Newsletters

Dear parents and carers,

I hope you are all well. We arrive at the penultimate newsletter of the academic year. There are so many events going on at school at the moment, both in and out of the classroom. Reception and Year 2 are enjoying their Forest School sessions whilst Year 6 are practising for their end of year performance and then Year 5 had their year group Isle of Wight assembly yesterday.

The cyclists' return picnic last Sunday was a wonderful community event, and we are now looking forward to the Summer Fair on Saturday - with a new time this year of 12 - 4pm. 

Report dates, moving up morning and classes for next year

Report dates - apologies, I gave the wrong dates in the last newsletter. They will be sent out on Monday 14th and Tuesday 14th July. Please do not ring the office if you have not received your child's report on Monday - it takes time to password protect and send out all 600 reports individually!

Moving up morning is on Monday 7th July. Children should go to their usual class on Monday morning, and we will then move them around.

Classes for next year will be emailed home on Friday 4th July before the end of the day. The children will be told their new classes after lunch, so they will know when they come out at the end of the day.

Hot weather

Please ensure the following happens when it is hot:

- children bring a hat to school

- they have a water bottle to use

- sun cream is applied before the school day

We are fortunate with lots of shade on site, but the above actions will help. 

Online memes - 'Italian brain rot'

One of the teachers in Year 4 overheard some children talking about this in the playground. We were not aware of it, but it would be worth parents reading this. The children were just talking about it and not mimicking or promoting it. However, its content is concerning. 

https://www.safeonsocial.com/post/italian-brainrot-what-parents-really-need-to-know

Sports Day

A reminder of this event next week on Sheen Common. 

KS2 Thursday 10th July

R and KS1 Friday 11th July

The weather is looking warm and that is why we are holding the events in the morning. We will look for a prompt 9.30am start and imagine a finish by 11.30am. Children will do a rotation of activities and then some individual running races. 

The PSA have arranged for the Vic to be on the common for coffee, bacon baps and soft drinks- for adults. 

Bikes/scooters left overnight

Please see the additional note in the email about this. 

School Events

Music Concert

Many thanks to Mrs Boa and Mrs Wrigglesworth for organising this evening event, which involved a large range of instruments and children from Year 2 to Year 6.

Quiz Club

We wish our team all the best as they head off to Oxford University on Friday for the finals-having qualified through the heats and semi-finals online. Good luck team!

Trips and visits

We have had a plethora of year group curriculum trips - Year 3 to Kew Gardens, Year 4 to the Philharmonic Orchestra, Year 4 to Putney Arts Theatre and on Friday Year 2 are off to the Wetlands centre and Year 4 to Hampton Court. See below for some more information about specific trips.

Battle of the Books Year 4 from Mrs Sparkes

Last Wednesday, a team of eight year 4 pupils represented Sheen Mount at the Richmond Battle of the Books competition.

We have a visit from Wimbledon Tennis outreach team tomorrow

Richmond library services came to inspire the children for the summer reading challenge https://www.richmond.gov.uk/summer_reading_challenge

Year 6 financial literacy-from the year 6 team

Over the past three weeks, the children in Year 6 have been learning about the world of finance.  We started by learning about why, over time, societies have developed the use of money.  Before money, a system of bartering was used where you have to exchange or trade goods with other people but this system does not always work effectively if you do not have enough of something to barter and, instead, you have to use an IOU!  This system was replaced by using physical objects that are given a value which can then be used to buy things.  Did you know the first known use of such objects is cowrie shells?  In the second session we learnt about the risk of money losing its value – this is called inflation which was a massive problem in Germany in the 1920s.  The value of money fell so dramatically, it was called hyperinflation.  In our final lesson, we got to “trade” using stocks and shares in a scenario that was very exciting and dramatic.  

The Fundraising Cycle

Where do we begin? The cycle, the highs/the lows, the picnic party when we came back. 80 parents and staff pushing themselves to raise money for the school. We are now entering the final push on the fundraising and there are lots of social media to help you out promote it. So please spread the message far and wide and ask people to support- https://www.justgiving.com/team/sheenmountride25

There is some great content on the school Instagram and @sheenmountride25

Thank you to all the community for their support and efforts, particularly those who helped organise the welcome picnic-Clara, Kath and Caroline from the PSA. From a personal level, I'd like to thank the variety of parents whose wheels I was firmly connected to over the 3-day challenge!

Finally, two people have carried out a phenomenal amount of organising for the ride. From the route, to the training, accommodation, logistics, groups, cycling tops and the list goes on. Adam Jones and Errol Mckenzie, we thank you for your substantial commitment to the school and the children are looking forward to thanking you in person in an assembly in the coming weeks.

Chickens

The restrictions around bird flu have finally been lifted. This allowed our older children to experience the chickens close up after our younger years did back in February.  Many thanks to Alice and John du Parcq for running workshops for the children throughout the entire day. 

Sports

Goldmark

The school has once again been awarded the 'Gold' mark for the school games. Congratulations to all the staff connected to this, but particularly Miss Lawton who leads us on the curriculum side and Mr Brown on the delivery and teams.

Twickenham Trip- Tabitha and George Year 6

Last Wednesday 12 Sheen Mount children went to play two matches at Twickenham Stadium – the home of rugby!  The purpose of the session was to introduce a new form of rugby for younger players – T1!  This type of rugby is different from tag rugby because if you get touched below the shoulder by an opponent when you have the ball, you are not allowed to score a try and if you are touched a second time then you must stop and “present” the ball to a teammate who then has to pass the ball to another teammate.  It was really interesting being part of an experiment to find a different way of playing rugby and only the future will tell us if the new idea catches on with other players and teams.  

Offer from Richmond Runfest for September

Please see below for an email from the organsiers-

I am reaching out regarding the Kids School Mile taking place at the Richmond Runfest on the 14th September. The races will start after the marathon, half and 10k is completed at 3pm. It will be the usual format with each race being grouped in the school year.

We would be delighted if the kids from your school would like to take part and we would like to offer you the usual 50% discount off the entry.

Please share the code SHEENMOUNT50% with the parents. They can enter this at the checkout page when they register via our website https://run-fest.com. This will give them 50% off. 

Have a good weekend

Should you wish to contact me directly, please do so on headteacher@sheenmount.richmond.sch.uk

Tom Holmes - Headteacher