Term Dates

2024-25

Autumn Term

Mon 2 Sept INSET
Tue 3 Sept Year 7 & 12 Induction
Wed 4 Sept Year 7 & 12 Induction
Thur 5 Sept All students return
Mon 28 Oct – Fri 1 Nov Half Term
Mon 2 Dec School Closed
Fri 20 Dec End of Term (12pm finish)

Spring Term

Mon 6 Jan Term Begins
Mon 17 Feb – Fri 21 Feb Half Term
Fri 4 Apr End of Term (12pm finish)

Summer Term

Tue 22 Apr Term Begins
Mon 5 May Bank Holiday (School Closed)
Mon 26 May – Fri 30 May Half Term
Fri 18 July End of Term (12pm finish)

INSET Days

Mon 2 Sept
Fri 4 Oct
Fri 15 Nov
Fri 14 Mar
Mon 2 Jun

 

Chartered College Research Mark

At SJB, we’re committed to ensuring that all teachers access the highest quality professional development to ensure that students can strive for excellence. We are currently involved in the Research Mark project, run by The Chartered College of Teaching. As part of this, we are committed to embedding an evidence-informed culture in our school and are working towards the Research Mark accreditation.  

SSAT Framework for Exceptional Education

We’re really proud to be one of few schools nationally that have been accredited by the schools, students and teachers network (SSAT) as a Leading Edge school.

As part of this, we use their Framework for Exceptional Education to evaluate and improve our provision. There are 12 strands related to Teaching and Learning, Professional Practice and Leadership. We have been recognised as “transforming” in these 12 strands – the first school in the country to do so! 

 

 

 

Sign up Now for ‘A Decade of Digital Conference’

SJB are thrilled to formally invite you to our ‘Decade of Digital’ Conference on Monday 29th January 12-5pm.

The agenda for the day is as follows:

12:00-12:15 Registration
12:15-12:55 Introduction and Keynote speech from Abdul Chohan
13:00-13:30 Lunch
13:35-14:25 Seminar 1
14:35-15:25 Seminar 2
15:35-16:25 Seminar 3
16:30-17:00 Coffee and cake, time to reflect and network

Please use this linked form to confirm your attendance and make your selection for the seminars. The price of a ticket is £75 per delegate, and we will raise the invoice with your school for this. If you are able to sign up before Wednesday 20th December, you will get an early-bird ticket price of £50.

Seminar Information

Seminar 1
Technology: Developing, embedding and leveraging student voiceAI literacy for teachers: designing effective
and engaging AI CPD
What Showbie can do to support
At SJB we have developed the student committee, our 'Apple Ambassadors'- learn what their role looks like, how the committee has developed and hear from the committee members themselves.AI is everywhere! How can you cut through the jargon and develop engaging CPD to up-skill staff?Our conference keynote speaker, and the VP of
Learning at Showbie, will talk you through all
the ways you can use Showbie in the classroom.
Seminar 2
How technology is transforming homeworkSupporting SEND learners through digital technology1:1 devices: a journey MAT-wide
Exploring the different ways technology can be used to modify homework provision.Hear how the Head of Transition and Literacy Coordinator leverages technology to support our SEND learners.Hear from Richard Anderton, the Digital Transformation Lead at The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, who has embedded 1:1 devices across the trust and work closely with Apple.
Seminar 3
How technology supports feedback in the classroomDigital strategies to maximise efficiency and reduce workloadSJB reflections on a decade: how to sustain a dynamic approach to digital technology
Exploring the different ways technology can be utilised to support a culture of feedback.Using digital quick wins to aid workload. Exploring quick wins within the themes of: Microsoft, productivity apps and collaboration.As a school, what have we learnt on our journey with technology? We will be discussing staff training, workflow, integrating digital within L&T.

About Us

Our aim is simple – we want to be the best school in the country! By this we mean that all our students will receive a better education here than they would at any other establishment.

We want our students to:

  • Deepen their relationship with God
  • Love learning
  • Achieve their academic potential
  • Have a wide range of experiences both in and out of the classroom
  • Grow into happy, confident, resilient and articulate young people
  • Leave SJB equipped to lead fulfilling lives and make a positive contribution to society

And so a bit about us…

SJB is part of the Xavier Catholic Education Trust. We are a group of sixteen schools in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton who have come together to work collaboratively for the benefit of all the children we serve. The Trust’s aim is to provide a caring and supportive environment within which all children receive the best possible education.

Achievement is at the forefront of everything we do at SJB and it would be fair to say it is “cool” to achieve. Our staff are vibrant, enthusiastic and passionate about ensuring our students get the very best deal.

At our last OFSTED inspection (June 2014) we were judged to be outstanding in every category. We are very proud of achieving this result and it is especially pleasing for the students and staffs hard work to be externally recognised in this way. Please do not think we know all the answers, we don’t. Our mission is to be the best school in England and we will continually look for ways to improve.

We are very committed to improving the whole school system. For many years we have been a Teaching School, Maths Hub and SCITT. This means we are able to offer our staff new opportunities in: training future teachers; developing Maths teaching across all phases and supporting local primary and secondary schools. We currently have a number of staff that work, in a variety of capacities, in other schools. We work hard to offer development to all stages of a teachers career; from initial teacher training to NPQH for prospective Headteachers.

We are very proud to have been recognised as “transforming” under the SSATs Framework for Exceptional Education in all twelve aspects of our practice including: culture of reflection; professional learning; variety of teaching; and leadership through moral purpose. We are the first school in the country to achieve this!

Every Day is Open Day at SJB and visitors are very welcome.

James Granville Hamshar
Headteacher

Exam Calendar

Examinations

During the academic year, students in Years 7 to 11 will be assessed in a variety of ways in each subject. Years 8 to 13 will all sit a series of cumulative exams in the hall at some point in the year (in the majority of subjects) to test their learning and help achieve their individual potential. Broadly speaking these exams happen at the following times:

Year 7 – June

Year 8 – June

Year 9 – February

Year 10 – June

Year 11 – Mock exams are in December. Then the bulk of the GCSE exams run from the second week in May until the end of June

Year 12 – April (after Easter); some BTEC qualifications have external exams in January / June of Year 12.

Year 13 – Mock exams are in October and January. Then the bulk of the A Level exams run from the third week in May until the end of June; some BTEC qualifications have external exams in January of Year 13.

For any examination enquiries, please contact the Examinations Department using the following email address exams@sjb.surrey.sch.uk

SJB Complaints Policy Exams 2023-24SJB Exams Policy 2023-24

SJB Exam Contingency Plan 2023-24SJB Internal Appeals Policy 2023-24

SJB Malpractice Policy 2023-24SJB NEA Policy 2023-24

SJB Word Processor Policy 2023-24

House System

The House system helps embed our vision and values. Houses are named after inspirational men and women who embodied the Gospel values. Students are allocated a House on their first induction day and generally remain with that house until they leave SJB. We group have paired up our House Patrons into four ‘colours’.

House Points are awarded for both academic and extra-curricular participation. At the end of the year, House Points are accumulated and the winning tutor group from each year is invited to an out of school extra-curricular experience. The tally of points can be seen below.

Celebrating Successes House CompetitionsHouse Competitions Calender

Bosco & Pankhurst

Saint John Bosco

Roman Catholic Priest and the patron saint of youth and teachers
Born in 1815, St. John Bosco became a priest in 1841 and provided an education for young boys. He also led young people to study the study of the faith. He opened the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales for boys. Several wealthy and powerful patrons contributed money, enabling him to provide two workshops for the boys, shoemaking and tailoring. He published religious pamphlets and concentrated on mission work. He died in 1888 and was canonised in 1934, being given the title of the ‘Father and Teacher of Youth.’

Emmeline Pankhurst

Pioneered for female rights in Britain
Born in 1858, Pankhurst was instrumental in securing the vote for women and championing women’s rights. In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union, which used militant tactics to agitate for women’s suffrage. Pankhurst was imprisoned many times, but supported the war effort after World War I broke out. Parliament granted British women limited suffrage in 1918. Pankhurst died in 1928, shortly before women were given full voting rights.

 

King & Stang

Martin Luther King

Visible spokesman and leader of the American Civil Rights Movement
Born in 1929 in Atlanta, Martin Luther King became a Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s. His leadership was fundamental to that movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States. King rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which promoted nonviolent tactics, such as the March on Washington (1963), to achieve civil rights. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated in 1968.

Sister Dorothy Stang

Sister, devoting her life to saving the land in the Amazon Rainforest. She lost her life as a martyr during her missionary work in Brazil
Born in Dayton in 1931, Dorothy was one of nine in a lively and devout Catholic family. In 1966 she moved to Brazil as a missionary. She learnt the languages and set up remote parishes. She walked the forest and met with the poorest farmers. She set up dozens of base communities and taught them the Gospel. She launched 23 schools and created a structure for the poor to claim their land. Dorothy dedicated her life to serving the people of the Amazon and saving the land. In 2005, whilst travelling to meet some poor farmer, she was approached by two assassins. “Do you have a weapon?” they asked. Yes, she answered, showing them the Bible she carried for decades. She opened it and began to read aloud: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice. Blessed are the peacemakers …” Then, she said, “God bless you, my sons.” She was shot 6 times, with her body left on the dirt road for days as the locals feared moving it for the threat of being shot. Dorothy devoted her life to serving people through God and to helping save the Amazon environment, and eventually losing it as the ‘Martyr of the Amazon’.

 

Kolbe & Seacole

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Catholic priest who sacrificed his own life for another’s in Auschwitz during WW2
Born in 1894, Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan Friar. He was arrested by the Nazis for hiding Jewish people and was sent to the concentration camp of Auschwitz. When the Nazi guards selected 10 people to be starved to death in punishment, Kolbe volunteered to die in place of a stranger. He was later canonised as a martyr.

Mary Seacole

Inspirational Jamaican nurse, who gave selflessly, and overcame obstacles, to help the wounded
Born in 1805 and died in 1881, Mary Seacole was a Jamaican healer who faced unfairness and discrimination as a black woman when she tried to volunteer as a nurse during the Crimean War (1854-56). When the British turned down her offer of help, she decided to go to the Crimea independently. She set up a British Hotel near the frontline to provide comfort and supplies to the army. She rode nearly every day to the battle front to give out medicines and nurse the injured and dying. She was very well known when she returned to England but was largely forgotten after her death. Mary received four medals from a grateful British Government and in 1857 eighty thousand people turned up to honour Mary in a four-day gala held to raise money for her. In 2004 she was voted number one in a poll of Great Black Britons.

 

Romero & Curie

Oscar Romero

Influential Archbishop of El Salvador who advocated for the rights of the poor
Born in 1917, Oscar Romero was a Roman Catholic Archbishop who stood up for the freedom and justice of his people. He was a vocal critic of the violent actions of the government armed forces and defended the poor who were powerless victims of widespread violence. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and was sadly assassinated a year later whilst saying mass.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie

Influential scientist, who developed use of radiation in medicine
Born in 1867 and died in 1934, Marie Curie was a Polish-born French physicist, famous for her work on radioactivity and twice a winner of the Nobel Prize. With Henri Becquerel and her husband, Pierre Curie, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics. She was the sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and she is the only woman to win the award in two different fields. Throughout her life she championed the use of radiation in medicine and fundamentally changed our understanding of radioactivity.

Apple Distinguished School Status

SJB is delighted to announce that it has been recognised as an Apple Distinguished School for 2021-2024. Apple Distinguished Schools are centres of innovation, leadership and educational excellence that use Apple products to inspire creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking.

They showcase innovative uses of technology in learning, teaching and the school environment, and have documented results of academic accomplishment.

Learn more about our teaching and learning with technology as an Apple Distinguished School

Report an incidence of bullying or harassment

Bullying at this school will not be tolerated

If you are being bullied or harassed, or you know of any bullying/harassment happening within the school, please report it using the link below.

Your concerns will be dealt with discretely.

Report an incident of bullying or harassment