Spring term Issue 19: 2nd February 2024
Dear parents
It’s been a busy week here at SJSC.
Today the school was taken over by rock stars as we celebrated Number Day. So far we have raised £230 for the NSPCC. Thank you to Ms Berry who hosted the KS1 maths parent cafe and organised number day.
A huge well done to our Eco team who raised £415.63. Thank you to all who took part in supporting the Eco Sale.
Thank you to the parents who attended our first Celebrating Diversity workshop on Wednesday. A great discussion took place- keep a look out for the next session coming up next half term.
This week all the children attended an online saftey workshop, learning to keep themselves safe online. Click here to find further information and support for parents.
Well done to our fantastic netball team who won their match against The Belham. We are always very proud of you.
Coming up we have Arts Fest - an amazing celebration of art and music in the school. We would love for as many family and friends to come along and enjoy the exhibit. There is also a visit from an Olympic athlete, a sponsored run, year 4 Shackleton exhibit, and Children’s Mental Health week.
Wow- there is a lot going on… then a lovely break for the half term!
Thank you once again to the PTFA and parents who organised and ran the cake sale - we are truly grateful for all of your support.
Parent’s Evening booking has opened. We encourage all parents to make an appointment.
Have a great weekend
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
It has been a very exciting week in Reception this week. We have started our new book ‘The Magic Paintbrush’ which the children have really enjoyed. We painted pictures of what we would like to come to life if we had a magic paintbrush! In Maths, we have been exploring composition of 5, the children have loved singing ‘5 Little Speckled Frogs’ .. “there are 3 frogs on the log and 2 in the pond. There are 5 altogether”. The children have loved using their arms as the log, and their fingers as the frogs whilst singing us the song, we’re sure they would love to show you at home!
Year 1
Year 1 have been busy training for our sponsored sports event next week and are really grateful for the amazing amount of money we’ve raised so far!
We’ve painted covers for our own versions of our English text The Sea Saw, drawn shells and have reimagined a sketch of the London skyline using pencil, pen and pastels.
Year 2
This week we planned and prepared for a Sukkot celebration in Year 2! First, we recapped how Jewish people celebrate Sukkot and then set to work planning and making our very own sukkahs! In groups, using loose parts in the playground, we made sure our sukkah had at least three walls and that the roof was partially open as Jewish people do this to make sure they can gaze up to heaven. Finally, we enjoyed the fruits of our labour and sat and enjoyed bread dipped in honey just like Jewish people would do during Sukkot. We had such a fun afternoon working together and Mrs Laidlaw and Mr Evans were so impressed with our creativity!
Year 3
Muriu class had an amazing forest school/Stone Age experience up in Peckham Rye Park. On this beautiful sunny morning, the children got to experience making bows and arrows, tools, swings, dens and fire! The children also explored and found flint, challenged themselves by crossing the stream on a very thin bridge and cleaned and explored the stream. Obviously, we had to have hot chocolate and biscuits as well! Yet again, a huge thank you to Sally for organising the morning.
Year 4
We have been mathematicians this week in Year 4. In order to be a mathematician, you must be able to operate practically. Our focus was column subtraction with exchange. We used our Dienes to build our minuend, take away the subtrahend and find the difference. Understanding place value is so important when subtracting with an exchange, or two. See us in action!
Year 5
During physical education this week, our Yr 5 students have been practicing for their sponsored run. With enthusiasm, the children completed a circuit around the playground and enjoyed being able to do this with their friends and some of our younger students. We are super excited to meet our Olympic athlete who is visiting early next week.
Year 6
Today, the boys in the class created laws that benefitted only their own gender. The girls were rightly outraged – and protested!
We discussed how this would affect the world and the roles males and females play in the world. We discussed how sexism still exists and how it affects all genders.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art Studio, we are on the final push to get ready for our Art & Music festival.
Everyone is working hard and doing a great job on our collaborative pieces. Here’s a sneak preview, we can’t wait to show the end result!
Don’t forget to save the date for the Art & Music festival 2024 –
Tuesday 6th February 1.40 -3.10 Years 1, 3 & 5
Wednesday 7th February 1.40 – 3.10 years 2, 4 & 6
The Art & Music Festival is a great way for us to celebrate and share the creativity we all enjoy at SJSC, we hope you can join us.
Music this week…
Reception children having been listening to a piece of music called The Lark Ascending by Vaughn Williams. They described how the music made them feel and we listened to the pitch of the violin getting higher as we imagined a bird flying and soaring. You can find a link to this below.
Year 2 were learning a handclapping game which helped reinforce the pitch of our song Hi Lo, Chicka Lo. They were also perfecting Grandma’s Rap with actions (please see the video).
Year 6 have been learning the theme from Chariots of Fire on the keyboards and have been able to transfer the tune to the iPads where they can then add beats.
We are very much looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible next week at our Art and Music Festival. This will be a chance for you to see (and hear!) some examples of work which the children have produced in their music lessons.
Sport Update
This week SJSC hosted a SEND sports event and invited a number of neighboring schools along. During the day, children completed a carousel of activities all of which allowed them to develop physically as well as socially. Some of these activities included Volleyball, Dance, Gym and Capoeira. During lunch, each school ate together which allowed the children to develop new friendships. Thanks to the PESSN for supporting with the organisation during the day.
Mr Evans
On Thursday, the year 6 netball team hosted their first netball game of the year against The Belham. We played against 2 teams and I am so proud of the way they played and represented our school and its values.
The first game was epic with a 5-2 win and the second game was so fast and furious I am not even sure of the score!
We are continuing to train every Friday and we are looking forward to our next game against Peckham Allstars toward the end of the month
We love sport at SJSC! We have been working incredibly hard over the past few weeks to develop our fitness levels by doing a sponsored run and fitness circuit. As well as improving our health and wellbeing, we have also raised funds for our school. Each class, this week has ran for up to 20 minutes around the entire playground on top of their PE lessons! The stamina of each child has improved considerably thanks to weeks of practice and there is a noticeable improvement on children's enthusiasm as well as mental health. It was particularly amazing and inspiring to see year 5, year 4, year 2 and Reception running together with the older children cheering on the younger ones. Amazing community spirit!
Keep up the awesome fitness levels everyone and a huge thank you to all who have given generously to sponsor a child.
Stars of the week
Stars are celebrated because they have demonstrated the school values, or gone above and beyond.
Well done to all our stars this week …
Esafety Assembly
Have a wonderful weekend - see you next week!