Headteacher's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
I do hope that you have had a good week?
It has been a busy week in school, as we have welcomed visitors in from the National Autistic Society (NAS), who have been assessing the school’s provision for autism.
The review has taken place over three days, with a particular focus on Wednesday of lesson observations, meetings with staff, pupils and parents and a wider assessment of how the school supports the autistic child throughout the day.
The assessors were made to feel really welcome by everybody that they met and told me that they were highly impressed with the visible autism practices that they witnessed in school, which were clearly developed to help support autistic children in being regulated and supported in the school. They told me that this was the best review that St John Vianney School had been involved in over the last 15 years and that it was clear from staff, pupils and parents who they interviewed that this was a happy and safe school.
The outcome of the review will not be known for another 4 to 6 weeks. The Assessor’s report will need to be quality assured before going to a panel, who will make a judgement about the status the school should hold moving forwards. A critical part of the assessment was for NAS to hear from the wider community about the school’s work with autistic CYP. They were really impressed with the number of parents and carers who completed the online questionnaire and provided them with comments. Thank you to the many parents who took time out to send in your views, which we were told were wholly positive and constructive. We will let you know the outcome of the review as soon as possible.
Mr Donovan and Ms Nesbitt have led the school really well in honing its practice over the last 12 months and deserve being congratulated for their efforts in preparing for the review. There is significant paperwork to prepare in advance of the review and they did really well completing this.
I do you hope you have a restful and peaceful weekend.
Best wishes,
Mr A Moloney, Headteacher
NEW BUILD INFORMATION
We have now been given a firm date for the handover of the new build to the school, which will be during the Easter Holidays, 11th April 2025.
We are planning with the builders, Kier Construction, on how we will manage this move and we will need the days after the published Easter break, (which is Friday 4th April to Monday 21st April), to manage the move. That will mean that all pupils will not be able to return to school after the Easter break until Monday 28th April 2025. We are writing to inform parents of these dates; If you have any concerns with these plans please do let us know.
Key information and Dates for your Diary
Dates for your Diary
- Thurs 13th Feb 2025 @ 3:15pm - School finishes for the half term.
- Fri 14th Feb 2025 - All Day - Staff INSET Day. School closed for pupils.
- Mon 24th Feb 2025 @ 9:00am - School re-opens after the half term.
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 27th January 2025:
Zones of Regulation Parent Course
Our new online course for Parents and Carers is now available. The online course will run over ten weeks and each short module will be sent out every Friday via email, it can also be accessed via our website: Training for parents & carers. This course will introduce to you the ten concepts of the Zones of Regulation. The aim is to encourage the consistent use of language at school and at home to help regulate your child/young person's emotions and behaviours. I will set activities for you to do at home and introduce some strategies for you to use. If you would like some more information about this course, please contact the school office. This week is Part 3 of the 10 week course; we hope you enjoy learning with your child!
- Miss M Rodgers, Assistant Headteacher
Stars Of The Week
- Class 1 - Hassan N - For excellent cycling.
- Class 2 - Tyler S - For growing in confidence and always trying his best.
- Class 3 - Lewis P - For being a good friend to his peers this week and good focus during work tasks.
- Class 4 - Victoria L - For working hard in all lessons and joining the peer mentor programme.
- Class 5 - Lee A - For being an 'always' pupil.
- Class 6 - Keldon H - For being an 'always' pupil.
- Class 7 - Jackson M - For great independent work across lots of different subjects this week.
- Class 8 - Ishaaq A - For trying to stay calm, making positive contributions to lessons and thinking carefully about other people's feelings.
- Class 9 - Leah P - For coping well with challenges and changes all week.
- Class 10 - Jason L - For having a fantastic attitude all week and showing maturity.
- Class 11 - Arshvin S - For working very hard in English.
- Class 12 - Nesrine W-K - For being supportive to her friend and a great asset to Class 12.
- Class 13 - Micah M - For having a happier week.
Employee Of The Week.
Congratulations Miss Sherwin !!
Our Catholic School
Our prayer focus this week:
'If we stay close to Jesus, we will have joy in our hearts and a smile on our face.'
- Pope Francis
In our Catholic School we are celebrating a Jubilee year, which is centred on the theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. As His Holiness Pope Francis so beautifully expressed: "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty, by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision." A jubilee year only happens once every 25 years. It began in December 2024, with Pope Francis opening the Holy Door of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. It will end on the feast of the Epiphany on 6th January 2026. Friday 24th January 2025 is a Jubilee launch day for schools throughout the UK. In SJV we had a lovely whole school service and made our own class pledges as 'Pilgrims of Hope'. We will now plan for a range of activities throughout the year to celebrate the Jubilee year.
There were exciting developments in Chaplaincy as we continued our discussion on who will be our next Lead Chaplains, who would take greater responsibility within the school at key events.
Within RE this week we have been looking at the work of CAFOD and how we can support the environment, again following Pope Francis' Laudato Si ('Care of our Common Home') message.
Mrs Garfin
Poetry Corner
This week we celebrate our poet of the week, Megan from Class 12! Megan is a huge football fan and a passionate advocate for fairness and equality in the modern game. Megan braved her nerves in our Celebration Assembly to perform an amazing poem celebrating the woman's game.
Well Done Megan on a powerful and important performance.
Oliver Lomax
Useful Information
Safeguarding
Childnet.com - Help and Advice; Supporting young people with SEND online.
For many young people with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities, the internet can be a place where they feel safe, calm and in control. This 'Hot Topic' is designed to support you in understanding the risks of online activity, ensure that you know what to look out for, and provide practical ways in which you can help your child to enjoy their time online. What opportunities can the internet offer my child? There are so many positive opportunities for young people online such as communicating with friends, watching videos or playing games. The internet is an amazing resource for many reasons and it’s important to recognise how much young people love using it. Click on the link for more information: Childnet.com
Sibs
Sibs is a national charity supporting brothers and sisters of disabled children and adults. Here are some current activities aimed at adult siblings:
- Support for adult siblings - including guides, support group and stories.
- Support for adult siblings of an autistic person – Has a series of free online sessions, including being a sibling versus being a carer and setting boundaries. You can also download the new eBook Autism: the Sibling Perspective.
Sibs also has lots of information and resources for parents and professionals, including running a group for young siblings.
Accessible Art
Z-Arts have a new free accessible art session. It’s called ‘Creative Care – Art for Kids with Additional Needs’ and is every other Saturday, 10am, at Z-Arts, 335 Stretford Road Hulme, M15 5ZA. It’s for children aged 8 to 16 and is led by Kirsty Gbasai, an artist and freelance creative practitioner. During each session, children have the chance to explore a range of art techniques, from painting and drawing to collage and mixed media. They are encouraged to express their own ideas and experiment in a supportive and creative environment. For more information, including dates, and booking, see the Z-Arts website. Please get in touch with Tabitha at tabitha@z-arts.org or 0161 697 5916 if you have any questions.
- 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
Keep up to date with SJV on our website and on social media. Just click on the buttons below:
St John Vianney R.C. School. Rye Bank Rd, Firswood, Stretford. M16 0EX.
Tel: 0161 881 7843
Credits:
Created with images by buraratn - "Rainbow of sparkling glittering lights abstract background" • Alva Steury - "Tacks On Calendar Page/ 29th" • Krtola - "Flying sparkling stars on a transparent background" • buraratn - "Rainbow of sparkling glittering lights abstract background" • Somi Danita - "A dark interior space with a wooden floor reflecting the colorful light from a stained glass window" • muratart - " St. Peter's cathedral in Rome, Italy " • Md. Din islam - "Mystical Feather and Open Book, Magic of Imagination and Storytelling" • buraratn - "Rainbow of sparkling glittering lights abstract background"