St. John’s Catholic Primary School Newsletter 4 — 3rd October 2025

Adopted from Luke 17:5-10 The 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C 

The apostles said to the Lord,“Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “Were your faith the sizeof a mustard seed, you could
say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’and it would obey you. Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, ‘Come and have your meal immediately’? Would he not be more likely to say, ‘Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards’? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are merely servants; we have done no more than our duty.’”

Attendance Award – Year 5 – 99.6%

Whole School Attendance – 96.6% Well done! 

Superstars of the Week!

YR -Rafael for his participation in all learning activities this week and demonstrating stewardship at tidy up time.

Y1 -Vedha for being a wonderful role model in year 1, and trying so hard in all her learning.

Y2 -Katya for settling in so well into Year 2, becoming a confident learner contributing to the Common good at St John’s.

Y3 –Aiden for a great start to year 3. We are lucky to have you in our class.

Y4 – Evelyn for her aspiration in her learning, cheerful participation and helpful, responsible actions.

Y5 -Noah for an excellent start to Year 5 and settling quickly into the class.

Y6 – To the whole of Year 6 for an AMAZING residential! 

Proud Work: 03/10/2025

YR -Ella for her participation in RE, focussing to draw her family in God’s love. Well done Ella, Mrs Batchelor.

Y1 – Violet for her wonderful ideas in RE, showing all the ways that she knows god loves her.

Y2 -Sophia P for her Acrostic poem for R.E., demonstrating her understanding of solidarity, Stewardship and the common good.

Y3 -Wilfred for taking on the role of Brian, ‘The Invisible Boy’, in RE. Wilfred demonstrated empathy and dignity while expressing Brian’s feelings. (Great acting Wilfred)

Y4 -Vinny for learning to say his birthday in French with an excellent accent – tres bien!

Y5 -Arina for her well written biography of Philippe Petit.

Y6 – To all of Year 6 – we are extremely proud of your achievements this week.

Numbots

Brass: Y2 Nathaniel, Y4 Megan, Miriam

Carbon Fibre: Y5 Maija

Rust: Y1 Sophie, Joselle, Ethan, Theodore

Tungsten: Y4 Lilian

Iron: Y1 Sophie, Y2 Hemashi

Copper: Y2 Joshua, Nathaniel

Glass: Y3 Mariana

Chrome: Y2 Toby

Tin: Y2 Nathaniel, Y4 Heevan

Kevlar: Y4 Eloise

Chartwells Order Deadline Dates

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

Holly Communions

Applications forms are now available for the parish 2026 Holy Communion Programme. If you would like to register your child, please speak to Father Tristan or Deacon Tom after Mass and they will provide you with an application form. 

World Mental Health Day

Show young people are not alone with their mental health by wearing yellow for World Mental Health Day which is on Friday 10th October. As we are on INSET day, we will mark this day on Thursday 9th October instead. Children can wear all yellow or just an accessory. They do not have to wear school uniform on the day. 

Year 6 Residential – Runways End

 This week, Year 6 headed off on their adventures for their residential week at Runways End. Filled with fun, excitement, lovely food and activities that tested their skills and resilience, it looks like they had an amazing time and we cannot wait to hear all about it when they are back in school next week. 

We have been posting a daily diary of their activities on our Facebook page but here is also a snap shot of their adventures this week! 

National Poetry Day

Thursday 2nd October was National Poetry Day and so Year 4 had a little celebration of poetry in class. The children had a lovely time reading lots of poems and performing them in class – showing courage, creativity and compassion. It was wonderful to see what a wonderful range of poems they enjoyed.

Many of the children  had their photo taken with one of their favourites.

They were particularly inspired by the poet and author Joseph Coelho and they watched a couple of videos with him on BBC Bitesize.

Eloise was also inspired by Alan Durant and wrote her own wonderful version of his poem ‘Turning Ten’.

I’m turning nine,

I’ll never see eight again.

I’m moving out of a life in a curl,

Coz tomorrow I’ll be nine.

I’m leaving behind year 3

And entering a life of year 4.

I will probably wake up an inch taller or something like that.

I’m turning nine tomorrow!

And Alice’s impressive writing was inspired by the style and language of William Shakespeare.

To be or not to be?

Thy shall bow before your throng

Safer and lone with thy mighty sword.

With this sword, I shall fight for what’s right

Through darkness and misery,

For in sleep of death, I shall serve you forever more.

Whether ‘tis noble, I shall take an arrow through this hollow heart.

As the light dims, I see my fate.

Thank you! 

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our coffee morning on Wednesday. It was lovely to see you and come together to support such a worthly cause.

Thank you to Newbridge Garden Centre 

Another Thank You goes to Elisa’s (Y4) mum and to Newbridge Garden Centre for the wonderful boxes of donations this week. Its like an Aladdin’s cave in the office at the moment of treats from stationary items to gift cards. Once we have sorted through all the donations we will give you more information on how the wonderful generosity will be used. 

My Child at School – Absence Reporting

We still appear to be receiving some absence notifications via Studybugs rather than MCAS. As a school we have never used Studybugs as a means to communicate or record absences therefore please can you ensure that you are using MCAS or emailing the school office if your child is absence for any reason. 

Notification for Announcements and Messages

Following reports of issues with notifications of announcements, I can confirm that this now appears to have been resolved. If you continue to have any problems and have double checked your phone and app setting please let us know and we will raise the issue again.

Thank you 

2025/26 Term Dates!

Autumn Term 2025

Friday 10 October: INSET Day
Friday 24 October: children break up for October half-term
Half-term: Monday 27 October—Friday 31 October
Monday 3 November: children back to school
Friday 19 December: Last day of Autumn Term
Christmas holiday: Monday 22 December—Friday 2 January 2026

Spring Term 2026

Monday 5 January: 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

Friends of St John’s

With Christmas fast approaching, its time to turn our attentions to the Christmas Far. We will be holding a planning meeting on Thursday 6th November from 7:30pm – 9:30pm and would love to see some new faces if you can join us. 

We will also be sending home Rudolph cards shortly for the children to make some lovely Christmas cards and gifts. Order deadline is Friday 24th October.

There is still time for you to grab your tickets for next weeks school discos. Please contact the PTA or visit their website for more information. 

2025/26 Term Dates!

Autumn Term 2025

Friday 10 October: INSET Day
Friday 24 October: children break up for October half-term
Half-term: Monday 27 October—Friday 31 October
Monday 3 November: children back to school
Friday 19 December: Last day of Autumn Term
Christmas holiday: Monday 22 December—Friday 2 January 2026

Spring Term 2026

Monday 5 January: 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

Friends of St John’s

With Christmas fast approaching, its time to turn our attentions to the Christmas Far. We will be holding a planning meeting on Thursday 6th November from 7:30pm – 9:30pm and would love to see some new faces if you can join us. 

We will also be sending home Rudolph cards shortly for the children to make some lovely Christmas cards and gifts. Order deadline is Friday 24th October.

There is still time for you to grab your tickets for next weeks school discos. Please contact the PTA or visit their website for more information.