St John Vianney School Newsletter 03.05.2024

Headteacher's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you have had a good week? The pupils continue to be settled well in school, showing excellent engagement in their lesson activities and other school routines.

The new build work is coming on really well and the contractors have been completing steel works, putting in concrete floors and ceilings this week, much helped by the improvement in the weather.

The good weather has certainly been kind to the KS4 cohort who are at Calvert Trust in Cumbria this week for their residential. I have been told by Mr Donovan, who is in charge of the group, that the pupils have represented the school fantastically, have been willing to give all the activities a good try and have behaved really well, which is really pleasing to hear.

The residential experiences we offer are amazing experiences, which many schools have now stopped. The pupils have benefited by the change of environment for their learning and the many exciting opportunities that they have had to engage in outdoor learning and to develop team work and independence skills. We would not be able to do this without our wonderful staff who give up their time away from their own families; their commitment to our children and young people is really appreciated.

We are busy in school with starting our plans for the end of the year and ensuring we have our staffing and curriculum models in place for September 2024. We are in a strong position currently and are confident we will be able to adapt well to any challenges the new build project may throw at us.

Best wishes for the long Bank Holiday weekend,

Mr A Moloney, Headteacher

Dates For Your Diary

• Mon 6th May - School Closed for Bank Holiday
• Thu 9th - Fri 10th May - Class 1 Residential to CAFT

Stars of the Week

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week!

• Class 1 - Hassan - For lots of positive engagement in lessons this week.
• Class 2 - Kian - For sharing an excellent presentation to KS3 on his Lourdes Trip.
• Class 3 - Adnan - For tidying up without being asked and helping his friends.
• Class 4 - K-leum - For consistently great class work and mature behaviour out of class.
• Class 5 - Riley - For great attitude and involvement.
• Class 6 - Jackson - For being extremely caring and supportive with his friends.
• Class 7 - Miya - For being an always pupil and growing in confidence.
• Class 8 - Kenzie - For being so helpful and kind to everyone all week.
• Class 9 - Leah - For being outstanding in all areas.
• Class 10 - Leah - For fantastic behaviour for two weeks consistently.
• Class 11 - Mia - For stepping out of her comfort zone.
• Class 12 - Allice - For being helpful to friends and a great ambassador in work experience.
• Class 13 - Daniel - For being a helpful member of the class supporting others.

Employee of the Week

Congratulations to Mr Kanakides!

Highlights of the Week

Vaping Awareness Assembly

Last week the school nursing team offered a vaping awareness session to pupils in classes 4-13. The pupils had an opportunity to learn about the risks and negative health effects of vaping on the body. We also considered the effect on our environment. We would like to thank all the pupils and staff involved for a very engaging session.

- Miss Garner, School Nurse

Our Catholic School

Goodbye April, hello May! During the month of May we focus on Our Lady, honouring the Virgin Mary as "The Queen of May". The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the fifth of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary .

We are focussing our prayers this week on the following important message from Pope Francis as he reminds us how to grow in friendship with God:

‘We cannot grow up by ourselves; rather, we journey and grow in a community, in a family’.

- Pope Francis

Within our Catholic school this week, the Chaplaincy Team have been supporting the school with celebrating May as the month of Mary. We have been saying the Rosary, making items for Mary for our prayer tables and encouraging our community to reflect on the life of Our Lady and to pray more to the Mother of our Lord.

Within Religious Education this week we have been comparing the different communities we belong to, discussing what it means to be a community along with the responsibilities this brings.

This week's Wednesday Word is 'Love'.

Mrs Garfin

Poetry Corner

Student Take Over!

Is it Taylor Swift, or is it Poetry?

This week, Troy in Class 10 has taken over Mr Lomax’s role as Poet in Residence and has curated this section of the newsletter.

Taylor Swift’s new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ landed last week to the excitement of millions of ‘Swifty’ fans, but it sparked some controversy in the English Department around Taylor’s accurate use of punctuation. Surely the title should read, ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’ but as Troy says, “who needs an apostrophe when you’ve sold a billion records.”

It did also spark an interesting debate, could the lyrics of Taylor Swift be considered as poetry? Troy certainly thinks so and would like to put you all to the test, please follow the link to the quiz below to see if you can guess if the quoted lines are by famous poets or by Taylor Swift herself. Good Luck! Quiz Link-Poetry or Taylor Swift Lyrics?

Troy really connects to Taylor’s work, and he sites her as the main inspiration to his own writing. We are proud to be sharing with you Troy’s powerful poem about the dangers of vaping. He wrote this in response to an informative assembly from the School Nurses about the concerning rise in vape use by young people. Well done Troy, if only this poem could reach a billion followers!

Oliver Lomax

Useful Information

Sale Shark's Rugby Sessions

The Sale Sharks Foundation run Down’s Syndrome rugby sessions every other Sunday at Sale Sharks Training Ground, Carrington, with the next one being 12/05/24. The sessions are free to attend and there are a wide range of ages from 5-22. If you are interested and would like further information, please contact: Lexie Wagstaff Tel: 07525 857195 Email: Lexie.Wagstaff@salesharks.com

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