A message from the Head
"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him". James 1:12
As part of our exploring the value 'Service', we have been looking at Legacies with the children. How have people in the past used their gifts/talents? How did Jesus inspire great works of literature, Music, Art and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)? STEM careers were not as accessible to Black people as they are today.
Despite these struggles, there are many Black STEM heroes.
Princess Omo Oba Adenrele Ademola, born 2nd January 1916, was the daughter of the Alake of Abeokuta, a King in the southern region of Nigeria, and served as a midwife in numerous London hospitals during and after the Second World War. Ademola made official appearances as a Princess. She attended the coronation of King George VI on 12th May 1937. She attended royal events, including royal garden parties at Buckingham Palace and dinners with the Mayor of London. Working 11 years before the NHS was founded, Princess Ademola was one of the first black nurses in Britain and paved the way for many others in the future.
What are the gifts we have that we can use to serve others? We all have different gifts to offer…what are yours? How do we appreciate the service of others to us? Jesus served everyone especially the poor and those in need.
This half term is a short one, but it has been packed with exciting activities and learning. I do hope you enjoy reading about the great learning opportunities your child has at St John’s from leading Collective Worship(Y2), representing school at Primary Mental Health Conference(Y5), visits to our local church and Hindu Temple in Wimbledon, learning how to be a Playground Buddy, visit from a grandparent to talk about the ancient Romans, seeing the wonders of liquid nitrogen at work, and much more!
Please do read our newsletters as much effort goes into this news round up in order to keep you fully informed of school life. Your children continue to shine: do not miss their moment!
Wake Up Wednesday
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.
Liquid Nitrogen Fun!
Andrew Hanson and Louise Gibbons, Physicists from the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, visited us this week to talk about temperature, solids, liquids and gases. They brought with them lots of liquid nitrogen and inspired and intrigued all the children with their demonstrations. The children had many questions to ask and loved all of the physics that they told us about.
"Good. When the scientist poured the cold thing out and made smoke." and "When they put the balloon in the liquid. It got smaller." YR
'I really liked it when he made the steam engine and it went round and round and round. I liked it when he made the magnet hover over the other one.' Noah Y1
"Now that was really cool! It was fun to see the big experiments." Ebo Y2
"Best assembly ever! I liked it when they tried to bounce the frozen tennis ball." Jacob Y4
"It was a lot of fun. They taught us a lot about science and how science can change the world." Mollie Y5
Allotment Volunteers Needed
The children enjoy growing and eating the food from our allotment and gain a lot from being in the space. As we have become busier, we are now looking for a small army of volunteers to help maintain our special space and help give it some TLC.
If you are interested please e-mail allotment@forestschooling.co.uk
Teaching Assistant Vacancy at King Athelstan
Please click below to find out more details
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 well-being. 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.
Class Attendance
Did you know you can see which class has the highest attendance on our website's
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 remember if you have any safeguarding concern, no matter how trivial, speak to one of our Safeguarding Team or take a look at our Safeguarding Pages.
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: