"Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also others" Colossians 3:13
A Message From The Head
Welcome back to the Summer Term!
I can’t believe we are already in the final term of this year. We have so much planned and it is wonderful to have warmer weather and brighter days.
We have made a great start with attendance this week. Thank you for your support with this! As always, it is crucial for your children to be here every day and on time. It makes such a big difference to their education. The first 10-15 minutes of every school day is planned for by teachers and may include reading, writing, phonics, timetables, etc.
Forgiveness is fundamental to the character of God. Throughout the Bible, God is described as slow to anger, abounding in love, and forgiving sin (Numbers 14:18). Jesus was uncompromising in his command to forgive. Forgive, he said, 'seventy times seven' (Matthew 18:21). In other words, forgive and keep on forgiving without limit.
Children’s physical health is a key part of their attendance. If they are physically healthy they will get ill less often. Sleep, diet, and physical activity are all essential elements of being physically healthy. In school, we do everything that we can to help children be physically active. It is so important that children continue to be active when they are not at school. This can include a quick walk in the evening, going to the park at the weekend, getting off the bus at a stop earlier or parking earlier on the way to the shops, etc. Any small changes will help your children be more active. All of this will make a massive difference to their physical and mental health. Please continue to support us with this.
Also on the subject of children's health, we have noticed recently some packed lunches and snacks for playtimes are not as healthy as usual. We will be talking to children about this and encouraging them to make healthier choices but they need your support with this. They should not be having chocolate or sweets in their packed lunches except on treat Fridays. As much fresh fruit and vegetables as possible are really important. I do understand some of the financial challenges that people are facing at the moment. As always, do speak to us if you need support.
As part of our Relationships and Health Education (RHE) each year, the school along with the School Nursing Team delivers a program of puberty lessons in Year 5 and Year 6. These lessons were delivered over a 2 week period. It is important that a well-planned program is given to pupils in order to help them cope with their physical, emotional, moral and spiritual development and to help prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of adult life. RHE policy is available on the school website and includes an overview of lessons for each year group.
Easter Bonnet Parade
Thank you for helping your children get involved in designing their Easter Bonnets over the Easter holidays. What a fantastic display of bonnets we had! We all thoroughly enjoyed the parade last Friday, and hope that you did too! Please enjoy the selection of photos from the parade below!
Forest School & OWL news
We’re sure you know, the chickens are finally here! The chicks that we hatched in school are now seven weeks old and are very tame. A massive thank you to Mrs Hutchinson and Jack for rearing them at home, quite an undertaking. The children and the chickens have been getting to know each other and both have been really great. The children have been allowed to enter the run and handle the chickens if they wish and we have been strict about handwashing after handling. If you could help re-enforce that important message that would be great. You can follow us on Instagram and other socials to keep up with our day-to-day activities.
In other news, we have been awarded the GOLD award in the Green Tree Scheme run by the woodland trust which we are really proud about. The children have been really involved and you can read about it all here
Earth Day
Last week we celebrated Earth Day. As a whole school, we thought about what we could do to look after our world. The children fully engaged with this and were keen to play their part and make promises to protect the environment. Our school Earth Day display can be found here
Year 5 Merchant Taylor's Hall Performance
In Year 5, eight pupils performed at the Merchant Taylor's Hall on Threadneedle Street in London. The group performed a 10-minute excerpt of 'The Ragged Child' Theatre production to an audience of 140 members of different Guilds.
In response to the performance, the Master of the World Traders' Guild sent a message:
"Thank you so much - they were fabulous! Everyone was completely entranced by the performance and really appreciated the lesson in what Lord Shaftesbury did for the ragged children as I don't think it's a story that's well known".
Very well done to you all and thanks for representing St. John's!
Jubilee Week
As Year 6 is busy in the next few weeks with SATS and their residential trip, we are planning to hold our Jubilee Week starting Monday 23rd May. This will be a week filled with exciting activities with learning about our monarch. On Friday 27th May, we will be having a royal Tea party on our playground. We will be asking the children to bring in a plate of food for themselves as well as dressing up either as a King/ Queen. Alternatively, they can wear the colours blue, red and white.
During the week the children will be designing their own crowns to wear for the Royal Tea Party. As an Eco-School we will only be using recycled materials to be as creative as we can in the designing of our crowns. To help us with this, we are asking parents to contribute materials from home to share with the class. Materials such as cereal boxes, buttons, foil, ribbon, colourful material, cleaned bottle tops, etc will be much appreciated. These are to be brought in the week before our Jubilee week. Our Tea Party will be followed by a Royal Parade over Blue Bridge House and back to school. Parents will be welcome to line the streets and cheer the children on.
On Tuesday 3rd May, the Mayor of Kingston will be planting a native tree and leading an assembly. As her tenure is coming to an end, we are doing this earlier than Jubilee Week.
Year 5 Cinderella Performance
The class have been working very hard in rehearsals over the last couple of terms. The production of Cinderella will be in May. Tickets will be available to buy next week. There will be a limited amount of tickets available to purchase. It will be a first come, first served basis. If you are interested in attending, please call the school office.
Summer Fete
We have less than two months until the summer fete. Please see the below dates for donations.
Note from Hubble Class
Hubble Class are collecting wood for their early year's woodwork area. If you have any wood in a clean and dry condition that you are able to kindly donate, please could you bring it to either the school office or Hubble class.
Dates for your Diary
Monday 2nd May: May Bank Holiday (school closed)
Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th May: Year 5 Cinderella performances
Saturday 18th June: PSA Summer Fete
Tuesday 19th July (2 pm): Year 6 Leavers Service
Monday 13th June: Inset Day
Comments