Upcoming Diary Dates

This week	Event	Details
Monday 22nd April	FREE Beekeeping Workshop for Juniors at 10:45am	We are so pleased to welcome back the Wimbledon Beekeeping Association to The London Acorn School. With an apiary on our doorstep, this is a great opportunity for juniors to find out more about the importance of bees.
Thursday 25th April	Oslo City Steiner School Concert for Kindergarten and Juniors at 9am – parents welcome	It is with much anticipation that we welcome back Oslo City Steiner School for the second year running. After the triumph of last year, our students are already excited to experience the magical music that these teenagers have to offer. Not to be missed! We would love to extend the invitation to parents this time, although please be aware that it will be standing room only. Due to limited capacity, you will need to now book for this event https://forms.office.com/e/Lq9GgSP1jk
Friday 26th April	Kindergarten Walk and Talk with Sarah at 8:45am – 9:15am	A valuable opportunity to ask our current Headteacher about the different aspects of Kindergarten at The London Acorn School.
Friday 26th April	Open Day from 1:30pm-3pm	Please invite your friends to come and visit our school and find out more about our vision for childhood at our next Open Day. To book, please visit here: Open Day
Next week	Event	Details
Monday 29th April	Class Photos for Juniors and Kindergarten	Let’s hope for a fine day for our school photos outdoors!
Wednesday 1st May	Parent Bunting Workshop with Kindergarten at 2pm	All parents across the school are welcome to come and decorate their national flag in preparation for our May Festival, where we celebrate our diversity with a shared international picnic in the Back Garden after enjoying May Pole Dancing.
Friday 3rd May	Parent Workshop – The Voice in the Care of the Child 9am – 10am	Jo Pearce will be hosting our next parent workshop on ‘The Voice in the Care of the Child’. Further information and a booking form will be sent shortly.
Friday 3rd May	May Festival 12pm – 1pm All of the community invited	It is a beautiful time of year when spring is in its fullest and we can celebrate the blossoming of life all around us. Please join us to watch the children Maypole dancing and afterwards for an international shared picnic in the Back Garden. Please carefully label your dish for any allergies. Children will be wearing white or pale colours, you are welcome to join in. Children will also be making flower crowns in the morning, please provide flowers for your child to do so.

Welcome from our Headteacher

Following our term theme of language and culture, the children have been learning how to say ‘hello, welcome’ and ‘good to meet you’ in Norwegian. They are really looking forward to the concert from teenagers on Thursday and they want to greet them using appropriate language.

Language is such an interesting subject, when we ask in assembly about different languages at home, over a third of children are happy to share and celebrate words from home languages with us.

Over this half term in assemblies, we will be exploring phrases that can make ourselves and others feel at home, and establish that lovely sense of belonging.

We are really proud at school of the way our children work in learning groups, helping and supporting each other and language is a big part of this, including taking it in turns to speak. In assemblies we use a ‘talking stick’ for this purpose, using a real stick of chestnut wood.

Whilst on the subject of communication, from this half term we are reviewing how we let you know about events, big and small at school. If you have any feedback on how and when we communicate with you on an everyday basis please do let me know.

Best wishes and talk soon!

Sarah

Announcements, Reminders and Important Information

FAREWELL:

We are so pleased for Lily Otten and her new venture that she begins next week as a Spanish assistant to a director at Warner Bros. What an exciting opportunity for you!

We will miss Lily dearly and all that she has brought to The London Acorn School in her time here. We wish you the best of luck for the future!

Spanish Club will be covered by Emma Le Gendre this half term.

UPDATED SUMMER TERM CALENDAR ANNOUNCED:

Please find the updated Summer Term Calendar at the end of this Nutshell for all the exciting events coming this way.

ENJOY OUR GORGEOUS PARK SAFELY:

National Trust continue to take safety on the park seriously, and with more people circulating in this beautiful community area as the weather is fine, they will once again ensure that park gates are open until 6pm. National Trust will have a security team on duty around the ‘Heart of the Park’ area where our school is situated in the late afternoons and have recently invested in the latest security cameras for this area. This morning in assembly we checked that the children know exactly what to do if approached by strangers or dogs whilst out in school groups. Our school site was chosen so that the park could be enjoyed safely. A gentle reminder that, beyond our school garden, Morden Hall Park is a London public place, water courses are all around and children should be under appropriate supervision. We regularly exchange information with National Trust – please do let the school office know if you see anything on the park that doesn’t seem quite right.

CHATSWORTH SKI TRIP:

Chatsworth Schools are launching an inter-school ski trip in Sestriere, Italy 2nd to 9th March 2025.

Please look out for an email today with more details about this opportunity and Q&A session details for tomorrow Tuesday 23rd April at 7pm.

Kindergarten News

The park is wrapped in Lady Spring’s light green silky gown dotted with pretty blossoms. Children were excited to see ducks and geese leisurely walking on the grass with their babies. We picked up the blowballs of dandelions and made wishes before blowing the “helicopter” seeds away. Some children gathered cow parsley, buttercup and dandelion flowers to form little bouquets for families. We are enjoying the generous gifts of spring!

We started our days with lovely spring finger games and songs, forming a train in the tune of ” In and Out the Dusty Bluebell”. On Wednesday, big children from Birch Class came to read to Kinde children for the first time and they were absolutely amazing! The mood inside our classrooms has been calm as children are getting used to the routine and to each other. This week, we celebrated two birthdays. Happy birthday, dear Nalah and Paxton!

As the weather warms up, in Summer Term, we switch soup to baked potatoes on Tuesdays. From this Tuesday, we will bake sweet potatoes along with the usual potatoes to provide more variety and flavour to children.

Junior School News

Willow Class: Last week, students started learning lines for their class play, Queen Quizaquora, which we hope to announce a performance date with you imminently. Willow Class have also started learning the Extended Code in Phonics, learning about how one sound can be spelt in different ways. It’s been great to watch their sense of discovery and wonder at the English language grow.

Birch Class: It was wonderful to see how gentle and considerate Birch Class were with reading to Kindergarten this week during Reading Buddies, a step up for the class in their responsibilities at school as they take on this new role.

Oak/Chestnut Class: Last week, students planted lettuce, radish and spring onion seeds. They’ll watch them grown over this term and pick them to eat at their Leavers Lunch with parents at the end of term.