Summer Term 2025
As we approach the end of a very busy, fun filled school year, we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support and engagement which has helped make this another very successful year at St John's. Can we also take this opportunity to wish all our staff, children and families that are leaving us at the end of this academic year the very best for the future. We hope you will come back and visit us.
High Standards at St John's
As our school motto ‘High standards – through a caring community’ suggests, we do aim for high standards of achievement in all aspects of school life at St. John’s. This includes one of our five values of ‘Core Standards’ in reading, writing and maths. We are very happy to report that (provisional!) standards at the end of KS2 remain high as can be seen from the data for 2024/2025 below, which shows the percentage of children meeting age related expectations and that we continue to exceed National standards.
A summary of classroom experiences from this term
As well as ensuring all our children achieve their potential in core subject areas, we have continued to strive to plan for a range of wider opportunities, both academic and otherwise, and to give the children the chance to develop key life skills. We hope you would agree the children have had a fun range of opportunities and experiences to make their term and learning memorable.
Staffing
As mentioned previously in the letter contained with your child's reports, we are sad to say goodbye to Mrs Mylrea at the end of this year. Mrs Mylrea has been our SENDCO for the last two years and taught in Year 5 and Year 1. She has also been key in developing our recorder group which entertained us so well at the recent music performance afternoon. We wish her all the best as she moves onto a new challenge and thank her for all her dedication to the school and in particular the work supporting our children with SEND and their families.
We welcome Mr Mingins who was recently appointed and will be teaching in Year 2 next year until Mrs Freeman returns from maternity leave. He has already taken part in transition meetings, met the children on Monday and is looking forward to joining us in September.
Finally, we are very sad to be saying goodbye to Mrs Dodd as a teaching assistant. Mrs Dodd has been at St John's for 19 years, has supported hundreds of children and been an integral part of everything St John's is about including attending every PGL for the last 13 years. She will be hugely missed in her role as a teaching assistant but we are grateful she is staying on in her role as a midday assistant and one of the first faces many children see in the morning in her role at breakfast club. We wish her all the best for the future.
Our Sponsored Scoot, Cycle and Run Event
To celebrate the completion of the cycle path at the front of school, we were asked if we could support the council in marking its opening. We chose to combine this with Eat Fit Keep Fit Week, and held our first sponsored scoot, cycle and run event. The incredible support from our parental community made sure we could keep everyone safe during the event and ensured it was successful and enjoyable for all. Thank you to everyone's support both on the day and through donations, through which we have raised much needed funds to support the development of our PE provision. A video of some of the highlights can be found below.
Our Fantastic PTA
A huge THANK YOU to the PTA, who have worked extremely hard to raise a very impressive amount this year for the benefit of the children at St. John’s - £15,000. I am sure that you will join me in thanking them for the invaluable contribution they make. Recent funding has included:
- Financial contributions to a number of trips and visits throughout the school,
- The Year 6 Leavers trip & Young Voices coach,
- Year 6 Leavers hoodies,
- Purchased reading book bags for our new Reception children to encourage positive attitudes to reading,
- Purchased subject leader resources to support provision,
- Whole school trip to Cinema
- And last, but by no means least, support for the school to maintain some online subscriptions which children use to support their learning, such as Mathletics.
Great work and thank you!
Our Volunteers
Throughout the year we couldn't achieve everything we do without the support of so many volunteers, whether that be weekly parent helpers or volunteers for trips or for specific events. We really are very grateful for your time and the invaluable support you offer the school community. If you feel able to volunteer in any capacity next year, please look out for a letter early in September.
Policy Updates
Recently our Governing Board have approved some new policies that will be relevant to you. As technology moves on we have developed a policy on AI usage in school to support the use by staff and children and also how our understanding of it will need to evolve. We have also developed a policy around the safe arrival and pick up of children to ensure that parents who are new to our school, and existing parents, understand our expectations at the start and end of the day, which are aimed at keeping children as safe as possible. Both policies can be found on our policies page of the website.
MEDICAL INFORMATION:
Please ensure we have the latest information regarding any medical needs your child has, as this helps us ensure we are able to give the support needed. Should any medical conditions no longer apply then please also communicate this to the office. At the end of the term we will send home any medication with a short expiry date and communicate with you if we need a replacement.
FABS - Before and After School Club
FABS BOOKINGS: Please remember that all FABS Breakfast and After School Club bookings must be made in advance using Parent Pay. Mrs Longworth can be contacted at fabsbookings@st-johns.stockport.sch.uk. Full payment must be made via ParentPay or a Childcare Payment Scheme at the time of booking. Don't forget FABS Summer Holiday Club will be open for 3 weeks over the summer holiday. Please contact Mrs Longworth to request more information.
Extra-Curricular Opportunties
Can we take the opportuntity to thank our staff for providing the many extra-curricular opportunties that they do. The teacher led clubs this term have included: Quiet Club, Eco Club, Cooking, Newspaper Club, Sewing Club, School Council, Lego Club, Pilates, Scratch Club and Recorder Club. We are hopeful that we will be able to maintain this offer in the Autumn Term. Look out for a letter in September! Progressive Sports have created an exciting timetable of clubs on offer for all age ranges, which was sent out earlier this week. Please contact them directly to book and pay for any clubs they offer.
ROAD SAFETY & PARKING:
Children’s safety has to come first with regards to this and we do feel it is vitally important that we all park, drive and behave in a considerate and responsible manner both inside and outside the school grounds. We politely ask that all parents and carers consider the needs and safety of everyone whilst travelling to and from the school.
As part of the cycle path developments, bollards were installed in the turning circle at the end of Poplar Street which has created a safer zone as children enter and exit the school grounds. Please can we keep encouraging parents to continue to monitor children in this area as some on bikes and scooters are cutting straight across Poplar Street assuming the cycle path continues across. Hopefully, in the new year we will have some new signange as reminders to all road users to look out for each other.
Year 6 - The Final Term!
As we bring the summer term to a close, we would like to share how proud we are of our Year 6 cohort. Not only have they worked hard all year to achieve the fantastic SATs results we shared earlier, they have shown the full range of their talents and abilities this term at music evening, their production and the leavers' assembly. 'Mary Poppins' was enjoyed by a full audience on both nights, many of whom have made contact since to comment on the amazing singing, dancing and acting abilities that they were treated to. Whilst individual talents of all the children are well known, it was particularly impressive to see the way they worked together, supporting one another to produce something of such high calibre. It is a testament to the hard work and efforts of the children, families and Year 6 staff and represents how our whole school community comes together for the benefit of all. It was lovely to see the children enjoying reminiscing about their time at St John's, whether that be from Reception or in more recent years, at their Leaver's Assembly.
We are all incredibly proud of Year 6 and want to wish them and their families the very best as they move onto to high school. They are more than ready for the next challenge and we look forward to hearing how they are getting on in their new settings.
That's all for now!
Can I thank all the staff, Governors and wider school community for their support and partnership in providing the children at St John's with the very best care we can provide. It has been a year full of challenges and successes, but as a community we have continued to work towards our values of 'Love thy Neighbour' and 'High Standards through a Caring Community'. We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday and look forward to welcoming everyone back on Wednesday 3rd September.
Mr P Rayner and Mr A Clerc
Contact: admin@st-johns.stockport.sch.uk
Website: http://www.st-johns.stockport.sch.uk