Autumn term Issue 12: 1st Decemeber 2023
Dear families,
It’s been a busy week in school with forest school trips in reception, Protecting the Planet day on Thursday, snow on Friday and the Christmas Fair this weekend! What a week, we hope to see lots of you on Sunday. Wrap up warm, it looks like it’s going to be cold. Here’s a reminder of the performances for Reception, Year One and Year Two.
Year 2 Nativity: I’m Gonna Shine
Monday 18th December 9.45am
Wednesday 20th December 2pm
Reception and Year 1 Nativity: The Big Little Nativity
Tuesday 19th December 9.45am and 2pm
Wednesday 20th December 9.45am
Carol Service
Thursday 21st December 9.45 at St John’s Church
Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper Day
Friday 15th December
Last day of term
Friday 22nd December - 1.45pm finish
Have a great weekend.
Alli and Joe
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
The week started with a BLAST and ended with a SQUELCH ! On Monday we discovered space bags left by the main character in our story ‘Look Up!’… they inspired loads of lovely writing. We have been finding out about four sided shapes; did you know that if you fold square in half, you get a rectangle? On Thursday and Friday, each class had their first Forest School trip to Peckham Rye Nature Garden. We had a wonderful morning exploring the natural environment, being creative, being adventures and there was a hot chocolate and a biscuit! Thank you to all of the lovely parent helpers- see you next half term! We will be going on our forest school trips every half term, hopefully over time everyone will have been able to come along.
Year 1
As rehearsals have gotten underway for the nativity this week, Year 1 have been getting into the Christmas spirit. After listening to the nativity story and practising our lines and songs, we made some classroom decorations. You’ll also notice our Christmas card post box is ready for action!
Year 2
We have now began to explore non-fiction and fiction books in English sessions. During these sessions over the week, children explored sentences and sorted them into either fiction or non fiction We also had a lovely time exploring non-fiction books and identified some of the key features!
Year 3
This week, Year 3 (Muriu) was warmly welcomed into St. John’s Church by Reverend Gill, who spoke to us about the magic of Christmas and the meaning of Advent. We learned that advent is a time of waiting – waiting to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. Reverend Gill lit 5 candles. We learned the candles symbolised the prophets, the holy family, the wise men, the shepherds and baby Jesus.
Year 4
We have really enjoyed publishing our brochures persuading people to come and visit our created civilisations.
Year 5
This week in Science, Yr 5 have been identifying the effects of air resistance. They have been asked by a skydiving company to redesign their parachutes, so they can ensure that sky divers fall as slow and safely as possible.
The children have conducted tests using the following fair test questions:
Which shape parachute takes the longest to fall?
Does the material of the parachute increase or decrease the air resistance?
Does the size of the parachute increase or decrease the air resistance?
Does the length of the parachute strings increase or decrease the air resistance?
Year 6
In year 6, we were filled with intrigue and excitement as we received an envelope marked 'Official Government Business'. Inside, we found a collection of photographs, a map and a letter of congratulations - we had been chosen to embark on a mission to Bear Island as an Arctic Researcher. Although a prestigious position, we needed to weigh up the pros and cons of such an offer before deciding to accept!
During the lesson, the Arctic seemed to come to us - the first signs of snow outside the window!
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art Studio, 4M have been observing pigeons! We looked at form, shape, pattern and colour. We were surprised how unique each pigeon was.
Music this week…
In Years 1 and 2, some children were given the task of being “class conductor”. They had to direct the other children when to play their instruments. Year 1 conductors showed how loud or quiet they wanted the children to play by moving their hands up or down. In Year 2, the conductors had actions to signal which groups of children were to play.
Year 3’s mini banjos are looking good…
Year 4 children were composing their own body percussion rhythms which the children then performed to a steady beat.
ECO Update
We are thrilled to announce our new ECO team for this academic year! We welcome all ideas and please pass on any suggestions to your ECO representative in your class.
This year the ECO team will be focussing on:
1) Waste
2) Biodiversity
3) School Grounds
These topics will all go towards our ECO Schools Award. We are beginning to plant our year group flower beds and are looking forward to seeing them grow in the Spring!
Protect the Planet Update
On Thursday it was Protect the Planet Day. Most classes joined the Protect the Planet day live stream which informed us all of the importance of our planet and why we must protect it.
We enjoyed a whole school assembly where we were able to show off all of our wonderful competition entries and celebrate the winners. Our fabulous new Eco team leaders opened our assembly with a protest march using the banners they had created from recycled materials.
A huge well done to June (Y2), Apphia-Grace (Y4)and Nilah (Y5) for winning the competition with such interesting and eye catching entries and also a huge well done for everyone who took part. Your entries will all be collected up and used by the Eco team throughout the year.
Values Certificates
This week we celebrated children who showed our values this week.
From the Friends of SJSC
We hope you’ll join us at the SJSC Christmas Fair!
This Sunday 3rd December 2023 from 1200 to 1500
We’ll have food, drinks and lot of fun!
Bring your appetite and enjoy traditional German sausages grilled by Chris. With meat, vegan and kids options, there’s something for everyone.
Mulled wine and hot chocolate, plus many more drinks options.
Get a professional photo with family or friends by photographer Ian Brodie at our Photo Booth.
Elfridge’s, a sustainable gift sale with second toys, books and games, as well as gifts for adults
Lots of family fun, including arts and crafts, face painting, bootie jars, lucky dip, and outdoor games by Magna
Entertainment by our very talented SJSC students
And more - ready about it on the Friends of SJSC website
Remember, stalls are cashless. Tokens are available for purchase at the token stands, bar, mulled wine stall, and Elfridge’s (which also accept card). Cash is only accepted at the token stand outside. Tokens are £1 for 2 or £5 for 10.
Have a wonderful weekend - see you next week!