Learning Joy Success
Mr T’s Weekly Review
Monday 6th January to Friday 10th January 2025
Welcome back to a brand-new term. A very Happy New Year to all of our students, staff, and families! I hope you had a restful and enjoyable Christmas break, and that everyone is feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the exciting challenges and opportunities that the new term/year brings.
As always, the first week back has been a whirlwind of activity. Everyone has returned to school with smiles, energy, and enthusiasm which I’m always super-proud to see. Thank you everyone!
It’s been great to see all the children reconnecting with their friends and teachers so happily, and there’s been a real buzz of excitement around sharing Christmas stories and grasping the opportunity to spend time together again. There’s always something special about the first week after a holiday and never more so than this time of year as we spend time setting new goals and reflecting on the year ahead.
During the week, I’ve had the pleasure of walking around the school and seeing some of the fantastic work taking place in classrooms. It’s clear to see that the children have come back with their usual positive mindsets and are eager to continue building on the progress they made last term. Well done them!
Here’s to a great 2025. The staff and I are really looking forward to continuing to work together to enable the children to learn, succeed and experience joy in the process. Happy New Year everyone!
Monday 9th December to Friday 13th December
What a great week!! Christmas has finally arrived at LJS!
This week has been dominated by wonderful performances. Our amazing Year 3 children and staff entertained the rest of the children of our school; very special guests (the Year 2 children and staff) from the Infant School; parents and grandparents across 4 performances. I can’t speak highly enough of the singing, dancing, activity and, above all, team work. I was SO impressed and proud of everyone involved. It was truly inspirational! I would like to say a HUGE thank you and well done to the children and staff of Year 3, once again, for how amazingly well they entertained us and, also. how brilliantly they have settled into life at LJS. Great work all round!
Another HUGE well done goes to the children who take part in Rocksteady who entertained a sell-out crowd in the hall on Thursday afternoon. There were 6 bands in total and every single one of them totally rocked out: they were amazing!
Thank you to all this week’s performers for their effort and bravery and to all the staff who work so hard to provide the platform for our stars to shine from. The LJ Way!!
Monday 2nd December to Friday 6th December
The children and staff have been making the most of the calm before the Christmas storm this week to complete our Autumn term assessments. These will be accessible via Arbor at the start of the Spring Term (after Christmas) once they have been marked and analysed. Should you have any questions about your child’s assessments in any of the subjects, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher via the usual channels: they will be very happy to talk through what they mean and how you can work together to continue to build on progress to date.
Congratulations also go to our Year 5/6 swimming team who won the Priestlands gala on Wednesday. A brilliant result!!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone (children, staff and parents) for all the great work this term!
Monday 25th November to Friday 29th November
It was time for the school council’s annual trip to Westminster to visit the Houses of Parliament this week. The children (and staff!) had another great day on our private tour of the Palace of Westminster as well as experiencing all the sights and sounds that part of London has to offer.
In addition to looking round the Palace and meeting our local MP (Sir Desmond Swayne), this year’s trip was particularly memorable as it overlapped with the debating of the Terminally Ill (Adults) Bill, which has of course received so much attention in the press recently.
This provided us with a great opportunity to discuss with the children once again the important role that MPs and Parliament play in all our lives and why it is so important that they exercise their right to vote when they are old enough: just as they and their peers did in September to elect the members of the School Council.
A BIG thank you goes to the children for their impeccable behaviour on the trip and also to all the staff involved in organising and supervising it, particularly Miss Bithell who runs our amazing School Council for us. Great work everyone!
Monday 18th November to Friday 22nd November
In assemblies this week, the children and staff have been thinking about a fundamental British Value: the rule of law.
We have been exploring this complex idea by thinking about what life would be like if we didn’t have any laws or if the laws in place were not fair to all. These ideas were then used as a starting point for children to learn about the ways that other countries use fair laws (or not) and compare that to our system - something the school council members will be experiencing first hand next week…
We also explored what school life would be like if everyone could just do whatever they wanted without any boundaries or consequences for choices/actions that were negative for others. I’m glad to report we all agreed that (perhaps after the initial novelty had worn off) it wouldn’t be much fun!
I am really proud of the way the children and staff at LJS work together day in day out to create and maintain an environment that is safe, secure and fair for all. Well done everyone!
Monday 11th November to Friday 15th November
One of the most important weeks in the calendar at LJS started off with our whole school remembrance assembly on Monday 11th. During the assembly, which included an impeccably observed 2 minute’s silence at 11am, we reflected with the children on why the process of remembrance is so important and discussed how the freedoms we enjoy today are the result of the sacrifice of others.
These concepts have been followed up with the children in classes during the rest of the week. I really want to congratulate the children for how well they have engaged with these complex ideas, particularly at such a young age.
At LJS, we will remember them!
Other highlights of the week included a really well attended Open Morning on Tuesday for parents of children currently in Year 2. It was lovely to see so many people there and be able to share the amazing ‘feel’ of a morning at LJS. If you know anyone with a child currently in Year 2 who may be interested in joining us for Year 3 from September 2025, we will be running another session on Tuesday 7th January 2025 at 9:30am. Please encourage them to come along and meet us. The more the merrier!
On a linked note, due to a low birth rate, we currently have limited spaces available in the current Year 3 too. If you know anyone with a child in that year group that might want to take the opportunity to join us, please encourage them to contact the school office.
Finally, thank you for all you donations to Children in Need on Friday and a HUGE well done to 6DP for an amazing class assembly on Thursday. It was an excellent showcase of all the wonderful opportunities that have been squeezed into the first 8 school weeks - everything from riding a bike; to the constituents of blood; to being on residential – and also the children’s confidence, enthusiasm and resilience. I was immensely proud of the entire Year 6 team, children and staff!
Monday 4th November to Friday 8th November
Welcome back! I hope that everyone had an enjoyable and restful half term. I’ delighted to say that the children (and staff!) settled back into life at LJS really quickly and smoothly. In fact, in many ways it was as if we hadn’t been away. Well done everybody!
The week started with a brilliant INSET day. The teachers took part in a District wide meeting of subject leaders, which enabled brilliant reflection on our curriculum provision for the children as we constantly strive to offer them the best opportunities we can. Meanwhile the rest of the team focussed in school on the ways that we motivate, celebrate and reward the children’s success to ensure this remains as relevant and consistent for the children as possible. A way to start the half term!
It was then straight into the wonderful experiences for the children. Amongst the highlights of this was Year 3’s visit to St Barbe’s museum (thank you to those parents that lent a helping hand!).
We were also really grateful to the Friends of the school for coming in on Friday to speak with the Year 6 children about plans to raise funds for the leavers’ events. These are always a highlight for the children at the end of their journey at LJS but there is no way we could provide them free of charge without the monies raised through the year. Thank you to everyone, including those of you that buy things!, involved in helping the children achieve their goal!
Monday 21st October 2024 to Friday 25th October 2024
What a half term! I find the way that time passes in schools to appear to defy the laws of Physics. How simultaneously the summer can seem like a lifetime away, whilst at the same time the year seems to be flying by: I can’t believe it’s only 2 months now to Christmas!
The main reason for this is how much is packed into every day at LJS. I’d like to say a MASSIVE thank you and well done to the children and staff for everything that goes into achieving this. We are so fortunate to have such a dedicated and hardworking staff team providing so many platforms for the children to leap from and such a brave and enthusiastic group of children to take those leaps. One can’t be achieved without the other. It’s this teamwork that makes LJS the unique place it is. I’m very proud of you all!
Thank you also to all the adults that attended our online safety presentation for parents and/or parents’ evening appointments this week. This year saw the biggest ever up-take of parents’ evening appointments (thank you also for your patience with the booking system here) which was brilliant to see. Another great aspect of the LJS community teamwork that helps the children be so successful.
The staff and I would like to wish everyone a relaxing half term and we hope you manage to have as much quality time together with your loved ones as possible.
We look forward to seeing the children again on Tuesday 5th November.
Monday 14th October 2024 to Friday 18th October 2024
This week’s undoubted highlight came on Thursday when we were very fortunate to be visited by the Premier League trophy. The trophy is so unique (and expensive!) that it isn’t usually taken into schools which meant we were able to provide a really unique opportunity for the children (and staff). It was also great to experience the excitement created by the visit; and experience the ‘buzz’ around the school.
As a Southampton fan, I don’t anticipate getting that close to it again any time soon unfortunately so, like everyone else, I made the most of the photo opportunity.
A really BIG thank you to everyone at Barclay’s Bank in Lymington for arranging this for us. Another memorable day at LJS!!
Monday 7th October 2024 to Friday 11th October 2024
Thank you to everybody that came into school wearing Yellow on Thursday this week to continue our aim of raising awareness for world mental health day. This is something that we have a real focus on in school and a key part of our strategy to support; enhance and/or improve each other’s mental health and well-being is to make it something that is openly thought about and, really importantly, spoken about. Opportunities to raise awareness within the whole school community like this are a really important part of that process. Should you have concerns about your child’s mental health at any point please do not hesitate to speak to Mrs Rose and their class teacher. Together we can have a huge impact on the way we all feel about ourselves and the situation we find ourselves in: let’s all try to make that impact a positive one!
Another BIG thank you to everyone that came to support and encourage the children in our whole school sports afternoon on Friday. It was a brilliant turn out which really helped to make the afternoon a joyful celebration of sport in school. Thanks again to Miss Morris and Miss Cooper for their great organisation of the event and Mrs Rose for arranging the tea/coffee/cake sale as part of our fund-raising efforts throughout October for Oakhaven Hospice. A wonderfully successful afternoon full of great teamwork all round: LJS at its best!
Monday 30th September 2024 to Friday 4th October 2024
It was lovely to see so many Grandparents at our first Grandparent’s Day celebration on Friday. Our aim was to thank Grandparents for the invaluable role they play in supporting; encouraging and nurturing all members of the LJS community. It was brilliant to be able to meet so many of you and we look forward to doing the same again next year.
On behalf of the entire LJS community, thank you once again for everything you do: you are amazing!
Thank you also to the children, staff and parents of Year 6 children for making Greek day such a great experience for all involved on Tuesday. The costumes (and food!) were amazing and it all really helped to bring the children’s learning linked to ancient Greece to life. Another great day!
Monday 16th September 2024 to Friday 20th September 2024
Year 6 residential week…and what a week it was! To start with, how lucky were we with the weather..?! The blue skies above Weymouth bay added a very welcome backdrop to the week’s activities!
This year was the school’s first year at Osmington Bay and boy did PGL deliver. The children had a fabulous week enjoying a variety of fun and adventurous activities ranging from giant swings and zip wires…to climbing and abseiling…with raft building and Dragon Boat riding thrown in at the National Sailing Academy on Portland for good measure.
En suite dormitories and plenty of food choice also meant that the children were re-fuelled and ready between the activities…some even managed to fall asleep! 😊
I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Mr Page for organising the week so meticulously as always and to the rest of the team for accompanying the children. The residential is a great example of a wonderful experience that we are only able to provide for the children because the staff so generously give of their time to provide the best opportunities possible.
A wonderful experiences underpinned by great teamwork: the LJ Way in action!
Monday 9th September 2024 to Friday 13th September 2024
This week started off with what for many is a highlight of the start of the academic year: individual school photos. It’s always great to see the children (and staff!) making that little extra effort to ensure they come in to school ‘photo ready’. Looks like we’ve got a few future fashion models in our midst..!
Thank you to the families who joined the year teams after school each day this week for the curriculum presentations. These take place at the start of each year and are an important way for you to meet your child’s teacher; find out first-hand what the children will be learning and talk through routines and expectations for the year ahead.
If you weren’t able to make the presentations for any reason, however, please don’t worry. The information shared by the staff is available to download via the Class Pages tab - which is accessible from the ‘Children’ button in the top right hand corner – on the school website.
BIG thank you to the staff for preparing and sharing the information. All very helpful!
Tuesday 3rd September 2024 to Friday 6th September 2024
Welcome back to the 2024/2025 academic year!If you’re a returning family or one joining us for the first time, the staff and I would like to warmly welcome you to the exciting adventure that is a new school year at LJS!
As I sit and write this after the event, I am delighted to report that, as usual, the children in all year groups settled brilliantly into school during week 1. This is an excellent achievement in all year groups. As adults, we know that the prospect of change can often be a daunting one for us to go through. I am always in awe of how bravely the children embrace the unavoidable changes that a new school year brings. The speed with which any nerves or worries that may have been there towards the end of the summer turn into excitement for the new opportunities ahead is so energising to be around. They are an inspiration to us all!
I would like to extend a particularly big WELCOME and WELL DONE to the children who joined us in Year 3 this week. They have faced, and embraced, the most changes of all of us. Something that they have done with enthusiasm, positivity and great positivity. The staff and I can’t wait to get to know them more and more over the next 4 years..!
Another HUGE ‘shout out’ goes to our new year 6 cohort. They too have warmly embraced the challenges and opportunities that come with being the oldest children, and in many ways the most influential role models, in the school. The staff and I are really looking forward to watching them continue to Thrive in their final year at LJS!
Monday 22nd July to Tuesday 23rd July
The focus of the 2 days this week was on celebrating the year and looking ahead. For our year 6 children that meant their wonderful Leavers’ Party on Monday (which they have been busy funding raising for all year) and their lovely Leavers’ assembly on Tuesday morning. Thank you to the Friends of the School for generously funding the children’s leavers’ gifts: very appreciated as always!
I would like to take this opportunity to say a final ‘thank you’ to the children in all year groups for their amazing attitude; commitment; hard work and resilience this year…and over the past 4 years in the case of the children in Year 6!
Thank you also to the children’s parents for everything you do to support and encourage your children to greatness.
And finally, thank you to our amazing staff team for everything they do to provide the children with so many varied experiences and challenges throughout the year.
The school simply wouldn’t be the place it is without you all.
Good luck to our Year 6 children in the next stage of their adventure. The staff and I look forward to welcoming everyone else back on Tuesday 3rd September 2024.
I hope everyone has a fabulous summer holiday!
Monday 15th July to Friday 19th July
This week started and ended with showcases of the children’s wonderful achievements this year. On Monday, the children’s end of year reports were emailed out families. This was the first year this we were able to do this using our relatively new Management Information System (Arbor) which helped to streamline the process massively. Thank you to Mrs Tombleson and Mrs Solly in the office for all their hard work in recent months embedding this system for us!
The week ended with our annual book showcase after school where family members are invited in to see (and take home) the children’s books for the year and discuss reports with class teachers if they would like to. There’s an old saying, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. At LJS that should be, “the proof of how much learning the children do, is how hard it is to carry their books home”. Not as catchy, but anyone who has tried it would agree it’s equally true!
Between those whole school events were our amazing Year 6 leavers’ performances. The productions at LJS are always a huge part of the year group calendar and a real highlight of each term for me; the was no exception. The children were absolutely amazing. Wonderful acting, dancing, amazing singing…and the ‘cracker jokes’ were right up my street. Bravo!!
HUGE congratulations go to the children for their amazing achievements this year which have been captured so well by the staff that work with them within their reports. Whether it be making lots of new friends; making great progress in learning and/or attending school as often as possible the children have achieved great things this year and I hope they are extremely proud of themselves for doing so!
A MASSIVE thank you also goes to our amazing staff team for all the planning, preparation, marking, encouragement, support and challenge that goes into helping the children achieve these wonderful things.
Also, a BIG thank you to you, the children’s families, for the support and encouragement you give to the children (and school) on a daily basis. Great teamwork all round!
Monday 8th July to Friday 12th July
Despite Monday’s INSET meaning that the week was only 4 days long, it didn’t stop our wonderful children and staff packing it full of great experiences as always! This week was all about preparing for new adventures in September.
Tuesday saw all of the children in the pyramid experiencing what school life will be like for them in September in their new classrooms/schools and with their new teachers. There was a great buzz around the school as we welcomed our new Year 3 children for their first full morning at LJS. The children in all year groups took part in fun activities, many of which were specifically designed to help them get to know their new teachers and vice versa.
Our Year 6 children also got to spend a great day as Year 7 in Priestlands. Whilst it will be really sad for us to see the children move on, it was great to hear them speak so enthusiastically about their day when they returned to us on Wednesday. Well done everybody!
Monday 17th June to Friday 21st June
The week got off to a great start. It was absolutely brilliant to see so many of you at our Father’s Day assembly on Monday; what a great way to start the week! Thank you to everyone that was able to come in and join the celebration of the importance of positive male role models in our children’s lives. It was lovely to hear directly from the children themselves why what you do is valued so highly by them. Thank you for everything you do! A particularly big thank you to those Dads that ‘volunteered’ to be part of the quiz. It was very generous of you to ‘let’ the children win too..!
It was lovely to welcome the Year 2 children over again on Tuesday to learn computing in our fabulous IT suite. This is another part of the Infant children’s transition process with us which continues in various ways over the next few weeks and is designed to help them settle into life at LJS as quickly as possible in September: something our current Year 3 did amazingly well last year! Thank you to the amazing staff teams at both the Infants and here at the Juniors for all the time, thought and effort that goes into achieving this!
It was also another great week for sport at LJS with our Year 5/6 cricketeers doing a great job at a cricket festival on Monday. As always, they represented the school brilliantly. We then had the fun of Lower School sports afternoon on Wednesday followed by Upper School sports afternoon on Thursday. Thank you to all the family members that attended these events. It’s great for the children to have such a large crowd of loved ones cheering them on. Thank you also to Miss Wyeth and the staff team for organising the afternoons and helping them run so smoothly for the children. As always great teamwork all round!
Monday 10th June to Friday 14th June
This week saw the very of the statutory assessment period for the children (and staff) in Year 6. Having been selected by the Local Authority for our 4-yearly writing moderation visit at the end of SATs week, the moderators arrived on Wednesday to double check the staff’s judgements. I am very pleased and proud to report that the moderators were incredibly complimentary of both the children’s writing and the accuracy of the staff’s judgements. The year team celebrated with a much deserved ice cream on Friday courtesy of Vision for education. Well done everyone!
We were also very lucky to be able to provide 20 children with an all-expenses paid trip to Marwell zoo this week courtesy of the generosity of Lymington Rotary Club. In order to be as fair as possible, the children were selected at random to take part and the lucky individuals selected had a great day. Thank you very much to Mr Burton and the Year 3 TA team for supervising the children on the day and, of course, to Lymington Rotary Club for organising and paying for it all. Hopefully we’ll be given the opportunity to go again in the future..!
Finally, it was lovely to welcome our new Year 3 children into the school on Friday afternoon for our annual ‘treasure hunt’ with the current Year 3 children. This always marks an important part of our annual calendar as it is an important part of the ‘getting to know you process’ for our prospective Year 3 children, while also being a rite of passage for our current Year 3 children as they prepare to be ‘old hands’ in Year 4 from September…and an amazing Year 4 they will be!
Mr T’s Weekly Review Monday 3rd June to Friday 7th June
As we enter the second half of the Summer term, we have officially entered the final straight of the 2023 – 2024 academic year.
We spent a lot of time as a school community last week reflecting on the concept of ‘real’ heroes: ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Our stimulus for this was, of course, the 80th anniversary of D-Day. We used assemblies to remind the children of the bravery of those amazing heroes and why we continue to commemorate their sacrifices to this day.
We also took the opportunity to encourage the children to make the most of that sacrifice by challenging themselves whenever possible to be the best versions of themselves they can. We agreed we would all continue to try to be heroic in our own way by doing things like not giving up when learning gets tough; being kind, caring and honest in school and generally doing what we can to make the school community as great to be a part of as possible. LJS will never forget!
In other news, this stage of the school year is always a cause for mixed-emotions. On the one hand, we have the excitement of all the fun events planned for this time of the year, particularly: the Year 6 leavers’ assembly/party/production; sports days; trips/visits etc and the excitement of even more new opportunities from September.
While on the other, we know that we only have another 7 weeks or so with our current Year 6 cohort who, as ever, will be greatly missed when they leave.
All of this, however, provides great motivation for the children and staff alike to make this half term as memorable as possible for everyone. I for one cannot wait..!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: Monday 20th May to Friday 27th May
I hope you all had a great half term.
The last week before half term can be seen by some as an opportunity to start winding down: not at LJS though. The opportunity for Learning, Joy and Success continued all the way to everyone’s well deserved break.
On Tuesday, Year 6 went on their trip to Steamer Point to walk the coast as part of their Geography unit. The children and staff had a great day, helped in no small part by the weather holding out for them. A particularly big ‘well done’ to whoever was in charge of organising that..!
Wednesday saw a visit from the international athlete Leon Greenwood who inspired the whole school with details of their journey to sporting success. I look forward to welcoming ex-students back to the school in future years to share their journeys and inspire future generations! A particularly BIG tank you to Miss Wyeth for organising this opportunity and also to our amazing families for raising £676.88 which will be spent by Miss Wyeth and our sports leaders on equipment for the children to play with at play and lunchtime.
It was the turn of the Year 3 children on Thursday to get stuck into their Roman Day. Thank you to everyone involved (children, staff and parents) for organising and wearing such great costumes to really help bring the day’s hands-on learning to life. Great work all round!
Finally, the whole week was ‘walk to school week’ where we encourage the children to reflect on the positive benefits of exercise in their lives. Once again, a HUGE thank you to families for their support with this.
Here’s to yet more great opportunities to come as we head towards the end of yet another academic year…
Mr T’s Weekly Review: Monday 13th May to Friday 17th May (SATs Week)
Question: Which two-word phrase can often spread fear and dread through Primary Schools around up and down the land..?
Answer: ‘SATs Week’
Everywhere that is, other than at LJS!
Last week was SATs week. I am really proud to report that the Year 6 children were, as always, superheroes! Despite, I’m sure, having the mixture of feelings that are usual during weeks like this; they all bravely cam into school with smiles on their faces and poured their best efforts into each and every test. I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them and hope that, more importantly, they are proud of themselves to. Legends one and all!
I’d also like to say a HUGE ‘thank you’ to our equally amazing staff team for everything they did to encourage and support the children last week. Whether it be the Year 6 staff members who have worked so hard to prepare and inspire the children all year or the staff from every year group that helped make breakfast; administer the tests and/or let the children know they were there for them with a smile and encouraging word.
BIG thanks also to the children’s families for encouraging and supporting them at home in the run up to last week and each and every day since joining us in Year 3. It takes their whole support team to give the children the best possible platform to spring from.
Great work everyone!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: Monday 29th April to Friday 3rd May
Last week started off with one of the highlights of the school year, class photos. It was lovely as always to see so many super-smart people looking great after spending that little extra time in front of the mirror before school…and that was just the staff! 😊
You should have received information on how to purchase class photographs if you would like to. If not, please don’t hesitate to speak to Bev in the office.
The rest of the week was as busy and successful as always. I love the summer term for many reasons, most of them being linked to the weather. One such reason is the amount of sport that is available for the children to take part in and, once again, our teams did an amazing job!
Congratulations this week goes to our athletes. Children from Years 3 and 4 took part in Cross Country running on Tuesday and children from Years 5 and 6 took part in various athletics events on Wednesday. Both groups did incredibly well and represented the school brilliantly. Well done everyone!
Thank you once again for your patience with our assessment launch in Arbor last week. We’re really hoping that once we get any teething problems ironed out – and we’re able to help everyone understand what the information means (future parents’ evenings will be great for this) – that it will be a really useful way for you to keep up to date with the progress your child is making in school.
Finally, I hope you all had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: Monday 22nd April to Friday 26th April
Last week was another great week in the life of LJS!
The week started off with local visits for the children in the Upper School. Year 5 visited Lymington Library and Year 6 visited St Barbe’s museum to learn about how seaside Holidays have changed over the years. I was really proud to hear that staff received lots of compliments about the children’s attitude, enthusiasm and behaviour at the library/museum and also on the journey to/from school. Well done everyone!
Not to be out done by our amazing Upper School Hockey players’ achievements the week before, it was the turn of the Lower School children on Wednesday. Once again the children played really well; worked incredibly hard as a team and had great fun whilst also finishing unbeaten (1 draw and 3 wins) to claim second place overall. Brilliant achievements all round!
Finally, the week was rounded off by an amazing class assembly from the children of 5C who confidently showcased the wonderful variety of subjects they have learnt about so far this academic year. Well done everyone: great work!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: 15th to 19th April
The children settled back into school really well last week following the Easter Holiday which, as usual, was brilliant to see. I’m super proud of them and the staff team for creating an environment which is so easy to come back to; even after two weeks of fun. Great work all round!
Our assembly theme last week was Online safety. We talk to the children lots about this throughout the year in a range of ways during assemblies; Computing/PSHE sessions and/or when related incidents occur. It is one of the biggest, and fastest moving, challenges that we want and need to help the children learn strategies for in order to keep themselves safe in all the related ways. Should you ever require additional information linked to Online Safety (or anything else related to the children’s wellbeing for that matter) please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Rose either on the gate each morning or via the School Office.
Last week was also a great week for LJS Sport. HUGE congratulations go to our lower school Hockey players and Golfers. Both teams did exceptionally well as usual with the Hockey team coming 3rd! They won lots of their games; represented the school brilliantly as always and had great fun while doing so. Exactly what our school is all about. Well done everyone involved!
Finally for this week, a HUGE thank you to the Friends of the School for securing grant funding to enable the building of our lovely new bike/scooter shelter! It’s great to see it already being used by so many families. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s just to the right of the building as you look towards the school office. A lovely resource for us to use for many years to come. Thank you all involved!
Here’s to more learning; joy; success and (hopefully) dry weather to come next week…!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: 25th to 28th March 2024
Welcome back! The staff and I hope that you all had a lovely Easter Holiday and that your plans weren’t spoilt by the weather. Fingers crossed the sun comes out, and stays out, now we are in the summer term…!!
I always find that it’s with mixed emotions that I enter the summer term. On the one hand, excitement for what’s to come but on the other conscious that we’ll soon be saying goodbye to our current Year 6 group. Here’s to a great 14 weeks or so before we have to face that though..!
Now to round up last term: The final week saw our amazing Year 4/5 production. This year’s theme was the ‘Greatest Showman’ and the children really did put on a great show! The singing was, as usual, absolutely amazing but the thing that always impresses me most is the way that 128 children can work so seamlessly well with each other. This of course comes down to the awesome teamwork between the children but also with the amazing staff teams involved. Huge thanks to each and every one of them. Brilliant entertainment!
In other news…Year 3 enjoyed an exciting trip to Hillier gardens. This was linked to the work they had been doing in Art. Despite the rain, the children and staff had an amazing day and represented the school brilliantly. Well done Team Year 3!
The final week ended with what is always a personal highlight for me, the termly Rocksteady concert. A HUGE ‘well done’ to our RockStars of the future for the time and effort that has gone into learning their instruments/song words in order to entertain us all so brilliantly. A wonderful way to end the last week of term!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: 18th to 22nd March
As we continue to race towards the Easter Holiday, we have reached the final weekly review this side of the summer term…but don’t worry, I will update everyone regarding this week’s events when we come back on Monday 15th April.
As usual, last week was another eventful one at LJS. A MASSIVE ‘well done’ first of all to the Year 5/6 Netballers who took part in the pyramid sports competition on Wednesday. I’m reliably informed that the children played really well as a team; had lots of fun and represented the school wonderfully well: exactly what the event is about. Well done everyone!
Year 6 had a visit from the PCSO on Friday as part of their Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) programme. The PCSOs looked at various ways of avoiding and combatting anti-social behaviour in the community. As always, the children were a credit to themselves and the school, engaging in the sessions with enthusiasm and great maturity. The staff and I were very proud of them all!
Finally, you’ve probably noticed some building work currently going on near the staff car park. I am delighted to report that the Friends of the school have managed to secure funding from the local authority for a new bike and scooter shelter. Not only will this provide a valuable resource for any and all site users wishing to travel to/from the site in these ways, it also hasn’t cost us a penny to build. Great result all round: HUGE thanks to the Friends of our School for arranging it!
I hope you all have a great Easter Holiday. Fingers crossed the sun comes out for us all..!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: 11th to 15th March 2024
I can’t believe we’ve reached the start of our last full week of the Spring Term…time is running away with us as always!
We had another jampacked week in school last week. In addition to all the great in-class learning, Year 6 and Year 4 visited the library. It was great for the children to experience the facilities and resources that our community is very fortunate to benefit from. If you haven’t been for a while, we would highly recommend calling in at some point…
Congratulations to our Year 3 and 4 Netballers who did really well at Priestlands on Wednesday. On top of representing themselves and the school brilliantly with their positive play and teamwork, 'team 2' came back with a medal for finishing 2nd place. Great achievements all round!
Friday saw us raise money for Red Nose Day. It was wonderful to see the school so colourful and, on top of that, our community raised £226.00 for an amazing cause. I spoke with the children during assembly about the good that the money does. On behalf of the people who benefit, thank you!
Finally, a BIG thank you to everyone who came to see our Mother’s Day assemblies on Tuesday. As last year, they were really popular and it was great to see so many of you there! Thank you once again for your patience – we had aimed to do them on Friday 8th March but there were just so many things going on that we couldn’t fit everything in – and also flexibility: sadly, the hall just isn’t big enough to do one for everyone.
Here’s looking forward to another great week…!
Mr T’s Weekly Review: 4th to 8th March 2024
Hello everyone and welcome to a new weekly, feature. The children, staff and I want to share with you the amazing things that happen at LJS during term time, as soon after they happen as possible…and what a week to start us off!
Our theme for the week was inspirational women. This was to tie in with International Women’s day on Friday and Mother’s Day yesterday. The highlights of our inspirational week included:
Sport events: Well done to all the children that took part in the Indoor Athletics competition for Years 3 to 6 at Priestlands on Wednesday. They ran, jumped and threw with skill and enthusiasm; representing the school brilliantly in the process. Great work everyone!
World Book Day: Thursday saw what for many of us is our annual highlight: World Book Day. The children and staff dressed up as book characters; enjoyed stories and swapped books. I absolutely adore the fun, colour and excitement that the day brings to the school. Fun and inspirational: a perfect combination!
Our wonderful week culminated on International Women’s Day itself with a ‘fantastic Friday’.
School Council trip to London: Our brilliant School Council went on their annual trip to London. This amazing day saw the children travel to/from the capital by train and tour the Houses of Parliament as usual. This year’s ‘special extra’ was a tour round Westminster Abbey. It was a truly inspirational day and even made the 6am start bearable..!
Girls’ Football World Record: Meanwhile, back at base the rest of the children took part in a National record attempt to have as many girls as possible playing football at the same time. At LJS, all the children (boys and girls) got involved and we were able to contribute 98 girls towards the official record attempt. Fingers crossed as many other schools as possible took part too..!
I would like to say a particularly BIG thank you to all the children, parents and staff for their input last week. Whether it was with costumes; getting to trains on time; encouragement or, most importantly, getting involved with the fun: these amazing opportunities couldn’t
happen without it!