Weekly Newsletter

26.1.26

Achieving excellence for ourselves and others.

Upcoming Dates

Week 4 & 5 (26th January - 6th February)

SEND parent review meetings

Thursday 5th February

Year 3 visit Stonehenge

Friday 13th February

Last day of Term 3

Monday 16th - Friday 20th February

Half Term break

Monday 23rd February

First day of Term 4

W/c 2nd March

Whole school CARE week

Monday 16th - Friday 20th March

Turing trip to Bordeaux

Tuesday 24th March

Dance Umbrella (Years 3 & 5)

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

Calendar

Term Dates

Message from Mrs Noall

In recent assemblies the children have reflected on how their voice matters when we stand up to racism and discrimination. At PSJ we care for everyone and do not tolerate racism or discrimination of any sort. If your child is ever worried about this please encourage them to speak up and speak out.

News and Events

Careers Fayre - can you help?

We are still looking for volunteers who could come in to school to talk to four classes for 30 minutes each. This could be a presentation, an activity for the children to do or a question and answer session with pre-prepared questions.

Please let the office know if you could help, or perhaps ask a neighbour or friend with an interesting job if they could give up their time.

We would be very grateful for any volunteers.

School Promotional Video

We are very grateful to Xander and Ryan from River Axe Media for producing this amazing promotional video for our school. If you know someone who is thinking of choosing PSJ for their child, please send them this link and encourage them to arrange a visit.

Peasedown St John Primary School

Reminders

Road safety around school

We have had several reports in the past week of children being involved in near-misses on the roads near and around school. This is sometimes caused by cars being parked on pavements and sometimes because children have not seen a car manoeuvring near them.

If you walk to school, please remind your children to cross only on the crossing.

If you drive to school, please ensure that you park your car safely. Please do not use the carparks in the school or The Hive.

We have contacted the neighbourhood policing team, who have sent us the following advice:

The local council are responsible for dealing with vehicles if they have parked:

on double yellow lines
on single yellow lines outside the permitted hours (check signs for times)
in a space for Blue Badge holders or in a residential parking bay (unless they are entitled to do so)
in a marked taxi bay, cycle lane, bus lane or on a red line
near a school entrance with mandatory School Keep Clear markings or a bus stop

You should report a vehicle to police if it is causing an obstruction or hazard by:

parking in a dangerous position
parking opposite or within ten metres of a junction
parking over a dropped kerb
blocking a road or pavement which causes pedestrians to enter the road
preventing you from getting your vehicle off your driveway (try to find the owner and ask them to move the vehicle, before reporting)
preventing emergency vehicles from accessing an area

You may find the following links helpful: The Highway Code - Waiting and parking (238 to 252) - Guidance - GOV.UK and Parking outside schools | Police.uk

Class News

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

Class Pages

School News

Previous Newsletters

Home Learning

Please support your child to complete their home learning. Their learning includes reading, spellings and some maths, all planned to support your child's learning in class.

Home Learning Week 4

National Year of Reading 2026

This week we will be putting the spotlight on young children aged 5 - 10. Between 5 and 10, children’s passions explode – dinosaurs, dancing, gaming, art, the outdoors. These interests are your biggest ally. The National Year of Reading will give you ideas, encouragement and simple ways to keep reading fun and part of everyday life, whatever your child loves.

Make reading feel easy - Busy days can get in the way of reading. Learning to read takes effort and it’s difficult. Find easy ways to weave stories into everyday family life in ways that feel natural, enjoyable and achievable. For more information follow this link: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/resources/find-resources/motivating-children-to-read-at-home-8-practical-tips-for-parents/

Focus on their hobbies - Hobbies can be a great way to get them reading, writing and chatting. For more information follow this link: https://wordsforlife.org.uk/activities/using-hobbies-help-your-child-read/

Listening to audiobooks - If reading has become a struggle, audiobooks can help your child to reconnect with stories. They’re also easy to enjoy alongside other activities. For more information follow this link: https://wordsforlife.org.uk/zone-in/reading/tips-how-listen-audiobook/

Football and reading - Make reading cool by linking it to their football team! For more information follow this link: https://wordsforlife.org.uk/themes/football-and-reading/

Happy reading!

Miss Skipp

SEND Updates

Course for Parent/ Carers of children with an Autism diagnosis: Understanding Anxious Non-Attendance taking place on Wednesday, February 11th, from 7pm to 8.30pm, online.

In this SASS course we guide parent carers through the NEN’s (formerly AET) new module on Anxious Non-Attendance (also referred to as Emotionally Based School Avoidance). By listening to the voices of those with lived experience, NEN were able to co-produce a module that helps others to understand how anxiety can lead to absence from school and its impact on an autistic pupil’s daily life.

SASS will share the Parent Carer Guides attached to this course, covering themes such as identifying causes of Anxious Non-Attendance, considering reasonable adjustments that can be made, and options to explore should attendance break down.

This course is for parents and carers with a child who has a diagnosis of autism. You will need to book a place in order to receive the link to access it. To book, please email training@thepartnershiptrust.com

PFSA Updates

EYFS Updates

PSJ BITESIZE Mathematical Development - Composition of Numbers

Composition – understanding that one number can be made up from (composed from) two or more smaller numbers. Children need opportunities to see small numbers within a larger collection. ‘Number talks’ allow children to discuss what they see. For instance, with giant ladybirds: ‘There are 5 spots altogether. I can see 4 and 1, I can see 3 and 2, and I can see 1 and 1 and 1 and 1 and 1.’

Part, Part, Whole

Children need opportunities to partition a number of things into two groups, and to recognise that those groups can be recombined to make the same total. Encourage children to say the whole number that the ‘parts’ make altogether.

Children also need opportunities to explore a range of ways to partition a whole number. The emphasis here is on identifying the pairs of numbers that make a total. Children can do this in two ways – physically separating a group, or constructing a group from two kinds of things.

Part, Part, Whole Model

Children begin by representing part, part, whole with counters or pictures and then progress onto using numerals.

Challenge

Can you draw a part, part whole model for 6?

PARENTS

We will be looking at this in our Pop Up and Play Session on Tuesday morning at 9.00am.

OPAL and Forest School Updates

OPAL

Thank you so much to anyone who has filled out the Parent OPAL Survey. We would really appreciate if a few more people could do this so we can see how you think we could improve lunchtimes for your children. Thank you all so much,

https://forms.gle/VDM2PWmeCjT9GH4U8

Mrs Dixson and Mrs Fulton

Parent OPAL Survey