NewsLetter 24th January 2020
Dear Parents and Carers
We have started the term off well. Ms Swann has settled into her new role as Head of School and is on the gate every morning. I am sure you have all seen her and wished her every success. If you do have any queries or if you do want to meet Ms Swann or myself please do not hesitate to ask us.
We wish to congratulate Mrs McDuff and her husband who had a baby boy on Christmas Eve. What a wonderful Christmas present!
This week the Museum of London came in to visit Year 3 and they were learning about the Stone Age. Year 5 and 6 had a workshop about the dangers of radicalisation and terrorism. Please ask your children what they have learnt and look on our Twitter feed for photos and comments. Next week the Fire Brigade are coming in to work with Year 2 and Year 5. Next Friday Year 6 are on a Junior Citizen trip to Southwark Town Hall. The School Council have visited City Hall and continues to submit questions to the Mayor’s Office about policing and knife crime. The school is also engaged in a project working with five other primary schools about safety on the Brandon Estate. We will keep you posted on any developments. Year 2 are in a Multi-skills competition this week and we wish them good luck!
Admissions at St Joseph’s
All parents should have submitted their admissions forms for the infant and the junior places. You will be notified by the local authority regarding the outcome.
We still have places in the infants for Year 1 so if you know of anyone who needs a place for their child please encourage them to submit an in-year application via the school.
Extra tuition/classes
The Spring term sees us continue working towards our end of year outcomes. KS2 Year 6 SATS boosters are starting this week. First Holy Communion classes also begin on Tuesdays from 3pm to 3.45pm. All our after school clubs are up and running. If you have a question about them please see Ms Crawford and Ms Fowler at the main office.
Attendance and Punctuality
Parents are often very upset when the attendance percentage for the year is written on the report and it is not as they expected. Can I remind you that every day has two sessions (am and pm) and your children are registered for both. Your children have to be in school on time to be registered as present. If they are late the number of minutes are recorded on our admin system. If you are 5 minutes late every day that is 25 minutes a week. There are 39 school weeks in the year 25x39 = 975 minutes. That is 16 hours and 25 minutes of school missed. That equates to nearly 3 days of school missed over the year. DON’T BE LATE YOUR CHILD’S LEARNING WILL BE AFFECTED.
Likewise, we do ask that you are on time to pick up your children at 3pm or from after school activities. Other local schools in our immediate vicinity have started to charge for late pick-ups. £5 per 15 minutes. This is not something the school would like to do, but will, on an individual basis, if parents/carers abuse the good will of staff.
PE Kits
Please ensure children bring PE kits in when they have PE scheduled. This is an essential part of the curriculum and considering the levels of childhood obesity within Southwark we should be mindful that the children’s long term health needs are being met.
Dates for your Diary
Friday 24th January: Infant ‘Listening’ Mass at school 9.30am
Wednesday 29th January: Fire Brigade visit
Tuesday 4th February: First Holy Communion Sessions start 3-3.45pm
Week beginning 10th February: Parents Evenings
