Newsletters

Friday 21st November 2025

 Today honestly felt just like Christmas! Mr. and Mrs. Coupland visited our 150th Anniversary Amazon Wishlist and surprised us with an amazing bundle of gifts! Their generosity and thoughtfulness have truly brightened our day, and we know the whole school will be thrilled.

A huge thank-you to everyone who has donated so far — your kindness means so much to us. If you’d like to treat the school to a gift, you can find our wishlist by clicking the link below!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/KE0ME16OGC28?ref_=wl_share

 

St Joseph's Academy - St Joseph's MAKER Spirit

Today was our first "Golden Chair" assembly of this school year. We celebrated the special children who had gone over and above and shown great resilience over the past two weeks. This week's superstars were Rec – Emilia, Y1 - Roman, Y2 - Toby, Y3-Penny, Y4 - Lola, Y5 - Jasiah, Y6 - Beth. 

So proud of them all. 

Afterwards, our special children were treated to hot chocolate and cookies in Mrs McFarlane's office – a great way to end a great week !

 

Multicultural Celebration Afternoon

 

🎉 A huge thank you to all the parents who joined our planning meeting on Thursday! We are super excited about next Thursday’s Cultural Extravaganza! 🌍✨

Early next week, you’ll receive an email with:

  • The ingredients for all the amazing foods we’ll be serving 🍲🥟🍰

  • A parental consent form ✅

You’ll be asked to let us know whether your child can take part in the food tasting adventure. Unfortunately, we can’t select individual dishes because there are just so many delicious treats to try! 😋 If you give consent, your child will have the chance to taste all the wonderful foods during the afternoon.

And the fun doesn’t stop there! At the end of the school day, all parents are invited to pop into the hall to join in and sample the scrumptious delights too. We can’t wait to celebrate this tasty, cultural feast with everyone! 🎊🍴

P.S 

If you haven’t yet sent us your special recipes for our anniversary book, there’s still time! 🍽️✨ Please send them in by next Friday.

With many thanks for helping us make this celebration extra special!

Thank you to all the prospective families who attended our open morning last Saturday. A huge thank you to the staff and also to our wonderful Y6 ambassadors, who were fantastic ambassadors for our school.

Many commented on the warm, welcoming feel of the
School, with several noting that the provision on offer exceeded their
expectations. Our Year 6 pupil ambassadors were highlighted as outstanding
examples of the qualities and confidence shown by pupils at our school.
Parents also praised the friendliness of staff and the overall look and feel of
the school environment. The Forest School provision was particularly
popular, as was the library, the creativity displayed across the curriculum,
and the high-quality artwork around the building.
 

National Emergency Museum - Y2 

Year 2 enjoyed a brilliant day at The National Emergency Museum. They took part in a Great Fire of London workshop and a fire safety session. The children also had lots of fun exploring the museum's exhibits, including all the historic vehicles and uniforms. The museum staff commented on their excellent behaviour, listening skills, and enthusiastic participation. Well done, Year 2!

 

Y3, Y4 and Y6 cinema trip

Three of our classes were treated to exciting cinema trips this week, and they all had a brilliant time! Mrs. McFarlane also received some lovely feedback from another school who happened to be there at the same time. During a training session, another headteacher told her that our pupils had behaved beautifully. What wonderful praise for our school!

We wouldn’t expect anything less — our children are always incredible!

Attendance this week

Class

Attendance

Number of late sessions

Rec

91.3%

1

Y1

97.35%

4

Y2

95.8%

3

Y3

96%

2

Y4

96%

0

Y5

95.4%

2

Y6

97%

2

Total

95.56%

14

When children are very young, they depend on adults to help them calm down when they are upset or stressed. This is called co-regulation. As they grow and become more independent, they start to learn self-regulation — the ability to control their own behaviour, manage their emotions, and think before they act.

Children don’t learn this on their own. They need patient, caring support from adults. Simply talking with your child about their feelings and what’s bothering them can make a big difference.

This guide includes some helpful tips from experts on how you can support your child as they learn these important skills.

Update from our Liturgy Leaders 

Beth and Huzaifah, our Y6 Liturgy Leaders, have been running Wednesday lunchtime prayers this half-term. Every Wednesday lunchtime, they ring a little bell, near our spiritual area, then lead prayers in the library . In October, they said the Rosary and wrote prayers to Our Lady. This month they have remembered people who may have died and have also spent time exploring different prayers. 

"It has been going really well, with lots of children coming every week to explore different prayers and sing different hymns. It has been so good to have some special time together to pray to God." Beth

"It has been good, loads of people have enjoyed it and have felt emotionally connected to God – it's been so good to have our own space to spend time with God."

Lunchtimes!

We are happy to share the success of our new lunchtime system which we started this half-term! Year 2 and Key Stage 2 children are now enjoying going into the dining hall in their House Groups—Angels, Disciples, Prophets, and Saints. This lovely change allows siblings to eat together, and we are already seeing fantastic opportunities for older pupils to support and act as great role models for the younger children. This initiative is really strengthening our whole school community!

This week, Aida in Year 2 absolutely blew all the teachers’ socks off with her fantastic story! She wrote a brilliant piece full of ambitious language and excellent sentences — all completely independently. Aida is truly a shining example of a great St Joseph’s learner. Well done, Aida!

This half-term is extremely busy, yet also very special. Rehearsals will soon be in full swing as we prepare for all of our Advent celebrations. The season of Advent begins on Sunday the 30th of November and we are delighted that Fr. Mark will be joining us next Friday to bless all the Advent wreaths in school once again.

Please see below the key dates for your diaries. These important Advent celebrations are moments we would love you to share with us.

Dear God,

Thank you for the month of November.
Thank you for all the good things and for keeping us safe and strong. 

As this month draws to an end and a new one begins, please continue to guide our family.
Help us to be kind and brave, and to always do our best.
Fill our hearts with love and help us to be good friends to others. 

Amen.