A message from our Assistant Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope this newsletter finds you and your families well.
Another extremely busy week in school has seen a plethora of events taking place, which include; swimming, forest school, a football tournament, library and farm visits to name just a few. Additionally, last Friday saw Teach Rex bring their Dragon into school for our literacy deep learning day. The day consisted of a range of engaging activities that included an escape room, story writing and film making.
Literacy is at the core of any child’s development, as stated by the DfE, ‘Nothing is more important in education than ensuring that every child can read well’. At SJV literacy development is central to everything we do to improve the life chances of our children and young people. Improving literacy has been shown to improve employment opportunities as well as health and well-being. If you would like to know more about how you can support your child’s literacy development please contact their class teacher. We can recommend appropriate books and the methods used to support teaching phonics through to text comprehension, as appropriate for each child.
This week we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension with services in the school chapel. Fr. Nick, Mrs Garfin and the chaplaincy team led a thought provoking and inspiring end to the Easter season. We reflected on how we can help and support each other in school and the wider community, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
This time of year, is always stressful for our older pupils as they sit their externally accredited examinations. We do all that we can to minimise the stress and support our young adults to fulfil their potential. Please ensure that they are in school every day, well rested and reassured that we are proud of the work they have done over the last five or more years. The first two weeks of examinations have gone well, I have been impressed with their mature attitude and application to study during this difficult time.
On a lighter note, we are planning for our Summer Fair which is going to take place on the 1st July, please reserve the date in your calendars, it would be great to see all families supporting this event. This will be the last opportunity to see the school before the building work starts in the summer. We are very excited about the prospect of a new build and the opportunities that it will bring for the pupils of St John Vianney School.
God Bless,
Mr G. Damant
Assistant Headteacher
Laudato Si Pledges
Dear Parents and Carers,
This year we have been working on identifying ways in which we can contribute to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si message for us all to take better care of our common home, planet Earth.
The pupils on Monday will be bringing home a ‘Family Pledge’ postcard and we would like you please to commit to making 3 pledges as a family, sharing these with us in school by completing the pledge postcard.
Your pledges maybe;
- Pray each day for Peace across the World
- Give thanks at Meal times
- No meat on Mondays; meat free Mondays
- To cycle and walk more often
- To conserve water
- To switch off electrical items that are not being used
- Use public transport more often
- Car share for journeys
- Contribute to all School Food and Clothes appeals
- Regularly contribute to a local Food bank
- Volunteer in my local area eg a local care home
- Raise funds for worthwhile causes
- Buy only Fairtrade fruit eg bananas
Please join us in our pledges next week and return the postcard to school to Mr Moloney.
Thanks in anticipation of your commitment!
Mr Moloney
Stars of the Week
Each week a 'Star of the Week' is chosen by the class team to celebrate achievements; both academic and pastoral.
Congratulations to the following pupils for their achievements this week:
Tyler - For dealing with difficult situations with a mature outlook and being kind to others.
George - For his support of his classmates; helping two students this week with their Maths and Media work.
Sana - For being a kind and accommodating friend, and always trying her best across all of her lessons.
Justin - For making good choices.
Theo - For great transitions.
Daniel - For being kind to his friends and working hard.
Leon - For being a positive member of Post 16.
Micah - For his resilience.
Charlie - For being very helpful to his peers this week.
Dylan - For a good attitude to all lessons this week and dealing with conflict maturely.
Alfie - For really pushing himself outside of his comfort zone in PE.
Rome - For becoming an 'always kid'.
Joseph - For great litter picking at the beach.
Pupil Voice
Name: Rhys
What I have done this week?
We went to Gullivers World this week! It was amazing! Me and my classmates all went on different rides, it was really fun!!
What is the best thing about being in SJV?
That we get to go out on lots of school trips and outdoor activities.
It would be even better if…?
It's just perfect the way it is!
What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
I would like to be a famous YouTuber!
Class News
Class 2
Class 2 had a great day meeting the Teach Rex Dragon last week. We did lots of English activities developing our descriptive language, beat the Dragon to collect his book and worked together to unlock the treasure box!
Class 3
This week the boys have taken part in high jump in PE, the participation was fantastic and they really supported and encouraged each other throughout which was fantastic to see!
We have also been on a Key Stage 3 trip to Gulliver's world. Another fantastic day with everyone joining in and having an amazing trip, a few of the lads certainly conquered some fears!
Class 5
Class 5 had a great day at Gulliver's world on Wednesday, we had some very brave students! Tuesday's farm trip was lovely as usual, we even got a selfie with the chickens!
Class 6
On Wednesday Class 6 went to Gulliver’s world. Everyone had a good time, overcame their fears and challenged themselves.
Class 8
Class 8 had an amazing day at Gulliver’s World on Wednesday. Thank you to The Variety Club for giving us the opportunity.
Class 12
Class 12 worked really hard this week volunteering at Wythenshawe Park. Safely using equipment and wearing P.P.E., de-heading flowers, mowing the grass and tidying the entrance to the horticulture area.
Some students used strimmer’s for the first time and showed great skills whilst following instructions, complying with H&S, therefore, working safely. What a great result making the park look tidy.
Class 13
Class 13 had another brilliant Tennis session at the Albert Tennis club in Didsbury. While the group were there, they worked on their serve technique!
Outside Activities
Carrington Riding Centre
Some of our young learners at Carrington riding centre learning new skills on how to look after animals.
Heysham Beach Clean!
Last Friday Class 8 went to Heysham beach to take part in some conservation work towards their Ladarto Si. They did a litter pick and even had time to build some sandcastles.
Can you help us please? We are looking for donations of sports shirts (used or new football tops, cricket and rugby shirts) that we will collect and recycle for our partner school in Africa. Please donate those used shirts that no longer fit your children and also ask friends and family if they can donate too. These donations will make a real difference to many vulnerable children’s lives in Africa; please support the appeal.
Please send in any donations to School and we will forward them to Mr Foden, who is coordinating the appeal at SJV through to the end of June.
Many thanks for your support!
Our Catholic School
We are reminded in the Gospel this week that the Holy Spirit is our helper and helps us to live more like Jesus.
We are looking at this quote from Pope Francis
“The Holy Spirit helps us to view others with fresh eyes, seeing them as brothers and sisters in Jesus, to be respected and loved.”
Our continuing focus in SJV during the month of May is Our Lady, we honour the Virgin Mary as "the Queen of May". The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the fifth of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary .
Within our Catholic school this week, the chaplaincy team have helped prepare and support our Ascension services in all Key Stages. They were all a great help, and the lead chaplains are really stepping up to develop the liturgical life of the school. The services went well and our staff and students had time to reflect on this important event in Jesus's life.
Within Religious Education this week we have been looking at British Values and deciding why it is important as a religious school to uphold these. In Key Stages 4 and 5 we have looked at marriage in other religions and cultures, discussing how laws and beliefs have changed over time.
Mrs Garfin
Enjoy your Weekend!
Credits:
Created with images by kuritafsheen - "Blue Iguana closeup eyes, eyes of blue iguana " • Touchr - "Man open magic book with growing lights and magic powder floating on the book, Learning, Education, Knowledge and religion concept." • vectorfusionart - "Composite image of words exam" • geralt - "board school done" • devrawat21 - "Rating review icon on isolated white background, 3 Star rating symbol, 3d illustration" • Hanasaki - "Q&A キューアンドエー" • missisya - "young sprout of plant in gardening in the soil" • meen_na - "Ekrixinatosaurus Epitaph Dinosaur on white background" • Weiming - "Spring and Autumn Yancheng tourist area, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China" • es0lex - "Man jumping across the gap from one rock to cling to the other." • Syda Productions - "extreme sport, parkour and people concept - young man jumping high over tokyo city background" • meen_na - "Ekrixinatosaurus Epitaph Dinosaur on white background" • wip-studio - "Small organic vegetable garden in urban area. Vegetable garden boxes. Home grown vegetables. A garden wheelbarrow full of soil. beautiful garden arrangements" • photka - "Clothes donations box isolated on white background"