Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope everyone has had a good week and you are all staying safe.
Federation of St Joseph’s Junior and Infant Schools
We are now 5 weeks into the consultation period (it ends on Friday 20th November) and again I would urge everyone to respond to the consultation and give your views. We are holding a final joint meeting next Tuesday for the staff in both schools so they can share their views and thoughts before the consultation period ends next Friday.
Flu Vaccinations
The flu vaccinations will take place in school on Tuesday 24th November. We sent home the packs before half term with all the information you need regarding the flu vaccination, how it is administered and why it is being offered to all primary aged pupils plus Year 7. Can you please fill in and return the form to school, even if you do not wish your child to receive the vaccine. Can you return the forms as soon as possible so that we can pass them on to NHS England. Thank you to everyone who has returned the forms so far.
Personal Learning Plans (PLPs)
Over the next few days I will be sending home more invitations to some parents about a meeting to discuss their child’s progress in school and to draw up a Personal Learning Plan (PLP). I have already sent out invites to the Year 3 and 4 parents and I held the first meetings with Year 3 parents today. Most of the children will already have PLPs so this is about updating them and for other children it is about making sure things are in place to support their education. If you receive an invitation please send the slip back to let me know if you are happy to come in to school to meet with me one to one or you would prefer me to send the PLP to you to add your own comments.
Uniform
We are selling uniform every second week in school on Wednesday mornings from 8:30am to 9:30am. The next sale will be next Wednesday 18th November. If you need an item of uniform in an emergency, please come to the school office. With the colder weather now, it is important that the children are coming to school every day with a warm and waterproof coat. As I mentioned earlier in the term, we are relaxing the uniform policy for coats this year so that parents do not necessarily need to buy a dark coat if your child already has a coat of another colour that they can wear to school.
After School Clubs
The after school sports/dance clubs for each year group have all started. These are the clubs, days/times and which year group they are for:
Monday – Multi-Sports Club for pupils in Years 3 and 4 (3:00-4:00pm). Book this directly with PTC Sports. Book at https://ptcsports.class4kids.co.uk/term/28. The cost of the club is £21 for 6 weeks (now £14 for 4 weeks). For further information about the club you can contact Taskin from PTC Sports on 07513 522 896.
Tuesday – Dance Stables for all year groups (3:00-4:00pm). Book this directly with Dance Stables at ds.team@dancestables.co.uk.
Wednesday – Multi-Sports Club for pupils in Year 6 (3:15-4:15pm).
Thursday – Multi-Sports Club for pupils in Year 5 (3:15-4:15pm)
Both the Wednesday and Thursday Sports Clubs will be run by the coaches from Leyton Orient who are here in the afternoon. To book a place you need to go onto the School Shop. The cost will be £21 for 6 weeks (now £14 for 4 weeks). There are only a couple of places left on these clubs and the Monday club for Years 3 and 4
Catch-Up Tuition
All the groups have started, run by our own staff and have gone well so far.
Monday – Year 5 and 6 pupils (3:15-4:15pm)
Thursday – Year 3 and 4 pupils (3:00-4:00pm)
“November Harvest”
Many thanks to everyone who has already donated food stuff and other items for our “November Harvest” appeal. Remember non-perishable items only please; I showed the children a range of possible things to bring in at the Monday assemblies this week. This is what we are going to ask the children to bring in for our non-uniform days both today and next Friday 20th November, but you can send in an item at any time in the next couple of weeks. Ms Le and the School council are organising the appeal on behalf of the school and we aim to donate the items to a local food bank at the end of the month.
Remembrance Week/Poppies
We have marked Remembrance Week with a series of activities for the pupils. The Year 3 pupils wrote their “Silence Poems” and the Year 4 and 5 pupils wrote their “Poppy Prayers”. Our Year 6 pupils wrote their letters home from the WW1 trenches and then I held a special assembly with them at 11:00am on Wednesday to mark the centenary of the tomb Unknown Soldier. We will continue to sell poppies and other items at lunchtimes next week to raise money for the Royal British Legion.
Book Fair
Our autumn term book fair is going to be delivered next Monday 16thNovember. The books will have been cleaned and quarantined for 72 hours before they are delivered here and the children will have opportunities to browse the books before we start to sell them. The book fair will be open each morning from Wednesday 18th November to Monday 23rd November from 8:00am to 8:30am for pupils in Years 3 and 4 and then 8:30am to 9:00am for pupils in Years 5 and 6 in the school library. As in previous years this will be an opportunity to buy books for your children, many at reduced prices plus we will get hopefully lots of free books for the school. Basically the more books we sell the more free books we will get.
Learning Walk
I held a learning walk in school on Wednesday with Mrs Lock when we spent the day visiting classrooms, watching lessons and the different support groups around school, looking at displays around school and basically seeing how the school day is running from the first arrivals to the final departures. We also looked at samples of the pupils’ work across the year groups. Almost everything we observed was positive but in particular we were impressed by the outstanding engagement of the pupils in every class in their learning and the way they are responding to their teachers and support assistants, the quality of work and displays around the entire school and the overall behavior of the children both in class where it is exemplary and outside where it is also very good. I think much of this is a tribute to the hard work of the staff and the commitment of the children to do their best since we returned to school in September.
Attendance
I have been meaning to comment on the very high rates of attendance we have been enjoying in school recently both in the weeks before half term and since we returned. Most classes are now achieving either 100% attendance each week or very close to this. Well done to you the parents for doing everything you can to get the children in school every day, this will make such a big difference as we move forward this term and beyond. Punctuality is also excellent and again this can only have a positive effect.
Mrs Osei
Can you remember in your prayers the family of Mrs Osei, one of our Year 5 teachers. Very sadly she lost her father in the summer when he passed away in Ghana but was unable to visit her mum and other family members during this difficult time. Today she was able to fly home to Ghana for the funeral of her beloved dad and hopefully this will provide some closure for her and the family after a very stressful few weeks. I have arranged for another teacher to take 5O next week while she is away.
Friday Assembly Awards (Week of 9th to 13th November)
The awards presented at the Friday assemblies today. Congratulations to everyone.
Golden Book Awards:
Class 3K – Jabari, Alina and Mirabel
Class 3H – Natan, Jaydan and Zara
Class 4P – Darcey, Nathaniel and Jayden S.
Class 4RC – Naomi, Patryk and Mia.
Class 5L – Simeon, Cassie and Kwame
Class 5O – Leila, Nirushka and Tyron
Class 6PM – David, Robbie and Maria
Class 6C – Vanessa, Lamar and Olivier.
Team of the Week – St Patrick’s with 5,155 points. Well done.
Class of the Week – Class 5L and Class 5O for their wonderful displays. Well done.
Attendance of the Week – Class 3H, Class 3K, Class 4P and Class 4RC all had 100% attendance this week! Well done.
Pupils of the Week – Matthew 3H, Etinosa 4P, Nirushka 5O and Karolina 6C
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
Dates for this term (will be added to and updated each week)
Wednesday 18th November – Book Fair in school each day this week 8:00-9:00am
Friday 20th November – end of consultation period on the proposed federation
Friday 20th November – non-uniform day for “November Harvest” (an item of food)
Tuesday 24th November – flu vaccinations in school
Friday 27th November – non-uniform day for school funds (bring£1)
Friday 4th December – non-uniform day for school funds (bring £1)
Friday 11th December – “Christmas Jumper Day” for Save the Children (non-uniform day, bring £1).
Friday 18th December – last day of term
