Weekly Newsletter

Upcoming Dates

Monday 23rd February

• First day of Term 4

Tuesday 24th February

• Parent meeting about the Bordeaux trip

Friday 27th February

• PSA Quiz night

W/c 2nd March

• Whole school CARE week; includes Book Fayre

Thursday 5th March

• World Book Day, including bedtime stories

Friday 6th March

• Careers Fayre

Monday 16th - Friday 20th March

• Turing trip to Bordeaux 

Tuesday 24th March

• Dance Umbrella (Years 3 & 5): Bath Forum

Wednesday 1st April & Thursday 2nd April

• Parent and teacher pupil progress meetings

Wednesday 1st April

• Mini Police visit American Museum

• Year 1 visit Holborne Museum

Thursday 2nd April

• Last day of Term 4

Friday 3rd - Friday 17th April

• Easter break

Monday 20th April

• First day of Term 5

Monday 20th - Friday 24th April

• Turing trip to Barcelona

Message from Mrs Noall

Welcome back to school and to Term 4! We are looking forward to an exciting term with events ranging from World Book Day and our Careers Fayre, to first aid lessons, a trip to France and two performances at the Forum for the Dance Umbrella. 

News and Events

NSPCC Speak Out - Stay Safe

As part of our PSHE curriculum, we will be sharing the NSPCC's 'Speak Out, Stay Safe' resources with children this week. Year 2 and 5 children will also have a volunteer from the NSPCC in class to deliver follow-up workshops on Friday. If you have any questions about this, please talk to your child's class teacher.

World Book Day - Thursday 5th March 2026

World Book Day will take place on Thursday 5th March 2026, and this year we are delighted to be partnering with the National Year of Reading, encouraging children to ‘read their way’. We have planned something for everyone, including parents!

On the day....

• Children are invited to bring their favourite book into school to share with the other children in the class.

• Children have the option to to dress up as a character from their favourite book. There is absolutely no requirement to dress up; please wear normal school uniform if not dressing up.

In the evening....

• Children are invited to return to school at 5pm for bedtime stories; pyjamas optional! This will be 45 minutes long.

• Parents are invited to find out more about how you can support your child with reading at home while your child enjoys their story time. This is for all parents - every parent who attends will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a book of your choice from the fayre.

...and Mr B's Bookshop is back!

• In the school main hall after school on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th March. If you buy your book through the bookstall, the school will receive a substantial percentage of the proceeds to buy more books for our classrooms. Children will have the opportunity to browse the book fair with their class on Monday and Tuesday before the event.  

Parents' Evenings

On Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd April you will be able to meet your child's teacher to discuss their mid-year progress report and what they need to work on for the remainder of this academic year. We are offering a hybrid off in-person and on-line appointments in an effort to ensure ALL parents can find a time that suits them on either of these two days.

Appointments for both in-person and on-line appointments will need to be made via the online booking system and this will open for booking from 4pm on 9th March.

Congratulations Mrs Dixson

Congratulations to Mrs Dixson and her family who have welcomed a little boy, Lewis, to the family. Mum and baby are doing very well.

Reminders

CARE WEEK - week beginning 2nd March 2026

During our next Care Week, we are fortunate to be having three days of training with Wiltshire & Bath Air Ambulance (W&BAA) staff, here at PSJ.  They will be working with classes from Y1 to Y6 to teach the children some basic first aid, including making a 999 call, dealing with choking and putting people into the recovery position. Our older children will also have the chance to learn CPR and how to use a defibrillator.  

First aid is part of the statutory curriculum for PSHE and we are very excited about the opportunity for our children to learn from experts.  W&BAA is a charity and, as such, charges per child for these valuable and potentially life-saving sessions. We are asking parents for a discounted voluntary contribution of £2 per child towards this cost.  

Please make your contribution - which will all go to the charity - by 8.30 am on 2nd March 2026.  

The payment is available on Arbor/Activities/Trips.

Class News

Find out what we have been up to on our class pages and on Face Book.

Home Learning

The button below will take you to this week's home learning for every year group. Home learning is designed to enable children to practice skills they will need in school and so it is really important that they spend some time over the week on this home learning. 

National year of Reading

Reading About Feelings

Teaching children the language they need to be able to express their feelings will support them to manage their emotions, and begin to recognise the feelings of others.

You can use books to help you do this. Many children's stories include feelings, and some are good at explaining more complicated emotions to children. When you read these books to your child, you’ll help them learn how to speak about their own feelings.

• When you read together, make comments and ask your child questions about how the characters are feeling. How do you think he/she is feeling? Have you ever felt like that?

• Use the pictures to support your conversations.

• It's important to talk about positive feelings (such as happy, excited, calm) as well as negative ones; this will support your child to recognise that all the different feelings they have are important, and that it's good to talk about all of them.

• When you talk about negative feelings, such as a character being sad, worried, scared or angry, talk about how they might be helped to feel better, or what they could do to make themselves feel better.

Some books you could try are:

• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

• Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival

• Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

• The Invention by Julia Hubery, illustrated by James Munro

• How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne

Here is a more expansive list of books about feelings: https://wordsforlife.org.uk/activities/happiness-and-wellbeing-book-list/ 

Happy reading!

Miss Skipp

PFSA Updates

You can find a range of support services on the Support for Families page on our website by clicking this link Support for Families - Peasedown St John Primary School. 

Information on upcoming events will be in the weekly newsletter and noticeboards in the office waiting area and playground. 

If you would like to speak with Catherine about any concerns you have you can call the office or email her directly at pfsa@peasedown.mnsp.org.uk.  My usual working days are Mon-Wed 9:00-3:00.

Uniform donations needed

Do you have any uniform that no longer fits but could be given a second chance in a new home? If so, we are happy to take it from you and add it to our second hand uniform supplies.

We are in need of socks, girls trousers, jumpers and cardigans please.

Any donations will be gratefully received!

EYFS Updates

PSJ BITESIZE LITERACY

Literacy in the Early Years Foundation Stage

Literacy is about understanding and being understood. Early literacy skills are rooted in children’s enjoyable experiences from birth of gesturing, talking, singing, playing, reading and writing. Learning about literacy means developing the ability to interpret, create and communicate meaning through writing and reading in different media, such as picture books, logos, environmental print and digital technologies. It involves observing and joining in the diverse ways that different people and communities use literacy for different purposes. Most importantly, literacy is engaging, purposeful and creative.

Literacy as an area of learning

The Early Years Curriculum for Literacy is split into two subject areas; Reading and Writing. However, for children to progress towards the Early Learning Goal at the end of Reception children also need to be competent with Comprehension. Therefore, Communication and Language play a vital role in children’s abilities to read words, comprehend them and subsequently use them in their writing. 

A LIFE-LONG LOVE of reading is crucial for language comprehension, word reading and writing 

Language comprehension, which is necessary for both reading and writing, starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them. Adults and children also need to enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. 

Skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Whereas, writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

This term we will explore how we teach communication and literacy skills through adult interactions and free-play to support children to independently practice and embed their learning in their phonics lessons and drawing club.

PSA Updates

You can now book tickets for the Quiz Night!

Community News and Events