Dear Parents/Carers,
We have finally reached the end of what has been a long and up and down autumn term in school (with many more ups than downs I have to say!). Obviously the last few weeks have been the most challenging, with classes and year groups having to isolate and then the disruption of this week with school being open, then closed, then open to key worker pupils with remote learning for everyone else. I think these last few days have been the most frustrating for everyone. When I wrote to you a week ago I was quite optimistic about having a nice last week of term and being able to do some things to mark Advent etc. Class 4P and the Year 6 classes had returned straight back into good routines and learning and the Year 5 classes were due back on Tuesday (I feel really sorry for them). However it was not to be. My letters from earlier in the week outline the reasons behind the decisions taken this week. I was also aware of the need to keep everyone in our school community safe as we approach Christmas and to align closely with the infant school which we have done. All our main decisions this week have been taken only after consultation with Mrs D’Souza and the respective Chairs of Governors. In many ways this situation has brought the two schools close together and this is a positive thing as we move towards the federation in 2021 (more on this below).
Having said all of this, overall I feel the term has gone very well given all the challenges and uncertainties that we faced back in September. The pupils have been wonderful in their commitment to learning and outstanding behaviour, the staff have done everything and more to ensure not only the academic progress of the children but also their well-being and emotional support and you the parents have given both me and the school community great support and understanding of what we have been trying to do over these last 4 months or so. I would also like to pay tribute to the school governors who have given me full support during this difficult time and have been wonderful guardians of our school.
End of Term Assessments
Despite the various interruptions over the last few days, I have managed to carry out most of the planned end of term assessments. The Year 3, 4 and 6 classes did their writing assessments and the Year 3 and 4 classes their Maths assessments. We were always planning to do the reading assessments in early January anyway plus any that were missed this week. We will use the results of these to plan the interventions and catch up tuition for the spring term and will communicate any targets when we hold the parental consultation meetings in the week of 18th January.
Advent Charity Support
We held our “Jumper Day” last Friday to support the wonderful work of Save the Children. I am pleased to say with the non-uniform money plus donations from staff and parents we raised £200 for Save the Children. Given the many demands on families at this time and the fact that we didn’t have a full school on Friday, this is a wonderful achievement again for our school community.
End of Term Awards
We would have held our traditional end of term assemblies today and given out many awards to pupils and classes for their achievements this term. However we are going to move everything to our first Friday when we return in January and present all the awards on 8th January and share these in the newsletter that goes out that day. After the term we have just had, the children deserve these and also to get them in front of their peers when everyone is back in school.
Parish Food Donation
In last week’s newsletter I shared some important information regarding how the parish is going to be supporting families in need over the Christmas period. If you can help in any way please contact the number below. I am planning to help with the food distribution on Saturdays. If you know of any families who may need this support please let them know, it is available to any families in need not just those who attend church. Please forward the link below to them to enable them to register to receive a food parcel. The parish community, including of course the families in the Junior School have been incredibly generous in donating the food items but we need to get them distributed to families in need as soon as possible.
Sign up link:
https://forms.gle/FXdwXwhvWhW2ZPENA
To help with food distribution on a Saturday please contact 0208 539 2908.
FOOD COLLECTION:
Food will be available for collection for all those in need every Saturday 12:00pm-2:00pm from The Jubilee Centre, St Joseph’s Catholic Church, 68 Grange Park Rd, Leyton E10 5ES.
Mrs. Lock
I am pleased to let everyone know that Mrs. Lock’s new born son Zachary was able to finally go home this week after undergoing some checks in hospital following his birth on 3rd December. I think this is the best Christmas present of all for Mrs. Lock and her family and I know big brother and sister are loving having their baby brother home.
Testing Positive for Covid-19
We have been asked by the DFE and the local authority Public Health Team to share the following information regarding testing and positive cases over the Christmas holiday.
If you, or any member of your family, develop symptoms of Coronavirus during the Christmas holiday, you should continue to follow the government guidelines on self-isolating and book a test or go to one of the walk in centres around the borough. If you do get a positive result within the first 6 days of the holiday, you must still tell the school even though your child is not in school. This will allow the school to take the necessary steps to alert those they may have been in close contact with. Please contact the school via email – school@stjosephsjun.waltham.sch.uk up until Thursday 24th December.
Keyworker Children developing symptoms within 48 hours of Friday 18th December
Our last day of school for keyworkers is Friday 18th December. If your child develops any symptoms within 48 hours of this date (this includes Friday 18th evening, Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th December) and tests positive for coronavirus, you must notify the school as soon as possible by texting the emergency COVID 19 number 07908007933
When reporting a positive case, please include the following information in your text message:
• Name of child
• Childs class name
• Date of first symptoms
• Date of test result
• Sibling names if any (Junior or infants):
The Covid 19 School number will be monitored closely from Friday 18th December to Thursday 24th December. The school will contact all parents of anyone who has been in close contact with a pupil or member of staff who has tested positive by text. The school will follow Waltham Forest Public Health and DFE guidance, which at present states that close contacts of anyone who has tested positive will need to isolate for 10 days.
Keyworker Children Developing symptoms after 48 hours of Friday 18th December
If your child develops symptoms or tests positive after 48 hours (after Sunday 20th December), you still need to continue to follow the government guidelines on self-isolating and book a test. If your child tests positive for coronavirus after 48 hours, you must notify the school by the school email and not use the emergency number school Covid 19 number. Any correspondence sent to the school from Monday 21st will be picked up by the school on Monday 4th January. Parents and carers should follow instructions and contact tracing instructions provided by NHS Test and Trace. I ask that you continue to inform us of positive cases over the holiday to enable us to help keep our school community safe over the holiday and on our return to school in January.
Federation
Just to update everyone on the timeline towards the federation of the two schools in 2021. The advert for the substantive head to take over both schools, hopefully by Easter, has gone out and there has already been some interest and enquiries from prospective candidates. All being well, the new federated governing body will come into place on 1st January and they will oversee the appointment of the new head in mid-January. I have now officially resigned (I had to do this before the advert could go out) but it is still my intention to be here throughout the spring term to work alongside the new governing body, supporting the transition towards the federation and to then step down at Easter. I will of course continue to keep you updated when we return in January and throughout next term.
2021
I started this letter by reflecting on the challenges faced over the last few months and would like to end by looking ahead to 2021 and hopefully a more optimistic time for all of us. We know that the virus and everything that goes with it is still going to be with us next year, but with the vaccines being rolled out and hopefully a better understanding of how to deal and combat the effects of COVID, we can move towards a better place in our country and indeed the entire world. Just thinking about school, my most fervent wish is that we have an uninterrupted term from January onwards and that all the pupils can be in school learning and developing as young citizens. As I mentioned last week, Pope Francis has declared a “Year of St Joseph” from December 2020 to December 2021 in honour of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as the Patron Saint of the Universal Church. Who better than Joseph to guide us through the next few months and bring us all to a better and safer world? It is of course also a particularly special announcement for our school and parish community and the timing is also perfect as it will coincide with the 120th anniversary of the founding of our own school way back in January 1901.
Personally I am so disappointed that we have not been able to do all the things we would normally be planning and running at this time of year. They are often exhausting to do but so much a part of what our school is that we miss them so much. Over the last few days I have been ticking off the things we would have been doing such as the Christmas Bazaar, Family Film Night, Year 3 Carol Concert, Year 4 Shakespeare Production, Whole School Mass for Advent and so on. I keep my old school diaries and can’t help looking back at last Advent and what we did. Of course these things will come around again but it probably feels worse as this will be my last Christmas at St Joseph’s. However there is next term, our 120th birthday and all being well, Easter will give us opportunities that we have missed this term.
Can I end by wishing everyone the best and safest Christmas possible? Hopefully you can do some of the things and see some of the family members you have missed this year but please take care of each other and let’s work together towards a better new year. Just to remind everyone that the pupils return for the new term on Wednesday 6th January.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
Dates for 2021
Monday 4th January and Tuesday 5th January – Staff inset days in school
Wednesday 6th January – First day of term for pupils
Week of Monday 11th January – Reading assessments for all year groups
Week of Monday 18th January – Parental Consultation meetings (times TBC)
Monday 15th to Friday 19th February – Spring half term break
Week of Monday 8th March – Cycle training for Year 5 and 6 pupils
Thursday 1st April – Last day of term for pupils
