Spring Term Issue 20: 7th February 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear families,
This week has been Children’s Mental Health Week, a wonderful opportunity for us all to focus on learning more about our emotions and how we can support each other’s mental health. Our children have taken part in engaging workshops, explored insightful books, and been incredibly creative in building their 'Islands of Personality.' They've also learned helpful ways to label and process emotions—skills that will benefit them in the future.
As we look ahead, please don't forget that next week is Parents' Evening! Make sure you’ve booked your appointment for either this Tuesday or Wednesday, 26th February.
And finally… thank you to the PTFA who braved the weather to put on one of the regular uniform swap sessions. It is such a useful way to make sure uniform that children have grown out of doesn’t go to waste and we work together as a community to share resources.
Wishing you all a great weekend ahead.
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week in Reception, we shared the book The Grumpy Hat, by Nicola Kent which helped us to think and talk about our feelings, and what we can do to help ourselves feel better when we are sad or frustrated. We have been having a great time exploring painting outside, really working on our gross motor arm movements, and it made everyone feel good too! In Maths we have been learning how to correctly use the maths terms ‘more’ and ‘fewer’. In RE we learned about the story from the Bible, where Jesus performed a miracle and fed 5000 people who had come to hear him. In circle time we shared 5 small loaves amongst the children and imagined how it might have felt, and shared our thoughts and ideas.
Year 1
Year 1 have been working hard learning our new symbols + and =. We’ve looked at how + means equal to and that five is equal to two and three or three and two. We tried writing all the different ways for this e.g. 5=2+3 and 5=3+2. We enjoyed playing with the adding machine and our adding towers in continuous provision.
For children’s mental health week, we explored different ways you can move your body in PE and worked on different breathing exercises. The children were very imaginative when it came to creating their islands of personality.
Year 2
Throughout this half term, the Year 2’s have been concentrating on problem solving and team work in their P.E lessons. They have had lots of fun engaging in a range of activities and working with their peers to improve their problem solving skills. They all cheer each other on and work hard to complete all the challenging tasks. Well done Year 2.
Year 3
On Tuesday, Reverand Gill came into to school to discuss the significance and meaning of the names Jesus is given in the New Testament. We then focused on understanding the connection between a real vine plant and a spiritual vine, exploring that statement “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”John 15:5. Children finally explained who the vine was in their lives and why that person has such a significant impact on them.
Year 4
This week, year 4 were so lucky to be part of the amazing Young Voices choir of 2025. Altogether there were about 8,500 children all singing to their friends and families. The afternoon was spent rehearing with an amazing conductor where we learnt when we were singing and some new jazzy dance moves to match the lyrics. The veneing was then a magical event to be part of that the children and adults will never forgot.
We need to say a huge thank you to Clare in the office and Ms Jones for all of the background administration tasks and to the adults who attended for the day and evening. We would also like to thank the parents for their kind and warming comments of thanks and patience for our late departure.
Year 5
In Year 5, this week we have been celebrating ‘Children’s mental health week’. We have enjoyed doing a variety of activities around the theme: ‘Know yourself, grow yourself’ to get to know ourselves and each other better. The children have created the most amazing islands of personality, that they are very excited about showing you at parent’s evening. We were also lucky enough to have a visit from The Nest, who talked to us about what mental health is and how we can support our own mental health. Additionally, in Maths we have been learning about converting between units of measurement and we measured our classmates height in m, cm and mm.
Year 6
This week, Year 6 used Consensus Circles in RE to explore and agree on the definition of liturgy and the liturgical year in the Christian faith. The activity sparked great discussions, with the classes actively using their speaking and listening skills to collaborate and share their ideas. It was a fantastic opportunity for them to engage in thoughtful dialogue and deepen their understanding of these important concepts.
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the art studio, Year 5 explored the idea of Innovation. They worked indepedently and collaboratively to come up with solutions and innovations that could use some of the plastic straws we had donated to us by a café that could no longer use them.
They decided their innovations should focus on climate change and inspiring people to think more creatively about the use of plastics. Ideas ranged from a children’s sensory board to a prostetic arm to building bridges. It was so inspiring to listen to their enthusiasm and ‘out there’ thinking.
Music this week…
As part of Children’s Mental Health week, we have been thinking about emotions in music. Using the book, The Colour Monster for inspiration, children were thinking of instruments which could represent different feelings; happiness, fear, anger, sadness and calm. We were using facial expressions and movement to accompany the selected instruments.
The children were also listening to different pieces of music and discussing how composers can make the listener feel a certain emotion. For example Claude Debussy’s Clair De La Lune made most of the children feel calm and Gustav Holst’s Jupiter elicited a sense of happiness.
Reception and Years 1, 2, 3 were singing a song about how It’s Good To Be Me with our own unique combination of emotions. Please watch the video below.
Netball
Last Friday, we invited Heber school to visit us for our first netball games. We started with a lot of nerves but soon relaxed and enjoyed the games. Heber, a more experienced team, maintained the lead throughout but we are very proud of both the year 5 and year 6 teams for their resilience and positivity.
Thank you for everyone that came to support, it really made the afternoon special for all of us. Also, a huge thank you to Ali for giving up her time to plan and coach for both teams.
Let’s see how we get on this week as we have a return game at Heber.
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
Planning has already started for our Summer Fair which will be held on Saturday 21st June.
If you have any ideas that could make the event even more successful, or would like to volunteer to help us plan, please do get in touch with your Class Rep.
Many heads and hands make light work!
Thanks for your support.
Have a lovely weekend. See you next week!