The Link Newsletter #62

Friday 29th November 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

The month of December commences this Sunday and with it, the beginning of the festive season. As is tradition, we will once again be launching our online Advent calendar. Personally, this year celebrates 25 years of running an advent calendar so I'm hoping this one will be even more special! Our calendar will represent the children and staff of St John's and High Beech and we are very much looking forward to seeing what is behind each of the doors.

https://advent.st-johns-school.com

But first, the month of November was an important one for the children at St John's:

Remembrance Services

Each year, children from St John's visit the graves of war veterans who served in World War I and World War II. We laid a Remembrance cross at each of the graves and the children read a prayer. In recent years we have benefited from having biographical information about each of the servicemen and it never ceases to amaze the children just how young the men were when they died. It is quite a poignant occasion. 

Remembrance Prayers from St John's CE Primary School on Vimeo.

Our Remembrance Service was led by our Year 6 prefects with the support of Mr Peck, Mrs Tinker, Mrs Grimsell and the staff team. The children did a wonderful job of describing why we mark this event each year. The children who belong to the guide or scout movements, rainbows, beavers, brownies, cubs, guides and scouts looked especially smart in their respective uniforms. Flag bearers lived up to the responsibility of opening and closing the service, whilst trumpeters Rupert (Year 5) and Albie (Year 4) played The Last Post to mark the beginning of the one minute silence. The service concluded by singing The National Anthem.

    

    

Later that morning, Head Prefects represented St John's at the Lych Gate service along with The British Legion and members of the public. Again, Rupert and Albie joined the service and played their instruments confidently just before 11o'clock to mark 2 minutes of silence. Head Prefects laid a wreath on behalf of the St John's School community.

CHILDREN IN NEED

Once again your generosity has been felt and the school raised £647.80 following our day dressed in spots or stripes. It was kind of Pudsey to pay us a visit that morning too. Thank you to everyone.

We also were in awe of Gracie who sang so beautifully live on BBC1 that same evening, with a solo line too! Well done Gracie.

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER PARENT SURVEY

In September Governors conducted a survey amongst our St John's Parents / Carers of pupils in Years 1 - 6.  The Survey specifically addressed Parents / Carers views on the Christian Character of the School. Governors were delighted to receive 101 responses and wish to express our sincere thanks to those Parents / Carers who completed the survey. 
Overall the results were very positive which was encouraging.  The majority of Parents / Carers responded that they did understand the School’s theologically rooted Vision and recognised the positive impact the Values had on their children’s development. It was also pleasing to note that the majority of our Parents / Carers felt that all faiths were respected at St John's. Understandably Parents / Carers  were less confident when it came to assessing the impact of the curriculum and specifically the RE curriculum on the School’s Christian Character.
Governors have reviewed the responses to each of the  9 questions asked and are working with Mr Furness to address those areas, such as the curriculum, where a number of  Parents / Carers  responded that they were ' not sure'. It is our intention to repeat the Survey again next year to assess the  progress towards our understanding of the Christian Character of the School in all areas. We thank you again for all your support in this endeavour.
 
St John's Governors.

SPORTING PARTICIPATION AND SUCCESSES 

ARCHERY - TUESDAY 5TH NOVEMBER

Children in Year 6 represented St John's in the archery competition. A new event for us but well worth attending. The children released their (indoor) arrows into the target to score points. Well done to our team of archers who achieved 4th place out of the 8 schools that took part. Thank you Mrs Edmonds for accompanying the children.

 

 

 

 

 

BOCCIA - Friday 22nd November

A team of five players represented St John's at this competition involving 16 schools. The children worked very well together. A colleague from another school commented after the event:

"I was at the Boccia event last Friday and I wanted to feedback what a wonderful team SJBHS were. They were so gracious and exemplary in their behaviour at the end of each game. A real credit to your school."

I am delighted to have received this message and pleased that children's attitudes and behaviours are being recognised alongside our competitive streak.

The Boccia team finished 3rd place out of the 16 schools. Well done team!

TAG RUGBY

The Tag Rugby teams competed exceptionally well on the 8th November which meant that all the teams were through to the next round.

The final took place on Friday 29th November at Davenant School in Loughton involving 52 teams from 21 schools. It was a huge event and to come away with the following results demonstrates the success that St John's has achieved through hard work and dedication.

Team A for the Cup - 6th out of 16 teams
Team B for the Plate - 2nd out of 16 teams
Team C for the Shield - 12th out of 20 teams

All three teams played incredibly well and should be mighty proud of their performance.

       

   

A wonderful result for the children and for the school. Thank you to the adults who have supported the team, Mrs Jacob, Mrs Aarons and Miss Marbe. Thank you also to Henry and Edward who coached the team so expertly in the numerous practice sessions before both competitions. Thank you. 

HOT CHOCOLATE HEROES

 Each week, five children are selected by our midday team to be a 'Hot Chocolate Hero' winner. Here are the children accompanied by Head Prefect, Keeran. 

Thank you to the PTA for the branded Hot Chocolate Hero mugs (designed by Isla!)

So far this term, 30 children have been nominated for this hot chocolate treat.


CHRISTMAS EVENTS

There is much to look forward to in the coming month. Please see the attached page of Christmas events planned between now and the end of the school year.

Do not forget to attend the Christmas Fayre next Saturday 7th December.

Also, please note the arrangements for the Christmas Nativity shows for parents of children in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2.

christmas events 2024.pdf

 

 

GET INTO TEACHING WITH 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 2025. 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....

Some photographs from our Remembrance Service and Celebration worships during the month of November.

 

 

 


Jonathan Furness
Head Teacher