As we continue our Advent journey, we have entered the second week, which focuses on peace. During this special time, our school community has been reflecting deeply on the importance of peace in our world and within ourselves.

We have been praying together for peace across the world and for an end to all war and conflict. Our children have shown great compassion and understanding as we've discussed how we can be peacemakers in our own lives – through kindness, forgiveness, and understanding with our friends, families, and communities. We work hard to teach the children about forgiveness and reconciliation in action.

For this term's behaviour treat the children enjoyed a fantastic pantomime performances. The children's faces lit up with excitement, and the laughter and cheers filled the hall. It was a perfect festive treat!

We're thrilled to announce that our first Santa Run has raised fantastic funds to support the Hurricane Melissa relief effort. Many families in our community have been directly affected by this disaster, and your generosity will make a real difference to those in need. Thank you to everyone who participated and donated – your kindness and community spirit truly embody the values of St Joseph's. Donations can be made via Arbor.

We enjoyed such a wonderful Christmas dinner yesterday! Ms Johnson, Ms Mathuru, Mr Teles and Mrs Smith worked so hard to make the hall looked beautiful. Chef Mo and the catering team out did themselves and created a delicious festive feast for us all to enjoy. The atmosphere was filled with joy and laughter. Thank you to everyone who helped make this special meal such a memorable occasion for the children.

Our KS2 pupils participated in a wonderful Christmas drama workshop this week, exploring the nativity story through performance and creativity, and reflecting on the message of the birth of Jesus and the joy of the season.

Our infant school children embarked on their special Christmas expedition, bringing the magic of the season to life through exploration and discovery. The weather didn't stop them from having fun and learning new skills. Thanks to Mr Abrahams for arranging these two events. He has returned from Paternity leave today. We wish him and his first born daughter well.

Reminder that our Christmas performances are next week at 9:15am and 2:00pm. It originally said 21.15pm but we have brought it forward to ensure we do not run over. Next week promises to be filled with even more festive cheer as we prepare for our Christmas performances and continue our Advent reflections. We can't wait to share the children's hard work with you.

As the weather turns colder and surfaces become slippery, please ensure your child wears black shoes with good grips to school. This will help prevent slips and falls on our playgrounds during these winter months. Safety is our priority, and appropriate footwear makes a significant difference.

This was the last week for clubs this year. Please remember to make arrangements for your child after school next week. The school's afterschool club needs to be booked in advance.

Please can you keep Freddie (Y3) in your prayers, he has become unwell this week and we are missing him at school.

Thank you for your continued support of our school community.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Ashley and the Team

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

Matthew 5:9

Safeguarding

Roblox Security Changes - South West Grid for Learning

The introduction of the Online Safety Bill earlier this year has brought welcome controls over what we and our children can access online. As internet speeds have increased and the digital world has expanded, the ability for anyone of any age to reach almost any content has grown at a pace far beyond our capacity to safeguard against it. Adults now face increasingly sophisticated attacks from hackers and scammers, while children remain acutely vulnerable to online predators.

For children, one of the most persistent avenues for predatory behaviour has been online video games. These are spaces where young users gather, communicate, and interact, often with limited verification or oversight.

Roblox, a platform widely associated with younger players, is now beginning to address this by introducing facial analysis age checks and optional ID verification for users over 13. These real-world verification measures are designed to confirm a user’s age more accurately and to restrict interactions that could place children at risk. In practice, they signal an important shift in how major platforms are starting to manage online safety which is good news! You can read more about these checks on the SWGfL website:

https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/roblox-announces-facial-age-checks-for-chat-features/

Early Years

EYFS and year 1 watch a pantomime on Tuesday about an Elf called Effie Brightbutton who had lost the key to Santa's sleigh. The children helped her to save Christmas by finding the key. There was lots of laughter, fun and singing. The children enjoyed the performance which was interactive and exciting.

Key Stage 1

This week in geography, year 1 had a lot of fun creating a simple map of the play ground. They used simple shapes or symbols, directional language to describe the location of features and they used simple shapes to design their maps. They could speak at length about what they had created. Year1 were very proud of their work!

Lower Key Stage 2

This week, Year 3 pupils have been actively engaged in various enrichment activities. They have been rehearsing songs for the forthcoming Carol Service. They enthusiastically participated in a creative West End in Schools drama workshop. They concluded the week with a practical activity where they successfully made and sampled their own mini apple tarts and tidied up after themselves! They really enjoyed the Santa dash, Christmas dinner , Christmas movie and crafts afternoon. Wow, what a fun filled week!

Upper Key Stage 2

This week, Year 5 have been getting in the Christmas mood. We've been rehearsing out songs for the concert and Im pleased to say, they sound wonderful! In English we started to write adventure stories. In Maths we have looked at equivalent fractions and how to represent them - honing in on our multiplication and division skills. We rounded off our Science and Geography learning with exciting inventions using different types of gears, levers or pulleys, and exploring the Alps and our local area.

We had an amazing time taking part in a Christmas Dram Workshop and the Santa Run!

History

In November we all took part in a wonderful Remembrance assembly, where the past pupils and families who took part in the War were remembered. The children showed great reverence as we stood for the two minutes silence, and prayed for all those lost in the wars.

Next term, all Children will have a History focus in their wider curriculum. Trips have been planned, including a special workshop at Hampton Court for Year 5.

EYFS will focus on things that happened before they were born, whilest Years1-2 will learn about toys and how we learned to fly. Years 3-6 will focus on Egyptians, invasions - Vikings and WW2.

Happy Birthday!

Everyone at St. Joseph's wishes you the happiest of birthdays

Reception: Lyron, Amir and Gabriella Year 1: Aleyah and Ariyah Year 2: Jazmin and Rodrigo Year 3: Emnet, Jailey, Zion, and Robert Year 4: Faith, Maysa, Ibrahim, Aarush and Arshika Year 5: Bethel

Year 6: Finnan, Ella, Gracia and Andrew

Staff: Ms Mitchell

Key Dates

16.12.25

KS1 Christmas Carol Concert at 9.15 and 2pm

17.12.25

KS2 Christmas Carol Concert at 9.15 and 2pm

18.12.25

Class Christmas Parties

18.12.25

School closes for Christmas at 2pm

We hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend.

The St. Joseph's Team

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