Newsletters

Friday 9th February 2024

Chinese New Year 2024 will take place on the 10th of February, with the beginning of the year of the Dragon. Celebrations will last from the 9th of February (New Year’s Eve) until the 15th day of the New Year. It is celebrated with gifts, fireworks and dragon and lion dances. 

Each year (also known as a cycle) of the Chinese New Year calendar is represented by a different zodiac animal. There are 12 in total. According to legend, these 12 animals participated in a race, which then determined their place of order in the Chinese New Year calendar. 

Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, marks the first day of the New Year in the Chinese traditional calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, used widely around the world today, the lunisolar calendar determines dates using the location of the sun and the moon relative to the Earth. This is why, on our Western calendars, the date changes each year!

It is one of the most important events in Chinese culture and the holiday is today celebrated all around the world. Many other countries celebrate the holiday as an official festival (Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines) due to its cultural significance. 

Congratulations to 

Theodore, Daniel, Marta, Rico, Kaiden, Nathaniel and Eddie

our Curious learners this week

 

They have demonstrated their Curious Maker spirit by asking questions, looking closely at things and finding problems in order to learn more about a topic. They have actively engaged with new information which adds depth to their learning. 

Ezekiel and Amelia, our house captains of the Angel's house, revisited our

Critical Maker Spirit

This week we will be looking for children who demonstrate their critical thinking by engaging with ethical issues and questioning ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them.

Children with critical thinking skills can:

  • Understand the links between ideas.

  • Identify inconsistencies and errors in reasoning.

  • Approach problems in a consistent and systematic way.

  • Make connections with people, and are active learners

Year 4 Maker Project

Y4 Started off the week with a visit from the Maker Team for an incredible VR experience. The children took a little trip to the Borneo rainforest using the WWF Ecosphere app. They also had a wonderful time creating observational drawings and bug hunting in the school grounds. 

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WOW - THE WALK TO SCHOOL CHALLENGE

WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. 

WOW – Living Streets’ year-round walk to school challenge – is the first step in tackling congestion, improving road safety and developing a healthy habit for life.

WOW typically increases walking rates by 23%, reduces the number of cars at school gates by 30%.

Park and Stride is a simple idea for families who live far away to still enjoy the benefits of walking to school.

If your family drives to school, try parking a ten minute walk from school and complete your journey on foot. It reduces traffic, congestion and road danger around the school gates whilst allowing children the chance to get active for the last part of their journey. 

 

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Online Safety

The guide below compiles a list of useful suggestions which could help you and your family strike the right balance and build digital resilience. 

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Wellbeing week Feb 19th - 23rd

Looking after our mental health and ensuring that it’s healthy is just as important as with our physical health. Children often don’t have the skills and the awareness needed to look after their own mental health.

1 in 6 children and young people now have a diagnosable mental health condition.

During Wellbeing Week, we will raise awareness of the importance of looking after our mental health and wellbeing. This is an opportunity to help children improve their understanding of mental health, and in turn their ability to look after their own.

The children will take part in a variety of activities which will help them to take stock of their own wellbeing, as well as looking out for the wellbeing of our loved ones and others in our community.  

Throughout the week we will focus on the following areas :

  • Connecting with others 
  • Celebrating ourselves and others 
  • Learning new skills
  • Paying attention to the moment
  • Being physically active 

On Friday 23rd February come to school in your most comfiest snuggliest clothing…this could be PJ’s, a onesie, tracksuit and hoodies.

Car-parking

We would like to ask your views on parking around school especially in the morning before school and in the afternoon when school finishes.  We will use the results to understand the concerns around parking and develop ideas and solutions to help tackle the issue. 

This survey is anonymous. 

St Joseph's School Parking Survey

Thank you for taking the time to fill out the survey.

Spotlight on......

Our Safeguarding Team

Safeguarding at St Joseph's 

  • If you have any concerns about a student at St Joseph's, please share this information with us straight away.
  • Issues such as appearance, hygiene, behaviour, can be shared with teaching or support staff.
  • Do not worry about reporting small matters – we would rather you tell us than miss a worrying situation.
  • If you think that a student or an adult who cares for them has been or might be harmed; please talk to a member of our trained safeguarding team immediately (details above).
  • You can ask any member of staff to find them and speak to you about a confidential and urgent matter.

Upcoming Events and Important Dates 

Spring Half Term - 12th to 16th February

Mon 19th Feb - Wellbeing week begins

Thurs 29th Feb - Year 5 visit Pizza Express

Fri 1st March - Sports for Champions Day - Please note change of date

Tues 5th March - Mars Day

Thurs 7th March - World Book Day

Mon 11th March - Science Week begins

Thurs 14th March - Parent Coffee Afternoon 2-3pm

Mon 18th March - Autism Awareness Week

Weds 20th March - Year 6 Get Up to Speed STEM showcase @Magna 

Thurs 21st March - Parents Evening

Sun 24th March - Palm Sunday Beginning of Holy Week

Tues 26th March - Parents Evening

Weds 27th March - KS2 Easter Praise

Thurs 28th March - Maunday Thursday - End of Spring Term

Easter Break - 29th March – 12th April

Mon 15th April - Pupils return to school

Adverse Weather Policy 

As the weather forecast is poor, we would like to remind you of the emergency procedures.

As well as the unpredictable weather, there may be times when we are not able to open school due to unforeseen emergencies such as no water which would mean that the site does not meet the necessary Health and Safety requirements. We could even find ourselves without enough staff available to look after all the children. Should any of these events occur we will communicate this information in the following ways: 

EMAIL - We will email messages as email will often arrive quicker so please check your emails. 

WEBSITE - You can check on Sheffield City Council Website:  https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/schoolclosures

click here

RADIO - Messages will be relayed on:

Radio Sheffield 88.6, 104.1 FM  and  Radio Hallam: 97.4, 102.9, 103.4 FM 

Please do not ring school as the phone lines will be busy.

Attendance guidance for parents

Tips for parents whose children are struggling to attend school

The back-to-school period after a holiday can be a difficult time for parents too. Parents play a key role in helping children to return to the classroom. Parents often know best what their children need, but they can’t do it alone. It is vital that schools and parents can work together to understand and overcome the reasons that are behind their child’s reluctance.

Every child is different. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to improving school attendance. And there are no quick fixes either. Improving a child’s relationship with school can take time and it is essential that schools and parents work in partnership to support those who are struggling to get back to the classroom.

Here are 10 top tips for parents of children who struggle to attend and are worried about the return to school:

  1. Listen to your child’s worries and let them think of solutions. How do they think they can deal with this? What can they do to make it better? Empower them to develop the strategies to overcome their own worries.
  2. If there are problems, make sure the school knows what’s going on as soon as possible. Find out the best point of contact at your child’s school, whether that’s their class teacher, SENCO, or Family Support Worker, and keep them updated.
  3. Make a list of the ways you think the school could best support your child to return to school. As their parent, you know your child best. If your child feels unable to go to school, you know that you can’t force them. However, you are best placed to understand why that might be, and to communicate that to their school.
  4. Reassure your child that feeling nervous or anxious is totally normal. Going back to the school routine can be daunting for some who may feel overwhelmed, so it’s understandable that they have some worries.
  5. Build a calming night time routine. Limiting time on social media and electronics the night before can reduce worries about school before going to sleep.
  6. Prepare something to look forward to after the first week back. This could be their favourite meal or a movie night, or simply a treat at the end of the school day.
  7. If you have your own worries, be open with the school about them and seek support. They might not always be able to help, but could signpost you to other services.
  8. Gently prepare for the first day back in advance. The first week back of a new term is an important moment to reset routines around school attendance. You can use the holidays to start to prepare for the return to school. Practice getting up early for a day or two before school starts, check the bus timetables and discuss lunch arrangements – all of this will reduce anxious feelings that can come up the night before term starts.
  9. Practice the journey to school over the holidays. Make sure they feel comfortable with the route to school so that it feels familiar, and there are no surprises on their first day back after half-term.
  10. Get everything ready Make sure that all the back-to-school essentials are ready to make it less of an ordeal when it’s time to getting everything ready so it’s not a panic and normalises the event.

Weekly Attendance - week beginning 5th February 2024 

Our whole school attendance target for this academic year (23/24) is 96.5%

Follow the link below for further information:

NHS 'Is my child too ill for school?' guidance

Intervention/ Booster Sessions

Dear Parents / Carers,

At St Joseph's, we are extremely fortunate in that we have a highly dedicated staff team who are able to offer some of our children targeted intervention sessions, outside of the school day. These sessions are offered to children, when it is felt that they need additional support either to catch up or also to achieve greater depth. This is something that definitely does not happen in every school.

I have been concerned to hear that in some instances the offer of these targeted sessions are not taken up. Obviously in some instances, they may not fit with other commitments and this is completely understandable. However we do not expect that you ask staff to change the allocated slots of the session as this is not always appropriate.

 We would ask that when your child is offered a place, that you seriously consider this offer. We aim to provide the best possible education that we can to all of our children and these sessions will have a huge impact on progress and attainment.

Should you have any queries at all in regard to this, then please do not hesitate to contact me,

With kindest regards,

Mrs Debra McFarlane
Head Teacher
St Josephs Catholic Primary School

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