The Link Newsletter #67

Friday 12th December

Dear Parents and Carers

The month of December brings so much joy and happiness to primary schools up and down the country, and none more so than at St John's.

I shall begin by recognising the tremendous nativity shows that I have enjoyed watching with such pride. I truly believe that opportunities to act, speak, sing and dance builds children's confidence not just on the stage but also in all aspects of learning and life. Performing in front of an audience of children and parents builds confidence, self-esteem and resilience and children in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 showed this wonderfully well on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. Thank you to all the staff (and partners!) who have worked so hard over many weeks to reach the high standard shown in each of the shows. Thank you to parents and grandparents who came to watch, clap and cheer on our young learners. Your generous donations will be split equally between our chosen charity, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and the school to allow future productions to continue.

On Wednesday 3rd December, we welcomed 10 others schools from the Epping Forest Schools Partnership Trust to our Church for a joyful Christmas Carol Concert. Thank you to Mr Peck and Mrs Gray and all the music leads for supporting the choirs to join together and fill the church with such Christmas spirit. Their singing was sensational.

Santa started early this year by visiting St John's for our Winter Wonderland Christmas Fayre experience on Saturday 6th December. The PTA committee excelled themselves by organising a great event for the children, past and present. We loved seeing ex-students returning to join in the Christmas fun. The Choir headlined our Winter Wonderland and sang beautifully, thank you Miss Sinclair and Miss Marbe for organising and leading the singing. The feedback from parents has been wholly positive and credit goes to everyone who supported the event by running stalls, games, food and drinks and the BBQ!  Thank you to the army of volunteers who made this event happen; we couldn't have done this without you. The PTA committee triumphed in their planning and delivery of a brilliant fayre. We raised over £6500 for the school PTA fund. Congratulations on this superb achievement.

The School Council and Head Prefects together with Mr Whale, Mr Furness and Mrs Harrison enjoyed a tour of the Palace of Westminster, visiting the viewing gallery overlooking a live parliamentary debate in the House of Commons. We were visited by Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Epping Forest who invited the children to discuss their thoughts about topical issues. One of the children raised a question about the use of social media and the Australian governments decision to ban access to social media for the under 16s. The school council were unanimous in their view that this should be replicated here in the UK; and I couldn't agree more.

On Friday 12th December, the choir sang beautifully at the Buckhurst Hill Parish Council event in Queens Road. What a wonderful sound and such fantastic support from parents and grandparents too. Thank you to Mr Peck for leading the choir at this event. We really are in the Christmas spirit now. 

The Christmas season continues into next week starting with the, now traditional, Staff Panto (oh yes there is....) and the Christmas Parties for all year groups. I have to be honest and say that I am much looking forward to the Silent Discos this year!!  Year 3 will be performing to the Singing for the Brain group having learnt about dementia. This will take place on Monday 15th. If that wasn't enough, we will all be tucking into Christmas Lunch on Wednesday 17th December whilst getting into the Christmas spirit by wearing our Christmas Jumpers!

In the meantime, I hope that you and your children are continuing to enjoy the online Advent Calendar in partnership with our friends at High Beech. Open each door to watch a festive treat from each of our classes plus snippets from the nativity shows. There are some fabulous doors this year!

The term draws to a close on Friday 19th December at 1.10pm for EYFS children and 1.15pm for everyone else. It has been quite a term(!) full of incredible achievements and outcomes. Thank you for your resilience, support and kind words of appreciation that you share with the staff team.

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Chair of Governors - Thank you Sue!

Mrs Sue Sunderland has taken the decision to step back from her role as Foundation Governor and Chair of Governors at St John's after nearly 21 years service to St John's. Sue has been the Chair of Governors since I was appointed in September 2019 and has excelled in this role, leading the governing body through the COVID pandemic, an Ofsted inspection and preparation for our SIAMS inspection. I would like to pay a tribute to Sue for the work, dedication and commitment that she has given to St John's over the 20 or so years. Thank you Sue. Sue continues in her role as Vice Chair of Trustees for the Epping Forest Schools Partnership.

Since September 2025, Ross Mackenzie has stepped into the role as Chair of Governors, leading two Governing Committee meetings and one SIAMS inspection in his relatively short tenure. Ross has been a governor at St John's since July 2020 and has a strong understanding of the work of the school. 

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SIAMS Inspection Report

The final inspection report has been shared on our school website for parents to read. You will note the many strengths that the inspector highlighted in her report of which we are delighted because it reflects the culture and the ethos we work hard to maintain every day.

• The vision, core pillars and associated values underpin school life at St John’s. This shared ethos supports positive relationships within the school.
• The inclusive ethos permeates throughout the school community, including pupils considered to be vulnerable and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This results in pupils feeling valued for who they are, aspiring to live life in all its fullness.
• The wellbeing of pupils and adults is central to life at St John’s school. Leaders prioritise wellbeing needs and this drives decision making.
• Governors effectively monitor the impact of the school’s vision. This ensures that pupils and staff are fully equipped to live life in all its fullness.
• The religious education (RE) curriculum is highly effective. Leaders ensure that it is well balanced, diverse and relevant. As a result, the RE curriculum meets the needs of the school.

Naturally there are areas for further development and these are now action points for school improvement:

• Develop a broader sense of the understanding of justice so that pupils recognise how they can contribute to positive change.
• Enhance the way in which spirituality is woven throughout the curriculum. This is to broaden the range of experiences that pupils have to enrich their spiritual development.

Please do take the time to read the inspection report in full.

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KEY PRIORITIES FOR ST JOHN'S 2025-2026

1. Raising Standards in Reading, Writing and Maths.

St John's achieved a strong set of results for the children who sat the Year 6 SATs in the summer. However, we have further work to ensure more children achieve the Greater Depth standard in all three subjects (Reading, Writing and Maths - RWM)

EXP - expected standard
GDS - greater depth standard

2. Improve the outdoor play experience for children at playtimes

We have begun purchasing additional equipment for the playgrounds. The play spaces are improving all the time thanks to the donations from parents and funding from the PTA. We now have a sandpit for the children to access during playtime.

We would like dressing up clothes and any old suitcases (not broken or unsafe please)
In addition, if you have a table football game, pool or snooker table that you no longer require, we would find a new home for these.

3. Develop a revised curriculum with new and updated topics, making learning relevant and exciting for ALL children.

The government have recently undertaken a curriculum review and presented their findings which we have read. This has provided us with guidance about the changes we would like to make to the curriculum that is currently in place at St John's. We know that children learn more effectively when learning is relevant, when connections are made between prior learning and next steps. We also want to update our topics to ensure that they interesting and reflect the skills needed for the future.

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PTA FUN RUN

Earlier this year, back in October, the PTA organised a Fun Run to raise money for school development projects.

We are very grateful to eightfourtwo Wealth Management who once again sponsored this event. The event was extremely well organised and led by parent volunteers. Thank you to Mrs Henry, Ms Thompson, Ms Spurdle, Mrs Maher-Vyas, Mrs Evans, Mrs Mahoney, Mrs Francis, Miss Chamberlain and Mrs McCarthy.

This event alone raised over £3500. Thank you to everyone for your generous sponsorship.

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PTA Fundraising

At the AGM held in November 2025, the Co-Chairs and Treasurer gave their respective reports on the work of the PTA. They shared the numerous events held over the last 12 months and we discussed the money raised from each event. It is clear that not only are the events good community and fun events for children and parents, but they are raising much needed money for the school.

We discussed how PTA money is being spent, both in short term spend and medium and longer term projects.

Short-term: to provide the school with curriculum resources that cannot otherwise be afforded.

For example:  £2500 on PE equipment & equipment for improving the playtime and lunchtime experience. The PTA have also funded visualisers for each of the classrooms £1500, electric pencil sharpeners £200 and music resources, such as a new set of Glockenspiels £1000.

Medium-term: we are committed to improving our sports teams, ensuring they have kit to wear that makes St John's stand out as a team of sportspeople rather than wearing our multi-coloured PE tops at district events. This includes the replacement fencing on the field, separating the area between the houses and the playing field. £8000

Long-term: We know that there are some big spend items that would improve the school site and spaces. The much-loved Orchard is in desperate need of a replacement all-weather surface approx £60k and the project to replace the ageing Pavillon structure £200k. 

Every contribution, donation, sponsorship and match-funding agreement really matters. The St John's community has always been incredibly generous and together we really can make a difference to the current pupils, but future pupils too.

Message From the PTA:

As we get to the end of a very busy Autumn Term we wanted to share with you all the events you have kindly supported. All the hard work and support gives us crucial funds that go back into the school and builds our school community. We have some fun along the way also! We just wanted to say thank you for all your amazing, ongoing support whether it be volunteering, baking, sponsoring or attending our events, it all means so much and makes a difference. Please see below the events and funds we have raised. Also we will be spending a substantial amount of this money in Spring term and wanted to share some of the items the money is going towards.

St John's Winter Wonderland £6.5k
Fun Run £3.5k
Quiz Night £1k
Xmas Cards £520
Wreath Making £450

We have also organised and funded the following throughout the term

New Parents Coffee Morning
Ran the Travelling Book Fair
Christmas Nativity Refreshments
Organised the children’s Christmas parties

What is this going to be spent on:

Full set of New Sports equipment ~£2.5k
New Kit for all Sports teams ~£2.5k
New SEN room ~£2k
Visuals for The Barn to complete the kitchen project
Equipment requested by Teachers £1.8k (already funded)

We are also already working on events for the new term and other initiatives the funds raised can be spent on so stay tuned!

The PTA wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

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SPORTS NEWS

St John's has participated in a wide range of sporting events this term. Too many to comment on individually, but a very healthy mix of competitive events for those who enjoy competing at the highest level and also for children who might need encouragement and motivation to participate in sport.

Panathlon Cricket Festival
Tag Rugby Festival
Year 3/4 Girls Football competition
Year 5 Girls Football competition
Tri Golf
Year 6 Mixed Football competition
Year 3/4 Mixed Football competition
All in Boccia competition
KS2 Panathlon Multi-skills Festival
Tag Rugby - we made it through to the district final competition!
Year 5 Archery
Ten Pin Bowling
KS2 Boccia competition

We are also competing in the Football and Netball leagues. St John's are top of the football league, unbeaten so far this year.

Special thanks to Mrs Aarons for organising and liaising with staff members, parents, children and the competition organisers. A huge effort. Thank you to the staff members who have supported these events this term and also the parent body for transporting children to and from these events.

 

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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 2026. 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 19th December. See the Christmas Events summary page.

May I wish the whole St John's community a safe, enjoyable and peaceful Christmas 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 January.

We return to school on Tuesday 6th January at the usual time of 8.40am.