Dear parents and carers, 

I can't quite believe it is almost the end of May already. I've been Head Teacher for half a term and the time has just flown by. I'd like to say a huge thank you to all the parents who have welcomed me into the role. I am loving my new job - although I am ready for a week off!

Here is all of our May news:

Deputy Head Teacher

I am pleased to announce that the governors have appointed Mrs Kirby as our new Deputy Head Teacher from Monday 5th June. Mrs Kirby has worked at St John's for the last 10 years and is a brilliant teacher and leader. She has taught all over the school, from Reception to Year 6 so lots of the children know her really well. We make a really good team and I am excited to be working with her as we drive the school forward. She is often outside in the morning so please come and say hello to her and introduce yourself.

DSLs

We have a team of Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) who keep the children and the families of St John's safe. Mrs Harborne has completed her qualification and is joining the team. If you want to talk to a DSL, our team is made up of : Ms Lyne, Mrs Atkins, Mrs O'Keefe, Mrs Hedges and Mrs Harborne.

INSET day

Monday 5th June is an INSET day. School will start back at 8.40am on Tuesday 6th June.

Sparkhill Park

Mrs Atkins led a meeting with parents last week to talk about Sparkhill Park. The Friends of Sparkhill Park joined us and a Neighbourhood Officer from the council. Parents at the meeting expressed concern with the state of the play equipment, the poor play facilities for the community, the dangerous and unpleasant rubbish that is often strewn all around the outside of school and talked about how unsafe they feel the park is at night. To make changes, the Friends of Sparkhill park need a 'bigger voice' and would like as many people to work with them as possible. If you are interested, here is a Facebook link to their page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710464355819287/

After half term, the school council are going to discuss how they feel about the park and they will send you out a questionnaire. Then we can find out what all of the families of St John's opinions are. With everyone's support, we could make some really positive changes for the community.

Uniform

Your children have made such an effort to look smart for school - I am really proud of them. They have been reminded that boots are not part of the school uniform. However, we know that footwear is expensive. Please make sure that the next footwear bought are shoes. By September, I would like to see everyone in the correct uniform. Thank you for your help with this.

Year 3 Collective Worship

Year 3 gave parents and children an amazing Collective worship all about the Ancient Greeks - we had Zorba dancing and plate smashing. It was brilliant. Thank you to all of the children and staff for working so hard to put on such a good show.

Attendance

It is really important that your child attends school every day. They miss out on key learning and on developing social skills with their friends when they are not here. To celebrate this, each week we give out awards for whole class attendance. The class with the most stars is 5HE with 9 attendance stars. The class with the highest percentage in one week is 3B. They are the only class to have hit he 100%. Well done!

Behaviour around school

We have been working on how to walk around the school respectfully. Each playtime we have a smiley face award for the best line coming in. The winners so far are 1K who have 11 smiley faces. 1N and 4T have made it to 10. These classes have all earnt themselves an extra play. Ask your child how many they have got. See how close they are to winning their 10 smiley reward.

Year 5 trip

Year 5 had a trip to the Space Centre in Leicester this week. It took a while to get there due to the coach getting stuck (thanks to Mr Ludlow for taking over directing it out of a tight space!) but the children had a great time.

'In the Space museum, all of the scenery was amazing. They had images projected on the ground. They also had a Planetarium where you could see constellations, galaxies and nebulas. It was really good and I would recommend if you lived near (it was a long way!)' Abbas Year 5

SATS

Year 2 and Year 6 have their SATs this month. They are statutory assessments which means all schools have to do them. We try not to pile too much pressure on the children as St John's believes to grow as a person you need more in life than a test score! We are so proud of our children for showing resilience, perseverance and a positive attitude when completing them. These life skills are far more important.

Support for parents

We have held some really successful workshops for parents this term looking at reading, phonics, ADHD, sleep hygiene and children's mental health. We have also had a representative from Citizen's Advice Bureau based in school once a week and have held a drop in session with Shelter. St John's believes in serving the children of the school and that includes supporting their families and the community. If you have any ideas for workshops or ways in which we can offer more support, please come and speak to us.

I wish you all a very happy week off - hopefully the sun will keep shining for us.

Best wishes,

Mrs Hedges

Head Teacher