John Ray Junior School

17/09/2026

It's our summer fete this Friday afternoon. Wristbands for the inflatables will be available Thursday afternoon and Friday morning outside the schools. Also at the fete please remember the wristbands are cash only

08/09/2026

02/09/2026

Introducing some of our incredible staff for the 2026–2027 academic year! ✨

Meet our fabulous Pastoral Team, Senior Leadership Team, and, of course, our amazing team of teachers! 👏

Do you recognise any new faces? 👀
Can you spot your class teacher for next year? 🍎📚

💬 Tell us in the comments: Who have you spotted, and are you excited to meet your new teacher?

We can’t wait for another fantastic year at John Ray! 💙

02/09/2026

We are looking forward to welcoming our John Rayers to school tomorrow Thursday 3rd September.
For new Year 3 pupils at 8:40am - 8:50am. (Children and parents make your way to the playground)
For Years 4,5&6 at 9:40am-9:50am (adults say goodbye before children enter the gates independently)

A couple of days ago, the DfE published The Back-to-School Reset Guide — practical advice from psychologist Dr Martha Deiros Collado to help parents support children as they return to school.

It covers things like:

🕐 Getting back into school routines
🎒 Building independence through small choices
💬 Talking about worries without making predictions
👋 Making those tricky goodbyes easier
❤️ Helping children manage anxiety about the new school year
🧘 Giving them time to unwind after school

I thought it was really useful — but also thought, this is quite a lot for a parent to take in.

So, ChatGPT and I turned the key messages into a simple one-page poster for parents.

If you’ve got parents who are finding the return to school particularly challenging this week, it might be a useful thing to send them.

Sometimes a few simple, practical ideas are all a parent needs. ❤️

📄 The original DfE guide is here: The Back-to-School Reset Guide (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a856b28c9205b515d421e7d/The_back-to-school_reset_guide.pdf)

Feel free to share the poster with your parents or colleagues.

26/08/2026

We hope you’ve all had an amazing summer holiday, making memories and enjoying precious family time. With only 9 days to go until school starts again, we wanted to remind all current and new parents that our postponed Summer Fete will be taking place on Friday 18th September, straight from pick‑up.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed for cooler weather this time, as the Summer Fete is always a fantastic event with fun for everyone. We can’t wait to see you all there.

29/07/2026

20/07/2026

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

The summer holidays have just kicked off but you might already be thinking about school uniform costs for the new term.

Thankfully, there are some great initiatives running in the area to help out, helping reduce waste and keep costs down.

George Yard Shopping Centre have set up a school uniform pop up shop with donations from the public. This will be running between 10am and 2pm on Monday 3 August and Wednesday 5 August.

Carousel Family Hub - Braintree District are also running their annual Free School Uniform Event on Friday 14 August between 10.30am and 12.30pm at their location on Chapel Hill.

They are currently appealing for uniform donations which can be dropped off at the Carousel Family Hub or at our council offices weekdays between 10am and 4pm until Friday 7 August. There will be wheelie bins labelled 'School Uniform Donations' where these can be dropped off.

Items need to be in good condition, clean without stains.

Items needed:
Polo shirts and cotton shirts
Jumpers, cardigans and blazers
Trousers, shorts and skirts
Pinafore dress/ Summer dress
Coats/hoodies
PE kit - T-shirt, shorts, joggers

Please let us know if we've missed any other initiatives and share them below so we can include them in our next post.

16/07/2026

16/07/2026