Upcoming Diary Dates

This week	Event	Details
Wednesday 3rd May (9am)	Whole School Coronation Assembly	Parents are welcome to attend. Please sign in at the office after drop-off.
Friday 5th May (after morning drop-off)	Kindergarten Walk and Talk with Sarah	A chance to meet our new Headteacher personally while enjoying springtime in the park.
Next week	Event	Details
Monday 8th May	Bank Holiday Monday	Enjoy another long weekend!
Tuesday 9th May (after morning drop-off)	Class Reps Meeting with Zoe	A chance for parent representatives to share ideas and consult with the school.
Wednesday 10th May (2pm in Kindergarten)	Parent Flag Bunting Workshop	Come and decorate your nationality’s flag in preparation for the May Day Festival. We will adorn our school’s flag bunting in the Back Garden for our shared Afternoon Tea celebrating different cultures after our Maypole dancing.
Thursday 11th May (9am)	Oslo Steiner School in-house concert	A musical treat for the whole school by this very talented group of visiting students.
Friday 12th May (after drop-off)	Willow Walk and Talk with Sarah	A chance to meet our new Headteacher personally while enjoying springtime in the park.

Welcome from our Headteacher

Very best wishes to all as we approach the second bank holiday weekend in a row!

Thanks to all families, children and staff who made me feel so very welcome in my first few days. These flew by, with a very successful Open Day on Friday and lots to do and plan for in the weeks ahead.

We are currently reviewing some elements of our curriculum, including language provision, as part of medium to long term plans for school development and in liaison with our specialist staff team. With that in mind, please expect some consultation with families over the next few weeks which will be undertaken informally and verbally in scheduled ‘walk and talks’ and also online, enabling family members who are busy at work to also have a voice.

Partnership between families and the school is so very important, and all two-way communication is welcome. Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you would like to have a chat with me, or any other member of staff, we are always ready to listen and if necessary, take considered action.

With communication in mind, I am starting to plan some additional supportive events for parents and carers over 2023/24 so please let me know if there are any areas of school or family life which you would like to explore further. It may be an area that you are curious about or where you are experiencing challenge – no thought is too small.

Kind regards,

Sarah

Announcements, Reminders and Important Information

Thank you:

Thank you to Sarah Khan for coming to talk to the Junior School about the celebration of Eid last week. It was a wonderful opportunity for some deep thinking Q&A. We all enjoyed the delicious date treats, wow!

A few reminders:

As suggested, we will be sharing the Upcoming Diary Dates for the next two weeks at the start of each Nutshell. We hope you find this helpful.
Please also find the Summer Term Calendar below.
Please can we ask for children to keep personal belongings, such as keyrings, at home to avoid distractions in class, damaged or lost property.

Exciting opportunities:

There are a few spaces left on our Friday Little Acorns group, running from 10am to 12pm. If interested, please book a place by emailing littleacorns@thelondonacornschool.co.uk
Merton Libraries has a full week of free coronation events for the family to enjoy!Crown Making (Tuesday 2nd May) Design our own crown and become a king or a queen for a day!Biscuit Decorating (Wednesday 3rd May) – Come and decorate a yummy biscuit with some themed coronation decorations. Mitcham, Morden and Wimbledon library only.Teddybear Picnic Storytime (Thursday 4th May) Enjoy a fun and interactive themed storytime.Hat Making (Friday 5th May) Get ready for the King’s coronation and design your own festive hat.Book here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/kings-coronation-events-1981699

Kindergarten News

It was wonderful to invite parents back to join in our Morning Song outside in the Back Garden again.

We are enjoying settling into our new Summer Term rhythm of going outside in the mornings and are grateful tp parents bringing their children to school prepared in waterproofs for the day ahead.

Kindergarten children have started the new term full of colour (using three colours now in their wet-on-wet painting), full of life (planting carrot seeds) and full of new learning (the older children starting their phonics practice).

Junior School News

Willow Class is focusing on sustainability and how to be eco warriors this half term. They are starting the term with The Lorax and planting their own edible plants, including spinach, rocket and peas. They are also walking through our precious park identifying leaves of plants.

Hazel Class have started the term with a new topic on France. As part of that, they are also reading Katherine Rundell’s Rooftoppers, which takes place on the rooftops of Paris. We are looking forward to meeting some tight-ropers in this story as the author tells us she can tightrope in high heels!

Oak Class are visiting Ancient Greece this term and are currently appealing to the citizens of Athens to have Poseidon as their patron god. Imagine if Athens was known now as Poseidonia instead…

Woodland Craft

Hazel Class had a relaxing session with a variety of evolving skills. Some learned the timber hitch knot, good for making shelters, or explored the bow-drill method of making fire. Others made mud balls for target practice on trees – the ‘anti-graffiti’ squad, and most students sowed nasturtium seeds in pots for growing at home.

Chestnut and Oak class set to work on sorting and cleaning dandelions into edible groups of roots, flowers and leaves. Some also gathered nettle-tops for next week’s plan for nettle soup with dandelion sandwiches.