Dear Parents,
We enter the last two and half weeks of this term with much to look forward to. We have every year group taking part in a Christmas performance. A reminder of these are below - they were first published back in September. We have also enjoyed our first two class assemblies of the year - thank you to Mrs Wigmore with Otters and Miss Lawton with Moles. We also have Christmas lunch on Wednesday 14th December.
We very much look forward to welcoming families and the community to the Christmas fair this Saturday from 11- 3pm. Thank you to all those that have made this possible.
End of term Christmas events - for parents to attend
Year 2 - Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th December - Christmas show. 9.30am (you will have a choice of day to sign up for)
Year 1 - Wednesday 14th December Christmas concert. 9.15am
Reception - Thursday 15th December. Christmas concert. 9.15am
Year 3 & Year 4 Thursday 15th December. Christmas celebration. Christ Church 2.00pm
Year 5 & Year 6 Thursday 15th December Christmas celebration. Christ Church 7.15pm.
Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper
Children who usually have school lunch will be served a Christmas lunch on Wednesday 14th December. There is no additional charge for this, if your child usually has school lunches.
For this special occasion, we invite children who normally bring a packed lunch to have the Christmas lunch as well. This is completely optional and the cost is £2.64 to be paid on Arbor.
If your child usually has a packed lunch but would like Christmas lunch on the 14th December, please complete this form when you pay: https://forms.gle/SEAfuDJabATtHVbY8 by Monday 5th December.
There is no need to complete the form if your child is already having a school lunch this term.
Accent Catering have confirmed that allergies and dietary requirements will be catered for as usual so that all participating children receive as close to the traditional Christmas lunch as possible.
We would also like to do a twist on the more traditional Christmas jumper. Children can wear a school jumper or another jumper and decorate it with Christmas decorations on this day-again they can be homemade rather than bought from shops. Please do not buy a new 'Christmas jumper' for this occasion.
We appreciate we have just had a collection for Children in Need, but if you would like to donate for this occasion for 'Save the Children Fund', the link is here- https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sheen-mount-primary-school11?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=sheen-mount-primary-school11&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=5f84643baa5f4f7980bf0aeda35dab51
Staffing news
Congratulations to Anthony, our Premises Manager, and his partner on the birth of their third child on Sunday - we welcome Bear. Amongst the skills Anthony can now add to his list are baby deliverer, as the midwife did not arrive in time for the planned home birth.
From next week we welcome Margaux Malet-Warden to the office team as Senior finance and Admin officer - she is replacing the role of Carolyn Moore. We also welcomed Zoe Griffiths to the office team earlier in the term in place of Eleanor Abrams. Both of these positions have been filled by current parents.
Forest school
I wrote earlier in the week to Year 1 and Year 2 parents informing them that in the spring and summer term, each class would have two hours a week of forest school for 6 sessions. This is a great opportunity of maximising our extensive grounds, as well as giving us ideas as we push towards finalising plans for 'Project Outdoors'. Together with the intention of installing a multi-use surface, we want to create a woodland trail and make the most of the rest of the field space in an educational and play sense.
Charity event
Well done to brave Sandy from 3T who has donated her hair to The Little Princess Trust, creating real hair wigs for children undergoing cancer treatments. She has also raised £286 for the charity so far and here is a link to her just giving page in case anyone would like to make a further contribution. 
https://www.justgiving.com/page/rebecca-elgebrant-1669274192650?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=socpledgemobile&utm_content=rebecca-elgebrant-1669274192650&utm_campaign=post-pledge-mobile&utm_term=gAy7b6wzj
Sports
X Country
Ava Abel in Year 6 was selected to run in the X Country event for the London Youth Games for Wandsworth. She finished an incredibly impressive 14th out of 190 U11 girls and this contributed to Wandsworth's silver medal in that specific event and then overall. She has two very impressive medals to keep.
Year 5/6 Boys football
Well done to those who represented the school at the borough football event yesterday. Having to overcome some illness and exams taking place, the team showed some good fighting spirit to come back in the afternoon matches. Having missed out on the cup competition from the morning results, they proceeded to win four matches 1-0 and only lost the semi-final 1-0.
Amazon wish list of books for the library
A reminder of our Amazon wish list of books for the library. https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/XZM329G5YH9R?ref_=wl_share
The school council met with the two parents who have given up so much of their time to drive the improvements. They discussed maximising the space and what works well and could be better. A reminder I now meet with the school council once every two weeks. There is always time for any new ideas and the smallest of ones can grow into a whole school action/initiative.
STEM day
The children have had a great time with today with this. Many thanks to Miss Costa and Miss Hopwood for organising this and for Adam Jones who started it off this morning with an interactive assembly.
Meet the caterers
Over twenty parents enjoyed this event last week of talking to our chef and the operations manager from our caterers - Accent. They also tried food and had an opportunity to have their questions answered.
There are two separate surveys coming up with a parent's one to follow the children's.
Here is the link for there's- please help them to ensure they fill it in.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/M6SGVQN
COVID
Attendance has been down in school this week with various children's illness. Unfortunately on every day this week, we have reached having more than 10 staff off ill; most with COVID or a vomiting bug. This is just for information, as there is no requirement to test. We have had very minimal children testing positive for COVID. A reminder, the period away from school is three days, starting the day after a positive test.
Strep throat
You may have seen the news of this spreading in a Surrey primary school and having tragic consequences. We have not been alerted to be aware of any increased dangers. However, here is a reminder of the symptoms and information around it:
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/strep-throat.html
Choral scholars at Christ Church
Please see an opportunity below at Christ Church.
From the PSA
This week the PSA would like to call out and say a huge thank you to Cara MacGregor, for all her effort in managing this year's Autumn Ball, which was a hugely successful evening, enjoyed by all who went. Thanks also to Arabella Ferrer for stepping up and managing this year's Teachers' Raffleaffle and all those who supported her with selling tickets every chilly morning this week; Amelia, Sari, Kath, Oznur, and Katy!
Raffle tickets will also be sold at the fair, so please don't worry if you haven't had the chance to buy any yet.
Please remember that this year the fair will be CARD ONLY and in case of any emergencies, the first aid and meeting point for lost children will be the school reception. See attached Christmas fair map to see what's going on and where. We look forward to seeing you there!
And speaking of this year's Sheen Mount Christmas Fair, we have a fantastic line up as you will have seen from the posters, so don't forget to get your friends and family along too. There is the Hot Food Kitchen, providing a banger of a menu at this year's Christmas Fair (generously catered by two award-winning parent restaurant chefs), Santa Grotto, Raffles, Tombola, Christmas crafts & games, stalls and much much more!
And last but not least there is a DOUBLE ROLLOVER in this month's 100 Club Lottery - see the poster attached for QR code with registration instructions.
Communication
A reminder, I am more than happy to speak to parents at drop off and pick up, or you can contact me directly at:
headteacher@sheenmount.richmond.sch.uk
Have a good weekend
Tom Holmes - Headteacher
Maria O'Brien - Deputy Headteacher
