If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5
A message from the Head
As part of our Christian value ‘Wisdom’ we have been looking at contentment. The Bible reminds us that contentment is not to be found in having more ‘stuff’, or the trappings of celebrity culture. Christians believe that true contentment can only be found in their relationship with God.
Last week Darwin Y3 had their Egyptian day as an exit point to this topic. They had spent Spring term learning all about the Ancient Egyptians’ lifestyle, and finally celebrated their learning by travelling back in time and experiencing what it was like for a day. Ms Parison made flat bread on an open fire, as well as a delicious butterbean spread. It was delicious, and just as the Egyptians would have prepared it many centuries ago. This was followed by a paste of dried fruits which was eaten alongside the flatbread. They finished off the topic making their own papyrus paper, building 3-D pyramids, and some Egyptian dancing. What a brilliant day of learning this was! You can find the recipe on the Y3 page on our website.
Whole school home intervention through Mathletics and Reading Eggs: Reminder to parents to please continue to encourage your children to use these platforms as directed by their class teachers. You should have their log-ins and be able to access these at home. This is to support the children’s educational recovery due to the loss of schooling over the last year.
Tweet, tweet, tweet...
We have a new Twitter account. Keep up to date and share our stories and news by following @STJKingston
OWL News
Seedlings Shop!
As part of encouraging enterprise ideas from our young people we've opened a shop! We are selling seedlings ready for collection just before half term. All the items have been put together by the children and watered and nurtured in our allotment greenhouse. 100% of the monies raised will help support their learning. Follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter to receive announcements of new items added. Order online - all major cards & Paypal supported.
Can you help?
OWL and Forest School are unique to St John’s. All children take part and we are entirely self funded. We have started a monthly donation scheme. If you feel able to donate a small monthly amount please use this fundraising link and be sure to click monthly. You can pay by card or PayPal. Funds raised will help us continue to purchase gardening equipment, compost, bird seed, sustainable firewood and other items that keep the children busy. Thanks in advance!
Trees donated to St John's
Scotscape Group Ltd generously donated 8 beautiful trees to St John’s worth roughly £8K. These have now been planted with the help of Paul Hemmings, Jack Dimes, Sam Taylor-Colls and Stephen Simpson. It took all the adults to move these trees, dig holes and transplant them from the pots. Thank you all for all your hard work.
REMINDERS:
Class pages on the website
We hope you are enjoying the new school website. Don't forget to check your child's class page for latest photos and updates of what they are doing in school.
Reporting absences
A reminder that if your child is unwell or will be absent from school for any reason, please inform the school office before 8.30am. You can call, email or contact us through School Comms. Thank you.
Class photos
Please remember to order your child's class photo - the proof and order information has been sent home with your child this week.
Reading Records
Please don't forget to sign your child's reading diary every week. Thank you.
Lost property
We are still finding that children’s clothes/items are not being labelled clearly, and our lost and found basket is growing!
There is a solution... My Nametags will donate 24% of every order placed to the St John's PSA fund. You can create your own name sticker design, choosing different colours and images, and they stick to all materials (water bottles, lunch boxes, clothing labels etc). Your kids will love them and it will help ensure they never lose anything at school again!
Please go to https://www.mynametags.com/affiliate?id=28469 just making sure you enter the school code at checkout: 28469.
St John's Foodbank
Thank you to all who still donate to St John’s Foodbank through generous monetary and item donations. Those that use this facility are extremely grateful for this continued support. This outreach goes to our local community and as far out as Croydon. Please remember we are happy to support anyone you know that is in need. You can approach staff discretely or send a message at any point. We hope to run this till the end of the school year. A big thanks goes to Paul Hemmings, our Site Manager, for running this.
It's our birthday! Help us commemorate this special occasion
We want to brighten our playground and school with lasting artworks to celebrate our 150th anniversary. A mural will reflect the local wildlife and will create an exciting environment for our children, school family and neighbours. This will be created by WeAreSkyHigh who produced the mural in the photograph below, as well as many of the unique murals in the Town Centre and around the Borough. A mosaic will also be produced by a local artist, Philippa Adams, to commemorate our school's birthday. Our children will be involved in these projects. Can you support us in raising £4000 towards these projects. Please donate to their JustGiving Crowdfunding Page, and help us share this link on your social media platforms: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/150stjohnsschool?utm_term=pWQEDkyRq
All our plans for the anniversary week will be shared with you in due course, here are some confirmed activities already planned:
Mon 5th July: Sports Day and picnic
Tues 6th July: Victorian Day and Farm
Weds 7th July: Church service and lunch
Thurs 8th July: Time Capsule
Fri 9th July: Carnival and magic shows
An Unearthed Photograph Album
We have discovered an old photograph album in our archive cupboard. It includes the building of our school hall and lots of interesting insights to what the school looked like long ago. See it here
After school outdoor clubs
Some clubs started back last week. It is refreshing to hear the laugher and voices of children having fun outdoors, even though the weather has interchanged between warm and cold. We will continue to monitor this as the term runs.
The clubs below are all 3.15 to 4.15pm:
Monday 26th April Y1/Y2 Football BMM Sports coaching to Mon 5th July inclusive
Tuesday 27th April Y3/Y4 as above to 6th July inclusive
Wednesday 28th April Y5/Y6 as above to Wed 7th July
Tuesday 27th April Y3/Y4 Dance England Sports Group to 6th July inclusive
Thursday 29th April Y5/Y6 Netball as above to 8th July inclusive
If you have any queries please contact the external provider.
School House Points
House points are regularly updated and are displayed on the front page of the website as well as on each individual class page.
COVID-19
DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL IF THEY SHOW ANY OF THE COVID SYMPTOMS OR ARE UNWELL.
We are still socially distancing and keeping within our bubbles in order to ensure our pupils remain safe at this time. We are committed to doing all we can to keep school open, and from bubbles shutting down. We can only be successful by adopting safe practices, and remembering we are not totally clear of COVID-19 yet.
Parents can get home test kits and the results need to be reported to NHS Test and Trace. Please inform the school immediately if the test is positive. It is important that households, childcare and support bubbles of pupils should test. To order a home test kit online https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus- rapid-lateral-flow-tests
Birthday Books
As part of our healthy eating status, we discourage the sending in of sweets and cakes to celebrate birthdays. If you would like to celebrate your child's birthday you can purchase a book for the school library. We will add a citation inside the front cover.
Dates for your Diary
w/c 10th May: Year 5 and 6 Bikeability
Thurs 20th - Fri 21st May Year 4 Juniper Hall trips
Half term: Monday 31st May - Friday 4th June
Monday 14th June: Inset Day
w/c 21 June Year 5 and 6 Bikeability
5th-9th July: 150th Anniversary celebrations
Wednesday 21st July: Nursery last day of term
Thursday 22nd July: School last day of term at 2pm
Term dates have been updated and more diary dates can be found on our website here
Keeping all of us safe
The National Domestic Abuse Helpline Continues to operate 24 hours a day including bank holidays & weekends 0808 2000 247
Crimestoppers have launched a campaign encouraging the public to report concerns about family, friends and colleagues who may be experiencing Domestic Abuse while self-isolating.
Please find here an excellent Safeguarding Handbook for primary schools by the Kingston and Richmond Safeguarding Team. Safeguarding—In Safe hands
Cannabis edibles:
It has been brought to our attention by our School Health Team that there has been another occasion this week of local children (on this occasion this was in Epsom) consuming Cannabis edibles - sweets containing Cannabis - where a number of children were hospitalised. These products are designed to look like sweets. Please see some visuals below to give you an idea of what they look like. You may wish to share these with your children.