A message from the Head
"Do not be afraid—I am with you! I am your God—let nothing terrify you! I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.". Isaiah 41:10
Welcome back. I hope you had a restful and enjoyable half term. Last half term was a short term with so much packed in, this term is no different! The children all looked very happy and they are ready for another half term of focus and hard work.
Our Christian Value for this half term is ‘Hope’. Hope is not wishful thinking but a firm assurance that God can be relied upon. Christian hope is grounded in the character of God. We will be exploring how we can express and support each other with our hopes.
A church school should be a place that lives and breathes ‘Hope’ – hope in God’s transforming power, hope in the gifts and abilities of all who play their part in the life of the school, hope in the power of the school to develop the potential of all its members - John Cox
From this Sunday, we will share with you what we have covered in Collective Worship every week. This will come as a link in the weekly bulletin, and is called Collective Worship: A Week in Focus. This will also give you an opportunity to further explore the key Christian values at home.
Our Home School Values ‘Hope’ parent sheet can be found here. All our Collective Worship and values resources are inclusive.
The children have immediately returned to school and have had visits to the church to help clean up (being courageous advocates), taken part in a Poetry Slam and Science Super Cell workshop at Surbiton High School.
Do sign up for our Parents’ Evening. We look forward to sharing your child’s progress and new targets.
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!
A gentle reminder that long hair should be tied back at school
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. This information is being given as part of the school's safeguarding duties to keep children safe when online. It may be very helpful to talk to your children about safety online to support the conversations we are also having in school.
Ancient Egypt Day
During Class 3's immersive exploration of Ancient Egypt, we delved into the mysterious realms of mummification, examined the secrets concealed within sarcophagi, and explored the intricate writing system of hieroglyphics.
To find out more about the exciting things Class 3 got up to click below
Y4 Art Exhibition
Year 4 held their long-anticipated Art Exhibition, where they displayed all of their major pieces of artwork thus far. They welcomed the school and the parents in to view their exhibit and spoke to them about what they created. They included an interactive piece where guests were invited to add colour to their art. The donations from this event will go towards future Year 4 projects. Thank you to all those who joined us and donated.
Collective Worship: A Week in Focus
Please find below the first edition of Collective Worship: A Week in Focus
World Book Day March 7th
Please could you bring in donations for the book swap on Friday 1st March
Ensemble Events with Kingston Music Service
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: