Dear Parents and Carers

We've come to the end of our first half term of 2024 already and also the end of our Children's Mental Health Week.  

It is also RFP as I write and it is always wonderful to see the school brimming with families benefiting from the joy of reading together.

We've also seen some sunshine this week and it's been lovely to see the fun the children have been having in the great outdoors.

You will see below what a busy time we've had in school these past 5 weeks and there's plenty more fun and learning planned for when we come back on Monday 19th February.

We will also be launching our Lent Appeal 2024 next half term - full details to follow on our fundraising and also our annual 40 Days of Kindness activity.

Finally, in the meantime please see the attendance message below on the importance of NOT taking time out of school outside of term time.

Have a great Half Term everyone.

Best wishes

AMG 

Headteacher

UNAUTHORISED ABSENCES:

A Reminder:

Term time is term time when children are expected to be in school.

This week there have been far too many families asking for time off either side of half term, using their travel arrangements as an excuse.

This is not acceptable and we will be starting to implement fines for these unauthorised absences in the course of next half term.

We had an amazing School Disco last Saturday with 300 children enjoying some brilliant music, displaying some incredible dance moves and most importantly having fun! Thank you to  our year 6 reps for organising, to all who volunteered who helped on the day and to Mrs Grant & Mrs Harris who were at school on Saturday to allow this event to happen. Also best not to forget the dancing DJ whose head spinning was very much appreciated!

Turning to the next half term, we have our Quiz Night on March 11th in the school hall. It is a chance to test your knowledge of this Great City we live in - “London Knowledge” is the theme  - so come dressed as your favourite underground line, station or maybe a Great Fire! Top tip wear black and we will assume you are the northern line.  ……It is tables of 6 for the quiz and we can place you on a table or you can book with friends – either way come along for a fun night https://buytickets.at/ptastmichaels/852949

All these wonderful events run by class reps do need some underpinning support so don’t be shy if you are interested in finding out more about co-chairing the PTA next year  - do email us pta@stmichaels.wandsworth.sch.uk (Second hand uniforms sales Czar  position open too!)

We wish everyone a wonderful half term and look forward to seeing you after the break for  cake sales, Quizzes and more !

Sheila and Cora , PTA Co-Chairs 

Children's Mental Health Week:

This week, we celebrated Children's Mental Health under the banner "Let's Connect". 

We rounded the week off with "Dress To Express" to celebrate our uniqueness and diversity.

A £2 was requested which will go towards Place2Be, a children's mental health charity who provided all the resources for this week.

Year 5 Geography Day:

Y5 had a fantastic day celebrating their geography unit 'Trade and Globalisation'.

The day began with sharing our items from our chosen countries. 

We had sushi from Japan, pizza from Italy, a special story from Portugal and plantain chips from Nigeria. We then used our map skills to identify how far the food had travelled to make it to Southfields. 

Our furthest item were Anzac biscuits from New Zealand at a total distance of 11667 miles away!

 We played a trading game and used watercolours to paint different continents. 

To end the day we tasted delicious food from around the world. 

The year 5 team are truly thankful to the pupils and parents for helping to make our first year 5 geography day a success.

ADELE STEWART

Lent Appeal:

Your child will soon be coming home with full details of our Lent Appeal.

This will include our '40 Days of Kindness' chart, which this year is on the theme of 'Being A Courageous Advocate'.

School Maintenance Fund:

This is a polite reminder to parents if you would very kindly follow the link regarding an annual payment of £65 per pupil.

We are currently planning some important works at the school and this would help us enormously.

Many thanks for your generosity and support.

Nursery & EYFS Review:

St. Michael’s Early Years have had another great half term at school and have been busy exploring, learning and of course, having fun! We would like to shout out to all our amazing little learners for their continued persistence and wonderful effort that they show throughout their busy days at school. 

In Nursery, Mini St.Mike’s have begun their unit, ‘Once Upon a Time’. They have delved into the fairytale worlds to explore different stories, traditional tales and alternatives. They started off the term with the Gingerbread Man, who even made an appearance in the nursery! The children were excited to retell the story and role play with the characters after finding big footprints in the classroom. Mini St.Mike’s have finished off the term by reading the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf! Through this book, the children have learnt about different buildings and have tried to make their own outside! 

In their Maths, the Nursery children have been learning all about the numbers to 5. They have been learning a new number each week & understanding how to count, pointing to 1 object each time and drawing out objects they can see all around them too. 

The children have also continued to develop an understanding of phonics, through many of our favourite games! 

Through Nursery & Reception this term we have celebrated Luna New Year. The EYFS children have learnt all about many traditions surrounding this special time of year, what people might do, eat and the meaning to each of the different animals through our story of ‘The Great Race’. There was so much enjoyment to be had and our learning displayed in our classrooms, ready for parents/carers to see! 

In Reception, the children have stepped into the world of construction through our unit of ‘Build it Up!’ We have seen so many wonderful creations from the children which has sparked innovative learning. This term, we have learnt all about materials and their use and made decisions about what we would build certain structures from. We have been classifying materials, recycling them to make our boats and using them in our role play builders yard! Our learning of materials helped the children when making their very own dens in our Den Building Workshop! The children had read the Three Little Pigs and had to make a den tha would not be blown down by the big bad wolf! 

In our Literacy, the children have been learning about different reasons for writing. The children began by writing a prayer linking to their RE, have made a list for their gingerbread people recipe and decided that they wanted to write their own version of The Three Little Pigs! They are continuing to develop their writing skills such as finger spaces, phonetic spelling, capital letters and full stops. We are impressed by how well the children are already doing! 

Thank you to all of our parents and carers for your continued support and contribution to the children’s learning outside of school! Thank you also to our parents who have come into read stories & take part in our Story Sessions with Love to Learn to Read. We are so excited for all the fun that is still to come! 

CHLOE FRYER

EYFS PHASE LEADER

Lower Phase Review:

It has been all-go in Key Stage One! If you would like to see 120 hardworking children and nine hardworking grown ups - make an appointment to visit! 

Year One have been busy writing recounts of a special journey they made through the school and have also written instructions for how to make a rocket! They are learning how to use super sentences in their writing for different purposes. In mathematics they have been learning about numbers from 11-20 and how to add and subtract using various methods. The children are dab hands at using number lines and can quickly spot tens and units in larger numbers. In science, the children have been looking at various materials and conducting experiments to see if various materials are waterproof. If you have an umbrella with a hole - bring it to 1C or 1CR and we will use our scientific knowledge about materials to mend it for you! Year One children also know about the oceans and continents. They have been labeling maps and finding out facts about each continent and what you might see if you visit various countries. If you need advice on where to go on holiday - do come and ask us!

Year Two have been working extra hard on their writing skills and have learnt how to write a diary prompted by a beautiful book called ‘The Proudest Blue’ and they also know how to write a non-fiction report based on the Titanic. In mathematics they have been learning all about money - now is the perfect time to start encouraging your child to save their money and use it wisely and frugally - very important life skills! In science, the children have moved on to exploring plants and what they need to grow - a wonderful halt term project may be to plant some bulbs or seeds at home. In art, the children have been exploring the work of artist Yayoi Kusama and have looked at various works of art and are working on using different painting techniques. 

Both year groups have been finding out about the Sikh faith in RE. Last week, we had a wonderful visit to the Gurdwara in Southfields. Mr Singh shared information about the Gurdwara, showed us the prayer room and showed hospitality by sharing drinks and biscuits. Visiting various places of worship is key to learning in RE as it helps the children understand how different people live and worship. 

I hope you all have a wonderful half term break. Do make the most of the local library, park and the free museums and galleries in London to get out and about. We are so pleased with all of the children and their learning, they are growing in independence in all areas. Use this growing independence and share out the jobs at home!

SHARON CUNNINGHAM

LOWER PHASE LEADER

Middle Phase Review:

Can you believe that we are halfway through the academic year already? This half term has been action packed in the Middle Phase, not least because we have had the pleasure of rehearsing and performing our Year Group assemblies to the school and parents. Year 4 loved sharing all their ‘sticky knowledge’ in their version of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ and, for their performance this week, Year 3 taught us how to look after our mental and physical well being. Thank you to the parents and friends who came along to watch, your support means a lot to the children.

Another highlight for Year 4 was the exciting and informative trip to the Science Museum. We watched a fascinating, though rather stomach-churning show called ‘It takes guts’ which was a great way to consolidate all our learning about the human digestive system. The children also did an interesting investigation about the effect of different sorts of drinks on teeth; instead of using actual teeth, however, we used eggs as the eggshell is very similar in composition to the enamel that covers our teeth. We tested the eggs in water, milk, orange juice, Coca Cola and Coke Zero. The results were quite startling!

History this term has been all about the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, finding out where they came from, when and why they invaded Britain and how the various Saxon kingdoms eventually unified as one, called Angle-land. We even made replica Saxon brooches in Art. 

In Art, also, we have enjoyed looking at the work of Wassily Kandinsky; using oil pastels and blending techniques to create bright, colourful, abstract artwork in his style. 

In English, the children have worked hard, exploring the story of George’s Marvellous Medicine and using it as the basis for narrative, a play script and instructional writing. To inspire vocabulary for the instructions, we actually made a crazy concoction using assorted and unusual ingredients! 

Maths this term has been focused on strategies for multiplication and division, including understanding ‘distributive law’ and ‘associative law’ to help us with trickier calculations. We have been working hard on learning and recalling our times table facts quickly and in any order. 

Year 3 have been fascinated learning about volcanoes this half term in Geography lessons, understanding the different layers of the earth’s surface. This correlates very well with their science topic, Rocks, in which the children have enjoyed finding out about metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous rocks. The children have been learning to classify rocks and have made careful observations to compare different types of rocks by testing for durability and permeability. 

In DT, pupils have researched and are in the process of making a simple moving toy. They have already put the components together to make the mechanics work and are very excited to complete the structure and decorate their Bobbler Wobblers.

In RE, pupils learnt that Hindus believe in one God called Brahman and that he has many representations. They also learnt about the festival of Raksha Bandhan and found out why, during this festival, sisters tie a special handmade thread called a Rakhi around their brothers’ wrists. To link with this festival children made their own Rakhi and thought about whose wrist would they tie the bracelet around.

In English recently, the children have been exploring fairy tales and writing their own narrative versions, interestingly swapping the gender of their main character from the original story. 

In Maths this half term, Year 3 have been getting to grips with strategies for multiplication and division, using concrete manipulatives and pictorial resources before moving on to the written methods.

I always hear such lovely music coming from the Music room so I asked Mrs Minster for an update as well. Year 3 have been learning about music of the ballet. So far, they have listened to pieces from the Nutcracker, developed their knowledge of orchestral instruments, and played along with Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Waltz of the Flowers. They have also danced to Trepak whilst learning about form/structure. Lately, they have played the Swan Lake melody on glockenspiels.

Year 4 have been developing their skill on the ukulele. They now can play a number of chords, and change between them in songs including, Ho Hey, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and Mustang Sally. They also have started to read chord diagrams and develop strumming technique. 

Thank you as always to my amazing, dedicated team in the Middle Phase and to you, the parents, for supporting your children’s learning at home. 

Happy half term!

RACHEL LEE

MIDDLE PHASE LEADER

Upper Phase Review:

The weather is improving, it is slowly becoming brighter as we venture towards springtime! Christmas is well and truly behind us and we have embraced all the new challenges and learning 2023 has brought to us. The half term has approached so fast yet I am grateful to all pupils and staff for a successful Spring 1.

In year 5, the children enjoyed reading The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan. The children enjoyed creating their own lost creation passport which resulted in the children creating their ultimate guide to their own lost thing! The rich vocabulary, figurative language and illustrations were superb. Writing has been a focus this term and we are seeing great progress from the learners. Well done year 5. 

In art, the children have used Georgia O’Keefe as inspiration to create wonderful water colour paintings. The children then created their own gallery for their peers to pursue - just like our visit to the National Gallery. In addition, the children have enjoyed learning about Globalisation and Trade in geography. The children have dived into what trade is and why the UK has many trade partners. One learner said ‘it has been interesting to find out where my school uniform has come from, some of our clothes come from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’. 

The children rounded off this term with a ‘Geography Day’ which allowed the children to dress up in international clothes, taste food from around the world and participate in games from different parts of the world. 

The year 6 learners have been equally as busy studying the late, great William Shakespeare. The children have enjoyed learning about Macbeth. The tragic, classic tale follows Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, whose ambition leads to his downfall. The children enjoyed embodying the various characters in the play and creating their own advertisement and story opening for Macbeth. 

Well done to the year 6 team and the learners for producing such fantastic writing. Innovation was at the heart of their art focus this term, as the children created their own paintings and drawings of Lady Macbeth, the killer dagger and a puppeteers hand. They focused on shading, shadowing and constrasting black and white images with splashes of red for maximum impact.

Beaming with pride, I reflect on this spring term. 

Both staff and pupils have shown persistence, innovation, collaboration and have reflected on how to be even better for Spring 2. 

Happy half term everyone! 

ADELE STEWART

UPPER PHASE LEADER

SEND Parent Carers:

At a recent SEND conference the National Network of Parent Carer Forums  was discussed with our SENCO.  

Please see the leaflet which talks about the group and how you could become involved and take part in further changes to provision in Wandsworth.

PE News:

A Review:

The children have been learning basketball and netball skills in PE this half term comparing the similarities and differences between the two games. Key Stage 2 have learned the positions for netball and how to pass and move without breaking footwork rules etc. Reception and KS1 have been learning the fundamental skills to play the sports and played adapted versions of the games. I have been impressed with the childrens determination to develop their skills and the quality of learning has been excellent.

Girls Football Team:

Our year 5 and 6 girls football team attended the Wandsworth School Games girls football tournament on 20th January and were amazing. They drew the first game and then won the rest of the group stage games showing amazing teamwork to finish top of the group. We lost in the quarter finals but I was so proud of the girls' performance on the day.

This Week:

Well done to our Years 3 and 4 Kurling Team who came fifth out of 18 schools in the local competition held at Southfields Academy.

Also, lucky Year 6 enjoyed an AFC Wimbledon stadium tour, PE lesson and workshop.

PE News Next Half Term:

Next half term we will be starting our tennis lessons with All Star Tennis coming in to support and deliver to our year 1 and 2 children. Any practice the children can get in over half term holidays will support their learning.

The House Winners for Hockey was Seymour 

CARL ROCHFORD

HEAD OF SPORT

SAS Group:

We have loved meeting in the Oasis room on Friday afternoons and although we are sad to say goodbye to one of our members we have also introduced a new one - MILO Bear!

He has already enjoyed weekends staying with different families, including Mrs Grant, and will be spending half term with the Frost family.

We have some new games donated to the group including Othello, Shut The Box and Traffic Jam and we have also loved creating stencil art and making Valentine's Cards this half term.

Next half term we will be focusing on Mothering Sunday and Easter craft and also looking toward the Coronation celebrations in May.

CAROLINE JOPP

RE Faculty Update:

We have had a wonderful start to 2023 in regard to Religious Education. The children have embraced their RE lessons and created wonderful displays in their classroom to showcase their learning. Across the school we have explored Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism and Islam!

These are some of the Big Questions from RE lessons.  

I list them here so that you can discuss them over Sunday lunch :)

Who do Sikhs worship?

Who cares for God's house?

What does it mean to show commitment to something?

How do people show devotion to their faith?

Why is pilgrimage significant?

What is the meaning of life?

How do people know God exists?

SHARON CUNNINGHAM

Our 2022-2023 school attendance target is: 97%

This half term we achieved: 

96.8%

Please refer to the punctuality link on our website 

http://www.stmichaels.wandsworth.sch.uk/our-school/attendance/ 

SpringTerm 2:

Price per day:    £2.75

Price per week: £13.75

Price per half term:  £82.50

Change To Lunch Arrangements:

If your child wishes to switch from school lunch to packed lunch (or vice versa) next half term please be aware that the kitchen will need a week's advance notice.

If you are switching over, please do then stick with this decision for the remainder of the half term ahead.