School Newsletter : 24 November 2023

The theme for this half term’s Science home learning task is Connections. Below are some of the activities which you can chose from, or you may wish to come up with an idea of your own.

• Model Neuron: Make a model neuron, to learn about connections between nerve cells.
• Chain Reactions: Set up a chain reaction with outdoor items or small indoor items like dominoes, thinking carefully about the connections between each part of the chain.
• Life cycle: Create an edible life cycle to discover how each stage is connected.
• Polar habitat: Make a model of a Polar habitat, this is a great way to learn about how animals adapt to their surroundings.
• Ice caps: Another easy investigation for younger children is to model melting polar ice caps.

Entries will be shared in a celebration assembly at the end of this half term. Good luck everyone!

Year 4 Trip to the British Museum:

On Thursday, Al-Khalili class visited the British Museum where we participated in a history workshop led by one of their archaeologists. We learnt about life at the time of the ancient Mayan and how artefacts helped us discover what food they would have eaten, what clothes they would have worn, what rituals they took part in and who they worshipped. We then visited the Mexico gallery and saw lots of statues and stone carvings. We spent time observing and drawing what we saw. Miss Mattey and Miss Lavinia were very impressed with our drawings.

Year 6: Trips to the Westminster Archives (part of The Never Forgotten Project):

This week, we were lucky enough to take part in ‘The Never Forgotten Project‘ run by the historian Peter Daniel. On our first trip, we spent a morning at the Westminster Archives learning about the history of the soldiers and people who lived within the local area during WW1. Later that afternoon, we learnt about the key events that happened in the life of Walter Tull and performed a section of his life at the Abbey Centre the next day.

Walter Tull experienced a lot of highs and lows in his life, but proved to be very resilient and his determination shone through. He was one of Britain’s first black professional footballers but gave up his career as a footballer to become a WWI soldier. He was one of the first black Officers in the British Army.

Then on Thursday 23rd November, we attended a performance of ‘Not Forgotten’, a play highlighting the sacrifices made by our armed forces during the 1914 – 1918 World War. These performances are staged by Mr. Peter Daniel, the City of Westminster Archives Centre’s Education Officer.

We were extremely proud when, at the climax of the play, two of our pupils played the evocative The Last Post, using our synthesizer with a Trumpet sound, utterly faultlessly. They played at two separate performances to audiences of teachers and children from a dozen other schools, at the Abbey Community Centre in Great Smith Street.

Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct PE kit to school each week.

Pupils who are not wearing their full PE kit will not be able to participate in lessons, and a note will be sent home indicating why they were not able to participate.

The full PE kit for the Autumn/Winter term is as follows:

• Plain navy blue leggings or tracksuit bottoms
• School navy blue PE t-shirt
• School navy blue sweatshirt (all year groups).
• Pupils in KS2 (Years 3 – 6) must wear a school navy sweatshirt for PE and NOT their school jumper.
• Plain black trainers (velcro if your child struggles with shoe laces)
• Please ensure all items of uniform are clearly labelled (with a permanent pen or label)

We have now moved to email updates and notifications, and only using text messaging when reminders are urgently needed.

Please check your Spam folders and if you haven’t seen any emails from us, please contact the school office so that we can check that we have the correct email address for you.

If you would like your child to move from bringing a packed lunch to having a school meal, you must inform the office at least a week in advance of this change being made. Kindly note pupils are not allowed to alternate between having packed lunches and/or school meals on a daily or weekly basis. If you have any questions, please see a member of the school admin staff at the school office.

You can find the current school lunch menu here >

If you require a printed copy, please ask at the school office. Should you have any questions about the menu, kindly make an appointment to speak with Miss Barnett.

Why good school attendance matters: Missing a few days of school here and there may not seem a big deal, but research shows that it can have a significant impact on children’s learning.

Children who miss a substantial amount of school fall behind their peers, and struggle to catch up. Most of the work they miss is never made up, which can lead to big gaps in their learning.

• Poor attendance often starts at primary school and children who fall into this pattern are likely to under-achieve at secondary school.
• Pupils who miss between 10 and 20% of school (that’s 19 – 38 days per year) stand only a 35% chance of achieving five or more good GCSEs, compared to 73% of those who miss fewer than 5% of school days.
• An attendance rate of 95% is generally considered good; this allows for children to miss 9.5 days across the school year.
• Persistent absence (PA) is defined as an attendance rate of 90% or below.
• All pupils are expected to have an attendance rate of 95% or higher.

Attendance class of the week: Each week we will be celebrating the class with the highest attendance levels.