Latest Newsletter (website translatable version)
25th April 2025
Dear Parents/Carers,
Happy Easter! I hope that you had a happy and holy Easter with your family and friends. Thank you for the kind gifts, cards and words that were shared with us. They were very much appreciated. Thank you also the choir, readers, servers and actors who supported the cathedral over the Easter holidays at the Chrism Mass and Stations of the Cross.
After celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at the weekend, it was with great sadness that we received the news on Monday morning of the death of the Holy Father, Pope Francis. As a school community, we spent time in prayer this week and invite you to pray as a family using the prayer below:
O God, faithful rewarder of souls,
grant that your departed servant Pope Francis,
whom you made successor of Peter
and shepherd of your Church,
may happily enjoy for ever in your presence in heaven
the mysteries of your grace and compassion,
which he faithfully ministered on earth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Eternal rest, grant unto him O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace.
Amen.
Living Eggs
As part of our work on Easter and new life, we welcomed 10 Living Eggs in to school this week. They are in the main office where we will watch them hatch and grow. Children will have the opportunity to marvel at the wonder of new life as they watch and handle the tiny chicks for the next 2 weeks. You are very welcome to come in and see the chicks with your child at the beginning or end of the day, before they return to the farm on Friday 2nd May.
Mrs Brown
I am delighted to let you know that Mrs Brown is recovering very well from surgery and with a treatment plan in place is hoping to start a phased return to school very soon. We are very excited to welcome her back.
Summer Uniform
As we are now in the summer term, children can wear summer uniform if they would like to. Please see the summer uniform list below:
Yellow and white gingham check dress
or yellow gingham matching top and shorts/skirt (do not mix eg by wearing gingham shorts and polo shirt)
or grey shorts with a white polo shirt
black or white sandals may be worn in the summer
White or grey socks. (if wearing tights, winter uniform should be worn)
School baseball cap with or without school logo
Asda Cashpot for Schools
Thank you to everyone who donated to our school through the Asda Cashpot for Schools initiative. We were delighted to receive £353.67 which we will be using to update the class wet playtime boxes.
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
Sports Days
We are delighted that Arundel Court Primary School have offered us the use of their field for our sports day (Years 1-6). It will be held on the morning of Wednesday 21st May. Nursery and Reception sports day will be held at school on Tuesday 20th May.
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
April
Friday 25th Yr 2 school trip
Monday 28th 2.45pm Nethercott Meeting
May
Thursday 8th VE Day Celebrations
Monday 12th Yr 6 SATS Week
Tuesday 20th Nursery and Reception Sports Day
Wednesday 21st Yr 1-6 Sports Day
Half Term: Monday 26th May – Friday 30th May
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
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
10th March 2025
Dear Parents/Carers,
Mrs Brown
Mrs Brown would like to thank you for the kind words, cards and gifts that have been shared with her over the last few weeks. They have really cheered her up. She is also very grateful for your ongoing prayers. Mrs Warren and I visited her last week and she remains positive and optimistic about the journey ahead.
World Book Day
We had a brilliant World Book Day at St John’s. Thank you so much for supporting us by sending your child to school in costume. They all looked amazing, and the excitement was palpable throughout the day. Please follow up this excitement for books by reading with your child every day and encouraging their love of reading.
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!
We are excited to announce that our school now has an Instagram account! Follow us at @stjohnscathedralprimaryschool for updates, news, and a glimpse into daily school life. Stay connected and support our wonderful community!
Bishop Philip’s Visit
We are delighted to be welcoming Bishop Philip to our school on Tuesday 18th March. He is coming as part of his school’s visitation programme and will be meeting staff and children as well as spending some time in Eucharistic Adoration with us.
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 the vast majority of parents/carers who have already contributed to the building fund this year. If you have not, please remember that you made an active choice to send your child to a Catholic school and therefore should consider making the payment and not relying on others to ensure that our school has the funding that it requires.
Outdoor clothing
Please be reminded that it is essential for daily playtimes as well as school trips and visits that your child brings/wears a waterproof coat and suitable shoes to school every day.
Monthly Masses
Thank you for all those who regularly or occasionally support the monthly school Masses at the cathedral. For anyone who hasn’t been, we encourage our families to attend the 12 O’clock Mass at the cathedral on the first Sunday of the month in term time. It is an opportunity for school families to worship together and for children to experience active participation in the ministries. Children are invited to read, serve, take part in the offertory and collection, greet parishioners and sing in the choir for those in KS 2. School staff are usually there themselves to worship and to support the cathedral in organising the children’s participation, but please remember that children remain the responsibility of the adults who attend with them.
Lenten Initiative
As part of our Lenten journey we are inviting children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to bring in donations for Portsmouth’s baby bank. These should be sealed, new baby products/toiletries such as wipes, nappies and baby bath products. They may also bring in donations for the food bank.
Children in KS 2 will be planning and holding sales of crafts and bakes to raise money. More details will follow.
Social Media
I have been made aware of a number of incidents in which children from Key Stage 2 have been misusing social media. Whilst these events have happened outside of school, they are often reported in school and then have to be dealt with in school. We discourage primary school aged children from using social media – in fact many platforms and apps do not allow primary aged children access – as they are too young to recognise and avoid the dangers of online activity. Please have a conversation with your child about what they are doing online and ensure that they know how to use the internet safely and appropriately for their age and understanding. Please also consider the internet settings on the devices your child has access to as well as where, when and how often you allow your child to access the internet.
School dinners
If your child hasn’t tried school dinners before or if you would like to know more about what we offer, Caterlink are holding a Parent taster session at 3pm on Wednesday 12th March. Do feel free to pop along and sample the menu.
Clubs
Thank you to all those who support their child’s wider development through their attendance at after school clubs. We are pleased that we are able to offer a range of clubs that children enjoy and are keen to attend thanks to the commitment of CM Sports and our own school staff.
To ensure that we continue to run our after-school clubs at no cost to parents, it is important that you respect the pickup times from these clubs. There are a small number of children who are regularly collected late after clubs which impacts on the staff’s other professional and personal commitments. From next week, children who are not collected on time after clubs, will have to wait in wrap around club and a £5 charge for the childcare will be charged.
Carpark Safety
I am afraid that I need to issue another reminder about keeping children, and adults, safe in the carpark at the front of the school. I am still seeing children playing and running across the carpark as well as adults walking children across the carpark rather than around the paths. Please keep everyone safe and treat the car park as a road.
Sports Days
We are delighted that Arundel Court Primary School have offered us the use of their field for our sports day (Years 1-6). It will be held on the morning of Wednesday 21st May. Nursery and Reception sports day will be held at school on Tuesday 20th May.
End of term assembly
End of term assembly for Reception, Year 1 and 2 is on Wednesday 2nd April at 9am.
For Years 3-6 it is on Wednesday 2nd April at 2.30pm.
INSET Days
Friday 27th June 2025
End of Term
Don’t forget that we finish for Easter at 1.30pm on Friday 4th April. We return after the Easter break on Tuesday 22nd April. (Nursery finish at 11.40am on Friday 4th as there will be no afternoon session. They also return on Tuesday 22nd April.)
Thank you once again for all your support.
Yours sincerely,
L. Park
Head Teacher
DIARY DATES
March
Wednesday 5th Ash Wednesday
Thursday 6th World Book Day
April
Monday 1st 3.30pm KS 1 and EYFS Book Sharing
Tuesday 2nd 3.30pm KS 2 Book Sharing
Friday 4th 1.30pm Break Up for Easter (Nursery 11.40am finish)
Easter Holidays: Monday 7th April – Monday 21st April
Tuesday 22nd Back to School
May
Monday 12th Yr 6 SATS Week
Tuesday 20th KS 1 and EYFS Sports Day
Wednesday 21st KS 2 Sports Day
Half Term: Monday 26th May – Friday 30th May
June
Monday 2nd Back to School
Yr 4 Multiplication Check starts
Monday 9th Yr 1 Phonics Screening starts
Friday 27th INSET Day
Monday 30th Transition Day
July
Tuesday 1st Transition Day
Thursday 17th Yr 6 Show
Tuesday 22nd 1.30pm Break Up for Summer
Dear Parents/Carers,
Thank you
A belated thank you for your kind words, cards and gifts to staff for Christmas. We are always overwhelmed with the love and kindness that you show us.
Thank you also for your support with our collection of chocolates for seafarers. We passed on the donations and had a lovely thank you with photos of how our tins of chocolates were passed on to grateful seafarers who often spend many months away from their families.
We Are on Instagram!
We are excited to announce that our school now has an Instagram account! Follow us at @stjohnscathedralprimaryschool for updates, news, and a glimpse into daily school life. Stay connected and support our wonderful community!
Reception
Please join our school community in praying for Mrs Brown who is unwell at the moment. She will hopefully be back with us very shortly. In the meantime, Reception are being very well looked after by Mrs Coyle and Mrs Bailey.
Congratulations
I am sure that you will join me in sending Miss Turner and her family huge congratulations on the birth of her baby daughter.
Jubilee Year
As you may know, Pope Francis has declared this a Jubilee Year with the theme – Pilgrims of Hope. We will be launching this with our children tomorrow as Year 5 lead us in our jubilee Mass.
Children in all year groups are invited to wear a bright coloured shirt or jumper to school tomorrow as part of our celebrations. They should wear their usual school trouser/skirts and shoes.
School dinners
If your child hasn’t tried school dinners before or if you would like to know more about what we offer, Caterlink are holding a Parent taster session at 3pm on Wednesday 12th March. Do feel free to pop along and sample the menu.
Please remember to order your child’s school dinners in advance. The kitchen only cook the number of meals ordered and so it becomes very difficult when children arrive in the hall expecting a dinner that hasn’t been booked.
Punctuality
Thank you to all those who consistently get their children to school on time and collect them on time.
For those who are regularly late, please try to help us and your child by being on time. It is very disruptive to a child and their class when children are coming in late. It is also not fair to children or staff when children are not collected on time. If your child is in KS 1, they must be collected at 3.20pm and if they are in KS 2, they must be collected by 3.30pm.
If your child is at a club, it is also important to collect them on time as staff are regularly having to wait 20 or 30 minutes after the end of a club for children to be collected.
Absence
Please remember that children should be at school everyday unless they are unwell or have been approved for absence due to exceptional circumstances.
We are getting a significant number of requests for absence due to routine or pre-booked medical appointments abroad which require several days away from school. Please ensure that these appointments are booked for school holidays as we will not be authorising these absences in future.
Nursery Applications
If you have a child who is due to start Nursery in September 2025, please return your application form by Friday 31st January. Offers for places will be sent out in the middle of March.
End of term assembly
End of term assembly for Reception, Year 1 and 2 is on Wednesday 2nd April at 9am.
For Years 3-6 it is on Wednesday 2nd April at 2.30pm.
INSET Days
Friday 27th June 2025
Thank you once again for all your support.
Yours sincerely,
L. Park
Head Teacher
DIARY DATES
Jan
Friday 24th Year 5 Mass – 9.15am in the hall
Friday 31st Years 4 and 6 Mass – 9.30am at the cathedral
Feb
Monday 3rd 3pm Yr 4-6 Parent meeting on relationship education
Friday 7th Yr 3 celebration of the Word
Tues-Thurs 11th-13th Parents Evening
Friday 14th Year 2 Celebration of the Word
Break Up for Half Term
Half Term: Monday 17th February – Friday 21st February
Monday 24th Back to School
Friday 28th Reception and Year 1 Celebration of the Word
March
Wednesday 5th Ash Wednesday
Thursday 6th World Book Day
April
Monday 1st 3.30pm KS 1 and EYFS Book Sharing
Tuesday 2nd 3.30pm KS 2 Book Sharing
Friday 4th 1.30pm Break Up for Easter
Easter Holidays: Monday 7th April – Monday 21st April
Tuesday 22nd Back to School
May
Monday 12th Yr 6 SATS Week
Tuesday 20th KS 1 and EYFS Sports Day
Wednesday 21st KS 2 Sports Day
Half Term: Monday 26th May – Friday 30th May
June
Monday 2nd Back to School
Yr 4 Multiplication Check starts
Monday 9th Yr 1 Phonics Screening starts
Friday 27th INSET Day
Monday 30th Transition Day
July
Tuesday 1st Transition Day
Thursday 17th Yr 6 Show
Tuesday 22nd 1.30pm Break Up for Summer
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