The Link Newsletter #60
Friday 13th September 2024
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the first newsletter of the new academic year. We are all looking forward to the year ahead together with the exciting opportunities that will not only lead to strong academic outcomes but personal development and growth for our children too.
Last week, the staff participated in two training days to prepare for the year ahead. We discussed and agreed dates for the year, listened to subject specific expectations from leaders and received Safeguarding training. In addition, we were very grateful to have one of our parents speak to the staff team on the subject of trauma, connection and relationship building with children. This presentation re-emphasised the importance of a trauma informed approach; something we have been developing over several years.
I have always encouraged a positive partnership with parents because as a team we know that in order for our children to achieve well, we cannot do this on our own. With school funding cripplingly limited we need your help more than ever before and I will outline where your help will be most needed.
Firstly, ensuring your child arrives on time for the start of the school day is essential. Children cannot afford to miss even 5 minutes at the beginning of the school day. Over the course of a week this amounts to half an hour of lost learning in areas such as reading and maths practice. Arriving on time will also ensure the most effective use of staffing resources. When children are late, staff spend time waiting for children to arrive or helping them to sign in and settle in class. This is not a good use of our time.
We need parents to read our email messages and newsletters. Last year, the office team dealt with half a dozen queries each day, many of which had already been communicated either by email, newsletter or the website. All dates for school events are already on our website so please refer to the website throughout the year. To help us understand how many people are reading this newsletter, we would like you to complete a simple form. All entries will be entered into a draw to win a small prize!
We are putting out a plea for Parent Readers. Training will be provided. Readers may not necessarily be working in your child's year group as we would like to distribute our volunteers across the year groups.
My previous request for volunteers to support sport clubs has resulted in a number of offers. We are currently working through a plan of how to use the offers you have made. Thank you.
NEW KITCHEN
I am delighted to have finally put in place a kitchen at St John's. This became a vision of mine since I joined the school in 2019. Despite all the hurdles and obstacles we have finally made this happen. I am forever grateful to the staff and parents who have given me encouragement and support over the last five years. Now begins the hard work of making it truly work for our children.
The kitchen has been operating for just over a week now. Thankfully we have had relatively few hiccups in the initial set up and running. We had expected a few teething issues especially as dinner numbers went up significantly overnight. In the first few days, some children did not receive the meal they ordered and had to settle for an alternative. We have made adjustments since and have been reminding children of their choice as they line up for their food.
The kitchen has made a positive impact and I am delighted to see the benefits that are already clear to see...
* Four main meal choices each day
* Home cooked meals onsite, cooked fresh throughout the lunch period
* Fresh vegetables and fruit available from the salad bar.
* Exciting new food choices widening children's exposure to food. Who knew Halloumi cheese would be such a popular choice!?
* Food waste has fallen dramatically. From two full bins to approximately an 1/8th of a bin meaning we are saving the planet and crucially filling the children's tummies for the afternoon of learning.
* Helping families save time preparing packed lunches, fewer lost lunch boxes and fewer items for the children to carry.
We have received many positive comments from children and parents - thank you for these. As you have seen from our communication, menu choices are being reviewed after each day so that we can adapt and find the right choices for the children.
The baguette option continues to be a popular choice. We do not intend for the baguette option to be the only choice children make throughout the week. We will need your support to guide the children to choose the hot meals options. We will begin to do the same at school especially when we head into the winter months.
We will be appointing an assistant cook following a successful round of interviews on Friday. The preferred candidate is currently in post at another school and we will be negotiating their start date shortly.
Once we are in a routine and are fully staffed, we will be organising taster sessions for parents and children to sample the food.
Thank you to Cathy O'Neill, Emma Cook, Debbie Flack and the midday team who have all pulled together to get the food service up and running.
SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACES - YEAR 6
The new secondary school admission round opened on Thursday, 12 September 2024, for parents of current Year 6 children to apply for a secondary school (Year 7) place for September 2025.
The statutory national closing date for applications is 31st October 2024.
Applications can be made online via www.essex.gov.uk/admissions. 99% of parents in Essex applied online last year.
All of the application information is available on the website above.
RODING VALLEY VISIT
Mr Chalton, the Headteacher of Roding Valley High School will be visiting St John's on Tuesday 17th September at 2.45pm for any parents wishing to ask any questions. This session is aimed at parents of children in Year 6.
PTA UPDATE
Thank you to everyone who has supported the fundraising for the kitchen over the last five years. This money has helped bring this vision to reality.
Having raised funds for the kitchen project, the PTA are turning their attention to future projects.
* resurface the EYFS outdoor classroom to make better use of the space.
* replace The pavilion with a new structure widening our use of this space for extra curricular use.
* improve the playtime and lunchtime provision with more equipment.
Upcoming dates for your diaries:
* PTA AGM - Tuesday 8th October, The Barn at 6pm (everyone welcome)
* Fun Run - Wednesday 9th October
* Social event (TBC) - Thursday 24th October
* Christmas Fayre - Saturday 7th December
The next Nearly New Uniform sale takes place on Wednesday 18th September from 2.30pm, alternatively, you can purchase on Wednesday 16th October at the same time.
Future sales will take place on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.
FRESH LOCAL HONEY
Some of you will know that Mr Furness is a beekeeper. Each year, he talks to the children in Foundation about how to care and look after bees. Mr Furness has kindly offered to sell honey from his bees to help raise funds for the school. Each jar purchased will contribute £3 to the PTA funds. Honey will be available to buy from the PTA at the Nearly New Uniform shop on Wednesday 18th. Each jar costs £8.
Karen Bowden, our family support worker will be running the successful Nurture Programme once again this autumn. The programme is for parents and carers with its primary aim to get the best out of life and for the whole family to thrive. Please have a look at the leaflet to see whether you would like to participate.
Parents of children at St John's who have attended in the past have said that the programme was helpful in making them feel more confident as a parent. It also allowed them the opportunity to meet other parents some of whom have children at St John's as well as other Trust schools. It really is a great opportunity to make new and possibly life long friends.
The programme runs for 10 weeks and starts on Monday 14th October 2024 at 9.30am. Each session is two hours long and finishes at 11.30am. This year the venue will be at the Bloom Room in Alderton Junior School, Loughton IG10 3HE.
AND FINALLY....
TELL US THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS NEWSLETTER
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Here are some photos that Year 6 prefects took from the first Achievement assembly of the year....
Jonathan Furness
Head Teacher