Learning about continents in Year 3
Rowan class were learning all about the different continents this week during their new unit “Ancient Egypt”....
12 January, 2024
Dear St John the Baptist Families,
A warm welcome back and Happy New Year to you all.
We hope you had a peaceful and restful break. The children have come back in to school with huge smiles and settled back into their work brilliantly. They are working hard and thinking deeply. We have lots of exciting lessons to explore this half term. Please look out for our curriculum overviews coming out next week.
We are still buzzing from our Outstanding Ofsted result from last term. If you haven’t already, please read about our wonderful school in our latest report which can be found here. SJB is truly a fantastic place to learn. The report states in it’s opening comments, “At this school, pupils come first”. To see our ethos so simply stated made us all proud.
This term, in contrast to the autumn, is much shorter, with only four more weeks until the half term holiday. However, it is always a term in which children really progress, building on everything they have learnt so far and feeling confident in their year group. Teachers will be using the information they glean from each lesson to support your child, filling any gaps and extending their thinking. Please continue to support them at home by reading daily and practising any maths activities set on My Maths and spelling activities on Spelling Shed. This consolidation makes a big difference to their fluency in class.
You may have noticed some work being done in the playground. We are really excited to reveal our new play equipment in the space next to the dining room. As discussed with parents at the welcome meetings and voted by the School Council, we have installed a multi-use exercise and gym space for children to use and will share pictures with you once the ground work is complete.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Best wishes, Toni Mason
Spring term dates
We have sent out the new important dates for Spring term 2024. You can also find these on our website. Click here.
PE Days this half term
Please find the PE days detailed below for this half term. They were emailed out this afternoon but please find the below for your convenience. This schedule runs until Friday February 9th 2024.
Mondays – Y1 Oak; Y3 Rowan; Y5 Chestnut; Y5 Willow
Tuesdays – Reception; Y4 Elm; Y2 Holly; Y2 Cherry
Wednesdays – Reception; Y6 Plum; Y4 Maple (swimming); Y4 Elm (swimming)
Thursdays – Y2 Cherry; Y1 Oak; Y1 Palm
Fridays – Y6 Plum; Y6 Hazel
Reception Admissions – deadline 15th January 2024
If your child is aged 3 and 4 (born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020) they will be eligible to start reception class at St John the Baptist Primary School in September 2024.
All parents need to apply by 15 January 2024, even if your child is already in the nursery class.
For more information here is the link to Hackney’s Reception place application page – Click here This is the link for the eAdmissions application form: To apply please click here
If you would like any help please ask!
Nursery Places
We currently taking applications for the waiting list for both three-year-old and two-year-old Nursery. Please speak to School office more information.
Please share with your family and friends as places are limited!
Coffee mornings this half term
We look forward to seeing you at our first coffee morning this half term on Wednesday 17th January 2024 from 8:45am. We will be looking at how to support reading at home for children in Years 3,4,5 and 6. Please see below for the dates of our other upcoming coffee mornings!
Thursday 25th January 2024 – Coffee morning: Supporting music learning at home
Wednesday 31st January 2024 – Coffee morning: Helping your child with arithmetic for Years 1,2,3
Wednesday 7th February 2024 – Coffee morning: SaLT support – language focus
Applying for childcare support for your two-year-old
From 2 January 2024, eligible working parents can apply for 15 hours of childcare for their two-year-old. Parents have until 31 March 2024 to apply for a code, with mid-January to the end of February being the optimum time to apply in case they need to provide further information to support their application.
To apply for a childcare code each parent needs to be working and earning the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum/living wage and under £100,000 adjusted net income per year. This means that each parent needs to earn from just over £8,600 per year to be eligible for 15 hours a week of childcare during term time.
There is more information on the childcare support available to parents on the Childcare Choices website, where they can explore the early education entitlements and other government help with childcare costs.
