​Unfortunately, we were not able to have our usual Sports Day this year but that didn’t stop us! This year, Sports Day had a new look, with pupils in school competing in their bubbles against our pupils at home. The Sports Day was designed to be as close as possible, so we added a handicap system to give those in younger bubbles a chance to catch up with the ones in older bubbles (and even the parents!).
The top five highest scoring bubbles overall were:
1st – Mr Hawkes & Miss Bjorck’s Bubble – 35 Points
2nd – The Home Bubble – 33 Points
2nd – Mrs Bowden’s & Miss Fletcher’s Bubble – 33 Points
4th – Miss James’ & Mr Matthams’ Bubble – 29 Points
5th – Miss Short’s Bubble – 25 Points
We would like to thank every child at school who has worked hard at beating their score during the sports week. We would also like to thank all children, parents and grandparents at home who have participated in Sports week this year. We had over 40 separate entries from our home bubble, which is incredible!

We would like to wish you a happy and a safe summer holiday as we come to the end of this academic year.
We are saying goodbye to Miss Meikle and Mr Openshaw today as they are both heading off to start their teacher training. Congratulations to both of them, we know they will go on to be wonderful teachers!
We will be welcoming Mrs Chalk as a teacher in Morpurgo Class (Year 5) who will be job sharing with Miss James.
Although this has been an incredibly challenging year for pupils, parents and staff alike, again, we are very grateful to have such wonderful parents supporting us.
Information about the new systems for September will be sent out to you next week.  Have a great weekend!

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many events to be cancelled or postponed. Among the most prominent events to be affected at school will be the upcoming Year 6 PGL trip which is due to take place in October 2020.  Following lengthy discussions with PGL, a decision has been made to move the Year 6 PGL trip to a new date: 1st – 5th March 2021.

We would like to reassure you that this decision has not been made lightly and a number of reasons contributed to it being made.  We are hopeful that things will be more settled at the beginning of March giving parents and children greater peace of mind. 
If any child's place is cancelled at this time, PGL are enforcing their full terms and conditions and withholding £110 deposit per place. 

Please be aware, any final balances outstanding must be paid by the end of October.

Kindest regards,

Miss Digweed and Mrs Poole

As the school year speeds towards the end there is a sense of excitement as we start to plan for September. 
The government issued guidelines last week for the full reopening of schools in September and we have been working on a plan.  We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to IVJS and see all of you again! 
I hate to use the phrase, but we need to get use to a ‘new normal’ in school.  School will be different and as such we need you to start to prepare your children for their return.  We also need you to be aware that arrangements may change and that we need you to be ready to adapt and accept changes quickly. 
As we start to make plans for September we will keep you updated.  Below I have listed some of the key arrangements for September and more will be sent out next week. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will do our best to help.

• Each class will stay as a bubble for the day with some movement of adults between classes. 
• There will be staggered start and finish times.  Each year group will start and finish at a set time.  If you have more than one child in the school, you will need to drop all of them off at the earliest start time and collect at the latest finish time.
• Drop offs and collections will be from the front of the school (the grass area).  Unfortunately, parents will not be able to come any further onto the school site.

Start of Term
The new Y3 children will start on Wednesday 2nd September.
All other years will start on Thursday 3rd September.
More information will be sent out about September next week.  Hopefully, the sun will shine for us this weekend and we will get a chance to enjoy the weekend.  Stay safe.

Please see the video below for the latest guidance from Buckinghamshire council regarding the 2020 11+ exams. 

The last few months have been very difficult and we know that you might be feeling unsure about September.
At IVJS we have an excellent staff who are going to make sure that all of your child’s needs are catered for when they return in September. We know that the start of the new school year is going to be difficult for some children and we are currently changing our curriculum plans to ensure that all children’s needs are met. There will be a focus on wellbeing when we return and we will be planning lots of activities outside.
Your class teacher will be having ‘handover’ meetings with your child’s new teacher during the next few weeks to make sure that there is a smooth transition to their new class. If there is any information about how your child has been during lockdown, that you think would be useful for us to know, please email your current class teacher so that they can pass it on to the new teacher.
It is going to be a very different start to the school year and we will do everything we can to look after your child and ensure that they get back to enjoying school as quickly as possible
There are a couple of points about the next school year that we are still trying to work out.
Firstly, is there a way we can have some sort of transition so that children can say goodbye to their old teacher and meet their new teacher. This may be possible with a staggered start back to school which would mean not all children would start back at the same time. Please keep this in mind when you are thinking about child care and work arrangements for the first two weeks of September.
Secondly, clubs are also causing us some worries. If we are keeping the children in class bubbles all day to limit the spread of any germs, then mixing the children in a club seems to make no sense. However, we know that many of you use our breakfast and after school clubs for child care so that you are able to work and so, we are waiting to get further advice on this as at the moment there are mixed messages. Please be prepared for clubs not to start straight away at the beginning of term.
Please remember that school life will be different in September and in the next couple of weeks we will send out more details once we have had time to digest the guidance from the government. It is important to remember, that just like you, the staff have also had personal challenges during the pandemic. We are very excited to get everyone back into school but we know that there will still be challenges ahead. By working together, we can get through this!
Classes for September:

Dear Parents / Guardians,

On the week beginning Monday 13th July, all IVJS children will be taking part in a new look Sports Day!
Pupils will be able to compete, whether they are at school or at home. We are planning to do five simple stations which involve limited equipment (details on the next page).
Children in school will compete in their bubbles forming separate teams. Children competing at home will be counted as one big team! There will be no winning house this year but a winning ‘team’.
If you will be competing in Sports Day from home, please send your best score for each event to [email protected] by 3pm on Thursday 16th July.
It would be amazing if we could get multiple scores from home for each event (parents, siblings etc.), alongside pictures and videos of you competing!

Best Wishes,