UPDATED Charity Support & Fundraising Calendar

Click here to read Charity & Fundraising events 2017-2018

Pin it to the fridge! A handy list of events for this academic year. If you can help at the Fireworks please make yourself known to the PA.

British Values display

Each year group was given one of the British Values to illustrate, which we merged into one display - look how creative they are!

sQuid and Parentpay

Welcome back to school! Just a quick reminder that everyone needs to be signed up to sQuid to pay for school dinners and Parentpay to receive communication from the school and to pay for trips and activities.

Autumn Activity Brochure

Autumn Activity Brochure

Local History Project

A small group of Year 6 students have been looking at the School’s log books.  We learnt that our school was nicknamed The Bell after a pub that used to be on the corner of the road.  We also found out that where the bike shed now is, there was an unexploded bomb during the World War 2.  In the hall there was a swordfish sword in a display cabinet.

After break we interviewed two local businessmen,  Mr Roomes and Mr Parish.  We had thought of interesting questions to ask them the day before and we were excited to meet them.  Firstly, we interviewed Mr Roomes.  He said that he and his brother used to own two different branches, however they sold off the one which is now Roomes Fashion store.  After a little break, we interviewed Mr Parish, who said that his great grandfather established the original estate agents in Green Lane in Upton Park.

Mr Roomes and Mr Parish remember having their school photos taken in the quad of the school and being threatened with the wooden cane, by their year 4 teacher.

We will be making a history display for the reception area, based on what we have learnt about this week.

Visiting Manor Juniors

A group of Year 6 students visited Ms Puirseil’s previous school, Manor Juniors in Upney. 

For the first lesson, we had PE where we started with a slow warm up and then moved on to Just Dance (a fitness workout).  Finally for that lesson we followed the instructions of The Body Coach (Joe Wicks) who does intensive fitness videos. 

After a singing assembly, we had break time, where we were introduced to some very friendly people that looked after us.  

Penultimately we had to think whether we thought SATs were important to take or not.  Of course the majority of people didn’t think they were necessary!!  We had lunch with the children from Manor and then came back to school.

Cashless Catering

https://portal.squidcard.com/LoginPortal/

Havering Catering Services' cashless system, 'Squid' launches at UJS on Thursday 20th April. Please ensure you are ready by creating your account, and loading money to onto it before Thursday morning.

If there are not sufficient funds on your account, you will have to bring a packed lunch in for the child.

If you chose to send your child with a packed lunch, or if they receive Free School Meals, you do not need to load money.

Details were on the letter sent home last term; please request a replacement from the office if needed.


Please remember that we will no longer be selling morning snacks or lunchtime squash.

Trips and events etc will continue on ParentPay. The Catering team will be arranging refunds/credits for any tickets you may still have.


For more assistance visit:

https://www.squidcard.com/welcome/squid-online-parents


https://www.squidcard.com/welcome/help

Summer Activity Brochure

Summer extra-curricular activity brochure can be downloaded here

March Newsdesk

To view March Newsdesk click here

February Newsdesk

February Newsdesk available to view here.

Measuring Jugs

We normally copytype the Class Reporter's submissions, but this scientific report from 3GM is so beautifully written that it's shown in it's original format.

January Newsletter

The January Newsletter has been published.

O2 Young Voices

5Z reports-

Everyone is excited about Young Voices with lots of schools coming to sing. We hope everyone enjoys the performance tonight, have a fantastic time!

OFSTED Report

Upmister Junior School is a GOOD school!

Click here to read the report of OFSTED's recent inspection. Thank you to all the children, staff and families who took part.

"Pupils' progress is improving because of the good standard of teaching across the school"

”Leaders and governors have made sure the the school has sustained the high attainment for pupils in reading, writing and mathematics"

“Leaders use good teaching practice across the school to model high expectations for all staff" 

"Teachers ensure that work matches the abilities of pupils"

Christmas Party!

On the last day of term we had a Christmas Party. We loved decorating our tables in a Christmas theme and the Secret Santa was a great idea. The food was delicious and everyone enjoyed themselves.




6S Class Reporter

Year Five Production - reviews

Parents, Governors and Guests will be seeing the Year 5 production this week. To whet your appetite for the show, here are two reviews of their performance of 'Ebenezer':

'In the year 5 production there are some very nice songs. I like how they use actions. It is amazing how they have remembered their lines. Their acting is amazing! There are some very funny jokes. They all have beautiful singing and acting skills. I like it when they show Scrouge's past.'

- 4Z Class Reporter

'Ebenezer, the year five production that my class watched, was exceedingly good, and I could tell that the pupils and staff put a great detail of work into it. How do I know this? Firstly, the year fives definitely got a five star rating for acting completely like Victorians, and the few pupils that played Ebenezer Scrooge truly mastered his attitude and character. Next, the songs were another brilliant feature as all the children put a ton of effort and passion in to singing all the words and doing the actions. I particularly liked the song 'Hate Everybody' as it made me laugh, and the song 'It's too late now' had some fantastic extra characters! Lastly, I really loved the character of Fred (Scrooge's nephew). The actor showed a lot of enthusiasm and did an amazing job.

All in all, I believe that all the parents that go to see this play will absolutely love it. Well done year five!'

- 6P Class Reporter

Admission Arrangements: Consultation

You may have heard about Havering's Consultation about Admissions to Infant, Junior & Primary schools. Full details are on the UJS website. click here to go to the Admissions page

OFSTED - 13th December 2016

Click here for the Letter to Parents from OFSTED and their guide to School Inspections.

Celebrating Assembly

Friday 16^th September 2016

We created monster poems in literacy to write descriptively 

This week in Literacy we have been exploring how language 

is used for effect by creating similes. We had to write a list 

poem about ourselves using similes only!

Chair of Governors Annual Report for the Academic Year 2015 – 2016

I would like to start this report in reverse chronological order as in the last few days we have received our fantastic SATs (Statutory Assessment Tests) for Key Stage 2 results which confirms Upminster Junior School as the top Junior School locally (in Cranham & Upminster).  More detail of these results will follow in due course but I would like to thank firstly the Year 6 teachers and Teaching Assistants (TAs) for their hard work throughout the year and the school Senior Leadership Team for their drive and enthusiasm.  I must not forget the whole school approach to learning as this did not just happen overnight so congratulations to all staff for their efforts over many years.  Lastly, well done all Year 6 Pupils for their willingness to take on the new style SATs and achieve great results.   I wish them all every success in Year 7 at their new schools.

Turning the clock back now to where we started in September 2015, two Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) joined us for their first year in teaching, Miss Southgate in Year 5 and Miss Zweistra in Year 4.  They have both done exceptionally well and hope they found it an enjoyable experience and stay with us for many years.

The transition from Year 2 in the Infant School to Year 3 in the Junior School was expertly handled by the year leaders, Mrs Gunthorpe and Mrs Mordew who share the responsibility with adequate backing from Miss Nelson and Mrs Clarke and outstanding support from their TAs.  Educational trips out included visits to Colchester Castle and Colchester Zoo.

Year 4 found themselves without their leader, Miss Latheron for a long period of time due to her hospitalisation for a hip operation but Miss Zweistra and Mrs Jones showed great calmness throughout and got on with the job.  It was good to see Miss Latheron return for the second half of the summer term and well on the way to complete recovery.  Educational trips out included Tower of London, Kentwell Hall and Belhus Woods.

Year 5 led by Mrs Zweistra, with Miss Southgate and Miss Begiri in support, attended the residential trip to Bushey in Hertfordshire for the 1940’s experience.  They thoroughly enjoyed a unique learning experience about life at home in London during World War II.  These trips are successful due to the support during the week by TAs and parents; therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Mrs Emes, Mrs Fitzgerald, Mrs Gulvin, Mr Lee, Mr Haley, Mr Lawrence, Mrs Wilson and Mrs Sillett for making it a pleasant week for all the Pupils in attendance.  Year 5 should also be praised for being outstanding ambassadors for Upminster Junior School.  Other educational visits included Go Run for Fun at the Olympic Park, Transport Museum, Science Museum, River Ingrebourne with Essex Wildlife Trust, The Old Chapel opposite the Upminster Windmill, the National Gallery, Leeds Castle and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Mrs Riches again led Year 6, ably assisted by Mr Waskett and Mrs Pedder.  Mr Waskett will be leaving at the end of the summer term to further his career at another local school in Hornchurch.  He has been an exceptional teacher at Upminster Junior School for the past six years and he will be missed but we wish him well for the future.  Apart from the SATs the highlight of the year, as always, is the residential visit to PGL in June for all Year 6 Pupils who wish to go.  Again it was a successful venture where they get to participate in all sorts of outdoor pursuits.  Other educational visits throughout the year included the British Museum, orienteering at James Oglethorpe School, the National Gallery, a Mosque and Groovy Greeks in Southend. 

Once again, all the trips for the year groups listed above would not happen without support from our Teachers, TAs and parents and again I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them for their dedication to our pupils’ learning experience.  We also must not forget the work performed by our Midday Supervisors whose day to day work with pupils epitomise our core values of self belief, trust, compassion, creative and resilience.

At the end of the Autumn Term, Mrs Boyes our SENCo (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Co-ordinator) left to progress her career at another school.  UJS welcomes Mrs Puirseil who will take over the role at the start of September.

Our Sports Co-ordinator, Mr Stanley, has done an outstanding job and introduced a whole range of new sports to the school.     I believe the School is the top performing Primary in Havering, if not the whole of London, as was proven by our success in the London Youth games.  Throughout the year the School has won many other competitions locally in Havering at all sports.  Mr Stanley’s pride and joy is the creation of our “QuadKids”.  

[“QuadKids Schools is the preferred athletics format for the School Games, including level 1 inter (whole school), level 2 intra school events, Schools Games qualifying rounds and level 3 County / School Games finals. This easy to run athletics format encourages participation for all ages and abilities and has been widely used throughout the UK for many years”.] 

Special congratulations to Mr Stanley for achieving a “1^st Class” Honours Degree this year.   He will complete his teacher training during the next two terms at Upminster Junior School.

Our Choir and Orchestra continues to go from strength to strength under the stewardship of Mrs Foan and Mrs Riches with support from many peripatetic music teachers.  The summer term culminated in yet another magnificent performance by the whole school at St Luke’s in Cranham and this time even the staff managed to play a star role by singing with the choir!

The Parents Association (PA) continues to raise money for the school as it has for many years and this year Mrs Wright stood down and Mrs Horne took over as Chair.  We owe an awful lot to Mrs Wright and she went out on a high when the PA donated £50,000 towards the school adventure playground which was officially opened in the Autumn by the Mayor of Havering, Councillor Brian Eagling.  Funds were raised by the PA through various events such as Christmas bazaar, summer fete, discos, film nights and quiz nights.  A very successful tuck shop runs every Friday afternoon which has proved popular with both the pupils and parents. The biggest event of the year and one that has been running for decades is the Upminster Firework Display.  Over the years this has helped to establish a link for both the PA and the school within the community and become very popular and successful.

The School Council which consists of one pupil from each class elected by their peers, has also had a successful year.  They conduct themselves in a democratic fashion and when they have an idea, they consult with their individual classes before bringing it back to committee for decision.  One of their favourite projects this year was to “adopt” a school pet and they are well on the way to achieving that.  When the School Governors had decided on their final two candidates for the position of Headteacher following Mr Woodford’s decision to move on, they played a major role interviewing each candidate over a half hour session   Both candidates admitted afterwards that the session had been the hardest part of the interview process. 

In April this year, the School Council had an opportunity to visit the Mayor of Havering, Councillor Brian Eagling, at the Town Hall in Romford and enjoyed asking him many questions about the work of Havering Council.  They also got the chance to wear the mayoral robes and hold the Mace which again they thoroughly enjoyed.  Mr Ansell, our Deputy Headteacher, deserves our thanks for encouraging and guiding the School Council to achieve their success.

The school Eco Council worked on an air-pollution project with Sustrans. They attached eight perspex tubes to various locations near St Mary’s Lane in front of the school. Sadly, four tubes went missing. The remaining four tubes were sent for analysis. Results show that the nearer the tubes were to the road, the more polluted the air was. In two tubes, the Nitrous Oxide level exceeded the safe levels set by Europe.  Thanks as well to the Digital Leaders who are trusted pupils responsible for supporting, promoting and developing, alongside the computing co-ordinator, Miss Nelson and Mr Welch our ICT System Administrator, the technology that is used within our school.  We are massively grateful to all of them.

A huge contribution during 2015/16 has again been made by the Parents’ Council which can be considered a “scrutiny” committee when it comes to new ideas but they also come forward with new suggestions and information to improve the school.

My appreciation for the efforts of the School’s Governing Body must not go without mention.  We meet officially at least three times each term but that is not all.  Each Governor has responsibility for a year group plus a curriculum subject and is expected to liaise with their classes and their subject lead and report back at the full Governors’ meeting each term.  Governors also assist by attending educational visits with their year group or class.  To meet their statutory obligations, Governors are also expected to attend training sessions regularly to keep abreast of changes in education law from time to time.  All Governors are doing the job voluntarily without any remuneration.

On the 19 April 2016, the school was reviewed by an external independent team. This was applied in the form of a one day Ofsted inspection and was a very thorough process. It was extremely useful in assessing the position of the school and was also conducted fairly.

The outcomes of the review were:

Ofsted Category Grade - Overall effectiveness Good

·        The effectiveness of leadership and management - Good

·        The quality of teaching, learning and assessment - Good

·        Personal development, welfare and behaviour - Good

·        Outcomes of pupils and learners - Good

A few of the judgements require “actions” to ensure that the school is secure.  Personal development, welfare and behaviour was said to be very effective and on the cusp of Outstanding.

Our Business Manager (Mr Brown), the Office Team (Mrs Clarke, Mrs Cooper and Mrs Rowe) and Site Team (Mr Fitzgerald and Mr Rowden) are very much in the “front line” and deal with pupils and parents from day to day in all sorts of circumstances.  Their dedication and loyalty to Upminster Junior School can often be taken for granted but without them, it would a massive impact on the smooth running of the school.

Finally, a tribute to our Headteacher Mr Tim Woodford must be made at this point as he will be leaving us at the end of the summer term 2016 to take up a Headteacher post in Hampshire.  He has been at Upminster Junior School since 2009 when he joined as Deputy Headteacher to Miss Field.  He took over as acting Headteacher in January 2014 when Miss Field moved on and was appointed as Headteacher in the summer term of 2014.

In June 2016, Mr Woodford and his wife had baby Charlotte.   They had already given great thought to when the baby was born and made their decision to move back to the New Forest area to be closer to their families.   We wish the family our best wishes for the future and Mr Woodford every success at his new school.

Jeff Stafford

Chair of Governors

Upminster Junior School

Ujschair@ujs.havering.sch.uk

12^th July 2016