Message from Mr Shrimpton, Chair of Governors

Please read the attached letter from Robert Shrimpton, Chair of Governors

Weekly Update from Mr Meehan

It’s been a fun week at Christ Church, packed full of events. Nice to see how well the children are doing today in breaking the rules (all in an acceptable way of course!). Thanks to the PTA for organising this day.

Some of our ‘chums’ have been getting together this week and reflecting on our theme over these last few weeks of ‘Count your Blessings’; hopefully, we are all getting a bit better at being thankful for the small things and the big things.

Our Year 6 pupils very much enjoyed their Junior Citizen trip on Tuesday, where they learnt more about keeping safe, from policemen, the fire service and others. As well as real-life stories, there was a pretend kidnapping! Our Year 5s enjoyed a dramatic Viking workshop earlier in the week, which included storytelling, dressing up and reenactments.

Tuesday was also Safer Internet Day, with many activities across the school. Charlotte and Shemce from Tigers class were telling me that, through activities in class like quizzes, word searches and discussion activities, they were learning how to use the internet well and safely.

I enjoyed visiting Owl class with my current book recommendation, ‘Hello Winter’, and I know it’s been exciting in all classes this week, as there has been a delivery of new reading books in every class, thanks to money raised by the PTA. The first deliveries of our new subscription service were delivered personally to classrooms this week by Mr Burkinshaw and Mrs Honeybone and I know the children will enjoy getting to know these new titles.

Well done also to our footballers who attended a tournament in Kew on Wednesday who were the winners, courtesy of a 3-0 final win, with an amazing hat-trick from Lexi! All the girls were a great team and we are very proud of them!

We may be about to go into half term, but we have exciting times ahead after half term and I’d like to share some info about two exciting events today, to whet all our appetites!

World Book Day Thursday 7th March

Across our school for this year’s World Book Day, our theme is poetry and our chosen author, Benjamin Zephaniah. We have plenty of exciting activities planned. If you would like to get involved on the day, perhaps to read aloud to your child's class, do let your class teacher know as we'd love you to be part of this memorable day.

As World Book Day focuses on books, we have decided that whilst pupils may dress up as their favourite book characters, there is absolutely no expectation to do so. So, our World Book Day will be a mufti-day with pupils having the option to dress up only if they'd like to. We are encouraging all pupils to decorate a toilet roll (card only) as their favourite book character, which could be a nice half-term activity! On the day, pupils bring in their homemade character and their favourite book.

Finally and excitingly, we have invited our local and award winning Parrot Street Book Club to school on WBD. They will be running a pop-up bookshop at the juniors from 2:45 to 3:45 - do take the opportunity to see what wonderful books and book subscriptions they offer. As a school we have already signed up for every class!

In addition, Nourish are offering a special Let the Tiger come to Tea! World Book Day Menu including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Pasta and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Cake! For the full menu please see the attached.

World Week Monday 11th - Friday 15th March

We are also going on an exciting journey for our CCNM “World Week” coming up in March. Following our very successful ‘World Day’ last academic year, we are repeating this and expanding it to celebrate the diversity of language and culture around the world. The week will include:

• A world wide celebration day, in which children can wear traditional dress of a different country or the colours of a flag of a chosen country and bring in cultural food to share with their class.
• A ‘round the world’ carousel morning or afternoon, learning the geography and culture of different countries from different teachers
• Singing songs from different cultures and countries
• A visit from multi-cultural group Earthsong, bringing world music to the children to CNNM in workshops
• Enjoying stories and tales from different cultures and languages

If you would like to come in and share something of your country/culture with the children as part of the week, whether it is food, artwork or a bit of language teaching, please fill in the form sent via email.

As well as celebrating diversity, part of the aim of World Week will be expanding children’s geographical knowledge, including naming continents and countries. A fun way to do this is by taking part in the annual JetPunk countries of the world quiz. If you want to have some fun and get in training as a family, maybe do some practice over half term!

There will be more details about the week after half term, but do get involved; it’s going to be a great week.

In the meantime, I hope you and your family have a great half term and some good time together, and we look forward to welcoming you all back in a week’s time.

MRS HONEYBONE RECOMMENDS

I've really enjoyed reading, 'The Girl who stole an Elephant' by Nizrana Farook. Suitable for readers aged nine and above, it follows Chaya's adventure through the jungle as she flees the King's guards! Chaya is a spirited and determined girl: thief, rebel, bandit or hero - you will have to read on to find out! There is some great description throughout, especially of the jungle.

Our School Updates for Parents

School Meals

We know that there have been some issues recently with the service provided by Nourish. They have changed our cook and local operations manager in the past few weeks. We have met with the new manager several times and it is clear that Nourish are committed to getting things right. There have been improvements in the last few days, and we expect to see this continue. In addition, Nourish:

• is happy for parents to contact them directly with any comments or concerns via office@nourishcc.co.uk or by phone on 020 8778 1111. Our Local Operation Manager, Nicola Payne or Head of Operations, Keighley Ridler, will deal with these.
• will be meeting the Pupil Leadership Team to get feedback from them
• would like to introduce our new chef manager Nirmala with years of experience in education. The children love her meals and she has made a positive impact in a short time. We have arranged a food tasting soon for you to try her amazing dishes on Tuesday 5th March at the Juniors.

Access to the Junior Site

After half-term we will be changing the access arrangement at the Juniors to make the site more secure. Outside of pickup and drop-off times, parents & visitors will be asked to identify themselves using the new intercom at the tall gates at the front of the school as well as at the reception doors. We will let you know more details after half term.

Reminder: Second Hand Uniform

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) have set up an online facility where second hand uniform can be purchased; please visit their Uniformerly website here. Any items purchased will be delivered to the school office for collection. If you experience any problems when ordering uniform via the Uniformerly website, please email ccnmpta.uniform@gmail.com.

Reminder – Rainbow Nursery Applications

For any parents making Rainbow Nursery applications for September 2024 entry, the closing date for applications is Friday, 1st March 2024. Please submit your application and any supplementary information forms by this date. Application forms are available from the Infant Office.

Wider Community Updates

New Church of England Secondary School - Call for Support

The Department for Education is working with the Diocese of Southwark to develop a much needed new Church of England secondary school at Kingsmeadow. The planning application for the new school is in and it should go to the Kingston Planning Committee in the next few months. Please find out how you can assist in a successful outcome

Touch Typing Course for 7 – 16s - February Half Term

Please see the attached flyer for details of a touch typing course being held at St Joseph’s Primary School in February half term.

Key School Dates

• Monday 12th - Friday 16th February - Half term
• Tuesday 20th February - Nursery Tour for Prospective Parents @ 9:30am
• Thursday 22nd February - Y2 Brightsparks Concert @ Royal Festival Hall
• Thursday 22nd February - Y6 Trip to Kew Gardens
• Monday 26th February - Y4 Trip to Natural History Museum
• Tuesday 27th February - Nursery & Reception Mobile Farm Visit
• Thursday 29th February - Lion Class Worship @ 2:45pm
• Tuesday 5th March - Parent Taster Session
• Thursday 7th March - World Book Day
• Thursday 7th March - Tiger Class Worship @ 2:45pm
• Monday 11th - Friday 15th March - World Week & Wellbeing Week
• Tuesday 12th March - Paralympic Athlete Visit
• Wednesday 13th March - Y1 Zoolabs Workshop
• Wednesday 13th March - Y5 Easter Experience at the Baptist Church
• Thursday 14th March - Owl Class Worship @ 2:45pm
• Thursday 14th March - Earthsong Workshops (Juniors)
• Friday 15th March - Earthsong Workshops (Junior site for Infants)
• Monday 18th - Friday 22nd March - Chums Week
• Tuesday 19th March - Reception & Y6 - National Child Measurement Programme
• Thursday 21st March - Y3 Trip to Butser Farm
• Thursday 21st March - Hedgehog Class Worship @ 2:45pm
• Thursday 21st March - Learning Look @ 4:30-5:30pm
• Friday 22nd March - Spring showcase for orchestra, recorders and bells @ 9am
• Tuesday 26th March - Year 5/6 choir at Cluster Concert in the Rose Theatre (pm)
• Wednesday 27th March - Infant Easter Bonnet Parade
• Thursday 28th March - Church Service @ 9:30am
• Thursday 28th March - Term finishes early at 1.05pm (infants) and 1.20pm (juniors). Connect will finish at 5:15pm
• Monday 15th April - Summer term starts