Dear Parents/Carers,
It’s been nice to enjoy the lovely warm weather this week. School always seems that little bit better when the sun is shining and the children can get outside playing and enjoying each other’s company. As always there is a lot of information in this week’s newsletter including projects the school is going to be involved with this term, trips and other activities. I am also happy to advertise any events in the parish or local community so if you would like me to mention something just get in touch.
Staffing News
We are going to be saying goodbye soon to one of our members of staff. Fiona Halgoa who has been working here on Mondays for the last few years as our Home School Practitioner will be leaving St Joseph’s at the end of the month so her final day will be Monday 30th September. I know Fiona has worked with lots of families both parents and pupils and has been a caring and supportive friend. She has had a difficult personal year with family bereavements and other issues to deal with and has decided to make a change in her career and pursue other interests. Happily she is also going to get married soon as is her son, so she has lots of nice things ahead of her. I would like to thank her for everything she has done at St Joseph’s and to wish her all the best both in her personal life and her new career.
Masses and Assemblies
Well done to Class 6C who presented a lovely assembly on “Loving” yesterday. We enjoyed a high standard of class assemblies last year and it looks like we are going to have the same this year. Class 4P will be presenting their assembly on “People” on Thursday 26th September at 2:30pm.There is a list of all the Masses and assemblies for this term in the list of dates at the end of the newsletter. Parents and families are always welcome to join us for any of the Masses or assemblies.
McMillan Coffee Morning (27th September)
We will be holding a special coffee morning for McMillan Cancer Support next Friday 27th September from 9:00am in the school dining room. If anyone can help on the day or donate cakes please let the school office know. We will also be holding a non-uniform day and cake sale for the children on 27th September to support the charity. Last year we were able to raise over £400 for this great cause.
Year Group Parent Meetings
A meeting for Year 3, 4 and 5 parents will be held next Wednesday 25th September at 3:30pm also in the school hall. Please note that this is a general year group meetings. An individual consultation evening will be held later in the term
Governors’ Fund
We have sent out letters asking parents in Years 4, 5 and 6 to make their annual contribution to the Governor’s Fund for 2019-20 (Year 3 parents have already paid for this year). The letter outlines the purpose of the Governors’ Fund and how the school uses the money. The contribution we ask for is the same as last year, £30 for one child and £50 if you have more than one child in the school. It is always important to make this contribution towards your child’s school but even more so now when we are having to work within tighter school budgets and funding from the local authority and central government is being cut in real terms. At St Joseph’s we have been able to secure funding from various sources and through our own fundraising efforts to buy resources for the classroom and enhance our playground which has been transformed over the last 4 or 5 years. However we cannot assume that this funding will be available in the future so it is vital that every family makes a contribution towards the upkeep of the school building and to ensure your children are learning and playing in a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment. The letter that has out will also outline ways of paying the fund to hopefully make it more manageable for many families.
After School Activities
We are settling into a regular timetable for the clubs. Most of the clubs are now full and cannot accept any more bookings for this half term though there are still a few places left in some of the sports clubs such as girls’ football, so you can book from next week but you will pay for 4 weeks now. Again please note that the Monday Gymnastics Club and the Tuesday Dance Club both have to be booked through the teachers/coaches running them, not through the school. The Dance Club started this week. Both have places available. If you want your child to go into the After School Club after they have finished their activity, you can arrange an ad hoc booking for that night of £5 up till 5:30pm and £10 up till 6:30pm. Children who already attend the ASC can of course book one of the activities well.
After School Club
We are currently taking bookings for our After School Club which runs from 3:05 to 6:30pm each school day. Application forms are available from the school office or can be downloaded from the school website. Our prices remain unchanged so the current cost is £14 per day or £50 for a full week. We also offer an occasional ad hoc service which costs £7 up till 4:30pm and £14 up till 6:30pm.
Breakfast Club
Our Breakfast Club runs from 7:45 to 8:40am each school day, last entry being 8:25am. The cost is £3.00 per day (same as last year) and there is no need to book in advance. Please note there should be no children in our playground before 8:25am as they cannot be supervised.
Uniform/PE Kits
Uniform will next be on sale on Wednesday 25th September from 8:50-9:30am and then every second Wednesday during the term. Please make sure all items of uniform are clearly named, this helps us return lost uniform to the correct child. All pupils should make sure they have a full PE kit in school, again clearly marked with their name and kept in a suitable bag.
School Photographs
All the photographs taken earlier this term are now on line for parents to view and then order. The deadline for ordering a photograph is Friday 27th September. After this date all orders will be sent to the school to give out to parents.
Cinema Trips
We have booked free cinema trips for all the year groups later this term. See the list of dates below for the days they are going. You will be able to go online nearer the time and authorise the trips. Throughout the school year we are always looking for opportunities to take the children on free trips and events.
Mosaics
I am currently working with an art company called Artyface who want to come into school this term and work with the children to create mosaics. The company have already created mosaics for stations such as South Tottenham and other public places in London. They will work with our Year 3 pupils on 1st October to create the clay pieces and then return over 3 days after half term from 28th – 30th October to create the mosaics with Years 4, 5 and 6.
Poppies and Poetry Workshops
I have also booked a company called West End in Schools to come and work with the pupils around the time of Remembrance and deliver workshops on this theme. They will work with Year 3 on 7th November and the other year groups on 8th November. More details nearer the time.
Book Fair
We will be holding our Autumn Term Book Fair next week in the nearly newly refurbished school library. The fair will run on Wednesday 25th, Thursday 26th, Friday 27th and Monday 30th September and Tuesday 1st October from 8:00-8:45am each morning before school. It is a great opportunity to buy books for your child, many at discounted prices e.g. we take the 99p of the cost of all books so a book priced at £5.99 would sell for £5, plus it allows us to get lots of free books for the school library (the more books we sell the more free books we get). Books can be bought using cash or cheques. Your child will be bringing home a flier today where they can see what books will be on sale next week.
Piano Lessons
We offer piano lessons at school run by Tracy Swart. Lessons are offered from Beginners up to Grade 5. Tracy has re-started with her existing pupils this week and if you would like your child to have lessons please contact her on 07894580286 and she will give you all the details about cost etc.
Free School Meals
If you think you might be eligible for free school meals for your child, please go onto the school website to find the link where you can get more information and apply. It is important that every child who is eligible is able to access this as the school gets additional funding through Pupil Premium money so please check the website and see if you could be eligible.
Attendance and Punctuality
Congratulations to Class 3K and Class 4RB who both achieved 100% attendance this week. In fact we had an excellent week for attendance with almost 99% attendance across the school. Please keep this up everyone. Congratulations also to Class 4P who achieved 99% punctuality this week.
Class of the Week
Well done to Class 6C who were “Class of the Week” for their excellent assembly on “Loving” this week and for gelling so well into their “new” Year 6 class this term.
Lettings
The school is available to hire for events such as birthday parties, family events etc. We can offer facilities such as the hall, dining room and the playground at very competitive prices. I have hired the facilities myself on several occasions for family events and we already have some bookings for this term. If you would like to make enquiries or a booking, please come to the school office for a form.
Library
We are aiming to have everything ready for the arrival of the autumn book fair next week. Thank you again to the parents who have come in this week to clean shelves, sort out books and get everything back in order.
Non-Uniform Days
We will be holding our next non-uniform day on Friday 27th September. This will be a special fund raising day for McMillan Cancer Support to go along with the coffee morning next Friday and we will also hold a cake sale for the same charity(cakes are priced at 20p or 30p). We will keep you up to date on future non-uniform days as we go through the term. Please make sure that if your child is in non-uniform next Friday they bring their £1.
Friends’ Association AGM
We will be holding the AGM for the Friends’ Association on Tuesday 1st October at 7:00am. We need a good and representative turn out on the evening so that we can plan events for this term and beyond such as the Christmas Bazaar and Family Film Night. Refreshments will be available on the evening.
Fitness Class
The fitness class which was running in school last term on a Thursday evening has started again this term but has moved to Tuesdays at the later time of 6:30pm. For more information contact Leah on 07939 342990 or come along on Tuesday.
“Share a Story”
I am very pleased to announce that the school is one of only 20 schools to be selected to take part in a project run by the National Literacy Trust called “Share a Story”. We were nominated by one of our governors Jennie Mamooya through the company she works for, Slaughter and May. The project will involve the school receiving free literacy resources including 50 books for the library, a workshop on literacy and a year’s free subscription to the National Literacy Trust. My thanks to Jennie for nominating the school and giving us this wonderful opportunity.
World Peace one Day Choir
I have been asked by one of our parents to advertise an event tomorrow called the World Peace One Day Choir (we sent leaflets about this even home a couple of weeks ago). The event takes place on Saturday 21st September from 5:30-7:30pm at the Great Hall, 1A Adelaide Rd, Leyton E10 5NN. If you can, go along on Saturday to be part of his event. You will be very welcome.
Raffle Tickets
We sent home books of raffle tickets recently to raise money for St Joseph’s Church. Please try and sell as many tickets as you can, we have extra books in the school office if you can sell more. Ticket stubs and money needs to be returned to school by next Friday 27th September.
Parish International Day
The school will be hosting the Parish International Day next Saturday 28th September from 1:00pm. More details of the event are in the parish newsletter.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
Future Dates for your Diary
This is a list of important dates for this term; it will be updated and amended each week. Please keep it in a safe place to refer to.
- Wednesday 25th to Friday 27th September – Autumn Term Book Fair 8:00-8:45am
- Wednesday 25th September – Year 3, 4 and 5 Curriculum Meeting 3:30pm
- Thursday 26th September – Class 4P Assembly on “People” 2:30pm
- Friday 27th September – McMillan Coffee Morning 9:00am
- Friday 27th September – Non-uniform day/cake sale for McMillan Cancer Support
- Saturday 28th September – Parish International Event in school 1:00pm
- Monday 30th September – Start of “Judaism Week” in school
- Monday 30th September to Tuesday 1st October – Book Fair 8:00-8:45am
- Tuesday 1st October – Artyface Mosaic Project for Year 3 classes all day
- Tuesday 1st October – Friends’ Association AGM 7:00pm
- Friday 4th October – Judaism Assembly 1:15pm
- Monday 7th October – Class 6C leave for their residential retreat at Buckden Towers
- Tuesday 8th October – Class 6P leave for Buckden Towers am, Class 6C return
- Wednesday 9th October – Class 6P return from Buckden Towers pm
- Thursday 10th October – Year 4 Shakespeare Workshops on “Macbeth”
- Friday 11th October – CAFOD Harvest Day in school
- Friday 11th October – Non-uniform day for CAFOD (bring an item of foodstuff)
- Monday 14th October – “Writing Day” in school
- Tuesday 15th October – Class 4RB Assembly on “Called” 2:30pm
- Thursday 17th October – Class 3K Assembly on “Promises” 2:30pm
- Friday 18th October – Last day of 1st half term (finish at normal time of 3:05pm)
- Friday 18th October – Non-uniform day for Harvest Food Collection (bring foodstuff)
- Monday 21st to Friday 25th October – Autumn half term break
- Monday 28th October – Artyface Mosaics Project for Year 4 all day
- Tuesday 29th October – Artyface Mosaics Project for Year 5 all day
- Wednesday 30th October – Artyface Mosaics Project for year 6 all day
- Thursday 31st October – Friends’ Association Meeting 7:00pm
- Friday 1st November – Whole School Mass for All Saints Day led by Year 3 9:00am
- Wednesday 6th November – Year 6 and Class 5O cinema trips am
- Thursday 7th November – Year 4 visit Millfield Theatre to watch “Macbeth” am
- Thursday 7th November – Class 6P Assembly on “Remembrance” 9:00am
- Thursday 7th November – Poppies and Poems Workshops for Year 3 pm
- Friday 8th November – Non-uniform day for Christmas Bazaar
- Friday 8th November – Poppies and Poems Workshops for Years 4, 5 and 6
- Monday 11th November – Cinema trips for Year 3 and 4 am
- Tuesday 12th November – Cinema trip for class 5L am
- Thursday 14th November – Class 3H Assembly on “Visitors” 2:30pm
- Friday 15th November – Non-uniform day for Christmas Bazaar
- Friday 22nd November – Non-uniform day for Christmas Bazaar
- Thursday 28th November – Class 5L Assembly on “St Andrew” 2:30pm
- Friday 29th November – Non-uniform day for Christmas Bazaar
- Monday 2nd December – Maths Assessment Week in Years 3, 4 and 5
- Monday 2nd December – Parent Meetings 1:00-3:00pm and 4:00-6:00pm
- 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
- Sunday 8th December – Christmas Bazaar 1:00-4:00pm (TBC)
- Monday 9th December – Mock SATs Week in Year 6
- Monday 9th December – Reading Assessment Week in Years 3, 4 and 5
- Tuesday 10th December – Carol Concert led by Y3 in church 10:30am (TBC)
- Wednesday 11th December – Carol Concert led by Y3 in church 7:00pm (TBC)
- Friday 13th December – “Christmas Jumper Day” for Save the Children”
- Friday 13th December – Family Film Night 7:00pm (TBC)
- Monday 16th December – Writing Assessment Week for all year groups
- Tuesday 17th December – Y4 Shakespeare Concert of “Macbeth” 11:00am
- Wednesday 18th December – Y4 Shakespeare Concert of “Macbeth” 7:00pm
- Thursday 19th December – Whole School Mass led by Year 5 9:00am
- Friday 20th December – Last day of term (finish at 2:00pm today)
- Monday 6th January – Staff Inset Day
- Tuesday 7th January – Staff Inset Day
- Wednesday 8th January – First day of spring term for pupils
