The Link Newsletter #56

Friday 22nd March

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we have been celebrating Neurodiversity Week and raising awareness that we don't all think in the same way. Some children and adults might recognise that they have known conditions such as ADHD, Autism, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, or Dyslexia. Whilst we haven't spoken about individual children or their conditions, I hope that everyone has been able to reflect on the fact we are all different and sometimes behave differently. This means that a 'one-size' fits all approach and response to behaviour is a thing of the past. At St John's we consider ourselves a trauma-aware school and use our training in trauma perceptive practice to help recognise the challenges that children may face. As a result we respond accordingly, whilst maintaining a clear and defined set of boundaries. This ensures that everyone can feel safe when attending St John's.

This morning, children attended an assembly led by Victoria Jenkins, CEO of Unhidden clothing. Victoria openly spoke about her neurodiversity and referred to these as her super-power. She explained the struggles that she had as a child at school and that she continues to experience some of these challenges as an adult. However, she has learnt to find strategies to use these challenges to her advantage and adapt her lifestyle to avoid these becoming barriers to her goals and achievements. Victoria appeared on BBC's Dragon's Den last year, you can watch the episode here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001jg6p/dragons-den-series-20-episode-8

The highlight of the assembly were the quality of the questions that the children asked and we extended the assembly for KS2 children because there were just so many pertinent and enquiring questions which helped us all to understand the strength of character in Victoria that meant that she never let her neurodiversity become a barrier. 

After Victoria's visit, she wrote:

"Thank you all so much for allowing me to come and speak in your assembly. You asked the best questions ever, so many varied questions. But i loved how curious you all were, about me and being neurodivergent. I wish i had this opportunity when at school, and being different is a superpower. I am gutted i'm missing the cake sale.

Lastly, I looked at all the designs and may have to be careful as you could be after my job. But they showed wonderful creativity and authenticity in adapting your uniform. You showed great purpose in thought led design, and the colour ideas were aesthetically pleasing.

Enjoy the rest of your Neurodiversity Celebration week, and thank you for letting me be part of it!

Best wishes, Victoria x "

...and of course the day finished with a wonderful cake sale which as usual, received so much interest. By the end of another busy week, we all needed our sugar fix! Thank you to parents and staff who baked and donated cakes for the sale, and to the parents who helped support the setup and sale itself. 

Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to Mrs Mills for leading and organising this week. 

WEAR WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY DAY - FRIDAY 26TH APRIL

Our school, as part of Epping Forest Schools Partnership Trust has close links and works in partnership with The Jenna Wilkins Foundation. The Trust has benefitted in many ways from this charity, including the creation of nurture spaces known as ‘Jen’s Den’s’ in some of our schools, with the addition of a funded therapist. 

We are very grateful to the Foundation for their generosity and support. To reciprocate and show our appreciation, on Friday 26th April we will be having a Trust wide non-uniform day to raise money for The Jenna Wilkins Foundation, with the theme being ‘Wear What Makes You Happy’. Jenna, who sadly died aged just twenty five, was training to be a teacher. She had a zest and enthusiasm for life and would have loved the idea of so many children dressing up for the day in something that made them feel happy.

So, on Friday 26th April, your child may come to school dressed in something that makes them smile and feel happy. As this is a charity event, we would, where you can afford, request a donation of £2 to be brought in on the day.

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

CROSS COUNTRY

On the 15th March, 40 children took part in the District Cross Country finals. All of the children represented St John's brilliantly and ran their absolute best.

These children finished within the top 10 in their year group races.

Gemma S - Year 6 - 1st
Olivia J - Year 5 - 9th
Summer J - Year 4 - 1st
Isabelle T - Year 4 - 7th
Albie E - Year 4 - 8th
Adriana M - Year 4 - 8th

I am pleased to announce that the Year 4 Girls team have qualified for the County Finals in Southend next week on 27th March. In addition, Gemma in Year 6 also qualifies and will be competing in the County finals too. Congratulations girls and we wish you the very best in the competition next week.

FOOTBALL

On Wednesday 20th March, St John’s football team played a home match against Theydon Bois. Unfortunately St John's lost by the narrowest of margins but they will reflect and go again, ready for our next match after Easter.

YEAR 3/4 SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS

Congratulations to children in Year 3&4 who took part in the Sportshall Athletics competition at Debden Park. This is an indoor competition where the children each participate in track and field events. The scores from each event are fed into an overall score. St John's came 2nd overall. Well done children! Thank you to Mrs Murphy and Mrs Tay for accompanying and cheering on the children. 

NETBALL

After Easter, when the field will be available for break time and lunchtime play, Coach Victoria will be starting a lunchtime Netball club using the bottom playground. These netball coaching sessions are for children wishing to learn netball rules and skills and who will represent St John's. We will organise some matches in the Summer term. More details to follow.

MOBILE DEVICES INCLUDING SMART WATCHES

We have had a mobile device procedure in place for many years which appreciates that children may need to bring a mobile phone to school for reasons of safety during their walk to and from the school. All mobile phones are to be handed into the office when the children first arrive. This has been working very well.

An incident last week brought to our attention that some children are wearing smart watches with the capability to make calls and send messages. As a matter of urgency, we are now requesting that all watches with the capability to communicate must now be kept at home or handed in to the office. We have a duty to safeguard all children whilst they attend school and this is the reason behind this policy. Temporarily disabling the ability to call or message during the day is not a sufficient safeguard.

We all encourage children to wear a watch, often the simpler the better, as this helps the children grasp the concept of time and learn how to tell the time. Please consider whether the device your child is bringing in to school now needs to be handed in at the front office. Thank you.

On a separate, but connected note, I know that parents are always wanting to understand better how to encourage safe use of mobile phones and digital devices. This organisation is encouraging families to discuss risks and solutions to keep their children safe. It might be worth reading and subscribing to their newsletter: https://smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk/

EDTECH EXPO DAY - STAFF DEVELOPMENT - TUESDAY 11TH JUNE 2024

We continue to push forward with introducing more technology into the curriculum which enriches the learning opportunities for all of our children. Last week, St John's hosted digital leaders from 13 Trust schools in the first Digital Leader Academy day. Here the children embraced a range of devices, software and hardware opening up exciting possibilities for the future.

In order to ensure that our staff team keeps pace with the advance of technology in each of our schools, the Trust have created an EdTech Expo event for teaching staff across the 16 schools to attend. This event takes place at Staples Road Primary School on 11th June. To maximise the opportunity we have planned to start the event at 2.30pm meaning that we are requesting that children are collected from school at the slightly earlier time of 2pm. We know this has a greater implication for working parents, but hope that with notice, this helps  alternative arrangements to be made.

Please see the letter from Peter Tidmarsh, CEO, explaining this request.

PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION (PTA) UPDATE

It was a year ago that I last wrote explaining the concern I share with the PTA committee regarding the long-term future of the PTA group. I am delighted to report that the PTA team now comprises of:

Chair: Sue Moody
Vice Chairs: Dominique Pharoah and Sophie Vincent
Treasurer: David Snaith
Secretary: Natalie Hand

We have a small committee of dedicated parents who attend PTA meetings (online), who contribute to the decision making process along with providing support at events and running stalls such as the uniform shop. 

The PTA want to do more, they want to run more events such as the Easter Egg hunt that has been organised for Foundation children next week (thank you Mrs Pharoah and Mrs Vincent!)

Could you offer to organise an event for a year group? The more willing hands, the more fun for the children, the more money we can raise for school projects. There are people to help you and you will not be on your own. 

Please speak to Mr Furness, Mrs Tinker or email pta@stjohns.efspt.org

PLAY IN THE PARK IN BUCKHURST HILL AND LOUGHTON

FREE Easter family fun brought to you by Epping Forest District Council. All totally free of charge thanks to the support of local Town and Parish Councils.

For children aged 5-12, Play in the Park is all about playing games and having fun outdoors. No need to book, just drop in at any time. The Play in the Park team will bring a range of sports equipment including bikes and arts & crafts resources for children and their parents/carers to enjoy together*. The team will be there to help organise activities and games. At some sessions we will have Dr Bike offering FREE Bike Health Checks so don’t forget to take your bikes along.

Roding Valley Recreation Ground, Spider Park Field, Buckhurst Hill, IG9 6BX
Wednesday 3 April 13:30 – 15:30

Hornbeam Road Recreation Ground. (Near Newton Court). Buckhurst Hill. IG9 6JT
Wednesday 10 April 13:30 – 15:30

Roding Valley Recreation Ground (near Tennis Courts), 194 Roding Rd, Loughton IG10 3BS
Friday 5 April 10:00 – 12:00

Jessel Green, Jessel Drive Loughton, IG10 2EQ
Friday 12 April 10:00 – 12:00

Other sessions are available across the district, details can be found at: https://eppingforestdc.bookinglive.com/

In addition to Play in the Park, the Red Balloon Foundation have a number of places left at the Holiday Club running in Loughton during the Easter break. This is in partnership with Active Essex. If you are in receipt of a WONDE code there is no charge and there are also some subsidised places avaliable for those that would benefit from this. If you would like any more information please email holiday@rbf.org.uk

FREE Sessions from the ACL Family Learning Team 

We have also been made aware that there are FREE sessions from the ACL Family Learning Team throughout April. They are split into two sections, Family Support and Family Fun (for the Easter holidays.

Please click on the link below for more information:

https://aclessex.com/family-learning-update/

GET INTO TEACHING WITH THE WEST ESSEX SCITT

Are you interested in training to become a Primary School Teacher?

We have Initial Teacher Training vacancies to begin training at the beginning of September 2024. We are looking for people who have a degree, a passion for education and teaching and want to inspire young people to fulfil their potential.

We would be very interested to hear from you if you are thinking of becoming a teacher, or know someone who is. 

This is not a drop in event so please book your place now by emailing vsmullen@efspt.org

We welcome the opportunity to meet and talk to you about the exciting teacher training opportunities available. Susan Marbe, the West Essex SCITT Director can be contacted at smarbe@efspt.org or please call one of our team on 02085042934 option 6. We can also provide you with support and guidance on your DfE APPLY application form

For any further information on what becoming a teacher might involve more generally, you can visit http://www.westessexscitt.co.uk/ or https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/

You can find and apply for our Initial Teacher Training courses via DfE FIND

...AND FINALLY...

 We celebrated World Book Day on Friday 8th March. We were amazed with the fantastic array of costumes that parents and children had worked incredibly hard to put together. We urged everyone to look at clothing they already had or could make and you didn't disappoint. 

World Book Day 2024 from St John's CE Primary School on Vimeo.

Two children from each year group were chosen as our winners.

Here are the winners from the EYFS and Year 1 and 2.

Here are the winners from Year 3 and 4, and Year 5 and 6.

EASTER HOLIDAY

School finishes on Thursday 28th March at 1.10pm for children in Fox, Owl, Robin, Swallow, Hedgehog and Rabbit classes. The finish time of 1.15pm for children in Squirrel, Deer, Dove, Wolf, Hawk, Falcon, Raven and Badger classes.