Weekly Update from Mr Meehan

Everything looks so much better in the sunshine, and it’s been great to see a bit of that earlier this week (though not so much today)! One of my favourite parts of the week, together with the junior Pupil Leadership Team, was to meet the manager of Nourish for a meeting to ask questions and share feedback for a very constructive meeting. The children shared ideas from their classes and Nicola, the Nourish manager, took on board the feedback and gave some thoughts for the future.

As well as our lovely new outdoor nurture garden that is being designed at our infant site, we are grateful too for all the responders to our recent survey regarding plans to develop the junior playground; this is a really exciting forthcoming project, which our PTA are leading on. As you may have heard from your children, the focus of our fundraising for our summer fair this year is focused on this development work. We are fortunate to have in our community a wonderful mixture of expertise, enthusiasm and energy to make things happen. 

We continue to be in challenging and uncertain times in education, and so having such a strong community here at Christ Church is a great blessing. One of our challenges moving forward is the current lower child population in and around London, which is now affecting some schools in Kingston and Richmond. We are not immune from this, and so we have agreed with the local authority to admit one reception class in September for this next academic year. Whilst this is a disappointment, we need to ensure we are making wise and sustainable financial decisions for the future. This does not mean that we will permanently be admitting one class each year, but it has been necessary and prudent to do it for this September. Governors and leaders have been aware of this possibility and have been planning for this for some time, so be assured that plans are well advanced in accommodating this change for September. 

What doesn’t change here at Christ Church is the plethora of wonderful activities, trips and visits that the children enjoy. Even this week, Year 1 visited local allotments (thankfully in sunshine!), we’ve taken part in a Year 6 football tournament at Corpus Christi and Gazelle class have been enjoying their bikeability. Congratulations also to Squirrel class on their super class worship yesterday, which I know they had been working hard on. You can see photos of these and more in our April newsletter.

In our collective worship, we have been reflecting this week on the Mahatma Gandhi quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world” and, with this in mind, we are looking forward to our second ‘Charity Tuesday’ of the year in a few weeks time, when we will be supporting Momentum, who support children with cancer or life-limiting conditions. Our pupil leadership team met with Maria from Momentum this week to begin planning this. More details to come later in the term.

In the meantime, I hope you have a lovely weekend, and don’t forget there’s an extra day. We’ll see you on the Tuesday!

MR MEEHAN RECOMMENDS

Hello Summer by Jo Lindley

It has been a joy sharing this series of books with the infants, written by Jo Lindley. I’ll be sharing this one over the next few weeks across the infants. Each of the stories introduce us to four great friends, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer, and the adventures they have together.         

Our School Updates for Parents

Junior Playground Consultation Survey Results

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to share their views in response to the Playground Consultation Document, circulated in March. We have now reviewed the survey responses and over the next few days we will be setting a date for the next Playground Working Group meeting to discuss and revise the plans. If you want to be involved, please feel free to join the working group via the link sent via email.

Class Photographs - Wednesday 8th May

Pret-a-Portrait will be taking class photographs at our school on both sites on Wednesday 8th May 2024. Please ensure your child is wearing full school uniform. No P.E. kit should be worn; children will be able to do P.E. in their uniform on this day and can bring in trainers to change into.

Let us Pray 

Our next joint school/church prayer meeting will be next week on Wednesday 8th May, in the junior creative space. Please join us if you can to pray for our school community. We start promptly at 8pm and usually wrap up 8.45/9pm.

Reminder - No clubs w/c 13th May

Please remember there are no clubs running, at either site, during the whole week commencing 13th May due to it being SATs week. 

Year 5/6 Soloist Concert - Friday 7th June at 9am

If your child plays an instrument or sings and they would like to take part, they can send in an audition video to Mrs Bond by Tuesday 7th May (but sooner if possible). This will then give the teachers time to look through all of the auditions to choose a variety of performances for the concert, and allow time for rehearsing at school with the piano if needed. Parents will be invited to watch the concert as will the children's class mates.

If your child is choosing a song, please consider the length (maybe stick to one or two verses and a chorus). Also please make sure the lyrics are appropriate and the song can be sung easily by a child (some pop songs are not suitable for young' voices). The children may sing in a group with friends if they can arrange a video audition together.

We will be available to accompany instrumental pieces and songs if needed, but music will need to be provided (or a backing track found). Please note - this concert is for children in Year 5 and 6 only. The younger children will have another opportunity in the autumn term.

Wider Community Updates

Music in Kingston

Join the Kingston Music Service and a host of the most exciting music makers in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames for an afternoon of performances, workshops, and exhibitions, 12.00-15.00 on Saturday 18^th May. Held in the glorious surroundings of All Saints Church, Kingston, this is an opportunity for young people and adults alike to explore a breadth of what the borough has to offer, from listening to short performances, to taking part in free workshops, or even having a go at a brand new instrument. Entrance is free, and more information can be found on their website.

Upcoming MHST Parent Webinar - Behaviour

We have been notified that the next few parent workshops from the Helping Children series of workshops will be on Challenging Behaviour, taking place on 16th and 17th May. 

• Sign up Link for workshop Thursday 16th May at 6pm
• Sign up Link for workshop Friday 17th May at 9am

Inner Drive Golf - Children Camps and parties

We have been sent the attached flyer for Inner Drive Golf in New Malden, which is available to book for private hire/parties, should this be of interest to you.

New Malden Fire Station Open Day

New Malden Fire Station will be holding an Open Day on Sunday 30th June 2024 from 12pm-4pm, at which there will be the opportunity to meet local firefighters and take part in fun activities. Please see the attached poster for details.

Community Yoga, Movement & Mindfulness Classes

We have been sent details of some new community dance & yoga classes in Raynes Park for 7-11 year olds. Please see the attached flyer for details.

Mother Nature Science - May Half-Term Holiday Science Activity Camp 2024

We have been notified of a Mother Nature Science – May Half-Term Science Activity Holiday Camp 2024 - Epic Engineering. New safe, fun hands-on, enriching science for 2024, at locations across London. There is currently an Early-Bird Discount which expires this Wednesday 8th May 2024. Use special Venue School Basket Discount Code ‘coolschool20’ for an extra £20-off list price for full-week places. Please see the attached poster or their website for details.

Key School Dates 

Summer 1

• Friday 3rd May - Y6 Doughnut Sale
• Monday 6th May - Bank Holiday (School closed)
• Tuesday 7th May - Y4 Trip to BFI - Bonjour Les Amis
• Wednesday 8th May - Class Photographs
• Wednesday 8th May - Y5 Brightsparks Concert @ Royal Festival Hall
• Thursday 9th May - Y3 Trip to Natural History Museum 
• Thursday 9th May - Macaw Class Worship @ 2:40pm
• Saturday 11th May - Wimbledon Singfest (Choir & Handbells)
• Monday 20th - Friday 24th May - Chums Week
• Tuesday 21st May - Charity Tuesday to support Momentum (New)
• Thursday 23rd May - Eagle Class Worship @ 2:40pm
• Thursday 23rd - Friday 24th May - Y3-6 Grey Goose Archery Sessions
• Friday 24th May - Y6 Ice Pop Sale
• Monday 27th - Friday 31st May - Half Term

Summer 2

• Monday 3rd June - Pupils return to school