Summer Term Issue 29: 9th May 2025
Flourishing in the love of God, love of life, love of learning
Dear Families,
It has been an inspiring week at SJSC, filled with moments that make us feel incredibly proud to be part of this community.
We’ve had thoughtful and meaningful learning through Deaf Awareness Week, which sparked important conversations about the power of communication and inclusion. It was heartening to see how engaged the children were, and how much they took away from the experience.
Our brilliant Year 5 children truly impressed with their innovative designs for sustainable buildings in Peckham Rye Park. Over the course of their project they have researched, collaborated, worked alongside and architect and presented to a panel of experts, parents, and teachers. They showcased not only creativity but a strong understanding of sustainability and design. Well done, Year 5!
A major highlight of the week was our Arts Festival, which welcomed over 200 visitors through our doors! The arts are deeply valued at SJSC as a way for children to express themselves, explore ideas, and reflect on the world around them. The standard of work on display was exceptional, and it was especially lovely to see children guiding their families around the exhibit with such pride and insight.
A huge thank you to everyone who attended, and an especially big thank you to Ms Hanif-Banks, Mrs McGregor, and Sally Oliver for organising such a special event. Their passion for the arts shines through in everything they do, and we are so grateful for the creativity they nurture in our school every day.
Looking ahead:
Our Parent Prayer Group meets next Friday 16th at 9:15am – all are very welcome to join.
On Wednesday 21st, we’re excited for our School Disco! Details on how to buy tickets and support fundraising efforts can be found later in the newsletter.
Wishing you all a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.
Warmest regards,
Alli
Upcoming Diary Dates
Reception
This week Reception have launched our Words and Pictures Club. Thank you for practising at home. We are so impressed with how the children are coming in and settling down to their task. Everyone knows something they can sound out and write-Well done! The children have been writing about their amazing dragon paintings, using interesting adjectives about size colour and texture.
In Maths we have been learning how to tell the hidden part of a total. If I know I have five but only one is showing 4 must be covered up. It’s a great game to play at home to practise. Challenge… Can you try this with more numbers up to ten?
Himid Class went off to Spring clean the church for our RE lesson, as we explore the inquiry question ‘Whose job is it to care for our wonderful world?’. Reverend Gill told us that the church isn’t just the building- it is also the people which we thought sounded like a family. Stik Class will visit next week.
Don’t forget Forest School next week- we still need volunteers please.
Himid Thurs 15th Stik Fri 16th 9-11.30
Year 1
Last Friday the children blew us away with how wonderful they were on our school trip to the Young V and A! They really enjoyed looking at all the different toys and discussing what they had been made from. They explored different creative areas, such as building, drawing and theatre and all in all had a lovely day. Thank you again to our parent helpers!
At the beginning of the week, Year 1 discovered that something had broken into the classroom and messed it all up! They did a great job of looking for clues and predicting who or what could’ve done it. Fortunately, when reading our new book ‘Send for a Superhero!’ we discovered the culprits, Filth and Vacuum! In RE, we have been learning about the Lord’s Prayer and this week, we discussed what forgiveness means for Christians and each of us.
Year 2
The Year 2’s have started their new geography unit ‘London vs Tokyo’. They were super excited to share what they already knew about the two cities and are very keen to learn more. To start off the unit we have been comparing the two cities and looking at the similarities and differences between the physical and human geographical features.
Year 3
“Hazel of the Nile”. “Midnight of the Nile?” Have you heard of such fine book titles? This week, both classes got creative and innovated their own story based upon our studied text, ‘Cinderella of the Nile’. We have developed our plans and adapted the original version, thinking of our own characters and a new journey for them to embark on. Next week, we shall continue to write these amazing stories and publish them for your reading pleasure! Watch this space…
Year 4
Last week, year 4 were very lucky to visit the Wonder Lab in the Science Museum. The children were able to experience and explore a range of areas that enhanced their understanding of the science topics they have been learning about. The most popular area was the slides where the children were able to think about friction and use their knowledge to choose which slide to go down depending on if they wanted speed or not! We were all fascinated with the magnetic fluid (ferrofluid) and capturing water drops on camera.
Thank you to all of the staff and parent volunteers who attended with us. Without you, these trips could not happen.
Year 5
Over the last half term, Year 5 have been taking part in an architecture project to redesign a new building for Peckham Rye Park in a sustainable way. We learned lots about climate change and innovations that exist to support a more eco approach to architecture. We thought carefully how we could design the building using sustainable materials and using renewable energy. The children loved taking part in the project and thank you to all of you who came to a final reveal. For those of you who missed it, here are some pictures of the children’s final designs and they should be getting some hard copies to bring home next week.
Year 6
In Year 6, we have been conjuring up our own magical potions inspired by Romeo and Juliet. Using rich noun phrases and vivid descriptive writing, we created enchanting mixtures - each potion came with carefully written instructions, explaining how to administer it—whether by sipping a single silver spoonful or inhaling the mist from a crystal vial at dawn. These imaginative creations brought Shakespeare’s world to life, blending creativity with classic literature.
Hearing Resource Base
It’s been a busy week in the Hearing Resource Base as this week is Deaf Awareness Week!
On Tuesday the children in the Resource Base led a whole school assembly for Deaf Awareness Week. They have been learning about the history of hearing aids, and they presented their learning to the school. The assembly ended with a quiz. Did you know that the first type of hearing aid was an ear trumpet and these were first used about 400 years ago?
We have had lots of opportunity to learn about and discuss how we can help each other to hear and communicate better. The children across the school have been thinking about the power of communication through the question: what power does understanding others have?
Music this week…
In Year 1, we have been learning about pitch as we listened to Benjamin Britten’s Sea Interludes. The children were making “noisy” pictures with their pitch pencils (fingers) as they made their voice go from high to low and vice versa.
The children in Year 2 have started listening to Shostakovich’s Jazz Suites. Using the ribbons, they were distinguishing between music in 2/4 and ¾ time, counting to two or three depending on the time signature.
Year 4 have been putting their acting to the test as they staged a scene from The Magic Flute where Papageno the bird catcher has had his mouth padlocked shut and is trying to explain this to Prince Tamino (who simply can’t understand).
News from the Art Studio…
Wow, what an Arts Festival! Thank you so much to everyone who came along to support us and marvel at the creativity and innovation of the children’s art and music at SJSC. The atmosphere was buzzing, and the children were so proud and excited to show off their work. A big thank you to all the Year 5 children who hosted so brilliantly.
Values Awards
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
Bake Sale & Uniform Swap - Friday 16th May
We have our next Bake Sale & Uniform Swap next Friday after school in the top playground.
Please bring baked or bought cakes, muffins and cookies (no nuts) to school at 8.45am on Friday 16th May.
Come and grab your summer uniform items for FREE.
Any clean and in good quality uniform donations need to be dropped at the school office by Thursday 15th.
School Disco
A reminder to buy your School Disco (Wednesday 21st May) tickets online here: https://square.link/u/J7tXpfKA
For those year groups whose disco takes place outside of the school day (years 3, 4, 5 &6) you will need to give permission for your child to attend through Arbor. For those in years 5 and 6, who would like their children to walk home alone after the disco, you will also need to give permission for this. Note: the disco for 5/6 will only finish at 5pm.
Thanks for your support.
See you next week!