St Joseph's Academy Parent Portal - Friday 17th May 2024

Pentecost

Pentecost occurs on the seventh Sunday after Christ’s resurrection and concludes the season of Easter. This period of 50 days between Easter Sunday and Pentecost is punctuated with Christ’s appearances to the disciples. These appearances affirmed the reality of Christ’s resurrection and helped the disciples understand more clearly Christ’s message of mercy and love. But despite the appearances, the disciples remained clouded with anxiety and doubt. Without Christ’s constant presence they were uncertain of their purpose and mission. That was until God’s Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples at Pentecost, enabling them to go out and spread the Good News of Christ with all. Because of this, Pentecost is regarded as the birth of the Church and its mission to the world.

Take a look at some of the fantastic artwork that the children have been busy creating in class to represent the Holy Spirit.

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May Procession

On Friday 17th May, the whole community at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School celebrated Our Lady with a procession around school and the church grounds .

As they processed onto the school field, each child placed a flower at the statue of Our Lady’s. Fr Mark joined our celebration as the children shared readings, prayed and sang Marian hymns.

We were grateful to all the parents and families who joined us. It was a wonderful afternoon and the sun stayed out for us!

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Congratulations

To all of our wonderful Year 6 pupils who have shown such resilience and maturity as they completed their SATs tests this week.

We are very proud of you all

Also thank you to our amazing staff that have supported the children and helped to make this SATs week run smoothly.

Thank you to our wonderful grandparents!

On Tuesday Year 3 had a fabulous afternoon with some of their grandparents who came to help us with the gardening. The children really enjoyed planting seeds and then making hanging baskets. We then went outside and tidied around the outdoor classroom and field. After all our hard work we finished the afternoon with a bun.

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The Reception class had a special delivery when they returned to school after the Easter holidays. They have been looking after some eggs for the last few weeks. The eggs take 21 days to incubate and once they hatched they were taken out of the incubator and put into a place with a heat lamp. The children were so excited, curious and intrigued to learn about the eggs. They have learnt a lot of new language and vocabulary through this hands-on experience which has developed their communication and language skills. The Reception children have also developed their understanding of life cycles, growth and changes. Learning to look after the eggs and the chicks when they hatched has been a cross-curricular activity and has developed the children’s understanding of the world. As well as building important knowledge, looking after the chicks has allowed them to use their knowledge of science to learn about how things grow and change over time!

What an amazing experience.

We enjoyed watching them in the incubator before having the chance to hold the chicks and watch them in the classroom! What an eggs-ellent time we had!

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Upcoming Events and Important Dates

Thurs 23rd & Fri 24th May - Year 5 Residential, Castleton

Half Term - 27th - 31st May

Mon 3rd June - INSET Day

Mon 17th June - Year 6 Crucial Crew

Wed 19th June - Francophone Day

Mon 24th June - Wellbeing Week

Weds 26th June - Sports Day

Thurs 4th July - Festival of Art

Fri 12th July - School Prom

Mon 15th July - Year 6 Performance

Fri 19th July - 1:30pm End of Summer Term

Summer Break - 22nd July - 3rd Sept

Wed 4th Sept - Pupils return to school

Weekly Attendance - week beginning 13th May 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

What parents and educators need to know about

School Avoidance

School avoidance is a sharply increasing phenomenon, with tangible negative effects on children’s wellbeing and education. The factors that come together to make a child consciously avoid seeing their classmates and teachers can be much more complicated than is often assumed. A careful, mindful approach from parents, carers and educators is required to help children return to an environment that may be causing them intense anxiety.

The following guide aims to help you understand the issue of school avoidance – not only its potential roots and ramifications, but also what you can do to help children and young people navigate these obstacles and continue their education.

Statistics from the Children’s Commissioner found that in the 2022/23 academic year, 22.3% of all pupils were persistently absent – a significant increase from 2018/19, when that figure was 10.9%. This lost time can have a notable impact on children’s development, learning and overall wellbeing.

The specific reasons for school avoidance are sometimes hard to pin down – and it can be even harder to know how best to help absent children return to education. The guide breaks down some of the causes and effects of school avoidance and provides advice on how you can help young people triumph over this potentially damaging cycle.

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