We have had another productive week at St. Joseph's. We had the opportunity to attend a whole school mass at Virgo Fidelis Church on Monday. It was great to see our Year 6 read the gospel clearly and passionately. Thank you to the parents who were able to support us. It was a wonderful way to start the school term.

On Thursday, children were selected to represent our schools at the Beginning of year mass at St. George's Cathedral. Bishop John said a wonderful Mass and inspired us for the year to come. As we approach October, the month of our Mother Mary we will be exploring how her example of God before self serves an example of how to live and love; drawing us closer to God's purpose for our lives.

We are so fortunate to have so many clubs running this week. The children are so happy to be trying new activities and enjoying old ones. I am also delighted to say that our in response to pupil and parent voice we have been able to source musical instrument lessons in piano, guitar, violin, cello and drum. These lessons are tailored to the needs of the children and offered at a discounted fee. A letter was sent to you all earlier in the week.

Saturday gymnastic club is back by popular demand. This will start again next Saturday. This is an opportunity for pupils from both St. Joseph’s and the local schools to develop their strength and balance. The club will be run by a well-recognised, industry leader that can offer professional training and accreditations. We know that this will be a fantastic opportunity for all children and are proud to be the home of Jamies' Gymnastics 11th Academy!

Thank you to all the parents who attended our coffee morning. We hope this was an informal and supportive way to share information, ask questions, share experiences and find out what is happening in school. Please remember that mums, dads, grandparents, carers, aunties, uncles and friends of the family are ALL welcome.

We are looking forward to our annual Musical Fireworks Display organised by the PTA. Last year was a huge success, and we are delighted to announce that it will be happening again on Thursday 7th November! There will be fair rides and stalls and we hope you, your friends and family can join us. Please see the attached poster and the link to purchase your tickets. Early Bird ticket prices are available now but they !

The Governing Body plays a vital role in the governance of our schools. Our parent governors form part of the school’s Local Governing Body. Information about voting for our new parent governors was sent today and we are happy to announce that we have three nominees. Please look out for the letter with information being sent out and cast your vote!

On Thursday 10th October, as a school community, we will be joining thousands of others to wear yellow to commemorate Mental Health Day. Your child can come to school wearing a yellow item in exchange for a small donation between 10p-£1 to show our support to all those affected by mental health.

May I take this opportunity to wish you and your families a wonderful weekend. Thanks for all your kind messages and prayers.

Have a blessed and relaxing weekend.

From Mrs Ashley and the Team

Parent/Carer Voice

Parent/Carer Running Club

Would you be interested in joining a Running Club on Monday mornings after drop-off? If so, click this link, and we will contact you with further details. Thanks to Mrs La Touche for letting us know that there is interest.

Inclusion and Safeguarding

Social Media- Staying Safe Online

Children and young people can sometimes feel pressure to share a lot of personal information online.

Remind them that they shouldn’t share private things, such as:

-Personal information, like names, phone numbers, links to other social media accounts or their school

-Live or frequent locations

-Other people's personal information

-Links to join private group chats

-Photos of themselves

-Photos of their body, such as sexual photos or videos.

It's a good idea to explain to your child that, if someone starts asking them personal questions,

or suggests that they speak on a different messaging platform, then they should come and tell you.

For more information and support, click here .

Early Years

In RE this week we listened to the story of creation and used props to help us retell the creation story. We then collaged and painted the different things God created to make our wonderful world. The children produced some fantastic work and developed their fine motor skills whilst doing so!

Key Stage 1

This week in Year 1, we’ve been having an amazing time learning all about superlatives! After reading the story "Wombat Goes Walkabout," we got creative and started rewriting the story in our own words. The excitement didn't stop there – we even went on a fun adventure to Forest School! While exploring the forest, we collected lots of fantastic adjectives to describe what we saw. Then, we turned those words into superlatives, creating the biggest, brightest, and most beautiful vocabulary to use in our writing! We can't wait to see these words bring our stories to life!

Year 2 went on an exciting trip to The Dulwich Picture Gallery. They learned about their identity through various artistic techniques. They especially enjoyed printing with ink and exploring the gallery, looking at portraits. It was wonderful to see the children in the artist's studio, asking the artist questions about how to improve their drawings and taking pride in their artistic skills.

Lower Key Stage 2

Y4 began our week with an online virtual interview with journalist Martin Coulter. This is part of an exciting project that Y4 will be part of which includes writing news reports with the help of the Guardian newspaper. In maths we are continuing to improve our knowledge of place value and have even worked with Roman numerals this week.

In RE we are learning about the Bible and how it still impacts on our lives thousands of years after it was written. In history we are looking at how children's lives have changed throughout history - Y4 were quite shocked when they realised that children of their age were working in factories and climbing up chimney stacks instead of going to school 150-200 years ago! They decided that they really would prefer to be in school :-)

In science we have been learning about the digestive system and the journey that food takes once it enters our body - interesting but a little bit yucky!

Clubs began this week, so many of our children are also keeping busy after school as well.

Upper Key Stage 2

This week in Year 5, we’ve been diving deeper into place value by comparing numbers in Maths.

In English, the class has been busy working on drafts and completing their Yellow Writes, focusing on our exciting adaptations of Cosmic. In Science, we explored the fascinating phases of the moon and in R.E., we reflected on how we are created in the image of God.

During our reading sessions, the students had lively debates on whether Liam and Florida should lie to go on their 'trip of a lifetime' and subsequently answered questions about the chapters we had explored.

We also attended a beautiful Welcome Mass on Monday, where we had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful new Reception children.

Curriculum Focus

The Cross Country club has been in full swing for a few weeks now and the children are already impressing us with their skills and techniques. All year groups have been benefiting from high-quality P.E. lessons, delivered through the GetSet4PE scheme.

Finally, at the start of the year, we had our first Experience Day focused on tennis and there are more exciting sessions already booked in—so keep an eye out for them!

Mr Abrahams

We have had a wonderful start to the term, the children have been very thoughtful and proactive during RE lessons and each class has voted in their Prayer Leaders for this year.

A huge 'Well Done' to Milena, Clarita and Israel in Years 5 & 6 for suggesting that we begin a Bible Studies club. They presented an assembly to the whole Junior School and have planned out a series of sessions that will run on Monday Lunchtimes - it has been a pleasure to work with them.

On Monday (23rd) of this week the whole school celebrated our Beginning of the Academic Year mass with Father James at Virgo Fidelis Church. It was a lively affair and our children were, as always, wonderful ambassadors for us. This was followed on Thursday with the Dioscesan Beginning of year Welcome mass. I was fortunate enough to attend this with Mrs Power and 8 of our children from Y2 - Y6 and representatives from every school in the Southwark Diocese. It was a wonderful and awe inspiring event.

Exciting News!!!

Jamies Gymnastics will be opening their 11th Gymnastic Academy at St. Joesph's!!!

Sign up and book your free trail below.

Happy Birthday!

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

Year 4: Oscar Year 3:Jermiah-Jonas Nursery: Grace and Sage

Staff: Mr Abrahams and Miss Langford-Jackson

Key Dates

Monday 23rd September Year 3 and 4 NewsWise Journalist Visit

Beginning of Year Mass at Virgo Fidelis (2pm) Family and Friends of the school welcome

Wednesday 25th September Y2 Trip Dulwich Picture Gallery

Thursday 26th September Southwark Diocese Beginning of year Mass, St. George's Cathedral, selected pupils

Thursday 7th November PTA Musical Fireworks

We hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend

The St. Joseph's Team

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