Spring term Issue 20: 9th February 2024
Dear parents
Spring 1 has come to an end, but what a half term it has been! At SJSC we talk about our children flourishing both academically and personally, and we are so proud that this is exactly what they have done.
It all ended with a jam-packed last week when we had a lot going on across the school. On Monday we welcomed James Vogel, the Olympic rower, who inspired us to enjoy sport and taught us how to aspire to achieve our goals. Thank you Mr Evans for all your work organising this event. On Tuesday and Wednesday we were very proud to host our annual Art and Music Festival – the standard of learning and hard work that contributed to such a fantastic exhibition blew us away. Thank you to Ms Hanif-Banks and Mrs McGregor who inspire such great pieces. Year 4 impressed with their Shackleton Exhibit- well done to all. And we even found the time to practice well-being strategies that are important in such a busy week.
We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 19th February. In the meantime, have a lovely half term.
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
The theme this week was My Voice Matters, for Reception as well as looking at the PSHE aspects of this we were reading A Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai which explained her life story and how her words became so important across the world and made a change for good. The children were really thoughtful and reflective as we learned about other children in different parts of the world who cannot go to school. We put our thoughts about this injustice to good work and made banners and placards and went on a march round the boundary of the school.
This week it was Stik Class’s turn to go to Forest School, and we worried that the dreadful rain on Thursday would put a bit of a dampener on things, but not a bit of it! We sang all the way there and back. We jumped in puddles and played with the mud! We heard a woodpecker and were very relieved to have our hot chocolate under a tarpaulin shelter.
We are so proud of you all Himid and Stik classes, for showing resilience, community and kindness this week.
Year 1
Year 1 have been busy writing our own versions of The Sea Saw and we have been so impressed by the adjectives and verbs the children are beginning to use confidently in their writing! We’ve also been thinking about things we like doing to relax and help boost our mental health if we ever need to reenergise. Here, we were discovering connections we have with each other during circle time and it turned out we had lots!
Year 2
Yesterday, Kusama went to the Florence Nightingale Museum and met Florence herself! We had the most fantastic time and loved trying on nurses’ outfits from Victorian times as well as modern times. We learnt about the conditions in Scutari Hospital during the Crimean War, and then acted out what Florence Nightingale did to change the hospital for the better! It was an amazing day and we loved every second of it!
Year 3
This week, Year 3 had a fantastic time doing the 4 activities with the Olympic athlete. There were lots of smiles all around and each and of us should feel immensely proud for raising money for Team GB and for the school. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Year 4
Year 4 have had a busy, but fun week! Besides it being Children’s National Mental Health Week, it was also our long-awaited Shackleton Expedition. Us voyagers held our exhibition in the hall, and we displayed some of our fabulous work, which included: our ice-berg publishing, press release news article, paper-plate ships and a tea-stained letter. We worked extremely hard and are so proud of ourselves. We hope you enjoyed ‘swimming’ by!
Year 5
In science our topic has been habitat. Today we carried out a fair test experiment based on the question - Can I grow new plants from different parts of the parent plant? The children selected from a variety of vegetable tops and plant cuttings. In groups, they had to decide what they would change, measure, and keep the same. They then made predictions on what they think might happen. We are looking forward to observing the changes in our plants/vegetables after the half term.
Year 6
This week in Year 6 we have taken some time out of our schedule for focus on celebrating Mental Health Week. The theme ‘My Voice Matters’ fits in perfectly with our learning on The Suffragettes. We have been looking into how we can use our voices to support our wellbeing and exploring different ways that we can use our voice to create positive change.
News from the Art Studio…
Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for our Art & Music Festival. The children were thrilled to see their work displayed and lit in a gallery style setting. One child said it was like visiting the Tate! They loved showing their families and friends around, and I was so proud to hear the way they spoke about the process and inspirations behind their artwork.
Music this week…
It was lovely to see the children making instruments, listening to their peers performing on the iPads and listening to the Composition which they had all contributed towards.
Sport Update
On Monday we started the week with getting healthy, participating in a range of active sessions with our visiting Athlete, James Vogel. James helped keep us inspired to work hard physically and to keep our bodies in good shape, emotionally and mentally. He spoke to us about healthy eating emphasising the need for a balanced die but also mentioned the need to ensure we socialise and keep doing things that make us mentally happy. The amalgamation of each of these will see children at SJSC maintain a happy, active and healthy lifestyle.
Thank you James for your enthusiasm and inspiration. A huge thank you to all children who have raised a staggering £3709 pounds that the school can now use on sports equipment! Well done everyone!
Stars and Values Certificates
Stars are celebrated because they have demonstrated the school values, or gone above and beyond.
Well done to all our stars this week …
Reading Champions
This week, 5th – 11th February, was Children’s Mental Health Week in the UK to raise awareness of mental health and to empower, equip and give a voice to all children and young people. During our PSHE lessons we completed a variety of activities including how to use our voice, positive shout-outs to other members of the class and circle time activities discussing mental health. On Thursday, The NEST came to visit SJSC, delivering a parent café, assemblies, and workshops across the school. Everyone really enjoyed their time with The NEST identifying our emotions, learning how to manage our emotions and how we can practice our self-care.
News from OPAL: Outside Play and Learning
We launched Opal with a whole school assembly back on the first day of term in January. Since then we have been making excellent progress, and you will see from these great photos taken by the children of their playtimes. We are trying to offer exciting and engaging activities for all the children that will support the 18 types of play! To make this possible we all needed to agree on Ground Rules that we revisit in Opal assemblies every other week, where we Celebrate Evaluate … … Our Opal Mentor has been to visit last week, to see how we are getting on and is really delighted by our progress.
We need your help… check out our blackboard noticeboard of things we need next, have a look the next time you pass the main gates. We are currently looking for:
CHESS PIECES (Full sets and Part Sets, plus sturdy chess boards.)
BREAD CRATES
CABLE REELS
COLOURED WIGS AND TUTUS of all sizes… dress-up stuff for older children, can be ordinary adult / teen clothes & party wear … that’s fun too if you are usually in uniform!
Have a wonderful break - see you after half term!