Dear Parents/Carers, Our new newsletter can be found here. We hope you find that you have a better understanding of…
Thank you for your support this week and for making the time to speak to the team who came in to film our promotional video.
They were very complimentary about the warm welcome they received, which gave them a real feel of our school. The children were fantastic and I am confident their footage and photos will capture our ethos perfectly. We hope to have the video ready by the end of July for you to view. It will be uploaded to our school website.
Click here for this week’s pictures from our outdoor learning and Year 5
We have refreshed our admissions section on our website. Please do visit it and pass on the information to anyone you know looking for a place for the Autumn Term. You will have noticed the QR code on our welcome banners, which takes you directly to the admissions page. We have moved to an online booking system for open days as well as for applications; we are confident this will make the process more effective and time-efficient for all.
Click here for our admissions page
As you know we had to send our Year 1 and 6 bubbles home early this week, owing to positive Covid-19 tests. I appreciate the difficulty this may cause and the impact it has on the children and everyone in our school community. With that in mind, may I please remind you to wear your masks on-site when collecting the children at the end of the day and continue to follow all safety guidelines.
If your child is unwell please do not send them into school and I would advise that you take them for a PCR test to be on the safe side. We only have a few weeks remaining until we break up on Thursday, 22nd July. Year 1 and 6 will return on Thursday, 8th July and we look forward to welcoming them back. My thanks to the staff for organising the remote learning and to parents and carers for engaging with the process.
This week our children engaged with a zoom workshop around resilience and positivity. The workshop encourages children to have a positive mindset and to:
Their vision is to impact millions of children with messages like showing kindness, doing your best, and having an awesome mindset for learning. They promote their message through assemblies, which are entertaining and fun, so children remember and talk about it forever! They also provide printable resources for teachers and parents, so please do click on the following link to access their resources.
We have rescheduled the sports day to Thursday, 8th July 2021 when all year groups self-isolating will be back. Unfortunately, we will not be able to allow parents to attend, but we will take lots of photographs to share with you.
Please send your child into school in their P.E. kit and do remember their water bottle and sun cream if it’s a hot day. The Infants sports day will be in the morning and the Juniors in the afternoon.
Children will spend the day with their class teacher for the next academic year. They will have the opportunity to get to know each other and talk about expectations for next year.
Staff will take a photo of each child around ‘the best part of me’. It could be their hair, smile etc. These photos will form a display in school and be on a welcoming board outside the classrooms.
Staff have planned a series of engaging activities to support an effective transition. Children will be bringing home a suggested reading list for the summer break, together with holiday activities.
We are hoping to send out information before the end of term regarding a pre-ordering system for school lunches. This is a process we have been trying to implement for a while as there are many benefits to be gained. Parents / carers would be able to view the daily menu and pre-order up to a half-term in advance. This would help you to discuss the menu with your child prior to the school day and hopefully choose options that suit your preferences and avoids allergens.
As parents, you will need to set up a parent account so details will be sent to you before the end of term.
Most of you probably know that we have our wrap-around care on school grounds, covering breakfasts and after-school care, which is run by Mrs Odewale and staff who also work at St Joseph’s. They are based in the Garden Hall / Library and have access to our Forest School and school grounds after school hours.
Mrs Odewale is also planning to hold a summer programme during August for fee-paying pupils, and together, with the school and Croydon LA, we hope to also get funding for our Free School Meal (pupils).
Please follow the link for further details
Please be considerate when parking on neighbouring roads and kindly do not park in restricted areas. We are working with Norwood School, Crown Lane Primary, Cedars and the Laurel School to put forward a petition to go to Lambeth and Croydon Counsellors to address parking and the speed of traffic along Crown Dale and the adjacent intersection with Elder road.
Click here to sign the petition
As this initiative progresses, I will share it with you.
Have a happy and healthy week and I look forward to sharing next week’s newsletter with you which will include updates and photographs of the sports day.
Mrs L Fernandes
Headteacher
Important dates for your diary
End of academic year – Thursday, 22nd July 2021
Please note that this is a day earlier than previously advertised as the school was open to pupils on Friday, 12th February. It was not used as an inset day.
Diary dates:
7.7.21 – End of year reports sent to parents
7.7.21 – Parents/Teacher meetings booking system open. Parents can book an appointment
8.7.21 – Sports Day
9.7.21 – Transition Day – children to spend the day with their new teacher
New Parents’ Day:
12.7.21 – 16.7.21 Parent evenings – Year group dates to be confirmed
14.7.21 – Provisional date for Y6 Leavers Mass – Virgo Fidelis
22.7.21 – End of term 1.30 p.m.
The above dates are subject to change, depending on safety guidelines and Public Health England advice.