Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Value of the Week is Caring – one of the most important values in our school. Caring means looking after one another, helping when we can, celebrating each other's successes and making sure everyone feels that they belong.

A huge thank you from Miss Evans! Thanks to your incredible generosity, she has now reached her target of collecting jars for her wedding flowers. What a wonderful example of our school community caring for one another. I have already requested a wedding photo to share with you after the big day!

This week has been full of exciting transitions. Children met their new class teachers with smiles, cheers and plenty of excitement (Year 4 even met theirs virtually!). Across the school we've been singing Moving On Up as we help children prepare for the next stage of their journey. Our Year 6 pupils have also enjoyed transition days at their secondary schools and are now busy rehearsing for their Graduation Celebration. We look forward to welcoming Year 6 families to join us for a picnic after the ceremony – I have a feeling there may be a few happy tears!

t is also with a heavy heart that I share our staff leavers for this year.

Ms Arnett will be retiring after an incredible 13 years at Herbert Morrison. She has led our choir and music curriculum from strength to strength, filling our school with song and joy. Her favourite song reminds us, “I believe the children are the future…” — and she has certainly helped many children find their voice. We wish her every happiness in her retirement.

Ms Unitt will be leaving us after 5 years. She has brought energy, creativity and curiosity to our Science curriculum, making Science Evening a whole new experience! She is moving out of London, and her new school are very lucky to have her.

Ms Spinola will also be leaving us after 3 years. She has made Maths exciting, accessible and full of challenge. We know she will thrive in her next adventure.

They will all be very much missed, but of course we wish them every success and happiness for the future.

We are also delighted to share that Miss Montgomerie (new year 2 teacher) and Miss Foster (new year 4 teacher), who have been training with us this year in year 2 and year 6 respectively, have now officially joined the Herbert Morrison team. We are very lucky to have them!

Miss Blackler (new year 5 teacher) will be on site during the optional parents’ evening to meet current Year 4 children as well as their parents and carers. Please do come along to say hello to new teachers and, of course, farewell to those leaving us, if you would like to.

Thank you so much for your understanding and positive feedback following our decision to close the school during the extreme heat. It was certainly not a decision we took lightly, but the safety and wellbeing of our children and staff had to come first. We are now working with Lambeth to explore longer-term solutions, including improving the ventilation around our skylights. Please bear with us while we investigate the best options – it does seem that our summers are getting warmer each year!

Technology never stands still, which is why I strongly encourage all parents and carers to sign up for the Online Safety Webinar advertised below. There is always something new to learn, and working together helps us keep our children safe both in school and at home.

A couple of diary reminders:

• Tuesday 14th July: School closes at 2.00pm. Please take the opportunity to visit your child's current class teacher and pop into their new classroom to say hello to next year's teacher.

• Last day of term: School also finishes at 2.00pm. Please remember that all children must be collected at 2.00pm and there will be no JAGS provision that afternoon.

Finally, our wonderful PTA Summer Fair is almost here. It promises to be a fantastic afternoon on Friday, so please come along, have fun, and support the amazing volunteers who work so hard to organise it for our school community.

Thank you, as always, for your kindness, care and continued support. Together we make Herbert Morrison a school where everyone belongs.

Kind regards,

Mrs Peake
Headteacher