Autumn Term Issue 14: 12th December 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear Families,
Can you believe we are heading into the last week of the Autumn term already? It is going to be a busy one, packed with Christmas fun, so please take a moment to check the key dates below:
Rec/Year 1 performances:
Tuesday 16th at 2pm
Wednesday 17th at 9:45amYear 2 performances:
Monday 15th at 9:45am
Wednesday 17th at 2pmThursday 18th:
Christmas Jumper Day, Christmas Dinner, and our Christmas Service at St John’s Church (9:45am)Friday 19th:
Pantomime (oh yes it is!) and an early finish at 1:50pm
You may have already heard that Sally will be leaving us at the end of this term to take on an exciting new role at the Horniman Museum. We will all miss amazing Super Sally and are so grateful for everything she has done for our school. She leaves behind a wonderful legacy, and we will be sending her off with lots of love and best wishes.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend,
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week there has been such a buzz of excitement in Reception as we prepared for our Polar Express Day on Friday. We have also been very busy rehearing for the nativity play and making Christmas angels and stars to decorate the backdrop.
To celebrate the book the Polar Express; we have been making personalised golden tickets, counting carriages and best of all making child sized trains from junk modelling out outside with our loose parts. Then on Friday we all wore our pyjamas and in secret, each classroom was transformed with our special trains, fairy lights, crates and cushions… into a locomotive cinema! Once the Train Conductors had checked and punched our tickets we boarded the train and settled down with a hot chocolate to watch the first part of the Polar Express Film. The children all agreed it was the BEST DAY EVER!
NB. If you were thinking of watching Polar Express at home, though it’s a U certificate, we recommend you watch it first, or with your child, so you know when to expect the mild peril… we skipped those bits in school.
Year 1
This week, we have been busy preparing for next week’s Nativity performances. The children have been practising with great enthusiasm, learning their lines, songs, and stage directions. We are so proud of their growing confidence and can’t wait for you to see all their hard work come together on stage.
In Science, we have continued exploring weather and what it means to be real scientists. The children have been busy collecting their own data and recording daily observations in their own weather diaries. It has been wonderful to see them carefully writing the days of the week and the full date, applying both their scientific skills and writing skills with increasing independence.
Please ensure that you have received the email regarding Nativity tickets and the request for your child to come to school wearing dark-coloured bottoms (black or navy is perfect). If you have any problems finding these, please do let us know—we are happy to help.
We are really excited to welcome you all next week to our Nativity performance and hope that you enjoy!
Year 2
This week, Year 2 began their new English text, Lizzy and the Cloud, and the excitement in the classroom was sky-high! To kick things off, a mysterious cloud seller visited the classroom, trying to sell the children magical cloud balloons.
The surprise visit sparked their curiosity and imagination, leading to a brilliant brainstorming session. The children came up with thoughtful questions before opening the book, including:
• Where did the girl get the fluffy, rainy cloud?
• Does the grey, foggy cloud always rain?
• How does she look after it?
It was a fantastic start to the unit, and Year 2 can’t wait to discover more as the story unfolds!
This week, Year 3 have been busy becoming young scientists as we explored the fascinating world of magnetics. We examined magnetic sand from New Plymouth, New Zealand, and the children were amazed to see how the tiny grains responded to our magnets—clinging, stretching, and forming spiky shapes!
Students experimented with different types of magnets to discover north and south poles, tested which materials were magnetic, and learned how magnets can attract or repel each other. We also discussed how the Earth itself is a giant magnet, with magnetic poles that help compasses point north.
It has been a hands-on, exciting week full of curiosity and discovery. Well done, Year 3!
Year 3
Year 4
Yesterday, our Year 4 children enjoyed a very special treat—a trip to the Polka Theatre to watch their guided reading text, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, come to life on stage!
It was an absolute joy to see the amazement and awe on their faces as the story unfolded in such a vibrant and engaging way. The journey wasn’t easy, but the children proved themselves to be excellent ambassadors for our school.
A particularly heartwarming moment came on the train ride home when some of the children began singing Christmas carols. Their cheerful voices filled the carriage and ended with a lovely round of applause from the public—a true testament to their spirit and enthusiasm!
What a memorable day for everyone involved!
Year 5
This week, year 5 have been using their new oracy skills brilliantly to debate the meaning of words such as prejudice and equity, they have been using their learned cricket skills from the past 6 weeks to play a proper game and they have been practising the songs for our Christmas service next week which will be a wonderful occasion for parents, staff and children to enjoy. As we get closer to the end of term and more into the Christmas spirit, we are really impressed to see the children still working really hard in class (newspaper articles, short division, animal lifecycles, religious pilgrimages and so on!) and we look forward to celebrating with them in our end of term class Christmas parties next Thursday.
Year 6
This half term, Year 6 have been travelling back in time—scientifically speaking! Through their science lessons and guided reading sessions, they’ve been journeying alongside none other than Charles Darwin himself. From natural selection to inherited traits, they’ve been uncovering the secrets of how living things change and adapt over millions of years.
Today, their learning leapt off the page as they headed to the Horniman Museum for a hands-on evolution workshop. The children put their knowledge to the test, investigating real specimens, examining fascinating fossils, and exploring how different species survive in the wild. There were moments of curiosity, puzzles to solve, and plenty of “Wow!” discoveries as they deepened their understanding of evolution and inheritance.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art studio we have been getting into the festive spirit by making Christmas decorations.
Music this week…
Continuing their work on Leitmotifs, Year 6 were using the Keyboards and iPads to try and recreate some well-known film music themes such as the two-note melody which represents Jaws. Some children also managed to play the theme from Mission Impossible and James Bond’s leitmotif.
Year 4 are getting ready for their trip to Young Voices at the O2 in January. Please see the video attached to see some rather excited children!
Hearing Resource Base
In January of this year, we launched an exciting new project offering fully funded British Sign Language (BSL) lessons to parents and carers of deaf children in our local community. Every Friday, our sign language tutor, Laura, has been teaching BSL to the children during the school day and then continuing after school with a dedicated group of parents and carers.
We’re thrilled to share that three of our parents have now completed all three modules of their Level 1 BSL qualification. They will receive their results in around six weeks. We wish them the very best of luck—well done to everyone for their hard work and commitment!
This project will continue into next year as we have more parents who are nearly ready to complete their certificates. This would not have been possible without the generous support of several charities and organisations. Our sincere thanks go to the Birkdale Trust, Chloe’s and Sophie’s Special Ears Fund, and Tesco Stronger Starts for their invaluable contributions.
Sports Update
Last Friday, our netball teams played more games against Heber—this time on home ground! The level of play had improved hugely since the previous week. Although nobody managed to keep scores, we know for sure that we improved and won one of the games!
A big well done to Isla and Iona, who were chosen as Players of the Match by the other teams. We saw fantastic improvement all around, but special mentions go to:
· Marnie for her much-improved footwork
· Aba for her excellent marking
· Posey for her brilliant passing skills
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Great effort from everyone—keep up the amazing progress!
Thank you to all of the parents and staff who braved the cold to watch and support and of course to our fabulous coaches Ali and Lou for their time and dedication.
ECO Team
Firstly, I would like to say well done to all of the children who entered the Protect the Planet Day competition. There were so many entries! The Eco Team had the challenging job of judging the entries and choosing the top three, so thank you to them for their time and effort. We clearly have many developing David Attenborough’s in our school, and we are lucky to have so many children who are passionate and dedicated to looking after our world.
Congratulations to our winners. All of the entries will be put in a folder in the library for all to enjoy and be inspired by.
School council update
The School Council would like to send a massive festive thank you to everyone who brought in new toys for the Salvation Army Toy Drive. Your generosity has helped fill our halls with Christmas spirit, kindness, and joy.
Thank you for spreading so much Christmas cheer — your donations will make so many children smile on Christmas Day.
All the wonderful gifts are now being delivered and picked up by Santa himself (with a little help from the Salvation Army elves!). 🎅✨
Thank you for making this season a little brighter for those who need it most.
Friends of SJSC
Thank you to all the Reception Parents who organised the Christmas Raffle this year. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to collate all the fantastic prizes so thank you to them. If you were lucky enough to win a prize and haven’t collected it yet, please do so at pick up on Tuesday 16th.
Thanks for your support.
Stars of the Week
Singing for Charity; Friday 19th December
On the last day of term, Pop Choir will be singing at 8.45 under the shed in the playground as children arrive for school. We have signed SJSC up to The Big Christmas Chorus – a nationwide singalong celebrating 40 years of the beloved Christmas classic "Walking in the Air", raising vital funds to tackle isolation this Christmas.
Please find attached details of the organisation, Global’s Make Some Noise to see who we are raising money for.
https://www.makesomenoise.com/
If you would like to make a donation please scan the QR code below or click on the following link;
See you next week!