A message from our Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
I do hope you and your families are keeping well?
We have had another busy week in school with the highlight for many pupils being the Key Stage 3 residential in the Lake District. Each child in Key Stage 3 has had the opportunity to attend Bendrigg for three days and two nights, undertaking activities such as archery, zip wire, the sensory swing, ghyll scrambling and other outside education pursuits.
For many of our children this is the first time that they have been away from their homes and families. The residential provides the children with some amazing teambuilding activities and opportunities to develop their independence and resilience. The feedback from staff who attended the trip has been fantastic, identifying that so many of our children have stepped out of their comfort zone and achieved many successes. This would not have been possible without the skills and experience of our own staff and the staff at Bendrigg, who we are really grateful for organising the residential and freely spending time away from their home and families with our children, ensuring they have a wonderful and safe experience.
I know, from seeing the children on return, that many of them are very tired, but also, they have told me they have had some lovely experiences and built up some stronger relationships with their peers and teachers, which will help them when they return to their usual curriculum next week. In the next two weeks our Key Stage 4 cohort will attend their own residential to The Calvert Trust, in Keswick. The staff and pupils at Key Stage 4 are very brave and are planning a four-night, five-day experience, which will really test their perseverance and resilience. Again, we are very confident that all these residential opportunities will provide our children with life long memories and brilliant learning experiences.
In school this week, we have been busy again with the builders and planners finalising the design and building proposals for the new school. We are now at quite an advanced stage for the new building and will probably be able to start building work, at some point before the summer break. I will keep you informed when we have a greater understanding of how the new build will impact on our working schedule for the next academic year.
Finally, can I remind you please that we have planned for the annual Parents’ Evening to take place on Thursday, 30th March from 4:30pm to 6:30pm in the school hall. Please ensure you place this date in your diary and make every attempt to come into school to speak to the teaching staff, who support your child. The week before, we will send out to you the second interim report of the school year and the Parents’ Evening will provide a great opportunity for you to talk to the staff and discuss the progress made in lessons since last September. We look forward to welcoming you into school on the 30th.
Please also remember that next Friday, 17th March Ms Nesbitt and the KS4 BTEC hospitality and catering team are organising a coffee afternoon in school, with tickets priced at £2.50 per person. All proceeds will go to our support of CAFOD for Lent. It would be great to see you join us for an informal chat and refreshments next Friday.
I do hope you have a great weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Mr A Moloney
Headteacher
Stars of the Week
Each week a 'Star of the Week' is chosen by the class team to celebrate achievements; both academic and pastoral.
This week we are celebrating the following achievements:
Arshvin - For lots of perseverance and resilience at forest school
Megan - For working hard to increase her independence with all her classwork
George - For being a great support to his friends in Class.
Dylan - For a good attitude to learning in lessons this week!
Adam - For continuing to receive great feedback from his work experience placement
Jackson - For having a good attitude in lessons and producing some fantastic drawings.
Dylan - For undergoing a massive transition in his learning and overall attitude to school life.
Alfie - For fantastic behaviour and effort all week!
Ayla - For fantastic work in Maths and OMF.
Heaven - For being an 'always' student
Aidan - For coping very well with transitions to offsite activities.
Blythe - for showing many acts of kindnesses, to the staff and pupils in her class. Well done Blythe
Class 2
Class 2 had a fantastic time at Bendrigg this week, they have learnt lots about independence and resilience through lots of different activities which include canoeing, rock climbing, archery, testing our bravery on the zip wire and investigating the site to complete the Bendrigg challenge.
Enjoy your Weekend!
Class 4
Class 4 had so much fun and adventure this week at Bendrigg, from wall climbing to abseiling, canoeing and zip-lining, Class 4 threw themselves into all activities and had the best time doing so. Class 4 were brave and adventurous and always up for a challenge. Well done Class 4.
Carrington Riding Centre
2 of our students enjoying learning how to care for animals at Carrington Riding Centre.
Laudato Si
As part of this year’s programme of Lent activity and in support of the school’s commitment to the ‘Laudato Si’ message, we are offering you the opportunity to purchase some Fair Trade chocolate before Easter.
The Laudato Si message is a letter that Pope Francis has written addressed to every person on the planet, asking us all to work together to protect the earth. (please see below link with more information) https://cafod.org.uk/education/primary-teaching-resources/laudato-si-for-children
The School are taking part in many activities throughout this year. One of these is promoting and selling fair-trade chocolate. Fair-trade is a simple way to make a difference to the lives of the people who grow and create the things we love. It’s all about making trade fair and for the workers to receive a fair price for the products that they produce. Our children have had been involved in Fair Trade assemblies over the past few weeks.
If you would like to purchase any of these products, please let the main office know and send in your payment by March 17th 2023. We will then order the chocolate on your behalf and distribute it through your child in the final week of this term, ready for Easter. This is a great way for you to support poorer farmers across the world, who make Fair Trade produce.
Our Catholic School
We are asked on our Lenten journey to the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday, to draw closer to God. Pope Francis reminds us ‘With God we can do great things. Jesus is always ready to encourage and support us'. At the moment the world is definitely in need of love and we need to accept that with God in our lives we can do great things. We need to think of others and give love to the vulnerable, the elderly, and the sick; with so much going on at the moment we need to think about what God wants for us and what can we do for others.
In school we are continuing on our Lenten mission, 40 Acts of Kindness. It’s lovely to read through all the Acts of Kindness and see what an amazing community we have at SJV. What has been so lovely is to see how many staff get Acts of Kindness written about them as well! I send a weekly email to those special staff and I know its brightened their day. We have been continuing to spend time in Si-Lent, having time to be quiet and be still and have real time for God. Each class has time in the Chapel to just be with God. Despite the worry with bills and rising prices at the moment people have been very generous in our Lenten appeals.
Key Stage 3 have been on residential this week with 3 classes going Monday to Wednesday and 3 more going Wednesday to Friday. The fabulous Father Nick joined us for some of the residential and we all had a fabulous time.
In RE lessons this week we have been looking at Fairtrade fortnight- focusing this week on trying to persuade others to use Fairtrade where ever possible, looking at the benefits of using these amazing products and looking at the huge range of products now available, which ensures the farmers and growers are given a fair price for their produce.
Mrs Garfin
A word from our Safeguarding Officer
Grants
Did you know family fund offer grants to families raising a disabled or seriously ill children and young people?
You can apply for a grant if you meet their eligibility criteria.
What can the grant be used for?
From kitchen appliances, to play equipment and days out - find out about the types of items that you can apply for through their grant programmes.
To find our more or apply online for a grant click here to visit their website:
Five Dinners
https://www.familyfund.org.uk/grants/apply-for-a-grant/
Limited time offer – get FREE lifetime membership to FiveDinners.com!
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Best wishes,
Theo Michaels
Credits:
Created with images by geralt - "board school done" • Panumas - "Asian teenage girl in elementary science class doing chemical model form and make a short note. Education concept" • Nomad_Soul - "Pretty traveler woman with backpack on a mountain" • maxbelchenko - "Shopping bags in the hands. Hand of young woman with shopping bags with purchases. Closeup of woman holding shopping bags on on the city street. Consumerism, shopping, sales, lifestyle concept." • Tierney - "Summer shopping theme" • puckillustrations - "word with dice on white background- words" • ddukang - "Shuttlecocks and badminton racket. Yellow background." • LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS - "back view of students with backpacks walking on street" • HBS - "We've finally graduated!Graduates near university are throwing up hats in the air."