The Diocese of Nottingham

ST JOHN FISHER CATHOLIC VOLUNTARY ACADEMY

Alvaston Street, Alvaston. Derby DE24 0PA

Telephone: (01332) 572154

Fax:(01332)784642

E-mail:

Website: www.stjohnfisher.derby.sch.uk

Headteacher: Dr E Field

St John Fisher Catholic Academy Trust is an exempt charity and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England with
Company Number 8172988 and has a registered office at Alvaston St, Alvaston, Derby, DE24 0PA

21st October 2014

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Well done to the children: who have worked hard and behaved well; we already have Super Students, congratulations to Elliot Chua, Rowan Hitchcock, Kimberley Leary , Chloe McFarlane and Kiya O’Connor who have been awarded their Super Student status this half term. The criteria are on the website so do please talk through with your children about what they need to do to move up the Star Student ladder.

Thank you to our Parents: who continue to support us in so many ways. Our PTFA have given the school another £1000 for library books, in addition to the £1000 they gave us last year. This provides much needed quality library books that motivate and engage our children with reading. Thank you also to our Parent Council who have already sent out what we hope you agree is a parent friendly newsletter.

School Uniform: All children should return after half term in their winter uniform please. This means all children must now wear ties. Please note that boots are not allowed to be worn in school. If pupils arrive in boots they must change when they are indoors either into black pumps or school shoes.

Football: Well done to our Footballers. This half term we have played four matches, two wins and two draws. Our players this half term have been:

Benoit Anthony, Kacper Broda, Riley Dale, Duncan Garikayi, Niall Gorman, Dawid Idzi, Kaden Millward, Elijah Tumelty, Tilly Piggott, Niamh Smith, Joe Smith, Kiara Thomas.

Careers Day: We are holding our biannual Careers Day for Years 4-6 on 13/11/14. Year Six are visiting the skills show at Birmingham NEC. In school, Years 4 and 5 will have the opportunity to meet professionals from a variety of professions. They will hear about what their jobs involve and what qualifications they need. Our aim is to encourage our children to aim high and understand that the choices they make now about their behaviour and study will influence how many doors are open to them in the future. Please talk to your children about the benefits of hard work and good behaviour.

Reading Stories: YR, Y1 and Y2 have received a separate letter to tell them about how the children will be doing their literacy around a story each fortnight. The children will take either their Fairy Tale book or their Bible home so that their parents can read and discuss the story with them each evening.

Please could we recommend that KS2 parents also read their children a book that is beyond their actual reading age, perhaps a chapter two or three times a week, until they reach a stage when they are able to read any book independently. Parents should discuss the book with them. This is proven to have a positive impact on the children’s learning.

Junk Materials: Making models out of junk materials is going down well with all ages! Please keep sending your boxes in (and sellotape is also always welcome if you can spare it). We love the arrangement whereby you send your junk to us and we send it back to you sellotaped together!

Free School Meals: It is really important that parents who qualify for FSM apply, even if your child is in KS1, to enable the school to receive additional funding and to sustain the staffing and resources to meet your children’s needs. Also, parents who qualify for FSM will be given a £5 deduction from day visits and a £20 deduction for residential visits.

Forms are available from the school office, our website, or D.C.C. website. If you would like the school to complete this form for you please pop in let the school office know.

Mass at English Martyrs: Thank you so much to all those families who attended our school-led mass on the 19th October. The children were beautifully behaved and the readers were excellent. Many parishioners came up to praise the children following the Mass.

Crossing Patrol: It has been brought to our attention by a parent that a child was almost hit by a car when crossing the road outside school. Please ensure children use the crossing patrol. If it is not used by enough people, we will lose this service.

Brownies & Rainbows: r

Talking to the Brownies and Rainbows, they all say what good fun they have. It is a great way for children to develop socially and learn new skills, not to mention their smart uniform. Brownies and Rainbows also help parents to ensure that their children do not spend all their spare time glued to the television or the computer, particularly now the dark evenings are upon us.

Rainbows: Fun and games for 5-7 year old girls. Tuesday evenings during term time, in the Parish Hall @ English Martyrs, 5.00-6.00pm. Call Diane on 07505 949034 or Claire on 07929 425133 for more details.

Brownies: For girls 7-10 years old. Tuesday evenings during term time in the Parish Hall @ English Martyrs, 6.15-7.30pm. Fun and games, craft, cooking, trips out to bowling, cinema etc, working for badges and annual ‘Pack Holiday’. If you’re interested girls, call Diane on 07505 949034.

Collecting Children: we do understand parents very occasionally are unavoidably late in collecting their children. One or two parents, however, are persistently late. This is not acceptable as staff have after school meetings and there is no-one available to ensure that your children are safe. Parents collecting their children later than three thirty more than once in a half term will be charged £3.82 per half hour in childcare fees, to cover the cost of us needing to pay someone to look after them.

Stranger Danger: There has been a sighting of a man near the school behaving inappropriately in a public place.lt is not clear as to whether or not his behaviour was intended to be directed at the children. As half term approaches, however, it is advisable to remind your children about how to protect themselves by always saying no to strangers; ensuring a trusted adult knows where they are at all times; keeping agreed home times etc.. We will also remind the children in school.

Diary Dates:

23rd October – Tracksuit & Trainers Day

24th October – New Parents (2015/2016) tour –1:30 pm

24th October – Pupils Break Up For Half Term

3rd November – INSET DAY INSET DAY

4th November – BACK TO SCHOOL

6thNovember – Parent Lunch Yr 1 @12:00

11th November – School Nurse Drop in

18th November – Parents aft/eve 1:30pm – 8:00pm

20th November – Parent Lunch Yr 2 @ 12:00

21st November – Understanding House Mass @ 2:10pm

27th November – Yr R @ Polesworth Abbey

27th November – Parent Council meeting @ 2:10 pm

2nd December – Yr R Nativity Play @ 09:30am for Parents

4th December – Yr R Nativity Play @ 2:00pm for school and parents

4th December – PTFA Disco 5:15 KS1 6:45 KS 2

5th December – New Parents Tour (2015/2016) @ 9:30am

10th December – KS1 Nativity Play @ 9:30am

11th December – KS1 Nativity Play @ 5:30pm

12th December – Whole School Mass @2:10pm

16th December – School Nurse Drop in

18th December – Christmas Parties

19th December – Achievement Assembly KS2 @ 09:15am & KS1@10:45

19th December – Carols around the tree @ 1:30pm in School – All Welcome

19th December – Break Up for Christmas

5th January – Back to School

Please note that Children return after half term on Tuesday 4th November

INSET Dates 14/15

3rd November 2014

16th February 2015

1st June 2015

29th June 2015

On behalf of all the staff,

Best Wishes

E.Field