Dear Parents,
Pre-COVID, you would have anticipated working from home for the week would have been very limited. However, I have managed to remain in constant contact with the school and attend a range of online meetings, including participating in a PSA committee meeting, attending borough wide meetings and hosting the celebration assemblies with the children today.
We are very much looking forward to a range of aspects we sincerely hope we can reinstigate next half-term. These include face to face assemblies and the older children acting as mentors for the younger children at different times during the day. Plus increasing our parent engagement with the school.
You will have seen the updates about Classlist from the PSA. I would encourage you to join this set up. As a current reception parent myself, it is a very useful tool to keep up with communications from the parent association in schools.
Thanks once again to all the staff for their hard work and adaptability this half term.
Covid update
Thank you for all your cooperation in wearing masks on the school premises. After half-term, we will not request that you wear these at drop off and pick up. We will continue to monitor the situation to decide what happens with indoor events.
Cars and the beginning of the school day
Could I remind parents to please not block any local driveways in the morning if they are parking, absolutely not stopping on the zigzag lines and avoiding turning around where these are on the road. The queue has traditionally come along the fence and I would ask parents to keep to this and not queue from the other side. You can of course enter from the other side once the gates open, if you come from that direction.
World Book Day
Please note the information below from Miss Breckon, who is organising the event this year.
This year's World Book Day, Thursday 3rd March, is celebrating its 25th anniversary – with the message for all children ‘you are a reader‘!
We would like to celebrate the day in school by encouraging children to either dress up as a character from their favourite book, or to bring in an object from a book. For example, a wand like Harry Potter's. We would like children to keep the book that their chosen object is from a surprise, as we will be having some discussions throughout the day for classmates to guess which book the object is from.
Shed Heroes
A huge thank you to the brilliant team who spent last Sunday sorting, cleaning and reorganising the PSA shed in the Orchard playground. The difference is unbelievable. So well done to those of you who were involved in unloading, building shelving, sorting, repacking, labelling, tip trips: Calli Louis, Sencer Coltu, Julia Heubeck, Mike Harvey, Zoe Stuart, Michaela Schmietendorf, Maria Burgon, Lorna Garton and Lisa Bennet and to those who donated shelving: Neda Rad, Cynthia Micallef, Zoe Stuart, Paul and Sara Downey.
Having not been able to get more than a metre into the shed for a long time, the result is fantastic.
PSA Corner
PSA – newsletter contribution 11 February 2022
Where does the time go? Half-term already!! Just a few quick points from the PSA this week ahead of the break.
Classlist – over 300 parents already! Thanks again to all of you who have joined Classlist and are engaging with our new platform. We know it takes some time to get used to the new setup, but in time, we think it will provide a much smoother way of communicating amongst us all. Thank you for bearing with us and for your time, patience and positivity in making it work.
Any questions or issues with Classlist, please let us or your reps know.
Another shed full of thanks The PSA echo the sentiment of Mr. Holmes above with our profuse thanks for the significant hours and effort put in by the crew last weekend. We cannot do all of these great things for our school without such support and dedication. Thank you all!!
Upcoming events
The PSA calendar is looking busier for March, so please put the below events and dates into your diaries. Thanks to all who have already come forward to help, but we still need more volunteers for these events, so please consider putting your hands up too! See the attached to drop us an email letting us know how you would like to get involved, particularly if any of the below events could benefit from your skills and energy!
4 March: PSA quiz night (only 2 tables left!)
12 March: School grounds clean-up / gardening
16 March: PSA meeting (in-person)
Quiz Night 4 March:
One of our favourite events returns in early March with Quiz Night. Tickets are on sale via Arbor, but we only have two tables left! 8 people per table. We are also looking for volunteers to help on the bar during the quiz, so please get in touch.
School ground clean-up / gardening 12 March: As the weather improves and warms in early Spring, let’s get Sheen Mount looking its best! Per the suggestion of a number of parents, we will spend a day cleaning up part of the school grounds and doing some gardening. Initial planning has begun with more details to come as we get back from half-term. Thanks to those who have expressed interest via the Classlist group… for everyone else, please find the event in the Events & Parties section of Classlist and sign-up!
100 Club – February drawing today… congratulations Natasa Bojkovic!
Mr Brooks drew the winner this morning (witnessed by Mrs O'Brien) … congratulations to Sheen Mount parent and teacher Natasa Bojkovic who has won £100!! Ahead of the March drawing, email sm100club@gmail.com to sign-up.
As always, if you have any general PSA-related questions or want to get involved, please contact us via email (smpsachair@gmail.com) or through the class reps. Have a great weekend and half-term!!
Hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable half term.
Tom Holmes - Headteacher
Maria O'Brien - Deputy Headteacher
