Dear Parents/Carers,

Reception and Year 1 - Procedures at the Start of the school Day

To improve the start of the school day for children in Reception and Year 1 we are going to trial a different way to start the school day:

•       From 8.45 parents are welcome to bring their children into class. Parents can stay until 8.55am, or leave their child in class. Children who are in class can start the day with some simple learning activities. We will be asking all parents to leave classes at 8.55am.

•       Both classes come into class via the Reception Courtyard (through the doors the children exit at the end of the day). It is important that parent do not then go anywhere else in the school. If you need to visit the main office, please exit the building and visit the office via the main entrance.

We hope that this new arrangement will give our children a more settled start to the school day whilst maintaining close contact with parents.

We will start this new arrangement from Monday.

Parish Christmas Fair – SATURDAY 29^th NOVEMBER

St Joseph’s will be holding our Parish Christmas Fair tomorrow.  We also encourage families to attend - not only are there lots of great things to do and win, but Father Christmas will also be there!

Parents use of Social Media

At St Josephs’ we teach all of our children that they need to treat everybody with respect, even when there are problems with friendship. We hope that all parents in our community, whatever the circumstances, are able to do the same. This is very important when using social media like Facebook when it is also important to show respect and support the ethos of the school.

Planning Cultural Celebrations

At St Joseph’s we are very lucky to have families from such a diverse and rich background. To celebrate this we would like to plan, with parents and the wider community, events which enable us to share and learn together. A few years ago we had some great celebrations where parts of the community came into school and shared their heritage and culture.

If you have an idea for such an event, please come and see me.

Admissions for Reception 2015

If your child is due to start school in September 2015, you will need to apply on line as well as collecting an ‘Additional Information Form’ from the school office.

Term 1 Team Point Winners – St Matthew’s Team

Following my recent newsletter regarding non-uniform days, can I confirm our plan to celebrate each term’s team point winners:

•       Most importantly we want a celebration where children of different ages come together as a team.

•       Each team will have a special event held on a Friday afternoon when they win.

•       This event will bring all the team together and will be planned by team members in year 6.

•       The event could take the form of a special party with activities planned by the oldest children for other children in their team. It could be a special team quiz or competition. It will be something special bringing children of different ages together.

•       The Year 6 pupils will plan the event with the support of staff members. Perhaps in future parents of children in the teams could also be involved?

We will have our first team winners event next Friday. I will be meeting with Year 6 pupils in St Matthew’s team to put some plans together.

Security – A reminder

For security reasons, when children arrive late we are unable to allow parents to escort their children to their classrooms. Children will be quite safe walking to classrooms by themselves. All adults who enter the school building (even just to go into the front office), must be signed in and given an identification badge by a member of staff. Any adult without authorised identification will be politely challenged. We still want to be friendly and welcoming but we have to ensure unauthorised adults do not enter the school.

After School Clubs

If you give your child permission to walk home after Clubs, could you please let the school have it in writing.

School Crossing Patrol Vacancy

Are you looking for a part-time term time only job?  Could you help school children attending St Joseph’s RC Primary get to school safely? There is a vacancy at our school!

The pay is currently £6.44 an hour and we pay 10 hours per week, this is annualised so you get paid every month.  Full training and uniform will be provided.  This is a term time only role so you get all school holidays off. 

If you are interested or would like more information please contact Frances Dansie on 9224464 or 07500120320.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Parking in the Local Area

Can I please ask all parents and carers to be considerate towards residents who live in the local area when they drive and park their vehicles.  It can obviously be very frustrating to local residents when they are unable to access driveways or if the road is blocked by cars dropping off children. Can I also remind everybody that dropping children off in the middle of the road is also very dangerous.

Website and Online Newsletter

Just a reminder that the school Blog (online diary) and the weekly newsletter are available via the school website (the address is on the letterhead).  

If your email address, mobile or home address has changed, please let the school office know.

Attendance

Well done to the following classes with their attendance last week:

•       Y1 with 99%

•       Reception and Y3 with 98%

Celebration Assembly

There will be a celebration assembly on Monday 1^st December at 9.15am, where the following children will receive their headteacher’s award:   Nelson (Y1), Wanessa (Y1), Piotr (Y2), Jessica (Y5), Angus (Y5), Natalya (Y6), Dominic (Y4), Sophiya (Reception). Isobel (Y3) and Tihanna (Y3.

Super Stars Award: Maisah (R), Lyra (Y1), Vanessa (Y1), Chetavia (Y1), Christian (Y2), Tihanna (Y3), Alana (Y4), Ellie (Y5), Aleena (Y6), Josmi (Y6) and Jennifer (Y6)

Dates for Diaries

Saturday 29^th November                            -           Parish Christmas Fair

Monday 1^st December                               -           Year 3 Topic Presentation/Celebration assembly

Tuesday 2^nd December                              -           Choir to Cabot Circus

Wednesday 3^rd December                        -           Year 4 Advent Assembly (date changed)

Thursday 4^th December                              -           Y1 and Y5 trip to St Fagan’s

Thursday 4^th December                              -           Y2 trip to Fishponds Library

Friday 5^th December                                   -           Year 6 cycle training

Monday 8^th December                                          -           Year 6 Topic Presentation/Celebration

Thursday 11^th December                            -           Infant party in morning

Thursday 11th December                           -           Infant Nativity – 2.30pm

Thursday 11th December                           -           Christmas Lunch

Friday 12th December                                -           Infant Nativity – 9.30am

Monday 15^th December                                        -           Year 4 Topic Presentation (date changed)

Wednesday 17^th December pm                           -           Carol Concert in Church

Thursday 18^th December                            -           Infant Christmas Disco

Friday 19^th December                                 -           Christmas Mass in Church

Friday 19th December                                -           End of Term 2

Monday 5th January                                   -           Start of Term 3

Wednesday 7^th January                                         -           Year 5 topic presentation (change of date)

Monday 2nd February                                -           Staff training day (school closed)

Sunday 28^th June                                         -           First Holy Communion in Church

Friday 17th July                                            -           End of school year

Yours sincerely,

Matt Condon,

Headteacher