Strongly. Disagree % Agree % My child enjoys school. The school keeps my child safe. The school informs me about my child s progress

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Theresa Eaton
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c 25 th April 2015 Dear Parents, Thank you to all the parents who filled out the annual parental questionnaire. The table below shows the results over the last three years.

1 c 25 th April 2015 Dear Parents, Thank you to all the parents who filled out the annual parental questionnaire. The table below shows the results over the last three years. As you can see there has been a significant increase in the percentage of parents who strongly agree with the vast majority of statements. It is wonderful to see - and to feel that the hard work of the staff at SJA is recognised by parents. I would like to thank you for working so closely with us to give your children the best start in life. Although I will not be leading SJA next year, I really do believe that the ethos and high standards that we strive for will continue under Mrs Ratsey s leadership. Mrs Ratsey has been an immense support to me over the last three years, and the school wouldn t be in such a strong position without her. Her subject knowledge, high expectations and development of high quality teaching across the school are an example to all. We are also very fortunate to have an excellent teaching staff who give 100% to the academic, wider curriculum and pastoral life at SJA. I will miss the children, you and the staff immensely next year Strongly Agree My child enjoys school % Agree % Disagree % Strongly Disagree % The school keeps my child safe The school informs me about my child s progress My child is making good progress at school Children behave well The school deals effectively with unacceptable behaviour The school is led and managed effectively I feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions, a problem or a complaint Staff expect my child to work hard and do his/her best Staff treat my child fairly The school seeks the views of parents, their suggestions and concerns Children have a wide range of activities to take part in after school and at lunchtimes I am happy with my child s experience at this school Communication to Parents is good (Text/Parentmail/ /Website/Newsletter) % s have been rounded to the nearest whole number

The table below shows the top 5 likes and areas for improvement.

The areas of improvement, although smaller in number, are areas that could do with further discussion. We are currently looking into how we can secure funding to provide hot dinners.

We continue to try to secure funding so that we can provide a hot meal service of a high standard.

West Sussex is the 4 th lowest funded authority (per pupil) in England and SJA is one of the lowest funded within that.

Comments from Mr.Conway 1 Extra activities & clubs inc sport & 132 Hot dinners 28 Issue re lack of facilities, funding, space and impact on music clubs using the hall at lunchtimes.

2 The table below shows the top 5 likes and areas for improvement. We are really pleased to see the areas that we value so highly, the day to day atmosphere, the approachable nature of staff, the extracurricular activities and the high expectations are recognised. The areas of improvement, although smaller in number, are areas that could do with further discussion. We are currently looking into how we can secure funding to provide hot dinners. Over the last few years, due to our academy status, we received 350,000 to replace the windows and we have just received 150,000 to replace the flat roof at the front of the building. We continue to try to secure funding so that we can provide a hot meal service of a high standard. Regarding class sizes, we do split Y5 and Y6 into smaller class and Y3 have had an extra maths group this year. West Sussex is the 4 th lowest funded authority (per pupil) in England and SJA is one of the lowest funded within that. As you can imagine, in the current funding climate, ensuring we provide a high quality education when our annual budget falls year on year is a challenge. Top 5 Likes No. Improvements No. Comments from Mr.Conway 1 Extra activities & clubs inc sport & 132 Hot dinners 28 Issue re lack of facilities, funding, space and impact on music clubs using the hall at lunchtimes. 2 Happy, friendly, approachable and caring staff. Welcoming atmosphere 3 High expectations and standards of teaching 4 Variety of topics & learning 116 More feedback on homework/ topics/ tests 73 Car park / layby /parking control 14 To be discussed at the next Parent Forum 10 Agree. Discussions have been had a district level and regular pleas made to parents re parking. 44 Smaller Classes 10 Extra maths group in Y3 this year, and Y5 and Y6 are in four classes. 5 Leadership 42 Swimming 5 Discussed at Parent Forum. Main issue time taken from the rest of the curriculum to get to and from pool. Year 3 Science Evening On Thursday 16th April over 40 children and their parents attended the Year 3 Science Evening. This was an opportunity for our Year 3 children to get stuck into Science and start to ask questions about the world around them. Over 20 different fun Science experiments were set up around the whole of the hall and children and their parents had the opportunity to try as many as possible. Experiments ranged from getting a hard-boiled egg into a milk bottle, to trying to eat hanging upside down on the wall bars! There was a real buzz of excitement throughout the whole evening and much fun was had by all!

Staffing I would just like to update you on staffing for September 2015. At the end of the Summer Term two teachers who have given so much to SJA will be leaving us.

She has been an exceptional classteacher and year leader, and her dedication, calmness and high standards will be missed.

3 Staffing I would just like to update you on staffing for September At the end of the Summer Term two teachers who have given so much to SJA will be leaving us. After six years at SJA, Mrs Lowries is moving to North London, and expecting a baby! She has been an exceptional classteacher and year leader, and her dedication, calmness and high standards will be missed. After four years at SJA Miss Dudman is off to Hong Kong where she will be combining her passion for travelling and teaching. Miss Dudman has been a great asset to the school as a fantastic Y6 classteacher, year leader and developing literacy across the school. We wish them both the best of luck and thank them for all they have done for the children of SJA. We have appointed three very strong teachers for September. We will be joined by Mr Thrasher, who is currently teaching in Warrington, Mr. Cooper currently teaching in Reading and Miss Ford, currently in Plymouth. I know each one will be a great addition to the team. KidRex search engine We are currently trialling the use of KidRex. Whilst we already filter internet content, we thought we would try this search engine that emphasises child-related webpages from across the entire web and is powered by Google Custom Search and use Google SafeSearch technology. I felt that parents may be interested in using this at home. Further information from Google can be found below: Google's SafeSearch screens for sites that contain explicit sexual content and deletes them from your child s search results. Google's filter uses advanced technology to check keywords, phrases, and URLs. No filter is 100 percent accurate, but SafeSearch should eliminate most inappropriate material. In addition to Google SafeSearch, KidRex maintains its own database of inappropriate websites and keywords. KidRex researchers test KidRex daily to ensure that you and your child have the best web experience possible. We do our best to keep KidRex as up-to-date and comprehensive as possible, but inappropriate sites will sometimes slip through the cracks. If you find websites containing offensive content in your results, please visit our webpage removal request tool to tell us about the site you found. While KidRex is not a 100 percent foolproof way to keep kids from bad or malicious sites, we think it's a good start. For more pointers on keeping your family safe on the web, please read KidRex's Tips for Online Safety. Horsham Hockey League first and third! Congratulations to the school hockey teams who have performed brilliantly over the season. The A team won the Horsham and District league, for the second year running, playing a fluid style of hockey that would grace any hockey pitch around the county. The B team won their league and were prompted to the top division, finishing a phenomenal 3 rd overall, out of 14 teams. Well done to Toby, Harry, Lucas, Steven, Thomas, James, Finn and Henry. Oliver, Daniel, Keira, Mollie, Sam, Oscar, Alex, Max F, Andrew and Max H.

Table Tennis Team Qualify for National Finals On the 22 nd March, competing at regional level for the second time in three years, the team travelled to Bristol to play in this year s Regional Final

Peter CE Academy from Buckinghamshire and got off to the best possible start, winning all 8 matches. Their second match was against Fircroft Primary School, Tooting, London.

But Southwater s strength showed as they took the remaining matches to win 7 1. The final match was against The Park School from Bournemouth, who had won and drawn their first two matches.

Park School s No 1 player, ranked at Under 13 level, won both his matches in close encounters against Southwater s No1 & 2 players, but this was all the reward that Southwater allowed them as they

The Finals are being Held at the Hinckley Leisure Centre, Leicestershire on Saturday 9 th May where Southwater will play teams from Richmond on Thames, Rotherham and Cambridge.

Both teams settled quickly, and began with some excellent football drawing lots of compliments from opposition, parents and teachers alike.

4 Table Tennis Team Qualify for National Finals On the 22 nd March, competing at regional level for the second time in three years, the team travelled to Bristol to play in this year s Regional Final of the Butterfly National Schools Table Tennis Team Championships held at the Bristol Academy of Sport. Representing West Sussex, Southwater played Chalfont St. Peter CE Academy from Buckinghamshire and got off to the best possible start, winning all 8 matches. Their second match was against Fircroft Primary School, Tooting, London. The winning momentum continued as they won the first 4 matches before the clash of the two No 1 players was won by Fircroft. But Southwater s strength showed as they took the remaining matches to win 7 1. The final match was against The Park School from Bournemouth, who had won and drawn their first two matches. Southwater knew a draw would probably get them through, but their enthusiasm and determination swept Park School aside. Park School s No 1 player, ranked at Under 13 level, won both his matches in close encounters against Southwater s No1 & 2 players, but this was all the reward that Southwater allowed them as they triumphed 6 matches to 2, to win a place in the National Finals a first for West Sussex at Boys under 11 level. The Finals are being Held at the Hinckley Leisure Centre, Leicestershire on Saturday 9 th May where Southwater will play teams from Richmond on Thames, Rotherham and Cambridge. Year 5 and 6 Football On Friday 20 th March, we entered 2 teams into the first Year 5/6 football tournament of the season. Both teams settled quickly, and began with some excellent football drawing lots of compliments from opposition, parents and teachers alike. The A team finished with 5 wins and 1 draw, including a 13-0 victory. The B team finished with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. The A team go into the tournament in 2 nd place, 1 point behind the team in 1 st, while the Bs go into it in 8 th, but only 3 points off the top. Well done boys on a great start! Sam, Thomas, Harry, James, Finn, Tobey, Max, Steven, Thomas, Zach, Keylan, Gustav, Toby and Adam. Year 3 and 4 Football On Friday 17 th March, we had the 2 nd of the Year 3/4 football tournaments of the season. The A team went into the tournament lying in 2 nd place, 1 point behind 1 st, and the Bs started in 8 th, 5 points from top. Both teams began with strong victories over tough opposition in 2 very close matches. The A team managed to push on fantastically after that, winning all 6 of their matches, including a 13-0 victory. All members of the team scored at least 1 goal in the tournament, including Bertie our goalkeeper who ended up with 3 goals! Overall the team scored more than 30 goals, and only conceded 1! The B team also played brilliantly throughout the tournament, and ended with 4 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw. Both teams have all to play for ahead of the final tournament on Friday 8 th May. Well done to both teams on a fantastic tournament and we look forward to the final one! Bertie, Harry L, Frankie, George, Luke, Nicholas, Finley, Chico, Jasper, Samuel, Harry C, Kurtis, Jack, Charlie and James.

Football On Wednesday 15 th March, we hosted Greenway Academy in four friendly football matches. Four fantastic performances gave us 3 wins and a draw from the 4 games.

5 Football On Wednesday 15 th March, we hosted Greenway Academy in four friendly football matches. Four fantastic performances gave us 3 wins and a draw from the 4 games. We had a lot of pupils playing for SJA for the first time, and a year 3/4 girls match, in which all but 2 were playing in their first ever football match! It was great to see so many players playing at the same time, and all having so much fun! A special well done to Scott for scoring a magnificent hat trick, and Millie, finally back playing after injury and scoring on her return! Siobhan, Jasmine, Ellie, Ella, Elsie, Zoe, Jessica, Lily, Mae, Gemma, Georgia, Millie, Annie, Keira, Eloise, Mollie, Sam, Theo, Daniel F, Daniel B, Teo, Oscar, Finlay, Archie, Sam, Enrique, Charlie, Scott, Ben, Harvey, and Chris. Tag-Rugby On Tuesday 17 th March, we entered two very strong teams into the annual Horsham Schools Tag-Rugby competition. Both teams started like they meant business, brushing off strong competition and scoring some wonderful tries, both individual efforts, and great team passing tries. The A team won 3 and lost 2 in their group, while the B team won the first 4 but unfortunately lost their final 2 games which ultimately cost us 1 st place in our group. Both teams finished in 2 nd place, just missing out on the semi-finals. With a very inexperienced squad, both teams performed brilliantly, and with so many Year 4 and 5s representing SJA, the future looks very bright! A special mention must go to Zach H who scored 16 tries in the 6 games, and was pretty much unstoppable! Well done to both teams. Zach, Tobey, James, Georgia, Harry, Frankie, Gustav, Finn, Jack, Luke, Thomas, Jaime, Oscar, Patrick, Oli, Aidan, Dan and Teo. Cricket We entered a competitive team into the first cricket meeting of the year on Wednesday 18 th March, at The Weald in an indoor competition. The team played well, with particularly impressive batting. Unfortunately the team lost 4 matches, two of which were on the final ball, and won one. However, the boys had a great time representing SJA, and hopefully picked up some valuable experience along the way. Harry, Thomas, Finn, Frankie, Archie, James and Finlay. Basketball On Thursday 19 th March, we entered the final basketball competition of the year, having finished as joint winners of tournament 2; it was all to play for. With the results from the previous two tournaments being calculated, and the teams split into groups, unfortunately the A and B team were drawn to play each other, again! The B team won all 4 matches on the day, and kept their cool in some pretty testing and competitive moments. The A team, which featured 4 players who hadn t played any matches before, played excellently and recorded 2 wins. The B team ended up 1 point behind St Peter s in 1 st place, despite beating them on the night, and finished 2 nd, while the A team finished an excellent 4 th out of a possible 10. Well done to both teams on the night, and all who have played so well throughout the year. Zach, Harry, Henry, Annie, Theo, Thomas, Oscar, Dan, Rosie, Olivia, Freya, Sophie, Teo, Max, Ben and James. Thank you for all your support over the last term, all of the teams really appreciate it and it is invaluable to them. Sainsbury s Vouchers Finally, thank you for all the Sainsbury s vouchers that have been donated. We have collected so many last term, and hope to carry on this term as well! They will be put towards some new equipment which is much needed!

I wanted to do something fun for charity. I love football. So a charity football match was my ideal solution to raise money for Red Nose Day.

6 Mr.Showell has started a Southwater Junior PE account. Information only, no photos. Just search for Southwater Junior in Facebook. Charity Football Match When I was in front of the television watching Red Nose Day, I was really inspired of what could happen to a child s life for just a few pounds. I wanted to do something fun for charity. I love football. So a charity football match was my ideal solution to raise money for Red Nose Day. I asked my school friends in Year 6 and they were more than happy to join the fun. Lots of my friends don t play football so it was awkward asking for help, but they were keen to play and donate money. The match was played at school, on the last day of term with Mr Showell refereeing. The match raised 284. I was happy that something fun raised money for such a good charity. The money raised came from family, friends and teachers. Tom Ayling, (6DM) First and second at the Collyers netball Tournament On Friday 27th March, two netball teams spent an afternoon at Collyer s playing in a five team, group system tournament. This was the first time that both of the teams had played and they were extremely excited. All of the games played were closely contested and both teams showed focus and determination. Southwater A won three of their matches and drew 3-3 against one of the Holbrook teams. Southwater B lost against the A team, drew one and won two matches. This resulted in a very successful afternoon with Southwater coming first and second out of the five teams playing! Well done to all of the children who took part. Dance Showcase Delights Audience The first ever Horsham Schools Network Dance Show was a tremendous success. Many parents were treated to a spectacular performance on Friday 13th March, Ten schools from the Horsham area performed various pieces which had been choreographed by the dancers and their teachers, all based on a chosen theme. Southwater Junior Academy delighted the audience with their performance of Take Life by the Hand and Dance, danced to The Flood by Take That. Their precise footwork and mesmerizing floor patterns were truly amazing. Other highlights included Thriller, Happy and a dance performed to Disney s Frozen Let it Go. The whole evening had an energetic and engaging atmosphere, with many left hoping that there will be a repeat performance next year. Class Photographs Class photos will take place on Tuesday 9 th and Wednesday 10 th June in the hall. Notification will be sent out nearer the dates confirming which classes/year groups will attend each day. Do you have any other comments about any information in the newsletter? Parent: Name of child: Class:

7 Summer Term 2015 Wednesday 29 th April Quiz Leechpool 2-3pm Monday 4 th May Bank Holiday Friday 8 th May am Tennis Competition at HTC 4pm Y3/Y4 BBH Saturday 9 th May Table Tennis Team at English National Finals in Hinckley Monday 11 th May National Curriculum tests for Y6 until Thursday Friday 15 th May Y4 to Lodge Hill Monday 18 th May Y6 to IOW Y5 to Dalesdown Tuesday 19 th May Y2 Music lessons at SJA Wednesday 20 th May Rounders Leechpool 4pm Music Festival at The Hawth Friday 22 nd May 2.45pm 3KG Assembly Monday 25 th May Half Term Wednesday 3 rd June Y6 Girls HCC Friday 5 th June Y3 Reptile Man visit PE Gifted and Talented Day Monday 8 th June Peripatetic Music Week 7pm PTFA meeting@ SJA Tuesday 9 th June Class Photos Wednesday 10 th June Class Photos Y6 Mixed HCC Thursday 11 th June ICT Gifted and Talented Day Monday 15 th June Y3/4/5 Assessment Week Wednesday 17 th June Y4/5 Mixed HCC Friday 19 th June am Y6 Tanbridge House music Monday 22 nd June Y6 Egyptian Workshop Tuesday 23 rd June HCC Thursday 25 th June Y5 to Fishbourne Friday 26 th June INSET Day Monday 29 th June Y4 to Brighton Tuesday 30 th June 6.30pm Y2 Parent meeting Wednesday 1 st July pm Y6 Music at Tanbridge House Thursday 2 nd July Y6 Secondary Transition Day Y2/3/4/5 Meeting new class teacher pm Parents to meet new teacher Friday 3 rd July Y5/Y6 Sports Day (New Date) Saturday 4 th July Summer Fayre Wednesday 8 th July am Y3/Y4 Sports Day Friday 10 th July District Sports am Y3/Y4 pm Y5/Y6 2.45pm 3CE Assembly Saturday 11 th July Y6 singing at the Carfax Tuesday 14 th July pm Open Afternoon Wednesday 15 th July Evening: Y6 The Capitol@Horsham Thursday 16 th July am Y3/Y4 Reserve Sports Day Evening: Y6 The Capitol@Horsham Friday 17 th July am Y5/Y6 Reserve Sports Day Wednesday 22 nd July Y6 Leavers Disco Thursday 23 rd July 9.15am Y6 Leavers Assembly Last day of Term

Y3 Preston Manor Please return permission slips for the Y3 Preston Manor trip.

Y3 Preston Manor Please return permission slips for the Y3 Preston Manor trip. c 9th February 2015 Dear Parents, Next month we will be celebrating World Book Day on Friday 6th March. Children will be bringing home a 1 book voucher which can be used to swap for one of 10 World Day