Weekly Update 13

UPDATE 13

22ND JANUARY 2018

St. John’s RC Primary School WEEKLY UPDATE

@st_johns_rc

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY JANUARY 22nd -Young Voices choir concert at the Manchester Arena 23rd - Digital Leader training 24th - Marist (Year 2SM) packed lunch needed

PLATINUM SUCCESS! Last Friday we were visited by our MP Jeff Smith. He came to meet the children and then held a Q&A with the School Councillors. It gave the children valuable insight into the role of MPs, Parliament and the importance of democracy. Members of the health and well being council explained to Jeff Smith MP the importance of PE, sport and physical activity in our school and the reasons St John's were the first primary school in Manchester to be awarded the platinum School Games award.He was very impressed with the children’s ideas and he was very impressed by the hard work and dedication that went in to gaining this award.

A group of Year 5 children were flying high this week when they had the opportunity to go indoor skydiving! The session was based around the science topic of forces. I received a lovely email from the organisers that made me very proud; ‘We host many Schools & Academies at our facility, but I was particularly impressed with the outstanding behaviour of your group. All of the children were a delight to work with and I was impressed not only by the polite and diligent approach that they took to the team 1

25th - Marist (Year 2LH) packed lunch needed 28th - First Holy Communion meeting (10.45am) 30th - 2nd Robinwood (Year 6 residential)

FEBRUARY 1st - PTA Cinema night. Details to follow 16th - Thumbs-up Friday 16th Platinum Celebration Day children may wear sports kit

WEEKLY UPDATE 13

15 JANUARY 2018

challenge of building wind powered vehicles, but also the intelligent responses and feedback given during the ‘science-based’ elements of the workshop itself. They are a credit to St John's and a fabulous representation of your School.’ Well done, Year 5!

Finally, welcome to Seb, Freddie, Bevan, Cora, Jacob, Dylan, Luke, Joseph, Oliver, Edith, Sofia and Pearl who have all started in our Nursery this term. We look forward to getting to know you and all of your families over the coming months.

Thank you for your continuing support, Mrs B.O’Donoghue

ENRICHMENT & AFTERCARE The new timetable has been sent out for next half term’s after school activities and aftercare. We have a few new clubs starting this term provided by teaching staff. All the money made from these clubs will go straight back into resources for school.

A reminder also, that the deadline for booking clubs is the 2nd February 2018. Once the deadline has passed we have no way of adding names to these clubs on our system. Because of VAT rules etc, individual clubs cannot take direct payment for sessions either. We are aware (from feedback from parents) that the Parentpay system is limited in what it can do. Therefore, in the Summer term, we will be moving over to ‘Schoolsbuddy’. Please go to https://www.schoolsbuddy.com if you would like to have a look at what it will be able to do.

SUMMARY OF DEADLINES Spring 1 = 4 weeks 4 days Monday 26th February – Thursday 26th March BOOKINGS OPEN Thursday 25th January DEADLINE FOR ENRICHMENT BOOKINGS Friday 2nd February DEADLINE FOR AFTERCARE BOOKINGS Friday 9th February

ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS During the winter months we may experience adverse weather conditions, in such cases, here are the contingency plans; 2

The school will remain open whenever possible, closing only in the most extreme of circumstances.

• At the start of the school day the Head teacher will make a decision based on local conditions as to whether it is safe to open the school.

• If the school is closed, a message will be posted on the school website (stjohnsrc.net) and twitter (@st_johns_rc) as soon as possible.

• We will also send all parents a text to inform them of school closure/opening. (You will only receive a text if we have your mobile number so please ensure this is kept up to date.)

• Our school will consider all risks, including levels of supervision for children, risks for staff and children of serious injury in school or travelling to school, minor slips and bumps, risks associated with worsening conditions and staff and children being unable to get home against disruption to children's learning.

PTA Thank you to everyone who supported our Pudraiser. £716.37 was raised towards the Lego walls for Learning Land. It’s a big job to undertake so thank you to those that organised it at one of the busiest times of the year!

The PTA would also like to thank everyone who came to ‘Social Climbers’ (our social event at the Irish Club) on Saturday night. It was a great night and raised £804.50 for Learning Land. Special thanks to DJ Mark Smith, Tom O’Toole, Alan Bitterman and the band, Ferris Bueller, for giving their time and talents.

Our next PTA Coffee Morning is following Thumbs up Friday on Friday 16th February.

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SPORTING NEWS FUTSAL CHAMPIONS Congratulations to our Y5 girls on their recent success in the Futsal championships! The girls put in some tremendous performances to secure their gold medals. Well done - This Girl Can!

MANCHESTER UNITED CHAMPIONS Congratulations to our Y2 and Y3 footballers who participated in the recent Manchester United competitions. Our Y3 team were crowned 2018 champions and our Y2 team runners up for 2018!

Congratulations to all the players on their teamwork, sporting attitude and determination.

SWIMMING TRIALS A very strong field of 52 swimmers from Y4/5 took to the water on Tuesday for races and aqua splash fun! All swimmers performed brilliantly and with great determination. Miss Vecchione is delighted to let the children know that there will be 3 boys swimming teams and 3 girls swimming teams this year along with an inter class gala!

All results will be announced at the beginning of next week as there are lots of very tricky decisions to make for the PE and Sport team. Well done to all who trialled. Talent spotters from City of Manchester Aquatics Team came down to watch our swimmers and were incredibly impressed. There will be invites going out for the academy and club following a highly successful trial experience.

CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to Tate Rodney Johnson, Harvie Cravagan and Maeve Daly on their recent selection to represent Manchester in the Greater Manchester Cross Country finals. This is a huge achievement by our runners. St John's are very proud!

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REFLECTION Last Monday,15th January, was Martin Luther King’s birthday and it serves as a good time to remember the lessons he taught us. The iconic words of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech look ahead to a day in which his children will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. Let us remember his famous words and always strive to be the light that shines in the darkness;

Our school New Year’s Resolution is RESPECT for ourselves and others. We will be working on this during assemblies and in classroom sessions this half term.

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