Newsletter Ten w/c 13th November 2023

FOSS UPDATE  PAGE THREE

HAVE YOU GOT ANY GAMES YOU NO LONGER PLAY?

If you have any games that you can spare, St Stephen's Stars would love to have them. They are desperate for more games, especially the board variety, for our wraparound care club. Please bring them to the front desk at school. Many, many thanks for you help. 

DATES AND REMINDERS

DATES  ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE


Tuesday 21st November – New parent tours 

Thursday 23rd November - Thunberg class assembly 

Thursday 23rd November - NSPCC 'Speak Out, Stay Safe' workshop/assembly - Years Two, Five, Six

Monday 27th November - Flu Immunisations - whole school

Wednesday 29th November - Year Five - Lau - trip to National Archives 

Saturday 2nd December - Christmas Fair 

Monday 4th December - Year Three - trip to Museum of Richmond - Thunberg am/Mandela pm

Monday 11th December - FOSS Christmas Market 

Wednesday 13th December - Carol Service - St Stephen's Church - Year Two Nativity within the service 10am

Wednesday 13th December - Reception Nativity 2.30pm (tbc)

Thursday 14th December - Reception Nativity 9.30am (tbc)

Thursday 14th December - Year Four - Poetry Workshop with Harry Baker

Friday 15th December - Christmas lunch

Thursday 21st December - End of term. School closes 2.15pm

Monday 8th January - INSET day 

Tuesday 9th January - Spring Term - Children return

Tuesday 16th January - Year Five - trip to Gunnersbury Museum (further details to follow)

Wednesday 17th January - Year Four - swimming starts 

Thursday 18th January - Obama class assembly (tbc)

Monday 22 - Friday 2nd February - Year Six Bikeability

Wednesday 24th  January - Earhart class assembly (tbc)

'Being part of the St Stephen's CofE School community is transformational,' according to RE inspectors

Our recent SIAMS inspection (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools) was a triumph. The inspectors were impressed with our spiritual and nurturing environment and were delighted with the flourishing ethos of our school, which is impacting so positively on children and staff alike. We caught up with Tanya Blomley, our RE Co-ordinator for her report. All parents and carers will receive an email with the full report 


"On Thursday 19th October, we welcomed a SIAMS inspector into our school. In a similar way to Ofsted, all Church of England schools are visited regularly to evaluate the key question: How effective is the school's distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling all pupils and adults to flourish? 

The inspector explored this through the following ways;


SIAMS explores ways in which each school’s theologically rooted Christian vision drives its work and enables the school to live up to its foundation as a Church school." explained Mrs Blomley.



Such close scrutiny is essential if inspectors are to glean an in-depth feeling for our school. We are thrilled to report that the report is packed with positives. Although there is no grading for this inspection, the highly positive comments are as good as it gets. Here are just some of the comments the inspectors shared with us:

'Being part of St Stephen’s caring and loving school community is transformational. The lives of pupils and adults are enriched because of leaders’ unswerving determination to ‘build each other up in love and learning’. Every child’s talent is discovered and fostered through the many rich opportunities provided by the school.'

'Early interventions ensure that pupils who require extra support receive help quickly so they do not fall behind. As a result, pupils of all backgrounds and abilities flourish in this warm, loving environment.'

'The vision that everyone should flourish and fulfil their potential is deeply embedded in St Stephen’s culture.' 

'Leaders demonstrate a high commitment to the health and wellbeing of everyone at the school. This has a significant impact on all. Using a wealth of support mechanisms, including a wide range of outside agencies, pupils and adults thrive.' 

'Specialist teachers in foreign languages, music, art, PE and computing are employed. This ensures that pupils have the very best opportunities to promote their learning.'


"We are so proud of these and so many other positive comments in the report. Our wonderful ethos and environment is thanks to the energy, skills and commitment of our whole school community – staff, parents, children and governors. It’s a huge team effort and we feel so fortunate to be part of such a supportive and caring family.


"A huge thank you to all the hard-working staff at school who care deeply about the children here and strive for excellence every day. To all the children who strive to be the best they can be every day and who demonstrate our values through the way they live. A big thank you to the parents and children who spoke to the SIAMS inspector. We are so lucky to work with such an engaged and supportive community,' concluded Mrs Blomley.


Alice Bishop, our Chair of Governors, said: "I am delighted that the hard work and dedication of the entire team at St Stephen’s was recognised in the fantastic outcome of the recent SIAMS Inspection.  I would particularly like to thank Mrs Blomley for the immense effort and positivity she has brought to the development of the RE Curriculum over the past few years."


Don't forget to look out for the full SIAMS report in your inbox. It makes for very uplifting reading!

Above: We give you our fabulous RE ambassadors. Below: Mrs Blomley sits down with her class and Mrs Phelan to celebrate our fantastic SIAMS report. Bottom (l-r): Rachel from St Stephen's Church leads our Church Assembly and some of our displays which so impressed the inspectors. 

When Munira Wilson MP came to St Stephen's

We were delighted to welcome our local MP, Munira Wilson, to St Stephen's for a meet up with our School Council and Miss Douglas,  just before the State Opening of Parliament. Miss Douglas sent us this report and the the children filed the following photographs to accompany it

Our School Council and some other students were lucky enough to meet with our local MP, Munira Wilson, just before the State Opening of Parliament. It was a fantastic chance for them to ask her questions on how she is helping our community, what was going to happen at the opening of Parliament and how they could make their own differences in the world. The children took it upon themselves to play the part of journalists; writing notes, keeping minutes and even photographing the meeting themselves. At the end of our meeting, Mrs Wilson said that the questions she had been asked were more provoking than being on Question Time and encouraged everyone to continue asking such insightful questions to all people in a position of power and to take ownership of the issues that affect them directly. She also commented on how wonderfully articulate the students of St Stephen's are and how they weren't afraid of asking the 'big questions'. It was a brilliant visit and all the students, from Year Two to Year Six, found it incredibly beneficial and awe-inspiring. 

Lest We Forget 

A wonderful Remembrance service was led by our Assistant Headteacher, Rachel Mowbray. She explains how it went ...

"On Friday, we shared in a collective act of remembrance at 11 o’clock. Prior to this, classes discussed local servicemen and women and people who children might want to remember during the silence.

"This year, our Year Six children who are part of Cubs and Sea Scouts wore their uniform and held the salute during the silence. In addition, they read out the names of the men and women we had discussed in class. Turing class performed a moving recital of the Canadian poet, John McCrae's, World War One poem, Flanders Fields, followed by Alice's lovely cello recital," said Miss Mowbray.   Some of our staff and children also got involved in Remembrance services in the community, including Miss Cooper, who has recently become the standard bearer for the Isleworth branch of the Royal British Legion. We will remember them.