Dear Parents,

Here's an update on life at St John's as we come to the end of the first half term.

1. HARVEST

Thank you so much for generously donating food to Sparkhill Foodbank. Even during these tough times, you have given so much to help other people. The Sparkhill Foodbank is a charity that is very close to our hearts as we know that many of the children of St John's have directly benefitted from it.

It is a very sad fact that there are people in our community who, for various reasons, find themselves unable to feed themselves and their family. The idea of not being able to provide food for a child is terrifying for any parent, and I know that the food that you have given will be used to help those who are in desperate need. The food is being collected tomorrow and we will take photographs to put on the school website so that the children can see.

We had our Harvest collective worship over Teams today, and the children from Year 6 led the school in a Harvest celebration. We thanked God for the food we eat and asked Him to look after others that were in need.

2. HALF TERM BREAK

Children break up today at 3.15pm. There is teacher training tomorrow so school is closed to the children. Children return to school on Tuesday 3rd November.

3. COVID-19

We had a spot-check inspection from the Health & Safety Executive last Thursday and the inspector was impressed with all the measures that we have put in place to lower the risks of catching or transmitting Covid-19. She didn't want us to add or change anything that we are doing. I was very relieved because I feel the burden of keeping the children and staff as safe as possible. The Senior Leadership of the school will be reviewing home time arrangements and I will let you know if anything changes.

If you or your child receives a positive Covid test result over the holiday period, please email school on: enquiry@st-johns-pri.bham.sch.uk so that we can inform anyone else that might need to know.

For example, if a child received a positive result on Saturday, we would need to alert the rest of the children in their bubble because they would also need to isolate for 14 days.

I wish you and your families a happy half term.

Best wishes,

Mrs Seymour