An end of year message from Mrs Savory

To our Parents and Carers

We have reached the end of this academic year albeit not the year we all anticipated when we started in September 2019. Today marks the official “school’s out for summer” cry and this time, I’m sure, this is a sentiment really acknowledged by our parents too, as well as our pupils, who will be pleased to be free of home learning! Thank you all who have embraced it so well and shared your experiences, learning and kept in touch with your teachers. The learning I have seen makes me feel very proud of you all and indeed the entire school staff team who have worked tirelessly throughout this lockdown.

We also say our goodbyes to our wonderful Year 6 pupils who we are all very proud of too. This group of children worked terrifically hard during their final year and we are confident that had they been able to take the KS2 SATs this year, would have demonstrated great progress and attainment. Upon their return to school in June, they have learnt to be in school under very different operating circumstances. During this term, they have continued to learn and enjoy their learning. They have also appreciated the value and the impact of learning in school with their teachers and peers. It has been so heartening to hear their laughter and engagement in their bubbles of 15. We have celebrated their time at our school today with a virtual Leavers’ Assembly in all the bubble classrooms today viewing a carefully crafted video of their experiences in the school from Y3 up to Y6 with goodbye memories shared from all the teachers who have taught them and known them. Our Y6 parents have been able to share this at home through Seesaw. We sincerely hope you have enjoyed watching it or will do when you are able to over the weekend. It goes without saying, your children have been delightful and leave an imprint of many fond times in our memories too. I wish them all the very best for the next stage in their education where they will continue to bloom! May I also say farewell to our parents who will now have no more children at Chandag Juniors and thank you for your support of the school over the years.

At the end of any academic year, it is important to reflect on these who we must express our thanks to. Of course all the staff team get my huge thanks. Thanks to Mrs Muncer and Mrs Stone who have also tried to capture the spirit of our usual end of year Sports Assembly where we recognise our pupils’ effort, skill and sportsmanship in a range of sports and competitions this year. I thank our House Captains in Y6: Jack, Amelia, Ava, Sophie, George, Rebekah, Daisy, Amelie, Hugo, Matilda and Maggie for the work you all did this year counting house dolphin points and keeping the weekly scores and representing our school Houses.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Miss Cooper and the children who have represented our School Council this year and worked on school initiatives -our pupil survey about school being a notable task they worked on: Y3 -Fergus, Mia, Poppy, Toby; Y4—Belle, Max, Lucy, Callum; Y5—Eva, Archie, Ria, Finley; Y6—Imogen, Oliver, Laura and Kelly.

This term has seen the staff galvanise together to make the return to school experience fun and educational. Thank you to Mrs Muncer who has registered our Keyworker children every day with a smile come rain and shine and helped co-ordinate the staggered breaks, lunches, arrivals and departures! Mrs Smith, too, must be thanked for her role co-ordinating the enrichment learning in these Keyworker bubble groups. Miss Roberts and Mrs Smith for ensuring all staff were confident with the home learning school planning and provision and Miss Findlay for her part in the setup of Seesaw accounts for pupils. Mrs Sedar must be thanked for all her pastoral support and care to many over this lockdown. Again, I must reiterate how committed and passionate ‘Team Chandag’ is and how grateful we all are for their efforts and the wonderful end to this extraordinary school year they have made happen.

We are sorry to see Mrs Janice Mosson, Y4’s teaching assistant, leave us today. Mrs Mosson has decided to retire after working at our school for 22 years! I am sure you will join me in wishing her all the best and I thank her for all the support she has given to the many teachers and pupils she has worked with over this time. Enjoy your retirement and being able to now spend more time with your family, Mrs Mosson!

Parents will receive information in the near future about the September return plans. I hope you will find this reassuring and helpful. Thank you for your support to us all and your generosity with gifts and flowers that we have received as well as the chocolates and home baked goodies which have come our way and kept us going these last few weeks.

Enjoy the rest of July and August; keep safe and well. As a school we are looking forward to welcoming your children, established and new, back into classroom based learning. We have missed them.

Many thanks from all of the staff at Chandag Junior School. Best wishes, Jo Savory

Quick links

Term Dates

Classes Key

Documents

The Office

Key Dates

17th July end of academic year 1st & 2nd September INSET days 3rd September Induction day Y3 & Y5 4th September Induction day Y4 & Y6 7th September ALL pupils in school

A letter from Graeme Savage, Chair of Governors

Dear parents, children, staff and families of Chandag Junior School,

I just wanted to say a big thank you to you all, on behalf of the governors, at the end of what has been a very challenging, but ultimately rewarding, academic year.

The resilience, resourcefulness and determination shown by all over the last few months in particular has been more than impressive, and makes us very proud to be associated with Chandag Junior School. Even before the lockdown, this year had presented many challenges - the change in leadership at the school, the ever present anticipation of OFSTED, the continual drive to improve standards, and the general day-to-day running of a busy Junior School, were all present even before corona-virus threw everything up in the air.

Throughout all of this, Mrs Savory and her team have worked strenuously to encourage and support the children and their families, both educationally and pastorally. We were very pleased to see this year’s predicted SATS results were due to be excellent, and while the end of the school year has not gone in a way that anyone could have predicted, we’re delighted with this, and our Y6 pupils should be very proud of what they have achieved during their time at CJS. We wish them all well as they move on to their new schools.

I would like to personally thank Mrs Savory and all the staff for their hard work and adaptability over the last few months, in very stressful circumstances. Almost overnight, the way that teachers worked and were expected to work changed beyond recognition. Virtual teaching platforms took many experienced and dedicated teachers out of their comfort zones, but the speed with which they have adapted to communicating with the children and their families in this way has been impressive, and hopefully has helped to develop skills which can be embraced even when schools return towards normality in the next few months.

Likewise, the partial reopening of the school has been a very smooth operation (albeit with lots of work behind-the-scenes!) and I have been impressed with the calmness from the children and staff on my visits to the school over the last six weeks. The willingness of staff to support other schools within the Trust, in particular the members of staff teaching at the Infant School and within the key worker children hub while also preparing online work for their own Junior classes, is a wonderful reflection on the ethos we aim to promote at CJS.

While we have been very sad not to have been able to bring all of the children back to school, the communication with fami-lies has continued as much as possible, and the feedback from parents has been very supportive and complimentary. These comments mean a lot to teachers during these challenging times. The plans in place for welcoming all pupils back to the school, and also our new children coming to the school for the first time, should help to ease any anxiety that children may have after so long out of the classroom, and I have no doubt that the children will adapt to their new environments as seam-lessly as those returning in the last six weeks have been able to do so.

I would also like to thank Andrea Arlidge and the Wellsway MAT for their support throughout the last few months. The mes-sage to all schools in the MAT has been measured and well-thought even at a time when national guidance was changing daily, if not hourly, and it could have been easy to jump to quick decisions. I know this has been welcomed by Mrs Savory and the staff at CJS, and helped to ensure a calm environment for the children.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a safe and happy summer holiday, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the Chandag Junior School family in September.

Graeme Savage

Chair of Governors, CJS

Showcasing some of this week’s learning ...

POD 3 Cricket: Catch and clap

Gymnastics: Tuck in, Tuck Out

Tennis: Tap Up

Netball: Around the World

Winner Charles K Oscar H Fergus E Iris B

Runner Up Fergus E Scarlett F Oscar H Morgan H

POD 4 Cricket: Catch and clap

Gymnastics: Tuck in, Tuck Out

Tennis: Tap Up

Netball: Around the World

Winner Harry W Mia S Freddie S Joe W

Runner Up Kaiden R Isobel MC Harry W Nathan W

POD 5 Cricket: Catch and clap

Gymnastics: Tuck in, Tuck Out

Tennis: Tap Up

Netball: Around the World

Winner Lexie K Ria L Charlotte M Shannon D

Runner Up Alson G Lucy B Luca D Matilda N

POD 6 Cricket: Catch and clap

Gymnastics: Tuck in, Tuck Out

Tennis: Tap Up

Netball: Around the World

Winner Charles K Oscar H Fergus E Iris B

Runner Up Fergus E Scarlett F Oscar H Morgan H

Virtual Sports Day Events Results:

House positions (worked out on an average points score)

1st = Rowan (126.4) 2nd = Sycamore (124.8)

3rd = Hawthorn (123.4) 4th = Willow (121.5)

Congratulations to Rowan who are this year’s (virtual) Sports Days Winners.

All participants will receive a participation certificate via parent mail.

Congratulations to our Sport s pupils of the year…

Ava H, Jack B and Liam E - all in Y6

A special contribution to sport congratulations to…

Maggie T , Rebekah M and George S

Y6 Leavers’ Hoodies arrived

Monday and were carefully

bagged by Mrs Muncer and Ms

Sparkes following our strict

hygiene measures —our Y6

children have loved wearing

them during their last week!

A cheers to our Y6 House Captains

with a Milkshake treat!

Our terrific Y6 pupils farewell photo gallery…

Our terrific Y6 pupils farewell photo gallery…