Dear Parents/Carers,
Let me begin by wishing everyone a happy St Andrew’s Day tomorrow and well done to class 5L for their lovely assembly on St Andrew this week. The next three weeks are going to be very busy in school as we move towards the end of term. This Sunday marks the beginning of the great season of Advent. This is a full newsletter with information about upcoming events and fundraising activities both for the school and various charities. Please take time to read it so you know about everything that is going on in school including of course the Christmas Bazaar a week on Sunday.
Masses and Assemblies
Class 5O will be presenting their assembly on “Hope” next Wednesday 4th December at 2:30pm. This is the final class assembly for this term but here is a final whole school Mass led by Year 5 on Thursday 19th December.
Christmas Bazaar (Sunday 8th December)
It is now just over a week to the Christmas Bazaar on Sunday 8th December from 1:00-4:00pm. This is one of our two main fundraising events during the year and please remember that all the money raised goes directly to your child and this is one of the best ways of supporting the school. Our aim is to raise around £2,500 so that we can continue to develop the school particularly outdoors for the benefit of our pupils both now and in the future.
In particular we need help with the following:
- Setting up on the Saturday 7th School will be open between 1:00pm and 3:00pm after the lettings have finished, so if you can spare some time it will make such a difference.
- Helping set up on the day itself. School will be open from 10:00am onwards. We will also need help in clearing away afterwards.
- Helping to run a stall. It is always better to have several people running stalls. If any parents or family friends can do things like face painting or nail painting please let us know.
- Donations of food or baking on the day for the refreshments stall.
- Hire a table top for £10 (no inappropriate games please)
- Advertise the Bazaar to family and friends. The children are bringing home a flier today
I am sending home an extra book of raffle tickets for everyone to sell over the next week. Traditionally we sell most of the tickets before the event rather than on the day itself. We have two final non-uniform days next week.
- Wednesday 4th December – bring an item for the Christmas Stall or £2
- Friday 6th December – return of sold raffle ticket stubs or £2
Friends’ Events
As well as the Christmas Bazaar, the Friends’ are also organizing some other fundraising events between now and the end of term. Friday 13th December is going to be a particularly busy day as we raise money for both Save the Children with our Christmas Jumper Day and for the school with the Coffee Morning and Film Night.
- Friday 13th December – Christmas Coffee Morning 9:00am
- Friday 13th December – “Christmas Jumper Day” for Save the Children
- Friday 13th December – Family Film Night 7:00pm
“Christmas Jumper Day” for Save the Children
You may have seen on television that Friday 13th December is going to be “Christmas Jumper Day” in aid of Save the Children. We will be taking part in this so if your child wants to come to school on that day wearing a Christmas jumper they can bring £1 and we will send the money to the charity. As an extra incentive there will be prizes for the best jumpers (best boy and girl in each class and the best boy and girl in the school). There will also be a special Christmas cake sale on the day.
Christmas Cards
If the children are giving Christmas cards to each other or to members of staff over the next few weeks, there is a special post box outside my room where they can “post” their cards. They need to put the name and class clearly on the envelope so that they can be delivered. Children should not give each other cards in the playground or in the classroom as this causes unnecessary litter outside and disruption inside the school.
Christmas Lunch
The children will be having their Christmas Lunch this year on Wednesday 18th December. If your child normally has a packed lunch in school, you can order a lunch for them but this needs to be done by Monday 9th December to allow time for our cook to order the ingredients and prepare the lunches.
Uniform/PE Kits
Uniform will next be on sale on Wednesday 18th December from 8:50-9:30am. With winter now very much here, please make sure your child is coming to school with a suitable coat.
Parental Consultation Meetings (Monday 9th December)
I have moved the planned end of term parental consultation meetings from Monday 2nd December to a week later on Monday 9th December (same times). This is because there is going to be a re-scheduled Governor’s Meeting on the evening of 2nd December. I will be sending out letters next week so you can make an appointment to see your child’s teacher on 9th December.
The Sun/Collins Big Cat Books for Schools
As part of our on-going aim to get new books for the school library, I have registered the school with a campaign being run jointly by The Sun Newspaper and Collins Big Cat Book Company to provide up to £600 worth of free books for schools. We need to collect 3,500 tokens printed daily in The Sun between 23rd November 2019 and 18th January 2020. I know The Sun my not be your regular newspaper but it would be good to buy copies during this period to get the tokens and directly benefit all the pupils. By registering, we also get access to other free resources to support reading in the school.
Attendance and Punctuality
Congratulations to both Class 6C who achieved 99.5% attendance this week and Class 3K who achieved 100% punctuality.
Class of the Week
Well done to Class 5L who were Class of the Week for their lovely assembly on St Andrew this week. Once gain I have been very impressed with the quality of the class assemblies this term and the fact that significantly more parents have been coming to watch this term which is great for the children.
Pantomime
To get everyone in the Christmas spirit early this year, the West End in Schools Theatre Group will be performing “Aladdin” in school next Thursday morning to all the pupils. Oh no, they won’t. Oh yes, they will! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist it).
End of Term Concerts
Our Year 3 and 4 pupils are busy rehearsing for their carol concerts and the Macbeth production respectively. The will perform in school and also in the evenings (dates below). We would want every pupil to be part of these events and if for any reason you know that your child will not be able to attend the evening performances then please let the teachers know in advance in case they need to re-allocate parts etc. The Carol Concerts are whole school events and although they are led by our Year 3 classes, I expect as many of the other pupils as possible to be in church on the evening of Wednesday 11th December at 7:00pm as each year group has a part to play.
Sonlight Concert
Just a final reminder that there is an evening of praise and worship with the band Sonlight at St Joseph’s Church this Saturday 30th November from 7:00pm. Entry is free with refreshments after the concert. There will be a collection at the end of the evening for the band’s expenses. I myself will be celebrating St Andrew’s Day by going along to church tomorrow evening for the concert.
Easyfundraising
Do you ever shop online? Would you like to raise money for your child’s school at no extra cost to you? St Joseph’s Junior School has registered their cause on easyfundraising, which is a super initiative that raises money for hundreds of charities and good causes including schools. With Christmas coming, there has never been a better time to sign up as a supporter. Simply go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stjosephsjuniorsleyton and register using your e-mail address (it takes about 5 minutes).
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
Future Dates for your Diary
- Monday 2nd December – Maths Assessment Week in Years 3, 4 and 5
- Wednesday 4th December – Non-uniform day for Bazaar (Christmas Stall or £2)
- Wednesday 4th December – Class 5O Assembly on “Hope” 2:30pm
- Thursday 5th December – Pantomime of “Aladdin” in school 10:30am
- Thursday 5th December – Fire Safety Talk for Year 5 pm
- Friday 6th December – Non-uniform day for Christmas Bazaar (raffle tickets or £2)
- Friday 6th December – Interim RE review in school
- Sunday 8th December – Christmas Bazaar 1:00-4:00pm
- Monday 9th December – Mock SATs Week in Year 6
- Monday 9th December – Reading Assessment Week in Years 3, 4 and 5
- Monday 9th December – Parents meetings (1:15-2:45pm and 4:00-6:00pm)
- Tuesday 10th December – Carol Concert led by Y3 in church 10:30am
- Wednesday 11th December – Non-uniform day for the “Heat or Eat” food bank
- Wednesday 11th December – Carol Concert led by Y3 in church 7:00pm
- Thursday 12th December – Amnesty International Workshops for Years 5 and 6 pm
- Friday 13th December – “Christmas Jumper Day” for Save the Children”
- Friday 13th December – Family Film Night 7:00pm
- Saturday 14th December – St Joseph’s Infant School Christmas Bazaar pm
- Monday 16th December – Writing assessments today
- Tuesday 17th December – Y4 Shakespeare Concert of “Macbeth” 11:00am
- Wednesday 18th December – Christmas lunch
- Wednesday 18th December – Y4 Shakespeare Concert of “Macbeth” 7:00pm
- Thursday 19th December – Whole School Mass led by Year 5 11:00am
- Friday 20th December – Last day of term (finish at 2:00pm today)
- Monday 6th January 2020 – Staff inset day
- Tuesday 7th January 2020 – Staff inset day
- Wednesday 8th January 2020 – First day of spring term for pupils
- Saturday 25th January 2020 – School hosting Waltham Forest Music Festival pm
