Newsletters

Friday 20th December, 2024

Dear Parents & Carers

We've really enjoyed many of the different events over the past couple of weeks and it has been fantastic to see so much support for the children. We hope you enjoyed the concerts or the Christmas performance if you were able to come along. 

Today we say all the best to Mrs Connell as she starts her maternity leave. We also say a warm welcome to Mrs Pope who will be replacing Mrs Connell in Filby class. Mrs Pope brings with her a wealth of experience in another Norfolk school and we look forward to working with her in the months ahead. We are also pleased to say that Mrs Kett will be joining the SHIP team on a full-time basis from January which is great news. 

We all know how hectic the Christmas break can be for families, but we hope that you are able to find some time just to relax and take a break from the busy lives we all lead. 

My big thanks go to everyone for the support this term with all events and fund-raising activities. My thanks also go to the 'Friends of school' for the lovely events put on the children and for raising a lot of money to support the children's educational experience. 

On behalf of the Governors and staff, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Kind regards

Matt Walton, Headteacher 

January 

Tue 7th - Spring term begins

Mon 13th - Clubs begin

Thu 16th - cross-country (hosted by Taverham Junior at Langley Prep)

Tue 21st - Sleep Workshop @ 9:30am

Tue 28th - Year 5 & 6 Cybersecurity (Norfolk Police)

Christmas Concerts

We very much enjoyed our Christmas Concerts at St Cuthbert's. On both afternoons, the children spoke clearly and sang brilliantly, and it made for two lovely festive events. 

We had poems, postcards to parents, class songs, Christmas thoughts and the Christmas story amongst some lovely Christmas carols and songs. 

Musical Theatre's Straw and Order

We had a bumper audience for Musical Theatre's performance of Straw and Order on Tuesday evening. 

The children were nervous but very excited to be showing their play to such a big audience. 

We were very proud of how well they learnt their lines, and they were a brilliant group to work with. If you came along on the evening, we hope you enjoyed the performance and some of the fantastic singing and acting. We have many talented children!

Santa Dash

The Friends of SJS once again held a Santa Dash last Friday, with fake snow and Santa on hand to help! The children all really enjoyed the event and particularly saying hello to Santa whilst getting covered in 'snow'. On behalf of all the children we say a massive thank you to Mrs Hartley, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Towers and Father Christmas for hosting the event!

Cinderella

Last week, we visited the Puppet Theatre to watch a production of Sleeping Beauty. It is a really special place to visit and everyone enjoyed the performance.

At the end, the children had the chance to ask Ronnie and Lucy, the puppeteers, some questions. These included: How long have you been a puppeteer? What is your favourite puppet? How long does it take to write and prepare a production like Sleeping Beauty? and How did you start being a puppeteer? 

It was great to get a chance to speak to the people behind the puppets. The older of you will remember Ronnie from his days as Zippy in Rainbow and Sweep on the Sooty Show.

A big thank you to Genevieve and Into Opera for helping to organise the trip.

School Uniform

Please can we take the opportunity to remind everyone about school uniform. 

We do have particular problems with black shoes and PE kits (plain white t-shirt, blue or black shorts, plain blue or black tracksuit). 

We do try to make our uniform as simple as possible; we'd appreciate the support in always sending your child to school in the correct clothing. 

The full list can be found on the school website: 

SJS Uniform

Today we said a massive well done to 40 children who managed to attend every day in the autumn term. We also gave out 'excellent attendance' certificates to children who have managed 98% or 99% attendance as well (16 children). 

Looking forward to the spring term, it would be wonderful if we could beat those figures and recognise even more excellent attendance. Let's hope there aren't too many 'bugs' about!

Sleep Workshop

We are hosting a sleep workshop run by Bonny McDowall from Norfolk County Council's School and Community Team.

This will run on Tuesday 21st January from 9.30 - 11. The session will cover 

The importance of sleep

Reasons a child may struggle to sleep

Sleep Hygiene & Nutrition

Ways to support

Ongoing support in Norfolk

Reflection/Takeaways

Resources

If you would like to book a place, please contact Liz Clark (senco@sprowstonjunior.norfolk.sch.uk) or the school office. 

This workshop is open to parents from all schools in our cluster.

Christmas Lunch!

We had a very noisy and fun Christmas lunch with singing and a little bit of dancing as well! The children and staff really got into the Christmas spirit. The feedback from some of the children was that 'it was the best lunchtime ever' so we'll take that as a big success!

Clubs!

Clubs will start on the week beginning 13th January. Due to staff illness, we haven't been able to get the letter out to you this week. We will send the clubs letter out on Monday 6th January. Please get responses back to us as soon as you possibly can after this date. 

Please do have a look and see if there is anything that interests your child.  

We can let you know that Mini-Moons are running two clubs in the first-half of the spring term. Film-making (£20) will be on Wednesdays and Musical Theatre (£16) on Thursdays. The costs have been subsidised by school.

Sign-up for the 'Mini-Moons' Clubs can be found below and will be on a first-come basis. 

SJS Mini Moons Clubs

The team at The Forum have put their heads together to come up with lots of festive fun, and free (or cheap), activities to do in the run-up to Christmas. It's an expensive time of year, so they've focussed on activities and ideas to keep you entertained, but without breaking the bank! Just think of it as your festive to-do list for the next few weeks. (source: theforumnorwich.co.uk)

Click here to find out more.