St John Vianney School Newsletter 26.04.2024

Assistant Headteacher's Message

Dear family and friends of SJV,

I hope this newsletter finds you well as we come to the end of the 2nd week of the summer term. I am delighted to share some highlights from this week which have been enhanced by the arrival of some sunshine!

On Monday, Mr Wood took a group of pupils to Manchester Museum to take part in an exciting collaboration with OMF, the music therapy group. Here they worked to generate a piece of music that will be used at the museum to welcome visitors. A further session in the coming months will take place and we will keep you updated of developments.

Midweek our post-16 students embarked on an unforgettable trip to PGL Boreaton, where they embraced challenges, built on their friendships, and created memories to cherish. The trip was a testament to their resilience and adventurous spirit, and we are immensely proud of their positive representation of our school. Thank you to Mr Kanakides and all the staff who gave up their personal time to support our students.

In the heart of our school community, Teaching Assistants (TAs) play an invaluable role in supporting our students' learning and development. Their dedication and commitment do not go unnoticed, and this week we held a reflective session to recognise the vital work they do. This session allowed us to look at the core skills that our TAs bring to our school community and also to look at aspirations and development. We are grateful for their dedication to nurturing our students' growth and well-being.

Next week a group of Key Stage 4 pupils will be attending their residential trip at Calvert Trust. This is always a highlight of the year for these pupils and I know our Year 11 pupils are really looking forward to sharing the experience with Year 10.

Thank you for your ongoing support of St. John Vianney School.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. God bless,

Kirsten Nesbitt

Dates For Your Diary

• Mon 29th April - Friday 3rd May - KS4 Calvert Trust Residential
• Mon 6th May - School Closed for Bank Holiday

Parent/Carer Questionnaire 2024

St John Vianney School would like to find out your views on the provision delivered by the School. We kindly ask that you take a few moments to fill out the following questionnaire; your opinions will help us to develop and improve the service to ensure that all of our children & young people get the most out of their education. The link to complete this short survey was emailed to all Parents and Carers on Monday and the deadline for completion is Friday 3rd May 2024. If you haven't received this link, please contact the Admin Team.

Stars of the Week

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week!

• Class 1 - Oskar - For excellent maths work
• Class 2 - Ben - For having a positive attitude to all tasks this week.
• Class 3 - Khalil - For being very engaged and helpful at the farm.
• Class 4 - Dylan - For high levels of effort in his Maths work and being very sensible and mature in class.
• Class 5 - Zachary - For improved attendence and good effort.
• Class 6 - Thomas - For showing greater independence around school and working hard in Therapy sessions.
• Class 7 - Leon - For having a good week helping his class peers and doing his work.
• Class 8 - Amanda - For having a brilliant week and having a fantastic attitude.
• Class 9 - Andrew - For having a great week and being an always pupil.
• Class 10 - Nesrine - For speaking confidently in class.
• Class 12 - Megan - For volunteering to read the Wednesday Word.
• Class 13 - Ben - For having a great week.

Employee of the Week

Congratulations to Mr Thomas!

Highlights of the Week

Our Catholic School

Our weekly focus in SJV:

'It is important to have friends we can trust but it is essential to trust in the Lord, who never lets us down'

- Pope Francis

In our Catholic school this week, we welcomed the return of Father Nick who was away on retreat during our first week back; it was good to see him. The chaplaincy team met in full this week and Fr Nick delivered our staff Mass and our voluntary student Mass which were both well attended.

The students have loved receiving their new behaviour luggage tags, which are based on the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching. The staff only have one per week to give out which makes the pupils know that they have done something very special when they receive one.

In RE we have been looking at British Values in Key Stage 3, different forms of prejudice and discrimination in Key Stage 4 and the design of the universe in Key Stage 5.

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This week's Wednesday Word is 'Growing'.

Mrs Garfin

Poetry Corner

‘I am the Earth, and the Earth is me.’

- Jane Yolan

Poems for Earth Day: Words to Appreciate the Wonders of Nature

This week in English at SJV we have been celebrating Earth Day, which has inspired us again to revisit our Laudato Si’ commitment.

Poetry can be one of the more difficult forms of writing to take in, but when you find a poem you can understand and appreciate, it can unlock a world of beauty and emotion. On a day like Earth Day, while there is a lot of celebration of Earth's wonder and beauty, there also can be a space to recognise the profound loss of the natural world we are experiencing through climate change.

Poetry has the capacity to communicate this deep but universal loss in a creative and lyrical way. So, alongside the amazing Miss Graham, pupils have been reflecting on the wonderful work they did last term in 'taking care of our common home', and finding inspiration in great poets such as Jane Yolan to create their own ‘Earth Day’ poems. We look forward to sharing some examples of their brilliant work in next week's Newsletter.

Oliver Lomax

Useful Information

Free Autism Talk

There is a free, online Wellbeing Hub Monthly Talk from the Centre for Autism. Young people and the importance of self-understanding is on Thursday 16th May, 7-8.30pm and open to all. Book through the link above.

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