Love, Serve, Grow

As we come to the end of this half term, we have been reflecting on our final school value of Growth in our worship sessions. It has been wonderful to see how both staff and children are demonstrating this value daily, recognising how it flows from our school’s mission, vision, and motto. 

We are thrilled to share that in The Times Top 1,000 Primary Schools ranking, our school has climbed an impressive 112 places—from 230 to 118! This achievement is a testament to the dedication of our staff, the hard work of our pupils, and the support of our wonderful school community.

This morning, Year 3 treated us to a spectacular showcase assembly, performing beautifully with magnificent singing—we are so proud of them!

Looking ahead to next half term, we will be exploring our chosen Bible verse in greater depth:

“…your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” — 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

Together, we will unpack its meaning and consider how we can live it out in our daily lives.

It was lovely to see so many of you this afternoon at our vision meeting—we hope you found it informative. I’ve included a link below for anyone who couldn’t attend, featuring the presentation with a voice-over - Video Link 

 The RFP (Reading for Pleasure) session that followed was a great success and truly reflected our school’s love of reading. 

There are details below about the upcoming book week after half term with information on the scholastic book fair, World Book Day and information about a special lunch on that day.

We also recognise that for some children and families, the holidays can be a challenging time. If you need support, we encourage you to explore the information provided below, as well as our Mental Health and Wellbeing page on our school website, where you can find useful resources and guidance.

Wishing you all a restful and refreshing half term.

Best wishes,

Mrs Harris

Headteacher

Dear PTA Members,

Can you believe we're already at the halfway point of the academic year? The PTA committee would like to express its sincere gratitude to everyone who has volunteered their time this term. Below is a summary of our achievements as a PTA, along with a glimpse into the exciting plans we have for the coming term.

This Term's Highlights:

• Carmen Cox and her dedicated team organised another hugely successful Preloved Uniform Sale. The team's hard work behind the scenes is truly remarkable, and we know their efforts are greatly appreciated by all. We were also delighted to support Albemarle and Southmead schools with some of our surplus stock.

• Thank you to everyone who attended our PTA meeting on 14 January. We are actively seeking to fill the roles of Secretary and Deputy Chair and have begun the search for a new Treasurer. If you are interested in contributing to the PTA in this way, please don't hesitate to contact me at pta@stmichaels.wandsworth.sch.uk or speak to me at drop-off.

• The School Disco on 25 January was a resounding success, featuring three fantastic sessions that got everyone moving and grooving. It was wonderful to see pupils from all year groups having such a brilliant time, especially those in Years 3-6 who took charge of the face painting! Special thanks to Brie Doyle for her exceptional leadership on the day and to Suzanne Holman for her hard work in the lead-up to the event.

Looking Ahead to Next Term:

• We have two cake sales to look forward to, organised by Year 4 (28 February) and Year 5 (23 March).

• Year 3 will be collaborating with Mr Rochford to support the Big Walk and Wheel Week in March, encouraging physical activity while raising valuable funds.

• Preparations for the highly anticipated Summer Fete (23 June) will also commence.

Thank you once again for your unwavering support of our various activities this term. We hope you have a restful half-term break. See you in a week!

Best regards,

Olly T-F

PTA Chair

on behalf of the PTA Committee

PTA Website 

At St. Michael’s CE School, we were delighted to take part in Children’s Mental Health Week 2025, themed ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’. Throughout the week, our Wellbeing Ambassadors led engaging activities that helped children develop self-awareness, express their emotions, and build resilience. Activities included creating Islands of Personality to explore unique traits, reflecting on strengths and areas for growth, and learning strategies for managing emotions across all key stages. 

The week began with a whole school assembly and concluded with a final reflection led by Clare Luther, alongside a Maths Mufti Day, where children explored how problem-solving can evoke different emotions. By fostering open conversations about mental health and encouraging resilience, we created a school environment where children felt empowered to understand and express their emotions. We look forward to continuing these important conversations beyond this dedicated week.

Adele Stewart

5S Class Teacher 

Upper Phase Manager

Maths Faculty Lead

Mental Health Lead

Sorting emotions by observing faces in well being week…. Children doing super teamwork

We were visited by the wonderful Clare Luther who shared a story all about mental health and wellbeing on the final day of wellbeing week. 

Year 3 Celebration of Learning:

Year 3 were very proud and excited to share their knowledge about the Ancient Egyptians in their year group assembly. We celebrated our history learning by performing scenes about the importance of the River Nile, hieroglyphs, the different tiers of Egyptian society, introducing some of the many gods, goddesses and pharaohs and the amazing archaeological discoveries of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. One particularly fun (but slightly grisly) part was explaining the embalming and mummification process! Mrs Minster taught us how to sing the song 'The Gifts of the Nile' so beautifully which really enhanced the show. It was also an opportunity to show off the lovely stitched fabric collars that we have designed and made in our DT lessons. 

Well done to the children who have worked so hard to learn their lines, to project their voices and to remember their actions, rehearsing in every spare minute over the past three weeks. Huge thanks to the whole Year 3 team for putting together the props and costumes and many thanks to parents too for their help with the outfits and for coming along to watch the assembly. We hope you enjoyed it. 

Rachel Lee

Year 2 Sandwich Making.

This half term the Year 2s were learning all about nutrition in DT. We got a design brief from Sainsbury's to design and make a healthy, tasty and child-friendly sandwich for parents to buy for their child. We did a lot of research to know where our food comes from and how certain foods are made. Which breads are more nutritional and what makes a balanced diet. 

This research helped us in our designing of our sandwiches. 

We then had to make our sandwiches! We washed our hands, put on our hair nets! We had a wide variety of sandwich toppings from tuna mayo, hummus and chicken to pecorino cheese with chorizo! 

The challenge was to eat these very full sandwiches!! 

Rebecca Craythorne

Year 2 Visit to Polka Theatre:

On Monday the Year 2s headed off to the Polka Theatre for a workshop all about explorers! 

We had a lot of fun learning about Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart, Felicity Aston and Tim Peake. 

Some of us made puppets, others wrote a song, we worked together to act out different scenes and then created a performance to show at the end. 

We all felt like professional actors and actresses! 

Rebecca Craythorne

PE Spring 1

PE for spring 1 has gone really well with children learning to play both netball and basketball. We have looked at the similarities and differences in the games including the rules and tactics for both games. Nursery, Reception and year 1 have focused on developing the fundamental movement skills relating to the games with a particular focus on developing the hand eye coordination skills to bounce the ball in different ways as well as exploring the techniques to throw and catch and shoot. Year 2 have built on these skills and worked on using them in small sided games with netball rules and later changing to basketball rules. Year 3 have played a modified version of netball with no positions or zones to play in then worked on learning to play 3vs3 half court basketball. Year 4-6 have played bee netball which is a 5-a-side version of netball with positions and zones then moved onto 3vs3 half court basketball games.

The children have made great progress with their skills and their understanding of the rules of the game. When we play games children that have a good understanding of the rules and feel confident enough have refereed the games to further develop different roles that they can do in sport.

PE Spring 2

After the half term break we will be starting tennis to further develop hand eye coordination when using equipment. EYFS and KS1 will be focusing on developing the fundamental skills of the game whilst KS2 will be mastering the skills and applying them to games. For the house competitions the children will play mixed doubles games.

Girls Football Tournament by AFC Wimbledon

“It was really fun to play against other schools as it gave us a challenge because the other teams were really good. We worked well as a team and showed good collaboration. Having the experience gives us preparation for Dover House Road League because Mr Rochford gave us Feedback.” 6H Pupil

Carl Rochford

Head of Sport

"Everyone is different, everyone is special"

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

(SIAMS Inspection Report: February 2019)

This half term has been a busy one for the Inclusion team and we can't quite believe it is almost over. Learning together in class, small groups and 1:1 has been supported with a vast variety of provisions to ensure that all students with varied abilities, interests, and backgrounds successfully access and are enthused by their learning opportunities. 

We have looked closely at the  support we provide and have invested in a new range of Baringtonstoke books. These books are more accessible due to their layout, paper colour and unique font. This, along with the high level of engagement, breaks down barriers to reading for those who experience literacy challenges. 

We have also invested in equipment to support focus and attention, emotion regulation and sensory processing. These have been enthusiastically received across Key stages and have made an immediate impact on learning. 

Finally, our multi-sensory approach to maths has been used to good effect across the school and we look forward to seeing the impact of this in the coming term. 

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very peaceful half term and look forward to working with you in the coming term.

Kind Regards

Jenny Constable

(SENDCo)

SAS Group:

We said goodbye to two of our group and have welcomed more new members this term, including some from the other side of the world!

We have had fun creating Spring and Valentine pictures and gifts this half term and we are all looking forward to the weather being warmer to play outside more!

(Please note this group is for pupils of military families only)

Caroline Jopp 

"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)

The children have been enjoying their RE lessons this term. Each year group has learnt about aspects of the many different faiths in our world. Have look at our RE unit enquiry questions below. Ask your child this question over Sunday lunch and see what sort of information they share. (Please email Miss Cunningham with any thoughts that show understanding!!)

Reception: What Can We Learn From The Stories of Jesus?

Year One: Why Do Jewish People Celebrate The Gift of Shabbat? 

Year Two: What does it mean to be a Muslim?

Year Three: What does it mean to be a Hindu in Britain today? 

Year Four: What do Sikhs believe?

Year Five:What does it mean to be a Buddhist?

Year Six:How do Muslims show commitment to Allah?

Next term, we will mark Lent which starts on Ash Wednesday 5th March. Some information will come out shortly about fundraising for our Global Link School - The Maasai Academy in Kenya and our Lent 40 Acts of Kindness. 

Watch this space....

Miss Cunningham

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

(SIAMS Inspection Report: February 2019)