St John Vianney School Newsletter 13.09.2024

Headteacher's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you and your families are keeping well? Thank you for the support you have provided for your child during the first 2 weeks of term; it has been really appreciated. The pupils have settled well into new routines and are clearly enjoying being back in school. The children and young people have shown us excellent cooperation, diligence and resilience during the first 2 weeks and this bodes well for the school year.

A reminder please that on Friday 27th September we would like to invite you to join us for a Coffee Afternoon in the dining room from 1.30pm. We will be selling refreshments and cakes in aid of MacMillan Cancer support. You are very welcome to attend and support our first fundraising activity of the school year, for a very worthy cause. It would be lovely to see you in this informal way.

On Thursday October 3rd we have once again organised our annual ‘Welcome Evening’ for parents and carers. This is our first opportunity this year, to welcome parents into school to see how their children have settled in their new classes. The evening will start at 5pm, with a welcome from the Senior Leadership Team and then Mrs Griffin, our Family Liaison Officer, will provide parents with an opportunity to learn about how they can support their children, to get the best of their schooling here at SJV and how we can support you during the academic year.

Following Mrs Griffin’s presentation, Class Teachers will speak with you in your child’s classroom and share with you what we have planned in terms of their learning for this important school year. We will then meet with you informally over refreshments with our leadership and staff teams in the dining room, to answer any other questions or resolve any concerns you may have.

Please make every attempt to attend; it is vital that we continue to build strong relationships with our pupils’ families and this Welcome meeting will certainly provide that opportunity. I have asked the Admin team to call you, by phone, to confirm your attendance during the next 2 weeks.

On Wednesday 2nd October we are also having an Open Afternoon in School at 1.45pm for the parents of pupils looking for a school place in September 2025. Please pass on this information to any parents you know, in your own communities, that would benefit from attending this opportunity to look around the school.

Finally, please continue to check out our Weekly Newsletter, which is sent to you by email from the Admin team each Friday and please do follow us on X (Twitter), where pictures and details of the many daily activities and celebrations that pupils are involved in are uploaded to share with you. @StJohnVianneySc

Very best wishes for a great weekend.

Mr A Moloney

Key information and Dates

Key Info:

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 Next Week:

Dates:

• Friday 27th Sept @ 1.30pm - Macmillan Coffee Afternoon
• Wed 2nd Oct @ 1:45pm- Open Afternoon.
• Thu 3rd Oct 4pm-6pm - Welcome Evening.
• Fri 25th October @ 3:15pm - School closes for the first half term break.
• Mon 4th Nov @ 9am - School re-opens for Autumn Term 2.

Stars Of The Week

• Class 1 - Abdul - For having an excellent first week back after the summer.
• Class 2 - Anea - For having a fantastic first week in school and trying hard in all of her work.
• Class 3 - Cory - For showing confidence and maturity in returning to school this week.
• Class 4 - Victoria - For settling in well and building her confidence.
• Class 5 - Ruby - For a great return to school, supporting her peers and doing great work.
• Class 6 - Keldon - For having a great start to life at SJV.
• Class 7 - Mikail - For a brilliant start to Key Stage 4.
• Class 8 - Leon - For making a superb start to Class 8.
• Class 9 - Zack - For 100% attendance and being a warm and caring young man.
• Class 10 - Keenan - For having a great first week back and maintaining a positive attitude.
• Class 11 - Arshvin - For settling back in really well and producing some amazing work in Art and English.
• Class 12 - Inaaya - For trying so hard in all of her lessons.
• Class 13 - Micah - For having a brilliant full first week in his new class.

Employee Of The Week.

Highlights of the Week

Our Catholic School

Within SJV this week we are focussing on God’s message:

‘Cast your cares upon God; for you are his and he will not forget you’

- St John of the Cross

Within our Catholic school this week, we were happy to welcome back Father Nick, who has been busy inducting the new members of the Just Youth Team; he enjoyed meeting all the new pupils and is looking forward to working with them over the coming months.

Within our RE lessons, Key Stage 3 started to look at 'creation', discussing their thoughts and opinions. Key Stage 4 have been looking at their own beliefs about God and Key Stage 5 have been looking at 'evil within the world'. These topics have certainly stirred up some interesting debates and discussion.

Mrs Garfin

Poetry Corner

National Poetry Day is taking place on Thursday 3rd October.

It is the biggest mass celebration of poetry in the UK, and here at SJV we never miss our opportunity to play a part. It’s a chance for all of us to share in the pleasure of poetry. You’ll see it everywhere, from schools and libraries to cultural venues and across the national media. With 1.5 million people participating on the day, there’s loads of ways to get involved! Here at SJV our Poet in Residence, Mr. Lomax, is busy planning lots of bespoke writing workshops to help our pupils get creative. This year’s theme is ‘Counting’. Taking part in national events helps build a sense of pride and self-worth. For students with SEN, poetry is a way of expressing their feelings and creativity in a short accessible way, without the intimidating target of pages of text.

Oliver Lomax

Useful Information

Did you know NSPCC offer a wide range of advice/support to Parents and Carers online:

• Early Parenting Advice
• Managing Family Life
• Friends and Relationships
• Supporting Yourself and Young People
• Staying safe online

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/

INEQE Safety Card

The Nintendo Switch was launched back in 2017 but continues to be popular. The console was the first ‘Hybrid’, meaning it was both portable and for home use. The console actually has a built-in screen, making it extremely popular with gamers of all ages. Parental Controls; Nintendo has designed an App called ‘Nintendo Switch Parental Controls’, specifically for parents to ensure a safer experience.

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