I hope you all had a restful half term break. It's wonderful to see the children back in school, and we're looking forward to another productive half term of growth, reflection and love for us all.

The children have settled back into their routines quickly and positively. We were delighted to start the term with Johnny Jump Start! He brought energy, joy and laughter to us all and highlighted the importance of starting each day with physical activity, boosting their focus, wellbeing and readiness to learn. The children absolutely loved it, and it's a fantastic way to promote healthy habits. Thanks to Mr Abrahams for arranging and ensuring we had a positive start to the term. The children (and staff) were beside themselves when he put an orange wigs and sunglasses on me and called me Mrs Jumpstart!

We really appreciate your support in ensuring children come to school looking their best. The children looked smart and rested. Please can you ensure your child has the correct footwear, black shoes with a good grip. Trainers should only be worn on P.E. days. If you have any concerns about uniform costs, please don't hesitate to contact the school office – we're here to help.

As a Catholic school community, we have now entered the season of Lent – a special time of prayer, reflection and preparation leading up to Easter. Throughout Lent, we'll be encouraging the children to think about how they can grow closer to God through prayer, fasting and acts of kindness towards others. Mrs Phillips has shared a letter with all our special Lenten activities. You are welcome to joy all parent activities and hope that you can join us in Mass like always.

This lent I am particularly praying for peace. Peace in our school Community and peace in our world. We pray for those affected by war and violence, and ask that God brings about peace to all communities. Help us all to live our school mission 'Together we Can, with Christ by our Side' and demonstrate our school values to others showing kindness, respect, love and forgiveness to all.

We invite all our families to join us in praying for peace in our world. In these challenging times, let us remember those affected by conflict and violence, and pray that peace, justice and reconciliation may prevail.

Y4 had a brilliant time at PGL! Seeing their pictures and hearing about their fun outdoor learning was really heartwarming. Thanks to Mrs Phillips, Mrs Power and Mrs Marshal for ensuring the children were happy and safe and had a great time.

As you know safeguarding is of paramount concern, so we practiced our lock down drill to ensure we all stay safe in the case of an emergency. The children were amazing! They responded quickly and safely to their teachers and we are very proud of them. It is great to see in news updates that schools around the country are starting to practice this too.

We're excited to announce that Book Week is coming up next week, and we have so much exciting learning planned! A separate letter with full details has been sent out, but here are the key highlights:

A special author will be sharing their stories and inspiring our young readers and writers. On Thursday, we're inviting children to dress up as their favourite book character for our Book Day Parade. All parents and carers are warmly welcome to join us for this special celebration of reading.

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact the school office.

Please remember to follow our instagram page for updates throughout the week.

I hope you and your family have a great weekend,

Mrs Ashley and the Team

Senior Pupil Leadership Team

Year 6 have been working very hard during boosters to prepare for the upcoming SATS exams and Year 5 went to the forest school to recreate scenes from their production, Macbeth. Year 4 has gone to PGL and Science Musuem while Year 3 have been refining their sculptures

Year 2 have been writing poems while Year 1 have been been learning about Jesus. Reception were joined by some Year 6’s at lunchtime and Nursery have been making pancakes.

Have a great weekend,

Ella - Head Girl

Foma - Deputy Head Boy

Inclusion

Croydon SEND Local Offer – Support for Families

Did you know that Croydon Council’s Local Offer website provides a one-stop source of information, advice, and services for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families?

The Local Offer helps parents and carers to:

✨ find education, health, wellbeing and leisure support
✨ explore short breaks, respite and community activities
✨ access advice and support for a range of needs
✨ get help from voluntary and local services in Croydon

You can use it to search for services and support that might help your child thrive both in and out of school.

🔗 Visit the Croydon SEND Local Offer: croydon.gov.uk – search “Local Offer” for the latest information.

Early Years

Reception visited Forest School this week and had to think about their senses. They had to listen, feel and record what their found on clipboards. We used our senses and heard birds and traffic.

We could feel the roughness of the trees and the smoothness of a leaf. We could see trees, some woodlice and the sky. We loved writing and drawing on clipboards.

Key Stage 1

This week in Year 1, we had lots of fun exploring our senses! We started by looking at optical illusion pictures and discovered how our eyes can sometimes trick our brains into seeing things in different ways.

We then carried out a smell experiment, using only our noses to sniff a selection of mystery items, including coffee, garlic, onion, milk, ginger, and sardines. It was tricky to guess what the items were using smell alone, but there were lots of giggles and some very thoughtful guesses.

A fun and memorable way to learn how our senses help us understand the world around us!

Lower Key Stage 2

Year 3 pupils have come back to school with renewed energy and a love of learning after the half term break. It has been a busy week with the pupils learning about joining card without tape and creating and sketching their own 3D sculptures. We also enjoyed a trip to West Norwood Library to exchange our books and choose new ones to read.

Upper Key Stage 2

This week started with a day of purposeful prayer in preperation for Lent. We looked at different ways to pray and how to make them meaningful.

In Geography, we started our topic on Deserts and created a wonderful display of facts, while in Maths, we excelled in short division. We've taken advantage of the wonderful weather and used the Forest as the perfect backdrop to practise our scripts for Macbeth.

PE

Our girls’ netball club is up and running on Fridays and the girls are absolutely loving taking part each week. The sessions have been full of energy and enjoyment, with smiles all round.

RE

We had a lovely Epiphany liturgy to start our term and are now looking forwards and making plans for the season of Lent. Ash Wednesday is on the 18th February this year, which is during the half term holidays, and we will begin a variety of activities when the children return to school. We will send out further information nearer the time but this will include mass on 19th March (which is St Joseph's Day) and the annual Y3 Easter production. During this period we hope to raise money to support CAFOD and the Catholic Children's Society.

Happy Birthday!

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

Year 6: Camila and Axelle

Reception: Rion Nursery: Isabella

Key Dates

23.02.26

Year 5 West Norwood Library Trip

06.03.25 (tbc)

World Book Day

Dulwich Book Fair in Infant School

Year 1 Library Trip

09.03.26

Reception: get eggs/chicks for 2 weeks.

12.03.26

Yr 5 Science Museum Trip

11.03.26

Yr6 Girls Catholic Football Tournament

19.03.25

St Joseph’s Day - Whole School Mass

20.03.26

Last Year 4 Swimming Lesson

26.03.26

Stations of the Cross in the Junior Hall

15.04.26

Yr 5 Hampton Court

21.04.25

RH West Norwood Library Trip AM

Year 5 West Norwood Library Trip

23.04.26

6P West Norwood Library Trip

Information

Page updated

Report abuse