Dear Parents/Carers,
We have reached the end of the first month back since our full return on 7th September and this is always a good time to reflect on how the start of the new school year has gone. I have to start by saying that there is a lovely atmosphere in school at the moment which was there on the first day when we welcomed everyone back and has remained since then. In my many years here I cannot remember such a calm and purposeful start to a new school year, which given everything that is going on in our world at the moment, is both reassuring and positive. The children are upbeat and enjoying each other’s company in the playground etc. and every class I pass through or by is completely focused on their learning. I am now timetabling myself to do some teaching in every year group and am thoroughly enjoying this and seeing first-hand how well the pupils are engaged in class. We are now into October and I have not yet had to deal with any negative behaviour or had a single pupil sent to me unless it is to share good work. I think the worse thing I have had to deal with was an argument over a basketball! Of course this doesn’t happen by accident and is the result of many factors including all the hard work of the staff each day, your great support as parents in so many ways and I have to say the way all the pupils have just come back to school with an enthusiasm for learning and happy to be with their friends again.
Although the different look of the school day with staggered times etc. is the result of the current restrictions and safeguards and not something we would have chosen to do, in many ways it has made the school day easier to manage and been a positive thing. I think having the staggered playtimes and lunchtimes with the split playground for each year group to use has been a positive thing and allowed the children more space to play with far fewer accidents. The pupils have adapted so well and it’s nice to see them enjoying their play times. I think this has particularly helped our Year 3s to settle quickly as they have their own space and times each day. I am missing the whole school events such as assemblies but after the first couple of weeks I am now thoroughly enjoying meeting each year group in turn on both Monday mornings and Friday afternoons. I think they are now more personal for each year group and although it means I am spending more time doing 4 year group assemblies rather than one whole school assembly, I am still keeping in touch with all the pupils, sharing important messages and rewarding good behaviour and hard work.
Let’s hope and pray we can keep this positive start going as we move through the term and we can be allowed to provide consistent and quality education for every pupil.
There will be protocols in place if a pupil is taken ill while in school with suspected Covid-19. If this happens parents will be contacted to collect their child as soon as possible and arrange a test. We cannot take a pupil back into school until they have been tested and the result is known. If it is positive they will have to isolate for 10 days from the first day of being unwell, if it is negative and they are feeling well they can return to school. Of course we will still expect parents to not send their children to school if they are unwell. I sent everyone a letter from the NHS this week with useful information around when to arrange a test for your child and when you don’t need to.
We have resumed the Breakfast Club from 7:45am to 8:45am and are taking bookings for the After School Club from 2:45pm to 6:30pm. Breakfast Club is £2 per day and After School Club is £5 per day up till 4:30pm and £10 per day up till 6:30pm with a reduced rate of £40 if you book for the week. You can use the clubs every day or just on days when you need them. You do not need to book for the Breakfast Club, just pay as you use it either daily or weekly. For the After School Club you will need to book a place. Application forms are available on the school website or at the school office and you can pay for both of the clubs online. Again with the colder weather coming I would encourage parents to take advantage of the reduced prices for both clubs.
Uniform
We are selling uniform every second week in school on Wednesday mornings from 8:30am to 9:30am. The next sale will be Wednesday 7th October. Again we will not be increasing our uniform prices for the new school year as we want to make it affordable for everyone. If you need an item of uniform in an emergency, please come to the school office. With the colder weather now here, it is important that the children are coming to school with a warm and waterproof coat. Because money may be tight for many families at this time, I am relaxing the uniform policy for coats. If possible we would still like the children to be in dark coats but if you don’t have one, they can wear another coat to save you having to buy what can be quite an expensive item. Having said that, the school coats are very good value and are both warm and waterproof.
PE
Year 3 – Mondays, Year 4 – Tuesdays, Year 5 – Thursdays, Year 6 – Wednesdays.
Normally we would expect the children to wear plimsolls for PE, but given that many of the pupils will be walking to school each day, if it is more comfortable for them to wear trainers on their PE days, they can do so. The main reason for this change is to avoid the children having to bring PE bags into school each week. If it is cold or wet on their PE day, the children should wear a warm jumper, coat and tracksuit bottoms to school.
Dance Stables
Join us for After School Dance Club at St Joseph’s Junior School.
Starting Tuesday 15th September 3.00-4.00pm and then every Tuesday during term time. £41 for a 6 week booking paid in advance.
Spaces are limited so booking is highly recommended
Book your place via email @ ds.team@dancestables.co.uk
We can’t wait to dance with you!!
Friday Assembly
As many of you will be aware, we hold a special Friday Assembly in school to reward the pupils in different ways both individually and collectively. This includes our Golden Book where pupils are nominated by their teachers and receive a certificate which they take home. We are not doing certificates at this moment but still want to reward children so their names will go into the Golden Book and will be announced at Friday Assembly, but in addition I will put their names in the weekly newsletter so we can share their achievements. I will also put other “winners” in the newsletter each week. It was nice to receive positive feedback from parents this week about how pleased and proud they were to see their children’s names in the newsletter for the different rewards we do on a Friday.
Golden Book Awards:
Class 3K – Nel, Victor and Umeed
Class 3H – Beatrice, Jayden and Amber
Class 4P – Dawid, Faith and Patrycja
Class 4RC – Salvijus, Mia and Nadia
Class 5L – Loderya, Lily and Julia
Class 5O – Rebecca, Taurus and Joella
Class 6PM – Destiny, Anita and Timothy
Class 6C – Kristen, Keziah and Reinhard
Team of the Week – St. Teresa with 2,710 points
Class of the Week – Class 6C for a great first month of the new school year
Attendance of the Week – Class 6PM with 100% attendance
Pupils of the Week – Oscar 3K, Amelia 4P, Michael 5O and Jolene 6PM
Non-Uniform Days/Fundraising
We have raised just over £500 for school funds from our three non-uniform days so far his term. We managed to hold a special after school “Coffee Morning” for McMillan Cancer Support last Friday. With the sale of coffee and cakes plus many generous donations from parents and staff we were able to send a cheque for £75 to McMillan Cancer this week. Well done everyone.
CAFOD Harvest Day (9th October)
As we do every year, we will again be supporting CAFOD’s Harvest Day in school next Friday 9th October. The theme this year is very appropriate given the current pandemic as it is called “Wash Your Hands”. This has of course become an important message for all of us over the last few months but CAFOD want to remind us that in many parts of the world it is not actually possible to wash your hands with clean water. They want to support the poorest families to have access to clean water. I will be talking to all the pupils about CAFOD’s work at the Monday assemblies and our non-uniform day next Friday will be to raise money for CAFOD’s appeal.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
Dates for this term (will be added to and updated each week)
Friday 9th October – CAFOD Harvest Day – “Wash Your Hands”.
Friday 9th October – non-uniform day for CAFOD (bring £1)
Thursday 15th October – Young Shakespeare Workshops in school for Year 4 – “Romeo and Juliet”
Friday 16th October – non-uniform day for school funds (bring £1)
Friday 23rd October – last day of half term
Friday 23rd October – non-uniform day for school funds (bring £1)
Monday 26th October to Friday 30th October – half term
Monday 2nd November – first day of 2nd half term
