Dear parents and carers,
This week began with us waving off the year 4’s on their school journey to Marchants Hill. And what a brilliant few days they had! So many children tried out new things, from abseiling to archery, and there really was never a dull moment. The children showed so many of the Kilmorie Child Qualities: most of all they were collaborative, independent and resilient and they should be very proud of themselves. The PGL staff led the activities with skill and humour and the school staff who accompanied the children had a really fun time despite the challenge of getting 63 eight and nine-year olds to bed! So many memories were made, and lessons learnt, including how challenging it can be to pack away a sleeping bag. Thank you PGL!
But those who stayed behind and had a ‘Home School Journey’ also had lots of 
fun. They started off the week with a visit to Mayow park. The children had so much fun playing on the zip wire, the swings, the monkey bars and on the roundabout. On Tuesday, they visited Lewisham lanes where the children thoroughly enjoyed bowling and playing in the arcades.
On Wednesday the children enjoyed movie time and team games outside. The day ended with dance and fun French activities. I was truly impressed with the level of respect the children showed towards one another.
For everyone else, the week began with Monday’s whole school assembly. This was led by Dennis who spoke about Neurodiversity as this week is Neurodiversity Celebration Week. He spoke about a range of neurodivergent conditions, such as ADHD, ASC, dyslexia, dyscalculia and Tourette’s syndrome. His focus was on the strengths of neurodiversity rather than the issues that it can create. He cited the examples of successful actors, writers, musicians, mathematicians, who are / were neurodiverse, who have used their conditions as a source of strength. He concluded the Upper Phase assembly by reading a poem, written by a pupil at Kilmorie, about their experience of autism, the strengths but also the challenges that they face.
The parents and carers of Kilmorie Primary School have put together a really helpful neurodiversity guide. Do take a look as it helps everyone in our community understand the complexities of different conditions and has helpful signposts too. It is currently an attachment but we will have this embedded into our website once we have had some technical support.
On Tuesday, the Year 2 children participated in an Institute of Imagination online 'Wild Cities' workshop, where they were inspired by animals and minibeasts to design fun, creative and useful buildings. The children had a lot of fun and a few challenges making their creations out of different junk materials and Lego bricks. Thanks so much to year 2 parent Jen, for supporting us with this inspiring workshop.
On Wednesday, some children from the Upper Phase choir had a trip to Wembley to take part in Voice in a Million, the world's most spectacular school concert. It was a wonderful experience for all. This is what they said about the event:
'The music was amazing, out of this world.'
'It was lots of fun; I was so excited and amazed with the lights and sound.'
'I enjoyed singing as loud as I could.'
' I felt like in the middle of an ocean of voices.'
' Everyone was happy, but I was the happiest.'
'It was a great feeling to be part of an infinite choir...'
'I would recommend it to everyone.'
'The banner parade was special.'
Please take a look at all photos by clicking here.
Today we had a spectacular class assembly from Crystal's class. It was so lovely seeing how much the children enjoyed sharing what they have learnt about The Stone Age. They used poetry to convey the facts and important information they have learnt. Some children also shared their own poems that they have written. They showcased the importance of hunting, carving and starting a fire with their impressive dance moves, and rounded it off with a song that got us joining in! Well done Crystal's class. Please view more photos by clicking here.
Today Kate’s class went off on a trip to the Maritime Museum and I look forward to hearing all about it upon their return and sharing it with you next week.
Philippa led this month’s SEND coffee morning on Friday and would like to thank all parents who came along. We would love to see even more families who may have SEND interests at our next gathering. If your child does not yet have a referral or diagnosis you are welcome to come along.
On our agenda this morning was an informal introductory chat about new informaton followed by a more focussed chat about The Right to Choose, how the educational psychologist’s half day could be used to support the school and families to support children to manage anxiety. Parents were then offered clarification around the process if a parent is concerned about SEND.
This was followed by reassurance around transition and an outline of how the new Inclusion Team works and why we are moving forward to offer more targeted support from teaching and learning assistants across year groups which will better meet the needs of our children.
Big Plastic Count 2024
Thank you so much for taking the time to count your plastic at home and for filling in the tally sheet. We are busy tallying all the plastic from across the school and households and will let you know our plastic footprint in next week's newsletter. It is not too late to bring in your tally sheet if you have forgotten to do it.
Arbor
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Some of you have noticed that the Arbor App was showing a school dinner balance. This is only for information purposes. However, we understand that this is confusing and have got Arbor to remove this feature.
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When we send text messages, it is done through our MIS system, Arbor which shows on your phones as a number. Arbor is unable to change the number to state Kilmorie Primary School. However, it will always be the same number, so if you save it as a ‘Kilmorie Primary School’ contact number, it will always show that it is a text from us.
Universal Free School Meals: We have discrepancies between what we have on our system and what children are actually having for lunch. To enable us to have exact numbers, a link will be sent out today asking what your child will be having; school dinners or packed lunch for the new term starting on 15th April 2024. Parents will need to register their child’s choice by Wednesday 27th March @ 12pm via the link.
Reminders:
Please can I ask that all parents visiting the school wait on the sofa opposite the reception area and not in the medical room. This supports us with our safeguarding procedures and makes it easier for us to communicate with you too! Thank you.
We have a number of cases of chicken pox in the school. Please can I ask that if your child is complaining of a headache and appears to have a cold, you check them carefully as it could be the first signs of chicken pox. Also, children should not be returning until all the spots have dried as they are then no longer contagious. Thank you.
Fence Art:
I would like to say an enormous thank you to Susanna (a parent of Issac in year 4 and Evangaline in nursery), Josey (who runs art club) and a number of others who have shared their expertise to look into how we could try and get this project to work. An enormous amount of time has been spent thinking creatively and innovatively. However, we sadly will have to close the idea, as it is just not going to work. We will though, be looking at doing another whole school art project around our Kilmorie qualities next year.
This does now mean that the monies that we were granted further to the Our Space Award bid can be spent ready for the planting planned for fence at the front of the school. Victoria (garden designer with previous experience at a primary school) is working with Eva on a planting plan, and I am catching up with Eva in the Easter holidays so we can get started.
A massive thank you from me and FOK to everybody who attended the FOK quiz last week. We hope you had a great time and congratulations again to the winning team: Kate’s touch ups.
An incredible total of just over £1400 was raised.
Wednesday March 20th was Internal Happiness Day.
This is a global event recognised by the United Nations to emphasise the importance of happiness as a fundamental human goal. With so much happening in our world, it is important take a moment to be grateful for what we do have, no matter how small – have a great weekend everyone.
I look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday for our last week of the spring term. To confirm we finish at normal time (3:30pm) on Thursday and wrap will run.
Kind regards
Julie
