St Joseph's Day

Amid the anxiety of a difficult week for the nation, we took some time out on Thursday 19th March to celebrate our patron - Saint Joseph. It was a fantastic day of praise, worship, prayer and creativity. A huge thanks to the PFSA for providing cakes for the celebration too! Children spent the morning recreating moments from the life of the saint. We're very excited to get these up and displayed around the school soon. In the afternoon we shared a liturgy together and learnt about how St Joseph is the silent saint - not a single word of his is recorded anywhere in the Bible. His actions do the talking!

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It's Friday, so...

Silver Speed!

A huge congratulations to Eliza Jameson for her shining silver medal; Eliza has won second place for the girls in Cross Country out of all Guildford schools! What an amazing achievement!

A Green

Healthy Living in Year 1

It's been an exciting week of healthy living for Year 1 : a masterclass in porridge (enjoyed with fresh fruit) and a demanding workout led by their special guest, Mr Hollingdale. Children were challenged to stretch, move and believe in themselves as they tried new things and learnt about what it means to stay fit and healthy, in body and mind, as they grow up.

Reception Fun & Games

It was all fun and games in Reception today, with some sporty visitors to enthuse the children about health and fitness. Mrs Roth kindly took time out to get the children moving around a demanding fitness circuit and Mr Johnson came to deliver an expert coaching session on football skills. The children were smiling, laughing and working hard too! It was a joyful distraction in a very busy week.

Do you believe?

As we look ahead to the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we're asking the children to think about what they believe in this week. We used the very timely example of hand washing to discuss why we believe soap is effective at killing germs? - Our hands don't look any different. However, the scientist and experts can show us the evidence to help us believe. We wouldn't wash our hands in baked beans and custard - that would be silly! - There's no evidence (and it's very messy too). In the same way, the miracles of Jesus - like today's story of the blind man - are our evidence that Jesus is the son of God. We can believe even if we can't see it for ourselves.

A - 4th Lent

Speaking Out with 2N

What a fantastic job St Nicholas' Class did today with their assembly about Speaking Out, following this week's worship theme of "voice". The children all spoke very clearly with an important message about the best and worst ways we can use our voices. They worked incredibly hard to speak out with confidence. Well done 2N!

Amazing Alfie!

Congratulations to Alfie who has earned the most gigantic trophy we have ever seen! 2H were in awe, listening to how Alfie persevered at gymnastics to overcome his personal challenge with a difficult move to become a true champion. Well done Alfie - we're all so proud of you!

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The Friday Night Story...

Exploring a Forest School...

This morning, our Spiritual Councillors were invited to visit Rydes Hill and spent the morning exploring their Forest School, led by their expert: Mrs Morris!

Based around the Stations of the Cross, the children used natural materials to represent Jesus' feelings at his time of sacrifice.

Our Spiritual Councillors were able to give such profound and touching explanations of what they had created and why: "I chose to add the red string to symbolise Jesus' pain and suffering."

It was a truly inspiring visit and we are very grateful to Rydes Hill for inviting us.

A Green

Reconciliation Stations

What a wonderful afternoon for our Year 5 children! Led by the Spiritual Councillors and members of Rosary Club, all the children had a chance during this season of Lent to become 'closer to God' by taking part in a Reconciliation afternoon. Over the session, children were given an opportunity to think about their actions and words and say sorry to the people they have wronged.

Each prayer station had an activity to remind us and show us how our sins are forgiven by the power of God. I know they will be excited to share some of these with you at home.

The afternoon ended with a decade of the Rosary, whilst thinking about the sorrowful mysteries and then an Act of Sorrow.

The children focused on the importance of asking God for His forgiveness and starting a fresh for the new week ahead.

Reception Know How

A great message from our Reception children, who have always practised excellent standards in hand hygiene. They have used the current focus on hand washing to share their 'know how' about when to wash your hands and how to do it properly. Well done Reception for promoting a happy, healthy message for the rest of us to enjoy, thank you.

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Your Governing Body

The school's governing body met together last night for the second of our three annual "away days" - a chance to take stock, reflect on our successes and prepare the priorities we want to pursue in the coming months and years. We are blessed to have a broad range of gifts and talents on our governing body. However, we're always looking for committed people to help make a contribution to our team. If you would like to know more about the role of the governing body, send us an email:

stjosephsgovernors@stjosephsguildford.com

St Joseph's Lions!

We had a great time at the Year 3 & 4 tag rugby event yesterday. Some of us had not played or represented the school before. We improved with each game and enjoyed the evening . Thank you to Guildford Lions for running the event!

A - 3rd Lent

Use your voice!

As we look ahead to the Third Sunday of Lent, we hear how Jesus transformed the life and belief of a woman in a Samaritan town. Not only that, but he brought the whole community to belief too, just by talking to them. When Jesus used his voice, he spoke with confidence and compassion. He was careful not to shout or argue, not to gossip or tease. We are asking the children this week to consider how they use their voices to make our world a better place and bear witness to the Gospels.

Book Week!

1M's Class Assembly

St Margaret's class ended this week's worship theme beautifully by explaining the importance of listening with our hearts, not just our ears. Through everyday scenarios, the class taught us what it means to truly listen before showing us how we can listen to God. 1M used their brilliant acting skills to deliver this incredibly important message - well done!

Friday's Bedtime Story

What a treat it has been this week to enjoy bedtime stories from some of our fabulous school team. Mrs Johnson has received so much positive feedback that she had committed to producing a story every Friday evening for you to enjoy as a family. Thank you Mrs Johnson! In tonight's tale, Mrs McOnegal shares the fascinating and unusual story of ten worms...

Friday Story.mov

Year 1 Sports Hall Event!

What an afternoon! Year 1 visited the Spectrum to take part in a variety of sporting activities run by young leaders, including javelin, running races and long jump.

The children were commended for their supportive teamwork, enthusiasm, effort and impeccable manners - well done, Year 1!

Thank you to the Year 1 team and our wonderful parent helpers.

A Green

A flying trip to France!

This afternoon, Year 6 classrooms were transformed into French Cafes! The children experienced waiting on tables, playing french games, eating delicious french food and reading french comics!

Des enfants heureux, manger des croissants et des pains au chocolat.

Apprendre le français en jouant à des jeux.

Des bandes dessinées pour La Semaine du Livre.

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Thursday's Story

There's nothing like the classics!

Wednesday's Story

It's such a joy to see members of the whole community sharing their love of stories with the children. Today's tale comes from Mr Cunningham, our School Business Manager, who the children see around and about the school everyday. It's nice to see that some children never grow up!

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Author Visit - Richy Chandler

Another exciting day for KS2, with author visitor Richy Chandler sharing his expertise and experience in illustration with the children. Richy has been involved in many exciting projects and you can find out more about his life and work here. Children across the juniors were inspired and enthused by the talent for comic illustration they never knew they had, following Richy's lead in exploring and experimenting with comic design.

RRS Right of the Month

March’s ‘Right of the Month’ is:

Article 6: You have a right to life, survival and development.

During this month we celebrate: Earth Hour on 28th March. This is a WWF event to raise awareness for climate change issues across the globe. We will mark this occasion by switching off our lights, whiteboards and plugs to save electricity and promote climate change issues.

Perhaps, this month, measure your family’s carbon footprint ? - Or make some simple changes to your lifestyles? You could read WWF’s top 10 tips for eating more sustainably.

Remember, small changes can make a big difference to reducing climate change!

Tuesday's Bedtime Story

After a busy day of writing and illustrating, what better way to relax than with a bedtime story from Miss Rycroft?

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Author Visit - Aaron Blecha

We had great fun today with Aaron Blecha, the first of our two author visitors this week. Aaron inspired the children with his unique style of storytelling and illustration. Children were lucky enough to receive a masterclass in comic illustration from Aaron, who was amazed at the their creativity. Find out more about his amazing work here.

Monday's Bedtime Story

With Book Week now in full flow, we'll be publishing a bedtime story each evening, read by one of our school staff. Stories are such a pivotal part of school life - we share them every chance we get. We know the lives of our parents are busy and we want to do our bit to support you in ensuring all children enjoy a story at bedtime this week. I must apologise, now watching this one back, I'm not sure this story is the most conducive to a peaceful bedtime routine! I hope you enjoy it nonetheless and sincere thanks to Mrs Johnson for making this happen.

Monday story.mov

A - 2nd Lent

Listen with your heart

Our worship focus this week is listening as we look ahead to the Second Sunday of Lent and the famous account of the Transfiguration. We carried out a hearing test this morning, to ensure all children were ready for their week's learning. We all did very well listening with our ears but then we discovered that many of our staff were able to hear other things as well, especially when they listened with their hearts. We want to encourage all children this week to listen to Christ: they can hear him in the Gospels and they can hear him speak in their own hearts too. Taking time to listen is a great way to spend time with God.

Book Fair Fortune!

Sincere thanks to all those who came to support at Friday's Book Fair! - We raised a small fortune for the school to spend on new books, just over £1,000! With special thanks to Miss Moore and the staff team for organising and to all those generous parents who helped on the day, either by buying or selling. All your efforts are much appreciated and will continue to support our fabulous children to develop a love of literature. Here's to the beginning of another exciting Book Week...

Lent Prayer Group for Parents

As we journey through Lent, for the next 5 Tuesdays (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st) parents are going to be meeting to pray and reflect together. All are welcome. We'll be meeting in St Mary's Hall (behind the church) from school drop off till around 9.45. There'll be tea, coffee and biscuits and toys for little ones, who are most welcome to join us too! No commitment needed, just come along when you can.

The Royal Observatory...

On Tuesday 25th March, Year 5 traveled up to Greenwich to the Royal Observatory to explore more about their current topic of 'Earth and Space'. The children were treated to a workshop about the Sun, Earth and Moon, before they explored the Weller's Gallery, where they got to see real pieces of meteorite! They also watched a short animation about our solar system and saw other astronomy equipment and incredible photographs of our planets and their moons. Later, the children ventured outside to the Greenwich Meridian Line and were lucky enough to see an incredible show in the planetarium about the universe. The children were beautifully behaved and came home buzzing with excitement. It was a wonderful way to enhance our Science learning, but could not have gone ahead without our wonderful parent volunteers; a big thank you to those who accompanied us.

Year 5

What a scene!

A crime has been committed! Who can believe, on our first day back, that we would find out that King Duncan has been murdered!

Reporters flocked to Dunsinane castle to report on this terrible crime of treason. So many suspects, but who did it? Macbeth denied any wrong-doing; Lady Macbeth fainted; Banquo had his suspicions; and the guards were shaken by the news of their friends.

Look out later in the week for more breaking news coming soon!

Temptation

As we look ahead to the First Sunday in Lent (Year A) we have been asking the children to consider the challenges of temptation. Much like Christ's experience in the desert, we all experience the voice of temptation in many ways in our own lives. Jesus' example encourages us to remain firm in our resolve - avoiding the easy choice to give in and give up. I decided to give the children a little temptation test of my own this week, hiding shiny pound coins on the playgrounds in the hope that they would be returned to me...and so far they all have!

A - 1st Lent

Uniform with a difference

It's been an absolute pleasure today to see so many of the children proudly wearing the uniforms of their local groups: Guides, Scouts, Cubs, Rainbows etc in support of their movements and the tremendous impact they have on our community. Saturday 22nd Feb saw the global celebration of the World Thinking Day, an opportunity to focus on and give thanks for the remarkable gift of friendship and the power that groups like Girl Guiding can have on changing our world for the better.

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St Joseph's Day

It's Friday, so...

Silver Speed!

Healthy Living in Year 1

Reception Fun & Games

Do you believe?

Speaking Out with 2N

Amazing Alfie!

The Friday Night Story...

Exploring a Forest School...

Reconciliation Stations

Reception Know How

Your Governing Body

St Joseph's Lions!

Use your voice!

Book Week!

1M's Class Assembly

Friday's Bedtime Story

Year 1 Sports Hall Event!

A flying trip to France!

Thursday's Story

Wednesday's Story

Author Visit - Richy Chandler

RRS Right of the Month

Tuesday's Bedtime Story

Author Visit - Aaron Blecha

Monday's Bedtime Story

Listen with your heart

Book Fair Fortune!

Lent Prayer Group for Parents

The Royal Observatory...

What a scene!

Temptation

Uniform with a difference

To see Spring Term 2020 part 1 - click here