Spring Term Issue 16: 10th January 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear families,
Welcome back and a very Happy New Year! We hope you had a restful break and are ready for the exciting term ahead.
As we begin this new half-term, we are focusing on our school value of ASPIRATION. In our PSHE lessons, the children will explore themes around dreams and goals, helping them set their own aspirations for the future. During our collective worship, we will delve into topics such as big thinking, mindset, determination, and the importance of supporting and cheering each other on as we all work towards achieving our dreams.
We would love to involve the wider community in this journey, so if you have an aspirational story you would like to share with us during collective worship, or if you know of any inspirational figures who could motivate and inspire our children, please do get in touch.
Despite the frosty weather this week, nothing can hold back the incredible energy and enthusiasm of our SJSC children! It has been a fantastic start to the term, with brilliant learning taking place across all year groups.
I don’t know about you, but I’m secretly hoping for a bit of snow fun this weekend!
Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.
Warm regards,
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
We started the new year with a classic tale The three little Pigs in our Drawing Club sessions, we have been counting, sorting making homes for pigs, disguising the wolf as a pig and building houses out in the garden. We have been learning to recognise and describe die patterns and playing games with dice… why not make up your own track game at home? It’s terrific to see how grown up and independent the children are becoming. In Understanding the world, we have been looking at ‘materials’ what are they- and how do their properties like being waterproof (or not) make them useful to us. We did tests to find out!
We have started learning our new phase 3 vowel digraphs and trigraphs this week ‘ai’ ‘ee ‘igh’ and ‘oa’ practise every day at home along with our tricky words to support reading confidence.
Important Dates for your Diary.
PE starts next week for Reception Stik =Tuesdays Himid=Thurdsays
Forest School Visits to Peckham Nature Garden.
9-11.30 Parent Volunteers needed (If you volunteer you can come, please sign up.)
Stik Class Thursday 23rd January
Himid Forest School Friday 24th January
Friday 31st January Parent Café
AND Reception’s International Story Day.31.1.25 AS you may be here for the parent café, please come and tell the children a story in your ‘mother tongue’ or home language.
Year 1
We have had a lovely first week back at school! The children have been so ready to learn and really impressed us with how quickly they have settled back into our school routines. We have started learning about Judaism and we looked at artifacts that are important to Judaism. Naughty Bus tried to turn our classrooms upside down and messed up our construction areas! In Maths’ the children loved making repeating patterns which they were able to elongate and radiate.
Year 2
It has been a great start to Spring 1! The Year 2’s were so excited to start their new English book ‘Ocean Meets Sky’. The children were hooked with a basket full of items that belonged to the characters in the book. From looking at these items they made predictions about what the story might be about. They can’t wait to dig further into the book next week.
Year 3
This week, we explored the powerful strategies of grouping in tens and grouping in hundreds. Counting to 1000 can seem like a big challenge, but with the right approach, it's a fun journey! We started by practicing counting in ones and move on to grouping numbers in tens and hundreds to make counting easier and faster. Grouping numbers in tens allows us to skip count, making the task of reaching 1000 easier. Grouping in Hundreds is an excellent way to understand the larger picture of numbers and can really help visualize numbers up to 1000 and beyond!
Year 4
In science, year 4 have begun a new topic al about changing state. This week the children started to understand the differences of solids, liquids and gases. The children used their prior knowledge of classification to sort different materials using Venn diagrams. This provoked a lot of discussion and insight into the children’s already fantastic knowledge. The lesson finished with creating a lava lamp!
Year 5
This week, Year 5 have started the new year ready to learn which has been awesome! We have delved straight into our new text Hidden Figures— which has opened up discussion about the Space Race, racism and sexism. Below are examples of how children are continuing to go above and beyond to bring our topics to life in meaningful ways and practising their oracy skills through presenting.
Year 6
This half term we are focusing on the Big Idea of Democracy. To begin our learning about the Suffragette movement, the children entered the classroom to find some big changes!
The boys were assigned to act as the school council and tasked with declaring 20 new rules – effective immediately. Meanwhile, the girls observed and were encouraged to express their reactions through protest posters. As the new rules were unveiled, the girls expressed feelings of marginalisation and voicelessness, leading to a powerful exchange. The class showcased their posters and engaged in a heated debate, followed by a reflective discussion about the dynamics of power and how it feels to be in a position of authority versus being powerless.
Hearing Resource Base
Forest School
For the last two terms, the children in Year 2 and Year 3 in the Hearing Resource Base have been Forest School Ambassadors. They have been trained to support groups of Year 2s, introducing them to the Rules of the Woodland, helping with materials for the sessions and leading groups in den building activities.
This week the Forest School Ambassadors had an extra session at Peckham Rye as a celebration of their learning during this project. They have been able to develop their leadership skills as well as their language and communication with a focus on appreciating the natural environment to improve well-being.
We are very proud of their achievements at Forest School.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the art studio Year 6, tackled the Christmas collage challenge. Their challenge was to use the wrapping paper and packaging from Christmas to create a unique piece of collage art.
HOWEVER…there was one small twist…
The final collage must NOT be a Christmas themed collage.
Not as easy as it first appears!
Music this week…
In music this week, Year 5 were looking at the concept of texture in sound. Music does not necessarily need a melody or a rhythm but can simply be layers of sound. One composer, Joanna Baillie has even composed a piece of music combining the sounds of traffic. The children were given images which display different textures and they had to translate what they saw into sounds using percussion instruments.
Please see the videos attached.
ECO TEAM
This half term, the children will be encouraged to start recycling their batteries in school. Please send your child in with the batteries and they will be collected and stored in their classrooms.
The class that recycles the most, will win a trip to the Southwark Recycling Centre on Tuesday 25th February!
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 …
Friends of SJSC
Did you know that the Friends of SJSC is a registered charity? If your company or employer is looking to support a charity this year then please do consider us as an option. All the money we raise goes directly to support the children at SJSC. If you’d like to know more please email: friendsofsjsc@gmail.com
Notices
Dear parents / carers
I am on the hunt for any willing adults who would be happy to share their musical skills with our children in school.
I am trying to promote our pupil’s exposure to live music as I believe it really brings the experience of sound to life.
If you have the time and capacity, please email me your thoughts
hannah.mcgregor@sjsc.southwark.sch.uk
It doesn’t matter what your instrument is (including voice) and it doesn’t matter what genre of music you play.
Many thanks
Hannah McGregor
Have a lovely weekend. See you next week!