St John Vianney School Newsletter 28.02.2025

Headteacher's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is great to report that the pupils have come back to school, after the half term break, in a very positive way; eager to re-engage in learning opportunities and take full advantage of all we are able to offer at St John Vianney. The positive behaviour and attitudes around school this week have helped CYP get quickly used to school routines again. They have certainly benefitted from the brighter and longer daylight we have now; Spring may have already come upon us.

Lent starts next week and pupils will be supported in engaging with increased prayer opportunities, and fasting and fundraising activities to support our Catholic Lenten pledges. The pupils are always wonderful in supporting others in our communities and we will be undertaking a range of activities to help pupils grasp the importance of Lent in the build-up to the celebrations of Easter.

You may remember in late January we were visited by the National Autistic Society and their accreditation team to look at the provision for autism that we have in place at SJV. We are thrilled to be able to share the outcome with you. The School has been awarded the highest status possible and we are now an ‘Advanced’ accredited school, which reflects the excellent practice we have in supporting autism across the School. The staff team and Governors are thrilled with the outcome and will work hard to ensure our excellent practices are lived out every day in school. This really is a fantastic achievement for SJV; thank you to all our parents who have supported us on this journey, in many different ways. Well done to Mr Donovan and Ms Nesbitt particularly, who coordinated the schools approach to preparing for the review. We are very proud of this achievement.

The new building is progressing well and we will be in the new building after the Easter holidays. Can I remind parents please that the week from April 22nd to April 25th School will be closed for all pupils. This is to allow the staff to return to work a week earlier than our pupils to help ensure we are ‘building ready’ for the start of the summer term on April 28th. If you have any worries or concerns over this please do let us know.

Another key date for your diary is the annual Parents Evening, which this year will take place on Tuesday 20th May 2025 at 4.30pm to 6pm. Please make a note of the date and time of this really important event (which is later than normal), where you will have an opportunity to meet with teachers and class teams to discuss the progress made by your child and to look through the work that they have been undertaking this year. It will also provide parents an opportunity to see the new building.

Finally, please note we will be finishing school on the final day of the spring term (Friday 4th April) at 1.30pm to allow staff to finalise preparation for the move to the new build. The local authority transport teams have been informed.

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Moloney, Headteacher

Key information and Dates for your Diary

Dates for your Diary

• Tue 4th Mar - Shrove Tuesday
• Wed 5th Mar - Ash Wednesday.
• Fri 4th Apr - 1.30pm - (Transport teams have been informed) School closes for Easter break.
• Fri 18th Apr - Good Friday
• Sun 20th Apr - Easter Sunday
• Mon 21st Apr - Easter Monday
• Tue 22nd - Fri 25th Apr - School closed for pupils as we move to the new building.
• Mon 28th Apr @ 9:00am - School re-opens for pupils after the move.
• Tues 20th May 4.30pm-6pm Parents Evening

Residential Trips

• Thu 8th May overnight - Class 1 - The Wingate Special Children's Trust.
• Mon 17th Mar - Wed 19th Mar - KS3 - Classes 3, 4 & 6 - Bendrigg Trust.
• Wed 19th Mar - Fri 21st Mar - KS3 - Classes 2 & 5 - Bendrigg Trust.
• Mon 28th Apr - Fri 2nd May - KS4 - Classes 7, 8, 9 & 10 - Calvert Trust.
• Wed 26th Mar - Fri 28th Mar - KS5 - Classes 11, 12 & 13 - PGL.

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 3rd March 2025:

Zones of Regulation Parent Course

Our new online course for Parents and Carers is now available. The online course will run over ten weeks and each short module will be sent out every Friday via email, it can also be accessed via our website: Training for parents & carers. This course will introduce to you the ten concepts of the Zones of Regulation. The aim is to encourage the consistent use of language at school and at home to help regulate your child/young person's emotions and behaviours. I will set activities for you to do at home and introduce some strategies for you to use. If you would like some more information about this course, please contact the school office. This week is Part 7 of the 10 week course; we hope you enjoy learning with your child!

- Miss M Rodgers, Assistant Headteacher

Stars Of The Week

• Class 1 - Hassan - For great independent work.
• Class 2 - Ava - For trying really hard in all lessons.
• Class 3 - Alex - For being a good friend and trying really hard with his work.
• Class 4 - Will - For being an amazing friend.
• Class 5 - Ruby - For trying really hard and listening to her teachers.
• Class 6 - James - For showing a more mature approach.
• Class 7 - Kayden - For helping out fantastically at the book fair.
• Class 8 - Rhys - For making a massive effort to overcome challenges.
• Class 9 - Ethan - For great participation at Graystone Sports.
• Class 10 - Keenan - For managing change and challenges really well.
• Class 11 - Harley - For a good week and helping his friends.
• Class 12 - Bruno - For always being a good role model.
• Class 13 - Munir - For having a brilliant last week of term.

Employees Of The Week

Congratulations to Mr Freshwater and Miss Hunter!

Highlights of the Week

Our Catholic School

Our prayer focus this week:

'Trust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love, and the future to God's providence'

- St Augustine of Hippo

I hope you have had a wonderful half term and are ready for the next half term, which will be our last few weeks in SJV as we know it! We have lots of other exciting things happening this half term including residential experiences for Key Stages 3 and 5.

It’s been a busy start to the term; we have been busy across school planning our Lenten activities, Class 7 enjoyed their retreat with Fr Nick at The Spiritan Centre and the leaders of the GIFT team had their own in-house retreat to help plan our Lenten activities.

During Religious Education and 'Faith in Action' lessons, we have been creating pledges for Lent, including ideas on charity appeals we can undertake and the many acts of kindness we will deliver throughout Lent. It’s going to be a wonderful run up to Easter at SJV with our children and young people leading the way with their good work and kindness.

Mrs Garfin

Poetry Corner

This week in Poetry News we celebrate the autistic voice in the world of poetry, throwing a spotlight on the beautiful collection 'The Oscillations' by poet Kate Fox. Released in 2021, this is a wonderful book of poems, many of which deal with the experience of being autistic, including differences in communication between autistic and neurotypical people. Kate Fox writes about ‘masking’, which describes when autistic people try to ‘pass’ as neurotypical, and can involve copying neurotypical behaviours in social situations. In her poem ‘Masks’, she writes:

‘Here is a girl who became a woman/who can see behind masks and round corners/and hear the gaps between words and things/where light pours like falling water’

This draws attention to ‘masking’ in communication, and also suggests a sensitivity like that found in Emily Dickinson’s poems: ‘the gaps between words and things’ shows an acute attention to detail. Fox also describes heightened sensory abilities, in ‘What could be called communication’, the people in the poem are described as being sensitive to light: ‘They think everyone can see/the fluorescent lights humming’. Fox also shows an affinity with animals in the poem ‘Cetaceous’:

’but you make me fluid/as you navigate through the murk/with senses I didn’t know existed/weaving sky into sea/sound into sight’.

This beautiful phrase combines the wonder of this encounter and its impact on the narrator, and suggests the writer has the ability to understand some of the diversity of communication in the natural world. There is also a kind of synaesthesia of the senses in which they communicate with each other, e.g. sound is woven into sight.

If you would like to read more about this important collection of poems please click on the following link: https://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/the-oscillations

Oliver Lomax

Useful Information

Safeguarding

Neurodiversity Celebration Week

Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2025 is from Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd March. It brings more online panel discussions than ever before, with inspirational speakers from a range of backgrounds and professions. All events are free of charge and open to all. Sign up to as many events as you like. Click on the here to see all events and to register.

- Mrs J Griffin, Family Liaison Officer, Deputy Safeguarding Lead.

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