Spring Term Issue 24: 21st March 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear Families,
We hope you are all having a wonderful week! Our sand pit is still a huge hit, and the children continue to make the most of it. From the joy of feeling sand between their toes to building creative structures, collaborating, and even digging for treasure—it’s truly a resource we are all enjoying.
This week, we were lucky to welcome eight headteachers to our school who spent the day learning about our approaches to education. They were absolutely wowed by everything that happens at SJSC each day. They loved the energy during playtimes, praised our highly skilled staff, and couldn't stop talking about how delightful the children are. It was such a pleasure to give them a tour, and it gave us a chance to step back and reflect with pride on all that makes our school so special.
A big shoutout to our Year 1 children who received a gold award from the judge of The London Children's Flower Society for the bulbs they have grown. What an amazing achievement!
Thursday brought another exciting experience when we welcomed "The Bird Man" to our school for Science Week. The children got up close and personal with a Harris Hawk, a Bald Eagle, and a Barn Owl. A huge thank you to Ms. Evans for organising this fascinating experience that brought science to life!
This morning, Nina and Martin ran a very informative session at the Parent Café on smartphone use, helping us understand how to best support our children in navigating the digital world. If you missed it, the slides from the presentation will be emailed out. You can also sign up for the National College's '#Wake Up Wednesday' to receive helpful tips on supporting your children online. We’ve included a poster from the National College on 'in-game chat' at the end of this newsletter for you to check out.
Today, some of our children participated in a local football tournament, and as I write this, our netball team is in the middle of a match against Heber Primary! The children have been practicing every lunchtime, so we are already incredibly proud of their effort and determination.
After such a busy and exciting week, we are all looking forward to the weekend, and we hope you have a lovely one too.
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week we have been reading the super book The Bog Baby, it really made us think about how to look after living things, and whether it is kind to keep something away from its habitat, even if you love it. Both classes went to Forest School around the Spring Equinox and spotted all sorts of signs of Spring thanks to the Woodland Trust’s helpful guides. We had great fun making ‘nests for bog babies and spotted real bird nests and heard wonderful bird song.
Next week we will be making a ‘nature table’ in the classroom, please do bring in something to share with the class that you find on a walk in the park or in your garden this weekend.
Please send in yogurt pots or small plant pots for children to experiment planting their own seeds independently. Seeds also welcome.
Year 1
What a week in Year 1! We had an amazing time in the bird assembly and the children were very brave, even when the eagle wafted us with his wings. Our beans have been growing well. We’ve ‘been’ tracking them in our bean diary and working on our scientific drawings and observations. The children have enjoyed learning about Northern Ireland. We looked at the landscape and even learnt about a famous author and ship from Belfast. The children finished their learning with baking soda bread and trying it whilst listening to Irish music. In English, we are starting our new book Stanley Stick. The children loved finding and decorating their own magic stick.
Year 2
This week we started looking more into germs and how quickly they can spread. The Year 2’s completed an experiment in science using bread to investigate the importance of hygiene. First, we used gloves to pick up a piece of bread then we washed our hands and touched another piece. After, we then used hand sanister for the next piece and for our last piece we wiped it on top of the table and other surfaces. In the next few weeks, we will observe each piece of bread and see which one becomes the most mouldy. It will be pretty gross to look at but all the children are very excited to see what happens!
Year 3
This week children have developed a stronger understanding of plants. We have examined the different physical features of plants and identified the purpose of each, describing these. This was a great way of understanding how plants grow, survive and reproduce. Finally, we delved deeper into flowers and identified the different parts using a magnifying glass. Excellent exploration and scientific discussion.
Year 4
This week, the children have been fully immersing themselves in all things New York! We stepped into the shoes of the little boy from our story Matchbox Diary and wrote heartfelt postcards to the grandmother back in Italy, sharing our mixed emotions about this new adventure. The children wrote about their experiences so far, including the excitement of a baseball game and the awe of seeing the Statue of Liberty!
To conclude our journey with The Matchbox Diary, each child decorated their own matchbox before bringing in a special item that holds a meaningful memory. It was a wonderful way to reflect on personal stories and connections!
Year 5
This week, Year 5 have been innovating our story Robot Girl! Through our guided reading text, we’ve been learning the techniques to build tension and have put it into practise in English. The children have also exercised their creativity in their third session with our guest architect. After being introduced to all sorts of amazing, sustainable recycled materials, they created designs for a nature reserve space in Peckham Rye Park using clay modelling and tracing paper. Happy Red Nose Day!
Year 6
On Tuesday, the Year 6 classrooms were transformed into a mysterious crime scene!
As police constables, we investigated the evidence, made predictions and justified our ideas using clues we found. We practiced using modal verbs in our reports to explain what might have happened. This immersive experience was the perfect way to kick off our new text—Romeo and Juliet—and everyone is very excited to dive into the story!
Hearing Resource Base
We have been exploring books with deaf characters or with a deaf theme. Some of the books we have been reading are:
Mr Mellow likes Yellow by Tanya Saunders, illustrated by Lorena Villegas-Cid
Mr Mellow Likes Yellow is an exuberant tale about a funny and flamboyant fellow (who has a white kite that he flies at night, while balancing on his bed that is rich ruby-red) and his fantastical animal friends. Mr Mellow is deaf; to help him to hear, he wears a hearing aid on one ear and a cochlear implant on the other!
Proud to be Deaf by Ava, Lillie and Nick Beese
Ava is seven years old and she is deaf. In this book, Ava welcomes her hearing peers to her daily life, the way technology helps her navigate the world and explains common misconceptions about deaf people - and introduces some of her deaf heroes who have achieved amazing things. She talks about her experiences at school making friends with hearing children, and teaches readers the BSL alphabet and some BSL phrases.
The Night the Moon Went Out by Samantha Baines, illustrated by Lucy Rogers
Aneira is a hearing-aid wearer and she is super scared of the dark. When the moon suddenly goes out one night, Aneira is on a mission to turn it back on! With the help of her owl friend, she sets off on a journey to fix the moon and overcome her fear. This book is written by Samantha Baines, a deaf author, and Lucy Rogers, a deaf illustrator!
Music this week…
Year 1 children have been practising their oracy skilly in music. We talked about “opinions” and how to express them. Working in groups, the children took it in turns to talk about their thoughts and feelings on how Anna Meredith’s music had been used in adverts, animations and dance.
Children in Years 5 and 6 will hopefully be familiar with the name Hans Zimmer and remember his piece, Earth which he was commissioned to write for BBC Ten Pieces. For those who are interested, a film is being released today called Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert which captures an extraordinary live performance of some of Zimmer's most revered compositions, including music from Dune, Gladiator, Interstellar, The Lion King, and much more.
Featuring conversations with Billie Eilish, Sir Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Finneas, Jerry Bruckheimer, Johnny Marr, Pharrell Williams, Tanya Lapointe, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, the film offers viewers a rare glimpse into Zimmer's creative process, exploring the drive to create and stories behind his closest collaborations.
Please check the rating beforehand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLBogOW3kQs
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art Studio, Year 4 Kapoor used their sewing skills to create a string effect on their Barbara Hepworth-inspired sculptures. Year 6 Shonibare practised clay modelling skills. They will be using these next week to recreate monsters drawn by Reception Himid class.
The Faith Group
The Faith Group spent a busy afternoon cooking last Friday, making a lemon cheese cake and a hot chocolate pudding. The food was taken to St. John's church for The Robes Project which is a charity providing winter night shelter, food, advise and resettlement services for people experiencing homelessness in Southwark and Lambeth. The Church Warden reported back that they had loved the food.
Science week
To celebrate Science Week this year, we were treated to a few visiting birds of prey. The theme of science week is ‘Change and Adaptation’ so Alan (the birdman) shared his Bald Eagle (Alaska), Barn owl (Sparky) and a Harris hawk (Sybil) with us and taught us all about how the birds and other animals adapt and change to their environments. He also taught us about sustainability in the natural world which was fascinating.
The children were amazingly well behaved, as were the adults and asked lots of questions. We were all in awe of the size and facts about these amazing predators. Luckily, no one was pecked but there was a one lucky person just escaped a barn owl toilet situation!
Below is a link to find out more about the birds we met.
Congratulations to year one who received a gold certificate from The London Children's Flower Society for their spring bulb flower bed.
SJSC Stars
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
Next Friday 28th March we have our Bake Sale and Uniform Swap.
We are getting ready for Summer so please do your bit for the environment and come and pick up your child’s shorts and summer dresses from our FREE Uniform Stall, after school in the top playground.
Donations Needed
Please bring bakes and cakes - homemade or shop bought - please bring to the school gate on Friday morning or direct to the stall after school. No nuts please.
Any clean uniform items in good condition, please drop off to the school office by Thursday 27th March.
Thanks for your support.
Notices
See you next week!