Summer Term Issue 31: 23rd May 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear Families,
What a fantastic end to the half term it’s been—full of energy, creativity, and community spirit!
A huge thank you to our wonderful PTFA and all the parent volunteers who made the school disco such a success. It was a joy to see both children and adults dancing away and having so much fun together.
A special shout-out to a group of brilliant Year 5 entrepreneurs, who have shown incredible initiative and teamwork. They handcrafted beautiful items, baked delicious treats, and set up a fantastic stall—all to raise money for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. So far, they’ve raised over £150! This is such a heartwarming example of our school values in action, and we couldn’t be prouder. Watch out for their stall at the upcoming Summer Fair.
Our School Council have also been busy making a difference, lending a helping hand at the church this week. Meanwhile, our Children’s Faith Group delivered a thoughtful and uplifting assembly, and our netball team represented the school with pride and determination—thank you to Ms Evans and Ali Gordon for your dedication and support.
We’re also celebrating the musical talents of Aysen and Anaiah, who have made it to the top 30 in the Song Academy Competition (8–12 category). What an amazing achievement—well done!
We are incredibly proud of each and every one of our children—not only for their academic achievements, but for the kindness, creativity, and resilience they show every day. Their enthusiasm and spirit make our school a truly special place to be. A huge thank you as well to our dedicated and passionate staff team, whose care and commitment shine through in everything they do.
There’s so much to look forward to after the break, but for now, I hope you all enjoy a restful and happy half term.
Warm wishes,
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
The week Reception have spent their time
Finding out all about rhyme
We read Oi Frog and had a good look
Then made our own simple trick book.
(Do you see what we did there!)
In RE we read the story in Genesis which says God created all the animals and Adam and Eve to care for them. We talked all about caring for animals; what they need then wrote about how we would care for an animal. In Maths we have been looking at 0-10 on a number line; ordering the digits, playing number track games with a 1&2 spot dice, and explaining our reasoning when we spot a number in the wrong place. And we had a great time jumping around at the disco!!
Year 1
Year 1 had an exciting Wednesday! Not only did the children enjoy dancing their socks off at the disco but they also enjoyed an art workshop. We were very grateful that the Dulwich Picture Gallery came to school and gave the children the opportunity to explore printing. The children selected their leaves then made their stamp from polystyrene blocks. They used rollers to make sure the paint spread evenly. The results were impressive!
Year 2
In Year 2 this week, we have been subtraction superstars! We started subtracting two two-digit numbers from each other and the children have loved the challenge. We have practised subtracting using dienes and by partitioning the subtrahend into tens and ones.
Year 3
This week children learnt about the just how vital the Nile was to support Egyptian civilization for over 3000 years. To do this, we examined primary sources of information and inferred facts. To aid our understanding, we also looked at secondary sources of information and spent time examining non-fiction books about ancient Egypt. Having done this, children created their own river Nile fact sheet, complete with boats, settlements and pyramids!
Children have also continued to develop their Lacross skills and combined the past few weeks of development to play games. It was wonderful to see children working together as a team and to hear supportive cheers from bystanders!
Year 4
This half term, the children have been working incredibly hard on an exciting lighthouse project, combining their science learning with knowledge from our guided reading book all about lighthouses.
The task required teamwork, problem-solving, and strong communication skills — and the children absolutely rose to the challenge!
A big thank you to all the parents and carers who were able to come in and see the lighthouses in action.
Wishing you all a happy and restful half term!
Year 4 parent event
Thank you to all of the parents who were able to attend our Lighthouse Showcase on Thursday
afternoon. The children were thrilled to show off their masterpieces!
Year 5
This week, Year 5 have been crafting some incredibly detailed and creative versions of The Odyssey which we’re sure could have been published in Ancient Greece! On top of this, we have been to the church to see the new memorial plaque that has been put up and to see which parts of the church were rebuilt after it was hit by incendiaries in World War II. We (and our guides) were so impressed with the knowledge the children had retained from studying about the war back in Autumn term. We wish everyone a lovely half-term!
Year 6
This week, Year 6 stepped into the fascinating world of light and reflection by learning all about periscopes! After discovering how light travels and reflects using mirrors, we explored the clever science behind these devices. We also delved into the history of periscopes—did you know they were first used in submarines during World War I to help sailors see above the water without being seen themselves?
Inspired by this, our budding engineers got hands-on and built their very own periscopes, ensuring that their mirrors were placed at the very important 45-degree angle. It was exciting to watch them test their creations and realise how they could see over tables, around corners, and even “spy” on their classmates from across the room! A fantastic blend of science, history, and creativity!
Music this week…
In Year 3 music lessons, children were looking at notes on a treble clef stave. Using pitched percussion instruments, they played along to a section from Beethoven’s Symphony Pastorale (symphony number 6).
Children in Year 5 were acting out scenes from Stravinsky’s The Firebird. As one child narrated, another children had to listen to the music and consider how their character would move “on stage”.
Sports Update
Last night, our year 5 and 6 netball teams played Peckham All Stars and what an evening it was! The enthusiasm and excitement was oozing from both the players and parents.
We had a few games where both teams played a year 6 and 7 team. We were especially impressed with how the year 5s held up against the year 7s!
Well done to Zinzi and Raemy for being awarded players of the match but also to all players because their efforts were applaudable.
ECO Team
This week the Eco team shared infrmation in Collwective Worship about the importance of our upcoming march.
Please see the below message from the Eco Team:
The Climate Change March is taking place on Friday 13th June at 2:15pm on Goose Green.
Don’t delay, make your banner today!
You can make banners at home or during lunch play. There will be prizes for the most CREATIVE signs.
Faith Group
Well done to our Faith Group who led the KS2 collective worship this week. They delivered a thoughtful and inspiring message on the talents we are each given and the importance of using them to make a positive difference. It was a wonderful opportunity for the group to share their reflections and encourage us all to recognise and value our unique gifts. Well done to everyone involved!
Values Awards
Every half term we focus in on one of our school values. On the last day of term we celebrate children who demonstrated the value wonderfully.
Reading Champions are chosen each half term to inspire us all- they are children who show lots of effort, dedication and enthusiasm for reading.
Well done to all of our award winners …
Friends of SJSC
Thank you to everyone who supported the bake sale and school disco this week. We raised the following for the school:
Bake Sale - raised £261.76
School Disco - raised £300
Thanks to all the volunteers who give up their time to make these events happen for our school community.
Looking ahead we have our Summer Fair on Saturday 21st June. Truepenney’s are once again supporting the fair, and we’re looking for people to host a board advertising the summer fair. We will receive £15 for every board that goes up in the local area - we're aiming for 60 boards to raise £900 for the school.
If you’re able to help, please sign up using the link below – the deadline for is TODAY!
Sign up HERE
See you next week!