Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back to all our families after the half term break. I hope you all had a nice few days. This half term is always an important time for our school community as we approach the season of Lent and over the next few weeks we will be preparing for Holy Week and Easter. We will be holding our Ash Wednesday service led by Class 6P this Wednesday 26th February at 11:00am.
Masses and Assemblies
Well done to Class 4RB who presented their thoughtful and reflective assembly on “Unity” before half term. There is a full list of Masses and Assemblies for this half term at the end of the newsletter.
Consultation
I sent home the consultation document regarding the proposed future of St Joseph’s Junior School before half term plus we e-mailed a copy to everyone and it is on the school website. There is now a 6 week period of consultation and part of this will be public meetings for parents on Wednesday 4th March at 9:00am and 4:00pm to meet with governors and ask any questions. I would urge everyone to read the document carefully and to respond to it. The more responses we receive, the better informed the governors will be when they come to make their decision.
Valentine’s Disco
We held our Valentine’s Disco/Activiites on the Friday afternoon before half term. It went very well with different activiites for the children. It certainly helped having all the school staff available to supervise the disco and film, particular thanks to Ms Le who provided the music and was the DJ for the afternoon. Many thanks also to the parents who came along in the afternoon to help sell refreshments in the dining room. After expenses we raised just over £350 on the day for the school.
Friends’ Association
The next event being planned by the Friends’ Association will be the “Have a Heart Family Quiz Night” on Saturday 7th March 7:00-9:30pm. Apart from hopefully having an enjoyable evening, the main purpose of this event is to raise money to buy a defibrillator for the school and the local community (thus the title!). For one night only your headmaster will become the quizmaster! Admission is £5 for adults and £3 for children (this includes a buffet plus soft refreshments; you can bring your own drinks). The winning team (minimum of 4 per team) will win £100. I also sent home a letter asking parents to consider having a board from Your Move outside their house advertising this event and raising additional money for our fundraising efforts.
After School Clubs/Activities
The booking forms are now online to book places on the clubs for this half term. The clubs begin this week and will run for the next 5 weeks. Also remember you can book places on the various Dance Stables Clubs by going onto their respective web sites. Unfortunately they will not be running their Drama or Cheerleading clubs this half term because of the small numbers but hope to start them again in the summer. Parents have been informed of this.
Uniform
Uniform will next be on sale this Wednesday 26th February from 8:50-9:30am and then every second Wednesday through the term.
Lenten Fundraising for CAFOD
It has become a traditional part of our journey through Lent to raise money for CAFOD and support their Lenten Appeal. As part of this fundraising we will be holding our popular colour themed non-uniform days each Friday during Lent up till the end of term. The children can wear their own clothes as normal in return for bringing their £1 and we have a colour theme each week with a prize for the most colourful class. Friday 28th February – “Red Day” (this is to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital in memory of Maura Stone RIP), Friday 6th March – this is World Book Day so children can come to school dressed as their favourite book character, Friday 13th March – “Green Day”, Friday 20th March – “Yellow Day”, Friday 27th March – “Blue Day”. We will also be holding other fundraising events this half term including “Lenten Wells”, a sponsored walk at the end of term and cake/ice cream sales on some of the Fridays.
Improvements to the School
Half term was busy in school as we had work done to upgrade and improve the facilities for the pupils and staff. This included installing new energy saving lighting and additional emergency lighting in the Year 6 classes, dining room, staff room and the front offices and corridor. This is the first part of a rolling programme which over the next few months will have new lighting in all parts of the school. This work also means removing the original ceilings in the Year 3 and 4 classes as because of when they were built they contain asbestos. The ceiling in Class 3H was replaced over half term and the other classes will be done at Easter and over the summer break. We also had the remaining repairs completed in the car park, a full survey of our fire doors and new fire extinguishers installed across the school. I will keep you updated over the next few months as this programme of work continues.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
Future Dates for your Diary
These are the dates for this half term. This will be amended and updated each week.
- Monday 24th February – After school clubs and activities resume this week
- Wednesday 26th February – Ash Wednesday Service led by Class 6P 11:00am
- Wednesday 26th February – “Qualiteach” Football Tournament for Year 5 boys
- Friday 28th February – Non-uniform day for Royal Marsden Hospital (“Red Day”)
- Saturday 29th February – Year 6 Saturday Study Club resumes 9:30am-12:00pm
- Monday 2nd March – “SportsforSchools” Day including visit from GB Volleyball player
- Wednesday 4th March – Consultation Meetings for parents 9:00am and 4:00pm
- Thursday 5th March – Class 6C Assembly on “Death and New Life” 2:30pm
- Friday 6th March – “World Book Day (favourite book character for non-uniform)
- Friday 6th March – Non-uniform day for CAFOD’s Lenten Appeal (see above)
- Saturday 7th March – “Have a Heart” Family Film Night 7:00-9:30pm
- Monday 9th March – Bikeability cycle training for Year 5 pupils this week
- Thursday 12th March – Deanery Mass for Y6 pupils at St Joseph’s Church am
- Thursday 12th March – Year 4 football tournament at the Score Centre am
- Thursday 12th March – Cycling Event at the Olympic Park for 30 Year 5 pupils
- Friday 13th March – Non-uniform day for CAFOD’s Lenten Appeal (“Green Day”)
- Thursday 19th March – Mass for St Joseph’s Day in church led by Y4 11:00am
- Thursday 19th March – Sports/Activity Afternoon run by PTC Sports to celebrate St Joseph’s Day
- Friday 20th March – Non-uniform day for CAFOD’s Lenten Appeal (“Yellow Day”)
- Friday 20th March – School hosting RCE Conference in the hall all day
- Monday 23rd March – Consultation on proposed hard federation ends today12:00pm
- Monday 23rd March – Parental Consultation Meetings (1:00-3:00pm/4:00-6:00pm)
- Wednesday 25th March – Year 6 trip to Harry Potter World
- Wednesday 25th March – Bikeability cycle training for Year 3 and 4 pupils (2 days)
- Thursday 26th March – Spring Book Fair delivered today (runs for next week)
- Friday 27th March – Non-uniform day for CAFOD’s Lenten Appeal (“Blue Day”)
- Friday 27th March – Year 3 trip to Mountfitchet Castle
- Monday 30th March – German teacher in school this week (UK/German Connection)
- Monday 30th March – Lenten Reconciliation Service am
- Tuesday 31st March – Year 5 Easter Production 11:00am
- Wednesday 1st April – Year 5 Easter Production 7:00pm
- Thursday 2nd April – Class and group photographs am
- Thursday 2nd April – Sponsored walk for CAFOD pm (to be confirmed)
- Friday 3rd April – Last day of term including Lenten Service led by Year 3 am (school ends at 2:00pm today)
- Monday 6th April to Thursday 9th April – Easter Sports Club run by PTC Sports each day from 9:30am to 3:30pm (more details to follow after half term)
- Monday 20th April – First day of summer term for pupils
