A message from Miss Gladstone

A huge well done to all of the children for another fantastic half term! There has been so much to celebrate across the school and we are incredibly proud of all the hard work, achievements and positive attitudes shown by our pupils. Thank you to all of our families for your continued support throughout this busy and successful half term.

We hope everyone has a wonderful and restful half term break and we look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday 1st June for the final half term of the academic year.

Debate Day

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of the parents and carers who attended our Oracy Day class debates. Your support and encouragement are greatly appreciated and mean a great deal to both the children and staff.

The children were fantastic and spoke with impressive clarity, confidence, and maturity as they shared and justified their opinions using knowledge from their Humanities topics. We have been incredibly proud of the progress they have made in developing their oracy skills throughout the year, and it was wonderful to see them demonstrate these so successfully.

National Numeracy Day & No Pens Day 

On Wednesday 20th May, the children all took part in a day of creativity with maths, to celebrate National Numeracy Day – and to add an element of challenge, it was also No Pens Day! The ‘No Pens’ initiative is a speech and language drive to encourage children to articulate themselves and explain their learning orally, instead of recording in books with written tasks.

In Years 1 – 3, the children used recycled materials to make their very own mini city! They worked in pairs or small groups to design and create various aspects of a city and then combined them to create their final product.

In Years 4 – 6, the children created their own maths games! They had to use their critical thinking skills to think carefully about not only the appearance of the game and its design, but also the maths the was incorporated as part of the game.

The children all had a wonderful day celebrating maths and using all the oracy skills that they have been developing to share their learning and explain their creative processes!

Online safety: Roblox – New Age-Based Accounts

Roblox is introducing new age-based account options designed to create a safer and more

age-appropriate experience for children. This means that there are now 3 types of Roblox accounts:

• Roblox Kids – for children 5-8 years
• Roblox Select – for children 9-15 years
• Roblox – for anyone 16+

For any users that have not completed an age check, they will be put into the youngest user category and parents can update or correct a child’s age through a linked account.

Roblox Kids accounts will only allow access to games with a ‘Minimal’ or ‘Mild’ content rating, with communication features switched off by default. Roblox Select accounts will allow access to games rated up to ‘Moderate’, with some chat features available but with additional restrictions in place. Roblox is also expanding parental controls, allowing parents to block specific games, manage chat settings and approve access to certain experiences.

While these new features offer additional safety measures, parental controls work best alongside regular supervision. Continue to monitor which games your child is accessing, who they are interacting with and how much time they are spending online.

Further information can be found here:

https://about.roblox.com/newsroom/2026/04/introducing-roblox-kids-and-select-accounts

https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/roblox-releases-updated-parental-controls-and-age-appropriate-experiences

Online safety: YouTube

YouTube has released a new feature, which allows a parent to set up a supervised experience account on the parent’s device. This is important because many younger children will watch YouTube videos on a parent’s device, where it is likely there are no

restrictions in place. This new feature is a welcome addition. This article explains

Supervised Experience (on the main YouTube app) and Parent Allowlisting (on the YouTube Kids app): https://www.esafety-adviser.com/youtube-parental-settings/

Writing Sample:

Padlet

To find out what’s been happening across some of our wider curriculum areas across the school, follow the link to our new curriculum padlet:

https://padlet.com/sjsjadmin/wider_curriculum_25

Weekly Prayer

End of Day Safeguarding Reminder

A reminder that all parents and carers must remain in the playground during pick-up times and are not permitted to enter the school building. This is a key part of our safeguarding procedures and is essential to keeping all children safe.

Parents and carers may request to speak with their child’s teacher outside in the playground; however, this may not always be possible due to other commitments, such as staff training or scheduled meetings. In these cases, appointments should be arranged through the school office.

We appreciate your cooperation in supporting our safeguarding expectations and helping to ensure clear communication while maintaining a safe environment for all.

Keeping Our Children Safe at Home and In School

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: