Primary Schools Cross Country

Posted by: Mrs C PLATT19th October 2017

Another highly successful event organised by Clare Strange. Around 2pm
16 Schools start arriving at Ratnor House School with 400 children in 2
Age Groups ready for 4 Races.( Forms 3/4 Boys and Girls—– Forms 5/6
Boys and Girls ) Each team has 6 children, the 1st 3 count for scoring. It was a perfect
afternoon for the races in front of a large number of spectators. St.
John’s give their all and the outstanding team were the Boys 3/4 who came
2nd in the team event with Bailey coming 3rd in the race.

Always great to see everyone encouraging eachother and enjoying the afternoon.

New Parents Morning

Posted by: Mr E Oatley19th October 2017

The second New Parents Open Morning took place on Monday. Altogether
well over 60 families have now been shown round the school and there is
one more morning to come. Coffee,tea and cake prove a popular start and
Sally gives an overview of the school and it”s ethos and values with
Sophie Allen explaining the beginning of school life for their children
in Reception. It is then left to Form 6 to tell the families all about
life throughout their years at the school and take them into each
classroom to introduce them to the teachers.

This is always an interesting morning with many questions asked and
answered with everyone going away feeling much more relaxed about the
whole process. It appears they were certainly impressed with the home
made Sally cake as well as all they saw and heard in the school.

Harvest Festival

19th October 2017Mr E Oatley

What a truly memorable service.

This year’s Harvest Festival raised money for the Send a Cow Charity and honoured all the good work that it does for the poor in Africa. However there was a surprise at the start of the service as Sally’s farmer brother, Tim Kemp, had brought along a 3 day old calf to set the scene in the Church. So here we have the stage set for a 9.15 start with Patrick lying in a pen of straw at the back of the Church, a congregation of 130 plus but no children! Fortunately as it turned out the excellent time keeping of the staff made for a perfect entrance as it was a joy to see the expressions of amazement on the 220 children’s faces as they entered the Church.

In his sermon Fr Norman, the Bishop of Richborough who kindly came to take the service, explained to the children how a cow is given to families to help them understand the food process and so put this knowledge into practise when cooking.
The service had been brilliantly thought out by the form teachers and their helpers. In between hymns Form 6 told us all about the Charity, followed by a video, Form 2 recited a great Milk Chocolate poem, Form 5 acted out their food sketches highlighting the food a cow helps to produce: cheese, butter, yogurt, burgers together with all the vegetables and fruits which make healthy meals and Form 1 made us all want to get up and dance to their harvest Rock and Roll song. The 30 strong choir had learnt to perfection two traditional folk songs which they sang in the native Zulu and Xosa language. Form 4 read bible readings and Form 3 ended with prayers.
The sun shone through the stained glass windows and Patrick lay peacefully through the service and Tim has decided he would like a CD of the singing to help all his cows to relax.

Yr 4 Orchestra Concert

Posted by: Mr E Oatley11th July 2017

What a great finale to Sarah Marsh’s career at St Johns.  Together with the peripatetic music team the 55 strong Year 4 orchestra were ready to perform some well known and pretty complicated pieces and this they did with maturity and a real sense of fun and pleasure in front of their families.
Music has come a long way in a short time under the guidance of Sarah and the legacy she leaves is that music is now very much part of the DNA of St John’s.  So many children now learn individual instruments and the school orchestra and choirs are performing to a high standard.  The self confidence this generates in each pupil is of immense value to their future success in life.

Kent Cup Hockey Final

Posted by: Mr E Oatley22nd June 2017

Unfortunately I could not be at Ashford yesterday to see the Teams.

However having seen them all season and been so impressed with their improvement,concentration and just their will to win I was hoping for the best and that”s just what I got.

The senior team are now proud runners-up in Kent having lost to Dover in the Final and the Junior team came fourth. Believe me that is a truly tremendous achievement and puts St John’s right up there with the best.

They  were well supported by their parents and we are all so proud of all of them.Congratulations to Sheralyn and her team at school and to Sevenoaks Hockey Club for their excellent coaching.

Parents Open Afternoon

Posted by: Mr E Oatley22nd June 2017

Parents’ Open Afternoon
This is one of the events in the school diary which defines how successful St Johns is in promoting the importance of the school and parents working together. On the hottest day of the year so far many parents came to school to see and discuss their work with their children. The teachers were in the classroom, where some families chose to stay in the shade, but outside in every corner and spare space in the garden and playground families could be seen talking together. Just such a great afternoon.
It has been a busy week for the 14 hockey players who will be playing in the Kent Cup Final today and excitement is building. There is also the Primary School Sports to look forward to at Knole Academy, starting at 5.00pm.

Fly the Flag Armed Forces Celebration Day

Posted by: Mr E Oatley19th June 2017

This is always an  important ceremony at the  Sevenoaks Council Offices.  Year 3 walked up to take part arriving just before the start at 10.30a.m.  They joined members of the armed forces, local dignitaries and Church representatives.  The ceremony started with prayers and messages of thanks to the armed forces both here and around the world for their dedicated work.  Following the raising of the flag we went into the public gallery for talks from a war veteran aged 96 who had been awarded the French Legion of Honour decoration along with members of the British Legion and the Armed Forces youth section.  At 11.00am there was a minute’s silence for the Grenfell tower block disaster in Kensington.

After a drink and a biscuit we all walked back to school.  A great experience for the children.

Sevenoaks Primary School Tag Rugby Festival

Posted by: Mr E Oatley8th June 2017

 

This is one of the best examples of the way in which our local sports clubs have helped to improve  primary school sport in a really impressive way over the past few years, and it is an ongoing process.

All the local primary schools were there and St Johns is so lucky to have two parents, Justine Houchin and Iain Anderson, who are Sevenoaks Rugby Club coaches committed to coming in to school each week to coach the children.  They are to be thanked and congratulated on the huge progress the children are making.

The Rugby Club can indeed feel very proud of all they are achieving as we see the standard rising each year.

With Year 6  away in Barcelona our two teams were playing against children a year older.  The A side did so well in beating all three teams in the first round, therefore moving into the winners’ 4 Team Challenge where they  narrowly lost in the final matches.

The B team were really up against it in their age and size but they proved how much they are learning and did themselves proud.

As always the sportsmanship, the determination to give their all and the obviously joy in playing are the children’s great strengths.  The mass turn-out of parents enjoying the afternoon and encouraging their children was the icing on the cake.

 

Team A Gerran Team B Ethan
Ketan Olan
Daniel Grace
Oliver Caitlyn
Tia Ethan
Lily Isaac
Rebecca Amy
Ben
Georgia

Primary Schools Cricket Competition. Sevenoaks School Fri 12th May

Posted by: Mr E Oatley15th May 2017

One of the many strengths St Johns pupils have is the mind set to concentrate to improve on a given instant subject. They beat a very limited Sevenoaks School side ( put in because a primary school dropped out ). learnt a lot from that in the hours practice we had before the next match. They then beat Seal St Lawrence to reach the final. Again tea helped with time to learn more ready for taking on a very talented Ide Hill side with 2 county players. They exceeded all expectations by firstly showing they all knew what the game was all about & so gave  Ide Hill a real challenge which  Ide Hill won by 71 runs to 55 in a thrilling nail biting final. To push them so close just made us all feel so proud of the Team. Although we had the obvious sportspeople in the team the reason we did so well is because all 8 of them rose to the challenge, made huge progress & so made possible real all round strength.  We have now been promoted to the First Division.

The team:

Alfie Chloe Nathan Harrison
Tegan Oliver Ketan Nicky

Infant Agility

Posted by: Mr E Oatley27th April 2017

12 pupils from Forms 1/2 were competing against 14 Primary Schools in the Knole Academy Hall for the right to take part in the Kent Schools final later in the Term.
Each child had to do 7 Floor exercises which follow the pattern of any normal adult Keep Fit Gym Routine. One has to say the pupils level of fitness & the level of concentration to do their very best in each exercise was very impressive . (Most adults would have found this a challenge )
We will know the final result in a few days time. Sheralyn & I were a little put out at the end of the 2 hour session at how tired we felt just watching them !!!