Signs of Christ

We have welcomed in a new Church year, as we looked ahead to the First Sunday of Advent. We hear how, at the end of time, “There will be signs” that Christ is coming again. We have celebrated with children this week the many signs and symbols that help us to recognise the season of Advent and reflected on the joy and comfort these signs can give us as we wait and prepare for Christ this Christmas. Our crib scene is in place, our nativity rehearsals are going well and Year 5 have adorned the school in beautiful wreaths as we count up the Sundays to Christmas day.

C - 1st Advent

Try, try, try again!

Congratulations to our triumphant mixed rugby team, playing against local independent schools this term, who fought hard for victory! Esme - being our only girl was a rose amongst the thorns and broke through the much bigger back row to score the first try. Magnus - AKA ‘the bulldozer’ made numerous runs through players and Cranmore had to double up on bodies to bring him to ground. Albie - master at finding space to pass the ball into so his team mates could make crucial ground, a standout selfless performance putting the team effort before his own Seb - a tackling machine and one of the first to clear out the rucks, a good few try saving tackles made that if he hadn’t executed would have made the score more competitive in Cranmore’s favour! Josh - brilliant at tracking players on the attack and putting the tackle in at the right time, once with the ball he puts the afterburners on and was near impossible to catch

All involved were immensely proud of them! - A special thanks to Mr Webb for making the opportunity happen.

The Space Between

Year 4 and Year 5 gathered together this week to enjoy a fantastic performance by an outside theatre company, Peer Productions. The Space Between (my head & heart) is an interactive, musical play which aims to build resilience and emotional wellbeing in children. As well as teaching healthy coping techniques and wellbeing practices, the play explores friendship, tolerance and respecting and celebrating each others’ differences in line with the Five Ways of Wellbeing. We had a fabulous time and the children were transfixed!

Royalty in RE!

In RE this week, Year 5 were exploring what kind of King David was. We looked at some stories of his reign and identified the qualities that he displayed. We realised that he was a joyful, anointed, blessed, inspiring, trusting, obedient and prayerful King. We read together 2 Samuel 7:8-15 and learnt about God’s Covenant with David, and we also discussed how, as with every covenant God made with His people, it required both sides to do something. So we thought about what David might have promised to do for God. We saw some wonderful examples of scripture reflections from the children. Well done Year 5!

Nursery Nativity

This week the Nativity rehearsals have been in full swing in Nursery. The children have had the opportunity to go over to the "big hall" and practice on the stage. Alongside this we have had some Nativity costumes out for the children to dress up and tell their own recount of the first Christmas.

All Greek to me!

Year 4 had a fantastic day learning about all things Greek! This morning the children came in excited for the day ahead dressed in their traditional Greek clothes. The children started with having the opportunity to taste a variety of Greek foods including feta cheese, greek honey yoghurt and olives. Mixed feelings were had about the different foods! After break, we learnt about Greek writing and how letters and sounds were formed before moving onto using an abacus to count and try to solve Maths calculations. In the afternoon, all of Year 4 enjoyed an active session led by The Rainbow Theatre Company. The children learnt about a number of different Greek Myths through drama. A brilliant day was had by everyone!

Chari-tea

Congratulations to Alek and Misza who raised an incredible £500 for the Catholic Children's Society by hosting a coffee morning at St Joseph's, after Sunday Mass. The coffee was hot and the cakes were exceptionally tempting as the community came together to support this special cause. Well done boys!

Home | Catholic Childrens SocietyThe Catholic Children’s Society supports disadvantaged children and families across London, Hertfordshire and the South East. We work with individuals of all faiths and none; our sole aim is to help those in greatest need.

Amber's Efforts

Many congratulations to Amber, who solely organised and ran a Christmas fundraising event for her family this week! Activities included a tombola, reindeer making, games, meditation and relaxation activities. She raised £49.72 which she will split between three charities - Guide Dogs, Surrey Wildlife Trust and Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. What an inspiring idea!

Making lunch...

Year 3 enjoyed a fantastic DT day this week. After tasting a variety of breads and sandwich fillings, the children planned their own healthy sandwich and presented it as an exploded diagram with labels. In the next lesson, the class teacher demonstrated the skills of cutting, slicing, grating, scraping and mixing which the children then used very sensibly to make their own sandwich. Once the sandwiches were made,the children enjoyed eating them and discussed what had gone well and how they would improve their sandwich next time. We were very impressed with how sensibly the children used the equipment and we had some very confident sandwich makers. Well done Year 3!

Two by two

We’ve been learning about patterns and focusing on making our own AB patterns using 2 different objects. We were so impressed by the children going off around the classroom in pairs, finding 2 objects and making their own AB pattern. Impressing maths, communication skills and sharing! Our next challenge is ABC patterns. We’re excited to see what they come up with.

A Window Into The Past

Building on our understanding of animal adaptation and Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, Year 6 have been learning about fossils and what they can teach us about the past. We looked at the fossil remains of horses from over 50 million years ago to the modern day horse we see today. We were amazed to discover that the early ancestors of horses, eohippus, were no bigger than a small dog and had four toes! We analysed how horses have evolved and then looked at why concluding that climate, habitat and food sources were the main drivers for their adaptation.

Football Focus

We have all had lots of fun at Football Club this term. New kit arrived, which was very exciting for the children - with thanks to the PFSA for funding it. Both the boys and girls teams have represented St Joseph's in a very positive way at two separate tournaments. The boys all played very well and came 4th overall in their pool, always showing great sportsmanship and amazing teamwork. The girls gave it their all in every game: they supported each other extremely well and even went to check in on other teams where injuries were suffered. They played against 5 other local schools and came 3rd overall in their pool. Well done to all! And a special thanks to Miss Cogger & Mrs Jones for their commitment and leadership this term.

Away in a manger...

In DT, Year 1 have been learning all about free standing structures and joining techniques. We explored different joining techniques: sellotape, masking tape, glue stick and PVA glue, and evaluated which ones worked the best. We were then tasked with creating a manger for Jesus. Our mangers had to have legs, sides and be able to stand up on their own. The creations were very impressive, we're sure you'll agree!

Nativity News

Our deepest thanks to all the staff and children for their remarkable efforts in preparing to celebrate the Good News that God became man and lived among us with their Christmas performances this year:

Three trios of Infant nativities

Two gorgeous Nursery performances

And

One epic Junior production!

An incredible effort to mark this very special time of year. Well done to all!

Printing Practice

Over the last couple of weeks, the children in Year 2 have been getting creative! We have been experimenting with printing and designing Christmas calendars. The children learned that anything can be used as a block print - natural objects such as leaves and pinecones, or man-made objects like polystyrene tiles and cardboard templates. We designed, made and evaluated a special picture using a variety of these objects.

Reindeer Run

In aid of Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care, children across the school took part in a sponsored reindeer run to raise money for this much loved local charity. In Years R&6 it became something of a reindeer bootcamp, as Year 6 students were partnered up with Reception children to put them through their paces. After a general warm up (including push ups), the pairs set off, with Year 6 taking the reigns. Reception children did a remarkable job navigating the course and their Year 6 coaches were full of praise and admiration for all their efforts!