The Link Newsletter #66

Friday 11th July 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

With the Summer holidays nearly upon us, this will be the final newsletter of this academic year. To begin, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our community for the tremendous support that they have shown over the course of this year. The Home~School Partnership is something that I continually recognise and celebrate because we simply cannot do what we do without you. We appreciate you hearing your child read regularly at home as well as supporting them with other homework. In addition, simple things like ensuring your child arrives at school on time and attends every day is very important to us and to the outcomes of your children. 

Thank you to the many parents who have attended the Meet the Teacher sessions. These have been held at 9am and 2.30pm to try and make these as accessible as possible. The remaining Year 5 Meet the Teacher takes place on Monday 14th July at both 9am and 2.30pm. If you have missed these sessions or were unable to attend, the presentations will be uploaded to our website: https://www.st-johns-school.com/Meet-the-Teacher-2025/ 

May we also thank the army of parent and grandparent volunteers who help make school events and activities the successes that they are. This includes those who attend school trips or in-school events and hear children read each week. Maria deserves a special mention as she supports our library each week and also leads the Nearly New Uniform shop - thank you Maria! Not forgetting the parents who commit to running PTA activities, the Christmas and Summer Fayre, fundraising initiatives like the Golden Ticket, Fun Run and discos.

This year we will be saying goodbye to Sue Moody, our PTA chair who so gallantly stepped forward to lead the PTA two years ago at a time when the PTA was not far from closing due to noone stepping forward to take charge. Sue not only brought people together to form a new committee to continue the wonderful events and activities, but together with Dave the treasurer, implemented structures and procedures that resulted in leaving the PTA in a strong position for the future. We owe you a huge THANK YOU. We will miss you and wish you, Wayne and Holly all the very best for the future.

We will also be saying a fond farewell to our parent governor Catherine Leyland, parent of James in Year 6. Catherine’s contribution to the local governing committee has been immense and invaluable. May we thank you for your commitment, dedication, challenge and encouragement that you have brought so brilliantly to St John’s. May we wish you, Matthew and James well as he embarks on his new chapter at secondary school. We will miss you all.

One of our learning support assistants, Mrs Burrell, will be stepping down from her role next week. Mrs Burrell joined St John’s to support children with a medical need. Since then, Mrs Burrell has supported numerous children. May we say a big thank you to everything you have done for the children, staff and parents of St John’s.

We have hugely enjoyed working alongside our teachers Miss O'Reilly, Miss Canham, Miss Goodman and Miss Mardle who joined the school last year. Thank you for the enormous contribution to our school community and we wish you the very best as you take up your new teaching positions in schools not far from Buckhurst Hill in September. Do make sure you keep in touch.

Mrs Walker will shortly be commencing her maternity leave and no doubt as soon as she leaves, will be counting down the days to her return. We would like to wish Mrs Walker and her husband, Jake all the very best over the coming weeks. 

Finally, we will be saying goodbye to our Year 6 children. The leaving celebrations and parties have already begun. The residential at Gilwell Park was a fabulous success. Well done for organising this Mr Peck, and thank you to the staff who also attended and made the week so special for the children, Miss Marbe, Mr McConnell, Miss Bourdillon, Miss Mardle, Mrs Hopkins, Mrs Tay and Mrs Griffiths. I know you will want to join me in wishing the children well as they leave St John's and head off to their respective secondary schools. We will of course be saying goodbye to some of our parents too, some of whom have been with St John's for quite some time. We wish you well too as we say our final goodbyes next week. We are delighted that St John's Church will be providing teas and coffees outside the church during the interval between the formal end-of-year service and the Leavers' performance for Year 6 parents. The service will begin at 9.30am.

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PARENT GOVERNOR ELECTION

In June, we wrote to parents asking you to consider the role of parent governor. One parent responded with a nomination form and as a result of their being only one applicant, I can now announce that Samantha Harrison has been elected as our new Parent Governor. We look forward to working with Sam and I know you will join me in wishing her well as she commences this new position from September. 

https://www.st-johns-school.com/Meet-the-Governors/

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SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

I attended a West Essex Sport Partnership Awards evening on Wednesday 9th July. I was proud to celebrate the achievements of all the children across Epping Forest. A huge thank you to Marcus and Gill who between them organise and lead the many competitions across the district. Three children at St John’s were recognised for the sporting excellence award, Leila B and Jervani W and for the most improved, Clara M. 

“Jervani has been an absolute joy to work with. Respectful, always willing to give anything a go, and most importantly always has a smile on his face.”

"Leila's natural talent across a variety of sports is matched only by her tireless dedication and drive to improve”

"Clara's transformation in the world of sport has been a powerful reminder of what: determination, courage, and a growth mindset can achieve.” 

Year 3 and 4 Tennis Finals

Adam, Nicholas, Mahrosh and Alana represented St John's in the regional tennis final in Harlow. It was a very hot day, during the first heatwave of the year. Thank you to Mrs Harrison who led the team until Mr Furness was able to arrive. It was a hard fought round of games, but everyone played exceptionally well. St John's finished 2nd overall - a wonderful achievement given that some of the opposition played at county level.

Year 5&6 Cricket

Years 5/6 cricketers at the Chance to Shine competition at Loughton Cricket Club against experienced and skilled opponents. In true St. John's fashion the children remained positive and resilient and took on learning from their early matches to post a fantastic victory against Staples Road. Thank you Mr Edwards-Smith for leading the team.

 

 

District Sports

St John's children represented the school in two events across two weeks, the District Field followed by the District Track event. Coach Victoria and Mrs Aarons had done a superb job in organising the events; so a big thank you to both members of the team.

On both days we had some outstanding results, leading to receiving a joint 1st place trophy  shared with Staples Road. Congratulations to all the children who took part.

 

Girls Football

Our final match of the season was played against Theydon Bois. Rotating the squad to ensure equity as far as practically possible over four games has enabled everyone to play at least two matches and no more than three. Congratulations to St John's who won the game 8-3. Thank you Mrs Walker for attending with the children.

 

 

Triathlon 

A tremendous effort from five athletes at our first Triathlon!! Incredibly hard to have to swim 120m, cycle 650m and run 800m alongside some fierce competition. Leila was our absolute iron-girl, overtaking on the last leg of the run & taking 3rd place in 10mins19secs. We were absolutely blown away by all their stamina and resilience, what a great experience! Thank you to Mrs Aarons for accompanying and supporting the children.

Three-Tees Cricket

Agonisingly close to the podium for our Year 2 Three Tees Cricket team at Loughton Cricket Club. After topping our group we narrowly lost two matches in the 'champions' stage to the eventual winners and runners-up and finally just missed out in the 3rd/4th play-off. Great enthusiasm, sportsmanship, skill and resilience displayed by the children in a very competitive tournament.

 

Tri-Golf

Eight Year 5s took part in a Tri-Golf Competition on Tuesday 8th July at Theydon Bois Golf club. They demonstrated amazing team work with everyone cheering on each other and they all came away buzzing! Lots of hidden talents unlocked, whether it was for putting, chipping or driving, they all did exceptionally well.  Thank you Mrs Wilkinson for supporting the children.

 

Athletics Festival

Yesterday morning, 31 children in Year 3 - 6 competed in both field and track events. Leon, Wilf and Nicholas showed some unbelievable skill in the Vortex throw; they will be the ones to watch for Javelin next year! Despite the heat, the children all ran 300m and did a further 50m/70m sprint each, showing great resilience and determination to win that Gold sticker at the finish line. Congratulations everyone.

  
Aquasplash Festival

Yesterday afternoon, a small group of Year 6 children were incredibly lucky to have taken part in this activity. They spent the afternoon in the outdoor pool in Lambourne Primary swimming, competing in fun races, water fights & treated to icy pops, ending their week on an absolute high! 

 

 

Earrings - just a note to say that if your child wishes to have their ears pierced, the first week of the summer holiday is a good time so that the ears can heal ready for PE lessons in September. If they need more healing time, children will need to sit out of PE until earrings can be removed either by parents or by the child. We cannot tape them. This is an Essex policy rather than a school policy. 

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MINI-MARATHON FUNDRAISER

Congratulations to the Year 5 team who have spent the last month working on a project to raise money for a local charity, the Jenna Wilkins Foundation. The charity will be familiar as each year, every school in the Trust raises money for the foundation on our Wear What Makes You Happy Day.  

Julie Wilkins visited St John’s to receive a presentation by the Year 5 children who spoke about their fundraising initiative. We presented Julie with the total amount raised, a staggeringly £1203.62. What an incredible achievement by just Year 5 alone. Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved. 

Julie mentioned to us that as a result of our fundraising, that St John's are being considered for something special next year. Watch this space!

 

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MUSIC CONCERT

The church was filled with the beautiful sound of children playing their musical instruments on Wednesday 9th July. Mrs Grimsell ably arranged and led this event, not a small undertaking with the variety of instruments played and the number of children who participate in the peripatetic music programme. I was most certainly impressed by the sheer talent on display and ability to play so confidently and for many, with other musicians, keeping in time and tune. The evening culminated with a performance by the school choir. An enormous thank you to Mr Horn (Guitar), Mr Clay (Trumpet), Mrs Tolley (Clarinet & Flute), Mr Peck (Choir) and of course, Mrs Grimsell (Violin and the Orchestra). 

   

   

 

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NEWS FROM THE PTA

The PTA sends a heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended events, donated, or volunteered this year. Your support makes a real difference.

Highlights include the Fun Run, Christmas Bazaar, Quiz Night's, Golf Day, Football Fundraiser and St John’s-Fest Summer Fayre. Thank you to everyone who came along, helped out, and made the events so brilliant. A special thank you goes to our lead sponsor, ENR Consulting Engineers, for their generous donation.

This year’s fundraising has enabled us to resurface the EYFS playground and invest in an exciting new gym, music and sports equipment. We’ve also funded forest school provisions and wall art for the barn ready for the new school year.

We also want to say a special thank you to Sue Moody, our departing Chair, for her dedication and leadership.

Looking ahead to next year, we will be focusing our efforts on supporting nature-based learning, art, sport, imaginative play, and further improvements to school facilities. We also plan to enhance support for SEND provision and providing resources for the class bases.

Keep an eye out for more exciting PTA events and initiatives - we can’t wait to get started again!

 

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SCREEN TIME

Matthew Harrison, Trust Technology Manager and myself gave an online presentation to all parents within the Trust about the different types of Screen Time. I noticed a good number of St John's parents joined the session. The Trust have uploaded the Screen Time webinar to YouTube.

 

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EFSPT TRUST-LED PARENT SURVEY

We would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete this short survey to provide feedback on St John's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Buckhurst Hill.

We will use this feedback to ensure we continue to provide the best possible education for every child. This survey is completely confidential and anonymous and can also be taken in your first language, where this is not English.

We are running this survey for every school in Epping Forest School Partnership Trust and so if you have children at more than one school then you should receive a separate link for each one.

We would be grateful if you could complete this survey by Tuesday 15th July. 

Thank you in advance for taking the time to let us know how we are doing.

The link to the survey has been sent directly to your email addresses.

 

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WANTED smart phones for the St John’s Press Club

In September, we will be launching a Press Club for children in Year 6. The children will be learning about journalism and how to create a podcast. To help us we are looking for donations of old smart phones that we can use as audio capture devices. If you are able to support us, please drop your smartphones into the office. Thank you.

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GET INTO TEACHING WITH WEST ESSEX SCITT

Are you interested in training to become a Primary School Teacher?

We have Initial Teacher Training vacancies to begin training at the beginning of September 2025. We are looking for people who have a degree, a passion for education and teaching and want to inspire young people to fulfil their potential.

We would be very interested to hear from you if you are thinking of becoming a teacher, or know someone who is. 

This is not a drop in event so please book your place now by emailing vsmullen@efspt.org

We welcome the opportunity to meet and talk to you about the exciting teacher training opportunities available. Susan Marbe, the West Essex SCITT Director can be contacted at smarbe@efspt.org or please call one of our team on 02085042934 option 6. We can also provide you with support and guidance on your DfE APPLY application form

For any further information on what becoming a teacher might involve more generally, you can visit http://www.westessexscitt.co.uk/ or https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/

You can find and apply for our Initial Teacher Training courses via DfE FIND

 

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AND FINALLY....

Lastly, school finishes at 1.10pm for children in EYFS and Key Stage 1, and 1.15pm for children in Key Stage 2 on Friday 18th July.

May I wish the whole St John's community a safe, enjoyable and peaceful summer holiday break. Please do not forget that practicing reading and number work over the holiday will be vitally important so that these key skills are not lost between now and September.

We return to school on Wednesday 3rd September at the usual time of 8.40am.