Summer Term Issue 30: 16th May 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear Families,
This week I received a letter from a kind postcard dealer. He had found a postcard certificate for attendance from our school (then Adys Road School) from 1800! It turns out that punctuality was just as important then as it is now!
Back to the present and a huge well done to our Year 6 children who completed their SATs this week! They have worked incredibly hard all year, and we are so proud of the positive attitude and determination they showed throughout. They truly gave their best, and we hope they feel just as proud of themselves as we are of them. To celebrate, they enjoyed a well-earned water fight this afternoon—soaking themselves and the staff in the process!
Today, our Parent Prayer Group gathered for a peaceful and reflective time together. It’s always a special moment to come together in gratitude and to pray for all members of our school community and the unique role each one plays in making our school such a special place.
Thank you to the PTFA who organised the bake sale and uniform swap and all those who came along, we really appreciate the funds raised and it’s great to work together as a community to share used uniform. Next week is our PTFA School Disco! If you haven’t got your tickets yet, there’s still time.
You should have received an email about our upcoming OPAL Parent Café on Friday 20th June at 9:15am. We’re excited to welcome our OPAL link mentor, Cath Prisk, who will be sharing insights into the benefits of play and how we can support it. We’ll also be hosting a series of Stay and Play sessions, giving you the chance to join in with our playtimes, see the fun firsthand, and witness the creativity of our children during OPAL play.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week Reception have been learning all about bugs and mini-beasts. We have found out about the lifecycle of a butterfly, how snails move and what ladybirds have for lunch! At forest school we looked out for any creatures we could spot, and collected ten beautiful things on our Tens Frames. Stik class went to help spring clean the church, and found out more about the special building.
In maths we've been finding out about making ten on double dice frames and ten frames- and our fingers- working out the missing number, and explaining how we know.
Year 1
Year 1 had a very exciting trip on Wednesday to the Horniman. They really impressed us with how sensible they were even though they were clearly very excited! We went to the aquarium and spotted different fish and amphibians. Ask your children how they knew the difference! Next, we explored the galleries and were even able to touch some antlers and porcupine spikes. At the animal trail we compared the difference between bird and mammals and could even talk about their different features!
Year 2
The Year 2’s have started their new geography unit ‘London vs Tokyo’. They were super excited to share what they already knew about the two cities and are very keen to learn more. To start off the unit we have been comparing the two cities and looking at the similarities and differences between the physical and human geographical features.
Year 3
This week children learnt about the Egyptian civilization, starting around 3000 BC, which lasted for approximately 3,000 years. We explored continuous culture changes, hierarchy, the worship of pharaohs as god-kings, and a belief in shared gods and an afterlife. In doing so, we created historical chronological timelines and identified key points in the ancient Egyptian era. Fantastic fact finding and discussions about new learnt information.
Year 4
Both Year 4 classes have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the fascinating world of the Anglo-Saxons. This week, Monet class was particularly surprised to learn about the laws and structure of Anglo-Saxon society. A few of the children were especially intrigued to discover that the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms did not have prisons—criminals often paid a small fine, called shillings, and were then free to go on their way!
We also spent time comparing their way of life to modern-day Britain, which led to some thoughtful and lively discussions.
Note to parents: The MTC (multiplication times tables check) will take place during the 1st and 2nd weeks of Summer 2. To help them feel as confident as possible, please make sure your child is practising their times tables daily.
Year 5
This week, Year 5 have made their way through The Odyssey—meeting fearsome creatures and vicious vortexes along the way!
We have begun to plan and innovate our own versions of this epic tale of endurance—will our heroes and heroines survive what we (the gods as authors) decide to throw their way? We will find out next week when we write these stories of adventure weaving in all of our past and new knowledge of the Ancient Greek world!
Year 6
On Thursday, our Year 6 children marked the end of their SATs with a fantastic water fight to celebrate all their hard work and determination. After a challenging week, the event was a joyful and refreshing way to unwind together.
Pupils arrived in their PE kits armed with water pistols (and plenty of enthusiasm!) and enjoyed an afternoon filled with laughter, teamwork and lots of splashing. Everyone got thoroughly soaked – including a few brave staff members – and spirits were high throughout.
A huge well done to Year 6 for their brilliant attitude and effort during SATs. This celebration was thoroughly deserved; we couldn’t be prouder of them!
Hearing Resource Base
Last week was Deaf Awareness Week and as part of our learning about deaf awareness we started to think about deaf children around the world. Miss Allen is a trustee of the charity ‘Jinja DEAF’ (which stands for the Deaf Education Access Fund). The charity supports the education of deaf children at two schools in the Jinja distract, Uganda.
You can find out more information about the charity here: https://www.jinjadeaf.org.uk/
Miss Allen would like to send some work from SJSC over to the children in Jinja, to give them some information about what life is like for children at school in London. Hopefully they will write back to us!
If you want to be involved, you could:
· Write a letter explaining what happens in your school day
· Make an information book or leaflet about SJSC
· Draw a picture of your classroom
· Make a card including some information about SJSC
Give your work to Miss Allen before Monday 9th June so that it can be sent over to Uganda. I’m looking forward to seeing your work!
Music this week…
This week in Music, Reception children were using rhythm sticks to learn a song about dynamics and tempo. They had to respond with loud / quiet taps or slow / fast taps. They then came up with actions to a song, I Feel Like an Elephant Stomping. The animals in the song ranged from slow to fast and loud to quiet. The photos show them tippy tiptoeing like a mouse and plodding like a tortoise. A link to the song is attached in case you want to play it at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1k6H0cPLFE
They also listened to Beethoven’s Symphony number 5 which has dramatic changes in dynamics. The children had to think of a story which the music would be a good accompniment to.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the art studio, Year 1 have returned to their Lorna Simpson inspired work. Using funny photo portraits of themselves, they cut out their face. Mixing water and inks, they created a galaxy of hair. Next week we’ll add jewels to make our hair truly cosmic!
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
School Disco
A reminder to buy your School Disco (Wednesday 21st May) tickets online here: https://square.link/u/J7tXpfKA
For those year groups whose disco takes place outside of the school day (years 3, 4, 5 &6) you will need to give permission for your child to attend through Arbor. For those in years 5 and 6, who would like their children to walk home alone after the disco, you will also need to give permission for this. Note: the disco for 5/6 will only finish at 5pm.
Thanks for your support.
See you next week!