Newsletters

 Friday 14th July, 2023

There has been so much going on at SJS over the past few weeks and so much to be proud about heading into the last week of term. 

I was able to see the Year 4's Opera 'The Books that Disappeared' on Wednesday evening, and it was a special treat to see all their hard work paying off. The performance was absolutely fantastic and, I'm sure, we had some very proud parents and carers. Our thanks go to the team at Into Opera for all the hard work put into the performance and for arranging such a wonderful venue. 

Thank you to everyone whose found the time to come along to the Friends' fete last Friday and to everyone for purchasing raffle tickets, and all the wonderful donations too. 

We were sorry to postpone the Year 3/4 Sports morning this week and will try again on Tuesday. In the end, the weather was not as bad as first feared - it's always a difficult decision of when to make the call and we are mindful of trying to give as much notice as we can. 

With one week to go, we reach the finale of another school year. It has been a successful on many fronts. We have a lot ot fit in before we finish though and look forward to the sports on Monday and Tuesday, the Year 6 performance of Matilda, and the leavers' assembly on Wednesday. 

Have a lovely weekend. 

Kind regards

Matt Walton, Headteacher 

July

Mon 17th: Year 5/6 Sports Day (9:15am-12:30pm)

Tue 18th: Year 3/4 Sports Day (9:15am - 12:30pm)

Wed 19th: Year 6 Leavers' assembly (9am)

Fri 21st: End of term

Wed 6th Sept: New school year begins

Year 6 Hilltop trip

At the end of June Year 6 visited Hilltop for their annual residential trip.

Every year the children get to help choose the activities and even the food. This year the children voted for air jump, assault course, big zipper (giant zip wire), power fan, caving, bush craft team tasks, an evening trip to the enchanted forest and huge game of tag called ‘Mad Hatters’.

Leaving school at about 10:30am, they arrived at Hilltop in time for lunch. After an introduction to Hilltop and a quick trip to rooms Year 6 headed out for their first activity. Some headed to the big zipper, some to the caves and some discovered what power fan was all about – fun (apparently!!). A delicious helping of chicken burger and chocolate sponge and custard was followed by the evening activity – a trip to the Enchanted Forest. Next stop was bedrooms and lights out.

After a good night’s sleep for some and a slightly more midnight feast focused version for others, it was time to head down for breakfast. Thursday’s was just as action-packed and with the exception of a brief lunch pit-stop the children were on the go for the whole day. The weather was glorious which meant that the children got the chance to take a dip in the Hilltop pool. After an evening meal of fish and chips everyone headed outside again for the evening activity – Mad Hatters.

Unsurprisingly, after the exhausting day meant lights out was earlier than the previous night. After a better night’s sleep, everyone fuelled up for the day with a delicious cooked breakfast. Bags packed and rooms cleared, the time was coming to an end. Only two activities left before pizza and back on the bus to come home.

Everyone had an amazing time and many discovered talents they didn’t know they had!

A big thank you to all the Hilltop staff for making everyone feel welcome and to all the Sprowston Junior staff who went on the trip this year.

The attention now turns to next summer’s residential for our current Year 5s. We can’t wait to go back for more!

Year 4 Opera Performance 

Earlier in the year, Into Opera entered Sprowston Junior as part of our arts' project, with a blank page. They wanted to create a children's opera, with the children creating the theme and the words to go in it. Over a period of a few weeks, the opera team took the ideas and created 'The Books that Disappeared,' It was lovely that the children chose books as their theme!

Since those first few weeks, the children have worked extremely hard and this culminated in the amazing performance at the Octagon Barn this week. This was the 'world premiere' of the opera and hopefully it will be performed by many, many more children in the forthcoming years!

Here's a few comments from the children involved:

Ivy - 'I enjoyed singing 'The Superhero'. There were lots of scenes and the children were all panicking about the books until the end when there was peace!'

Hayleigh - 'In the opera we sang some fantastic songs such as 'take your place' and 'superhero'. We started learning the songs and it grew until our performance at The Octagon Barn. 

Billy - 'When we did the opera I liked it because we were showing schools and parents our opera. It was fun! My favourite bit was when we did the opening. It was great taking part.' 

PE Kit & School Uniform 

PE Kit 

The children attending school in their PE kits has been a success. However, we have had a lot of children in PE kit which does not follow the guidelines set. When any new PE kit is purchased for September, please can you make sure it follows the following guidelines:

- white t-shirt

- blue or black shorts

- plain blue or black tracksuit/school hoody 

We would appreciate your help to ensure that the children are looking as smart as possible on PE days. 

School Uniform

Please make sure that the children have black school shoes for September. A lot of the school shoes are quite trainer like these days which is absolutely fine. We please ask that they are all black with no other markings.

City Sports 

We enjoyed another successful City Sports this year, with many athletes making the finals in their respective races. The event started with the field cup, and notable efforts came from Roxy and George (Yr 6) in the high jump, an event they hadn't been able to practise beforehand. 

Fast-forward to finals day, we had 4 relay teams in the sem-finals at the start of the afternoon and the Year 3 boys made it to the final finishing 3rd place (only 4 teams get to the final). Well done to Wanye, Jack, 

Wanye also won the Year 3 50m sprint race and set a new City Sports record. A very impressive achievement! 

Across all years we had seen some excellent running, with George finishing 4th in the hurdles and 

At the medals ceremony we found out that the school had won the relay cup for the smaller schools at the event, so it was lovely to bring back some silverware too! Well done to all the team and thank you to all parents for their support and help over the three days.

Classes for September 

We have decided to name our classes next year and have gone with the theme of the Broads - the largest area of wetlands in the country. 

Mrs Wills - Martham Class

Mrs Connell/Miss Howse -  Filby Class

Mrs Pearce - Ranworth Class

Mrs Harrison/Mr Arthur - Salhouse Class

Mr Ingham/Miss Clark - Wroxham Class

Mr Reeds - Hickling Class

Miss Watts - Lily Class

The classes will have a closer look at their particular broad during their first geography lesson of the year. 

Classrooms for September 

We are awaiting news of whether we will get the final go ahead for an SRB base at the school. If this does go ahead, it will be in the area currently used by Year 6 outside in the separate block. This would not be until September 2025, but we have made the decision to stop using those classrooms due to the condition of the building and to bring Year 6 into the main corridor from September. 

The classes will run Year 3 to Year 6, with Year 3 being furthest away from the office area. Teachers will be out to remind pupils where to go on the first morning in September. It will be all change and a little bit strange for us all at first but we're looking forward to having all of the classes together in the main school. 

Goodbye to Mrs Heed

We say goodbye and farewell to Mrs Heed next week as she finishes at the school after working here for 17 years. Mrs Heed has taught hundreds of children in that time and has an abundance of happy memories to take with her. We wish Mrs Heed and her lovely family all the very best for the future and thank her for all her hard work for the children of Sprowston in the time she's been here.