Is your child starting school in September 2024?
Then pop along to our open morning and evening.
On: Thursday 7th December.
At: 9am and 7pm.
Welcome to St John’s CE School
Our mission is to educate the mind, body, heart and soul of every child that comes here; this is underpinned by the Bible verse ‘That they shall have life, life in all its fullness.’ (John 10:10)
We aim to do this by offering each child an exciting, challenging and stimulating education during their time with us based on the Christian values of Wonder, Excellence, Love and Forgiveness – known throughout the school as ‘WonderELF’.
It is hard to sum up exactly what makes St John’s a unique school, but St John’s is a place where we believe that there should be much more than academic rigour in the classroom. Whether it is playing together, taking part in sports or exploring creative talents, opportunities abound. It is these extra opportunities which really encourage independence, resilience and responsibility within our children.
Another important aspect of the school is the caring and nurturing ethos which exists between staff and children and, equally importantly, between the children themselves (visit the Buddies section under the School Life link). We strive to maintain the right balance between enjoyment and achievement so that your child will thoroughly enjoy and benefit from their time here. High expectations are evident in all that we do and successes are celebrated.
St John’s is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff, parents, Governors and volunteers to share this commitment so that our pupils can thrive in a safe and caring environment.
Although the information available on this website gives you an insight into our life here at St John’s, a visit to the school is strongly recommended. We are confident that, after experiencing the warmth and happiness of the children and staff, you will leave convinced that St John’s has that something extra about it which is just right for your child.
If you wish to find out more about our school or if you would like a place for your child at our school please look at the Starting at St John’s page.
If you require a paper copy of any of the information documents in the Key Information section please call the school office who will be happy to help with your request.
Newsletter – Friday 20th October 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
Unbelievably, we are already at the end of our first half term. I am sure you will have noticed the
weather has decided to take a turn now we are due a week’s holiday! The game of ‘How long
can we last before the heating gets switched on?’ is now starting in many households across the
country. The children across the school have settled in beautifully to their new classes, with the
new Reception children doing especially well. It has been lovely seeing them join the rest of the
school in assemblies and at church for our Harvest Festival in recent weeks.
Winter Weather
At the mention of the weather turning, please ensure your child is dressed appropriately. We like
to take the children outside as much as possible during break and lunch times, even in the rain,
but there are a large number of children who are regularly turning up to school without a jumper
and a coat.
House Captains
We are pleased to announce our new House Captains for the school year:
St Anthony – George and Isla
St Christopher – Finn and Scarlett
St Francis – Harrison and Thea
St Nicholas – Benji and Macy
Parking
The usual notice about parking… a big thank you to the majority of you who continue to park
responsibly around school and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, we are still being advised by
residents that they are having issues with access to their drives when cars are parked beside or
opposite them. Please could you ensure that you park responsibly – even if you are only going to
be a matter of minutes. As a reminder, the Forest car park waives the parking fee from 8.30 –
9.10 and 3pm – 3.40pm each school day for your convenience.
Sports Updates
St John’s have had an exciting and successful start to the year, with lots of children already
having represented the school in events. Following our House Cross Country event, 36 KS2
children went to Beacon last week to compete in the inter-school competition. All the children ran
exceptionally well on a tricky course, where we were declared overall winners of the large
schools’ event! We now have several runners returning to Beacon after half term to compete in
the Level 3 County event.
We have also competed in two Year 3/4 football tournaments, with our boys’ team finishing in 5th
place and our girls’ team finishing 3rd .
There are lots more sporting and house events coming up before Christmas, as well as the
brand-new cross-curricular orienteering course being set up around the school in early
November, which we are all very excited about!
Reading
A huge well done to all the children who took part in the Summer Reading Challenge – we had
72 children complete the challenge of reading at least 6 books over the summer holidays. Great
reding everyone!
The KS2 classes run a weekly competition based on their Accelerated Reader quizzes and our
end of term results are as follows:
Most quizzes passed: 14 – Ruby (Class 3) and Demika (Class 5)
Most books read as a class: 176 – Class 3
Highest individual word count: 1,246,642 – Alastair (Class 6)
Class word count total: 4,225,930 – Class 6
Secondary School Applications
If you have a child in Year 6, please remember the deadline to apply for a place at secondary
school is October 31st . Applications are made online via the East Sussex County Council
website.
Inset Day
A reminder that staff training will be taking place on Monday 30th October, therefore school will
be closed to all pupils on that day.
On behalf of all the staff at St John’s, have a lovely half term break and, as always, sincere
thanks to you all.
Kindest regards,
Michael Hodges
