Autumn Term Issue 10: 15th November 2024
Dear families
Today I hosted the termly Headteacher Parent Café. Thank you to all those who came- it is such a useful way for me to hear parent feedback and ideas. A few of things we discussed this time:
Uniform – the uniform policy hasn’t changed. Children can wear either white or blue polo shirts. New children were directed towards white this year to take away the element of confusion. However, discussion with parents is showing a preference towards blue should we make changes to our policy (white doesn’t stay white for long!). Until there is a change either blue or white is accepted, and for PE children can wear the coloured SJSC t-shirts or white.
The move from Parent Mail to Arbor – this is new system which, over time, will make communications as well as many other aspects of the office admin more efficient. However, we are in early days. Thank you for all being wonderful and signing up to the new app. You may have only been receiving emails at this point, this is okay. If you know of a family that has not been receiving any emails please ask them to get in touch with the office.
The focus area was about ‘What does it mean to be a church school’. I spoke about our school vision ‘Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning’ and what this looks like in action every day at SJSC. There was a great discussion about love being at the centre of everything.
If you have any thoughts on what the next Headteacher Parent Cafe focus could be, let me know.
In other news… There is a sickness bug making the rounds. Please remember that if your child has vomited or had diarrhoea they must wait 48hrs before returning to school. Hopefully the weekend will be a useful circuit breaker.
Changing the subject… There is a national campaign about parents working together to sign a pact, pledging not to give their child a smart phone. On Friday 6th December at 9:15 in the lower hall, one of our parents, Nina, will be hosting a parent café for any parents interested. This will be covering: issues and risks with smartphone use; sharing tips and hints for navigating technology; and informing interested parents about the parent pact.
I hope lots of you have noted the Christmas fair in your diaries already- 30th November!
Have a great weekend
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week in Reception we have been finding out that Night Spirits were really friendly after all… we have designed our own Night Spirits and had a go at writing a phrase to describe it, using adjectives for size and colour. “It is big and red”. We have made posters about night spirits and decorated the classroom with them. In Maths, we have been comparing quantities and learning to use the terms more, fewer and equal to describe amounts.
Next week we will be discussing ‘Life Events in History’ (part of ‘Understanding the world’) it would help your child feel able to join in our class discussion if you could have a chat about big life events that have happened in their lives (for example: learning to walk, starting nursery or school, birth of a sibling, going on a big holiday, going to a wedding…).
We would love your old flowers and more autumn leaves for cooking in the mud kitchen.
Next week we are going on our first Forest School outings. We would love lots of parent helpers please. Himid Class on Thurs 21st Nov. Stik Class on Friday 22nd Nov. (9-11.30am) Bring your wellies! Sign up at the door or email Mrs Davies & Miss Regaard.
Year 1
This week in Year 1, we have been challenging our inner Iggy Peck. We have worked hard creating out own bridges in case we ever get stuck on an island over a river! We have also been excellent mathematicians and learnt some new maths symbols- > (greater than), < (less than) and = (equal to/the same as).
Year 2
In RE this term, the Year 2 will be studying St John and St Clement. We were super excited to have Reverend Gill come in to talk about St John this week. The children engaged in deep conversation, discussing who St John was and why he is special. Reverend Gill brought in some special items including a picture with symbols that represent St John, the Gospel of John and a book all about different Saints. Next week, Reverend Gill will be back to teach us about St Clement - the children can’t wait!
Year 3
This week in Year 3, we’ve embarked on a unique and exciting adventure—Tea Tasting! After looking at thour new book, Cloud Tea Monkey by Mal Peet, which explores the magical world of tea growing, children had the chance to experience a tea tasting event of their own. Tea tasting is more than just sipping a cup of tea—it’s a sensory journey that involves using your eyes, nose, and taste buds to discover the different flavours and aromas in a cup! Our Year 3 Tea Tasting session was tea-riffic as we sipped and smelt the variation of flavours before describing each.
Year 4
Having written our letters of application to become crew members on board the Endurance, we received a reply from Ernest Shackleton! We worked together to devise questions that he may have asked as part of the interview and enjoyed taking part in drama pretending to be interviewed. This helped us think carefully about what sorts of answers we should give so that we could prove to Shackleton that we should be given a place on his expedition.
Year 5
This week is Anti-Bullying week and in Year 5 we were lucky enough to have a workshop from Big Foot Education focusing on staying safe online. The children worked in groups to identify the differences between communicating in person and online and to freeze frame various scenarios. The children also discussed how to help ourselves if they have experienced unkindness from others while they are online and who/how they could report it to.
Year 6
Year 6 have had an amazing week at PGL this week. We have zip-wired, rock-climbed, completed an assault course, hit the bullseye in archery, and much more. The children have been amazing and we have all had so much fun.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the art studio, Year 2 explored the idea of artists as collectors. We looked at how things could grouped and displayed. We photographed our collections..
Music this week…
Children in Year 1 were listening to The Aquarium from Saint Saen’s Carnival of the Animals. Bubbles appeared as the music progressed and they used the floating motion of the bubbles to inspire how they moved around the room to the music waving ribbons. They then used the Glockenspiels to make gentle, ripple sounds by playing a glissando.
Year 5 children were using Bandlab on the iPads to listen to a section of music written by a Kenyan artist, Nyanza which they were then attempting to “fork”. Forking is when you use a composition with the artist’s agreement and change the various settings, instruments and sounds to create your own version.
Year 6 children were surprised to find the music room looking rather “spacey” as they were introduced to the music of Hans Zimmer and his composition, Earth. As they listened to the music, they drew what they felt the music reflected the most; elements of space to the natural world or the busy man made world.
ECO TEAM
Meet this years’ Eco Team
Thank you for all of the amazing entries for the Protect the Day poster competition.
So many well thought out ideas and even poems to share!
The winners will be picked and celebrated on Monday in assembly but in the mean while, enjoy a few photographs of some of the entries.
Antibullying Workshop
This week has been Anti-bullying week. All the children have had session about respect and having zero tolerance of bullying. Years 5 and 6 took part in workshops where they explored online bullying and how to protect themselves.
Friends of SJSC
Christmas Fair donations
We are looking for some donations to make the Christmas Fair a success. All items can be dropped off at the school gate during the week of 25th-29th November. We need:
Booty Jars:
Jam/food jars filled with sweets - we can never haver too many! (Or empty jars we can fill for you).
Bakes & Cakes:
Homemade or bought cakes, cookies and treats. No nuts please.
Second Hand Gifts/Toys:
Unwanted adult and child gifts for our Elfridge’s stall - in new or near-new condition good enough to sell.
Lucky Dip Small Toys:
Any small items (think party-bag fillers) lurking in your house unused please donate so we can use in the Lucky Dip stall.
Thank you for your support.
And a reminder our Christmas Trees are on sale - please tell all your friends and neighbours.
Order here: tinyurl.com/sjsctrees
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 …
Have a great weekend. See you next week!