SEND and Wellbeing Coffee Mornings Thank you to everybody who came to the Dad's and Significant Males Coffee Morning! It was amazing to hear about your experiences and suggestions on how we can ensure that male role models feel included in the school community. Myself...
Thank you to everybody who came to the Dad’s and Significant Males Coffee Morning! It was amazing to hear about your experiences and suggestions on how we can ensure that male role models feel included in the school community. Myself and Joseph were extremely grateful for those who came and shared their experiences with us.
On Tuesday 25th November at 9.15, I will be hosting a coffee morning looking further into behaviour. All parents and carers, including Dad’s and Significant Males are invited.
I hope to see you there!
Mr Watson
This week in PSHE, Year 2 discussed the impact of racism and how it can negatively effect others.
We talked about accepting and celebrating others differences and thought it was crucial to educate ourselves on different cultures.
The children sat in a circle and talked about what it would feel like to be judged based on the colour of your skin.
Finally we filled in a worksheet celebrating our differences.
Please be reminded that Parents’ Evening will be held on Wednesday 26th November from 2:00 – 7:00PM.
Parents’ Evening provides an opportunity for you to meet with your child’s class teacher to discuss their progress, achievements, and next steps in learning. We look forward to sharing the many successes and highlights from this term with you.
Thanks to those who have already signed up to meet their child’s class teacher. For those who are still yet to do so, you can book your appointment slots online. Each appointment will last 10 minutes, and we kindly ask that everyone adheres to these timings so that all parents have the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher.
On the day, we ask that all parents sign in at the school office upon arrival. You will then be guided to the school hall, where the meetings will take place.
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you then.
As the colder winter weather has now arrived, we kindly ask all parents and carers to ensure children come to school dressed appropriately for the conditions. Please make sure your child has a warm coat, scarf, gloves, hat, and any other items needed to keep them comfortable during outdoor play and travel to and from school.
Thank you for helping us keep everyone warm, healthy, and ready to learn!
Did you know that tooth decay is the number one reason that children aged 5-7 are admitted to Homerton Hospital? And that on average every child in this age group has 3 days off school caused by dental pain? That is a lot of lost learning when tooth decay is largely preventable.
Fluoride is scientifically proven to strengthen teeth, making them more resistant to decay, compared to teeth that haven’t been exposed to fluoride. Fluoride is natural and can be found everywhere – in the air, in our water and in our food!
Find more information about fluoride on this fact sheet!
We wanted to share an update on the generous funding we received from the PTA , as well as our own fundraising, to support our permanent playground structure project. We are still in the early stages of planning, as the first structure we had hoped to purchase turned out not to be the right fit—both in terms of size and the additional safety flooring it would have required.
To make sure we find the best possible solution, we’ve been speaking with a number of playground equipment specialists. Over the next few weeks, they will be visiting the school to assess our outdoor spaces and provide quotes. From these early conversations, it’s becoming clear that a collection of smaller structures, thoughtfully positioned across different play areas, may serve our children better than a single large installation.
There are also a few practical considerations we need to take into account, such as outdoor PE use, drains on the KS2 playground, and fire access in the KS1 area. As the KS2 building is listed, and the site is owned by the LDBS, any planned work requires a formal consultation and approval process. As you can imagine, this adds time, but we are moving forward steadily and hope to share a more detailed update by Christmas.
In the meantime, we’re delighted to let you know that several playground improvements were completed over the summer. These include the new scooter track in the amphitheatre (which officially opened on Monday) along with concave mirrors in the alley between KS1 and the amphitheatre, a cheerful hopscotch trail in the alley leading to the KS2 playground, and the addition of pallet cars and other loose parts for creative play.
All of these enhancements are part of our ongoing commitment to creating joyful, engaging, and stimulating outdoor spaces for our children. Thank you, as always, for your support.
As part of our ongoing work to help children think about their futures, we are looking for parents and carers who would be willing to come into school to speak in assembly about their job.
We would love our pupils to hear about the wide range of careers that exist and the different skills people use every day. You might talk about what you do, what skills and qualifications are needed, and what a typical day looks like in your role.
By sharing your experience, you can help our children see the many different paths available to them and start thinking about how they can prepare for adult life.
If you would be interested in taking part, please contact the school office. We’d love to hear from you!
Year 3 Writing Sample
This week in year 3 we have been understanding figurative language, similes, metaphors and personification.
This is to help us write our free verse poems this half term. Here is an example of our work…
SJSJ PTA Christmas Raffle 2025 – Festive Prize Reveal!
The SJSJ PTA Christmas Raffle is in full swing, and we are so excited to reveal this year’s spectacular prizes — including our show stopping Star Prize… an ELECTRIC SCOOTER!
One lucky winner will be scooting into the New Year in serious style!
Thank you to everyone who has already bought tickets — your support is helping us sprinkle festive joy across the whole school.
Tickets are £1 each or £5 per booklet (cash only).
You can buy tickets for yourself — or help us spread even more Christmas cheer by taking extra booklets to sell to family, friends and neighbours. Year reps can arrange these, or you can collect them directly from the office.
Here’s what else is waiting to be won under the SJSJ Christmas tree:
Luxury & Beauty
Clarins Men’s and Women’s Hampers (£250 each), Platinum HydraFacial (£240), festive beauty hamper, manicure, facial vouchers, Kobido face massages and a £100 Blue Tit hairdresser voucher.
For the Kids
Semi private swimming lessons, Wonderlab annual passes, a holiday art workshop, Plonk Golf and a one year Castle Cinema membership.
Treats to Enjoy
Pages bookshop vouchers, Gail’s bakery treats, Casey’s Clapton voucher and M and S Christmas gift bundles.
Health Fitness and Wellbeing
Pilates one to one sessions, a one-month gym membership and an E5 acupuncture session.
All funds raised help the PTA support OPAL playground fun and school trips, giving our children even more joyful experiences throughout the year.
Thank you for getting into the festive spirit and supporting the SJSJ PTA — and good luck!
Please can we remind all parents and carers that the school gate opens at 8.50am, ready for school to start promptly at 8.55am. We kindly ask that parents or carers do not come into the school playground or building with their child/ren.
Teachers and support staff are generally not available in the mornings as they are settling the children straight into assembly – should you need to speak with an adult, please go directly to the school office and Miss Nifa will be more than happy to assist you in arranging a suitable time.
Thank you for your continued support in ensuring that all children come into school in a calm manner and ready for a day of learning.
We would like to remind all families that a late collection charge of £5 for every 5 minutes will be applied if a child is not collected promptly at the end of the school day or from after-school clubs.
Please ensure that you are collecting your child on time to avoid any additional charges.
We also kindly ask that you check your ParentPay account regularly and clear any outstanding balances as soon as possible.
Thank you for your cooperation and continued support.
As part of our ongoing efforts to maintain a smart, inclusive and focused learning environment, we’d like to send a friendly reminder about the school uniform policy here at St John and St James.
Our school uniform consists of the following items:
During the summer months, children are also permitted to wear:
Please also be reminded of the following additional guidelines:
We appreciate your support in helping ensure that your child arrives at school in the correct uniform each day. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.
Thank you for your continued cooperation in maintaining our school’s standards.
Safeguarding is EVERYONE’S responsibility. Our attitude is, it could happen here.
At St John & St James we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect ALL staff, volunteers and visitors to the school to share this commitment.
If you have any concerns about the safety of a child, please speak immediately to our Designated Safeguarding Lead, Joshua Watson.
If Mr Watson is not available, you can always speak to one of our school’s Deputy Safeguarding Leads:
Our Year 6 children participated in the Hackney Junior Citizen Scheme this week, engaging in a series of practical workshops designed to help them stay safe and make responsible choices within the community. The sessions covered: Dental hygiene and mental health strategies – Hackney Health and......
This week in Geography, the children have been thoroughly engaged in learning about Shanghai and London, exploring both the differences and similarities between these two vibrant world cities. Their curiosity and enthusiasm have been wonderful to see! The class was especially fascinated by some of......
This week in Year 4, we explored the exciting world of electrical circuits and discovered how switches help control the flow of electricity. We began by revisiting the key components needed to make a complete circuit—batteries, bulbs, wires, and switches—and talked about how conductors and......
This week in Year 3, the children have been learning about animation. They have ben looking at the first form of animation and how it was created. They then created their own flipbook and drew stop frame animation of their own. The used iMotion to......
Our new topic in Science is plants. The children discussed the different features of a plant and drew pictures to illustrate this. They then labelled the plant. The children could recall a lot from previous learning and remembered what the roots of a plant were......
In Science this week, Year 1 have been busy becoming young investigators as we explored the properties of materials through an absorbent and waterproof experiment. The children were introduced to a range of everyday materials, including paper towels, foil, fabric and plastic. Using pipettes, they carefully dropped......
This week, the children in reception have been taking part in a wide range of exciting activities linked to our new literacy book, The Three Little Pigs. They have enjoyed exploring the story through role-play, retelling key events, and discussing the different characters. The class......
This week our highlight in has been learning about different celebrations during RE. We have focused on Birthdays and other family celebrations in the past weeks, but this week we learned about Diwali which was a new celebration to all the children. It was lovely......
The word of the week this week is….. Patience In Year 5 we are learning different ways we can incorporate this word into our day to day activities. Year 5 has done some role play to show us how we can be patient with our......
This week in PSHE, Year 2 discussed the impact of racism and how it can negatively effect others. We talked about accepting and celebrating others differences and thought it was crucial to educate ourselves on different cultures. The children sat in a circle and talked......