Latest Newsletter (website translatable version)
4th November 2025
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that you had a lovely half term. Last weekend was All Saints Day and as we start this new half term when the evenings are dark and the weather can be cold and wet, perhaps we can draw on the joy and hope that the saints share with us through their relationship with God. If you have a favourite saint, are named after a saint or have a saint that is special to your family, why not spend some time this week finding out more about them and asking for their intercessions.
Thank you
During the summer term, classes put on events and held collections to support the fundraising efforts at the cathedral. Children always really appreciate our special relationship with the cathedral and very much see it as an extension of the school so were keen to do what they could to help out. Thank you to everyone who generously contributed. We raised £615 for their heating repairs.
School Admissions Information Key Messages for Parents/Carers
When applying for school, whether for reception or secondary school, we strongly recommend that parents/carers list as many preference schools as possible (up to 6) on their application.
o Please note: listing only one preference does not strengthen the application.
o Having criteria such as sibling or feeder school links does not guarantee a place.
Before applying, parents/carers should read the information available on the Portsmouth City Council website and/or seek advice from the Admissions Team.
Please remember to include all additional information e.g. the Supplementary Information Form (SIF), baptism certificate, letter from a minister etc if relevant. The application can only be ranked according to the information received.
If applying for St John’s reception class, please also remember that attending St John’s nursery does not have any bearing on the school application process. It is a completely different process and requires parents/carers to complete the starting school application and provide all relevant documentation.
School Tours
Tours of the school for prospective parents are being held on the following dates:
Wednesday 26th November at 4pm
Friday 12th December at 10am
Wednesday 7th January at 2.30pm
Staffing changes
As parents with children in EYFS and KS 1 will be aware, due to long term staff sickness and wider staffing shortages as well as changes in staff circumstances, I have had to make some necessary staffing changes which have come into effect this week. Whilst I understand that staff changes can be unsettling, please be assured that they are necessary to ensure continuity of learning and support for our children. The new arrangements are as follows:
Reception will be taught by Miss Keeble and supported by Mrs Jamil and Mrs Lubik.
Year 1 will be taught by Miss Minall (Mon and Tues) and Miss Turner (Wed-Fri) and supported by Mrs McAllister and Mrs Dunford.
Year 2 will be taught by Mrs Kahraman and supported by Mrs Buckle, Miss Todd and Mrs Lapham.
Mrs Gardner and Mrs Brown
Please continue to pray for Mrs Gardner and Mrs Brown.
Governors
Thank you so much to our governors who work so hard on behalf of our whole school community.
This term we welcome 2 new governors to our board. Miss Cerisa Sugrue-Gee is our new parent governor and was appointed after putting herself forward last term. (We didn’t need to hold a ballot as she was the only candidate.) We also welcome Mrs Hannah Murphy who was appointed as our Local Authority Governor. We thank them both for their generosity in offering their services at this time.
Parents Meetings
This year we are trialling a new way of managing parents meetings to support our staff well-being. Traditionally during parents evening week, staff have had to work from 7.30/8am in the morning until 6.30pm at night for 4 or 5 nights in a row and then pick up their marking and resourcing before the next morning’s teaching. I am looking to find a more manageable way of offering these appointments and so am trialling daytime appointments. Appointments will be held throughout the day on Thursday 13th November for Years 1 and 2 and Friday 14th November for Years 3,4,5 and 6. If attending a face to face meeting in the day would be difficult, please speak to the class teacher as they may be able to offer telephone appointments.
Year 1 appointments will be held with Miss Keeble. Dates for Reception and Nursery appointments will be shared in a few weeks. Miss Minall and Mrs Coyle will hold the reception appointments.
Class Masses and Celebrations of the Word
Year R and 1 Friday 14th November
Year 3 Friday 21st November
Year 4 and 5 Friday 28th November
Year 6 will be leading the KS 2 Advent reconciliation service
Dealing with Issues
Whilst we work incredibly hard to ensure that children are well supported and happy and that issues are dealt with quickly and shared with parents/carers, there are occasionally issues that arise that need to be explored or discussed. On these occasions please may I remind you to always speak to the class teacher first. They have the most up to date and accurate information around how your child is doing on a day to day basis and are best placed to help resolve any issues that do arise. Mrs Warren and myself are happy to follow up when issues persist or escalate but please approach the class teacher in the first instance. Of course for safeguarding matters or issues of a more serious nature, please don’t hesitate to contact one of us immediately.
Special Educational Needs
St John’s is proud of its inclusive and welcoming culture. We get to know every child as an individual and try to put just the right support in place to help each child reach their full potential. Our strong reputation for inclusivity means that we are often chosen by parents who know or suspect their child has a special educational need. We currently have 17 children with Education, Health and Care plans, including a number awaiting specialist school places. This is 8% of our pupil population and considerably higher than the Portsmouth average of 4.2%, which includes schools with specialist provisions. With such a high proportion of children with EHCPs in a small school with a small team, we are having to carefully manage our provision alongside parental expectations. With ever increasing numbers of referrals and EHC assessments being requested by parents, we are having to prioritise by need. We apologise for any delay this may cause in responding to requests for appointments, referrals etc but please be assured that we are doing our very best to manage very high demand alongside the already high needs across the school. Hopefully you will agree that prioritising the referrals and assessments of those who need it most is the fairest and most just way to work in this difficult situation.
St John’s Cathedral Celebration of Talent
The cathedral is holding a celebration of talent afternoon on Saturday 22nd November at 1.30pm. All are invited and there will be snacks and drinks available to purchase with all proceeds going to the cathedral building funds. If you child would like to take part, please scan the QR code on one of the posters around the school or in your email.
Summer Reading Challenge
Well done to all those who took part in the summer reading challenge as they won a bean bag for the school library. With over 13% of pupils from St John’s taking part, we were one of the top 6 schools for participation!
School Dinners
Please remember to order your child’s school dinners in advance of the start of the week. On Monday we had 25 children who wanted school dinner but hadn’t ordered. The kitchen only cook what has been ordered and so it is very difficult when children arrive expecting a dinner to be available when it hasn’t been ordered.
Attendance and Punctuality
Please remember to contact the office by phone, email or through studybugs when your child is going to be absent or late.
INSET Day
Please note that Monday 1st December is an INSET day and school will be closed to all pupils.
Thank you for your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
L. Park
Head Teacher
DIARY DATES
2025-206
November
Monday 3rd Back to school
Friday 7th School Photos
Monday 10th-Wednesday 12th Year 6 Residential
Thursday 13th Parents’ Evening KS 1
Friday 14th Parents’ Evening KS 2
Year 1 Celebration of the Word
Thursday 20th Parents’ Evening KS 1
Friday 21st Parents’ Evening KS 2
Wednesday 26th – Friday 28th Book fair
Friday 28th Year 4 and 5 Mass
December
Monday 1st INSET Day
Thursday 11th Nursery nativity
Friday 12th School Tour for prospective parents
Wednesday 17th Christmas Dinner and Jumper Day
Friday 19th 1.30pm School Nativity Cathedral
Break Up
Christmas Holidays (22nd Dec-2nd Jan)
January
Monday 5th Back to school
Wednesday 7th School Tour for prospective parents
February
Thursday 5th Parents’ Evening KS 1
Friday 6th Parents’ Evening KS 2
Friday 13th Break Up
Half Term (16th Feb-20th Feb)
March
Thursday 5th World Book Day
Tuesday 24th KS 1 Book Share with parents
Wednesday 25th KS 2 Book Share with parents
Friday 27th 1.30pm Break up
Easter Holidays (30th March-10th April)
5th September 2025
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back to a new school year. I hope that you had a lovely summer and are excited about the new school year ahead. We offer a special welcome to the new staff, children and families who have joined us and we pray that their time at St John’s will happy, successful and filled with blessings.
Vision and Mission Statement
We believe that a bright future starts with an excellent education.
Our vision is to ignite a love of learning that enables every child to achieve their very best. We aim to provide the excellent teaching and genuine nurture that will enable all of our children to be happy, resilient, creative citizens who have the skills, knowledge and passion to change the world.
Our mission at St John’s Cathedral Catholic Primary School is to educate the whole child through the Gospel values of Christ and provide academic excellence within a Catholic community, where all are loving to learn and learning to love.
Staffing
We welcome Miss Kelly as the new Year 6 teacher and Miss Schmidt, Miss Kagiouli and Mrs Lubik as new LSAs. We also welcome back Miss Cathrow who has joined us the Year 3 teacher.
Mrs Gardner
As you may have heard at Masses over the summer, Mrs Gardner was involved in a very serious car accident during the holidays. She sustained extensive and life changing injuries. Fortunately, due to the expertise of the medical care she received and her own positivity and determination, she is doing very well. She remains in hospital and in need of our prayers and good wishes but is making incredible progress. Please pray for her and her family.
Mrs Brown
Mrs Brown has been incredibly grateful for your prayers and good wishes through her cancer journey and we were delighted when she returned to work in the summer and began her handover with Mrs Beaton to take on the SENCO role – a role that she was excited for and had a great vision for. Unfortunately, Mrs Brown’s cancer journey has become more complicated and she is unable to return to work at the moment. Please continue to pray for her.
SENCO Provision
During Mrs Brown’s absence, Mrs Warren will take on the statutory responsibilities of the SENCO role.
Designated Teacher for Looked after Children
During Mrs Brown’s absence, I will take on the role of Designated Teacher for looked after and previously looked after children.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Fr Ryan who was ordained at the cathedral in July. We were blessed to have his support in school last year and are delighted that he will be staying at the cathedral and continuing to support us in his role as governor and friend to the school.
Goodbye
We have to say a sad farewell to Fr Thomas who will be moving from the cathedral parish this weekend. We thank him for his support and wisdom during his time with us and send him to his new parish with prayers and good wishes.
Lunch Boxes
To ensure that parents are aware of what their children are eating as well as to reduce our school waste, we will be asking children with packed lunches to pack their uneaten food and rubbish into their lunch boxes to take home.
Uniform
Thank you for sending your children back to school in their full school uniform. They look incredibly smart and proud. Children are able to wear summer or winter uniform until October half term when they will need to move to winter uniform. Please continue to support us by adhering to the uniform policy. As the weather has started to change, please ensure that your child always has a coat with them too.
Winter:
Grey uniform skirt or pinafore dress or
Grey uniform trousers
White polo shirt with or without the school logo
Teal school sweatshirt or cardigan with the school logo White or grey socks or grey tights.
Sensible low heel, plain black school shoes or trainers. No markings or white soles.
Summer:
Yellow and white gingham check dress (or yellow gingham matching top and shorts/skirt) or grey shorts with a white polo shirt may be worn in summer (black or white sandals may be worn in the summer)
PE Kit
Navy blue shorts or navy blue jogging bottoms in winter Light blue T-shirt with or without the school logo Trainers for outdoor activities
Tape to cover earrings if worn
Haircuts
Hair longer than shoulder length must be tied back.
Hair should be no shorter than grade 1 and without shaven designs. Dyed hair or extreme styles are not permitted.
Any hair accessories should be hair coloured or uniform coloured
Medicines
The office are able to administer prescribed medicines that are needed during the school day and that can’t be administered at home eg inhalers, 4x day antibiotics where 3 doses are given at home and 1 is needed at lunchtime. The medicines must be prescribed, have the child’s name and dose on and be in the original packaging. They should be handed directly to the office and not left in the school bag or handed to the class teacher and a permission slip completed.
Education Sunday
Next Sunday, 14th September, is Education Sunday. St John’s is celebrating this at the 12 O’clock Mass at the cathedral. We invite all our families to attend and children to wear their school uniform. We invite our new Reception children to process in at the beginning of Mass and many of our children will be involved in the various ministries. Please bring you child along for this important celebration of Catholic education.
School Building Fund
As you will be aware, as a Catholic school, St John’s is voluntary aided and is only partly funded by the state. We receive only 90% of the allocated capital funding each year. To cover the remaining 10%, Catholic schools must ask all parents/carers to make a contribution through the school building fund to pay for the necessary building and repair projects. Generations of parents/carers have made this contribution in the past so that we have the school that we are so proud of today.
Thank you to those who have already paid and I ask those who haven’t to please consider making the contribution as soon as possible.
Safeguarding
If you have any safeguarding concerns, please note that the school’s DSL (designated safeguarding lead) is me, Mrs Park and the DDSL (deputy designated safeguarding lead) is Mrs Warren.
Thank you
As always, thank you so much for your support and generosity in making St John’s the wonderful place that is and helping us to live out our mission of Learning to Love and Loving to Learn.
Yours sincerely,
L. Park
Head Teacher
DIARY DATES
2025-206
September
Wednesday 3rd INSET Day
Thursday 4th INSET Day
Friday 5th Yr 1-6 Back to school
Monday 15th 3pm KS 2 Meet the Teacher
Tuesday 16th 3pm KS 1 Meet the Teacher Yr 5 Swimming starts
Wednesday 17th 3pm Reception and Nursery Meet the Teacher
October
Tuesday 21st 3.20pm Reception and KS 1 Book Share
Wednesday 22nd KS 2 Book Share
Friday 24th 3.30pm Break up Half-term (27th-31st October)
November
Monday 3rd Back to school
Friday 7th School Photos
Monday 10th-Wednesday 12th Year 6 Residential
Thursday 13th Parents’ Evening KS 1 and EYFS
Friday 14th Parents’ Evening KS 2
Thursday 20th Parents’ Evening KS 1 and EYFS
Friday 21st Parents’ Evening KS 2
December
Monday 1st INSET Day
Friday 19th 1.30pm School Nativity Cathedral Break Up
Christmas Holidays (22nd Dec-2nd Jan)
January
Monday 5th Back to school
2nd June 2025
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back. I hope that you had a lovely half term with your children.
Staffing updates
I am delighted to let you know that Mrs Brown has returned to work on a phased return. Mrs Coyle and Mrs Bailey will continue in Reception but I am sure that the children will get to see lots of Mrs Brown too.
Mrs Bradley has gone on maternity leave and we wish her and her husband well in their final preparations before their new baby is born. We welcome Miss Simmonds who is going to be teaching in Year 2 for the next few weeks.
After a long and very successful career in teaching, it is with sadness that I have to inform you that Mrs Beaton will be retiring at the end of this academic year. She has been an incredibly committed member of our school community and has had a huge impact on so many children and families in the many roles she has undertaken. In the last few years as SENCO, she has transformed our provision for children with special educational needs. Over the next few weeks, she will start handing over to our new SENCO – Mrs Brown (congratulations Mrs Brown!) and so any meetings and reviews this half term they will to do together to ensure a seamless transition.
Class Masses/Celebrations of the Word
Wednesday 4th June Year 3 Mass in the hall
Friday 13th June Years 1 and 2 Celebration of the Word
Friday 20th June Years 4 and 5 Mass
Monday 7th July Reception will join Year 6 for their Leavers’ Mass
Rescheduled Sports Day
We are pleased to let you know that we have rearranged Yr 1- 6 sports day for Thursday 12th June. It will be held at Arundel Court and the arrangements will be the same as for the original date.
Transition Days
Portsmouth schools have designated Monday 30th June and Tuesday 1st July as transition days and so many of our Year 6 children will be visiting their secondary schools on these days. We have therefore decided to have these 2 days as our Meet the Teacher Days when children will temporarily move to their new classes and start preparing for life in their new year group.
End of term assembly
Assembly will be held in the hall on Monday 21st July, at 9am for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and at 2.30pm for Years 3-6.
INSET Days
Friday 27th June 2025
Thank you once again for all your support.
Yours sincerely,
L. Park
Head Teacher
DIARY DATES
June
Monday 2nd Back to School
Yr 4 Multiplication Check starts
Wednesday 4th Pilgrims of Hope Day
Thursday 5th Reception school trip
Monday 9th Yr 1 Phonics Screening starts
Friday 13th Year 1 and 2 Celebration of the Word
Monday 16th Year 1 trip
Wednesday 18th Year 6 trip
Friday 20th Year 4 and 5 Mass
Friday 27th INSET Day
Monday 30th Transition/Meet the Teacher Day
July
Tuesday 1st Transition Day/Meet the Teacher
Monday 7th Reception and Yr 6 end of year Mass
Thursday 17th Yr 6 Show
Monday 21st End of Term Assembly
9am KS 1
2.30pm KS 2
Tuesday 22nd 1.30pm Break Up for Summer
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