Summer term Issue 36: 28th June 2024
Dear parents
It was great to see so many of you at our school fair last weekend. It was a wonderful day, with fun had by all and lots of funds raised.
The summer break is getting closer, and we have already started to prepare for September. Our new reception playdates took place today - it was wonderful to welcome so many siblings as well as new families to our community. Next week, we will be sending out our transition information. This will introduce you to your child's new class and teacher and explain the transition sessions we hold in school. It will also include some key dates for the Autumn term which you can start to put in your diaries.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Rebecca Papanicolas who is stepping down as Chair of the Friends of SJSC. Over the past 2 years, Rebecca has been wonderful to work with and so passionate about supporting our school community. The Friends of SJSC have funded numerous projects over these past 2 years including iPads, OPAL training, children's workshops, trips, our kitchen garden, and much more. Thank you, Rebecca, for your dedication and care.
Wishing you all a great weekend
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week in Reception has been SUPER! We have been having a wonderful time reading all kinds of different superhero stories, acting out scenarios… answering the emergency red phone in our Secret Superhero Base (shhhh!). We have designed our own superhero identities, applied for jobs and made museums of twenty in Maths.
We had an amazing Superhero Workshop where we got to do a tricky assault course, and find out about feelings. The final activity of the week was to interview lots of lovely Stik and Himid parents and watch a slide show all about what lots of our grown ups do for their jobs. Massive thank you to everyone who took part.
Next week we will be making super potions so please save your small plastic bottles for us, as well as any herbs and flowers you can spare.
Year 1
Following on from last week’s learning about the fierce activism of Emily Wilding Davison, this week Year 1 were so inspired by her resilience and bravery that we staged our own protest march for the rights of women. We created posters using the famous green, purple and white flag of the Suffragettes and demanded that women get to vote!
Year 2
Over the past few weeks, children have been working tirelessly to create work for the Great Fire of London Exhibition. This week, we invited adults in from year 2 to have a look and feast their eyes on the fiery, hot work that has been produced. Adults were able to read about the events in a diary entry, learn about the fierce inferno via a stop motion animation and then enjoy a musical performance sung wonderfully by everyone. Thank you to all that attended and not only showed support, but gave delightfully positive feedback.
Year 3
In Gormley class, we have a kindness jar. Over the months, the children have been learning to recognise acts of kindness within the classroom and playground. Children are able to identify acts of kindness from all around the class. For example, recognising someone helping a friend in maths, holding a door open, or putting a book away that is not theirs.
We are very proud of the words they use and how they go out of their way to find kindness.
Year 4
This week, we used a variety of conjunctions to create multiclause sentence in English. We thought carefully about how two different ideas can be combined using conjunctions. Using a range of conjunctions and clauses, we arranged and rearranged our ideas, identifying which conjunctions worked and which did not. We then experimented on our whiteboards and made sure that our use of commas was accurate. See us in action!
Year 5
In Science, as part of our topic on Materials, we have been investigating materials. We have been testing them for a range of properties including: hardness, permeability, magnetism, transparency and flexibility.
We felt like real scientists and even got to wear safety goggles when testing for hardness.
Year 6
Our Year 6 had a fantastic time diving into the fascinating world of the circulatory system in science this week! They engaged in hands-on learning by recreating the system in the hall, allowing them to understand how blood circulates throughout the body, becoming oxygenated in the lungs to help our organs to function.
Music this week…
Reception have been learning some new songs this week to join us at our end of year service; Kum ba Yah and a call a response song, Tongo. They were listening to In The Mood by Glenn Miller and Bang My Drum which is attached as a link below. This is great for looking at changes in dynamics and tempo.
Bang my Drum - London Rhymes 🥁 #TunesForTots Music for Babies and Toddlers (youtube.com)
The Year 3 children have been learning how to sing Frere Jacques as a round whilst strumming the chord of C major on the Ukulele. Please see the video attached.
This week Year 4 Kapoor were working in groups to stage Walk on Tiptoe, an adaptation of Papegeno and Pamino’s aria from The Magic Flute. They had to think about how to move and sing with expression.
Year 4 Monet were treated to a performance on the trumpet. It is so wonderful to see the progress being made by students who are learning an instrument.
Year 5 were researching the history of The Argentine Tango using The Gotan Project’s Epoca as their musical inspiration.
Gotan Project - Epoca (youtube.com)
A really big well done to the Year 6 children who are making such fantastic progress with their rehearsals for their end of year production, Madagascar The Musical.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art studio, year 6 are working hard to produce masks and props for their production of Madagascar. We can’t wait to see them being used on the big stage!
Transitions
It has been a real pleasure to join SJSC this academic year and see the excellent work and progress that our children with SEND our making. We want to ensure that this hard work continues for the end of this academic year and into the next stages of the children's academic journey. Transitions whether they are between Year Groups, Key Stages or Schools can be a stressful time for children as they get use to new routines, new adults, new friends and new surroundings. This is the case for all children and for children with special educational needs the changes can be even more unsettling. As we fast approach the end of this academic year we are already planning and actioning our transition support within school. There will be a comprehensive handover between your child's current and new class teacher and the SENDCo will share all relevant external reports where beneficial.
If you would like to discuss anything to do with your child's special educational needs or transition then please arrange a meeting with the class teacher or SENDCo Vicki Brand by contacting the school office.
Vicki Brand
News from Governors
From Simon Rutland, (Co) Deputy Chair of Governors
In my ‘day-job’ I work in finance advising energy companies. I chair the school’s Finance and Resources committee and draw upon my professional experience as a chartered accountant. I have two sons, one who is a pupil of the school with the other hoping to join his brother at the school in 2025. I enjoy cycling (both as a participant and spectator) and I am looking forward to the Tour de France starting tomorrow!
One of the governing body’s core responsibilities is overseeing the finances of the school. Prior to our summer term Full Governing Body meeting, the Finance and Resources committee set the budget for forthcoming year, as well as agreeing the three-year medium term financial plan. The amount of money the school gets is set by the government. Funding is based on pupil numbers each year with additional funding provided for pupil premium, sports premium, Special Educational Needs and the Hearing Impairment unit, and from that we pay for everything the school spends on staff wages and curriculum activity. At a time when school finances are under significant pressure, it is not an easy challenge to keep the books in balance and we work with the school business manager, Marie who does a fantastic job of planning the expenditure and managing the budget. We also benchmark the school’s costs against other schools to ensure we receive value for money. As parents and carers are also aware, the school also has a Maintenance fund held for major upcoming works such as the future upgrade of the ICT suite. The fund is supported by contributions from you, and for which the governors are truly gratefully for. The three-year outlook remains tight but positive, and the school is incredibly grateful for the great job the Friends of SJSC do in supporting the school and the contribution it brings to the budget.
Update from the Friends of SJSC
Summer success
A huge thank you to our volunteers for planning and running a wonderful Summer Fair. And thank you to our families and school community for coming and bringing all the fun! It was another successful event. We are counting tickets and will put out a fundraising update once we’ve tallied the numbers.
Committee changes
Our Chair, Rebecca Papanicolas (Year 2), is stepping down at the end of the current school year (see attached letter). Rebecca has done an amazing job over the past two years, putting in a huge amount of effort behind the scenes, helping the Friends of SJSC raise money for the school and put on some great events. She leaves the PTFA in great shape, and we thank her for all her help.
We are now looking for a new Chair or Co-Chairs, along with additional committee members to grow our team and work with Dave Rayment (Treasurer, Years 1 and 3) and Alexis Scott (Secretary,Year 2). If you are interested in getting involved or would like more information, please email friendsofsjsc@gmail.com.
Shed sponsor
Have you noticed the increase in play equipment in the school playground? This is one of the great things about OPAL. However, the school needs a new shed to store it all. They would also like to add a free choice cupboard for children to access papers, pens, books and games. We have been fundraising to purchase these, but to help make our money go further, we are looking for a business to sponsor a shed. If you own or work for a business that would be interested in being a sponsor, or know a local business that we could approach, please email friendsofsjsc@gmail.com.
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 week See you next week!