St. John’s Catholic Primary School Newsletter 16 – 16th January 2026

This Sunday’s Gospel:

Adapted from John 1:29-34
The 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.” John also declared, “I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.”

Attendance Award – Year  R – 100% – Well done!

Whole School Attendance –  95%

Superstars of the Week!

YR – Josiah for his enthusiasm and participation in all areas of learning.

Y1 – Orla for always being a super sensible member of year 1 and always trying her best!

Y2 – Nathaniel for being a superstar all week in Maths, recognising and counting coins.

Y3 – Annie for excellent listening skills and great participation in French – tres bien! Excellent francais!

Y4 – Alexander for his much improved focus in class and his consistent efforts to do well with his learning. 

Y5 – Kian as Miss Adams is very proud of how resilient and hard working you have been. Keep it up!

Y6 – Oliver for demonstrating more independance with his learning.

Proud Work: 16/01/2026

YR – Leo for his effort and determination in our writing task this week, demonstrating his phonics knowledge. 

Y1 – Thomas for trying so hard to improve his handwriting in his English word this week!

Y2 – Sofiia explored shadowing, making patterns with lines and drawing objects with an unbroken line. Sofiia has a beautifully presented art book.

Y3 -Jacinta  for a fantasic description of mount vesuvius volcano eruption.

Y4 – Elisa’s focus and aspiration in RE has been excellent, especially in the reflective and insightful discussions she’s had in class about who Jesus was and how he was seen by others. 

Y5 – Flynn for his news bulletin inspired by the stranger appearing on an island. 

Y6 -Cuba for a focussed approach to his SATs practice, resulting in an increase in his reading score.

Silver Reader

Y1 – Thomas, Lucy, Emily

Y2 – Ariana, Hemashi, Artin

Y3 – Ameerah

Y5 – Eden, Lila

Times Tables Rockstars

Headliner: 

Unsigned Act: Evie-Rose H,  Heevan V, Maria

Chartwells Supplier Change

Update on primary phase school lunch contracts from John Figgins, Head of Catering Services for West Sussex County Council. 

‘It is with immense pleasure that I can now update schools further concerning the outcome of our recent primary phase school meals contract procurement activity.

Following a rigorous initial market engagement period, and a transparent, full open procurement, in line with the new Procurements Regulations Act 2023, we have concluded our procurements.

Throughout the whole exercise, the voice of schools, parents and carers, and children have been our guide, through surveys we sent out in 2024, attendance at the primary Heads Exec, our own team who are out in schools every day carrying out Quality Assurance visits, as well as regular emails I receive.

You told us what you wanted from a service from a child and school’s point of view, and we have tried to incorporate all of that into the new contracts.

Some of the contract highlights I can now unveil. Key initiatives ISS are providing under their Feeding Hungry Minds brand include:

• £2.95 meal price (a total saving of close to £1m in 2026/27 for participating schools)
• Introduction of ovens to facilitate an on-site baked food offer (removing microwave ovens)
• Freshly baked bread every day
• Ordering up till 09:30 on the day of the meal
• A new, intuitive and user-friendly payment and special diet platform, Kanpla (removing ParentPay)
• Food will mostly be delivered in re-useable red plastic crates (returned and re-used by ISS)
• Food cooked in foil containers, no more plastic trays
• Every batch of meals will have passed microbe testing before being served to children
• Standard menu to be offered on day one after a school holiday
• Halal meat meal options (choice of, not by default)
• Commitment to source c.70% of ingredients from UK suppliers, the majority within 150 miles of West Sussex’

Changes will come into place from September next year, we will share further details when we have them.

Please see further information on the new school meals provider at: https://www.feedinghungryminds.co.uk/

Chartwells Order Deadline Dates

Please order by the dates below to ensure your child has a hot lunch in the Spring Term.

Cutting up Food

Please could all KS1 and Reception parents support children in becoming fully independent in cutting up their food. Please see below website for some helpful tips: https://www.parentclub.scot/articles/tips-helping-your-child-use-cutlery

Rags To Riches – Monday 2 March

We have signed up to the Rags2Riches4Schools recycling scheme, to raise money and help others around the world benefit from our good quality unwanted clothes and shoes. The money we raise from every kilo of clothes we collect will go towards school resources and would be most grateful if you could help us with this challenge at home.

We have a collection booked on 02/03/2026 so please keep good clothing to donate to us on this date by 8.45am. (Please do not bring to school before this date)

Clean and reusable items that can be donated:

• Good quality clothes and accessories.
• Adult’s, children’s and babies’ clothing such as jackets, jumpers, hoodies, trousers, skirts, scarves, gloves, belts, handbags, paired shoes and other footwear etc.

They cannot reuse the following items:

• Worn out shoes or clothes, clothes that are wet or have holes in.
• Curtains, pillows or duvets, bric-a-brac or books. Personalised items. 
• Work uniform, School uniform or school sports kit

If you are unsure what to put in the bags, then

STOP AND THINK – WOULD SOMEONE ELSE BUY & WEAR IT?

If it isn’t something you’d wear out and about yourself or pass to a friend, then no-one else will want to buy and wear it so unfortunately, it’s not reusable and can’t go in the bag.

 Spring Term 2026

Monday 2 February: Child Mental Health Day – non school uniform day (wear green or yellow)

Friday 13 February: INSET day

Monday 16 – Friday 20 February: half term

Monday 23 February: INSET day

Monday 2 March: Rags 2 Riches collection day

Friday 27 March: break up for Easter

Monday 13 April: children return to school

New Term Dates for next Academic Year (2026/27):

Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 September: INSET day

Thursday 3 September: Children return to school

Monday 14 – Friday 18 September: Y6 Residential

Friday 9 October: INSET day

Monday 26 – Friday 30 October: half term

Monday 21 December – Sunday 3 January 2027: Christmas holiday

Monday 15 – Friday 19 February: half term

Monday 22 February: INSET day

Friday 26 March – Friday 9 April: Easter holiday

Monday 3 May: school closed due to Bank holiday

Monday 31 May – Friday 4 June: half term

Monday 7 June: INSET day

Wednesday 21 July: break up for summer holidays

Thursday 2 September: children return to school

To keep up to date with future school events, please visit the school calendar which can be found on the parents page on our website.

Parents – St John’s Catholic Primary School

Homework Reminder

As we start a new term it offers a good opportunity to remind parents about homework across the school.

Please can you ensure that homework is completed weekly. It does make a difference to the children in school.

For each class this includes reading the schoolbook at least 4 times in the week, (the more they read the better.) Once they have read, please complete the reading record. For children in Yrs 5 and 6 this can be completed by the child, but they must still be heard reading out loud by an adult. This is one of the most important things you can do as a parent to support your child’s development and progress. Asking them questions about the text also really helps their understanding.

Phonics practice for Reception children and Year 1 on Bug Club phonics (some children in other years may still be on this as they are still learning their skills.) Children learn a new sound almost daily in these years, so it is important they review this at home with you. They could also practice writing the sounds and develop their handwriting skills, although this is not part of the expectation. Handwriting templates are on the class portals in your year groups area.

From Year 1 upwards children should also be accessing Numbots to help develop their mathematical fluency skills. The more they do, the quicker their mental maths becomes, and this supports them in class learning hugely. They should be completing several sessions a week. Again, the more they do to work on these skills the more they will benefit in school. Short sessions for younger children often have more impact as they can stay focused. Some children can get frustrated if they get stuck on a level, we don’t want them to become disengaged or upset by it, so if there is a problem let the class teacher know so they can help.

Year 3 and above are also required to learn their timetables. The curriculum expectation is that children will know their tables 1-12 by the end of Year 4. (There is a statutory timetable check in the summer term for all of Year 4.) For some children this is not always possible, and they must continue to learn them in later years. We know for some children retaining the information is challenging and it takes longer.  For children that are fluent in their timetables and know them all, they then work on other multiplication facts that support their mental maths skills and fluency. Children all have a log in for Rockstar timetables which can help to improve speed and fluency. Year 2 will be introduced to Rockstar Timetables this term.

Spellings for each class from Year 1 upwards is set weekly on Spelling Shed and tested each week in class. There are games to help children learn through play on Spelling Shed or parents can write out the spellings if they feel this works better for their child. Each year group has statutory spellings from the National Curriculum that they are expected to lean throughout the year. At points teachers will also add in topic specific words to help support classwork. Spellings is a consideration in assessing writing throughout the year so support learning spellings at home really helps progress in English. All we ask is that children practice during the week before the test. We know some children are natural spellers and others it is more challenging. If they are consistently trying that is all we ask of them.

Homework is there to develop the core skills that will have the most impact on their learning. It really can make a huge difference, and we ask parents to ensure it is completed weekly. We know some children resist homework, but it is important that they get into good habits as the volume at Secondary school is dramatically increased. We are trying to prepare them for their future as well as support them in their present.

As ever we appreciate the partnership with parents and families. You are their primary educators.  If you are struggling with homework or battles are ensuing, please do raise it with the class teacher so they can support you and your child. If you have any questions about homework, please do ask your class adults.