Dear Parent/Carer,

Prize giving

Thank you for making prize giving such a wonderful celebration of our year at St Joseph's. Well done to all those who were awarded prizes, and all the rest of the children who were so supportive and happy to congratulate their friends.

Non uniform day
Next Tuesday, 19th July will be a non-uniform day for all children to raise money for the PTFA. Please send in a donation of £1 per child.

PTFA Tea Party
The PTFA would like to invite all parents, teachers and friends of St Joseph's school to join them for tea and cake after school on Tuesday, 19th July, to celebrate the end of the school year, say thank you to the staff for their continued hard work and as a chance for a get together before the summer break. There will be no charge for refreshments as the committee will be donning their pinnies to provide the cakes.

New School Uniform

The governors have agreed that we will provide each child with one set of the new school uniform free of charge. Children will receive their uniform next week ready for September.

The school uniform shop will be open this week on 19^th/20^th/21^st July 9.00-9.30 am & 3.00-3.30 pm for uniform supplies for September and then once a week from September on Friday Mornings 9-9.30am.   If you've received this newsletter by email you will also have received a uniform order form, other copies can be obtained from the school office.  Cash or cheque payments will be accepted.  Orders can be placed directly with our uniform supplier Initially Yours: http://www.initiallyyours.co.uk/schools/st_josephs_rc_primary_school/uniform_and_sports_kit.htm.

School term dates 2016-17

Term 1                        1/9/16 – 21/10/16

Term 2                        31/10/16 – 16/12/16

Term 3                        3/1/17 - 10/2/17

Term 4                        20/2/17 – 7/4/17

Term 5                        24/4/17 – 26/5/17

Term 6                        5/6/17 – 21/7/17

There will be 5 staff training days during the year.  The first 2 will be on Thursday 1^st and Friday 2^nd September.  School will therefore open for pupils in years 1 to 6 after the summer holidays on Monday 5^th September.  We will inform you of the dates for the other 3 staff training days as soon as they are known.

Extended School Club (ESC)

Bookings for Term1 (September 2016) will open next week to all parents of children registered and up to date with payments.  If you are thinking of using ESC and haven’t already registered please contact the school office for a registration form.  We are continuing with morning sessions (starting at 8am) for £2.50 a session and the short (until 5pm) for £3.50 and long (until 5.30) for £5 options for after school. Please make sure you book your child on as soon as possible as this allows us to ensure we have adequate supervision for the children wanting to use Extended School Club.  We will do our best to ensure there are places for all children booked on using School Gateway before 25^th August. As demand for the long sessions is currently low Mrs Martin only runs the club until 5.30pm on days when children are pre-booked onto the long sessions.  So it is especially important that you book your child onto these longer sessions in advance if you can’t pick them up before 5pm.

Celebration  Assembly

There will be a celebration assembly on Monday 18^th July, where the following children will receive their headteacher’s award:  Amelia, Daisha, Isher (R), Alena (Y1), Rian (Y3), Tihanna, Cerys, Nati, Haris (Y4), Oliver D (Y5).

Super Stars:  Alison, Mati (R), Jacks, Leona, Maeya (Y2).

Dates for Diaries

Wednesday 20^th July           -           Y3 Presentation and Parents’ open
                                                             morning 9.10-9.40                                        
                                                 -           Year Six Performance to parents 7pm

Thursday 21^st July                  -           Briarwood Singing Festival

Friday 22 July                         -           Leavers’ Mass 9.30am in church

                                                            END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

Thursday 1^st September       -         INSET (school closed)

Friday 2^nd September          -         INSET (school closed)

Monday 5^th September       -        First Day back after summer break for
                                                           children in Years 1-6

Mrs Jackie McCarthy

Headteacher

Dear Parent/Carer,

Sports Day

Sports Day turned out to be a fabulous occasion with all the children taking part with respect and good humour.  Thanks to all the parents who came to cheer the children on. Congratulations to all the children.  The winning team was St Matthew.  A special thanks to Mr Rees who did a fantastic job organising the event.

Phonics Screening

A fantastic 97% of children in Year One reached or exceeded the threshold in phonic knowledge.  Congratulations to all of the children and staff. 

Key Stage One and Two SATs.

Huge congratulations are needed for all the children in Year Two and Year Six.  They have excelled themselves as they come to the end of their key stage, having prepared and taken tests under a new curriculum and with harder tests than before.   The staff and governors are all very proud of them.  Below are the results, along with their national comparison (KS2): 

KEY STAGE ONE  Teacher Assessments	% meeting expected standards
Reading	80%
Writing	77%
Maths	77%

KEY STAGE TWO RESULTS	% meeting expected standards
	School	National
Reading	73%	66%
Writing	80%	74%
Grammar, punctuation, spelling	90%	72%
Maths	83%	70%
Reading, writing, maths	67%	53%

Prize Giving – Thursday 14^th July

St Joseph’s first Prize Giving Evening will be taking place this Thursday 14^th July at 5.30pm.  All parents and children are invited to attend to share in celebrating the achievements in our school this year.  Prizes will be given to children in all classes recognising excellence in attainment, effort, progress, behaviour, consideration and kindness as well as demonstration of the Olympic and Paralympic values during sports day.  Participation and representing the school will also be celebrated as well as the achievements and effort of staff and parents.  It should be a joyous occasion and a great way to finish off a fantastic year.

Class presentations and parents’ open mornings

Parents are invited to their children’s class at the beginning of the day (9.10-9.40) where the class will tell the story of their learning in their most recent topic. Following the presentation, parents and carers will be able to stay for a short while to look at their child’s work. Some of the classes have had their presentations this week.  Reception has theirs on Tuesday, Year 5 on Wednesday with Year 2 on Thursday.

New School Uniform

As reported last week, the governors have agreed that we will provide each child with one set of the new school uniform free of charge. Children will receive their uniform in the last week of term ready for September.

The school uniform shop will be open on 19^th/20^th/21^st July 9.00-9.30 am & 3.00-3.30 pm for uniform supplies for September and then once a week from September.   We will send parents and carers information about prices and ordering next week.  Cash or cheque payments will be accepted at the school uniform shop or you will be able to order online from www.initiallyyours.co.uk.

Mrs Slade

Mrs Slade has been off sick for several weeks and is still poorly.  We wish her well in her recovery.

Extended School Club (ESC)

May I remind parents that the Extended School Club now runs until 5.30pm daily for those children who have been booked onto the new longer sessions.  If you have booked your child into Extended School Club, you must ensure that the children are picked up promptly either at 5pm (if a short session is booked) or 5.30pm (for the longer session).  There are occasionally unforeseen circumstances that keep you from being on time.  If this happens, please ensure that the school is informed.  However, we would remind parents that, if there is persistent lateness in collection, we will have no alternative but to cancel your child’s place at Extended School Club. 

Mad Science

There will be a Mad Science club starting on Mondays from 12^th September until 17^th October.  Children in Reception to Year 5 were given a form. If you are interested please return a completed form and payment to the School Office by Wednesday 13^th July.

School term dates 2016-17

Term 1                        1/9/16 – 21/10/16                

Term 2                        31/10/16 – 16/12/16

Term 3                        3/1/17 - 10/2/17                   

Term 4                        20/2/17 – 7/4/17

Term 5                        24/4/17 – 26/5/17                

Term 6                        5/6/17 – 21/7/17

There will be 5 staff training days during the year.  The first 2 will be on Thursday 1^st and Friday 2^nd September.  School will therefore open for pupils in years 1 to 6 after the summer holidays on Monday 5^th September.  We will inform you of the dates for the other 3 staff training days as soon as they are known.

Celebration  Assembly

There will be a celebration assembly on Monday 11^th July, where the following children will receive their headteacher’s award:  Filip, Tegan, Jay Jay (R), Patricia, Mikolaj, Madeleine (Y1), Joseph, Chetavia (Y2), Jeremy, Austin (Y3), Ruby, Karam, Dom, Marco, Taya (Y4), Patty (Y5), Alisha, Claudia, Mackenzie (Y6)

Super Stars:  Abay (Rec), Oliver Mooney (Y5), Harvey (Y6)

Dates for Diaries

Tuesday 12^th July                  -           Rec Presentation and Parents’ open morning
                                                            9.10-9.40

Wednesday 13^th July           -           Y5 Presentation and Parents’ open morning
                                                            9.10-9.40

Thursday 14^th July                 -           Y2 Presentation and Parents’ open morning
                                                            9.10 -9.40

                                                -           Prize giving 5.30-6.30 

Friday 15^th July                      -           Columbus sports day – Air Balloon

                                                -           Columbus music concert –choir, evening

Wednesday 20^th July           -           Y3 Presentation and Parents’ open morning                                                 -           Year Six Performance to parents 7pm

Thursday 21^st July                  -           Briarwood Singing Festival

Friday 22 July                         -           Leavers’ Mass 9.30am in church

                                                            END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

Thursday 1^st September      -           INSET (school closed)

Friday 2^nd September          -          INSET (school closed)

Monday 5^th September       -          First Day back after summer break for children
                                                            in Years 1-6

Mrs Jackie McCarthy
Headteacher