Headteacher's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
I do hope you and your families are keeping well.
I am continually amazed at how fast the weeks and months flyby at St. John Vianney. January is almost over; two thirds of all New Year resolutions have (probably) failed and half term is rapidly approaching. Pupils have only 9 school days left until the break, Friday the 10th February is a staff INSET day.
The last two weeks have seen our Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 pupils completing internal mid-year assessments in core subject areas. I have been really impressed with the mature attitude and resilience shown by all our pupils. The skills they are developing will help prepare them for future external assessments. Next week is Functional Skills exam week for our Key Stage 5 students and they have all been given individual timetables. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any further questions.
Attendance this week has once again been excellent with many pupils having 100% attendance so far this term. We will be running our usual rewards assembly at the end of term and I would like to see as many children as possible in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes. We have one of the best attendance rates for all special schools in the country and we can only achieve this with your support. Please continue to send children to school every day possible to help support them with their education and development of independence skills.
Careers Information and Guidance is a growing area of the work we do with our students at SJV. Work experience and the choices they make for their next steps in education are key to improving their independence and future opportunities. Parents of pupils in Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 have received an invitation to our College morning on Tuesday 31st January at 9:30am. If you have any further questions about this event please contact the school and speak to Mr Cooper.
I am delighted with the positive participation our children have shown in a wide range of activities this week including; Forest School, Cronkshaw Farm, Manchester Airport, Swimming, Donkey Sanctuary, the City in the Community Football tournament and our Afterschool club. Next week we will be running a series of Safer Internet activities and assemblies. Keeping children safe online is becoming a growing issue and one that we need to work together to help support the children in our care. Below are two links that have a number of resources to support schools, pupils and parents in securing safe online practices:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
Assemblies this week have focused on Holocaust Memorial Day, as we remember and reflect on the tragic genocide that took place under the Nazi regime in Germany. I have asked for solidarity across the SJV community as we remember those who lost their lives and for us to pray for the strength to tackle the intolerant; either in school or in our communities at home.
Best Wishes,
Mr G Damant
Assistant Head Teacher
Extra May Bank Holiday 2023
Please be informed that on Monday May 8th 2023 the School will not be open. This is because of King Charles’ coronation on May 6th. The Government have announced Monday May 8th will be an extra Public Holiday in Great Britain. This is in addition to the May Day Bank Holiday, which falls on Monday May 1st 2023.
Stars of the Week
Charlie - For being helpful in class and dealing with challenges maturely.
Khalil - For having a calmer week.
Harley - For working hard all week and making the right choices.
Leon - For an always can do attitude.
Oskar - For working well with new staff and growing independence at swimming!
Benjamin - For making an excellent, mature career choice.
Scarlett - For showing kindness to others when they were upset.
Curtis - Showing increased confidence during social time and contributing well to ALL lessons this week.
Alfie - For trying hard on the things he finds difficult, well done.
James - For showing great independence during travel training!
Joe - For super behaviour at the farm, working hard at friendships and turning his behaviour around quickly when things don't go his way.
Student Voice
Name; Tyler
What I’ve been doing this week: We have been to Whytheshawe park and helped out by litter picking and maintenance of the park by cleaning the leaves up from the cycling paths.
What is best about being in SJV? All the different things we get to do each week.
It would be even better if… We had a music studio.
Hopes and dreams for the future: I would one day like to be a Rapper!!
Class News
Class 3
On Wednesday morning class 3 attended a football tournament to play against other schools at Manchester City's training ground, and saw the first team as they went out for training!
Class 6
This week at forest school class 6 did lots of exciting activities. Firstly, we went on a bear hunt, then we made some biodegradable bird feeders, followed by deconstructing some dens and digging . Finally, we had fun with the parachute.
Class 7
This week we start our week with our weekend news. Staff and students get picked at random and we share our news from the weekend. Here’s Miss Murgia telling us all about her amazing cooking for Chinese New Year, we all wished we could have shared it!
Class 7 along with the rest of Key Stage 3, spent the afternoon at Crucial Crew learning life skills and how to keep themselves safe.
Class 9
Class 9 visited Manchester Art Gallery during their Photography lessons on Wednesday.
The students found it a very valuable experience and were able to appreciate and photograph some interesting pieces of art.
The photographs will be used back in school as part of their photography coursework.
Class 10
Class 10 enjoyed their History Lesson 'The Renaissance', when they imagined themselves as Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Class 13
Class 13 worked really hard at NACRO this week. While they were there, they did some litter picking, which is also work towards the Laudato si programme the school is running of looking after our local environment. They also used the leaf blowers to clear away debris from the newly made cycle paths.
The KS3 and KS4 boys had a great time at the CITC football tournament this week. They were fantastic representatives for the school!
Our Catholic School
Here at SJV we are reflecting on God’s message from St Baldwin of Canterbury; ‘Whatever gifts and talents we are given by God are to be shared with the entire community’. We at SJV try, like Pope Francis asks us to, be an active presence in our School and wider community.
At SJV we celebrate the good news every day with our focus on prayers and reflection, at the end of day each class comes together to reflect on the day’s highlights.
Within our Catholic school this week we promoted and supported Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) – the international day on 27 January to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It is a challenge to look at this day, but that is part of our ethos and mission to look at what happens when things go unchallenged. The students responded well and it’s important to mark as a recent survey found that two thirds of millennials had not heard of the Holocaust!
Father Nick and myself led the Catholicity training for the whole school on our ‘Laudato si’ message and our aims for Lent. It was really wonderful to share the vision of Laudato si and see how we as a Catholic school could have a real impact on this vital message for our world. There has been lots of wonderful ideas from our staff team and a real sense of enthusiasm and drive for this mission.
There were exciting developments in Chaplaincy as we discussed and looked at the first drafts for our updated GIFT team prayer, as designed by the Chaplaincy leaders at our retreat last week.
Miss Shaw’s class went out on Retreat to the Spiritan Centre in Salford and they had a wonderful time, dancing, singing and praying together.
Within RE this week we have been looking forward to Lent and our charity fund raising activity. Looking at CAFOD, world gifts and what we hope to achieve by the end of Lent. I was impressed with the thoughtful and caring responses of our Children.
Mrs Garfin
Sensory Packs
Caudwell Children are offering Sensory Packs! They have listened to families who told them that occupying their children, finding appropriate and safe toys and the money to provide their children with the equipment they would like is even more difficult than usual at the moment.
They are offering free sensory packs.
About the Pack:
Their Occupational Therapy and Support Team have selected key sensory items that offer children a broad range of sensory opportunities, therapeutic benefits and interactive experiences. The pack has been designed to support children living with a wide range of disabilities who are likely to benefit from sensory resources.
Each pack will include:
Liquid Cell Timer, Scented Bubbles, BoBo Massager, Sissle Brush, 4 Ball Massager, Weighted Cushion, Spikey Domes, Space Blanket, Fibre Optic Lamp*
Eligibility Criteria:
• Families can apply for packs directly.
• They must have a child with a confirmed disability between 0 – 18 years old.
• Families must legally live in the UK.
• Household income must be below £45,000 per year (before tax, excluding benefits).
• One application per household.
• Caudwell Children will provide 80% of the cost of each pack (families will be asked to contribute 20% of the item cost, which is £22).
• We want to help as many people as possible but due to limited numbers of these amazing Get Sensory Packs we may have to prioritise applications and can’t guarantee everyone will get one. We do promise we will let you know as soon as possible if you have been successful, or if there is another way we can help you.
Families will also be asked to provide confirmation of their financial status and confirmation of their child’s diagnosis. Applying for a Get Sensory Pack will not prevent families from accessing other equipment or support from other Caudwell Children services.
If you wish to find out more or apply click on the link below https://getsensorypacks.com
Credits:
Created with images by Rawpixel.com - "Shiny golden stars glitter festive background" • Syda Productions - "artist with pencil drawing picture at art studio" • Giuseppe Cammino - "Joystick of a vintage arcade videogame - Coin-Op" • W.Scott McGill - "Soccer Ball on Fire." • Dusan Kostic - "Tractor spraying soy field in sunset." • Grigory Bruev - "Beautiful Tricolor Puppy Of English Beagle Sitting On Green Grass" • Charnchai saeheng - "Red Chinese lantern(Translation Hieroglyph text Happy New Year) hanging in a row during day time for Chinese new year celebration." • Erica Dal Bello - "orange sunset on the farm with old house" • Rawpixel.com - "Paint on a canvas" • muratart - "White Passenger plane fly up over take-off runway from airport " • pingpao - "Young plant growing in soil on green bokeh background" • daizuoxin - "Pick up the plastic bottle" • Hoda Bogdan - "professional worker, man using leaf blower for autumn cleaning"