Dear Parents/Carers,
We have finally reached the end of the school year and the summer term. The recent prolonged spell of hot weather has been a challenge in school but we have managed it well and made sure the school has been a comfortable environment for pupils and staff. My thanks to all the staff for their continuing commitment to the education of all the pupils and to you the parents for supporting the school over the last year. If this is going to be your final time in school as your child is leaving then all the best for the future. I look forward to working with everyone else in September and to welcoming our new parents and pupils to the school when we return.
Staffing
I mentioned last week that we are saying goodbye to some of our staff this week as they leave St Joseph’s’ after many years of combined service to the school. Mrs Visser arrived at St Joseph’s in 2004 and I have a personal connection in that her first year of teaching was also my last year as a class teacher. She also taught my youngest son Niall and eldest granddaughter Ria in Year 6 and certainly prepared them for secondary school. Mrs O’Sullivan has a longer association with the school and her main legacy will probably be the impact she has made in the last few years in the quality and indeed quantity of different sports that our children have experienced. When I come to Mrs O’Regan, I feel I am losing 4 people in one. As well as an outstanding classroom teacher, she has been our SENDCo, RE leader and my Assistant Head and right hand on many occasions. In their different ways they are leaving a great legacy behind at St Joseph’s and we wish them all the best in whatever they choose to do next.
Uniform
Uniform will next be on sale on Monday 22nd July and Tuesday 23rd July and then Monday 2nd September. These are staff training days but we want to give parents an opportunity to buy uniform before the start of the new school term. A lot of the lost uniform has now been reclaimed and we will recycle any unclaimed uniform as we cannot keep it for September.
Summer Fayre
We of course held our Summer Fayre last Sunday and again my thanks to everyone who helped in any way or came along on the day. Since Sunday we have added to the total through donations and additional money raised and with the non-uniform day and sale yesterday our final total is just over £3,020 which is a great achievement. As I have mentioned previously, a significant amount of this money is going towards the refurbishment of the school library ready for September.
Awards
We held our final whole school assembly today and were able to give out a whole range of awards for many things. I would in particular like to congratulate the following children, classes and groups:
Year 6 Glenys Norton Award for Outstanding Achievement – Julia 6C
Year 5 Poulos Prize for Outstanding Personal Progress – Maria 5L
Mary O’Connor- Davis Prize for the Arts – Amelia 6P, Joshua 6P, Isabelle 6P and Anna L 6C (for their parts in the Year 6 production of Matilda)
Vinicius Prize for Art – Class 4RB
Governors’ Prize Winners – Erel 3L, Bohdan 3V, Keziah 4P, Aleksandra 4RB, Donnel 5L, Dominik 5OS, Elie 6C and Leanne 6P
Class of the Term – Class 6C and Class 6P
Class of the Year – Class 3L
Pupil of the Term – Christopher 6C and Isaiah 6P
Pupil of the Year – Anna Y 6C
Literacy Prize Winners – Year 3 – Lina, Daniel, Amber and Fabian. Year 4 – Olivier, Natalia, Stephanie and Jahsaiah. Year 5 – Maria, Triston, Sugi and Kareem. Year 6 – Maja, Filip, Gabriel A and Katie.
Best Attendance class of the Year with 97% attendance – Class 4P
Best Punctuality Class of the Year with 98% – Class 3L
Year 6
We say good bye today to all our Year 6 pupils and wish them all the best in their new schools in September. With their outstanding SATs results and wonderful production of Matilda this week, they are certainly going out on a high.
Summer Play Scheme
We still have a few places left for the summer play scheme for 5-11 year olds from Wednesday 24th July to Friday 2nd August from 8:30am to 4:30pm each day. If you would still like a place for your child you will need to come in next Monday or Tuesday and book your child/children in. Please note we will be running a trip on the last day of the scheme on Friday 2nd August to Adventure Island in Southend but this will only be available to children who attend all or part of the scheme on the other days. We cannot take children on the trip who have not attended any of the scheme beforehand.
Library
We are going to be continuing with the refurbishment of our library over the first part of the summer break. If any parents can come in and help on any of the days when the summer scheme is running, your child can have a free place on that day (except on Friday 2nd August when we have the trip to Southend). It will mainly involve sorting out books and tidying up.
First Holy Communion 2020
Application forms are now available from the back of the church for First Holy Communion in 2020 for pupils who will be in Year 3 or above. Completed forms must be returned to the parish office by 12 noon on Friday 6th September and must be accompanied by a copy of your child’s Baptism Certificate. Applications will not be accepted after the deadline or without accompanying certificates. Parental support is crucial for the preparation of this sacrament. Children should be attending Mass together with their families on a regular basis.
After School Activities
As I have mentioned in previous newsletters, we are planning to run a series of After School Activities in September, alongside our established after school club. We will charge for most of these activities, between £2.50 and £3.00 per session depending on who is running them. You will be able to sign up for one or more of these activities in the first week back and they will begin in the second week back. I am listing them today so you can see what is on offer. All the activities will run from 3:15-4:15pm except the Cooking Club which runs till 5:00pm and can be booked in advance and paid for in blocks of 6 weeks. Apart from the outside coaches, all the activities will be run by our own staff.
Monday – Computer Club (Years 3 and 4) 6 weeks = £15
Monday – Basketball Club (Year 5 and 6) 6 weeks = £18
Monday – E17 Gymnastics Club (all year groups) this will continue to be run by an external coach Tracey Morrison and you can book directly through her and pay at e17-gym-club.class4kids.co.uk.
Tuesday – Computer Club (Years 5 and 6) 6 weeks = £15
Tuesday – Football Club (Boys in Years 3 and 4) 6 weeks = £18
Tuesday – Dance Stables Dance Club (all year groups) will continue to be run by an external teacher and you book directly at info@dancestables.co.uk.
Wednesday – Football Club (Boys in Years 5 and 6) 6 weeks = £18
Wednesday – Cooking Club (all year groups) 6 weeks = £24
Thursday – Gardening Club (all year groups) 6 weeks = £15
Thursday – Girls Football Club (Girls in Years 5 and 6) 6 weeks = £18
Thursday – Basketball Club (Years 3 and 4) 6 weeks = £18
Thursday – Choir (all year groups) free
Thursday – Literacy and Numeracy Interventions (for Year 6 only by invitation) free
Friday – Art and Craft Club (all year groups) 6 weeks = £15
We will also run some lunchtime clubs for activities such as sewing, art and craft, chess and Lego but these will be by invitation only to support particular pupils and of course will be free. We may add other clubs as we go through the year. If you wish you can also book your child into the after school club once they have finished their activity and we will charge a different rate from the normal club. Our aim is to have as many pupils as possible taking part in after school activities.
Den Kits for Kids
“I wanted to contact you about our Den Kits which we are selling as a new initiative to help schools with funding for books. As a parent, I am hugely concerned about school underfunding and wanted to do something to help.
For every kit sold the school will receive 40% commission in books – which is at least £18 worth of books from our collection, per kit. Den Kit Kids has been designed to excite children’s imaginations and entice them into the natural world, away from computer screens. It’s a great present and is also ideal for a family day out too – especially if it’s raining!
Each kit contains a rucksack, one large either camouflage or red tarpaulin, a ground sheet, 15ft of rope, 50ftof jute cord, 8 strong pegs, a peg extractor, a mallet, camouflage face paint, 2 small flags and lots of ideas factsheets. In addition to this there is a free gift worth £12 of 2 Bear Grylls Survival Skills books. The Den Kit cost is from £45. You simply place your order and pay via our website and the kits will be delivered directly to you. The website address is www.freebooks4schools.co.uk. “
Warm regards,
Emma Wakeham
Next Year
School will re-open for children on Tuesday 3rd September. Monday 2nd September is a staff inset day.
This Year
I would like to end on a personal note by saying a huge thank you to the many parents who have been incredibly supportive this year in a variety of ways and have helped the school end the year on a positive note with our excellent results in Year 6 and indeed across the school. I believe that the vast majority of parents still see the school for what it is and what it can become rather than only measuring us in comparison to other schools. One of the nice things this year has been the number of pupils who have joined the school from other neighbouring schools, from other parts of London and from abroad. They have certainly added to the diversity of the school. I think we will start the new year in September in a stronger position than even a year ago. Although we have lost some experienced staff we are also welcoming 4 new teachers with fresh ideas and energy to enthuse the children and help to continue raising standards. I look forward to working with the whole school community in September. I hope all our families have a lovely summer.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
