monday 29th November

Each year FOSS run a Christmas Market providing the children with a chance to purchase some lovely, secret, low cost gifts for their loved ones.  This very special event has been running for some years at St. Stephen’s, and all proceeds of the market go towards the online learning platforms.

This year’s Christmas Market will be held on Monday 29th November in the Winchester Hall.

In order for the event to be successful we ask parents to make a donation of 6 gifts per child.  There is a box in each classroom to put gifts into and all gifts are required by this Friday 26th November latest.  (Please do not wrap them!)

On the day of the Christmas Market children should bring in £3 which will be exchanged for 4 tokens (1 token = 1 gift).  Classes are allocated a time slot to visit the market during school hours and from 3.15pm remaining gifts are available for the children, family and friends to purchase at £1 per gift.

THE FOSS ‘GET READY, IT’S CHRISTMAS!’ FAIR - Friday December 3rd

This fair will take place on Friday December 3rd in the school playground. Parents are invited to donate old Christmas jumpers that no longer fit or buy second hand ones in time for Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 15th December. There will also be a selection of stalls and workshops and Christmassy items for sale. Information about what’s included and how to sign up will be sent out soon and all proceeds will go to FOSS.

RECEPTION NATIVITY – December 7th & 8th

This year the Reception children will be performing the nativity on Tuesday 7th December at 2:30pm and again on Wednesday 8th December  9:30 am.  Currently, Reception Parents/Carers are very welcome to join us in the school hall.

CAROL SERVICE - Wednesday 15th December

Our Carol Service will be held at 10:00am on Wednesday 15th December at St. Stephen’s Church.  At this service we celebrate the nativity and sing a selection of Carols.  Year 2 children will be allocated parts for the nativity and information about children’s parts and costumes will follow.  Again, we are hopeful that Parents/Carers will join us in this celebration. 

Attending the Carol Service Please use the link on the letter sent to parents to let us know if you will be attending the service.
Walkers to and from the Church As in past years, we would really appreciate parent help with all walkers to and from the Church – both on the actual performance but also for the rehearsal, the day before on December 14th. Please use the link on the letter sent to parents to let us know if you can help.
Please note: that the Church Service is due to end at 10.45am at the earliest. Christmas Lunch helpers will need to be at school to start setting up from 11am. Therefore, if you are helping set up and serve the Lunch Service (please see below), it may be a struggle to walk the children back from Church in time – especially if the service overruns.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH - Wednesday 15th December

We will be holding our traditional Christmas Lunch, with all the trimmings, on Wednesday 15th December after the Carol Service.  All children are invited to have lunch on this day, even if they normally have packed lunch.

Reception, Y1 or Y2 and Free School Meals recipients - there will be no charge for the meal. 
If your child is in Y3-Y6 and would like a Christmas lunch, the cost of the meal is £2.30 which will be added to your ParentPay account.
In past year, we have relied on the generosity of our parent helpers to set up and serve the Christmas lunch to the children. The children have always loved this part of our Christmas Celebrations and we are so happy we are able to invite parents in, once again. All adult helpers who help to serve the children will get a Christmas lunch as a reward!

Lunch orders and helpers to serve the children Please use the link on the letter sent to parents to view the Christmas Menu and order your child’s Christmas Lunch options. You can also use this link to sign up to be a Christmas Lunch Helper.
Please note: that the Church Service is due to end at 10.45am at the earliest and lunch helpers will need to be at school to start setting up from 11am. Therefore, if you are helping with Lunch Service, you may not also be able to walk the children back from Church.

CHRISTMAS PARTIES/ CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY - Wednesday 15th December

Christmas parties for all classes will be held after the Christmas Lunch on Wednesday 15th December.  Children are invited to bring Christmas Jumpers to school on this day, to put on after the Carol Service. There is no need to supply party food this year as the children will have had their Christmas Lunch earlier in the day.

Please note that we close for the Christmas holidays on Friday 17th December at the earlier finish time of 2.15pm.  The school will reopen on Wednesday 5th January.