Weekly Update from Mr Meehan

We have been out and about a lot this week, and Christmas prep is in the air wherever you go! The sound of Christmas singing is never far away, as both infants and juniors rehearse heartily for their Christmas performances coming up soon. Children are busy decorating their classrooms today as well.

Year 2 also had a wonderful journey to New Malden Baptist Church, to then go on the ‘Christmas Journey’. I was able to accompany the children to this event, and it was truly magical to see aspects of the Christmas story re-enacted by actors, including a real baby! Our reception children have also been ‘trying the train’ this week, with their trip up to Waterloo - quite an adventure; I know their teachers were very proud of how grown-up and sensible they were on the platforms and on the train.

Our Year 3s went on a different kind of journey on Monday afternoon, travelling back in time in their Greek workshop! This included exciting re-enactments of some well-known Greek myths. In the middle of the week, our Year 4 and 5 choir members were ‘on tour’, singing at the Widows’ Group at Christ Church; I know the audience there found their singing heart-warming and very festive. Later in the week, our handbells group were entertaining Christmas shoppers in New Malden as well.

Congratulations to our ‘Celebrating Difference’ poster winners, who were announced this week. Thank you again to the PTA for sponsoring this competition with prizes. In the new term, we will be displaying some of the best posters around the school to keep reminding us of this important message. 

Our Year 3 football team were taking part in a borough-wide competition in Kew this week. Mr Newman was so proud of them, as they represented the school so well. More than that, they won the whole tournament! Big congratulations to Jonah Keevil, Ted Copley, Daniel Han, Sam Jevons, Joo Sung Park, Josiah Plummer, Dougie Reid and Ji Hwan Yu for their outstanding team effort.

Thank you to parents who attended our Giving the Gift of Reading evening with literacy expert Lindsay Pickton. Thanks to the PTA for providing a drinks bar and some of our teachers who help run a movie night creche to enable parents to come. It was an inspiring evening, all about sharing the joy of reading with our children. For parents who attended, Lindsay’s slides are here for your reference, as promised.

Talking of gifts, the draw for the PTA Raffle will also be made next week, so a great prize could be coming your way if you’ve entered - see more on this below!

As we seem to be heading so fast towards Christmas, I hope you are busy getting ready for all the festivities, but with a bit of quiet time in between as well, and I wish you a lovely weekend whatever you are doing.

MRS NEWMAN RECOMMENDS

My recommended book is Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. This would appeal to confident, ‘free readers’ from 7 or above.  I remember reading this to my own children!

It is a fascinating autobiography of the early life of this famous author and includes so many funny stories. The one I will never forget includes a mouse and a sweet shop! You’ll have to read it to find out more.

Our School Updates for Parents

PTA Christmas Raffle Reminder

Thanks to the generosity and hard work of many parents and the local community, we have pulled together a fantastic selection of prizes in our Christmas Raffle. We would love to convert their hard work into a great fundraising result to finish off the term! Ticket sales are closing at midnight on Monday, so please do make sure you buy your tickets before it's too late: https://christ-church-new-malden-pta-christmas.square.site/. The lucky winners will be drawn by Mr Meehan at lunchtime on Tuesday 12th December and winners will be notified by email. Many thanks for your continued support, The PTA. 

Christmas Jumper Day - Wednesday 13th December 

Next Wednesday is Christmas Jumper Day. Children should wear a festive jumper and bring a donation to give to one of the three charities we have chosen with our Pupil Leadership Team:

• Oxygen - local Christian charity supporting young people and their mental health 
• Momentum Children’s Charity - regional charity supporting the work of families with children who have life-changing conditions or illnesses or cancer, working in partnership with local hospitals such as Kingston and Epsom
• Unicef - international children’s charity supporting children in areas of poverty and war

There will be buckets for each charity outside each school entrance next Wednesday morning. You may want to talk about these charities with your children, so they can make an informed choice of which one to support. 

Congratulations to Khloe Ong of Gazelle class, whose Christmas card design gained a highly commended in the Royal Borough of Kingston’s Mayor’s Christmas Card Competition this year. We are all very proud of her achievement!

Housepoint Treat Day 

One of the excitements at the end of each term, when we collate all the house points from the term, is to find out the winning house at both the infants and the juniors. This term, the winning house will have a treat day next Friday 15th December, with children allowed to wear a Christmas accessory or decoration on this day, with chocolate coins available for each child in the winning house. The winning house(s) for this term will be announced next Wednesday!

Reverse Advent

This year, each class is participating in ‘Reverse Advent’ which means that each day a child gives something to our Advent Calendar. We have decided to focus on bringing long-life food and other essential items that could then be donated to our local food bank (Kingston Food Bank). One bag of food feeds a family for one week, so every little helps! Next week, teachers will be telling children about how their class collection works, but if you want to be prepared, here is a list of items that can be donated, although any long-life food items can be given! All donations will be taken to the food bank on the last day of term. Thank you for your support. 

Last dates for clubs this term 

Please note the only clubs with sessions still to take place this term are:

• Y2 Choir - Tuesday 12th December
• Junior Choir - Tuesday 19th December (NO CHOIR 12TH DECEMBER)

Clubs for Spring term 2024
Booking is available for all clubs for next term, see the timetable on the website, and many have spaces. 

The following clubs are already full:

• Year 1 and 2 Football
• Year 2 Drama
• Year 3 and 4 Chess

Wider Community Updates

School Health HENRY Newsletter

Please see attached a special updated newsletter from the School Health HENRY team.

Key School Dates 

• Monday 11th – Friday 15th December – Chums Week
• Monday 11th December - Reception Trip to Waitrose and Methodist Church
• Tuesday 12th December - Junior Christmas Production @ 2pm and 6pm
• Wednesday 13th December - Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Lunch
• Thursday 14th December - Reception Nativity @ 9am
• Thursday 14th December - Year 2/3 Choirs singing in Methodist Church @ 10am
• Friday 15th December - Housepoints Treat Day
• Friday 15th December - Y6 Donut Sale after school at both sites
• Tuesday 19th December - Church Service @ 9:45am
• Tuesday 19th December - Y4 Trip to the Rose Theatre to see Peter Pan @ 2pm
• 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