The Diocese of Nottingham
ST JOHNFISHERCATHOLICVOLUNTARYACADEMY
Alvaston Street, Alvaston. Derby DE24 0PA
Telephone: (01332) 572154
LeadershipTeam: Dr E Field, J.Grattidge, C.Endsor, P. Harlow
7thDecember 2015
Dear Parents/Guardians and Pupils,
Year of Mercy:The Year of Mercy starts today 8th December. The school has its own‘Holy Door’ displaying the children’s promises for the Year of Mercy.
Parents Evening: Thank you for the tremendous turn out and for the very positive feedback we had on the questionnaires. We will beemailing out the breakdown of responses shortly.
Uniform: First of all thank you to those parents who always ensure that their children wear the correct uniform. Wearing the correct uniform reflects the high standards we try and set for our children and promotes a sense of pride in their school.
Boots:Boots are not allowed to be worn in school. If pupils arrive in boots they must change when they are indoors either into black pumps, which they should already have in their PE bags, or school shoes.
Ties: Now that we are in winter uniform every pupil must wear a tie.
Outdoor PE Kit:A reminder that jogging bottoms and track suit tops should be black, navy or grey please. The children should have trainers for outdoors and black plimsolls for indoors (you can buy these cheap in some super markets.)
Naming Uniform:Pleasename everything, uniform, PE kits, shoes, pumps, trainers, hats, gloves etc. It makes it much easier to reunite the owners with the correct items.
Please Return Lost Clothing: We try hard to ensure children do not lose items of clothing but despite our best efforts there are occasions when they do. If your child brings home clothing/PE Kit that is not theirs please return it either to the office or to the classteacher. We do not want our parents having to pay good money to replace items.
A reminder -Good to be Green Treats: Our Good to be Green treat this term is Circus Skills so do stay on green. If you haven’t managed to then remember you can still earn your Green Time by staying on Green. Next term our Good to be Green treat is Archery .
Dropping Off and Collecting:
A huge thank you to our parents who have heeded our safety concerns andare leaving the playground promptly after dropping their children off. Your support in keeping our children safe is greatly appreciated.
Cycle Shed
Again, thank you to our parents for their cooperation. The children are very sensible about leaving their bikes/scooters beside the container near the front door. A reminder that whilst we like to think they would be safe, as we cannot lock them in we cannot guarantee that they are – anyone leaving their bike/scooter here does so at their own risk. Again, please accept our apologies for any inconvenience; it will be worth it in the end.
Emma's Childminding Service: Emma now has breakfast club vacancies and some after school availability, please contact Emma Cumpstoneon 01332 901568 or 07853246097 for more information.
Thrifty Thursdays:Do please keep sending in weekly amounts for the educational visits in order to spread the cost.Thank you and well done to those parents who have been making steady regular payments.
Poppy Appeal: Thank you for your generous response to the Poppy Appeal: you raised £192.95.
Parent/Parish Social:on Thursday 10th December is an extra special one, not only do we have our 'Mince Pies & Carols' starting at 2pm but the Mayor is joining us! Do please try and pop along for our termly informal get together.
School Nurse: If you have any health concerns about your child and would like to speak to the school Nurse, please contact:
Bally Kaur
Coleman St Health Centre
Tel 01332 861193
Free School Meals: It is really important that parents who qualify for FSM apply, even if your child is in KS1, to enable the school to receive additional funding and to sustain the staffing and resources to meet your children’s needs. Also, parents who qualify for FSM will be given a £5 deduction for day visits and a £20 deduction for residential visits.
Forms are available from the school office, our website, or D.C.C. website. If you would like the school to complete this form for you please pop in and let the school office know. Thank you
Maths Club
The following club has received very favourable reviews from other schools. It is £37 for six weekly sessions which is very good value for what they are offering. There will be an assembly to give aflavour of this Maths Club on 7th January 2016 at 2:45 pm and we encourage all parents to attend this. Initially, we are hoping to have enough takers to run this club for KS2 starting Thursday 14thJanuary. They also run a KS1 Club and if there is sufficient interest from KS1 parents we will organise a KS1 Club also. If you think you might be interested please email or let the office know. Thank you.
Professor Popenshtinken’sMagical Maths": is a 6 week Maths club ‘where you can meet some crazy and wonderful characters, and learn some truly mind blowing maths tricks. You will learn how to calculate impossible numbers in your head, read minds, play mathslearn how to calculateimpossible numbers in your head, read minds, play maths sport and solve unbelievable puzzles - all with the power of maths.It is designed to boost your child's confidence and to better engage them with Maths.’The cost is £37 for the entire 6 weeks.
Each week will have a fun theme — here is a special sneak peek at the first four weeks in KS2:
• Week One: Become a Maths Detective
• Week Two: Meet the Maths Genius
• Week Three: Become a Mathemagician
• Week Four: Olympic Mathletics
This is maths, but not as you know it...be prepared to have serious fun!
Parents!! The club is fun, exciting, fast paced and also highly educational (but don't tell the children).
Super Students: Well done to the following pupils who have been awarded Super Student status:
Elizabeth Doherty, Ola Fis, Zara Sawford, Leah Shirley, Paighton Smith, Katie Morley and Roman Morley.
Christingle
A date for your diary – English Martyrs Parish are holding a Christingle Service for the children and their families on Friday 18th December at 6.30pm followed by activities in the parish hall. The school choir will also be singing. We will send out more details closer to the time, but please keep this date free.
Cancer Research: Thank you for supporting Braiswick Photographers who have sent a cheque for £43.50 to Cancer Research on our behalf.
Christmas Gifts and Cards:
We have such kind parents and children at Saint John Fisher that each Christmas we receive cards and gifts from many parents and pupils. We always really appreciate these gifts but would like to stress that there is really no need; we are privileged to be educating your children. If, however, you do feel you would like to give something at Christmas we thought we could invite you to do as you did last year and put a small donation towards a CAFOD ‘World Gift’. A donation of around 30p – 50p instead of a gift or card would enable us to give a ‘World Gift’ from Saint John Fisher to our poorer brothers and sisters and let them know we care about them at Christmas. Last year we raised total of £115.50 and the children chose to buy a cow and 2 school starter packs. Just to stress this is not obligatory. If you do wish to take part, however, please send the money in an envelope marked with your child’s/children’s name and class and labelled ‘World Gift’. Christmas is a very expensive time for families, please only send as much as you can afford, every penny really does count and it is not the amount that you send that matters.
E-Safety: Keeping your child safe online is more important than ever. We have been informed by the police that young children left unsupervised online are most likely to be drawn in by unsuitable strangers. We have attached a list of online sites that we think as parents you should be aware of. Please read the attached leaflet carefully to see the various sites that your children may be accessing.
Admissions Sept 2016: Reminder the closing date at the local authority for applications is15th January 2016.Supplementary forms need to be in school by this date also, together with a baptism/christening certificate if applicable. Any applications made after 15th January 2016 will be classed as 'late' and considered after all 'on time' applications have been dealt with. If you have any questions or need help with any of the forms please contact the school office.
Diary Dates
9th December – KS1 Nativity Play @ 9:30am for school & parents
9th December – KS1 Nativity Play @ 5:30pm
10th December– Parish Social, Grandparents @ 2:00pm - Choir singing
10th December – PTFA Disco KS1 - 5:15pm – 6:30pm KS2 - 6:45pm – 8:00 pm
11th December – Whole School Mass @2:10pm - Cancelled
15th December – Children’s Christmas Lunch
15th December – P.T.F.A. Meeting @ 6:30pm
17th December – Christmas Parties
18th December – Achievement Assembly KS2 @ 09:15am & KS1@10:45
18th December – Carols around the tree @ 1:30pm in School – All Welcome
18th December – Christingle & Carols @ English Martyrs 6:30pm for parents & children together with activities in the hall afterwards
18th December – Break Up for Christmas
4th January – Back to School
7th January – Magical Maths Assembly @ 2:45pm All parents invited
7th January – Yr4 start swimming
13th January – Parent Lunch Yr3 @ 12:00
14th January – Ten TenTheatre –Parent Session @9:15
29th January – Knowledge House Mass @ 2:10pm
On behalf of all the staff
C.Endsor, E.Field, J.Grattidge, P.Harlow