Cheam Common Junior Academy
Weekly Newsletter
Friday 22nd September 2023
Cheam Common Junior Academy: Kingsmead Avenue, Worcester Park, KT4 8UT
Email: ccjoffice@leoacademytrust.co.uk http://www.cheamcommon.org.uk/
School Updates
Our Harvest Appeal
Next week, we will be collecting food donations for Harvest Festival. As usual, we would like to ask for your support in donating a variety of goods which will then be distributed to Epsom Food Bank to help support local families in need. You will no doubt be aware that there is a soaring demand for local food banks. Many are struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis.
These donations can be handed in any day that week at the gate in the morning or at the school office.
There will be a harvest assembly on Friday 29th September and all donations will be displayed in the hall. Some of our new school councillors will be travelling to Epsom Food Bank later the following week to deliver the donations. Please could you support the children by sending in a variety of groceries and produce, which would be suitable as emergency produce and which have a relatively long shelf-life (3+ months shelf life). At the moment, the foodbank is making up food parcels that include a variety of items.
They are asking for these particular items:
Instant mash, cereal (not porridge), Weetabix, rice pudding, custard, instant coffee, biscuits, noodles, jam / honey / marmalade, ketchup / brown sauce / mayonnaise, peanut butter, chocolate spread, shampoo / conditioner, deodorant, shower gel, soap, chocolate/ sweet treats.
Sing Up Digi Choir Performance
Last year, our Choir performed as part of the Sing Up Day's Digi Choir. They performed the 'Blossom Out', along with hundreds of other schools from around the world. See if you can spot them in the video below.
Flu inoculations - Wednesday 1st November
On Wednesday 1st November, the NHS Sutton and Merton Immunisation Team will be in school to provide free flu immunisations. You can find out more information out here.
If you have any queries, please contact the Sutton and Merton
Immunisation Team: 0203 903 3373 / 3371
Cycle to School Week 2023
Join the movement: Cycle to School Week 2023 encourages Cheam Common Juniors to pedal towards a greener future!
Schools and families across the UK are being invited to take part in the Cycle to School Week, running from 25 to 29 September 2023. Activity across the country will encourage the nation’s children to use pedal power to get to school.
Organised in partnership with Sustrans, Cycle to School Week returns this September to encourage families and schools to celebrate cycling. Participants can choose between pledging to swap one car journey for cycling, cycle to school every day, cycle with their family or discover somewhere new on a cycle ride.
On average, according to Cycling UK, just 2.2% of children cycle to school and a whopping 35.4% are driven to school. The average journey to school is just 2.4 miles. If just one child cycled to school instead of travelling in the car for a year, it would save almost half a tonne in carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to growing eight trees for a decade or charging 58,388 mobile phones. Cycling to school reduces congestion, improves air quality and makes neighbourhoods quieter and more pleasant places to live.
As part of the campaign, the Junior Travel Ambassadors will be promoting and raising awareness of cycling to school and encouraging all children to take part! So, dust off your helmet and hold onto those handlebars!
Physical Chastisement
There are many different views about physical chastisement, but it is widely accepted there are much more effective ways to teach children right from wrong.
As a local authority, Sutton has seen a number of children coming to the attention of police and social care due to the use of physical chastisement and as such has worked with other local authorities on an initiative to reduce this number.
In line with this initiative, we agree that anything that causes harm to a child is unacceptable.
As a school, we have a duty to report incidents of suspected or confirmed physical chastisement to social care and the police and this can be with ot without visible bruising, grazes, scratches, minor swelling, cuts as well as stress injuries from prolonged standing, position holding as these are banned by law in the United Kingdom.
Smacking or chastising that does not leave a mark is now illegal in Wales and Scotland, and there is currently pressure being placed on the Government to make it illegal in England and Northern Ireland too. It is therefore important to understand that even if a child has been smacked but no injuries are visible, social care or the police may still choose to take further action.
If you would like support on how to manage your child’s behaviour at home, please do not hesitate to contact us, we are here to help.
LEO Safeguarding Team
Metropolitan Police: Christmas Campaign
We are planning our Christmas Tree Campaign, working with The Childhood Trust, delivering Christmas presents to young people across London who may not otherwise receive a gift. This year the campaign will be ever more important as families navigate the continuing cost of living crisis.
In 2012, the campaign began with one tree outside New Scotland Yard in Westminster. Since then, the campaign has grown, taking place across London, with a tree in each of the 32 Boroughs. The response from our communities has been both overwhelming and extremely humbling. In 2022 we delivered almost 17,000 presents to children across London and raised over £86,000. Many officers describe this as some of the most rewarding work they have done during their service.
This year, each of the local senior policing teams will choose a poster designed by a local primary school child, which will be used to advertise the campaign to the public. The Commissioner will then choose an overall winner which will be used to promote the London-wide MPS campaign. The winner and 4 runners up will be invited with their parents/guardians to the turning on of the New Scotland Yard Christmas Tree Lights in November 2023.
If you would like to design a Christmas card poster, please give this to your class teacher by Thursday 5th October. We will then send the entries in.
Registering for Pupil Premium
All children in Sutton will automatically qualify for Universal Free School Meals, but this does not mean automatic qualification for benefit-related Free School Meals.
It is vitally important that you still complete your school or borough’s registration form in case your child is eligible for extra funding for their school from the Government, worth £1,300 per year. That’s extra money to spend on enrichment activities, teacher development, and targeted support for the children that need it most. Depending on how schemes operate in your borough, it may also entitle you to other benefits like food vouchers during the holidays. Please register for Pupil Premium here.
Free School Meals - Sutton.pdfTKD Club
At Cheam Common, we are happy to host TKD every Monday morning: a club that aims to teach your child the basic skills of tae-kwon-do, as well as self-defence. The clubs improves fitness, develops discipline and will help your child to gain confidence. If you are interested, please visit their website here.
Our Book Wishlist!
Children across the school wrote a wishlist of the different books that they would like to see in their library and their classrooms.
We have collated this wishes and have put together an Amazon Wish List, which can be found here. If parents and families wish, there are over a hundred books that children are desperate to read on the list and these can be ordered as a present to our school. Alternatively, if you notice a book on the list that your children no longer read, we are always grateful for any donations!
It has also been suggested by our children that, on a birthday, rather than bringing sweets in for their classmates, children choose a book on the list that they would like to donate to their class. This also falls in line with our commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles. On the order, there is an option to leave a message - you can specify which class the book is for. As ever, we recognise that money can be tight so please note that this is entirely optional. Any support is always appreciated.
Weekly School and Sporting News Stories
This week, our classes have been busy appointing children in the class with specific roles and responsibilities.
It was another busy week of events at Cheam Common!
⚖️ Craze of the Week: Our Craze of the Week was balance boards, with children using them to improve their coordination, balance and social skills.
📸 Individual school photos: On Monday morning, children came into school looking incredibly smart ready for their school photos. We are looking forward to seeing them in the next few weeks and hope that children can continue looking so smart for school.
♻️ Recycling Week Assembly: Between 16th-22nd October, we will be celebrating National Recycling Week. On Tuesday, Miss Harland led an assembly to announce our new Eco Council members, and to highlight the importance of recycling.
🛶 Canoe Slalom World Championships: On Thursday, a group of Year 5 and 6 pupils were lucky enough to attend the Canoe Slalom World Championships at Lee Valley White Water Centre. They took part in a range of activities including a water safety activity, a tour of the facilities, taking part in canoeing and they even were able to try out a canoeing VR headset activity.
Margot's sporting achievements
She are so proud of Margot who joined a new rugby club last week: Wimbledon RFC! We hope she has a very successful season ahead.
Margot has also been taking part in Ching Kwang Do, which is a martial art based on self-defence. She has her Orange Belt grading this Sunday - good luck!
If you would like to share your child's achievements outside of school with us, we'd love to hear them! Please email the school office.
Autumn Term Dates
Please find below all the key dates and times for the next few weeks of the Autumn Term.
PTA events are shown in this colour. Please see below for more details.
Monday 25th September
Harvest donations can start to be brought in
Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th September
Year 4 Gooey Stuey Workshops (in school)
Friday 29th September
PTA Macmillan Coffee Morning
Friday 29th September
Harvest Assembly
Wednesday 4th October
Year 3 Open Afternoon (2-3pm)
Monday 9th October
Year 5 Swimming starts
Thursday 19th October
Year 3 and 4 Disco (3:30-4:30pm)
Year 5 and 6 Disco (4:45-5:45pm)
Friday 20th October
Year 1 and 2 Disco (3:30-4:30pm)
Monday 23rd - Friday 27th October
Half Term
Wednesday 20th December
Christmas Lunch
Thursday 21st December
Christmas Class Parties
Friday 22nd December
Last day of term (2:10pm finish)
Friends of Cheam Common - Updates
The Friends of Cheam Common now has a new Facebook group, where you can follow any updates on upcoming events or how you can get involved.
The Friends of Cheam Common will be distributing secondhand uniform to anyone may need it.
If this is something you would be interested in, please contact them on friendssecondhanduniform@gmail.com.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Click the image above for the link to purchase tickets.
Celebrations, Awards and Stars of the Week
Stars of the Week
3A - Max
3F - Raphaella
3S - Owen
3T - Maya
4I - Miles
4C - Aliza
4HJ - Millie
4M - Archana
5VH - Joshua
5G - Aadya
5JH - Oscar
5M - Mushiir
6S - Oscar
6CB - Aryan
6SB - Rylie
6W - Aaralyn
PRIDE Ambassadors of the Week
Perseverance, Respect, Imagination, Dedication, Encouragement
3A - Melinda
3F - Alfie
3S - Naya
3T - Stefanos
4I - Quinton
4C - Herkus
4HJ - Tudor
4M - Ryder
5VH - Molly
5G - Rushil
5JH - Janiya
5M - Mildred
6S - Elsie
6CB - Sydelle
6SB - Henry
6W - Jake B
Times Tables Rockstars
Our top three classes were:
🥇4I
🥈4C
🥉4HJ
Our top Rockstar in each year group was:
Year 3: Aaron (3A)
Year 4: Arjun (4I)
Year 5: Shazain (5JH)
Year 6: Aadi (6CB)
SEND & Inclusion Updates
Young Carers at Cheam Common
At Cheam Common Junior Academy, we hold a weekly small group session to support children across the school who fulfil the role of ‘Young Carer’ because they have a sibling or parent with serious health issues, special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
We want to celebrate the important role our Young Carers play, but also recognise that they may face challenges and pressures not shared by the general school population.
The group meets during assembly time and is led by Mrs Hart.
If you would like your child to take part please complete this form.
If you have any questions about the group, please feel free to contact us at ccjsend@leoacademytrust.co.uk
Please click here for more information on how parents can be supported with the behaviour and understanding of their children. The courses that are available are as follows:
Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities
Care for the Family
Adapt to Learn
Please click here to access the Local Authority's Ambitious for SEND parent newsletter to stay in touch with what is happening in the local area. To receive these newsletters (three produced each year) please subscribe to the local area Ambitious for SEND newsletter. It is a great way to stay in touch with what is happening in the local area. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Click the image above for further information!
Keeping Safe Online
DIGI Safe - Keeping Children Safe Online
LGFL have launched a wonderfully informative and practical website full of resources to help keep children safe online. With videos, informative guides and top tips, there is lots to explore to help keep your child safe whilst online. To visit, click here.
Family Support
Primary Parent Webinars Poster 23-24.Education Wellbeing Service.pdfMental Health and Wellbeing Update
Local Activities and Events - General Information
Please find flyers attached for the following advertisements:
Dance Unlimited @ North Cheam
Trinity School Orchestra Day - Sunday 8th October
Tamil School - North Cheam
Future term dates
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