Summer term Issue 33: 7th June 2024
Dear Families
It has been wonderful to be back at school and starting the final half term with such a high level of focus from the children and joy around the school.
We are really proud of our Eco Team who entered a video into the Primary Awards for Green Education and were awarded Runner Up. They have been such a dedicated team all year and accomplished so much. A huge thank you must go to Sally for her inspiration and leadership of the team.
There are many key events taking place this half term. Please look below for dates. You will find further detail in the Summer Dates letter sent previously.
Headteacher parent café – Friday 21st June, 9:00
Summer Fair – Saturday 22nd June
Reception sports day – Wednesday 10th July, 9:15 @ school
Rest of school sports day- Friday 12th July, 10:30 am @ Alleyn’s School
End of year reports- Friday 12th July
End of term service – Thursday 18th July 9:45 am
End of Summer term for children – Friday 19th July
Start of Autumn term for children – Wednesday 4th September
Have a great weekend
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This Week Reception have all hopped on board the good ship Pirate!! We have been reading the exciting book The Night Pirates, learning to dance a pirate jig and writing letters on tea stained ‘antique’ paper to ask to join the crew! Outside we have been working out how to build pirate ships and create sails that can hoist! In maths we have been using special abacus tool called Rekenreks that really help us visualise sour subitising and 5 and a bit number composition. Next week the children will be learning how to make their own sandwiches completely independently at the Pirate Sandwich Station in the Galley! After training, this will be a once a day help yourself activity. On offer will be wholemeal bread, plant based spread and jam.
We would love to have any flower petals, (e.g. from dead heading roses) herbs and plant stuffs to enhance our mud kitchen (and feed the snails). We would also love jam jar lids to make into compasses.
Year 1
To kickstart our history lessons this half-term, students were asked to vote on whether SJSC should keep fruit as a snack. Everyone enjoyed the process of having their say and there was a resounding majority who voted in favour of keeping fruit Hooray! However, when it came to the second vote on whether the snack should be carrots, only children born in June were allowed to vote. This did not go down so well! We felt it was very unfair that not everybody got the chance to vote… and so we were introduced to The Suffragettes and what they were protesting for!
Year 2
In Year 2 we have been exploring length and height in Maths. Children have focused on measuring correctly in cm and m, comparing measurement and conducting practical activities to solve questions. One of these, was the question “Is it true that the larger your feet, the further you can jump?”. To solve this, we measured our feet and conducted an experiment in glorious sunshine, jumping a distance and correlating the results. As it turned out our findings showed that shoe size is irrelevant to how far you can jump.
Year 3
In Year 3, as part of our science units (Forces), children conducted a test to see which road surface was best for our car. We used the following materials:
- Thick carpet
- Regular carpet
- Laminate
- Cork
- Sandpaper
- Cardboard
Before conducting the experiment, we discussed how to make the test as fair as possible.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 started an exciting journey and dove straight into division in maths. To master this concept, we began by practicing how to share counters equally. We distributed the total number (dividend) across equal groups (divisor). Once evenly divided, the number of counters in each group revealed the quotient. Check out our division skills in action!
Year 5
This week in science, our students explored the fascinating concept of day and night through a hands-on activity involving a globe and a torch. By simulating the Earth's rotation, we demonstrated how the apparent movement of the sun across the sky is responsible for the cycle of day and night. Students took turns rotating the globe while shining a torch to represent the sun, observing how different parts of the Earth experience daylight and darkness at any given time.
Year 6
This week was very exciting for Year 6 as we began our production of Madagascar. The children were cast, and we had our first run-through of the lines and songs. We were incredibly impressed by their auditions this year. So many children stepped out of their comfort zones and gave their all in their performances, having lots of fun exploring different characters. We believe it’s going to be a fantastic show!
Music this week…
In Music this week; Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have been looking at DYNAMICS (how loud or soft the music is).
Reception children were mesmerised by Bjork’s song, It’s All So Quiet.
Year 1 were learning a song about a sleeping cat and quiet creeping mice. They greatly enjoyed listening to the Cat Duet by Rossini and Pearsall which has no lyrics but meow sounds only!
Year 2 were in the role of an orchestral conductor and signalled whether instruments were to be played Forte (loud) or Piano (soft).
Years 4 and 5 were composing their own rhythmic melodies using a pentatonic scale (a scale of 5 notes).
News from the Art Studio…
This week in the Art studio, year 2 Kusama worked with animator, Hannan Majid & art director, Tansy Drake to create a stop motion animation telling the story of the Great Fire of London. In our first session, we created characters and background to use in our animation. The final animation will be shown as part of year 2’s Great Fire of London exhibition.
ECO Council update
We are thrilled to announce that our ECO team, led by Sally, achieved an outstanding accomplishment in the Primary Awards for Green Education in Schools 2024. Out of 270 entries, our team was recognised as a Runner Up! The judges praised St John's and St Clement's CE Primary School, stating, "Well done to all involved at St John's and St Clement's CE Primary School for creating such an important space for both pupils and wildlife. We really enjoyed your video, and the children are clearly proud of what they have achieved - so they should be!" This recognition highlights the dedication and hard work of our ECO team in promoting environmental awareness and sustainability. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to this fantastic achievement!
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Olympics week
To celebrate the upcoming Olympics in France commencing July 26th, next week is our own Olympics week at SJSC!
Over the course of the week, children will get the chance to participate in a range of activities.
Mid-week, we shall meet the Olympic Athlete Kristian Thomas who will tell us all about the Olympic adventure he went on and give us a sense of the Olympic spirit.
With Breakdancing new to the Olympics this year, everyone in the school will participate in a Breakdancing session. Then, later in the week we have a Skateboarding school attending for demonstrations and a presentation as Skateboarding returns to the Olympics for the second time, having made its debut at Tokyo 2020.
The children will as enjoy some French inspired cuisine Thursday lunchtime!
Please keep an eye out in the newsletter next week for updates on what occurred during the week in greater detail and photographs showing off all the fun!
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 …
Summer Fair
We’re really looking forward to our Summer Fair which is only 2 weeks away! We’re looking for donations for two of our stalls – the bake sale & booty jars. We’ll be collecting jars and cakes/cookies during the week before the fair (details to follow), so you have a week to either get baking (bought goods also fine) or clean and fill those old jars!
Friends of SJSC
The Friends of SJSC are excited to announce that we’ll be holding a kids craft market at the summer fair.
We will have an area where children can run pop up stalls selling crafts they’ve made to raise money for the school.
If your child (on their own or in a group) are keen to take part, please message Sue Mantle on 07703 515592 with the child/rens names and class!
Have a great week See you next week!