The Junior School, with pupils aged 7 to 11, is based in bright and spacious classrooms in the outstanding new block. The distinct family atmosphere of St John’s College is embodied in the particularly close-knit community of its Junior School. Each pupil is regarded as a unique individual with his or her own individual requirements.
The pupils are fortunate to share all the facilities of the senior school. As the children progress through KS2 they are taught by specialist teachers from the senior school who adapt their teaching styles to cater for the needs of younger pupils. As a result the transition to the senior school is seamless and effortless.
The Junior School aims to maintain a programme of improvement in the learning environment and to offer a vibrant, innovative and secure atmosphere in which to grow. We wish for pupils to have fun while learning.
R11 / R12 Science Club - Wednesdays room 4.2, 3.50-4.45pm. Pupils have been carrying out a range of exciting activities each week with the aim of enhancing their scientific knowledge.
Science club takes place on Wednesdays after school until 4.45pm in room 4.2.
Miss L. Sayce.
Chess Club -Mondays room 0.1, 4-6pm: all pupils welcome. Beginners are very welcome. Please contact Dr Howells for more information.
St John's Chess Club (SJCC) participates in the East Glamorgan League, also on a Monday from 7.30pm to 10pm. The Junior Team- St John's Neutrinos - is competing very well in division 4.
Junior Chess Team competes at Twyn Community Centre, Caerphilly - Mon 30 January 2012.
Congratulations to Nudhara and Praneet of R12, and Shahana, Edward and Mahek of the Junior School who gallantly competed against much older opponents. Particular mention should be made of Nudhara's impressive draw with Mr Robert Hurn who has a very high ranking of 1700.
Junior Talent Show - Fri 20 January 2012.
Congratulations to Mako and Isabelle (both of R14) for arranging such an enjoyable talent competition for the Junior pupils as part of their fundraising for the forthcoming Netball trip to Jersey.
Junior School Techniquest Visit - 'The Body Inside Out'- Fri 13 January 2012.
Each class in the Junior School took part in a Techniquest Workshop on Friday, 13th January. The topic was ‘The Body Inside Out’. It was a fascinating study aimed at an appropriate level for each class. The pupils worked in groups and were able to have a hands on approach to discoveries about the human body. An electronic microscope was used by each pupil as they took a closer look at their skin, nails and hair.
Two skeletons were also set up in room 3.1 and pupils had to work out where particular bones might go. Pupils said how much they enjoyed the workshop and how much they had learned.
Mrs C. Loveland.
Junior Christmas Trip - Bowling followed by lunch at Frankie & Benny’s - Thurs 15 December 2011.
This was a huge hit with our Junior pupils on the last day of term before our Christmas holiday. After two games of bowling, it was soon clear that the pupils were better at this than the teachers. Following a busy term, it was a lovely time to relax and wish each other a Happy Christmas.
R8 Parents' Assembly: The Pied Piper - Fri 9 December 2011.
R8 worked very hard to prepare for the assembly which included a performance of The Pied Piper. Lines were learnt well, songs rehearsed and sung beautifully and the acting was excellent. R8 were a credit to themselves and to their parents on the day of the performance. We all had a wonderful time and the audience enjoyed it too.
Primary Maths Challenge - Fri 25 November 2011.
Junior School pupils competed in the Primary Maths Challenge and achieved some outstanding results, with many pupils achieving Bronze, Silver and Gold awards.
R9 History trip to Llancaiach Fawr- Fri 25 November 2011.
R9 visited Llancaiach Fawr living history museum. They travelled back to 1645 to be enthralled by the gruesome tales of the barber-surgeon, learning how to remove musket shot with no anaesthetics; Maddy was given just a wooden spoon to bite upon.
They met Colonel Pritchard’s servants and Tom was even offered a job in the kitchen, turning the spit for a halfpenny a week. The children made plague bags filled with herbs. Jasmine said, “It was amazing, I want to go there again.” All the children looked fantastic in their costumes, with Dylan dressed as a Tudor prince.
Mrs Firth.
R8 Visit to the National Museum of Wales - Fri 18 November 2011. At the museum, the children looked at how birds have adapted to different environments. Ella made a sketch of Dylan Thomas and Oscar copied a portrait of a coalminer in the art gallery. We found meteors and a piece of the moon. During the workshop the children were able to select an artefact and create their own museum display. According to Ben, we saved the best part for last, with the dinosaurs and the woolly mammoth causing great excitement.
R9 Sponsored Silence raises £240 for Children in Need- Fri 18 November 2011.
R9T took part in a Sponsored Silence on Friday for Children in Need. They are normally a very sociable class however they were able to keep absolutely silent for the duration of the challenge using mini boards to communicate with each other. I was very impressed. They managed to raise £242.30. Thank you to the generosity of family and friends.
Congratulations, R9!
Mrs Thompson.
R11 Enterprise Week and Trade Fair - Mon 10 - Fri 14 October 2011.
R11 pupils excelled themselves at running their own companies this week. After an informative day with Doug as to how to set up, run and be successful in business, pupils were given a team building challenge.
The pupils' ideas and enthusiasm set the tone for a very successful week. After getting to grips with their different roles of Managing Director, Quality Control, Advertising and Logistics, the hard work began in the 'factory' (their classroom). The children's creativity, care and dedication were very impressive. All this hard work, Maths, English, I.T. and advertising skills, culminated in a highly popular Trade Fair.
This was a huge success and enjoyed by our youngest and oldest pupils, as well as teachers and parents. The week raised an impressive £488.
Thank you to everyone for supporting this year's Enterprise week and congratulations to R11.
Junior Book Week Raises £838- Mon 26 to Fri 30 September.
The Book Fair was an amazing success last week and enjoyed by Infants and Juniors alike. In total book sales amounted to £838 - an amazing amount. This means that we shall be able to replenish the library with many new books.
Many thanks to parents and children for your support.
From the teachers in the Junior School.
Mrs Enid Middleton, Welsh story teller visited the school on Wednesday 28 September to tell stories to all the Junior classes. The children enjoyed her visit very much and were totally engrossed in the tales she told. Mrs Middleton herself said how much she had enjoyed her visit and congratulated the pupils on their behaviour.
Mrs Loveland.
R10 Trip to Cardiff Central Library - Mon 26 September 2011. R10 pupils enjoyed their first excursion of the school term, a visit to the impressive Cardiff Central Library. The pupils were given an informative tour of the £13, 500, 000 Eco-friendly building as well as a talk about all the facilities the library offers.
Pupils then had the opportunity to select books in the children's section, obtain their personal library card and borrow books. It was a pleasure to take R10 who were a credit to the school. Keep reading and do continue to enjoy this excellent facility in our capital.
Charles Williams (R10) selected to represent U10 Cardiff & Vale School Boys in Football - September 2011. Congratulations to Charles who passed a trial in July to represent Cardiff & Vale school boys at Under 10 level in football. Charles has already begun training at Cardiff City's Academy House of Sport. Following three years of training in Cardiff City's Advanced Coaching Centre, Charles has been promoted by Cardiff City AFC to the clubs Advanced Development Centre to mirror the Cardiff City Academy at Under 10 level. Charles has already commenced training at the Leckwith Stadium. Well done, Charles.
Junior Lego Day - Fri 1 July 2011.
Building a lego city was an amazing experience. Planning our design in groups, getting all the different pieces together, making circuits, building roads and a stadium was very exciting. They say: Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we had a fabulous time building our own lego city in a day.
Junior Enterprise Week raises £300 for Noah's Ark Appeal - Thurs 26 May 2011. On Thursday 26 May a cheque for £300 will be presented to the Noah's Ark Appeal. This money was raised by the children during Enterprise Week in October. A representative from the Children's Hospital in Wales will come along to receive the cheque and to speak about their work.
R11 Residential Stay in Abergavenny - Wed 18-Fri 20 May 2011. R11 have all returned safely from their residential stay in Abergavenny. They enjoyed excellent weather for the activities they undertook. As a group they worked very well together and participated in all tasks with great enjoyment.
The staff at the Centre commented on the politeness of the children who conducted themselves very well.
Well done, R11!
Trip to RHS Flower Show for R9 Finalists in RHS Wheelbarrow Competition - Fri 8 April 2011.
R9 pupils had a wonderful day at the RHS Flower Show in Bute Park. On their tour of the Show the children met a Victorian flower seller who talked about natural remedies and a member of the Cardiff Bonsai Society who explained about the importance of caring for Bonsai trees.
Along the way, the boys and girls also enioyed ice-creams and a spontaneous dance to some live folk music!
R10 Residential Stay at the Millennium Centre- Tues 6-Wed 5 April.
R10 spent two days – 5 and 6 April - getting to know Cardiff a little better.
On the first day, they explored the Millennium Stadium and then after lunch visited the Norwegian Church where they did art work. This was followed by a behind-the-scenes visit to the Millennium Centre where they learnt many interesting facts about the construction of the building and the art work, and even saw the dressing rooms and costumes.
In the evening everyone enjoyed bowling in the Dragon Centre before returning to the Youth Hostel at the Millennium Centre for the night.
The next day geography and maths were on the agenda as well as a visit to the Senedd. The guide at the Senedd commented that our pupils were one of the best groups of children that he had ever escorted.
Before returning to school everyone enjoyed a boat trip around the Bay in brilliant sunshine.
The children conducted themselves very well and were a credit to the school.
Well done, R10!
R9 Parents’ Assembly - Fri 1 April 2011. The R9 parents’ assembly was on 1 April. Even though it was after midday, R9 entertained their parents with April Fool jokes and tricks, bringing a smile to everyone’s face.
This was followed by musical items by budding pianists, violinists and a 'cellist.
Well done, R9!
Starlab - Mon 28 March 2011.
On Monday, 28th March, Techniquest brought their portable planetarium to school and each of the Junior classes had an opportunity to learn almost first-hand about the solar system.
Starlab is a large inflatable dome which was assembled in the Hall. After a short introduction by two very knowledgeable guides from Techniquest the pupils crawled into the dome and enjoyed a presentation on the planets. The most exciting part was when all lights were extinguished in the dome and the top of the dome turned into the night sky.
The visit ended with a question and answer session. This illustrated the enthusiasm and interest of everyone.
It was really one of the most enjoyable events so far this year.
Martin Diamond wrote at length about Starlab and obviously learnt so much. Here is a little of his writing:
‘First we saw a film about the moon and Mars and the different types of stars and learnt a lot about each of these. We also saw the planet Saturn.
Next we looked at Space stations. We saw how astronauts lived and guess what? They have to do at least two hours of exercise a day or when they come back to earth they might not be able to walk or run. Also to drink they had to use a weird type of bottle because of they drank from a cup the water would stay at the bottom. I did think that it was a nice guide and a tour and I learnt so much.’
Marco Aldridge was intrigued by meals in the Space Station: ‘It’s hard to eat because your food floats around all the time. If any crumbs float into the equipment, it could cause serious damage.'
Olivia Montgomery said, ‘We learnt loads of star names and saw many amazing things and learnt so much. I would love to do it again.'
Everybody cannot wait for it to come back.
Readathon - March 2011.
Readathon takes place every two years. This year it has been particularly successful.
During the challenge the children have been busy reaching their personal reading goals by fitting in extra reading time and collecting sponsorship money. It has been a pleasure to witness the children’s enthusiasm for reading and their and your efforts in supporting the charities.
Over £700 has been raised through all the hard work. This is an incredible result. It will help local children with serious illnesses. This also means that we shall be able to choose books to the value of £100 from Scholastic.
Well done to all the Junior pupils.
During Readathon the pupils also collected together their favourite jokes and have made a Junior Joke Book that will go on sale for the price of printing the book which is 40p. The school will support the sale of this by making a donation to Comic Relief that also fell within the timescale of the Readathon Challenge. Many of the pupils have used their art and IT skills to produce the book.
This is what some of the children thought about Readathon:
‘I am a person who finds books really hard. The Readathon has encouraged me to read lots of books and it is for a good cause.’ (Ben Dimond)
‘I am a fan of reading. From when I was young, I was fascinated by the quality of books. When I became bigger, I chose bigger books and began to understand the deeper meaning. I loved fiction books but I was told to also read non- fiction. I never listened but the Readathon has taught me to read a variety of books.’ (Joel Neelankavil)
‘I really enjoyed the Readathon this year. We were set a challenge to read as many books as we could in only two weeks. We also had to try to extend our usual reading time. It was a great two weeks and we were really encouraged.’ (Eleanor Johnson)
Red Nose Day Cake Sale - Fri 18 March 2011. By popular demand, St John's College pupils organised a Cake Sale and a variety of actvities - Joke Factor, sponsored sing-along and sponsored skipping (to name just a few) to raise money for Red Nose Day. The day was a great success and hugely enjoyed by all the pupils. We had a magnificent response to our cake sale and raffle. Mrs Brown would like to thank all those who generously donated cakes and raffle prizes. The total amount raised so far is £1,150. We are expecting to raise extra funds this week from the sale of the joke book produced by pupils in the Junior Department. Congratulations and well done to everyone involved!
Mrs Brown.
Junior Eisteddfod - Tues 1 March 2011.
To celebrate St David's Day, the Junior School enjoyed an Eisteddfod on the morning of March 1st. The standard of competition this year was particularly high; Music, recitation, written work, art and handicrafts presented the judges with difficult decisions.
This year the Bard was Robert Field who had the highest score. There were three runners up: Dylan Edwards, Ben Dimond and Patrick Neilson.
The winning House was De La Salle.
Congratulations to everyone who took part.
World Maths Day & World Spelling Day 2011 success - Wed 2 March 2011. Thank you and well done to all those pupils who took part in the World Maths Day and World Spelling Day competition. Congratulations to the following pupils who performed very well in the practice and actual event:
Dylan Edwards, Shaili Kadambande, Aditya Joshi, Patrick Nielsen, Nicholas Daly, Joel Neelankavil, Robert Field, Anthony Smith, Marco Aldridge, Harini Somasekar, Olivia Montgomery, Nithin Michael, Aron Amal-Calist, Raisah Rahim, Edward Williams, Niamh Field, Suyash Agarwal, Charles Williams, Gwennan Shewring, Chirag Goyal, Eleanor South, Jack Aldridge, Joshua Wright, Amber Knappe, Jasmine Son and Catrin Dimond.
Mrs Thompson
Snow Queen - Junior School Production
I think that all who took part in, and who came to see the Snow Queen, will have difficulty forgetting the Snow Queen. Every member of the Junior School truly put in a fantastic effort and enjoyed every moment.
Jack Mann described the event:
‘It all started on 7th September when the Junior School was informed of its newest and most glamorous project so far – the amazing drama performance of the well known story of the Snow Queen. With the big night just six months away, we had to get busy: learning the songs, auditions for parts, judged by top judges – Mrs Loveland, Mrs Thompson, Mrs Firth and Mrs Howell. The next day the results were announced, scripts given out and the learning and hard work started. Every Tuesday in the autumn term we practised. At first it took over two hours to run through the whole play and the deadline was only one hour. Would we do it in that time? Well we did. Then followed the dress rehearsal. Everyone had scoured their wardrobes or got out their needle and thread for costumes, then in the hall with the stage, the lights and backdrops. We were shaking in our boots as the Big Night loomed ominously over us ahead.’
R11 / R12 Science Club
Chess Club 
