Upcoming Diary Dates

This week	Event	Details
Monday 8th July	Junior School Trips – all day	We’ve all been working very hard so it’s time to have some fun! Willow and Birch are off to Hobbledown and Oak/Chestnut are off to Chessington World of Adventures.
Monday 8th July	Kindergarten Puppet Show with Karin – children only	We are delighted to invite Karin Jashapara back to The London Acorn School for her annual puppet show for Kindergarten children!
Tuesday 9th July	Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony – Parents Invited 2:30pm	Parents of Kindergarten Yr1 Leavers are welcome to attend our Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony to celebrate their time in Kindergarten and to look forward to them joining our Junior School in September.
Wednesday 10th July	Community Picnic – Kindergarten and Juniors, Parents Invited 2pm -3:15pm Leavers’ Arch 3:15pm	As requested by parents, an opportunity to say goodbye to students, families and staff together. Please join us in the back garden for a picnic. The school will be providing tea and scones for the community. Please feel free to bring a cake to share. Please label your bake with ingredients and bear in mind we are a nut-free school. This is to protect those with food allergies. Students and staff that are leaving us at the end of this academic year will then proceed through our Leaver’s Arch outside the front of Morden Cottage at 3:15pm.
Wednesday 10th July	End of Academic Year	No afterschool clubs. We hope you all have a restful Summer Holiday and look forward to welcoming you back for the new academic year on Wednesday 4th September. (Morning Room from 8.00am is available to book).
Next term	Event	Details
Wednesday 4th September	Back to school	Rachel Bochenski, our new Headteacher, will be welcoming families back to school for the Autumn Term. Afterschool clubs and wraparound care begin from Wednesday 4th September.
Friday 6th September	New Parents Walk and Talk 8:30am -9:15am	A great opportunity for new parents to the school to meet Rachel for a walk in Morden Hall Park, learn more about day-to-day life at TLAS and ask any questions on joining the school.

Welcome from our Headteacher

For children, living in the realm of childhood, the summer holidays stretch as far as the horizon and last for a thousand years. They can also be unsettling, with new routines and new places to sleep in. I remember my children’s kindergarten teacher’s advice, to vacation in one location repeatedly whilst they were small, and to keep it super simple with never more than two choices, even for ice cream flavours. I could not always provide the same accommodation, but a strong evening bedtime routine and a devotion to mint chocolate chip saw us through.

Wherever your special place is, have a wonderful summer break.

Best wishes for a peaceful and relaxing summer,

Sarah

Announcements, Reminders and Important Information

FAREWELLS:

It is time to bid some summer farewells. These can be made in person at our end of term teatime in the garden, with leavers arch to follow, from 2 o’clock to 3pm on Wednesday.

Warmest wishes to all members of Chestnut and Oak classes who are moving on to the next step on their education journey at Hall School Wimbledon and a selection of other great locations.

Best wishes also to Annabella O’Kelly, the Cooper family, the Cullinane family, the Zhao family, the Khan family, the Musa family, and the Dunn family, who are off on their travels. Warmest wishes for your moves.

Thank you and goodbye to Dr Laura Feather who has been teaching science across juniors this year, and to Doug Shaw, who has been teaching art to juniors – Doug, we hope to see you again for some art workshops in 2024/25 academic year, and Laura best of luck in your future career. And of course goodbye to Sarah, our Headteacher.

And last but not least, have a wonderful maternity leave Zoe – we will miss you whilst you are away, please send us baby pics!

There will be plenty of joyful hellos in September, including our incoming Head, Rachel Bochenski, and we look forward to those in our first Nutshell of the next academic year.

AUTUMN TERM CLUBS AND WRAPAROUND CARE:

Bookings are open for afterschool clubs and wraparound care for Autumn Term 2024.

An email was sent to parents last week so do sign up now to secure a place.

AUTUMN CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

A provisional calendar for first Autumn Half Term from September 2024 with key dates will be shared with parents before the end of term.

SCHOOL GEAR AND EQUIPMENT:

Please can you remove all of your children’s boots, waterproof trousers, coats and any other equipment from school by 3pm on Wednesday 10th July. The big clean will start that afternoon and any belongings left behind will be disposed of carefully and responsibly. The list of required equipment for school can be found in your family handbook which was issued to you when you joined the school. Please ensure all equipment is named, labelled and the right size to bring into school on our first day back. Thank you!

Holiday Club with Coach Jody and Bokkie Sports:

All TLAS children signing up will receive a further £5 discount per day on their booking

(Min of 3 days to qualify for discount)

Remembering Graeme Delaney, Chatsworth Director of Education:

Anita Delaney has requested that people do not send flowers but make donations in Graeme’s honour to the Chatsworth Schools Foundation. A Just Giving page is being created for the foundation, please ask the school office for details.

Kindergarten News

A couple of days this week, we did not bring the trolley with us to the Kinde tree. It was interesting to see how children play without the aid of man-made items. They made nests and castles with branches and grass. Big tree logs were aeroplanes and trains. Leaves tied onto arms became bird’s wings. Imagination flew far and wide in nature’s abundance.

Our new ring-time theme was “Briar Rose”. This well-known fairytale was presented in the form of singing and movements. We loved it. The vivid image of this circle time has inspired many kings, queens, princes, and princesses to appear in Kinde. Sand tray has been popular these couple of weeks, which probably connects with the seaside theme of nature table and the prospect of a beach holiday. This time of the year, we are going to say “goodbye” and send “best wishes” to some of our very dear friends. Thank you to one of our Kinde families for sharing with us a lovely picture book about saying goodbye to old friends and making new friends with the love and strength we received from our old friends!

Junior School News

Friday’s farewell summer concert was a special occasion, to say the least. Solo flute compositions played by Oak and Chestnut students, interactive singing by Willow and Birch including audience participation, and a lovely parting testimony and gift to say goodbye to our Headteacher, Sarah Thorne.

For Oak and Chestnut this was followed with more revelry, emotions and nostalgia at their Leavers Lunch Ceremony, where students shared poetry, parents shared wishes for their futures, and we all enjoyed looking back at photos over the last few years of this cohort, thank you Aga. We really do wish you all the best!

Elsewhere in the school, Birch concluded their topic on Ancient Egypt by being mummified by their peers! A fun, inter-age group activity to culminate their learning. Watch out siblings and parents, it’s your turn next!