Dear Parents,
We have reached week four of the term already and I have begun to hear the rehearsals for the upcoming harvest singing assemblies. We welcomed our reception parents to their PSA drinks last night in the school hall and we have our first prospective parent open morning on Thursday 5th October.
Harvest Assembly Dates
These were sent on a separate email to the overall year dates and are below. All are scheduled to start at 9.10am.
Friday 13th October - Reception
Tuesday 17th October - Key Stage 1
Wednesday 18th October - Lower Key Stage 2 (Y3 & Y4)
Thursday 19th October - Upper Key Stage 2 (Y5 & Y6)
School choir clubs (Y3/4 & Y5/6)
There are places available in these two clubs should anyone be interested. We are very fortunate to have such passionate music class teachers in Mrs Adams and Mrs Boa, who run these clubs. Being part of these clubs leads to performances in choral and community events, both in and out of school.
We continue to review our extra-curricular music provision and will look to bring you some developments before the end of term.
Secondary School Presentation
The online presentation was attended by over 50 parents. The slides were sent out via Arbor and further information is available on the school website under the 'Parents' and then 'Secondary Transfer' tab.
The Headteacher's Vision presentation is on Wednesday 4th October at 7.30pm with the link sent this week on Arbor. As per the above meeting, there will be an opportunity for a Q & A session at the end.
School Events
Science Dome
Year 5 and Year 6 were able to enjoy the Science dome that came into school last Monday.
Brooke - I enjoyed it as it felt you were actually in space as the dome was spinning around and you could see really close up the textures of some of the planets. We also learnt about the phases of the moon.
Zach - It was unreal, the feeling of being in space. When the planets all moved around, it felt like you were moving. We saw diagrams seeing different day/night of the hemispheres.
Iyad - It was very realistic. When I was travelling, I felt like an astronaut as we saw each planet. We saw the stars and their connections and all the different constellations.
Friendly Football/Rugby
Whilst there are numerous competitive events throughout the year, particularly for our Y5 & Y6 children, we also have the opportunity to enter some friendly events where children with a mixture of experience of the sport are encouraged. Mr Brown took a Y4 boys football group to Ham and a Y4 mixed Tag rugby group to Rosslyn Park. The children all had a great time and we look forward to continuing to attend these events in the future.
Open Morning
Please find below the flyer notifying prospective parents of the open mornings - please share among your community. The first date, next Thursday, is now full. (The QR codes do not work on here, but they do on the posters and on the front page on twitter).
Health/Covid and Uniform Reminders
Covid
You may have heard there is a rise in Covid numbers nationally. A reminder of a couple of key guidance at the moment-
There is no requirement to test.
The school will follow the same protocols for Covid and non-Covid children's symptoms. If we think the child is too unwell to stay at school, we will phone you.
If you test for COVID and are positive, the advice is to stay at home for 3 days. You can then return to school, regardless of the outcome of future tests.
Tracksuit bottoms/leggings and PE Kit
As the weather potentially gets colder, a reminder about these on PE days. They should be dark-coloured (black, navy) with no significant markings or stripes on them. Leggings are fine to be worn. All the rest of the uniform should be as previously described. The shorts should be black (the previous white ones can be worn whilst they still fit) with no significant markings and not baggy or below the knee.
Nits
If we become aware your child has nits, we will phone and notify you and request that you treat your child that evening. There will be no request to immediately pick them.
Swimming Money
To confirm a question from the PSA evening. The voluntary contribution that the school request for the swimming lessons of £20 goes directly to the school and not to Swimway. The school pays for all utility bills from the pool and these are ever-increasing, hence the request.
Second-Hand Uniform Sale
Many thanks to all the parent volunteers who helped with the second-hand uniform sale last week. We raised a fantastic £851.00.
Thank you to Maria Burgon & Lisa Bennett for their continued support with the uniform sales and a huge thanks to;
Calli Louis, Dimitra Dritsa, Errol McKenzie, Ezra Goksu, Laura Tapp, Sara-John and Lisa Walsh for giving up their time on the day.
Arbor Updates
Can you please check on Arbor as, for our own safeguarding reasons, we need to have two emergency contact numbers.
Could you also please consider looking at your photo consent options on Arbor. It is absolutely every parent's right to not give permission for their child to appear in photos. However, when we phone individual parents about consent (due to the possibility of using a photo with their child), we are frequently granted permission and the consent changes. We understand when parents are signing the forms, in reception when they join the school, they might not fully grasp the implications of the consent, but if parents could ensure it is accurately up to date, this will help us immensely.
'Cover' lunchtime supervisor
At Sheen Mount, our teaching assistants cover the lunchtime role and if we have a couple of staff absent, we have to move staff around or teaching staff have to cover the duties-including the leadership team. We are therefore looking for anyone from our parent or wider community who would be interested in this casual role.
The hours would be 11.30 -1.30pm and notification would probably only be given on that day or the day before at most. It would involve supervising year groups both in and out of the school hall along with Sheen Mount employees. The contract would be a casual one.
If you are interested, please contact the school business manager, Louise Dear at sbm@sheenmount.richmond.sch.uk
Office Staff Positions
Due to the relocation of two of our office staff, we have two positions available-one full time and one part-time, plus the roles are quite different. Please spread amongst your local network
Finance and Administrative Officer
https://www.eteach.com/job/senior-finance-and-admisistrative-officer-1372010
Finance and Administrative Assistant-part time role https://www.eteach.com/job/finance-and-administrative-assistant-1370650
Parent Skill Set
If you feel your professional or personal skill set could benefit the school in any way, we would very much welcome you notifying us on the form below.
There could be some support within the school grounds-such as plumbing, building, carpentry, or it could be giving a talk to the children about your profession that could have a direct or indirect connection to the children.
I appreciate some parents notifying us of this last year, but we now have two separate forms for volunteers and skills set.
https://forms.gle/pkz5HpCau6PiE1zNA
Parent Volunteers
If you are able to give some time towards the school to help directly with the learning e.g. reading or small maths groups, please fill in the form below.
We do have some parents supporting children who support our multilingual children.
KS1 (Y1 & Y2) have already sent out a google form of specific timings they want help, so please don't fill in this form for those year groups. If you are already volunteering, there is no need to fill the form in.
We appreciate some of our requested timings might not be the most suitable for you, but we are considering the children's learning. E.g. the afternoons can generally be better for parent-led interventions as we do not want the children missing English and maths in the morning.
https://forms.gle/5fKvhrc2zQnQa4jL9
100 Club Draw
Welcome to our 100 club. This is a great way for you to support the school whilst having a bit of a flutter! Here’s how it works… set up a standing order mandate for £5 a month (details are attached). This buys you one membership number (that we will allocate), which enters you into the monthly draw. All participants must be over 16, and we are limiting numbers to two per household. The draw will take place each month during the school term. Please then confirm you have done this to sm100club@gmail.com so you can be assigned your membership number.
The prize money will be 25% of the membership fee taken that month. The remaining 75% goes to the school to help fund equipment, resources, and opportunities for pupils.
Join our 100 club today and you could be our next winner. Please join by Tuesday 10th October to be in with a chance to win October's draw! Any queries, please contact The Sheen Mount 100 Club on sm100club@gmail.com.
There is an attachment to the newsletter.
September Winner
Congratulations to number 74, which was this month's winner. Please contact sm100club@gmail.com to collect your prize
Optional Enrichment Items for Home
Writing Competition
The BBC are running an exciting 500 word writing competition. The event opened this week and the closing deadline is the 10th November.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words
Mayor's Xmas Card
The annual Mayor of Richmond's Christmas card competition is a great opportunity. Please see the information here-https://www.richmond.gov.uk/council/councillors/mayor/mayors_competitions#christmascard
Winter Wonderland Art Competition
This year, for the first time ever, we are running an art competition and inviting children from London schools to take part to win a chance to have their art displayed at the event as well as win vouchers to spend at Winter Wonderland for themselves and their families. First prize also has a chance to win £500 worth of vouchers for their schools. The competition is open to children from the age of 4 to 14.
https://hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/schools-art-competition/?utm_campaign=2655654_Schools%20art%20competition%20now%20open&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email-newsletter&utm_content=intro-button_schools-competition&dm_t=0,0,0,0,0
Parenting Courses
Parent detectives and navigating inclusion. Understanding neuro-diverse children with sensory and communication needs.
https://www.action-attainment.com/parents/parent-detectives
Explore the options at online workshops organised by Action-attainment CIC. Recordings available. Series link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/parent-detectives-6-workshops-on-2ndry-transfer-2476759?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
Action-attainment CIC provides families and teachers with practical, evidence based inclusion strategies. We work with neuro-diverse experts by experience, therapists and coaches to deliver active learning through sport, in the community and in schools. We believe partnership working between families and schools supports best outcomes for neuro-diverse young people.
"Action-attainment has a strong track record of delivering high quality programmes," Sarah Herbert, Lead school improvement advisor (SEND), Achieving for Children
Have a good weekend
Tom Holmes - Headteacher
Maria O'Brien - Deputy Headteacher
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