Autumn Term Issue 14: 13th December 2024
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear families,
We are all getting excited about the very festive week ahead! It's shaping up to be a wonderful time filled with Christmas spirit, and we have a few key reminders to help you join in the fun.
First up, remember Christmas Jumper Day is on Thursday! We're asking everyone to wear their brightest and most festive jumpers in support of Save the Children. You can donate via the QR code outside school or by using the link in the email you received earlier this week.
Looking ahead to next week, we are thrilled to invite you to our Carol Service at the Church on Thursday, 19th December. The children will be welcoming us into the church from 9:30 am, playing their instruments. Please do come in quietly to enjoy the beautiful music they’ve been working hard on!
The service will begin at 9:45 am, and we would love for everyone to join in singing ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter’. If you’d like to practice ahead of time, we’ve provided the lyrics and a link to the hymn below. Feel free to print them off and sing along!
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to celebrating the festive season together!
Warm wishes,
Alli
In the Bleak Mid-Winter
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Heav’n cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed,
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air,
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshiped the beloved with a kiss.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give him, give Him my heart.
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week in Reception we built steam trains from boxes for our Polar Express Pyjama Day; where we each had to make our own ticket to climb on board, and were served hot chocolate and got to watch clips from the film. Everyone had their ticket punched by the conductor and had a wonderful time! We sang Jingle bells all the way back to the classroom.
We have made our own Christmas cards, written letters to Santa and most excitingly he has written back! To decorate the set for the Nativity shows Stick class made lovely stars from coffee stirrers, based on triangles and decorated with twinkly sequins, and Himid class made beautiful angels with golden painted gingko leaf wings. And in between all this… we have been practising our songs for the Nativity next week whenever we can.
Reception Class Party is on Monday, It would help us if you could sign up on our party food lists, if your child is always at Magna and breakfast club… other parents will be able to suggest what we need more of or email your class teacher.
Year 1
The children have been working very hard this week learning all about shape! We have looked at different 2D shapes- triangles, circles and rectangles (including squares) and 3D shapes- spheres, cones, square and triangular based pyramids, cylinders and cuboids (including cubes). The children have had a go at sorting shapes, and they were great detectives spotting these different shapes in our classrooms.
We are very excited to show you our nativity next week. We have even had out first practice with Reception, they were excellent!
Year 2
In Geography the Year 2’s have been learning about their local area. They have looked at different kind of maps and designed their own map of the school. They also had lots of fun going on a walk around our local area to look for physical and human geographical features.
Year 3
We are excited to share the wonderful experience Year 3 had during their recent trip to the Science Museum this week. The focus of the visit was to explore the fascinating world of forces, a key area in our science curriculum.
The students had the opportunity to interact with a wide range of exhibits that demonstrated different types of forces, such as gravity, friction, and magnetism. They particularly enjoyed hands-on activities during the museum’s "Feel The force” show, which uses real-life examples to show how forces work in everyday life. Children learned about air pressure, magnets, and the force of gravity. They observed demonstrations on how different objects respond to forces.
Year 4
In year 4’s PSHE lessons, we have been thinking about goals and how to achieve them. We have learnt that achieving our goals is not always easy and we can have moments of wanting to give up. This week we looked at the learning pit and discovered that this is a perfectly normal part to our day to day learning and achievement of goals. We thought about mindset and how this can also help us achieve our goals when it gets tough. Our school values of resilience and aspiration play a huge role in achieving our goals.
Year 5
Year 5 have really impressed us with their WW2 projects over this half term and here are some examples of the creativity, research and hard work that has gone into the making of them. We’ve all enjoyed learning about the stories of relatives as well of the famous people they’ve chosen to do extra research on.
Year 6
This half term, Year 6 has been diving deep into the fascinating country of India! We've been exploring its stunning landscapes, from the towering Himalayas in the north to the life-giving Ganges River that flows through the heart of the country. We've also learned about India's varied climate, from the hot, dry deserts in the west to the tropical monsoons in the east. This week, we visited the computer room to research even more about India's human and physical geography. Using our new knowledge, we created fantastic PowerPoints showcasing our growing knowledge.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the art studio Year 2 created their own brushes made from found materials. We were so surprised at how beautiful they looked and how different each brush was. Next week we’ll explore mark-making with our brushes
Music this week…
In music this week, Year 4 were putting actions to lyrics in preparation for their Young Voices concert at the O2 in February. Please watch them rocking it out on the videos below. They also watched the LSO’s musical concert of Leon and The Place Between which can be revisited on the link below.
Leon and the Place Between | London Symphony Orchestra
It’s beginning to feel A LOT like Christmas in the music room. The singing rehearsals for KS1 nativities are going well and preparations for the Christmas Carol Service next Thursday are in full swing. We have also been perfecting a cup routine to accompany Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and playing poison rhythm games based around The Nutcracker.
ECO TEAM
Mission complete! Every child in the school has now planted bulbs, garlic, or broad beans. We can’t wait to see green shoots appearing in the Spring, a wonderful sign of the changing season, new life and of course home grown veg to taste.
Next half term, the children will be encouraged to start recycling their batteries in school. With Christmas coming up and old toys being swapped for new, we thought it would be a good idea to start thinking about it now and saving and used batteries for our Big Battery Hunt in Spring Term. (please do not bring any in before January!)
The class that recycles the most, will win a trip to the Southwark Recycling Centre!
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 …
Notices
SJSC Admissions Consultation
In accordance with the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012, St John’s and St Clement’s Cof E primary school is consulting on the admission arrangements for the academic year 2026-27.
The consultation period will run from 13th December 2024 to the 27th January 2025 inclusive
We have attached the proposed admissions policy and consultation changes which can also be found on our website.
Proposed changes:
· 1. Foundation Places (Note 2)
The length of time required to attend church has been reduced from 2 years to 18 months in proposed admissions changes. The proposed change also includes the attendance of messy church as an activity and in exceptional circumstances.
2. Supplementary form - Evidence of Parent / carer’s active involvement in the life and worship of their church
• Changed requirement of two years attendance to 18 months
• minimum attendance required changed from 2-3 times a month to once a month
• Removal of question do you hold office exercise leadership in church
Please review the attached documents and share any feedback. Please submit all comments/queries to Consultations@sjsc.southwark.sch.uk by the 27th January 2025.
Southwark Council Admissions Consultation
In accordance with the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012, Southwark Council is consulting on the admission arrangements for community primary schools and co-ordinated admission schemes for the academic year 2026-27.
We're looking for feedback as part of a consultation about our proposed admission arrangements for community primary schools and co-ordinated admission schemes for the academic year 2026-27
The consultation period will run from 25 November 2024 and end on 6 January 2025 inclusive.
We would welcome your views and comments on Southwark Council's consultation on admissions 2026/27 which includes:
Proposed reductions to the Published Admission Numbers (PAN) at Crawford Primary School from 60 to 30 places, at Goodrich Primary School from 90 to 60 places and at Ivydale Primary School from 90 to 60 places for the September 2026 intake onwards
Southwark Council’s proposed admission arrangements for community primary schools in the borough in 2026-27 (no changes from the previous year, except dates)
Southwark Council’s proposed co-ordinated schemes for admission of children to Reception, Junior, Year 7 and Year 10 (no changes from the previous year, except dates)
Southwark Council’s ‘relevant area’ (no changes)
Give your feedback
To view the full consultation (including all documents) and to submit your comments:
Visit https://engage.southwark.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/school-admissions-26-27
Alternatively, you can submit your comments by email to schools.admissions@southwark.gov.uk with the title ‘Response to admissions consultation 2026-27’
Have a great weekend. See you next week!