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St John’s News 24: Friday 10th November 2023




"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it" Psalm 34:14



A message from the Head


This half term our Christian Value is Peace.

We will explore Inner peace, peace between each other in school, peace in the community and peace in the world. I believe these themes are all quite relevant and pertinent right now.


We are looking forward to the national Anti-Bullying week with the theme 'Make a noise against bullying'. Our challenge is set and we are ready to go! Our ears are ready for the 120 decibel noise which will be made from their home made percussion instruments! You may hear us from your homes! We are launching our week with Odd Socks Day on Monday and closing the week with a spotty mufti for Children in Need. What a fun week we will have!


Following our recent Inspection in September, I am pleased to share with you St John’s OFSTED Inspection Report.


The school continues to be recognised as Good.

The report states that ‘the arrangements for Safeguarding are effective’.

The report is pupil-focused and different from previous inspection letter style of writing. The new style of inspection focussed on 6 key lines of enquiry: Early Reading, Mathematics, History, Science, Geography and Art. After a robust deep dive into each of these subjects over 2 days, the inspection report states that ‘the school’s curriculum is designed with care and ambition and the necessary building blocks to learning well in a subject are carefully identified’.

The report recognises that the school continues to provide a good standard of education and care for our children, and highlights many areas of strength across the school. It also recognises that we know our school well and have clearly identified appropriate areas for whole school continuing improvement.

The inspection acknowledges that our provision for SEND allows the pupils to fully participate in their learning, as we know and understand their needs.

We know our children’s behaviour is generally excellent inside and outside of the class, they are polite and treat each other with kindness and respect, and we are delighted that this is reflected in the report.


We have a fantastic team of dedicated staff and Governors who are committed to continuing to improve our school, ensuring that all our pupils are provided with a wide range of excellent learning experiences. Thank you to our parents/carers for your ongoing support, and taking time to respond to the survey sent out.


A copy of the final report is available below. This will also be live on the OFSTED website.





Well done and thank you to the PSA for their fund raising activities. The photos from the disco last week Friday, clearly showed the children enjoyed themselves with the whistles!



 

Diwali



This year Diwali will be celebrated on Sunday 12th November and we were delighted when two members of staff, Mrs Shah and Mrs Bhowmick, led an assembly to tell us all about this festival of lights. With the help of Ishaan from Year 3, the whole school learnt how Hindus prepare for this important festival, how Diwali is celebrated and the importance of the Rama and Sita story.


 

Gold Travel Plan





Our JRSOs from Year 6, Sam and Ronnie, announced this week to the whole school that St John’s has once again maintained its Gold Travel Plan. Well done to everyone! We are very proud to have maintained our Gold Standard Accreditation from Transport for London.

Our School Travel Plan, which aims to promote active, healthy, safe and sustainable travel to school as well as educating children about road safety, has been developed in partnership with Transport for London, through their ‘Stars’ scheme. To be accredited with ‘Gold’ status we were committed to organising 48 separate initiatives. Our JRSOs met regularly last year to plan, organise and evaluate events.

At St John’s we believe it’s important to encourage Active travel to and from school as this is a great opportunity for children to take part in physical activity and at the same time reduce harmful emissions around our school.

Here are just a few of the activities we have participated in the last year:

  • Walk to School Week to promote active travel

  • Bikeability for Years 5 and 6 to teach basic safe cycling skills

  • Pedestrian training - basic road safety for Reception

  • Assemblies on Road Safety, Cycle Safety and train safety

  • Using Public Transport where possible for school trips

  • Police visited Years 5 and 6 to speak about travelling home safely

 

We are Friends Workshop

Year 4 had the pleasure of attending a workshop this week. They discussed qualities a good friend might have and how our bodies can help us identify what emotions we might be feeling. We are looking forward to our second session with Gada from Achieving for Children, next week.






 

Language of the Month: Greek




We value and respect all the languages and cultures within our school community. Throughout November, our Language of the Month assemblies have been led by Eleni (Year 5), Ava (Year 3) and Ioannis (Year 5). We are enjoying learning about the Greek language, Cyprus and its culture. Well done Eleni, Ava and Ioannis



 

Mental Health Ambassadors




Beatriz, Mollie, and Benjamin represented St John's at the borough Primary Mental Health Conference. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and participated in all tasks whilst engaging with their peers from other schools. They will be sharing some of the activities with the whole school and writing up their action plan. They were a credit to our school!


 

Insight Visit




Year 5 had a visit from Claire at INSIGHT. The class were learning about 'What meaning do different Advertisements give to Christmas?'. The pupils watched a range of Christmas adverts, and discussed how the meaning of Christmas is expressed in a variety of advertisements and how Christians might feel towards them. The pupils looked at different Christian adverts and compared similarities and differences between the ‘popular’ advertisements. They looked at the seven R’s - (Reconciliation, Rescue, Relationship, Return, Rejoice, Receive and Run) and the impact of the Christmas message.


Pupils voice:

'It was fun because we got to participate in activities!’


‘I enjoyed learning how adverts were made and making our own storyboards with a catchy tag line and slogan!’

 

Princess Alice Hospice Santa Fun Run



 

Class Weekly Attendance for W/C 16 October


Y1 98%

Y2 98.3%

Y3 86.7%

Y4 92.3%

Y5 89.3%

Y6 96.7%


Class Weekly Attendance for W/C 9 October


Y1 96.7%

Y2 99%

Y3 94.7%

Y4 98.7%

Y5 92.3%

Y6 93.7%


 

Punctuality


The school gates open at 8:40am and close at 8:50am. We expect all children to be ready to start their early morning learning promptly at 8:45am.


We want to teach our children that punctuality is an extremely important and respectful life skill.


When the gates close at 8:50am, your child's lateness will be recorded. This will be monitored by the Local Authority's Educational Welfare Officer ("EWO").


Early morning work, between 8:45 and 9:00am is vital for your child's progress.


Please do not allow your child to cycle on Portland Road on the way to and from school as there is still traffic travelling down the road at this time of the morning


 

Forgotten items reminder


If your child has forgotten any items they need for school on a day, eg: lunch, water bottle, PE kit, wellies for forest school, etc... please leave them clearly labelled with your child's name and class in the plastic box outside the office and a member of staff will pass them over to your child before lunchtime.

 

Keeping children safe (Safeguarding)


Please find here an excellent Safeguarding Handbook for primary schools by the Kingston and Richmond Safeguarding Team. Safeguarding—In Safe hands

The National Domestic Abuse Helpline

Continues to operate 24 hours a day including bank holidays & weekends. 0808 2000 247

Please remember if you have any concerns or questions regarding Safeguarding out of school hours follow the link.


Do not forget

  • No pets allowed on the school premises

  • No smoking or vaping on the school premises

  • Use of mobile is not permitted on the school premises

 

PSA


Class list is a great way to communicate with your school community. If you haven't signed up already please click the link below



3 ways to help St John's School


Please visit the Easy Fund Raising App to easily raise money for the School. Simply visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk, and select St John's School as your chosen charity.

We have raised £1267.38 so far and have 88 supporters! Every purchase made through easyfundraising means a donation to our PSA.


St John's Book List - Donate a book to celebrate birthdays, support our library, or buy class books. Please click below to go to our Amazon page



Stamptastic is the fastest way to name your kids' belongings. Use code KT1 2SG or click on the button below to earn donations for the PSA



You can keep up to date with all PSA events and read their latest newsletter on their page on the school website here.

 

Reception Admissions for September 2024




 

Dates for your Diary


All dates appear on our school calendar on the school website. This includes school holiday dates, inset days, clubs, swimming and parent's evenings. You can find the calendar here:











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