Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14
A message from the Head
Welcome back from a delightful half term break. Our Christian Value for this half term is Peace. We will be considering the meaning of peace and why it is important. Ask your children questions like: what does ‘peace’ mean?; when do we need peace?; why do we all need peace?; and where do we find peace?
I do hope you all signed up for the parents consultations with your child’s teacher, and have been able to discuss how they have settled in and what targets they should be focusing on at home.
School Street
Last school year our children wrote to the local authority asking for action to slow traffic down on Portland Road in order to keep children and families safe. Portland Road is now a 'School Street', which means there is a restriction for vehicles between 8.30-9.30am at the start of the school day and 2.45-3.45pm at the end of the day, during term time. We are waiting for additional information from the local authority around possible exemptions which of course will be extended to our neighbours, staff and families that meet certain criteria. This information will be sent on you once received. However more information can be found by following this link https://kingstonletstalk.co.uk/st-johns-school-street
Happy Diwali to all our families celebrating the Festival of Light. We enjoyed a presentation by Mrs Shah and Ms Baker in our Friday Worship.
OWL & Forest School News
We are pleased to let you know we have received a community grant from Tesco of £950 to help pay for our chicken coop which we will be starting to build soon. Not only are chickens entertaining to keep, they are known to help with mental health and can help with resilience and confidence in children. The children will be able to help keep the chickens and of course collect and taste the eggs! The chickens will also be viewable from the footpath that runs alongside the allotment and the Hogsmill River.
We only need to raise another £500 to reach our target, if you feel you can donate you can do so here:
Donate to chicken coop
St John's Church
The next family church service is this Sunday 7th November at 10.30am where you can decorate gingerbread saints for All Saints Day.
Thank you PSA!
Thank you again to our wonderful PSA team for all they do to raise funds for the school. We hope you all enjoy the Quiz night at St John's Church this Saturday.
Poppy Appeal
Year 6 students will be selling poppies in the playground after school next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Please bring some silver coins to buy a poppy and support this worthy cause.
School Clubs
We still have some places for our After School clubs which start next week. There are places still available for Yoga, Drama and Hair Braiding. Please see our clubs page on the school website, under 'Our School' which will gives more details and how to book www.stjohns.kingston.sch.uk/clubs
Attendance
Please remember to let the school office know if your child will be absent or is off sick. If they are ill for more than one day, please let the office know each morning before 8.30am. If you have hospital appointments or will be away, again please let the office know and complete the relevant form.
Thank you.
Keep safe on Fireworks night
Please see the safety message on behalf of Child Accident Prevention Trust: With Diwali and Fireworks Night just around the corner, we’d usually expect to see the skies light up with fireworks from organised public displays. But with many big events cancelled again this year, more families will be going it alone with fireworks at home. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to buy fireworks that aren’t suited to a family garden. And, if the worst does happen, many parents don’t know how best to react. That’s why our new fireworks advice hub makes it easy for you to share safety messages. You’ll find:
· Fireworks buying guide – to help families avoid dangerous fireworks.
· Fireworks safety tips – essential tips for families doing their own display.
· Lessons for little ones – to help teach young children about safety, including a download for early years settings.
· Warning to parents – a real-life story to share.
· In an emergency – Stop, Drop and Roll helps put out the flames, while good first aid reduces the likelihood of scarring.
· Free resources – a leaflet and social media assets from the Office for Product Safety and Standards, in both English and Welsh.
School Tours
Mrs Hutchinson will be giving school tours for prospective parents. Please book via the school website home page https://www.stjohns.kingston.sch.uk/
16th November 3.30pm *New date added*
7th December 3.30pm
Applying for a School Reception place
You can now apply for a School Reception place for September 2022. For more information please see
The deadline for applying for a Primary School place is 15 January 2022.
https://www.stjohns.kingston.sch.uk/apply-now
New COVID rules
There is no need to self-isolate as a close contact if you have been double vaccinated. Children also do not need to isolate due to contact. Those who test positive with COVID themselves will still need to isolate but this will not affect the rest of the pupils. This means we no longer need to keep the children in consistent groups, known as ‘bubbles’.
The government has removed the requirement to wear face coverings in law but expects and recommends that they are worn in enclosed and crowded spaces where you may come into contact with people you don’t normally meet.
For this reason we will ask parents/carers to continue to wear a face mask/covering when on school site. This is especially important when picking children up from the playground at the end of the school day.
Local news
8218 is a non for profit theatre group that meet on a Sunday in St John's church in term time. They are looking for new members to join them.
See details below of the Quiz night in support of The Mayor of Kingston Charitable Trust.
REMINDERS:
Safety
- Please may we remind you that we are a ‘Nut Free School’ as we do have children with severe allergies to this. Please see our policy on Allergies (including Nut & Food) on the school website.
- If you do send grapes for your child's lunch, please can we ask them to cut in half to avoid the risk of choking.
- Please ensure children wear helmets if riding scooters and bikes.
- Please ensure long hair is tied back for school in order to prevent the spread of nits.
Recycle your print cartridges at school
Please drop off your used printer cartridges to the school office - we can recycle them.
Class pages on the website
Please keep an eye on your child's class page on our website for regular photos and updates.
Donations for school - help us save £££
If you can donate a box of tissues to your child's class at school this would help us save our budget for other things - and it will also help stop the spread of germs!
We could also use spare socks for all age groups. If you are having a sort out, please donate them to school. Thank you.
Dates for your Diary
Sat 6th Nov: 11am-1pm St John's Church Community Café
Sun 7th Nov: 10.30am St John's All Age family service
Thursday 11th Nov: 2pm Remembrance Day Church Service
Friday 19th Nov: Children in Need
Mon 22nd Nov: INSET day
Fri 26th Nov: Year 6 Hot Chocolate sale in the playground after school
Sat 4th Dec: 11am-1pm St John's Church Community Café
Sat 4th Dec: 9am-12noon Christmas tree sale at St John's Church
Fri 10th Dec: Afternoon Christmas Fair at St John's Church
Weds 15th Dec: 10am Christmas service in school
Weds 15th Dec: Nursery last day before Christmas
Thursday 16th Dec: 2pm Last day of autumn term
Friday 17th Dec: INSET day
Term dates have been updated and more diary dates can be found on our website here
Links to more information
House Points (found on the front page)