School Newsletter : 20 June 2025

Monday 16th June | Itsu Community Kitchen Workshop:
Year 3 had an amazing visit from the Itsu Community Kitchen, who came and delivered a workshop on how to make Superpower Soba Noodles! We learnt how to chop vegetables safely, use a spiralizer, grate carrots and then assemble a nutritious and delicious meal. We loved learning new kitchen skills that we can use to help make a family meal. It was also very exciting to receive a special bag with the remainder of the recipe’s ingredients, to allow us to finish this meal at home – YUM😋

Tuesday 17th June | Year 1 Trip to Kew Gardens:
Year 1 had a very exciting adventure on their trip to Kew Gardens in Richmond., where they explored all the different types of plants the garden had to offer. We saw some big cat fish in the pond, lots of buzzing bees and beautiful birds. We enjoyed participating in a workshop learning about the different types of trees from all over the world. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch and a some time in the playground. It was a wonderful day out learning and enjoying the sunshine!

Wednesday 18th June | Year 6 Trip Mud Larking in Wapping:
Year 6 enjoyed a hands-on day at the River Thames foreshore in Wapping. This was a part of our project, ‘Moving Away Your Dust‘ where we experienced mud larking! We were amazed at what we found, Victorian clay smoking pipes, pottery and lots of different types of animal bones. We discussed how each of the items may have ended up there and how these objects created an historical timeline of life in and around the Thames. We travelled to and from the venue on the Thames Clipper, which allowed us to take in the some of London’s most iconic landmarks along the way.

We would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Peter Daniels, from Westminster Archives, who leads this amazing project and who attended with us on the day; highlighting and testing us on our historical knowledge of key people and events as we walked to and from school and throughout the day! Thank you also to the St. Vincent Ward Fund, whose generous support facilitated and funded this important set of workshops and excursion, ensuring a new generation of children continue to learn about the rich tapestry of life that is part of our local community and capital city’s history.

We are delighted to announce that swimming lessons will begin again this term, for pupils in Years 3 to 6. They will take place Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.

• Year 5: Weeks beginning 23rd and 30th June (no swimming on Friday 27th June as it is an INSET day)
• Year 6: Weeks beginning 7th and 14th July

These lessons are an important (and statutory) part of the national curriculum and provide an opportunity for pupils to develop key skills and knowledge about water safety and learning basic swimming skills and strokes.

All swimming lessons will take part at the Queen Mother’s Sports Centre. Classes will complete their lessons in blocks (6 consecutive lessons over two weeks), instead of one lesson per week (over 6 weeks).

This arrangement ensures pupils have the best chance to consolidate and make the most of their lessons, with the opportunity to build on learning over sequential days, as opposed to having a week between each lesson.

On the weeks that your child’s class is swimming, they will need to wear their bathing costume to school with their PE kit over the top. They also need to bring in a bag; a towel, underwear and goggles, plus a cap (if they choose to use one).

Children will change into their PE kit after each lesson and put their towel and bathing suit in their bag to return to school.

Pupils will swim on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays of each week. They will walk to and from the pools with their class teacher and Mr Raheem.

If you have any questions or queries about your child’s swimming lesson, please contact the office to arrange a time to meet with a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Our next school fundraising event will be the Summer Fair, which will take place on Saturday 12th July from 12:00 until 4:00 pm.

There’ll be an exciting range of stalls including games, bouncy castle plus food and refreshments available to purchase on the day, and we’re very much looking forward to welcoming everyone!

If you would like to provide a food plate (similar to what we did at our recent International Evening), please inform the office via email or please come in person to speak to Ms Ilhan.

All donations and provision of food items will be passed onto our school’s PTA The Friends of Burdett-Coutts.

As Theologians this week, Year 2 have been learning about Judaism and exploring the question: Is Shabbat important to Jewish children? We discussed how, just like many of us may have a favourite day of the week to rest or enjoy special activities, for Jewish people, Shabbat is a very special time to rest, reflect and spend time with family. Pupils learnt that Shabbat begins at sunset on Friday and lasts for 25 hours, honouring the commandment God gave in the Ten Commandments to keep the Sabbath holy. We also revisited the Creation Story from the Torah, learning how God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The children reflected on how beautiful the world is and discussed how we can all help take care of it. To finish, they created beautiful collages representing different days of creation and shared their ideas with their friends.