Weekly Update from Mr Meehan

It has been a busy week at Christ Church, with us welcoming some visitors too! As you can imagine, staff have been working very hard. It has been heartening for me as headteacher to see the dedication and commitment of our staff to the children of Christ Church especially during the days (and nights) of our inspection this week. Thank you too for the excellent response to the parents survey (following hot on the heels of last week’s one!) and our lead inspector was really impressed with the response rate to our survey. Our Christ Church children were the real stars and were excellent advocates of the school. We are very proud of them all! In due time, we look forward to sharing more detail of our inspection with you, when we are allowed to, when the report is published.

One of the real strengths of our school community is our PTA and I got a flavour of that at last night’s well attended AGM. I am looking forward to working with the PTA in the months and years to come - and we are discussing exciting plans, so do consider getting involved with the PTA! With all this in mind, I would like to say a big thank you for all the hard work from the PTA that has gone into putting on our PTA discos tonight for both infants and juniors, and for all the voluntary time given in planning for and helping at the discos. Whilst I know some were disappointed to not get tickets in time, and we can learn from this in the future, I know there will be other PTA events this year as well, which we can look forward to. We are blessed to have a thriving PTA who give their time to do this and consequently raise money to support all our children at Christ Church.

Well done to all our ‘Pupils of the Week’ so far this term. This week, we have taken a pause with our now half-termly ‘celebration certificates’ worship. Pupil of the Week will recommence straight after half term and then we will be working towards the first ‘Excellence Awards’ to be awarded at the end of term. More details on this later in the term.

Also today in our junior worship, it was a pleasure to announce our new roles of Year 6 House Captains, who have been appointed to lead our four houses and Year 6 Pupil Leaders, who will lead our new Pupil Leadership Team. Thank you to all Year 6 pupils who put themselves forward for these roles, either via a written application or a speech given to fellow Year 6 pupils and myself and Mr Burkinshaw. Hannah Albert and Rosie Barnett will be our Pupil Leaders and Housecaptains roles as follows: Jake and Lucy (Lime), Sam and Zoe (Elm), Max and Alex (Poplar), Stanley and Ava (Chestnut). One of the key roles of our House Captains will be to lead on our new housepoint system which begins after half term, and our Pupil Leaders will also begin working with the new Pupil leadership team after half term.

Key Updates for Parents

Parent Reps Every term Mr Meehan and Mr Burkinshaw meet with parent reps. We are aware that some classes’ reps remain the same, but other classes may have new reps. If you are a parent rep for a class this year, please complete the form sent via ParentMail. 

World Day 

This coming Monday -17th October, we are excited to be celebrating World Day. Children are welcome to come to school in the traditional dress of a country of choice or in the colours of its flag. Some have already been telling us of time spent preparing their presentations and food. There is still time! At the Infants we are welcoming parents who would like to share a game or activity from their country. Please contact your class teacher TODAY if you would like to do this. Thank you to all those who have already filled in the form giving allergy advice and permission for your children to take part in food tasting. If you haven’t already done this please complete the form included in your curriculum email so that your child can take part.

Secondary School Application Deadline

Please can we remind Year 6 parents/carers that the deadline for secondary school applications is Monday 31st October.  Please remember to complete your on-line application if you haven't already done so. Please go to http://www.eadmissions.org.uk/ to apply.

Teaching Assistant Job Vacancies

Are you an enthusiastic teaching assistant who has a passion for learning, will put the needs of our children first and has excellent interpersonal skills? Are you a flexible and confident team player who has experience of working in school settings? Then we have the job for you. You would be supporting children’s learning, assisting the class teachers and helping to make and maintain a positive, organised and efficient environment.  For more details see the school website.

Action Theatre Club - October Half Term Workshop

Action Theatre Club are running a workshop during half term at our Infant site on Tuesday 25th October. Please see the attached flyer for details of how to book.

Perform’s Magical Merlin - 24th - 30th October

Over half-term, Perform's very own West End Show Magical Merlin will be running at The Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden. Based on the legend of King Arthur, with a spellbinding mix of magic, songs and dancing, and uplifting themes of friendship and self-belief, Magical Merlin is a heart-warming musical that's perfect for KS1 & KS2 students and their families. (Tickets start at £17.50 and it's an ideal introduction to live theatre for young children as it's one hour in length. Please see the attached flyer or visit their website for more details and how to book.

Maths Courses for Parents at Kingston Adult Education

Kingston Adult Education centre is running free short courses aimed at helping parents better support their children with their maths school work. The courses are at the Hook Centre in Chessington in November. Parents can sign up with the form here. For further details on the courses please see the attached flyer.

Our Parks - Free Fitness Class in Kingston

We have been sent information from ‘Our Parks’ about a free fitness class in Fairfield’s Park. The sessions are designed to be accessible for all regardless of your current level of fitness. The sessions will always be completely free for everyone and are bookable on their site www.ourparks.org.uk/kingston.

Key Dates - Autumn 2022

• Monday 17th October - Whole School - World Day
• Tuesday 18th October - Nursery Tour for Prospective Parents @ 9:30 a.m.
• Tuesday 18th October - Y6 Parents’ Evening - 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
• Wednesday 19th October - Reception Visit to Waitrose, New Malden from 9:15 a.m.
• Wednesday 19th October - Y5 Trip to Hampton Court
• Wednesday 19th October - Nursery - Y5 Parents’ Evening - 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
• Thursday 20th October - Reception Tour for Prospective Parents @ 10:30 a.m.
• Thursday 20th October - Nursery - Y6 Parents’ Evening - 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (School closes 1 hour early)
• Friday 21st October - Inset Day (School closed)
• Monday 24th - Friday 28th October - Half Term
• Tuesday 1st November - Nursery Tour for Prospective Parents @ 9:30 a.m.
• Thursday 10th November - Reception Tour for Prospective Parents @ 9:30 a.m.
• Thursday 10th November - Whole School - Learning Look @ 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
• Sunday 13th - Remembrance Day Parade - 9.00am
• Wednesday 16th November - Reception - Y6 Individual Photographs
• Monday 21st November - Reception Tour for Prospective Parents @ 5:00 p.m.
• Wednesday 23rd November - Y1-6 Author Visit (Banji Alexander)
• Thursday 24th November - Reception Tour for Prospective Parents @ 9:30 a.m.
• 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.