Autumn Term Issue 6: 9th October 2026
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear Families,
Firstly, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you for your continued support. We have already enjoyed a number of exciting trips and workshops this term, and these opportunities simply would not be possible without the help of our wonderful parent volunteers. Your time and commitment make a real difference to the experiences we can offer our children.
Next week we will be holding the first of our Autumn Term Parents' Evenings. If you have not yet booked an appointment, please do so as soon as possible. These meetings are an important opportunity to discuss your child's progress and celebrate their achievements. We understand that balancing work and family commitments can sometimes be challenging; however, we are unable to arrange appointments across additional days, as teachers have a range of meetings and responsibilities after the school day throughout the week. Thank you for your understanding and support.
We are also looking forward to our Harvest Service at St John's Church next Thursday at 9:45am. This is always a special occasion for our school community and we hope many of you will be able to join us.
On the same morning, our PTFA will be collecting donations for the local food bank in the playground. Any contributions, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated and will help support families within our wider community.
Thank you once again for your ongoing partnership and the positive role you play in school life. Together, we continue to provide the very best opportunities for our children to thrive, learn and grow.
Have a lovely weekend.
Alli
Reception
This week in Reception we discovered footprints in the classrooms and huge bits taken out of our flip charts! The children loved trying to work out what had happened… Then we discovered a sack full of mysterious objects! This has been an exciting way in to exploring the classic book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. In response the children have been feeding words they have written into Sam the Wild Thing- and sounding out and blending words and having a go at writing them down. In Maths we have been comparing sets, and using the language of ‘more’ and ‘fewer’ . For Black History month we have been finding out about the life of Floella Benjamin, hearing some of her stories, and responding by creating little portraits of Floella Benjamin and writing and drawing about someone who cares for me.
Outside the children have built their own shops and been paying with conkers, they’ve been inventing slides and water transportation, and cooking up a muddy delight in the mud kitchen.
Himid class were visited by 3 children from Y5 who are all deaf and wear different kinds of hearing aids. They told us all about how they work, and gave us tips on how to support the deaf children in our class by speaking clearly, not covering our mouths and facing them when we are speaking to them. They were brilliant ambassadors for our Hearing resource Base.
In phonics we learned ‘ck’ ‘e’ ‘u’ and ‘r’ and practised sounding and blending words. We need Phonics packs (with the red book every Thursday) and we take reading book packs in on a Monday to change books and read in class and give back on Tuesdays.
Year 1
What a lovely week we have had in Year One! The children have been busy learning, creating and sharing their wonderful ideas, and we have been so proud of their enthusiasm. This week, we have been getting to know Luba, our new character from our next text, Lubna and Pebble. The children have absolutely loved decorating and designing their very own pebbles, using lots of creativity and imagination. They then introduced their new pebble friends by creating imaginative noun phrases to describe them. We were so impressed with the thoughtful and creative adjectives they chose, carefully selecting words to help their readers picture their pebble. In Maths, we have been exploring the value of numbers and learning how to compare them. The children have been busy deciding whether numbers are greater than, less than or equal to one another and practising using the symbols >, < and =. They have worked incredibly hard and are becoming more confident at using their knowledge of place value to compare numbers. Well done, Year One, for another fantastic week of learning!
Year 2
This week, Year 2 began their new English unit with a musical surprise! As the children entered their classrooms, they were greeted by an unexpected scene: a keyboard, a bear dressed in a tailcoat and bow tie, and a concert invitation to a classical music performance. The room was transformed into a concert hall, sparking curiosity and wonder.
The children were full of questions: Who is the bear? Why is there a piano? What could the invitation mean? They eagerly shared their predictions about what the story might be about, using clues from the scene to imagine what adventures lie ahead
Year 3
Year 3 have been exploring skeletons in greater detail this week. We began by sorting a range of animals according to if they had an inside, outside or no skeleton, before learning about the three main types: endoskeletons, exoskeletons and hydrostatic skeletons. The children developed their understanding of how each type of skeleton works and why different animals have evolved different structures to support and protect their bodies. It has been fantastic to see the children using scientific vocabulary and explaining their ideas as they investigate and compare the skeletons.
Year 4
We’ve had a lot of great experiences this week in year 4. First, we went to the Hayward Gallery and then we had a visit from a local Councillor who we got to ask questions about democracy, voting and our futures! We also created some eye-catching posters as part of our school council project, advertising the election day next Thursday. Good luck practising your speeches if you’re running!
Year 5
In PHSE, year 5 children have been considering how an individual’s behaviour can impact on a group, as well as working together in small groups. We were given six short scenarios before planning and performing the scenes. Ther rest of the class took turns to be the audience, trying the guess the message such as democracy in action, caring about others or having the right to learn.
Year 6
This week, it was Banksy’s turn to transform into a team of budding biologists as they explored how to classify mini‑beasts. Working in pairs, they created their own classification keys and tested them on each other — quickly discovering how one unclear question can accidentally send a snail confidently down the “definitely an insect” pathway.
As they worked collaboratively, their observations became sharper, their keys more accurate, and their confidence grew. A lively, hands‑on afternoon of scientific thinking and teamwork.
Hearing Resource Base
As part of our Deaf Awareness learning, some of the older children from the Hearing Resource Base visited Reception to teach the children about hearing aids and cochlear implants. They shared their own experiences of using hearing technology, explained how their devices help them to hear and access learning, and talked about ways everyone can support good communication. The Reception children enjoyed asking questions and learning how simple strategies, such as facing someone when speaking and speaking clearly, can help children with hearing loss hear more effectively.
The older children were fantastic role models for the younger children in the Resource Base, and the Reception children listened attentively and showed great curiosity throughout the session. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to learn from one another, celebrate our differences, and recognise the many ways we can support effective communication for everyone.
The children talked about different types of hearing aids:
News from the Art Studio…
On Wednesday morning, Year 4 visited the Hayward Gallery for a schools morning exploring the work of Anish Kapoor.
First the children came face to face with the biggest sculpture they Hayward Gallery has ever had, so big it was inflated inside the gallery! Then they looked at another gigantic red sculpture called Ha Makom which inspired their own mini sculptures made of plasticine. We left our sculptures in the gallery for other visitors to enjoy. Finally we visited the room the children had been most excited to see which had the infamous Vantablack paint – one of the darkest materials ever created. It absorbs so much light that shapes seem to disappear, and the children found it hard to tell where the surface ended!
A huge thank you to our parent and carer volunteers for their help on the trip.
Music this week…
This week, as part of our Black History Month celebrations, we welcomed back Pauline and Sandra from Southwark Music to deliver African Drumming sessions for Years 5 and 6. It is always wonderful to see how the children immediately focus and absorb the different rhythmic patterns and to hear the excited chatter of “That was so cool!”.
Friends of SJSC
Next week the school celebrates Harvest Festival on Thursday 15th October. At drop off on the day there will be a collection for donations of long-life, dried and tinned food goods as well as essential toiletries for Southwark food banks. Suggested items include pasta, rice, tinned fruit and meat, jam, rice pudding, pasta sauce, soup, shampoo, soap and toothpaste. Please bring to the collection table at drop off. Every donation will make a difference!
Also on Friday we have our next Bake Sale and Uniform Swap. Any baked or bought (nut free) donations would be appreciated on the day, and we’ll be asking for a few volunteers to help set up etc.
Looking ahead a date for the diary; PTFA AGM will be Tuesday 10th November in the evening. As a registered charity, the Friends of SJSC (PTFA) has to hold an AGM once a year where we re-elect Trustees and share the annual accounts. We’ll also look at plans for the upcoming year. The formal bit of the meeting is fairly quick, leaving time for drinks and socialising after!
Have a good week
HB Art Club
This week in Art Club the children have been working further on their sculptures using acrylic paint.
The use of colour has been amazing and the paint palettes that they used to mix the colours look almost as good as the sculptures themselves!
HB Arts Holiday Club is quickly filling up so email hbartsclub@outlook.com to book a space if you are interested. We have PPG places still available too.
Have a great weekend, see you next week!