St. John's Newsletter 007

UPDATE 7

3RD NOVEMBER 2017

St. John’s RC Primary School WEEKLY UPDATE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY NOVEMBER 6th - NHS child measurement Reception-Y6 7th - Spanish meeting for Y5 parents (3.45pm) 8th - Nasal flu vaccination Reception - Y4

AUTUMN

Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn term.

We finished last half -term on a high; Year 5 have been studying Ancient Greece and had a wonderfully creative day before the half-term holiday.

They spent their time reading Greek myths, tasting Greek food and creating realistic Ancient Greek outfits. During the last week we also had an exciting and informative assembly delivered by Catherine Millan of the BAME service. The assembly celebrated Black History month and the children were very engaged and interested throughout. The Year 3 then spent the day working with Catherine in their classrooms.

This term will end with one of the most magical parts of the year. We will be celebrating in true St. John’s style with EYFS and KS1 Christmas performances.

This year we will also be having a ‘Carols by Candlelight’ celebration in church with the KS2 classes. In addition, the choir have been invited to sing at one of the Advent masses at the Hidden Gem in Manchester City Centre on the 14th December. All parents, grandparents and friends of the school are very welcome.

I have attached a dates list for the coming year and for the coming half-term so that you have all the dates for all our special events in one place. It also has some of the important dates for the coming year on it so that you can plan ahead.

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9th - Manchester City Council consultation about Rye Bank field and Chorlton development (3.45pm-7.30pm in the Junior Hall) 9th - PTA meeting in staff room. All welcome!

10th - Freshwater Theatre in Year 2 World War 1 theme 13th - Year 5 trip to Manchester Art Gallery 17th - Children in Need ‘Crazy Sock Day (all classes)

WEEKLY UPDATE 7

7 OCTOBER 2017

We are working hard to make our curriculum as broad, balanced and creative as possible so have introduced some exciting Superlearning days and weeks. The first of these is our International Day on the 24th November. On this day the children will be celebrating the diversity of the world around us. They are invited to wear traditional costumes, dress in the colours of the flag of their chosen country or dress as a famous person from the country of their choice.

We are also introducing 2 new residential opportunities for our younger KS2 children this year. Year 3 will be invited to join in a We Are Adventurers camp over 1 night in May and Year 4 are going to be going to Ghyll Head in the Lake District for 2 nights in April. We think that our children will love the exciting activities that these 2 opportunities will give them. Details of these residential will be sent out to these classes this week.

Thank you for your continuing support and we look forward to seeing those that can make it at the PTA meting on Thursday in school at 6.30pm, Mrs B.O’Donoghue

CHILDREN IN NEED Our choir have been asked to be part of the official Children in Need BBC choir this year.

They will be performing during the live broadcast on the evening of the 17th November. In light if this, will be supporting Children in Need during the day with a ‘Crazy Sock Day.’ We would like all of our children to come to school in their normal uniform but wearing crazy socks, tights, mismatched pairs of socks, novelty socks etc. The crazier the better! The school council will be organising donation tins for before and after school on the playground if you would like to donate to the cause.

WELCOME SCHEME FOR PARENTS

Are you interested in forming a welcome scheme for parents?

Starting Nursery and Reception or coming into a new school in other year groups can be a big change for our children and indeed for our parents. This is something at St.Johns we are keen to support and we are aware that more could be done to help parents through this time. Some of our existing parents are keen to talk about setting up a "Welcome scheme" for new parents to St.Johns. What this will look like will be up to you in terms of what would be most helpful. If you are either an existing parent interested in supporting new parents to the school or as a new parent who would be keen to be part of this scheme please speak to Triona Buckley by contacting her via e-mail triona_buckley@hotmail.com or mobile 07736 074532. There is a possibility that a group for parents of adopted children may also be set up. Again, if you are interested, please contact Triona Buckley. We will provide further updates about how this develops in future weekly briefings. Please complete the survey using the link to tell us your views.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KXXDZTW 2

SPORTS NEWS TAG RUGBY Our fabulous Tag Rugby squad put in a series of amazing performances on the Thursday before half-term to ensure their place at the Greater Manchester Level 3 School Games. Our squad will go on to represent Manchester against the winners of all the other 10 boroughs. Well done team!

GIRLS’ FOOTBALL The girls’ football squads from Y4 and Y5 were impressive in round 2 of the Manchester FA Girls Football League. There are still many schools to play but we are currently sitting in top position within the league. Keep up the great effort girls - teamwork and determination will always pay off!

BOCCIA Our Boccia squad had a fantastic time in the recent Citywide Boccia finals at Levenshulme High School. Our squad of 3 members put in impressive performances to secure 7th place out of 15 schools.

ST. JOHN’S TRAIN TEACHERS FROM AROUND THE CITY Our Y1 and Y5 classes demonstrated some outstanding gymnastics this week to help other teachers from schools across Manchester. 24 teachers from across the city came to observe our Fundamental Movement Skills through Gymnastics lessons. The delegates were so impressed with the lessons and the standard of performance.

GOLDEN JUMPERS This week our golden jumpers go to; 1NG - Ava & Victoria 1MMK - Johnny & Annabel 2LH - Leo & Bella 2SM - Lucy & Oliver 3GON- Mary & Isla 3JW/EB- Joshua & Heidi 4DS - Clarence & Erin 4DM - Eva & Noah 5SMC Seth & Maria 5NR - Hayden & Hamish 6RG - David & Jessica 6CS - Evie & Daniella 3

REFLECTION Fr. McMahon celebrated the Feast of ‘All Saints’ with a whole school Mass on Wednesday. Our Year 6 children led the mass beautifully and reminded us of how special November is in remembering those that are no longer with us.

Dear God, We give thanks for the lives of the saints.Help us to learn from them and follow their good example.

Amen

St. John’s Mass times;

Saturday - 6pm Sunday - 9am and 12pm ( Family Mass)

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