Happy Christmas!
We're getting in the mood for Christmas at school.
Check this page for details of individual events, how to obtain tickets where required, and how you can get involved.
Please take a look at the information below for all the details you need to know.
Christmas post boxes Monday 4th – Wednesday 13th December
Children can send their cards to their friends through the Saltford School post. Our special post boxes appear in the school library from 1st December. Please make sure all envelopes are clearly marked with the recipient's name and class.
Christmas performances
FS/KS1 'Babushka'
Two performances will be held at school on Wednesday 6th Dec and Thursday 7th Dec, both at 9.15am. Each family has been allocated two tickets. Please collect them after school from Tuesday 21st Nov. Parents with more than one child in FS/KS1 should collect their tickets from the teacher of the youngest sibling in FS/KS1. Please show your ticket to Mrs Sage on entry.
KS2 Christmas concert '100 years of Disney'
There are two performances of the KS2 concert at school on Wednesday 13th Dec and Thursday 14th Dec, both at 9.15am. Each family has been allocated two tickets. Please collect them after school from Tuesday 28th Nov. Parents with more than one child in KS2 should collect their tickets from the teacher of the youngest sibling in KS2. Please show your ticket to Mrs Sage on entry.
Year 5 & 6 performance at the Lighting of the Christmas Tree
This event at Saltford Hall takes place on Thursday 7th December at 7.00pm. Our Y5 & 6 children will perform a variety of Christmas songs, carols and poems. The children need to be at the hall by 6.45pm. Details can be found on this letter to parents. Everyone is welcome to attend this community event as long as they have a ticket.
School Christmas dinner Friday 8th December
Our fantastic lunchtime team always make a great effort to make this a truly fun and festive meal. There will be music and decorations in addition to the special meal. We will post the special menu here as soon as it is available.
As with all school dinners, this is available free of charge for children in Reception and years 1 – 2. For children in years 3 – 6 who don't normally have a school dinner account, parents can make a one-off payment of £2.73 for the Christmas dinner via the usual payments platform MCAS (My Child at School), through the website or the app.For children with a dinner money account, this meal will be handled as a normal school dinner.
Children's Christmas parties Friday 8th December
Each year we hold Christmas parties for all year groups. Children can come to school in party clothes or Christmas jumpers. After our Christmas dinner, children in FS/KS1 play some traditional Christmas party games in their class groups and children in KS2 enjoy Christmas activities provided by the teachers.
Surprise visit from Father Christmas Friday 8th December
Top secret news, for grown-up ears only: Santa and the elves are paying all classes a flying visit on Friday 8th December during the day! They will surprise every child in the school with a lovely present. To enable the PTA to host this event, we would appreciate it if you could purchase Santa ticket/s on the PTA events page. The suggested donation is £2.50 per child. This will help the PTA continue to provide the much-needed funds that support the school. No child will be left without a gift if a ticket is not purchased, and you may purchase extra tickets if you wish to offer extra support.
Remember this is going to be a lovely surprise for the children, so please keep the secret.
Santa visit Monday 11th December
As part of his village rounds, Santa will also be dropping in to see us on the playground on Monday 11th December just after lunch.
Doodle winter calendar
The Winter Calendar is open. It’s a seasonal challenge where your child can earn virtual festive rewards by Doodling daily!
Between the 1st and 24th of December, encourage your child to complete at least one exercise each day in DoodleMaths and/or DoodleEnglish. This unlocks a calendar door where players will be rewarded with seasonal accessories and exclusive songs for their jukebox. And if they open all the doors, they'll also receive a virtual Winter Calendar badge! To get started, the children simply need to log in to DoodleMaths or DoodleEnglish from today and complete an exercise.
Find out more from this article, or visit Doodle's Help Centre here and click on the green icon to chat to the team.
Christingle service at school 
Taking place on Friday 15th December, this traditional service is a lovely way for all the children to come together in the school hall, wrap up the Christmas celebrations at school and look ahead to their Christmas holiday.
Reverse Advent Calendar Mon 13th Nov – Wed 6th Dec
Each class and the staff are collecting donations for families who need our support and goodwill this Christmas. We will take the donations to the local food bank on Thursday 7th December for distribution to local families. Please see our news item here for full details of what and how to donate.
Christmas fair Friday 1st December
This will be taking place after school on Friday 1st December.
Christmas fair raffle Friday 1st December
Community Christmas
Santa's sleigh visiting Saltford
Father Christmas will be visiting the streets and events of Saltford during December, starting with the Christmas Market and then at the following events with his sleigh:
Saturday 3rd December at the Christmas Market at Saltford Hall (10am-1pm)
Sunday 4th December at the Santa Dash (10-12am)
Thursday 8th December at the Lighting of the Christmas Tree at Saltford Hall (7 - 7.30pm)
Saturday 10th December outside Saltford Community PO/Library (9-12am)
Saturday 17th December – outside Saltford Community PO/Library (9-12am)
Monday 12th – Thursday 15th December Saltford street tours. See more info on the SCA Facebook page here.
Sunday 17th December community cinema
Screening of "Last Christmas" at 2.30pm. See the SCA Facebook page for more event and ticketing information.
How can you get involved?
- Please use our fundraising links when doing your Christmas shopping online. No cost to you, extra funds for the PTA.
- Support the PTA Christmas raffle by selling and buying as many raffle tickets as you can. Our Christmas fair is usually one of the most important fundraising events of the whole year.
- Send your child to school dressed in their own clothes on Friday 24th November, bringing a donation of chocolates or a bottle to support the PTA Christmas fair. Details below.
- Donate any toys, games and soft toys that you no longer need for resale at the fair. They should be in good, clean condition and suitable for school-age children. Please leave in the marked crates at the front of school.
- Bake for the Christmas fair. We need lots of lovely cakes and bakes (home-made or shop bought) to sell in the cafe. Please no nuts in these. Please drop them off in the school library on the morning of Friday 1st December when you drop off the children.
- Volunteer to help before, after or at the fair using the sign-up links provided. Please give just some of your time - it's usually great fun and a lovely way to meet people. Preparation night is on Monday 27th November. All volunteers will be entered into a draw to win a bottle of fizz!
- Your child's school Christmas dinner is on Friday 8th December. See the special menu here. This dinner is paid for and chosen in the normal way. The more, the merrier!
- Send your child to school in their favourite Christmas jumper or Christmas party outfit on Friday 8th December. There will be a pre-loved stall at the Christmas fair which will be a great value option.
Christmas fair Friday 1st December 3.15 – 5pm
There is lots to look forward to this year. There are some amazing stalls where you will be able to pick up a Christmas bargain, enjoy a game or activity and enjoy seasonal refreshments at very reasonable prices. Do keep an eye on the PTA Facebook page here for more news.
The fair will be opened with carols sung by some of our KS2 children. Parents of children who are singing should collect them afterwards from Mrs Sage in the school hall.
Please note that all children attending the fair should be accompanied by an adult who will be responsible for them from 3.15pm, so please pick your child up in the normal fashion.
Mufti day Friday 24th November
Children can come to school in their own clothes on this day in exchange for bringing a donation for the Christmas fair tombola stalls. This may be in the shape of a bottle or some chocolates. Collectors will be at the gates for drop-off. Please make sure any donations are within use-by dates. These stalls are very popular, so the more donations we have, the more tickets we will be able to sell. Thanks for your support.
Decorate a sweetie jar by 29th November
The PTA is running a competition for the children to decorate a festive sweetie jar. There are 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes for EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Jars should contain sweets that are in a wrapper of some kind.and decorated with in a festive style. They can be glass or plastic. Please bring your jars to the school library between 27th & 29th November. It’s great way to use up some of those Halloween sweets and get creative - we look forward to seeing everyone’s entries. Judging will take place on 30th November. If you have any queries please message our PTA at pta@saltfordschool.org.uk
Sign up to help
We’re really excited to host the Christmas Fair and we need your help to make it a success. Please sign up to volunteer at the event to allow all of these fantastic activities and stalls to run! Each class has been allocated a different stall or stalls to run. We’d also welcome your help setting up and clearing up the fair. See you on Friday 1st December for lots of festive fun!
2023 Christmas raffle
The popular Christmas raffle is run by our brilliant PTA. Tickets are sent home in book bags - please sell as actively as you feel you can. There are always some incredible prizes to be won, including two Star Prizes this year! The draw for our fabulous star prizes will take place in the hall at the end of the Christmas fair.
Community Christmas
Santa's sleigh visiting Saltford
Father Christmas will be visiting the streets and events of Saltford during December, starting with the Christmas Market and then at the following events with his sleigh:
Saturday 2nd December at the Christmas Market at Saltford Hall (10am-1pm)
Sunday 3rd December at the Santa Dash (8.30am -12pm)
Thursday 7th December at the Lighting of the Christmas Tree at Saltford Hall (7 - 9pm)
Saturday 9th December outside Saltford Community PO/Library (9-12pm)
Saturday 16th December – outside Saltford Community PO/Library (9-12pm)
Monday 11th – Thursday 14th December Saltford street tours. See more info on the SCA Facebook page here.
Sunday 17th December community cinema
Screening of "Last Christmas" at 2.30pm. See the SCA Facebook page for more event and ticketing information.
Saturday 2nd December Saltford Christmas market
The popular Saltford Christmas market will be on at Saltford Hall on Saturday from 10am. We hear that Father Christmas and his elves might be putting in an appearance.
Sunday 3rd December Saltford Santa Dash and Mini Dash
Details of this year's Santa Dash can be found at https://saltfordsantadash.co.uk/. Follow regular updates on the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/saltfordsanta/.
After Christmas
Panto comes to school: on Friday 12th January, we will be experiencing all the traditional fun of the panto at school with a professional panto company coming to visit us.
