A message from the Head
Welcome back to the spring term! The children have come back energised and ready to work hard on their resolutions on new beginnings and new opportunities.
We will be looking at the Christian value Service this half term. Service was central to Jesus. He came ‘to serve not to be served’. He was a ‘servant king’. Everything about Jesus' life was service to others. We will explore the varying ways we can serve, including how we can help our partner school in Malawi.
Children knowing their times tables is a vital skill, which offers a solid foundation for learning other aspects of maths. Regular practice of times tables is essential in ensuring that they are embedded in children’s long term memory. Your child will be bringing home a times table challenge booklet to assist them. Please support them with this learning.
There are 4 levels, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond, which focus on different times tables and the corresponding division facts. Children need to practise these times tables at home and school on a regular basis. They will be tested on these regularly. When the children can answer all of these times tables accurately, they will move onto the division facts. Look out for these booklets in their bags over the next few weeks.
We are all guilty of spending too much time online. The question is, are the things our children access online appropriate?
More and more children in the school are talking about playing the game ‘Fortnite / Fortnite Chapter 4’ or other online games. Whilst we understand these games are very popular, they are also highly addictive and unsafe if played without strict monitoring. As parents it is your responsibility to make sure that what your child does online, at home, is appropriate for their age -including which games they play, films they watch and social networking they use. Games and films have age ratings for a reason: please take them seriously!
In school, during this school term, we will be talking about online habits. We want to ensure that children at John’s understand the need for age ratings, know what to do if they see something that doesn’t feel right online and ultimately stay SAFE online. These are the age restrictions for some popular media platforms: TIKTOK is for 12yrs+ FORTNITE is for 12yrs+ WhatsApp 16+
Over the spring term we will be sharing with you the #WakeUpWednesday online safety guides from National Online Safety (https://nationalonlinesafety.com). These will be shared with parents/carers each Wednesday via ParentMail.
Safe Internet Use for Young People
Keeping young people safe online can be difficult, especially with new apps and ever advancing technology. It is important that parent/carers are just as aware as our young people are and support them to keep safe online. Here are a few online safety top tips:
Monitor viewing habits
Set privacy and screentime limits or turn features off like the like count and comments
Check the age ratings of games and apps
Follow your young person's account
Spend time exploring apps yourself and with your young person
Encourage the use of the report and block features
Discuss the importance of not posting identifiable or personal information, like location or full names
Always have open and honest conversations
The links below provide further information and advice for parents and carers regarding online safety.
Please find our Online Safety Presentation here
Martin Luther King Day
This week we celebrated Dr Martin Luther King Day and took the opportunity to look at his legacy, celebrate his life and achievements.
Please look at this child friendly video on BBC Bitesize to find out more on who he was and his significance.
We looked at Martin Luther King’s fight for rights, fairness, justice and equality, and his vision of creating a world where his children would be judged by the content of their character, and not the colour of their skin.
We took this opportunity to link this to the following articles from the UNCRC:
Article 1
Everyone under the age of 18 has all the rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 2
The Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to everyone without exception. Governments should take all measures to ensure that children are protected against all forms of discrimination
We also reflected on which of our school values Martin Luther King demonstrated throughout his life.
In Class 3 the children delved into the impactful legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., exploring his "I Have A Dream" speech. Inspired by his hopes for equality and justice, they wrote about their dreams and linked them to The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Edison Year 1 reflected on how can we make our world a better place.
In Newton Year 5, children discussed the impact that Martin Luther King had on our world today and what that meant for us. Each child had to choose a word that they thought best described his legacy and identity. This was linked to Articles 14 (Freedom of thoughts and religion) and 30 (Culture, language and religion) of the The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Healthy Schools
At St John’s, we encourage our children to eat a balanced diet and drink plenty of water so they are fit and ready to learn. Please look out for our Healthy Eating letter and leaflet on Monday giving guidance on healthy snacks and packed lunches.
Pupil Premium (Free School Meals) Fund
The government gives extra funding to schools for children who are eligible to have free school meals. This is different from the government's Universal Free School Meal, which just provides Foundation Stage and KS1 pupils with daily lunch. The Mayor of London also launched his own initiative offering KS2 pupils a daily free lunchtime meal for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic year.
It is very important that all parents on qualifying state benefits continue to claim free school meals for their child/children, even if they still wish to provide a packed lunch from home. This is because the school receives significant extra funding for each qualifying child during their entitlement period and for up to six years after it ends. This funding is called Pupil Premium.
The criteria to receive Pupil Premium Free 'School Meals' funding are set by central government and generally an award can only be provided where a parent/carer/child receives one of the following: income support, tax credit, universal credit etc.
For more information and to see if you qualify please follow this link.
Solid Gold!
We have received our lovely solid wood plaque to celebrate being awarded GOLD! by the Woodland Trust’s Green Tree Award Scheme.
Green Tree Schools Award encourages outdoor learning and our Forest School has been inspiring pupils about trees, woods and wildlife.
During the process we have demonstrated that we have planted over 400 saplings, reduced our CO2 emissions and have a recycling scheme in place. We have also been growing and cooking our own food and having tree parties!
Dick Whittington at St John's Parish Hall
As part of the Spring Grove Fringe 2024, members of our local community will be putting on their annual pantomime – Dick Whittington. This is an exciting local event that whole families can enjoy together.
Year 1's Fairy Tale Morning
Year 1 had an exciting fairy tale morning. The children loved dressing up and had fun acting out stories together. The children made special wishes in the wishing well and used their imaginative stories to inspire their writing.
‘I liked the plays that we did and also I liked the magic well. I was a dragon.’ Theo
‘I liked dropping my penny in the wishing well. I dressed up as Princess Belle.’ Thea
‘I liked the play. I was a vampire. I swooped in and tried to get Princess Belle.’ Jude AM
‘I liked being Rapunzel. I went on Jasmine’s flying carpet.’ Millie
RE Hindu Trip
Year 5 went on an RE trip to the Hindu Ghanapathy Temple in Wimbledon. The class were shown around the temple by Mrs. Geetha Maheshwaran who introduced us to the many aspects of Hindu life and rituals. The pupils observed the deities and architecture of the temple. Afterwards, Year 5 sat inside the adjoining Sai Mandir to discuss more about the deities, Hinduism, the significance of praying, the temple's history, and the structure and multifaith aspects. Pupils had a chance to answer questions and had the opportunity to dress up in traditional Indian temple clothes.
The Royal Institute's Energy Live
Year 5 were invited to KGS for the ENERGY LIVE! workshop. The presentation was delivered by the Royal Institute in London. The pupils joined 60 pupils from different schools across the borough. They learnt about the different stores of energy through interactive experiments! All in all, Year 5 were scientifically inspired and thoroughly enjoyed themselves! We hope they continue to be interested in the sciences and hopefully pursue the subject in the future.
Parents' Survey for Wrap Around Care for 2024
Achieving for Children would like to capture parents' likely requirements for Wrap Around Care to support their planning for 2024. To take part in this survey please follow the link below.
Helping Children with Screen Time
The ‘Helping Children with screen time’ webinar discusses the positive and negative impact of screen time and gaming on a child's mental wellbeing. We will share the recommendations for screen time based on age, how to have this conversation with your child in a positive and effective manner and a simple and effective way to manage screen time.
Job Opportunity at Bradbury House
Mapac Sale
Class Weekly Attendance for W/C 18 December
Y1 97.4%
Y2 94.6%
Y3 95.0%
Y4 92.5%
Y5 97.1%
Y6 96.3.%
Class Weekly Attendance for W/C 8 January
Y1 99.1%
Y2 96.3%
Y3 99.2%
Y4 97.5%
Y5 95.0%
Y6 96.1%
Punctuality
The school gates open at 8:40am and close at 8:50am. We expect all children to be ready to start their early morning learning promptly at 8:45am.
We want to teach our children that punctuality is an extremely important and respectful life skill.
When the gates close at 8:50am, your child's lateness will be recorded. This will be monitored by the Local Authority's Educational Welfare Officer ("EWO").
Early morning work, between 8:45 and 9:00am is vital for your child's progress.
Please do not allow your child to cycle on Portland Road on the way to and from school as there is still traffic travelling down the road at this time of the morning
Forgotten items reminder
If your child has forgotten any items they need for school on a day, eg: lunch, water bottle, PE kit, wellies for forest school, etc... please leave them clearly labelled with your child's name and class in the plastic box outside the office and a member of staff will pass them over to your child before lunchtime.
Keeping children safe (Safeguarding)
Please find here an excellent Safeguarding Handbook for primary schools by the Kingston and Richmond Safeguarding Team. Safeguarding—In Safe hands
The National Domestic Abuse Helpline
Continues to operate 24 hours a day including bank holidays & weekends. 0808 2000 247
Please remember if you have any concerns or questions regarding Safeguarding out of school hours follow the link.
Do not forget
No pets allowed on the school premises
No smoking or vaping on the school premises
Use of mobile is not permitted on the school premises
PSA
Class list is a great way to communicate with your school community. If you haven't signed up already please click the link below
3 ways to help St John's School
Please visit the Easy Fund Raising App to easily raise money for the School. Simply visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk, and select St John's School as your chosen charity.
We have raised £1267.38 so far and have 88 supporters! Every purchase made through easyfundraising means a donation to our PSA.
St John's Book List - Donate a book to celebrate birthdays, support our library, or buy class books. Please click below to go to our Amazon page
Stamptastic is the fastest way to name your kids' belongings. Use code KT1 2SG or click on the button below to earn donations for the PSA
You can keep up to date with all PSA events and read their latest newsletter on their page on the school website here.
Dates for your Diary
All dates appear on our school calendar on the school website. This includes school holiday dates, inset days, clubs, swimming and parent's evenings. You can find the calendar here: