Dear Parents/Carers,
The weather has certainly taken a turn for the worse this week with heavy rain and loud claps of thunder overhead. This is a good time to remind everyone to please make sure your child is coming to school dressed appropriately for the different weather conditions we can experience at this time of year. I have seen quite a few children this week coming to school without raincoats. Unless it is very heavy and persistent rain we will always aim to get the children outside for at least part of their breaks so all of them having their coats in school will help to keep them dry.
Staffing News
Just to confirm that next Monday 30th September we will be saying goodbye to Fiona Halgoa who has been working here for the last few years as our Home School Practitioner. Again I would like to thank Fiona 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 4P who presented a lovely assembly on “People” yesterday. There is no class assembly next week and 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.
Parish International Day
As many of you will know, the school will be hosting the Parish International Day tomorrow Saturday 28th September from 1:00pm. More details of the event are in the parish newsletter. This is the first time we have hosted this kind of event for the parish and I am sure it will go very well and lots of families will be able to come along tomorrow.
McMillan Coffee Morning
We held our special coffee morning for McMillan Cancer Support today. Thank you to Marion and everyone who helped on the day and donated cakes. We will also hold the non-uniform day and cake sale for the children to support the charity. I will let you know next week how much we have raised for this great cause.
Friends’ Association AGM
We had planned to hold the AGM for the Friends’ Association next Tuesday 1st October. Unfortunately I can not be here that night so it has been re-arranged for Thursday 10th October at 7:00pm We need a good turn out on the evening so that we can plan events for this term and beyond such as the Christmas Bazaar.
Year Group Parent Meetings
Thank you too all the parents who came to the meeting this week and met the different class teachers. I hope it was useful. As I showed the parents on Wednesday, all the information about the year group curriculum is on our website. Just go to the class pages and you will find out what your child will be covering.
CAFOD Harvest Day (Friday 4th October)
Next week is going to be our annual harvest day in school. As last year we are asking everyone to donate items of food which we will display in our hall for the harvest assembly next Friday and then donate to the “Eat or Heat” food bank in Walthamstow. Our School Council are going to be working with the food bank to learn about its vital role in supporting families in the borough. Next Friday’s non-uniform day is going to ask for donations of food instead of the usual £1 (non-perishable items please) but you can continue to send in items up till half term. I have attached a flier with lists of items you can donate next Friday.
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 (Y3 parents have already paid for this year). The amount asked for remains the same at £30 per pupil and £50 if you have more than one child. The letter outlines the purpose of the Governors’ Fund and how the school uses the money. The letter that has gone 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 and it is nice to see so many children taking advantage of these.. I hope to be able to add some more clubs after half term such as African Drumming, Cheerleading and Computing for Years 5 and 6. I will be sending home a new form before half term so that you can book places for the clubs we will be running after half term
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 and there is no need to book in advance. Please note there should be no children in our playground before 8:25am.
Uniform/PE Kits
Uniform will next be on sale on Wednesday 9th October 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.
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.
Year 5 Trip
Our Year 5 classes will be visiting the Ragged School Museum in October as part of their history work on The Victorians. Class 5L will be going on Friday 4th October and Class 5O on Thursday 17th October. Letters have gone out to Year 5 parents.
Mosaics
Artyface the company we are working with will now be coming in after half term from Tuesday 29th October to Friday 1st November to work with all the year groups on this project. They had planned to start next week with our Year 3 pupils but they are very busy at the moment with other projects so would prefer to come later in the month and do everything in the same week.
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 Y3 on 7th November and the other year groups on 8th November.
Illustrator
I have booked the illustrator Simon Murray to come into school on Wednesday 20th November to work with all the children. Simon is an old friend of the school but last came in 5 years ago and is keen to work with our children again.
Book Fair
We have been holding our autumn term book fair in the library this week. The fair will finish on Tuesday 2nd October from 8:00-8:45am. 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 library (the more books we sell the more free books we get). Books can be bought using cash or cheques. It has been a great success so far this week with almost £700 worth of books sold (we normally make around £500 for the full fair) and with 2 more days we should be able to get lots of free books for the library.
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.
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 6C who achieved 99% attendance this week and to Class 6P who achieved 100% punctuality this week. It is especially good to see our Year 6 pupils achieving high attendance and punctuality in this vital year for them all.
Class of the Week
Well done to Class 4P who were “Class of the Week” for their excellent assembly on “People” this week and for being the best class at lining up for lunchtime and coming quietly into the dining room.
Non-Uniform Days
We will be holding our next non-uniform day on Friday 4th October. This will be to support our CAFOD Harvest Day next Friday and we are asking the children to bring in an item of food rather than the usual £1. See above for more details of this day.
School Photographs
Please note that the deadline for ordering the photographs on line is midnight 1st October.
School Rating
To end on a very positive note, every year the local authority rate all the schools based on results, progress and capacity for sustained improvement as Green, Yellow, Red or Amber. I am very pleased to announce that St Joseph’s has been given the highest Green Rating for 2019 which reflects our excellent SAT results this year but also the hard work across the school to ensure all our children succeed.
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.
- 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
- Friday 4th October – CAFOD Harvest Day in school
- Friday 4th October – Class 5L trip to the Ragged Museum
- 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”
- Thursday 10th October – Friends’ Association AGM 7:00pm (moved from 1st Oct.)
- Friday 11th October – Non-uniform day for CAFOD (bring £1)
- Monday 14th October – “Writing Day” in school
- Tuesday 15th October – Class 4RB Assembly on “Called” 2:30pm
- Thursday 17th October – Class 5O trip to the Ragged Museum
- 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 (bring £1)
- Monday 21st to Friday 25th October – Autumn half term break
- Tuesday 29th October – Artyface Mosaics Project for Year 3 all day
- Wednesday 30th October – Artyface Mosaics Project for year 4 all day
- Thursday 31st October – Whole School Mass for All Saints led by Y3 11:00am
- Thursday 31st October – Artyface Mosaics Project for Year 5 all day
- Friday 1st November -Artyface Mosaics Project for Year 6 al day
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Wednesday 11th December – Carol Concert led by Y3 in church 7:00pm
- 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 11:00am
- 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
- 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
- Wednesday 20th November – Siom Murray (illustrator) in school today
- 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
