Dear Parents/Carers,

What a week it has been! As you know that reading is extremely important and is consistently a priority. We want every children to be able to read by the end of Y2 and we put a lot of support into ensuring that they reach the standards expected by the end of Y1. We work closely with and Early Reading Consultant, Harry and on Monday he did a review of Early Reading across the Federation with Mrs Mapp, the Early Reading Leader whilst Mrs Tope is on Maternity. He was so impressed by the progress the children are making and gave us suggestions  on how we can hone our practice further. The team have worked so hard to improve the quality of phonics lessons over the years and the fruits of their labour and your support are showing.

Did you know that teachers put videos on google classroom of your child's phonics learning for the week? Please have a look at these so you can support your child  at home.

On Tuesday the schools were almost vacant, with Y2 and Y6 attending their Lenten Mass at Virgo Fidelis and Y3-5 attending reward cinema trips for all their hard work and learning. We received positive feedback about the children's conduct and behaviour, showing why they deserve all the enrichment activities we organise for them.

Y3 had a fantastic trip to Bank of England this week. I am intrigued to what they have learned and I have missed being able to ask them. I know from the teachers that they all had a great time and that they slept very well that evening.

Thank you to all the teachers who organised such wonderful experiences for our children and all the parents who helped. Your support makes it all possible. 

Thank you to all the parents/carers who came into school this week for Pupil Consultation Meetings. I am glad you were able to see your child's hard work and learn about their progress and next steps. Teachers have a list of all those who've not had a meeting yet and will be in contact to ensure you are all updated about your child. On behalf of the team I would like to thank you for your uplifting feedback. Despite illness they have worked hard to ensure your children get the best possible education and your words have reinforced us all.

As you know attendance is a huge priority at the Federation so much so our Senior Pupil Leadership Team have been helping us to lead on this. It is important that your child is in school every day. The government introduced a legislation which has tightened attendance monitoring nationwide. You will receive a letter if your child has met any of our trigger points. If you need support to improve your child's attendance or punctuality we will work with you to improve it. However, the new legislation put the onus on parents to get their child into school.

The end of term brings some staffing changes to our school family that makes us feel both sad (as we will miss them) and happy for the their new adventures so to come.

After nearly 20 years of service to St. Joseph's Mrs Langford-Jackson will be leaving us at the end of term. She is relocating to Devon to be with her husband Michael. Mrs Mulhern retired last month as well after 27 years. We will be doing a special assembly for them on Friday to say goodbye and thank you the St. Joseph's way. We are so grateful to them for their service and dedication. 

I am delighted to let you know that Mrs Chrusciak is returning to school on Monday. She has had a wonderful maternity leave and gave birth to a beautiful son called Jacob. She will be teaching in Y5 after the half term. 

Miss Francis will be returning to St. Joseph's RC after the half term and taking up the position of SENDCo. She is an experienced SENDCo with extensive inclusive practice experience, who supported our Inclsuion Team last year. I know this will strengthen our leadership team and offering we are able to give the children. I know you will join us all in wlecomign her to the schools. She is coming in next week to have an extensive handover from Mrs Langford-Jackson.

We break up from school on Friday at 2pm, the half term has gone really quickly and we are really proud of the development and growth of the children as well as the dedication and commitment of all the team. We have achieved so much and there is much to be proud of.

I hope you and your family have a great weekend.

Mrs Ashley and the Team

Parent Talk

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This term, our classrooms have been buzzing with enthusiasm as we continue our maths learning using the mastery approach. Our young mathematicians have been engaging in hands-on, interactive lessons that build on their understanding of a range of maths topics. They practice their number skills and develop number sense using a variety of concrete objects and pictorial representations, such as ten frames, dotted dice and number lines.

In Year 1, children have been learning how to recognise 2D shapes and patterns. A key strategy to developing their understanding is to give them the opportunity to compare shapes and answer the questions: What is the same? What is different?  In line with the mastery approach, children have been exploring addition to 20, learning through games, and using a variety of strategies for solving subtraction problems.

In Year 2, children have been introduced to key vocabulary to help them talk about the properties of 2D and 3D shapes, including number of sides and vertices. They have been taught how to recognise lines of symmetry and complete drawings of shapes using their understanding of symmetry. At home, you can ask: ‘How do you know it is a square/triangle/rectangle?’ and encourage them to explain using the correct mathematical vocabulary. In number and the four operations, children are becoming increasingly confident partitioning numbers in different ways and working flexibly with addition and subtraction.

Through a series of engaging activities and challenges, pupils in key stage 2, are consolidating their understanding of  multiplication and division. To prepare for the Multiplication Tables Check taking place in June, children in Year 4 continue to practise rapid recall of the multiplication facts up to 12 x 12, three times a week. In addition to this, weekly fluency practice is ongoing across the school to help children retain and build on previous learning in the four basic operations.

Lessons have been enriched with a variety of interactive resources allowing pupils to work collaboratively and independently. This makes learning more accessible and fun. The junior children also benefit from using concrete objects and pictorial representations to aid understanding and explain their thinking. For example, Year 3 children have been demonstrating their understanding of a hundred more/less using Dienes and multilink cubes. In Year 5, pupils have been using ten frames and fraction bars to write percentages as decimals and fractions, and using place value counters to demonstrate understanding of the formal written method for long multiplication.

Last week was assessment week for years 1-6, who had the opportunity to recall number facts and use reasoning to solve a variety of word problems, including problems involving time, mass and shape. We are pleased to announce that children continue to make good progress and we will consistently provide opportunities for them to develop a deeper understanding of skills and concepts taught. 

We hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend.

The St. Joseph's Team