Dear Parents/Carers, It was wonderful to welcome you and the children back to school this week. The children settled back…
17 September 2021
Another busy week at school and our children continue to be focused and enjoy learning.
It is wonderful to see them independently come into school and be totally supportive of each other. Noah and Bonnie in year 1 were amazing and looked after another child who was upset, taking her by the hand and leading her into class. Just wonderful to see our children living out our ethos of love and respect.
Future leaders
Despite the September showers, children have had the opportunity to enjoy break times outside including using the staging area in the junior school to dance, sing and practice for future choir rehearsals.
The children certainly keep me busy with numerous ideas to support their learning. Here are some suggestions put forward:
- Jeremy (Y6) requested to set up a debating competition between classes and is already thinking about potential topics. I have to say, that is a brilliant idea to help develop our children’s speaking, listening and presentation skills.
- Misha (Y6) has suggested a ‘Saving the planet’ club, to incorporate planting wildflowers to promote wildlife and a project to address climate change. He is committed to raising awareness of climate change.
- Simao (Y6) will be organising a science/astronomy club to encourage children to explore new ideas and extend their scientific knowledge.
- Pison (Y5) is passionate about history and has suggested a whole school history day where each year group puts on a presentation related to their history topics.
These are only a few of the ideas reflected through pupil voice. I have assured the children we will make them happen, so do keep an eye out for further information in future newsletters.
A big thank you to all the children who applied for a position on the various pupil committees. I will be announcing the names of the successful applicants next week. All I can say is, their enthusiasm, vision and commitment were impressive. Our future continues to look bright and our children make us proud!
.
Exciting events
Swimming has resumed and class 6H was the first class to attend sessions on Wednesday. Each class will have the opportunity to go swimming over the year.
Cricket – Surrey Cricket and ACE have been delivering cricket sessions to Years 1 to 6 and will be running lunchtime and after school clubs. We recently marked a cricket strip (a first for St Joseph’s) on our field and I have every confidence our children will love the sport and shine. We look forward to entering future competitions and organising friendly matches with other schools.
Music – Lessons have resumed and junior children have been fortunate to use our new music room for tuition. Mrs Chamberlain-Kent is offering individual tuition for flute, cello and violin. We will be offering a guitar club after half term and Mrs Gallaher has planned a Christmas concert in December.
Click here for Mrs Chamberlain-Kent’s tuition offer
Clubs
Bookings for clubs have now closed. Mrs Gallagher will confirm the details shortly. Please ensure that your child is collected on time if they are attending a club after school.
Clubs start 20 September 2021.
Reception children will have the opportunity to book onto clubs after half term as we feel it is important for them to settle into school life in the first half of the autumn term. Information about clubs for next half-term will be shared the week commencing Monday, 11th October 2021.
Macmillan’s coffee morning
Mrs De Jesus will be holding a cake sale on Thursday, 23rd September in the Junior Hall. Please send in donations on Thursday morning; you are welcome to bring them to the junior hall. The cake sale will start at 8.00 a.m. until 9.00 a.m. and from 2.30 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. Money raised will be donated to the Macmillan’s Cancer Charity.
We will be hosting a ‘Bake off’. If you would like to bake a cake to enter for the competition, please deliver it to the junior hall in a container clearly marked with your child’s name and class.
Winners will be notified at the end of the day. Previous competitions have been great fun and entries would have made Mary Berry very proud, so I look forward to sampling and judging this year.
Please remember we are a nut-free zone, as many of our children have severe allergies to nuts.
Photographs – Thursday, 23rd September 2021
Please ensure your child has a full school uniform for the photographs. If this is their P.E. day, please send them in their uniform and they can get changed into their P.E. kits after their photograph has been taken.
The infant hall will be open from 8.00 a.m. if you would like your child to have a photograph with their siblings, please bring them in. If you are unable to make it in between 8.00 a.m. and 9.00 a.m. we will arrange for siblings to have the photographs taken during the school day.
P.E. days
This term, children will have an extra session for Cricket and P.E. days may change next term. So please do check regularly.
- Nursery – Tuesday and Thursday
- Reception – Tuesday and Wednesday
- Year 1 – Tuesday and Wednesday
- Year 2 – Monday (2 sessions)
- Year 3 – Monday and Tuesday
- Year 4 – Monday and Thursday
- Year 5 – Tuesday and Wednesday
- Year 6 – Wednesday and Friday
Remember, P.E. days are listed on the school website under Existing Parents > Dates & Times > P.E. Days
Year group curriculum meetings
We will be holding meetings for each year group, one before school at 8.30 a.m. and the other at 3.15 p.m. (for infant parents in the infant hall) and 3.30 p.m. for junior parents in the junior hall.
Meetings are as follows:
22.9.21 – Nursery
23.9.21 – Reception
27.9.21 – Y5
28.9.21 – Y4
30.9.21 – Y3
4.10.21 – Y2
5.10.21 – Y1
We will be holding teacher-parent contact meetings the week beginning Monday, 18th October. You will have a chance to have face to face meetings with teachers and view your child’s books. Booking details will be shared nearer the time.
Remember, please regularly check the school calendar under Existing Parents > Calendar
Fireworks night – Wednesday, 3rd November 2021
We are really excited about our first fireworks event at St Joseph’s and hope that this will be an annual event. My thanks to the PTA for working with the school to organise this event and special thanks to Mel and Katherine for meeting with SLT this week to finalise arrangements.
Tickets will be on sale from Monday, 20th September.
Costs are as follows:
- £6.00 per adult (16years and above) – Early bird discounted price of £5
- £3.00 per child (aged 3 -15 years) – Early bird discounted price of £2
Families in the school community will be given preference but tickets will go on sale to the wider community from the 1st of October. Ticket sales will close on Sunday, 24th October 2021 and we not be able to sell tickets beyond this date. So please don’t delay, purchase your tickets as soon as sales are open on the 24th September, to avoid disappointment. We are restricted to numbers and anticipate that this is going to be a sell-out event.
Food and refreshments will be on sale on the day, together with an array of glow bands and other illuminated accessories.
Please do email the PTA if you are able to help on the day, we need lots of volunteers. Do remember to purchase tickets in advance, as tickets will not be sold at the gate.
Remember, please regularly check the PTA’s page on our website under Existing Parents > School Life > PTA
Medical information
Please ensure you have returned your completed medical form to the school office and kindly let the office know if your child is allergic to plasters.
150th-anniversary events
We will be launching our first 150th-anniversary event on Friday. Past staff members will be attending a small gathering. We are excited to welcome back staff who have served the school community over the years. We plan to host other events where past pupils, parents and staff can return to the school. There will also be events for our current school community to come together to celebrate the school’s past, present and future.
You can follow pictures of the events on Instagram here or by following our hashtag #SJF150.
Remember, please regularly check the anniversary on our website under Discover St Joseph’s > Community > Celebrating 150 years.
Donna Durie is also putting together a calendar to celebrate the school’s 150th Anniversary. We would like children to design a front cover and submit entries by Thursday, 30th September. It’s a great opportunity to showcase our children’s artistic talents. Please email your entries to [email protected] .
Giving to others
Congratulations to Mrs Phillips for completing the London Bridges Trek on Saturday 11th September 2021. This was a 25km walk, starting in Bishops Park in Fulham and crossing the 16 bridges from Putney to Tower Bridge, finally ending at Southwark Park. It is a great achievement and money raised goes towards the British Heart Foundation. If you would like to donate please click on the following link.
Polling day – Thursday, 7th October 2021
St Joseph’s Infant School will be used as a polling station, therefore both the infant and junior schools will be closed. Staff will be in to attend training and work will be uploaded onto Google Classrooms. The expectation is that children must complete tasks set as it is not a holiday.
Marathon Mangan
Mrs Mangan never seems to run out of energy and enthusiasm. She completed the virtual marathon last year, running 26 miles in the local area and finishing off at St Joseph’s School. Not even the pandemic stopped her from an amazing achievement.
This year sees Mrs Mangan running the real London Marathon on Sunday, 3rd October. She will be running to raise funds for St Christopher’s Hospice and for St Joseph’s school. Mrs Mangan never seems to tire of finding ways to help others whilst promoting physical activity. She can often be heard saying to both children and adults ‘Find your brave’. She would be the first to admit that running isn’t her favourite activity, but she does it to show us all that anything is possible with determination, true grit and resilience. Please do support her by following this link.
Parking
Please be considerate when parking on neighbouring roads, particularly on Bradley Road. Local residents have complained about the congestion and having their driveways blocked. Please be vigilant, drive and park safely to avoid putting all pedestrians at risk. Thank you.
Do remember that Woodend is a pedestrian and cyclist only zone from 08:00 a.m. to 09:30 a.m. and between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. If you drive down during these times, you will receive a fine from Croydon Council. Unfortunately, we are unable to help with an appeal should you be fined as the signs are clearly visible to all drivers.
“Together may we give our children the roots to grow and the wings to fly”
It is lovely to have a chance to catch up with you in the morning at the school gates and after school in the playground. Thank you for working with us and following our guidelines. I appreciate it was initially difficult for many infant parents to leave the children at the school gate. Thank you for persevering with this. The children are happy coming in and very settled.
Mrs Leonore Fernandes
Headteacher
Thank you for reading this far. Click below for this week’s pictures!
