Dear Parents,
The children have enjoyed a plethora of trips and workshops over the past two weeks.
Year 5 enjoyed an Anglo-Saxon workshop, Year 3 had a Stone Age workshop, Year 6 visited Kew Gardens, Year 4 visited a Hindu Temple and Year 3 visited Christ Church. We look forward to the Harvest Assemblies coming up, with Reception starting us off tomorrow. We also look forward to our last week of the half-term next week and a reminder that Monday 30th October is an INSET day. We wish you an enjoyable half-term and look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday 31st 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 (Year 3 & Year 4)
Thursday 19th October - Upper Key Stage 2 (Year 5 & Year 6)
Celebration Assemblies
A reminder of how these work.
These occur every Friday and are in Key Stages. We have Year 1 and Year 2 together (Reception will join later in the year) and then Years 3, 4,5 & 6.
A child or a group of children from each class present some work - this could be a piece of writing, a science experiment, talking through a piece of art or even some gymnastics. With our focus on oracy, the vast majority of children (particularly in KS2) speak with just prompt notes or none at all. There is a microphone for them as we can have nearly 350 children in a KS2 assembly.
One child (or sometimes more) is then nominated from each class for the celebration book by their class teacher and I then read the comment out. They vary from classroom effort and achievement to acts of kindness, sometimes it is specific or can be general. The children come to the front and receive a sticker and choose between elbow, foot or a handshake with me. The handshake has come back post-Covid and is gradually proving the popular choice!
World Mental Health Day
As a school, we focus on children's mental health week in February. However, you may have seen some publicised information around World Mental Health Day. There is a useful resource to discuss at home with your child and it will be posted on Google Classroom as part of homework. https://www.itv.com/britaingettalking/
Black History Month
Rather than just focusing on this for a month, we made a conscious effort last year to review our curriculum, further information is below. However, we still have focused our assemblies on this topic across the last two weeks with optional homework being sent.
The school went through some work last year reviewing our curriculum in terms of diversity - specifically around gender, e.g. looking at the authors that we study in our 'set-texts' in English and checking how many of them are from diverse backgrounds or checking whether all the scientists we refer to in the curriculum are of the same gender and race. We are constantly reviewing our curriculum and trying to have effective representation in what we are studying.
Requests - coming in before 8.35am and hoodies on non-PE days
Two requests please:
- Parents should not come onto site before 8.35am
- I have seen an increasing number of Sheen Mount hoodies being worn on non-PE days. Hoodies are only to be worn as part of the PE uniform. Children should wear jumpers/cardigans/Sheen Mount round-necked sweatshirts over their school polo shirts/dresses.
Parent volunteer and Parent skill-set
Thank you to those who have already filled in the forms. We will be in contact.
A reminder here of the forms:
For parent volunteers- https://forms.gle/E2Tp2wTn3RSWuQJx5
For parent skill-set-it could be connected to the curriculum and speaking to the children or an aspect you feel might be beneficial to the wider school. https://forms.gle/L8P5e7FMPkYJzy9i7
Book Fair Miss Breckon - English Lead.
We are delighted to be able to host the Travelling Books Book Fair after half-term. It will be available to visit on
Tuesday 31st October, Wednesday 1st November and Thursday 2nd November, bringing you an unbeatable range of the latest children's books at great prices.
The fair will be open after school pick-up from 3:20 - 4pm outside the school office, or in the hall if it rains. We look forward to seeing you there!
Year 6 Ambassadors
This is a new feature of the newsletter where our Year 6 ambassadors will write some information about their role. This week it is the turn of the English Ambassadors who work with our English Lead and Year 5 teacher - Miss Breckon.
Introducing our English Ambassadors: Ella, Chloe, Rose and Emir.
‘We wanted to be English ambassadors since we love to try to motivate other children to enjoy writing and reading as much as us.’ Ella and Chloe
'I wanted to be an English ambassador because I love reading, and I wanted to encourage children to read more.’ Rose
'I wanted to be an English ambassador because I find writing, reading and spelling (basically everything about it) enjoyable.' Emir
We would like to share some exciting things that will be happening in English this year. We are really happy to be joining the SPARK! Book Awards again this year. A group of children from each class will have the opportunity to read the short-listed books and be able to review them and vote for their favourite. We are hoping to set up a book club in our library for children to go to during lunchtime to read and share their opinions. We would also like to promote reading and writing competitions, like the Young Writers poetry competition that many children have already entered. We look forward to the Travelling Book Fair as well as hopefully seeing some visiting authors. In conclusion, we have lots of fun and exciting English activities coming up this year. We hope you enjoy them!
Harvest
As well as the assemblies, it is a good time of year to think about others who are in more need. The school supports the Richmond Vineyard Community Food Trust within this project. Below is an update for items that are currently needed. Please leave them on the tables outside the office doors before or after school.
https://richmond.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
THE ITEMS WE CURRENTLY NEED THE MOST ARE:
- CUSTARD
- RICE PUDDING
- LONG LIFE JUICE
- TINNED MEAT
- TINNED VEG
- TINNED FISH
- TINNED SOUP
- TINNED TOMATOES
- PASTA SAUCE
- LONG LIFE MILK (SEMI-SKIMMED & FULL FAT)
- NON DAIRY MILK
- TINNED FRUIT
- JAMS AND MARMALADE, INCLUDING MARMITE AND PEANUT BUTTER
- CEREAL
- BISCUITS
- TINNED PULSES
- CRISPS
- RICE (500G & 1KG BAGS)
- SQUASH (ORANGE, BLACKCURRANT ETC)
- COFFEE (SMALL JARS)
- WASHING UP LIQUID
- SHAMPOO
- TOOTHBRUSHES
- TOOTHPASTE
- WASHING POWDER/CAPSULES
- DEODORANT
- RAZORS
- SHAVING FOAM
- TOILET ROLLS
- SHOWER GEL
- UNWANTED CARRIER BAGS
WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF:
- BAKED BEANS
- NAPPIES
- PASTA
Swimway
Dear Sheen Mount Families,
We hope this email finds you all well.
Following the popularity of our FAMILY SWIM SESSIONS this summer, we are delighted to offer some swimming slots for you to enjoy with your family this Half Term Weekend (28th & 29th October) at SwimWay venues in East Sheen.
These are not swimming lessons, but rather open swim sessions for you and your children to enjoy the water together. There will be no lane swimming or lessons available during these times.
- 60-minute slots run between 9.00am and 1.00pm.
- Maximum 8 people per hour at Sheen Mount.
- Maximum 12 people per hour at Home Guard
Individual Bookings
- £10.00 per adult, per hour
- £7.00 per children over 1 year, per hour
- Free entry for children under 1 year old
Block Bookings (Sheen Mount Only)
- £65.00 per hour
- Full details of ALL attendees must be provided at least 24 working hours in advance
Have a good weekend
Tom Holmes - Headteacher
Maria O'Brien - Deputy Headteacher
