Latest Newsletter (website translatable version)
18th April 2024
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that you had a lovely Easter break and thank you for the kind messages of support and good wishes shared with staff.
We are now in the joyful season of Easter, where we celebrate the joy of the resurrection and are currently benefiting from warmer and lighter days to add to our feelings of hope and and happiness.
Big Lent Walk
Thank you to everyone who supported the Big Lent Walk. We heard all about the lovely walks that the children had with their families and were delighted to raise £461 for CAFOD. It is always a wonderful illustration of the power that even a small community has to change the lives of others when we work together on a project such as this.
Chrism Mass and Stations of the Cross
Thank-you to all the children and their families who attended the Chrism Mass and the Stations of the Cross at the cathedral. I am very proud of the children who supported our parish at these events by giving up their time and practising really hard to share the good news.
Uniform
We are now in the summer term and children may wear summer uniform if you prefer:
Yellow and white gingham check dress (or yellow gingham matching top and shorts/skirt)
or grey shorts with a white polo shirt
Sensible low heel, plain black school shoes or trainers or black or white sandals White or grey socks
School baseball cap with or without school logo (optional)
RE
All classes are currently working on the Easter unit of the RE curriculum. They are exploring the accounts of the resurrection and the symbolism of the empty tomb and new life. To support your child’s learning, you might like to visit the Easter garden in the cathedral and read one of the Gospel accounts of the resurrection with them. (Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8 and 9-14, Luke 24:1-44, John 20:1-29)
Living Eggs
As part of our Easter work on new life, we welcomed 10 living eggs on Monday morning and have been excitedly watching them hatch over the last 24 hours. The chicks will be in the entrance until next Friday when they return to the farm. Please come in and have a look at them with your child if you are able to.
Class Masses and Liturgies (Celebrations of The Word)
One of the ways that you can be involved in the prayer life of the school is by attending your class Mass or Celebration of the Word.
This term the dates are as follows:
Thursday 9th May 9.15am Year 5 Ascension day Mass at school Friday 7th June 9.30am Year 3 and Year 4 Mass at the cathedral
Friday 5th July 9.15am Year 1 and Year 2 Celebration of the Word at school Friday 12th July 9.15am Reception and Year 6 Celebration of the Word at school
Trim Trail
The new trim trail is currently being installed. Thank you for your assistance in allowing the workforce to complete their work by using the back gate only during this time. We look forward to the children being able to use the new equipment in the next few weeks.
Congratulations!
Well done to Mrs Warren and the Music for Youth Choir who are through to the next round of the competition. They will be travelling to Birmingham in July and if successful they will be invited to the finals at the Albert hall in November.
Parking
We are still having issues with parents/carers parking over drives and on yellow lines. It is not acceptable to park over driveways or on yellow lines even for a few minutes. Please be considerate of our school neighbours and park safely and legally. The actions of everyone in our school community should reflect our school values and ethos.
End of term Assembly
Please be aware that we have had to change the date of the end of term assemblies in July. They will now be held on Friday 19th July.
Thank you once again for all of your support. Yours sincerely,
L. Park
Head Teacher
DIARY DATES
April
Monday 15th Back to school
Yr 5 swimming starts
May
Monday 6th Bank Holiday
Thursday 9th 9.15am Yr 5 leading Ascension Day Mass Monday 13th-Thursday 16th Yr 6 SATs week
Monday 20th EYFS and KS 1 Sports Day
Tuesday 21st KS 2 Sports Day
Friday 24th Break up for half term
June
Monday 3rd Back to school
Friday 7th 9.30am yr 3 and 4 Mass Cathedral
Wednesday 12th Class photos
Friday 28th INSET Day – school and nursery closed
July
Monday 1st Nethercott Trip
Friday 5th 9.15am Yr 1 and 2 Celebration of the Word
Friday 12th 9.15am Yr R and 6 Celebration of the Word
Thursday 18th Year 6 Show
Friday 19th End of term Assemblies
Monday 22nd Yr 6 trip
Tuesday 23rd Children break up for summer 1.30pm
Wednesday 24th INSET Day – school closed
Term Dates for 2023/2024
Spring term:
Tuesday 2nd Jan – Friday 9th Feb
Half term Monday 12th Feb – Friday 16th Feb Monday 19th Feb – Thursday 28th Mar
Summer term:
Monday 15th Apr – Friday 24th May
Half term Monday 27th May – Friday 31st May
Monday 3rd June – Tuesday 23rd July (INSET days 28th June and 24th July)
Term Dates for 2024/2025
(Please note 5 INSET days are yet to be set)
Autumn term:
Monday 2nd Sept – Friday 25th September Half term Monday 28th – Friday 1st October Monday 4th Nov – Friday 20th Dec Christmas Monday 23rd – Friday 3rd Jan
26th February 2024
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that you had a lovely half term and despite the rain are starting to see some glimpses of spring.
We are now in the season of Lent when, for 40 days and nights, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we embark on a spiritual journey to grow closer to Christ. One of the ways that we are doing this at St John’s is by taking part in the CAFOD Big Lent Walk. Please read the information that was sent home so that you can support and sponsor your child as they put their faith in to action. Here is the link to our Just Giving Page for the event:
https://schools.walk.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/st-johns-cc-primary-school-cafod-the-big-lent
Thank you
Thank you so much for supporting our collections for the Cathedral repairs. We raised an incredible £1292.20 which has now been given to the parish office.
Class Masses and Liturgies (Celebrations of The Word)
One of the ways that you can be involved in the prayer life of the school is by attending your class Mass or Celebration of the Word. They are held at the cathedral at 9.30am.
Wed 28th February: Year 3 Liturgy
Fri 8th March: Reception Liturgy
Fri 15th March: Year 1 Liturgy
School clubs
We continue to offer our after school clubs at no cost as we recognise how important it is for children to have access to these opportunities. However, they are expensive to run. Please make sure that your child only takes a place at a club if you are sure that they will attend every week and that they want to go – so that they get the best out of it and aren’t taking the place of a child who is keen to attend. Please also remind your child that they will lose their place in the club if their behaviour falls below an acceptable standard.
If your child is at a school club, please ensure that you collect them promptly so that the CM staff are able to leave on time. Thank you.
Building Fund
Please be reminded of the importance of paying the building fund when choosing a Catholic school for your child. As voluntary aided schools, we only receive 90% of the cost of developing and maintaining the school buildings from the government, the other 10% has to be raised through the building fund. Thank you to those who have already contributed.
Trim Trail
The new trim trail has been ordered and we are awaiting an installation date. Please be aware that we may have to close the Arundel Street gate for a few days whilst installation takes place, but we will let you know about this nearer the time.
Good Luck!
Mrs Warren is preparing a choir from St John’s to join with a choir from St Edmund’s to take part in the Music for Youth competition. The first round of the competition is on Saturday 2nd March in Surrey. We wish them luck!
School Nurse
The school nurse continues to offer monthly clinics in school for parents/carers to book in to. If you have a health concern about your child that you would like to discuss such as eating issues, bed wetting, repeated illnesses, allergies etc. The next clinic will be held Tuesday 5th March. Please book an appointment through the office.
Parent Surveys
Thank you for all those who completed the parents surveys at parents evenings. We had really positive responses to the questions and some lovely comments about the support that children and families receive and how much the children love coming to school. There were a few parents who didn’t feel that they know how well their children are doing in RE so this will be an area that we will look to address. Thank you once again for your support and taking the time to complete the surveys – but remember you don’t have to wait for a survey, you can let us know what’s going well or what you are worried about at any time.
RE
All classes have started their work on Lent in RE and are exploring the stories, structure and symbols of Lent. You might like to look at your child’s curriculum sway for more information about what they are doing in class. At home, since Pope Francis marked 2024 as the Year of Prayer, you might like to help your child write a Lenten prayer or learn one of the traditional prayers of the Church.
Management Information System
As you know, we are currently moving to a new management Information System called Arbor. The site went live on Monday. We will let you know when we are ready to launch it to parents.
Uniform
Thank you for continuing to support us by sending your child to school in full school uniform. Please remember to make sure that they are wearing the correct school shoes too.
Stations of the Cross
Year 3 are leading the children’s Stations of the Cross at the cathedral on Good Friday (29th March) at 10am. You are warmly invited to join us.
End of term Assembly
Please be reminded about our end of term assemblies. At the end of each of the spring and summer terms, there will be 2 end of term celebration assemblies. One for Reception, Year 1 and 2 (Key Stage 1) and one for Years 3-6 (Key Stage 2). The date and times for these are below:
Wednesday 27th March:
9am – Reception and Key Stage 1
2.30pm – Key Stage 2
Thank you once again for all of your support.
Yours sincerely,
L. Park
Head Teacher
DIARY DATES
February
Monday 19th Back to school
March
Saturday 2nd Music for Youth Competition
Tuesday 5th KS 1 book sharing
Wednesday 6th KS 2 book sharing
Thursday 7th World Book Day (school uniform and mask)
Monday 18th Reconciliation Service Yr 4-6
Wednesday 27th 9am KS 1 end of term assembly
2.30pm KS 2 end of term assembly
Thursday 28th Break up for Easter 1.30pm
Friday 29th Good Friday – Stations of the Cross 10am
April
Monday 15th Back to school
Yr 5 swimming starts
May
Monday 6th Bank Holiday
Monday 13th-Thursday 16th Yr 6 SATs week
Monday 20th EYFS and KS 1 Sports Day
Tuesday 21st KS 2 Sports Day
Friday 24th Break up for half term
June
Monday 3rd Back to school
Wednesday 12th Class photos
Friday 28th INSET Day – school and nursery closed
July
Monday 1st Nethercott Trip
Thursday 18th Year 6 Show
Monday 22nd End of term Assemblies
Tuesday 23rd Children break up for summer 1.30pm
Wednesday 24th INSET Day – school closed
Term Dates for 2023/2024
Spring term:
Tuesday 2nd Jan – Friday 9th Feb
Half term Monday 12th Feb – Friday 16th Feb
Monday 19th Feb – Thursday 28th Mar
Summer term:
Monday 15th Apr – Friday 24th May
Half term Monday 27th May – Friday 31st May
Monday 3rd June – Tuesday 23rd July (INSET days 28th June and 24th July)
Term Dates for 2024/2025
(Please note 5 INSET days are yet to be set)
Autumn term:
Monday 2nd Sept – Friday 25th September
Half term Monday 28th – Friday 1st October
Monday 4th Nov – Friday 20th Dec
Christmas Monday 23rd – Friday 3rd Jan
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