Weekly Update from Mr Meehan

Her Majesty The Queen - 1926 - 2022

Before we touch on anything else in our first weekly update of this new year, I am sure it is with huge sadness that we have all woken up this morning with the news yesterday of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who has served our country as monarch for 70 years. We all remember the joy of marking this achievement just a few months ago in all the Jubilee celebrations. 

At this very sad time for the Queen’s family and, indeed, the whole country, all our thoughts and prayers I am sure are united in this time of mourning.

Today in school, we will mark this significant event in our collective worship with prayers and a time of quiet. Teachers also have planned in time in class to reflect on the life and service of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Be assured that we will further mark this significant time further in the coming days as well.

We have shared this prayer in worship today:

Gracious God,

We give thanks for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth, 

for her faith and dedication to duty.

Bless our nation as we mourn her death

And may her example continue to inspire us;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen

In other news, a big welcome to the first News Update of the new term! I am delighted to be joining Christ Church New Malden as headteacher this term and am looking forward to getting started. Thank you for the warm welcome so far.

A big welcome as well to our new staff joining us this term; 

• In our infant staff team; Bea Roberts, Jasmine Galloway (returning), Charlie Neale, Shauna Crooke, Juleya Hedman, Sally Baker, and Chanel King.
• In our junior team; Jo En Park, Cat Harris-Grundy, Lorraine Kenway and Siobhan Probert. 

We are looking forward to getting to know these new members of the team in the coming term.

I hope you and your family have had an enjoyable summer time with some memorable times together. It has been lovely to see all the children returning to school over the last week and getting started afresh with new rooms, new teachers, new routines and... new opportunities! I will be making my way round to different classes over the coming weeks to spend some time getting to know the children, seeing what they have to say about their school! It’s already been a delight to visit this week Potter and Kipling classes in Year 6 and begin this process. The children also wrote me lovely postcards at the end of last term to read over the summer, which was a delight!

Later this month, we will be circulating a survey to parents as well, as I am keen to hear views and feedback from parents to guide our thinking as we move ahead at Christ Church this year and in the years to come.

There will be many more things to let you know about as we get going on an exciting year of learning, but just to give you one heads up (or even two). It’s always exciting to welcome authors and storytellers to school, and we will be welcoming children’s author Mel Taylor Bessant on 27th Sept to speak to Year 3,4 and 6 and author and Bible story teller Bob Hartman will be visiting both infants and juniors on Mon 3rd Oct. We can’t wait!

With our CCNM vision at the heart of all we do to ‘become the people God made us to be’, I pray that we are blessed with a super term ahead, with the children aiming high in their achievement and finding great enjoyment in their learning … indeed aiming for Excellence. The new, coveted Christ Church Excellence Awards will be introduced later this term – so watch out for more detail on this soon! From this week, there is an opportunity for children in each class to be chosen as ‘Pupil of the Week’ for brilliant learning or behaviour through the week and it was great to award these certificates for the first time in worship today - and invite them to the first weekly ‘Pupil of the Week’ tea party’!

IShare Learning

Each half term, we will all be sharing our learning on a theme throughout the school in our worship times and in our classes and through some iShare buddy activities with our Christ Church Chums. More on this later in the term; all you need to know so far is that his half term’s iShare Learning theme is called Good Deeds for Today. Each theme will be underpinned with a Bible verse worth knowing! Here’s the one for this half term: 

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5v16 

Key Updates for Parents

PTA Second Hand Uniform Online Shop

The PTA is excited to announce the opening of an online shop for second hand uniform on www.uniformerly.co.uk. Once on the website, click through to the "My School" page to see what's available. Payment can be made via the website and you can collect your purchases from the school office from Friday afternoon each week. We're hoping this makes buying and selling second hand uniform simpler, raising money for the school and helping the environment too. 

Tiffin Children’s Chorus 

Tiffin Children’s Chorus is a choir for 8 to 18 year olds run from Tiffin School which rehearses once a week and performs regularly. They have a long history of providing children’s choruses for lots of professional performances, films and recordings. In recent years they have performed at the Royal Opera House, Royal Albert Hall and Barbican, have filmed with Emma Thompson and recorded with Madonna. They provide a high level of choral training, while providing lots of opportunities for fun and making new friends! Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Free History Trail - Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th September

The Friends of Richmond Park will be launching their new booklet written specifically with 4-11 year old children in mind on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September in Pembroke Lodge Gardens in Richmond Park. This is a free event with a trail for children and their families giving them the opportunity to discover some of the parks’s amazing history.  Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Key Dates - Autumn 2022

• Thursday 15th September - Y1 Dino Dome Show
• Thursday 15th September - Y2 Space Exploration Show
• Thursday 22nd September - Y5 Trip to All Saints Church Kingston
• Monday 26th - Wednesday 28th September - Y5 Trip to Carroty Wood
• Tuesday 27th September - Juniors - Author Visit (Mel Taylor-Bessant)
• Monday 3rd October - Whole School - Author & Bible Story Teller Visit (Bob Hartman) 
• Friday 21st October - Inset Day (School closed)
• Monday 24th - Friday 28th October - Half Term
• Wednesday 16th November - Reception - Y6 Individual Photographs
• Wednesday 23rd November - Y1-6 Author Visit (Banji Alexander)
• Tuesday 6th December - Christmas Music Concert 
• Wednesday 7th December - Christmas Music Concert (reserve date)
• Friday 9th December - Christmas Jumper Day
• Thursday 15th December - Christmas Party Day
• Friday 16th December - Christmas Service at the church - 9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
• Friday 16th December - Last day of term - School closes 1 hour early:
  • Infants @ 2:15 p.m.
  • Nursery @ 2:20 p.m.
  • Juniors @ 2:30 p.m.
  • Connect will start at 2:15 p.m. and run until 5:15 p.m.