St John Vianney School

Contents

• Deputy Headteacher's Message
• Key information and Dates for your Diary
• Lunches
• Stars of the Week
• Highlights of the Week
• Our Catholic School
• Useful Information
• Links to Our Website and Social Media

Deputy Headteacher's Message

Dear Parents and Carers, I hope you are well. As we move into the final three weeks of the summer term, I would like to highlight the importance of good attendance. Every day in school counts, and there are still many valuable learning opportunities, enrichment activities and special events planned before the end of term. Regular attendance helps pupils maintain routines, continue making progress and enjoy the full range of experiences on offer. We are grateful for the support of families in ensuring that pupils attend school every day wherever possible. It has been another busy and rewarding week at St John Vianney, with pupils engaging in a range of enriching activities both in and beyond the classroom. Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed taking part in Boccia, demonstrating excellent teamwork, focus and determination. The sessions provided a fantastic opportunity for students to develop their skills, build confidence and celebrate sporting success together. We were also delighted to host a series of Zines workshops. The Zine Project is a creative, cross-curricular initiative in which students designed and produced their own zines (small, self-made publications) to explore identity, creativity and key themes from Catholic Social Teaching (CST). The project began with a workshop led by Fiona Quadri, a visiting artist from Ravensbourne University, London, who has worked with organisations including the V&A, Lush, Converse and the National Gallery. The workshop helped students build confidence and develop creative techniques through the production of a personal zine. This was followed by a dedicated Deep Learning Day, during which students worked collaboratively within their classes to create zines focusing on specific themes of Catholic Social Teaching. A particular highlight of the week was our Year 11 work experience visit to RHS Garden Bridgewater. Students gained valuable insight into the world of work while exploring careers linked to horticulture, conservation and visitor engagement. They represented the school exceptionally well and received positive feedback for their enthusiasm, curiosity and professionalism. Please be informed we are now looking for a new Parent Governor to join the Governing Body from September 2026. Experience is not necessary, but if you have an interest in being more involved in how the school is run and feel you have ideas and enthusiasm for this role please complete the nomination information that will be sent out by the Admin team over the next week. From here we will provide all parents with an opportunity to vote for one representative, who wish to put themselves forward as Parent Governor. Please look out for the information the Admin team will send you. As always, I would like to thank our dedicated staff, supportive families and, most importantly, our pupils for making our school community such a positive and inspiring place to learn. We look forward to sharing more achievements and experiences in the weeks ahead. God Bless, Mr G Damant, Deputy Headteacher

Key information and Dates for your Diary

Dates for Your Diary

• Tue 7th July 2026 - Year 7 Work Experience at the Lalley Centre
• Wed 8th & 15th July 2026 - Year 9 Work Experience at Holiday Inn
• Tue 14th July 2026 at 2.00pm - Coffee afternoon - Supporting emotional regulation
• Thurs 16th July 2026 - D of E Expedition (overnight)
• Fri 17th July 2026 at 1.30pm - Leavers Mass and celebration - Parents welcome
• Mon 20th July 2026 from 10am - End of Year reward trips
• Wed 22nd July 2026 at 10.30am - End of term Mass at St Anne's Church - Parents are very welcome to join us at the Church
• Wed 22nd July 2026 at 1.30pm - KS3 Festival
• Thurs 23rd July 2026 P4-6 - Sports afternoon
• Fri 24th July 2026 at 1.30pm - School closes for Summer Break
• Thu 20th Aug 2026 - GCSE results day

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 Monday 6th July 2026:

If you would like to Join the Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) Team for an informal Coffee Afternoon to explore emotional regulation and how you can support your child at home and in school, please click on the following link to fill out the form and secure your place by Friday 10th July:

I would like to attend the Coffee Afternoon on Tues 14th July @ 2:00pm

Stars of the Week

• Class 1 Mrs Jordan - Nicholas - For working hard in lessons all week.
• Class 2 Miss Walsh - Abbie-Mae - For helping her friends at lunchtime.
• Class 3 Mr Healey - Anea - For always being ready to learn and consistently making good choices.
• Class 4 Mrs Garfin - Neo - For speaking more in class and answering more questions.
• Class 5 Mr Whelan - Kian - For being a great role model in school.
• Class 6 Miss Shaw - Hassan - For some positive interactions with staff this week.
• Class 7 Miss Graham - Zachary - For being a legend and working hard all week.
• Class 8 Mrs Wood - Rhys - For being positively engaged in all lessons and responding well to instructions.
• Class 9 Mr Donovan - Jenna - For being very kind and doing hard work.
• Class 10 Mr Wood - Rodger - For planning and executing their podcasting work in English.
• Class 11 Miss Sherwin - Harley - For coping very maturely with the extra hot weather.
• Class 12 Mrs Lord - For trying really hard in everything and communicating well with staff.
• Class 13 Mr Kanakides - Charlie - For being a good friend and class mate to the leavers.
• Class 14 Miss Wilkinson - Munir - For showing maturity and being kind to his friends.

Employee of the Week

Congratulations to Miss Sherwin!

Highlights of the Week

Our Catholic School

Our spiritual focus in SJV this week

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."

- St Augustine

It has been a very busy and enriching week here at St John Vianney. Our GIFT team had the pleasure of welcoming the Mini Vinnies from St Alphonse’s. Having enjoyed visiting them last year, we were delighted to return the invitation and host them at SJV. Building strong links with our local Catholic schools is very important to us and it was a lovely opportunity for our pupils to come together in faith and friendship. Class 11 spent a special day at Father Nick’s house, the Just Youth Centre. This was a particularly meaningful experience as many students are preparing to leave us, with some having been part of the SJV family for 13 years. The day provided valuable time away from the timetable to reflect on their journey, celebrate their achievements and share memories of their time at SJV. On Friday, Father Nick and I took six of our GIFT team leaders to a Diocesan Chaplaincy and GIFT gathering with schools from across the North of the Diocese. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to meet others, exchange ideas and take part in training focused on pupil-led prayer. They represented the school beautifully and returned feeling inspired to continue developing faith life within our community. In RE, we are currently exploring beliefs about God across world religions, following a student vote on what they most wanted to study. It has been wonderful to see such enthusiasm and curiosity. Key Stage 3 pupils are learning about Hinduism, Key Stage 4 are studying Islam, and Key Stage 5 are exploring Buddhism. We are all enjoying developing a deeper understanding of different beliefs, particularly around life after death, and reflecting on the rich diversity of faith across the world.

Mrs Garfin

Spotlight

Operation Christmas Child Update   We would like to say a very big thank you to Tracy Berry from Samaritan's Purse, who came to deliver an assembly to Key Stage 3 this week. She told us about what happens to our shoeboxes once they've been packed and who receives them. She also talked to us about what can and cannot be packed into a shoebox - no soap, toothpaste or sweets! Although it seems early, it won't be long before we send letters home again; our appeal work begins in September!  We look forward once again to your support and generous contributions.

- Mrs Murphy

Useful Information

Going on holiday can mean experiencing new environments and activities. Many autistic people can find it difficult to deal with changes to their routine and new or unusual sensory experiences and social expectations. This page has tips about planning, getting help and strategies to keep calm and happy.    Prepare for changes Many autistic people find regular routines and familiar environments help them to manage their anxiety and keep calm.  Holidays can be exciting because they are different to our everyday lives. But because so many things are different on holiday and they happen all at once, this can cause a lot of stress for some autistic people.  To make things more predictable, it’s a good idea to understand what the changes will be and prepare for them in advance.  The National Autistic Society have created tips on how to support  your child when going on  holiday, click on the link to find out more: Tips on how to support your child when going on holiday

Online Safety Hub

Developed by a team of world-renowned Online Safety Experts, the Hub is designed to engage and align the community on online safety and wellness by providing up-to-date and evidence-based information to all key stakeholders of a child’s life. Parents will find a rich library of helpful resources, including app reviews, how-to guides and advice on an array of online safety topics. Click here to visit our Online Safety Hub for more useful tips and advice.

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

- Mrs J Griffin, Family Liaison Officer, Deputy Safeguarding Lead.