Wisdom is worth more than precious jewels. Proverbs 8:11
A message from the Head
As part of our Christian value ‘Wisdom’ we have been exploring how to make use of what we have. Jesus encouraged us to make the most out of all that has been given to us, in our service of God and one another. That includes our money and possessions, as well as our unique talents and abilities. Let us continue to encourage our children to make wise decisions.
Our children continue to work hard across all areas of the curriculum this term. As mentioned before our focus is their wellbeing, and the core subjects. In mainstream school, children start the day with 10/15 minutes of early morning learning. This could be maths, writing, reading, spellings or phonics. This prepares them for the days’ or week’s learning. All children should be accessing Mathletics and Reading Eggs from home. Well done to Hubble class for using these platforms from home now too.
As the COVID-19 restrictions has eased across the country, not much has changed for schools according to the government school guidelines. Many staff are still waiting to be vaccinated. Adhering to government guidelines and our own control measures, St John’s has successfully kept all class bubbles open since we returned to school. We will therefore continue with the staggered start and end of the school day. Children will also remain in their class bubbles for both play and lunch times. As the hall does not have the capacity to safely ensure bubbles do not mix over lunch, KS2 will continue to have their meals in class, or as the weather improves on the playground (picnic style). Our system of controls will continue after half-term until the end of this school year. If a bubble closes, all children will have to engage in remote learning for the statutory period.
If you have made plans to travel abroad over the half term, please make sure you abide by all the regulations set out by the government, and do inform the school office, so we can monitor this from our end. School staff still take lateral flow tests at home every 2 or 3 days to ensure everyone’s safety, regardless of whether they have had their vaccination. Please do all you can to keep our community safe, including face coving where you are unable to socially distance outside our school gates.
It is always great to see our children wearing our school uniform with pride. We have noticed that some children are coming to school in a range clothes, which do not comply with our school uniform policy. Our policy for school uniform is based on the notion that school uniform: promotes a sense of pride in the school; engenders a sense of community and belonging towards the school; is practical and smart; makes children feel equal to their peers in terms of appearance; is regarded as suitable wear for school; is considered by parents as good value for money; and is designed with health and safety in mind. Long hair should be tied back (this also reduces the risk of headlice spreading).
St John’s gave me so much love, kindness and joy
We have received a lovely letter from Nigel Grimes who attended St John's 1966-1973. In the letter Nigel tells us how grounding St John's was for him and shares his story to date.
A snapshot of a 1970's art and craft lesson
We have been allowed to share in a wonderful photographic archive shot in the 1970's of a St John's art and craft lesson. The pictures give us lots of insight to what life was like at school then.
30% Funded already!
Please donate and share. This will be created by WeAreSkyHigh. 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 our JustGiving Crowdfunding Page, and help us share this link on your social media platforms
Mosaic
To commemorate our 150th anniversary, Philippa Adams will be coming into school over the next two weeks to work with the children on our new mosaic. She has taken 22 ideas from the children and every one will have the chance to place a tile. The mosaic will form the shape of a cross and will be displayed on Bluebridge House.
OWL News
Seedlings Shop selling fast, last chance to buy!
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.
Year 4 trip to Juniper Hall and Box Hill
Year 4 have had a fantastic 2 days at Juniper Hall and Box Hill - climbing the hill, navigating with a compass and building shelters.
School uniform
We would like to ensure children look smart and are appropriately dressed for their school day, so a reminder please that their PE kit should be in school colours (deep blue or black shorts or jogging bottoms and a white t-shirt) and full school uniform, including proper school shoes, should be worn on non-PE days.
For Forest School, children should wear their PE kit and other appropriate clothing such as a rain coat or wellington boots.
Our uniform for Physical Education (PE), Forest School and Outside Wilderness Learning:
PE kit
Black shorts, white T-shirt
Black/dark blue jogging pants
Black plimsolls
Forest School/OWL
Trainers/wellington boots – (as instructed by Forest School Leader/Class teacher)
Black shorts, white T-shirt
Black/dark blue jogging pants
Please see the school website for the full uniform list https://www.stjohns.kingston.sch.uk/post/uniform
Please don't forget to label all your children's clothing!
If you need to order new uniform, see details below.
We strongly advise, to ensure uniform is received in time for back to school in September, that orders are placed online by Monday 2nd August. Uniform can be delivered to, and collected from, School during term time
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.
Reading Records
Please don't forget to sign your child's reading diary every week. Thank you.
Bikeability
The deadline for signing up your Year 5 and 6 children onto the course running from 21st June, is 21st May - please sign up by then as we need to confirm spaces, and otherwise your child might miss out on the opportunity of doing the course.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebiLVZ2IZ8n7ew9YP8s6CGmVaZeShPjFfL3mr7fWK59fJdXA/viewform
Bikes
Bikes in school - we are still asking parents not to bring these to school yet unless you have been given explicit permission to do so. Our playground is still quite tight due to keeping bubbles separate. Thank you for you support.
Litter outside school
Please help keep our school tidy and make sure we keep the area outside school litter free.
Headlice
We have had a few reported cases of headlice in school. Please check your child's hair and ensure all long hair is tied up for school. For more information on how to treat and prevent headlice see the document below.
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.
Supporting local talent
Check out local band Duo http://www.duoguitarmusic.com/?m=1 who perform locally, are available for social distanced garden gigs, and are also playing at St John's Church on 25th June.
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.
Update from Director of Public Health, Kingston Council:
I’m delighted to say that overall we have seen a reduction in the numbers of cases of coronavirus across the borough. Your efforts in helping to Keep Kingston Safe have really made a difference and we truly appreciate all you have done.
Please can all families and support bubbles test twice weekly to ensure we can pick up cases early and you and your contacts can immediately self isolate. This will help to reduce the numbers of other people picking up COVID-19 and keep our rates low, especially as restrictions are lifted further.
Everyone can access home test kits through the links on our website at www.kingston.gov.uk/rapidtesting. Please remember to register and submit all test results at www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result.
We are currently recommending that contacts of a positive case have a PCR test even if they do not have symptoms. These PCR tests will help us identify further cases in the borough and guide us as to how we can take other actions needed to break chains of transmission. The PCR tests can be ordered online for home delivery or a slot can be booked at a test site: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test . When booking the test, ‘contacts’ should select the option ‘My local council or health protection team has asked me to get a test, even though I do not have symptoms’ when asked the question ’Why are you asking for a test?’. A negative result won't mean a shortening of the 10 days isolation period, but it does help detect other positive cases quickly and enables us to offer support to these individuals accordingly.
If you or anyone in your household tests positive for COVID-19, we can help with access to food and medicine deliveries, financial assistance if you are on a low income, and support with health and wellbeing. To get help, visit www.kingston.gov.uk/Covid19-needhelp or call 020 8547 5000.
Thank you for all your efforts to protect yourselves and each other. Your actions really do make a difference.
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
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 (deadline for booking is 21st May)
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.