Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to the first newsletter of the school year. I hope you all had a great summer.

Welcome to St Joseph’s

I would like to welcome Mr. Kieran Longney who is joining us as our new part-time PE specialist.

I would also like to welcome Mrs. Sonja Johnson who joins the staff team as a Teaching Assistant.

A Summer Baby

Congratulations to Mrs. Darvill who gave birth to Rachel Freya Darvill on the 6th of August. Rachel weighed 8lb 3oz and according to mum is ‘absolutely beautiful!’

Summer Wedding

During the summer  Miss Perry had a wonderful wedding day and is now a very happy Mrs. Ashton.  We wish the couple a wonderful life together.

Staff Leaving

I am sad to announce that Mrs.  Bell will be retiring at Christmas.  Mrs. Bell has taught at St. Joseph’s since 2002 and has worked in Catholic education for an incredible 37 years.

This will obviously have some impact on the Year 6 class and we will announce who will join Mrs. Joseph teaching the class before Christmas.

Last Year’s Year 6 Secondary Destinations

Last year’s Year 6 went to the following schools:  8 pupils have gone to St Bernadette,  2 pupils to St Mary Redcliffe,  4 pupils to Bristol Brunel,  4 pupils to Bristol Met,  2 pupils to Colston’s,  3 pupils to Downend, 1 pupil to John Cabot, 4 pupils to Mangotsfield, 1 pupil to Sir Thomas Rich’s and 1 pupil to St Bede’s.

Good luck to them all in their new school!

Road Safety – Zig Zag lines

These lines (including the bus bay) are now enforceable. This means that Bristol City Council will be using mobile cameras to photograph vehicles that are parked illegally and will be issuing fines. We have been asked to contact the enforcement department with details of vehicles parked (or stopping) illegally.

It is also very dangerous to drop a child off in the middle of the road.

Prospective Parents Tours

There will be tours for prospective parents for September 2016. The dates are:

•     Wednesday 30^th September at 2pm

•     Wednesday 7th October at 10am

•     Thursday 15th October at 2pm

After School Clubs

All clubs will be ongoing until further notice and most clubs will be at no cost. The only cost will be if parents wish their child to also be cared for in the Extended School Club and for our new Italian Club (which is now full).

Places are limited and offered on a first come-first served basis.

Unfortunately we are unable offer clubs to children in Reception at the moment.

Please contact the school office to see if any places are available. All clubs will take place every week unless parents are otherwise notified in the newsletter or by text.

Children who are attending after school clubs should attend regularly as we need commitment for the clubs to operate effectively.

Club	Finish Time	Year Groups	Start date/day of club
Kodu Computing Club	4.30pm	5 and 6	Monday 14th September
Italian (full)	4.30pm	TBC	Wednesday 9th September
Choir	4.30pm	3-6	Tuesday 15th September
Football	4.45pm	3-6	Tuesday 15th September
Gymnastics	4.45pm	1-3	Wednesday 16th September
Gymnastics	4.45pm	4-6	Thursday 17th September

Lateness

This week we have had a number of pupils who have arrived at school late. If lateness becomes persistent your child will miss a significant amount of teaching time. Continued lateness causes disruption to the class teacher and the other pupils who are already engaged in the first lesson of the day. Similarly, there are many pupils who are being collected late at the end of the day.  The school day finishes at 3.30pm. 

Parent Information Sessions – Next week

A big thank you to all the Year 1parents who attended yesterday’s session. Can I remind everybody that, for your convenience, we have arranged these sessions to start at 3pm (where there are no childcare issues).

These short information sessions will take place from 3pm in each class. In these sessions information will be shared about expectations for the school year and other important information. Reception and Year 6 have already held their meetings. Dates are in Dates for Diaries.

Security

For security reasons, when children arrive late, we are unable to allow parents to escort their children to their classrooms. Children are easily capable of walking to classrooms by themselves.

Missing reading books

Can I please ask that all families check if you have any school reading books at home. We are missing lots of books from the library and classes would appreciate any that are returned to school.

2015-16 Term Dates

•       Term 1      -           Tuesday 1 September to Wednesday 21 October 2015.

•       Term 2      -           Monday 2 November to Friday 18 December 2015.

•       Term 3      -           Monday 4 January to Friday 5 February 2016.

•       Term 4      -           Monday 15 February to Thursday 24 March 2016.  

•       Term 5      -           Monday 11 April to Friday 27 May 2016.  

•       Term 6      -           Monday 6 June to Friday 22 July 2016.

Dates for Diaries

Monday 7th September at 3pm               -           Y2 Parents Information Session
Tuesday 8th September at 3pm                -           Y3 Parents Information Session
Wednesday 9th September at 3pm         -           Y4 Parents Information Session
Thursday 10th September at 3pm             -           Y5 Parents Information Session

Friday 11th September at 9.30am             -           Start of Year Mass in School Hall  
Friday 13th November                                -           INSET (school closed)

Thursday 26th May 2016                              -           INSET (school closed)

Yours sincerely,

Matt Condon

Headteacher