Dear Families,

Today marks the end of another amazing half term of learning here at St John the Baptist.  I, and all the staff, are truly proud of the progress that all pupils have made this half term.  The best part of my job as Headteacher is when children drop into my office on a daily basis to share their work and tell me about their wonderful things they have learnt in their lessons with such enthusiasm and a love of learning.  I would like to say a big thank you to all the teacher’s, support staff, Joy, the office team, kitchen staff, lunchtime duty team and Pedro for everything they have done to make this term so successful.  

It has been a very busy and exciting term filled with multiple achievements: Year Six taking their end of Key Stage SATs, trips to Hackney Empire for professional musical performances, a successful runners-up entry into the Wild City competition in Year 5, year 1 going swimming for the first time, children in Key Stage 2 achieving in National mathematics competitions, preparing to send 5 of our year 5 singers to teach others music in Portugal, and celebrating lots of amazing events such as Mental Health Awareness Week amongst many others. 

I am already looking forward to our final half term, which is already jam-packed with lots of exciting events. Please look out for our upcoming dates poster.

As we approach the holidays, I urge everyone to stay safe and return refreshed and ready to learn on Monday 3rd June. Let’s make this final half term of the school year a memorable one!

Warm regards,

Ms Toni Mason

It has been lovely to share with parents at various coffee mornings that Katy Dean from the front office has been appointed as the SEND Co assistant. She will continue to be in the office and through the day also be working as SEND Co assistant. As part of her role she organises the Annual reviews for children who have an EHCP as well as coordinate the many professionals who we access to help our children. Please do ask her questions about SEND .

We have advertised and are appointing a new SEND Co for September at the moment but in the meantime Maya Dowling is joining us to help out until then. She will be in 3 days a week starting after the break and is an experienced SEND Co. So please do watch out for her on the gates to say hello.

Half term activities

Here are some great ideas for the May half term break:

Hackney Holiday activities and food programme is running for all pupils that are eligible for free school meals. They run a range of exciting and free activities in a variety of locations across Hackney. Please see their website for further details and information on how to book as places are limited.

There are a wide range of different sessions throughout the week being being run by the Hackney Play Schemes and Activities. Please see this guide and then follow the instructions should you wish to book.

There are lots of local libraries in Hackney, and they are all offering free activities. Visit the Love Hackney website for details.

There are also lots of different youth centres and youth hubs for young people in Hackney. Young Hackneys website is a great place to start.

Nursery Applications – Apply Now!

Please spread the word to friends and neighbours if they have children who are 2 and 3 years-old – applications are now being considered. Apply quickly for 2 year-old and 3 year-old Nursery places if your (or their) child was born between Sept 1st 2020 and 31st Aug 2022.

All applications are now easier as they are online and with the new funding outlined by the government more parents can access FREE 2 year old and 3 year old Nursery places. Here is the link to apply.

Upcoming Coffee mornings:

Wednesday 5th June – 8:45am Coffee Morning for Year 4 Parents and Carers The Year 4 Multiplication Times table check – What are doing at SJB and what you can do at home

Wednesday 12th June – 8:45am Coffee Morning for all Parents – Smart phones and children’s safety.

In the news this week…