Friday 30th September 2022

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are now well into the start of the start of this academic year and have lots to report on. Our children have been busy learning in classrooms, at school clubs and representing the school in a multitude of sporting events.

Congratulations to the Year 3/4 girls football team who came second in a tournament held last week. We have also had our first football match. The team played against Hillhouse CofE Primary School and won 8-0. We have attended a Panathlon cricket festival and the children came back holding the certificate with great pride. Children in Year 2 have also participated in a Capture the Flag event at Debden Park High School.

Our lunchtime and after school clubs are up and running. Please consider encouraging your child to attend these clubs as they enrich the experiences the children have. Details are on our website. One of the clubs that I am particularly proud of is Baking Club. It ran very successfully last year and is led by our Year 6 children, Maria and Lily. Maria and Lily have asked Rebekka and Lilly in Year 5 to support them this year so that the club can continue into next year.

We have elected our six new Head Prefects, Annie, Bianka, Dylan, Keya, Michael and Pedro. Amongst themselves, they have agreed which areas of the school vision they are leading and representing the school.

Aspiration Annie and Dylan	Wellbeing Keya and Michael	Global Citizenship Pedro and Bianka

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE RESULTS

I am delighted to report that our Year 6 children's achievements were incredibly good in the end of year tests (SATs) in July. The two years of the pandemic has undoubtedly impacted on the children's learning but it appears that St John's children have been less impacted than children nationally. This is thanks to the outstanding work of the teaching team, support staff, parents and of course the hard work that the children have put in.

Our attainment in the combined measure of Reading, Writing and Mathematics is 75% compared to the National percentage of just 59%.

In each individual subject, there is approximately a 10% difference in attainment between the children at St John's versus children nationally. In Reading our children achieved 83% compared to 74% nationally. In Writing, our children achieved 79% compared to 69% nationally and in Mathematics, our children achieved 86% compared to 71% nationally.

I should also point out that over a third of our children are working at a high standard, sometimes referred to as Greater Depth. Again, this is a significant achievement against the national average. It tells me that children at St John's are given the guidance and support to enable them to achieve at the highest level. Therefore, our belief in supporting every child, irrespective of their starting points, to succeed is very much evidenced by these results. I am delighted to see that children at St John's make above average progress throughout their time here.

We should celebrate this fantastic achievement. 

Full results can be found on our website: Performance and Results

I should also make reference to the performance of other year groups at the end of last year. 85% of children in Year 1 (our current Year 2s) achieved the standard set in the Phonics check. The highest outcome across other schools locally and significantly above the national average.

Children in Year 4 (our current Year 5s) completed the multiplication check. Our children achieved 89%. Significantly higher than other local schools and nationally too.

The pressures on schools to focus purely on reading, writing and mathematics is not one that we share. We subscribe to a philosophy of a broad and balanced curriculum which enriches the children's experience of a variety of subjects and themes. Clearly reading, writing and mathematics allows children to access other parts of the curriculum and therefore these subjects are still very important to us.

I would like to finish by congratulating all of our children, staff and parents for the work that everyone is doing to ensure that our children are given the very best opportunities to succeed now and in the future.

HARVEST FESTIVAL

We enjoyed a wonderful pupil-led Harvest Service on Thursday last week. Our Year 6 children took the lead and shared insightful information about harvest and how thankful we are to enjoy the food that we have. This linked nicely to Mr Ian's message about being thankful not just for the food we enjoy but the choice that we have. Who knew that Mr Ian enjoys Coco Pops in the morning for breakfast!?

In the service we also presented Frankie with a Head Gardener badge. Frankie has strived towards this goal over the last 18 months. Congratulations Frankie!

Thank you to everyone who donated food and items for our Harvest service which will now be delivered to the Epping Food Bank in Loughton.

USING READING DIARIES TO COMMUNICATE PROGRESS

Spending just 10-15 minutes reading with your child every day will develop their ability and desire to read and learn. We ask that you read each day with your child, building this into your evening routine to improve vocabulary, imagination and even improve sleep patterns! 

Here is an example:

PARKING

A quick reminder to all parents that the car park should not be used by parents for parking during drop off or pick up. 

A parent reported to me yesterday that a car had reversed into her whilst pulling off of the pavement. This is incredibly serious. Thankfully no-one was injured but a reminder to everyone to take extra care when reversing or manoeuvring into or out of a space.

VALUE CARDS

Finally we would like to share with you our updated value cards. They have the six values around the edges as previously but now have the 3 pillars of Aspiration, Wellbeing and Global Citizenship in the middle. There is a space for the child's name and also for the reason that they have been presented with the value card. On the back of the card are the three simple rules that we ask all children to follow:

• Be ready
• Be respectful
• Be safe

Have an enjoyable and restful weekend,

Jonathan Furness
Head Teacher