Weekly Update from Mr Meehan

It was lovely to award the first ‘Excellence’ winners in worship earlier this week, with the parents of winners joining us for our Excellence worship. This new certificate, awarded once a term for one child in each class, chosen by the class teacher, signed by myself and presented by a governor, honours “a consistently excellent standard of work and attitude to learning throughout the whole term”. In the months and years to come, it will become a central way in which we all aspire to and reward ‘excellence’ - so a massive well done to our inaugural winners!

Congratulations as well to the first winners of the new ‘house cup’. The Infant house cup went to Chestnut house and the Junior cup went to Elm house. The cups will have pride of place in the school sites until we unveil again at the end of next term our new winners. Our house captains and pupil leadership team will be discussing ideas in the new year as to how we may reward winning houses in future terms.

It has definitely felt very festive this week. It was lovely to see the junior children in great voice for their production of ‘Bells Ring Out’ and see our Years 1 and 2 leading us this morning in our end of year service. It was a real delight for me as well to get along to the Rose Theatre with our Year 4 children to see ‘A Christmas Carol’, which I know the children were mesmerised by. Our choir have also been out singing again this week at the Methodist Church and our Year 2 children enjoyed ‘A Christmas Journey’ at New Malden Baptist Church. Even our most special visitor, Father Christmas, turned up this week, and brought a very fun-loving elf with him to meet the children!  You can see photos of some of these activities and more in our December newsletter.

As you know, we have been raising money for our three chosen Christmas charities over the last couple of weeks, so thank you so much for your generosity. The money we raised is as follows:

• Crisis at Christmas - £312.70
• Kingston Churches Action On Homelessness - £290.28
• Compassion - £325.56

All of this brings to a close a very busy and exciting term we have had at Christ Church. Once again, thank you for your support for the school and your children, which ensures success for all of us and a big thank you for the welcome I have enjoyed in my first term here at Christ Church. I am looking forward to our continued journey as a school in the new year.

In our collective worship this week, we have been considering that Jesus was also called ‘Emmanuel’, meaning ‘God with us’, and we have been reflecting on this in a prayer that asks for God to “be with us in good times, be with us in sad times, be with us in special times, be with us in ordinary times”. Whatever time you will be having this Christmas, I pray that you and your family will know that closeness and have times of joy and hope together, and lots of festive fun.

Key Updates for Parents

PE Days 

PE days for next half term are as follows:

• Reception - Monday (outdoor)/Wednesday (indoor)
• Year 1 - Monday (indoor)/Tuesday (outdoor)
• Year 2 - Wednesday (outdoor)/Friday (indoor)
• Year 3 - Tuesday (indoor)/Thursday (outdoor)
• Year 4 - Tuesday (outdoor)/Wednesday (indoor)
• Year 5 - Monday (indoor)/Friday (outdoor)
• Year 6 - Thursday (outdoor)/Friday (indoor)

Spring Term Writing Competition: Call out for help

In the Spring term, we will be holding a school-wide writing competition on the theme of ‘writing to change the world’; this competition will be open to all ages, including adults (so get your pens at the ready!). Our lovely PTA will be sponsoring the competition and some of our governors will form the judging panel. 

To showcase some of the best entries in our competition, we would love to publish a collection of Christ Church’s ‘writing to change the world’ in our own book in some shape of form. With this in mind, this is a call out to any parents who may be involved in publishing or printing, who might like to get involved in this in some way or help us. If you would like to know more, please speak to Mr Meehan or Mr Burkinshaw. 

Reminder – Primary School Applications 

For any parents making primary school applications for September 2023 entry, you can apply online here. The closing date for applications is 15 January 2023. You must submit your application and any supplementary information forms by this date. 

Internet Safety

For your information, we have found the following websites that you may find useful, which provide advice on keeping your children safe online; LGFL and Twisted Toys.

Pret-a-Portrait - Early Bird Discount Deadline Extended

Pret-a-Portrait’s discount for the recent school photos was due to expire yesterday. However, they have extended this until 5th January 2023 so you can take advantage of the discount for longer. 

Head to their website https://www.pret-a-portrait.net/ and enter your sitting ID, the discount will automatically be applied. If you’ve misplaced your sitting ID, please contact Pret-a-Portrait directly on 0800 021 7626 or customerservice@pret-a-portrait.net

Christ Church New Malden Christmas Services

Please see below for details of the Christmas events at Christ Church New Malden:

• Sunday 18th December isn't just the World Cup Final - it's also the day that we 'kick off' our Christmas celebrations! (see what we did there?!). Join us at 9:30am for an all-age, family-friendly, interactive retelling of the Christmas story, like you've never experienced it before. Come dressed as your favourite character from the nativity story!
• Then at 6:30pm, we'll be holding our annual 'Carols by Candlelight' service, with a blend of choral and congregational singing, and some Christmas readings.
• Our Family Cinema Club will be screening a family-friendly, festive film at 2pm on Christmas Eve. There will be drinks and snacks available, as well as a colouring activity. (For licensing reasons, we're not able to publicly advertise the title of the film, but you can sign up to our mailing list for more info: www.ccnm.org/cinema)
• Our Christmas celebrations also include a Midnight Communion Service at 11pm on Christmas Eve, and a Christmas Day Service at 10am.

Everyone is welcome. There's no need to book in advance - just turn up! Please also see the attached for more details.

John’s Christmas Services

Please see attached for details of St John’s Christmas services. The Christingle service at 5pm on Christmas Eve will particularly appeal to children.

Free Story Circle - Message from New Malden Town Centre Partnership

At New Malden Town Centre Partnership we understand that this Christmas is likely to be quite difficult for a lot of people, so we are bringing some warmth and connection to people with a free fireside winter tales story circle in Jubilee Square, New Malden, at 5-6pm on Christmas Eve. We think this is a great way to bring the magic of Christmas to people in a simple but lovely way.   It is free to attend but booking is required which you can do here. Please see attached flyer.

Key Dates - Spring 2023

• Tuesday 3rd January is an INSET day. 
• Spring Term begins for children on Wednesday 4th January.
• Monday 16th - Friday 27th January - Y5 Bikeability sessions