Dear Parents and Carers

We've come to the end of the first half of our Autumn Term already and what a busy few weeks it has been.

It has been so lovely to see so many families and friends coming into school and benefitting from the joy of reading in our RFP this afternoon, and as I write every corner of the school is filled!

After half term there are lots of festive treats to look forward to in the school calendar including the Pantomime, the Christmas Fair, Nativity Performances, Christmas Festive Lunch, Class Parties, Music Performances and the end of term Christmas service.  

Do take a look at our updated Christmas Events schedule on our website: Christmas Events Schedule 2023 Link 

Before that we will have Level 2 Cycle Training for Year 6, Pupil First Aid days across the year groups, Parent Evenings, in-school Workshops and much much more.

We will also be focusing on Remembrance next month and this year the special assembly (for pupils only) will take place on Friday 10th November led by members of our SAS group, with their military parents as invited guests.

Finally, at this time we are reminded of the many people in the world who are affected by conflict. We pray that they will find peace, and will be given the shelter, food and resources they need to live.

'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus'. Philippians 4:6-7

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your kind words and notes of support to us all. It is only by working together that we can ensure that our children receive the best education possible. 

I wish you a restful and happy Half Term!

Angela Harris

Acting Headteacher

Good afternoon,

Well done everyone - we've made it to the end of the first half term!

We would like to thank those who found the time to fill in our parent survey and rest assured we are taking things on board. In light of that, we are going to try out a new approach to comms over the next half term. Say goodbye to receiving the same whatsapp message from the PTA to each of your class whatsapps every Sunday night!  We will instead focus all our PTA news in the WWU which will also be posted on the PTA website. https://sites.google.com/stmichaels.wandsworth.sch.uk/stmichaelsptasite/menu. 

Important messages will be sent via Parentmail and whatsapp messages from the PTA will be limited to important reminders and updates.  We hope you find this change is helpful in reducing repetition and background noise but we welcome your views so email us at pta@stmichaels.wandsworth.sch.uk with your feedback.

A huge thank you to the year 2 parents that were involved in putting together a wunderschon Oktoberfest. More than 25 people volunteered to help raise an amazing £1,000 to be put towards class books, resources for inclusion, the Christmas panto and more!

We'd also like to say a huge thank you to those that joined the AGM. We had a record attendance of 30! The attendees agreed a budget of £26,250 for this year (2023/24) and signed off on the £26,375 raised last year (2022/23.)

We are delighted to announce the launch (!) of the annual St Michael's firework display. This year the display is on Saturday 4th November in the St. Michaels Field. Tickets are now on sale via ticket tailor https://buytickets.at/ptastmichaels/1035980 so get booking your hotdogs and dig out those wellies!

We will be accepting donations of very good quality uniform during the first week back after half term, so if you are planning a clear out keep your giveaways to one side for us.  We don't mean to sound ungrateful but sorting through the stock does take time so we would really appreciate if you can filter out the stuff that won't sell. 

And much though we hate to admit it, Christmas is fast approaching so if there are books or toys no longer loved in your home please hang onto them for a few weeks more until the Fair where they will be most welcome.

We hope you all have a restful half term.

Sheila and Louise

PTA Co-chair(s)

on behalf of the PTA Committee

 PTA website 

Year 4 Buddhist Temple Visit:

On Tuesday, Year 4 visited the Buddhapadipa Buddhist Temple in Wimbledon. 

Whilst there, we enjoyed a talk about the art within the temple, taking us on a journey through Buddha’s life from birth, enlightenment and through to his death.

 We then had the chance to hear about life from a Buddhist monk, who also guided us through a meditation practising mindfulness. 

Finally, we walked through the gardens, taking in the calm and tranquillity and producing some sketches of the beautiful architecture.

I was so proud of the children who were impeccably behaved and a credit to the school.

Miss Barter

Eco Warriors:

A big thank you to the Putney Rotary Club for donating 400 crocus bulbs which our eco-warriors enjoyed planting in the sunshine (before the rain!) this week!

We love these continued connections and opportunities to partner with our local community in this way.

Year 4 Roman Day:

On Wednesday, Year 4 had Roman Day! We enjoyed lots of activities, including a Roman feast, practising Roman centurion marching, as well as producing Roman artwork by creating mosaics and a replica of a Roman coin. We also learned about Roman soldiers, completed Roman word searches and applied our knowledge on Roman numerals.

Miss Barter

"Everyone is different, everyone is special"

"Pupils are comfortable as the person God made them to be"

(SIAMS Inspection Report: February 2019)

The Inclusion Team have had a busy first half term!

External Agencies

At St Michael’s, we have strong partnerships with all our external agencies. We have a new Educational Psychologist, Jason Banville, and a new Speech and Language Therapist, Rachel Maitland, assigned to work with us. Our external agencies are incredibly important in supporting our team and the children’s learning needs. Other external agencies we have partnered with this term are the Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service (WAAS) and Occupational Therapy (OT).

Training

We are continuing professional development for teachers and support staff with training courses run by WAAS on Social Communication, OT on fine motor skills and the Dyslexia Institute on boosting self-esteem in dyslexic learners. Our Mental Health Governor and ELSA Inclusion TA also attended a Mental Health and Well-being course at the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE).

SENCO Surgery

Mrs Harris continues to run the SENCO Surgery on Tuesday mornings at 8:30am. It’s a good opportunity for parents to discuss any smaller additional educational needs (learning, development or well-being).

Wellbeing Ambassadors & World Mental Health Day

Last Tuesday marked World Mental Health Day and the introduction to the school of our new Wellbeing Ambassadors! Our ambassadors have been tasked with creating spaces and thinking of ideas to encourage positive mental health. Watch this space!

Playground Champions

Year 5 and 6 Playground Champions have been chosen and will undergo training at the beginning of Autumn 2. They will then start their new role, alongside Midday Meal Supervisors, helping the younger children have a fun, safe and happy lunch play.

Touch Typing Course

If you are interested in your child learning to touch type over the half-term break, please see the details further down this newsletter.

It has been another fantastic term of PE and Sport at St Michael's. The children have finished their football unit and had their house competitions with Granville the overall winners. The children have shown great progress particularly the girls who have been attending girls football who showed amazing progress and resilience.

Competitions this Half Term

We are doing really well in the PPSSA football and netball leagues at Dover House. The football team has played six, won 5 and drawn one but more importantly have played some really good football and had great team spirit. We took part in the Wandsworth Cross Country and had some good finishes and are waiting for the results. We also took part in the PPSSA cross country which was a great event. Our year 4 girls took part in the Wandsworth School Games girls football festival and they represented themselves and the school so well putting into practice all the skills they have learnt in PE. We took part in the Wandsworth School Games Primary Panathlon and got a silver and it was great to see the children coming back with beaming smiles sporting their silver medals.

PE Next Half Term

A reminder that we will be playing hockey next half term so the children in year 3-6 will be using the wooden hockey sticks so they will need to wear shin pads and a gum shield for extra protection. If children have their own hockey sticks they are welcome to bring them for lessons but they are responsible for them. We will brave the weather as much as we can next half term so please ensure the children have winter PE kit, coats and even hats and gloves. Have a great half term and stay active!

Carl Rochford

Well done Granville,  the football team and the Panathlon teams!

"Pupils are inspired by RE and recognise it as a challenging but safe space to explore their own and others' religious, spiritual and philosophical convictions critically and responsibly"

(SIAMS Inspection Report: February 2019)

"Pupils have high attendance, come to school on time and are punctual to lessons"

(SIAMS Inspection Report: February 2019)