St John Vianney School Newsletter 13.12.2024

Assistant Headteacher's Message

Mr T Harris

Dear Parents and Carers,

This is my first Assistant Headteacher’s letter and I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I joined St John Vianney in September 2023 and am now in my second year as Assistant Headteacher. Since my appointment I have thoroughly enjoyed being a member of our school community and have never experienced working in a school with such a clear sense of purpose and positive ethos before. This culture can only be created by contributions by all members of that community and is a testament to our pupils, staff, parents and carers and all of the other people who contribute to school life.

This week has been a busy week at St John Vianney, as we continue our journey through Advent. On Friday Ms Nesbitt and the Key Stage 4 and 5 Hospitality Group hosted their annual Christmas Afternoon Tea event. The event was a great success and served as a fantastic example of the school culture that I discussed in my introduction. Thank you to all who attended and well done Ms Nesbitt and the Hospitality Group!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your kind donations to our two Advent charitable activities. We have been collecting nearly new and new toys for a Salford Children’s charity and also collecting coats for the homeless to support the most vulnerable members of our community. Both activities are now closed and I am pleased to be able to tell you that, due to your generosity, we have managed to collect 60 coats, as well as over 100 toys. The charities will receive the donations over the next week.

Our final week this term is a busy one and includes a number of key events including a Key Stage 3 trip to a pantomime on Monday, individual Christmas class trips on Tuesday, Christmas Masses for all pupils on Wednesday and Christmas Dinners on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon (Each class will attend on one of the days). If you need any further information about any of these events then please contact your child’s class team for further details. Pupils can wear their Christmas jumpers on the day they have Christmas dinner and also on the final day of term, next Friday.

Finally, can I remind you that school will have an earlier finish on Friday 20th December at 1.30pm. Transport teams have been informed of the earlier end to the term and any children who are collected individually at the end of the school day will need to be collected at this time.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and very best wishes to you and your families for Christmas.

Mr T Harris, Assistant Headteacher

Key information and Dates for your Diary

Dates for your Diary

  • Wed 18th Dec - Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day for Classes: Class 6, Class 7, Class 8, Class 9, Class 10 and Class 13.
  • Thu 19th Dec - Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day for Classes: Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 4, Class 5, Class 11 and Class 12.
  • Fri 20th Dec @ 1:30pm- School closes for the Christmas Break.
  • Mon 6th Jan @ 9:00am - School re-opens after the Christmas Break.

Key Info

Allergies

Please be aware that we have a number of pupils in school with severe nut allergies. To reduce the risk of exposure for these young people, we aim to keep the school nut free. In order to support us with this we kindly ask that you:

  • Do not give children nuts or nut products in their packed lunches.
  • Do not give nuts, nut products or snacks/bars containing nuts for break time snacks.
  • Do not send cakes or food items, containing nuts, in to school for birthday celebrations, cake sales or events.

Thank you for your support.

Lunches

Week commencing 16th December 2024:

Stars Of The Week

  • Class 1 - Hassan - For adapting well to his new work station.
  • Class 2 - Freya - For making good choices and engaging really well with all activities.
  • Class 3 - Tyler - For improvement in behaviour especially offsite at the talent show and the farm.
  • Class 4 - Adnan - For going out of his comfort zone and performing in the talent show.
  • Class 5 - Harry - For positive engagement on a trip and representing SJV well.
  • Class 6 - Charlie - For his behaviour, attitude and going the extra mile helping others.
  • Class 7 - Rodger - For good effort in all lessons and being every day this week.
  • Class 8 - Chael - For great reading and representing Class 8 in the Chaplaincy Team.
  • Class 9 - Harley - For being a great role model in Key Stage 4.
  • Class 10 - Katie - For being a kind and supportive friend and putting lots of effort into her work.
  • Class 11 - Finlay - For working hard on his independence and being an 'always' child.
  • Class 12 - Aliya - For trying hard this week to make the right choices, improved independence in lessons and reading in assembly.
  • Class 13 - Munir - For being a hard worker and a good friend.

Employee Of The Week.

Congratulations Miss Belt !!

Congratulations to our Employee of the week: Miss Belt is someone who is unfailingly kind and considerate, both to pupils and to staff. She does hundreds of things that go above and beyond each week and never looks for thanks or notice! Well done!

Highlights of the Week

Our Catholic School

Our prayer focus this week is:

'In this second week of Advent, we ask for the grace to prepare ourselves with faith to celebrate Christmas.'

-Pope Francis

This week we have celebrated the second theme of Advent which is Peace, discussing ways in which we can be peaceful around school and with each other. We will be using our indoor voices and thinking about our words and actions.

After the excitement of the wonderful visit from Bishop John last week, the Chaplaincy Team have quickly moved onto their next task which is to help with the Christmas Mass preparations. It will be a wonderful celebration.

In RE this week, we have been looking at how Advent is celebrated around the world, learning about all the different traditions. We have learnt a lot!

This week's Wednesday word is 'Mercy'.

This edition of the Wednesday Word will cover the Christmas period:

  • 11.12.2024
  • 18.12.2024
  • 25.12.2024
  • 01.01.2025

Mrs Garfin

Poetry Corner

This week has seen a busy week of poetry performances at SJV as we continue to launch our wonderful school anthology ‘Salute The Sun.’

Mr Lomax has lead some literacy time take overs and hosted two poetry readings in the chapel, giving our amazing young poets the opportunity to preform their work to pupils of all key stages, staff, parents and invited guests. We are proud to be sharing some of the images of this wonderful book launch and footage of our poets performing their poems to the Bishop of Manchester.

It’s been an inspiring week of poetry for everyone!

Oliver Lomax

ASC Corner

Mr S Donovan

Dear All,

On January 21st next year, we will be having our latest review by the National Autistic Society. This is a very important event for the school, as it validates all the hard work we have done to support our autistic pupils. Please look out for the information leaflet (see below) that has been sent home with more details about the review and information on how you can help.

Kind Regards

Mr Donovan (Accreditation Lead)

Useful Information

A Message from Mrs Griffin

Family Liaison and Deputy Safeguarding Officer.

Online Safety: Parents/Carers it is very important you monitor your child's online activity

Start by talking to them about image sharing in general and ask your child what sort of photos they’d feel comfortable posting online. This will give you a chance to see how much they already know about what is and isn’t appropriate to share. Remind them to never post or send anything that contains personal information and encourage them to come to you if they’ve ever asked to share something that makes them feel uncomfortable.

If your child is older you might want to talk to them more directly about sharing nudes online. We know that this can be an awkward topic to bring up so we would recommend reading Childline’s advice on sharing nudes and sexting to give you some tips around how to approach it and what language to use. Look out for opportunities in everyday life to start a discussion informally, such as a storyline on TV. This way you can have a conversation about sexting and sharing nudes without it being the main focus. Consider how you talk about this more widely, e.g. when discussing TV shows or news stories, and ensure that you aren’t using victim blaming language.

Need advice about online safety?

  • If you’re stuck, not sure what to do, or if you’re worried about your child, you can also contact our trained NSPCC helpline counsellors on 0808 800 5000.
  • Childline also has lots of information about online and mobile safety that will help you and your child: Childline online safety

Please find below information from Kooth and Qwell about wellbeing support for students and families during the holiday period:

With the winter break fast approaching, at Kooth Digital Health we appreciate there will be some young people who may struggle during the holidays without the access to the daily pastoral support, teaching staff and friends that the school community provides. Seasonal illness and the closure of many services at this time of year can also lead to extended wait times for support across both adult and young people's NHS and community services. WE ARE STILL HERE.

Kooth Digital Health offers free, online therapeutic mental health and wellbeing support to young people and adults in Greater Manchester. Funded and endorsed by the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board, our services remain available to you and your family over the summer period, offering ‘on the day’ wellbeing support from the comfort of your own home, via any web-enabled device. Kooth Digital Health offers two ways that young people, parents, carers and adults can access safe, anonymous and free online mental health and wellbeing support-

Kooth and Qwell offer free access to online text-based practitioner chats, self help tools and activities, journal spaces and advice from our non-judgemental, safe and moderated peer:peer communities. With no threshold, waiting list or referral process for either service, Rotherham residents can access support for ANY issues they may be experiencing. These may include; body image, self-esteem, bereavement, academic pressures, stress, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, friendships, sexuality, life changes etc. The registration process is quick, anonymous and safe, simply by registering at www.kooth.com or www.Qwell.io using non-identifiable information.

Kooth delivers 1000’s of online wellbeing sessions each year in Local Authorities across the UK. As 50% of referrals to CAMHS are unfortunately deemed inappropriate to their criteria, Kooth gives schools, professionals and families an alternative way of ensuring children and young people can access free support when they need it, in a way that they find comfortable to access, via any web-enabled device. Qwell also provides the exact same support for adults.

Please find a selection of Parent/Carer resources that can be accessed using this link: Kooth. Parent & Carer resources and If you have any questions or would like to discuss what Kooth.com can offer, please, simply email parents@kooth.com.

City in the Community Free Holiday Soccer Schools.

City Football Academy:

Manchester Enterprise Academy:

Trinity Sports Centre:

Click on the following link to open a directory of useful links and information about facilities, activities and support available to you and your young person: INFORMATION DIRECTORY

Keep up to date with SJV on our website and on social media. Just click on the buttons below:

St John Vianney R.C. School. Rye Bank Rd, Firswood, Stretford. M16 0EX.

Tel: 0161 881 7843

Created By
Lorna Hamilton

Credits:

Created with images by Artanika - "Christmas decor background with place for text" • Alva Steury - "Tacks On Calendar Page/ 29th" • Daria - "Elegant festive background with golden stars and bokeh lights for holiday designs and celebrations" • weyo - "Top of view christmas star decorations jingle bells fir tree pine cones on free concrete background" • Kara - "Two candles lit in advent wreath for second week of advent with pillar candles on dark wood" • Coompia77 - "Christianity concept about Advent and Christmas season. ADVENT, HOPE, PEACE, LOVE, JOY written on wooden blocks. With blurred style background." • PikePicture - "snowflakes christmas book" • Anastassiya - "Christmas tree background"