Weekly Update from Mr Meehan

Not only has it been a big week for New Malden with a special royal visitor, but it’s also been a busy one at Christ Church! I know many of our children went down to the High Street on Wednesday to try to spot His Majesty, and many succeeded! Our very own Miss Brown even had a chance to speak to the King and tell him about our wonderful school Christ Church!

It was our first “class-led worship” yesterday in school, with Leopard class getting us started with our new ‘season’ of these.  Every class over the year will be performing one of these, with parents invited to attend. Congrats to Leopard class who got us started brilliantly yesterday, performing almost entirely in haikus!

This morning, we had one of the highlights of the school’s music calendar - the juniors’ Soloists Concerts. We were treated to many beautifully sung or played pieces and it was an inspirational morning. Big thanks to Mrs Bond for making it happen. Well done to all children who took part.

Yesterday, we were also able to show off to the junior children some new playground equipment which we’ve just purchased courtesy of PTA funding, after Mr Newman had interviewed some of our junior children about what they’d like to see in the playground. 

Talking of the PTA, many of our children are finishing their week at school with a disco tonight at the juniors, and a big thank you to the PTA and volunteers for supporting with this. Thank you also for your donations to the Christmas Fair and for today’s non-uniform day.

Some of our Year 6 children are joining me for the New Malden Remembrance Parade on Sunday. Do come along if you want to join us. The Parade down the High Street begins around 9am and the service around the war memorial is at 9.30am.

Next week, we are looking forward to National Anti-Bullying Week, in which we are taking the theme of “Celebrating Difference”. Don’t forget the odd socks on Monday! There’ll also be news of a poster competition, which our PTA are sponsoring with exciting prizes.

As you know, one of the things we are promoting this year is reading for pleasure. Here is a link to an extract from the DFE publication “The Reading Framework” about how you can make story reading at home a really exciting time. There’ll also be more information next week about our exciting “Giving the Gift of Reading” evening with literacy expert Lindsay Pickton on Wednesday 6th December - so do save the date!

One of the songs we’ve been enjoying in our collective worship this week is “Firework”. No doubt many of our families enjoyed some fireworks last weekend and we also wish you well if you are celebrating Diwali this weekend - another celebration of light and maybe some more fireworks! 

Have a good weekend whatever you are doing.

MRS BELCHER RECOMMENDS …

Blow a kiss, Catch a Kiss: Poems to Share with little ones by Joseph Coelha is a wonderful book for young children (nursery/reception age) and I have enjoyed them myself too! The book is filled with short poems about everyday experiences. What a great way to share some poetry just before bed.

Our School Updates for Parents

Korean Day at the Juniors - Wednesday 15th November

We are looking forward to this special celebration next week. Please see the information that was sent out to parents regarding this earlier in the week.

Notes for Class Reps Meeting 

A meeting was held this week with Mr Meehan and Mr Burkinshaw with our class reps and here are the minutes from items discussed in the meeting. Thank you for all your feedback.

PTA Christmas Fair 

Please see our flyer advertising one of our best events of the school year, our Christmas Fair on the junior site on Saturday 25th November between 1-4pm, which is a lovely day for the whole school community.

Road Safety and Parking at both our sites

Given both of our sites are situated in and amongst residential roads, it is really important that we are all the best drivers and parkers we can be at drop off and pick up times. Please ensure safe, sensible parking (for example, not blocking half a driveway, mounting the pavement or stopping on the zig-zag yellow lines). For the safety of all our children, please drive carefully in and around the Groves. Thank you for your cooperation.

Have you given to the Governors’ Fund yet?

Thank you to those parents/carers who are already giving monthly to support our school through our Governors’ Fund. If you have not yet done so, please consider setting up a regular monthly payment.  Please look at our flyer regarding our Governors’ Fund which gives you more detail about how this fund has the power to transform our school further and details of how you could be part of it. We know these are challenging times for many of us, but in order to ensure we can make our school the best that it can be, then please do consider carefully what and how you could contribute. In these times of increasingly stretched schools’ funding, we need your help to ensure we have enough resources to keep making wonderful school experiences happening for our children at Christ Church! Thank you.

Wider Community Updates

Next Thing Education Christmas Camp

Next Thing Education will be running a Christmas Technology STEM Camp at Christ Church Junior site on 2-5th January. Their aim is to inspire, engage and empower the next generation of creators, coders and inventors. They have put together an action-packed Activity Schedule with something for every child, to not only excited for the festive period, but to extend their learning in a fun and unique way using the latest and greatest tech. All staff are DBS Checked and Qualified to run the best sessions in the safest environment. For more information check out their flyer attached, visit their website below or watch their video to see what to expect at camp. Their camps cater to ages 5-11.  Spaces are limited, so don’t miss out and book online today.

This camp will also be offering HAF places for eligible children on FSM to attend the camp for free, which is funded by Kingston council. The booking system for HAF places goes live on Tuesday 22nd November.  

For HAF bookings, we invite you to book via our online portal using this link: https://popsicle.app/parents/NextthingEducationCampsLtd-n2MJqxx/login and click on the SIGN UP button at the bottom of the page where is it says: ‘Don't have an account? Sign up’

You will need to add in your details and wait for your verification email from Popsicle. Once received, click on the link, and add your child’s details in and save them. Then in AFTERCARE CHRISTMAS CAMPS you can use the search bar to search for your school. Any problems, you can contact them on 01442 873150.

Perfect Pines Xmas Trees

From 27th November to 22nd December you can purchase top quality xmas trees from Perfect Pines, located at The Glasshouse, 14 Coombe Road, New Malden KT3 4QE. Pre orders are welcome and free local delivery. Contact them on 07392 067455.

Key School Dates 

• Friday 10th November - PTA Discos - Years 1- 3 @ 3.30 - 4:45pm. / Years 4-6 @ 5.00 - 6:15pm.
• Sunday 12th November - Remembrance Day Parade @ 8:45am
• Monday 13th – Friday 17th November - Anti-Bullying Week
• Monday 13th – Friday 17th November - Y4 Bikeability (am only)
• Monday 13th November - Y1 Pollock’s Toy Museum Workshop
• Tuesday 14th November - Nursery Tour for Prospective Parents @9:30am
• Wednesday 15th November - Korean Day at the Juniors
• Friday 17th November - Reception Tour for Prospective Parents @ 9:30am
• Wednesday 22nd November - Reception Tour for Prospective Parents @ 9:30am
• Thursday 23rd November - Learning Look @ 4:30-5:30pm
• Saturday 25th November - PTA Christmas Fair @ 1:00 - 4:00pm
• Monday 27th November - Friday 1st December – Wellbeing Week
• Monday 27th November - Y6 Choir singing at John Lewis @ 10:30am
• Thursday 30th November – Antelope Class Worship @ 2:45pm
• Monday 4th December – Y3 Greek Workshop (pm)
• Wednesday 6th December - ‘Giving the Gift of Reading’ evening workshop for parents
• Monday 11th – Friday 15th December – Chums Week
• Tuesday 12th December - Junior Christmas Production @ 2pm and 6pm
• Wednesday 13th December - Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Lunch
• Thursday 14th December – Reception Nativity @ 9am
• Tuesday 19th December – Church Service @ 9:45am
• Wednesday 20th December – Term finishes @ 1:05p.m. (infants), 1:20 p.m. (juniors) and Connect 5:15 p.m.
• Thursday 21st December – INSET Day (School closed to pupils)
• Friday 22nd December – Friday 5th January – Christmas Holiday
• Monday 8th January – INSET Day (School closed to pupils)
• Tuesday 9th January – Pupils return to school