Published September 24, 2021
Another week flies by – can you believe that we are halfway through this half term?! It has been a joy visiting classrooms this week and seeing all of the excellent teaching and learning; science experiments, drama rehearsals, music composing, artistic creations, debates across many subject areas and also the way the pupils articulate their learning when asked to explain what is happening is truly inspiring.
House Competition Day
Last Friday, as you know, was House Competition Day and it was an absolute belter! There were some excellent competitions; petanque, capture the flag, quizzes galore, memory games, racing noughts & crosses, paper airplane construction, bridge building, memory games to name a few!
The children and staff had a blast, and it was lovely to see our community encouraging each other in healthy competition. However, there can be only one winner and the results for the day are as follows:
- 1st: Margaret House (736 points)
- 2nd: Teresa House (704 points)
- 3rd: Vincent House (668 points)
- 4th: Francis House (646 points)
Well done everybody – it was truly a fabulous day!
Achieving Excellence Evenings
This week has seen the introduction of our excellence evenings for all parents to help keep you informed and involved in what’s happening in school. We hope that you have found these evenings informative and valuable. For us it has been great to reconnect with you (albeit in a virtual capacity) following the last 18 months and also excellent to respond to your queries and questions.
Thank you to all those who were able to attend. If you could not make the meetings, do not worry! We will be sharing the presentations on our website in due course.
Covid Restrictions & Measures
As you are aware from last week’s update, we have returned to mask wearing in indoor communal areas. We urge you to check that your child has left for school with their mask packed as we have had to give out more masks than we would have liked to this week.
If you are required to self-isolate, work will be set via assignments in Teams but, naturally, we will not expect this to be completed unless your child is well enough to do so – their recovery is the obvious and most important priority.
Regrettably, for the time being, we have had to pause extra-curricular clubs due to guidance from Public Health Wiltshire. We are hoping this will be a very temporary measure and that we can get back to running sports clubs as well as the drama auditions and rehearsals and other clubs that happen around the school.
Homework Club
The exception to this temporary closure is academic booster sessions for Year 11 and also HW club for all year groups which is happening Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings after school. If you would like your child to attend HW club, please email rro@sjcs.org.uk with their name, form, and days you wish them to attend.
Year 7 Form Tutor Evening & House Parties
As is tradition we will be hosting a Year 7 form tutor evening where you can book an appointment with your child’s form tutor to discuss how they have settled in and how things are going.
This year, we will be hosting the evening on Wednesday 13th October between 4pm-7pm and the appointments will be held virtually. Miss Lowe (SENCO) and Mrs Marshall (Director of Learning for Yr7) will also be available for virtual appointments. More details and instructions on how to book appointments will be forthcoming in a separate communication.
Year 7 will also be having their rite of passage House Parties during the week commencing 4th Oct – again more information will follow in a separate communication!
Year 9 Options
A huge thank you to all year 9 pupils for submitting their options choices on time. We have now revealed the final options blocks and meetings can be scheduled with Mr McGuiness if you would like to discuss the final options.
Year 11 Heathy Breakfast
In a recent survey, many pupils stated they over or under ate as a way of dealing with stress. This month, in Year 11, we have been focussing on the importance of a healthy breakfast and what that looks like. That culminated today in a healthy breakfast served up by our wonderful canteen staff. The pupils really appreciated the time and effort gone into preparing the food and also gained a good understanding of why breakfast is often seen as ‘the most important meal of the day!’
Achievement Points Race
These week’s standings:
- 1st: Margaret 6,982 points
- 2nd: Vincent 6,503 points
- 3rd: Teresa 6,006 points
- 4th: Francis 5,646 points
Keep them coming!
Mr Rooney