Newsletter 6 Autumn Term

Reminder:  Parents/ Carers of pupils with SEND 

Parents/carers of pupils with SEND are invited to attend an informal coffee and biscuits afternoon this week on Friday 11th, October from 2:00pm until 3.15pm. This is a chance to meet Sarah Crowther (SENCo/DHT), Emily Woodward (AHT/Senior Mental Health Lead) and Alison Miller (School Community Worker). They will also be joined by Rob Harris from Achieving for Children (2:00pm - 2:45pm) who is the SEND Parent and Carer Engagement Officer for Kingston who will be helping explain and signpost parents/carers to local services, capturing views and wishes and explaining the SEND Parent Champions scheme. For further details of the scheme click here.  To help us plan for the event please sign up using this link.

Reminder:  Annual Flu Vaccination

Next week, on the morning of Wednesday 16th October, the school health team will be carrying out annual flu vaccinations.  It is important for all parents and carers to complete the electronic consent form, even if you decide not to have your child vaccinated.   

Click here for further details regarding protecting your child against flu.  

Please use this link to access the electronic consent form.  Closing date: Sunday 13th October 2024.

Writing for purpose!

Giselle, Isla, and Mishka (6S) have shown incredible initiative by writing letters in their own time to our local MP, Sir Ed Davey, urging for more bins to be installed in the community. The idea came to them during their involvement in Archbishop’s Young Leaders' Award in Year 5, when they noticed the growing amount of litter in public spaces. Concerned about the environmental impact and the look of their community, they decided to put their persuasive writing skills - taught during English lessons - into action.

Giselle took things a step further by also writing a letter to the Prime Minister. To her delight, she received a reply, in which the Prime Minister acknowledged her concerns and explained that her letter had been forwarded to the relevant department for review.

Their efforts are a fantastic example of how pupils can use their learning to create positive change. Well done, Giselle, Isla, and Mishka, for showing that every voice matters.

Well done!

We are thrilled to announce that Leo (6S) recently attended a special ceremony where he was awarded a prestigious four-year music scholarship.  With only 50 to 75 scholarships awarded annually across all 32 London boroughs, this is an outstanding achievement.  Leo joined three other scholars in workshops led by ABRSM musicians, where they had the opportunity to perform a piece of music they co-composed in front of an audience of friends, family and representatives from the London Music Fund.

Congratulations, Leo!  We are incredibly proud of your achievement.

Prospective parent morning

Registration for our open morning is now live. Prospective parents, who are looking to apply for a place for their child at SASM from September 2025, are warmly invited to visit on Monday 21st October at 9:00am to hear from Mr Gates and have a tour of the school. 

For more information and to register your place, visit: our prospective parent webpage 

Bookshop Day

To celebrate Bookshop Day – the annual celebration of all high-street bookshops in the UK, is taking place on Saturday 12th October.  Regency Bookshop in Surbiton is offering 25% discount OFF ALL BOOKS* in-store and orders.  Thank you for your continued support – customers new and old!

*Not in conjunction with any other offer.

We are ready for harvest donations

The annual Harvest Festival will take place on Tuesday 22nd October (9:15am - 10:15am) at St Mark's Church. It is a wonderful opportunity for our school community to come together, give thanks, and celebrate the abundance of the season. 

As part of the Harvest Festival, we will be collecting the following donations

• Cereals

• Coffee

• Pasta sauce

• Tinned fruit

• Tinned meat

• Tinned vegetables

• Shampoo/Conditioner

• Sanitary towels 

• UHT Milk

Please bring your contributions to the school office. 

Smartphone Free Childhood Movement - parent/carer representatives are seeking your views!  

If you haven't already, Representatives from the Smartphone Free Childhood movement would welcome your views via this survey. 

This parent & carer survey is to gather opinions on children owning and using smartphones. The survey will only take 3 minutes and is completely anonymous. If you have more than one child of school age, we would be grateful if you could complete a survey for each child. Please be aware that the data you are consenting to provide in this survey is not being processed and stored by St Andrew's and St Mark's but by parent representatives.    

We will share the survey findings and the proposed next steps as soon as possible. This survey is based on an idea from the Smartphone Free Childhood movement Smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk. 

Safer Schools App

We would encourage all parents/carers to download the Safer Schools app for free push notifications about online safety and helpful advice. You can download the app using the instructions here. 

Do you have concerns about a child?

Adults - you can contact the Single Point of Access to request support, or to report a concern about a child or young person. Click here to make a referral.  You can also call for advice. Opening hours: From 8.00am to 5.15pm, Monday to Thursday, and 8.00am to 5.00pm on Friday - call 020 8547 5008  (Out of hours, phone 020 8770 5000). If you think a child or young person is in immediate danger call 999. Referrals are not limited to safeguarding: the Single Point of Access acts as a signposting service to other services, including mental health. Matt Gates is our Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Invitation to join the children's church choir

The St Andrew’s and St Mark’s church children’s choir has its first rehearsal this Friday 4th October at 4:30pm - 5:30pm at St Mark’s church.

This is the first of five Friday sessions leading to a performance during morning service on Sunday 2nd November 2024. 

Rehearsals are led by the Director of Music, Simon Harvey.  No previous training is required, and it’s totally free.

If your child would like to join, please contact Robert the vicar (robertstanier@btinternet.com) to find out more details or just turn up.  Quite a few SASM pupils are already members but there is room for more.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS  

If your child is eligible for free school meals but you prefer to provide them with packed lunches, it's still important to register.  By doing so, the school receives additional funding called Pupil Premium which helps support your child in other ways. 

Once you have registered for free school meals and we have received confirmation that you are eligible, your child will then be able to attend an enrichment club after school free of charge, as well as one session at our after school club.  They will also qualify for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme, this is also known as FUEL (which stands for ‘Feed Ur Everyday Lives’) This programme offers free places at holiday clubs during the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks. 

Children can enjoy 4 sessions during Easter, 16 sessions over the summer and 4 in winter, with lunch provided at the club. There are lots of clubs and activities to choose from across a range of dates, time and locations. Some activities include: cycling; film-making; yoga; technology and coding; skateboarding; art and crafts; cooking; indoor climbing; and lots of sports such as cricket, football, netball and rugby. 

If you think you may be eligible and would like further information please contact the office and ask for Mrs Miller, our School Community Worker. 

Help children get a healthy start to the new school year by ensuring they are up to date with all their routine vaccinations

When your child starts or returns to school, they will have increased contact with other children. If they are not up to date with their routine immunisations, they may be at risk of catching preventable diseases, including measles, whooping cough, meningitis, diphtheria and polio.

Please check that your child is fully up to date with their routine immunisations before they start or return to school. You can check if your child is up to date with immunisations by checking their red book or contacting your GP surgery. For a full checklist of vaccines and when they should be given visit - NHS vaccinations and when to have them.

• Immunising primary school children - Postcard

• Immunising pre-secondary school children - Postcard

Learn to swim this half term holiday

Children can learn to swim this half term holiday with our wide range of crash courses and workshops available at Teddington Pools and Fitness Centre and Pools on the Park.

Bookings can be made by calling us on 020 37722999 or at the in person at the centre reception.

Please click here for more information.

Please send a water bottle with your child

Its important to ensure that our pupils stay hydrated throughout the day.  Please remember to send your child to school with a  water bottle.  To avoid any mix-ups, kindly label the bottle with your child's name.   Thank you.

No toys in school, please!

We would like to remind parents and carers that pupils are not permitted to bring their own toys or collectables into school. Not only do toys provide a distraction from pupils' learning, there is a potential for personal items to be misplaced. Please be aware that any lost toys, collectible cards or other play items are beyond the responsibility of the school.

Jewellery

Children can wear watches to school but the wearing of jewellery and earrings of all types is not permitted on safety grounds.  Any child wearing earrings to school will be asked to remove them.  If they are unable to remove them they will be required to stay inside during break and lunch times and will not be able to participate in any PE or physical activities. 

Smart Watches

Fitness trackers without smart watch capability are permitted but St Andrew’s and St Mark’s accept no responsibility for the loss or damage of these items. Smart watches , including iWatches- are not permitted due to their messaging capabilities. 

Lost Property

Please remember to label your child’s uniform, lunch box and water bottle.  All named lost property will be returned to your child by the next school day.  Unlabelled property will be kept for one week only in the school office.