Autumn Term Issue 07: 17th October 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear Families,
What an absolutely brilliant week we've had, and I wanted to share some wonderful highlights with you all.
Monday – OPAL Assessment Success!
I'm delighted to announce that we achieved the top level of Platinum in our OPAL assessment this week! We were described as "joyful" and recognised as being in the top 1% of the country for our fantastic play offer. This is a tremendous achievement and really reflects the hard work of our entire play team. A huge thank you to Sally and Jo, who have been instrumental in creating a playground that truly is an inspiring and fun place to be. This is something we should all be incredibly proud of.
Thursday – Harvest Festival at St John's Church
Our Harvest Festival was a joy to be part of. The singing was absolutely glorious – heartfelt thanks to Mrs McGregor for leading our children so beautifully. It was a special space for us all to reflect on and give thanks for everything we have. We were also overwhelmed by the generosity of our community – the car loads of donations for Southwark Foodbank were truly incredible. Thank you for showing our children what it means to give and support those in need.
Friday – A Visit from Our Local MP
Today we were honoured to welcome Ellie Reeves, our local MP, to school. She spent time with Year 4, who have been learning about Modern Parliament as part of their project to set up our school council. It was wonderful to see our children engaging with such an important figure in their learning. Ellie also toured the school and was generous in her comments, noting how obvious it is that "creativity" is one of our school values. She remarked on what a fantastic school we have – and I couldn't agree more.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Best wishes,
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week in Reception- we have had some exciting visitors!! First a Wild Thing called S-a-m had left footprints across the room… and put lots of things in his s-a-ck ! We learned how to write labels for them and then post them into Sam’s mouth (he only eats words!) It’s great to explore the exciting world and characters created by Maurice Sendak in his book Where the Wild Things Are.
We had a wonderfully engaging workshop for B H M with Tara Tickle- who led the children on a journey to the story tree where she and a friend on a video retold the Floella Benjamin story Coming to England, in such a clever way- with shared props. The children loved it!
In Maths we have been comparing size, shape, weight and capacity using practical resources to help us understand- and challenge each other’s misconceptions. Thank you to so many of you for coming to our Phonics Café this morning with Miss Costelloe- and for helping support your child with their phonics practise at home.
Year 1
It’s been another exciting week in Year 1! In RE, we’ve been learning about why Jesus told parables and exploring what these stories can teach us. We’ve focused on The Good Samaritan and The Lost Sheep, thinking about the important messages of kindness, care, and looking after others. The children shared some very thoughtful ideas about how we can show love and compassion in our own lives.
In English, we have started to look at what a poem is and how poets use words to create rhythm, patterns, and feelings. The children enjoyed listening to different poems and beginning to think about what makes them special.
In Science, we’ve been learning all about our five senses and how we use them to explore the world around us. Next week, we’ll be putting our senses to the test through some exciting experiments to see if we can guess mystery objects, sounds, smells, and tastes using only our senses.
The children have continued to show great curiosity, enthusiasm, and resilience across all areas of their learning. It’s so wonderful to see their growing confidence and aspiration shining through in everything they do.
Year 2
Year 2 have been learning all about Mary Seacole, a remarkable nurse and hero who helped injured soldiers during the Crimean War. As part of our Black History Month focus, the children explored her incredible life story and the challenges she overcame.
We created timelines to order the key events in Mary’s life, from her childhood in Jamaica to her brave journey to the battlefield. The children were fascinated by her use of herbal remedies to care for wounded soldiers and showed great curiosity in learning how she helped others with natural medicine.
It’s been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Mary Seacole’s legacy and understand how her compassion and courage made a lasting impact.
Year 3
Year 3 children have been exploring nutrition by investigating food packaging and learning how to read labels carefully. They worked in small groups to collect information about the amount of salt, protein, carbohydrates, and fibre in different foods. Using food packets, they compared the nutritional content and discussed which foods are healthier choices for growing bodies. The children were surprised to see how much salt and sugar can be hidden in everyday snacks! They talked about the importance of eating a balanced diet, including plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and choosing foods that give them energy without too much salt or sugar. This hands-on activity helped them understand that reading labels can help make better food choices. It was a fun and engaging way to learn about healthy eating and how different nutrients help the body stay strong, active, and well.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 became scientists in English! Inspired by our brilliant book The Ever Changing Earth, we explored how our planet has changed — with a special focus on the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights.
We began by investigating why this mysterious event happens, working in pairs to break it down into clear sections. Then, we designed and wrote our own explanations of this incredible natural phenomenon.
Miss Evans and I are so proud of the children’s fantastic effort and curiosity. Why not ask your child to explain how the Northern Lights occur? You might learn something new!
Year 5
Year 5 have been busy finishing their own versions for The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan using descriptive writing techniques. We were also really impressed by the speeches for the school council. What a hopeful selection to choose from! Worthy winners to be revealed next week...
We hope everyone enjoyed the harvest festival and have lovely plans for half term.
Year 6
Year 6 enjoyed an inspiring visit to the Black Cultural Archives this week, where they learned about the lives of Black Georgians. The trip helped the children make powerful links with our recent History lessons on the Empire Windrush and the historical ties between Britain and the Caribbean. Building on our class reading of Black and British by David Olusoga, the children explored the stories of Olaudah Equiano, Ignatius Sancho, Mary Prince and Ottobah Cugoano. They even gave short presentations (using a real microphone!) to share what they had discovered.
You can find out more about their work at our upcoming Black History Month exhibition.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art studio Year 4 completed their work inspired by Laolu Senbanjo. Senbanoj’s work crosses many mediums including fashion and music. After completing their self-portraits, the children used POSCA pens to decorate shoes and coffee cups.
Music this week…
As part of their composition project, year 5 children were making word banks associated with their chosen colours (Black Panther for Walker class and Green Emerald for Lichtenstein). These word banks were then converted into WordClouds. The next job will be for the children to select some of these words and think about how they could be represented by a sound. For example, what does coal sound like? What instrument, voice or body percussion could they use?
In Year 3 we carved out some precious time to hear some of our talented musicians and singers perform. It was lovely to see the children praising each other and boosting one another’s confidence.
What a fantastic week! We were delighted to welcome Catrh Prisk, our OPAL mentor on Monday. She spent most of the day with us, Miranda our Chair of Governors and our Play Champion Parent Tansy, going through all our paperwork- our policies, our survey results and Risk Benefit Assessments that we developed with the staff children in Opal Assemblies. She also spent nearly 2 hours in the playground, talking to children, asking them about their play, and taking risks safely. Chatting about what they love to do- helping us imagine what we could do to make our playground even better!
I would like to share her email she sent that evening:
Dear Alli, Jo and Sally and all the team,
HUGE congratulations on your OPAL Platinum award won today.
Your playtime is joyful for children and staff, and your systems feel really tight and sustainable.
It was delightful to hear how many children said something along the lines of, 'I love playtime; there is so much to do!’
Importantly, when asked about dynamic risk assessment, they all knew to check on how safe the resources are and what to do to keep “my body safe and my friend’s bodies safe”!
I particularly loved the woodworking, the new slack line, the prams, the gravel pit... well all of it! I adore the little fairy gardens. And that ball games are contained but enjoyed. And your wealth of den-making and nature, remarkable for a small site in such an urban area.
You easily achieved 96%, with me marking quite hard on a number of points, and so I am delighted to say you are officially in the top 1% of schools in the UK for play!
It was an absolute pleasure to see the joy in your playground. Please pass on my heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all of the team and the children.
All the best
Cath
We would also like to thank you- the parents and families of SJSC- for your help and support, for helping raise the money for our playground improvements and for filling in our parent questionnaires with such amazing, supportive comments.
Friends of SJSC
A reminder to hand in your artwork to your class teacher by Wednesday next week for our Christmas cards and gifts fundraiser. Thank you
Stars of the Week
See you next week!