Upcoming Diary Dates
| This week | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 15th November
(by appointment) |
Juniors and Kinde Parents’ Evening | Your child’s Class Teacher will be in touch with booking information, so you can book an in-person or Zoom parents’ evening session.
(Please note: Chestnut/Oak sessions will take place on Tuesday 14th November instead) |
|
Thursday 16th November (by appointment) |
Juniors and Kinde Parents’ Evening | Your child’s Class Teacher will be in touch with booking information, so you can book an in-person or Zoom parents’ evening session. |
|
Friday 17th November (9 am) Children only event |
Drama/PSHE production for Chestnut and Oak students presented by Hall School Wimbledon | We are very fortunate to have Year 9 students from Hall School Wimbledon delivering a Drama production on PSHE issues such as friendships, awareness and safety for our Chestnut and Oak students as part of their Theatre-in-Education module. |
|
Friday 17th November (1pm) Parent event |
Parent Workshop: Nourishing Family with Advent Gardens | An in-person parent workshop hosted by Sarah Thorne on creating your own family Advent Garden at home this festive season. Booking form to be sent shortly. |
| Next week | Event | Details |
|
Wednesday 22nd November (all day) Children only event |
Wimbledon Buddhapadipa Temple School trip for Juniors | As part of our diverse curriculum, children have the opportunity to visit different places of worship, from churches to mosques to temples. This year, we are heading to Wimbledon Buddhapadipa Temple to find out more about Buddhism. This is a free trip but a donation of £1 each towards the temple’s charity would be much appreciated. We will require parental consent, so please check your emails for a consent form being sent shortly. |
Welcome from our Headteacher
Welcome to our second week of school in November,
We are just one week into this half term and there are so many people to whom to give thanks.
Heartfelt thanks to all the dedicated hard work of our festivals committee and our kindergarten to bring our autumn lantern festival to us last week. It was a beautiful occasion and it was wonderful to see children displaying the lanterns that they had worked so hard to create. Enchanting.
Thank you also to all families who brought their children so very early in the morning last Thursday, so they could board the coach for the Chatsworth Football Festival in Milton Keynes. The children played with such heart and enjoyment and we look forward to further sporting events. Certificates for their attendance will be given out next week.
Thank you to all children who toured visitors at our Open Day last Friday and to the committed and dedicated staff who supported them and made our many visitors so welcome. Also an immense thank you so much to staff who came to help on our stand at the Independent Schools Show over the weekend where we showcased our skipping techniques for active learning and spoke to so many prospective families interested in our school.
Lastly thanks to all families and carers of our children who attend our festivals and work so hard to partner with us and to create supportive and formative childhoods for their children. It is a privilege to work with you. We are currently arranging meetings with you and your teachers to discuss your children’s attainment so far and to explore and discuss how we will lead them further in their education this year. At the same time invitations are going out to meet with Andrew Hammond, the head of Hall School Wimbledon and myself to discuss your thoughts on longer term educational pathways for your children with us. We look forward to hearing about the outcomes of these conversations and acting upon them, always with the interests of the children in our care at the heart of everything.
———————
Armistice Day Remembrance
Oak children of Year 6 led our assembly this morning, sharing some research that they completed on their ancestors’ experiences in World War 1 and leading all children in a one minute silence to remember everyone who has been involved in a war or is in a war right now. Well done to Monica, Ellie and Daniel of Oak class in leading this simple and moving event. Many children were very eager, after the assembly, to share stories of grandparents or great grandparents who were involved in wars, and were interested to hear that there has been no successful warlike invasion onto the island of Great Britain since the Normans over one thousand years ago. Oak class children had made a simple poppy wreath in wax and placed some photographs around our assembly lantern table. The photograph you can see in the picture depicts Walter Tull, who was a professional footballer before WW1 and the first black officer to command white troops in the British Army. Oak class learned about his story in our last half term.
Please follow this link for the Chatsworth Schools remembrance video, featuring children from Pattison College reciting classic poetry for remembrance day: Remembrance Day 2023 on Vimeo. Please note that some images on this video are not suitable for very young children and we advise you view it first if you intend sharing it with your family.
Announcements, Reminders and Important Information
Thank you to our Parent Festival Committee:
We enjoyed a wonderful Lantern Festival last week, made possible by not only by the excellent organisational skills of Ya-Hsin and the Kindergarten team, but also by our dedicated and thoughtful parents. A particular thank you to Lizanne, Marzena, Katja and Jenna. We are very grateful for you contribution to the life of the school.
Lantern Festival Gallery:
Thank you to our wonderful School Photographer, Aga, for some magical lantern photos that truly bring warmth at this time of year. Please see below.
Recorder and Flute Practice:
Please follow these links for the recorder and flute songs that are currently being taught in school, if you wish to support your child’s practise at home:
Cutlery for Packed Lunches:
Parents, please remember to pack cutlery for your child’s packed lunch so that they have their own utensils to use. Much appreciated, thank you.
Thank you for your beautiful postcards:
Kindergarten News
As the days get shorter, wetter and colder, animals are storing food and preparing their nests for over the winter. During our outdoor play time, the big theme has been building tents and making bonfires. There was also the cake shop that is popular in all seasons. We had a rainy-day walk on Wednesday afternoon, discovering colourful autumn leaves in the park before the beautiful lantern walk in the evening. But the climax of the week did not stop here: kinde children found a big muddy puddle the next day, had tremendous fun in it and happily clean ourselves by rolling on the meadow!
We learnt the Diwali story of light triumphing over darkness. When looking at the giant picture book from dear Karin, children’s favourite activity was counting how many heads the evil king had! The celebration gradually moved from the festival of light into Christmas theme later on in the week. Kinde children were busy decorating their homes and wrapping presents. Another much loved play idea in both classes was puppet show theatres. It was wonderful to see children inviting each other to watch their shows and supporting each other by sitting nicely and listening as attentively as they possibly can!
Junior School News
Willow Class have returned to school this second half term with great eagerness. They have been continuing to create their Letter Books as they learn through phonics and storytelling new sounds and their corresponding letters, making words which will soon build into sentences. They have also been learning about healthy living, starting with Eating the Rainbow.
Birch Class have started a new topic about Amazing and Useful Inventions, linking to their previous topic of the Stone Age by learning about the Incline Plane. At the same time, Birch Class are exploring Forces in Science, which ties in nicely with their topic learning.
Chestnut and Oak Classes had a very exciting week last week as they took part in the Chatsworth Schools’ Friendly Football Tournament in Milton Keynes. All children played really well and we are very proud of them supporting each other and working well in a team with Hall School Wimbledon students. What great athletes.
Finally, thank you to all our students who led tours at our Open Day on Friday. One parent said “your students are stars” and we couldn’t agree more!
Woodland Craft News
Willow Class
Willow are getting more familiar with circle, song, and listening out for bird song in the woods. They loved the mud, and enthusiastically searched for autumn treasures: rough, smooth, or patterned. Some students worked them into their ivy crowns, while others designed their own autumn crafts. After some very patient knotting practice and finding of things that really felt like treasure – most notably a stick covered with superb groups of lichens – we had tea and a West African folktale about how the sky once gave us all our food!
Birch Class
Birch Class too had great delight at being outside, ‘the space, the feeling of nature, all the animals making their habitats’ and testing the large puddles for depth. We heard the story of Leafa and Barkie, and the Polish Leaf Lady – some fine leaf art with great use of moss and bark too. Some children played a spies game while crafts continued. We all enjoyed a game of ‘Predator and Prey’, and tea, with time to reflect, was appreciated. ‘Apples next time please? Biscuits?!’
Chestnut and Oak Classes
Rain was forecast, but held off long enough for gathering leaves into leaf bowl lanterns, with fuchsia blooms and a wick to light in celebration of Diwali. Some students whittled while others played ‘Predator and Prey’, learning how each of these behaves and having lots of quiet time in the beautifully puddly woods.
Lantern Festival Gallery
Updated Autumn 2023 Calendar
