St John Vianney School Newsletter 11.07.2025

Assistant Headteacher's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week has been another action-packed week at SJV and our pupils are continuing to work hard throughout the summer term. We have welcomed new pupils to our school, seen some progress in the next stage of our new school building and enjoyed a whole school afternoon out in Longford Park.

On Monday morning our Year 11 pupils took part in a work experience session with Kier Construction, the building company responsible for building our new school. The morning involved learning about the next stage in our building plan and the new sports facilities that we will benefit from when it is complete. They also took part in group sessions and challenges. The pupils engaged well and impressed the Kier staff with their positive attitudes and enthusiasm.

On Wednesday morning pupils In class 1 visited The Spiritan Centre to take part in their class retreat with Fr Nick. The pupils enjoyed spending time at the centre and played games and sang hymns together.

On Thursday we welcomed our new pupils for a transition day, planned by Ms Nesbitt an Miss Hunter, to prepare them for starting at SJV in September. The pupils enjoyed a music lesson with Mr Dumville, break time football and games on the MUGA and their first lunch time at SJV where they ate in the dining room with our KS3 pupils. It was lovely to see the pupils adapting to their new environment and engaging with our current pupils. We look forward to them officially joining us in September.

On Friday afternoon all pupils took part in our annual Sports afternoon in Longford Park. The sports on offer were softball - led by Mr Donovan, Football - led by Mr Kanakides, Girls Football - led by Mr Woods and Disc Golf - led by M Dumville. We had a fantastic afternoon out and staff and pupils made the most of the lovely weather.

This week also saw a significant step forward in our building project with the demolition of the old three storey building starting on Wednesday. The pupils enjoyed watching the old building being demolished, which will make way for our ‘Pavilion’ building that will house the sports facilities and hydro therapy pool.

Finally I would like to remind you all that this term will end for the Summer break at 3.15pm on Friday 18th July. The new school year will begin on Tuesday 2nd September at 9.00am for our pupils. I hope that you all have a great weekend and a lovely summer holiday and look forward to welcoming the pupils back in September.

Kind regards,

Mr T Harris, Assistant Headteacher

Key information and Dates for your Diary

Dates for your Diary

• Mon 14th July - Class end of year trips.
• Wed 16th July @ 9.30am & 11.15am - End of Year Mass.
• Wed 16th July - KS3 Festival Afternoon in school.
• Fri 18th July @ 3:15pm - School closes for the summer holidays.
• Mon 1st Sept - All Day - Staff INSET Day. School closed for pupils.
• Tue 2nd Sept @ 9:00am - School re-opens for all staff and pupils for the next academic year.

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 14th July 2025:

Stars of the Week

Congratulations to our Stars of the week:

• Class 1 - Oskar - For working hard all week.
• Class 2 - Bradley - For trying really hard this week.
• Class 3 - Zackariya - For being an 'always' pupil.
• Class 4 - Ezra - For great behaviour at after-school club.
• Class 5 - Ben - For trying to help friends and trying his best.
• Class 6 - Matilda - For being an 'always' pupil.
• Class 7 - Dylan - For improved participation in lessons.
• Class 8 - Ishaaq - For being a great allrounder and trying his best.
• Class 9 - Harley - For having a brilliant week.
• Class 10 - Justin - For his amazing attitude and working so well in all lessons - especially English.
• Class 11 - Emilia - For being amazing at the Duke of Edinburgh expedition.
• Class 12 - Inaaya - For being kind and supportive to her friends.
• Class 13 - Munir - For having a brilliant settled week.

Employee Of The Week

Congratulations to Miss Belt!!

Highlights of the Week

Our Catholic School

Our prayer focus this week:

'It is in the human heart that God's kingdom takes root and grows.'

-Pope Francis

This week, I had the pleasure of reviewing the whole school's Faith in Action books. It was truly inspiring to see how deeply we are engaging with Gospel values and Catholic Social Teaching. The work reflects a genuine commitment to living out our faith and it was a wonderful celebration of the dedication our students have shown throughout the year.

Our final class retreat of the year took place this week; Class 1, visited The Spiritan Centre with Fr Nick and had a fantastic experience. Every class has now taken part in this meaningful and valued aspect of our school's Catholic life.

Preparations are well underway for our end-of-year Mass. The Chaplaincy teams are busy rehearsing readings, practicing bidding prayers and ensuring everything is just right. Their input continues to play a vital role in shaping the liturgical life of our school.

In R.E this week, we explored artefacts from major world religions. Students examined a selection of items linked to Judaism and Sikhism, discussing their possible roles and meanings. Next week, we'll research each artefact in more depth to see how accurate our initial thoughts were.

-

Mrs Garfin

Poetry Corner

This week our poet in residence Mr Lomax gave a powerful reading at the iconic Shakespeare��s Globe Theatre as part of the Poetry By Heart national finals. This prestigious event brings together some of the most passionate young voices in poetry recital from all over the country. St John Vianney School has proudly reached the finals of Poetry By Heart in previous years, showcasing nationally the school’s commitment to literacy and the ability and passion of our young poets and performers.

Our commitment to hosting writing workshops and entering such competitions is not only a celebration of poetry itself but also a testament to the importance of nurturing creative voices in our school community. We will always continue to foster a love of language here at SJV, encouraging students to speak their truth through verse.

Oliver Lomax

Useful Information

During the summer holidays, children will inevitably have more access to screen time, especially in the form of the internet. Internet safety has become an increasingly worrying problem amongst parents. Internet expert Allison Troutner from VPNOverview.com has listed the best ways to keep your child safe online:

1. Consider a family ‘tech agreement’: One way to set ground rules with your child is to create a Family Tech Agreement. A family tech agreement answers as many questions as possible about internet and device use so boundaries are clear to all family members. It’s a good way for the whole family to talk about safe and responsible online behaviours. To create a family agreement, discuss topics like: What apps, games, or sites does the family use most? What rules do we want to include in our agreement? How long should we spend on our devices? What information is safe to share (or not)? What do we do if we see something inappropriate? What email address do we use to sign up for accounts? Do we know how to use in-app safety features like blocking and reporting? Who can we talk to if we feel uncomfortable with something online? Who is safe to talk to? What happens when someone breaks the agreement? When might parents be forced to break the agreement for safety? This is a starting point: your family may discuss more topics about internet safety for kids (depending on the ages of your child or teens and what devices they use).

2. Report any harmful content that you see: Flag or report all harmful content or contact you or your child experiences using social media apps using in-app reporting features. For cybercrimes, cyberbullying, or harmful content, use in-app features to report it. Most social media companies have their own safety and privacy policies and will investigate and block content or users. Apps geared towards kids, like Facebook Messenger Kids, have clear guidelines and safety features so that users can block content or contacts and have a safer experience in the app.

3. Balance safety with independence: Technical controls can be a useful way to protect your children online but they can’t solve all your problems. Children need a certain amount of freedom and privacy to develop healthily. They need their own free space to learn by trial and error what works and what doesn’t. So keep balancing, it’s part of it. Having open and honest conversations with your children can be the best way to balance this safety.

4. Keep the computer in a common space: If possible, keep computers and devices in a common space so you can keep an eye on activity. It prevents children from doing things that might be risky. Also, if harmful or inappropriate content appears through messages, you can address it with your child straight away.

5. Password-protect all accounts and devices: From phones to computers to apps, put a password on it. That way, no one without the password can access you or your child’s device. Keep track of passwords by using a password manager.

6. Update your operating systems regularly: All of your devices from mobile phones or tablets to computers and smartwatches receive important updates in response to security issues on a regular basis. Be sure to install them regularly so you have the most up-to-date security fixes and remain safe online. Our recommendation is to set updates to install automatically so your device is less vulnerable to known attacks. Usually, you can find this feature in Settings, then select Automatic Updates, but it varies between devices.

7. Install security or antivirus software programs and a VPN on your computer: Additionally, cybersecurity or antivirus software programs prevent spyware or viruses that may harm your computer if your child visits a malicious site. Using these programs, parents can also set up regular virus checks and deep system scans to make sure there is no harmful activity happening under your nose. A VPN hides users’ internet activity from snoops and spoofs your location. This protects your kids by making sure hackers or predators can’t detect their actual location. You can install a VPN on your router so that the location is spoofed on all connected devices.

8. Set parental controls: It may seem obvious, but parental controls are crucial to your child’s safety online. Parent controls are built-in features included on devices and apps. With these features, parents customise their child’s online experience. What parental controls are available on each device or app varies, but in general, they limit screen time, restrict content, and enhance user privacy. Features of parental controls: Limit screen time, turn off in-app purchasing, prevent inappropriate or mature content, limit website access, play, message, or send/receive content with approved contacts only and monitor device location through GPS.

Take time to look at what parental controls are available on your child’s commonly used apps. Then, set them to reflect the type of experience you think is best for your child or teen’s online safety

Click here to visit our Online Safety Hub for more useful tips and advice.

- 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