Newsletters

Dear parents and carers, 

My goodness me what a long and busy term it has been, and we still have 3 days to go! 

Whole school assembly this week was led by Dennis, he celebrated the life of Benjamin Zephaniah. He spoke about his early life, as well as his wide and varied career as a poet, writer and musician. Dennis focused on his work challenging racial stereotyping and racism, using examples from Benjamin’s own experiences. The assembly concluded with two poems “The British” and “Talking Turkeys.” 

Winter performances: today the eldest in the school were the last group of children to sing in our winter performances. I have really enjoyed seeing the quality of music being shared and the snapshot of both contemporary and street dance. I am sure you will join me in thanking Rebecca, Eleni & Emily for organising the school performances, the peri teachers, Justyna and Antionette for sharing the work they do with the children, and also the school office for organising the bookings. 

Year 2 Shona & Kate’s classes visited St Paul’s Cathedral. The children learnt how London changed because of the Great Fire, and compared the changing architecture as they crossed the Millennium Bridge. See photos here.

• Tilly - “I liked it when I saw the griffin on St Paul's Cathedral.” 
• Sam W - “I liked walking over the Millennium Bridge because you could see all the boats go past.” 
• Jazzy - “I enjoyed it when we lay down and looked up at the dome and prayed.” 

Spring Enrichment 2024 bookings will open at 7pm on Monday 18th December via the Arbor App / Arbor Portal. The system is slightly different, in that you will be able to book clubs - but you will not be charged until January (which will be done via ParentPay). There is still a maximum of two clubs per child in the initial booking window, more spaces will be released when we return in January. Please read this important letter.

Please ensure that you have set up your Arbor App / signed in to the Arbor Portal and can see your child/ren's information. An email was sent to all parent/carer's on 1st December. If you have any problems, please contact the office.

Fidget Toys: We have noticed some children are bringing in fidget toys or stress balls from home. If you feel, or a private assessment has recommended, a fidget toy would help your child, please can I ask that you speak with the school in the first instance. Some of the toys are proving to be a health and safety risk - please do not send your child in with one. If it is deemed as something that would be a support for your child, we will supply them with one and liaise with you and teachers on its use. Thank you for your support. 

Scooters: If your child brings a scooter to school, please ensure it is stored in the scooter park - which is situated next to the cage. A number of scooters are being left by Sarah C’s classroom which is part of the playground and are a hazard. If you are not sure where the scooter should be parked, do please ask the senior leader at the gate. Thank you. 

In the first week back, we have online safety workshops for the children being delivered by the Breck Foundation. They are a charity that we have worked with previously to support us to help children safely navigate our ever-increasing online world. They deliver powerful, compelling online safety presentations to educate on the dangers that children and young people face online from grooming, exploitation and abuse, as well as from exposure to inappropriate or harmful content. Please be assured they do it in an age appropriate way. To help support our parents and carers, they will be holding an online session for parents on Wednesday 10th January 6-7pm. We will send a reminder and the link on the day. 

As we enter the final few days of term, there is still lots of festive fun in the run-up to the end of term:

• Monday, we have the staff panto
• Tuesday is our theme lunch & Christmas jumper day with class parties in the afternoon
• Wednesday we will have our staff leavers assembly with the children. 

Please remember that school will close at 2pm on Wednesday 20th December. Please ensure you make arrangements for your child/ren to be collected at this time.  

• Nursery children will need to be collected at 1:45pm  
• Reception - Lions – 1:50pm / Tigers – 1:55pm / Bears 2pm 

I hope you all enjoy the winter holiday and, whether you are celebrating Christmas or not, enjoy time together as a family. Children return to school on Tuesday 9th January. 

Julie

In this week's Celebration Assembly, we celebrated... 

 

The Monday night league continued this week for our boys B team (year 5). The team was told when they arrived that they would be playing 2 games. The team was fired up and ready to go! Read the full article here. 

LAST DAY OF TERM: Wednesday 20th December, the school will close at 2pm.

Please ensure you make arrangements for your child/ren to be collected at this time. 

• Nursery children will need to be collected at 1:45pm 
• Lions – 1:50pm 
• Tigers – 1:55pm 
• Bears 2pm

Please log into Arbor portal / app - please follow the instructions on the email sent on the 1st December.

Your username is the email address that we hold on file for you (it will be the email address that we sent the information to). 

** We will be using Arbor for the spring enrichment class bookings, (bookings open 7pm on Monday 18th) as well as the January parents' evening. **

New school lunch menu is now available on our website. We have received the menu from Chartwells, it will start from January - view the menu here.

Message from LAMDA. "What a brilliant start to the year our LAMDA students have had!

Year 5 & 6 had their first introduction to poetry performance with the poem Fingers and Thumbs by Richard Merrell, a real tongue twister! Developing performance skills, including projection, diction, eye contact and of course facial and vocal expression.

Year 1 have loved being able to perform for their classmates using the skills we work on in class, both in and out of LAMDA lessons. It’s been a joy to see their confidence develop across the term.

The skills we have worked on this term are encouraging our pupils to be confident and full of character, who can communicate with those around them in a clear and engaging way. If you are interested in LAMDA classes for your child, please email for more details on how to get involved.

Parents' evening will take place w/c 22nd January - booking forms will be available on Arbor when we return after the Christmas holidays. All meetings will be in person, if you cannot attend in person, please contact the teacher via info@ email address.

ParentPay - is your account all up to date? 

Please ensure ParentPay account is paid up ahead of the spring 2024 enrichment bookings opening on Monday 18th December. 

Please remember to use our dedicated email addresses. We have specific email addresses, some are listed below - all can be accessed on our website:

• attendance - for illness / change to pick up person from school.
• wrap - changes to bookings / change of pick up person from wrap.
• enrichment - any questions / queries
• music - any questions / queries

Never miss a school date! Subscribe to our website calendar.

All dates are automatically added to your personal calendar. Please remember to subscribe to your child/ren's year group from the categories list.

1. Visit the website page: https://www.kilmorieschool.co.uk/school-calendar
2. Click 'Categories' (above the grid box) – select your child/ren’s year group/s
3. Click the ‘Subscribe’ button (above the grid box).

Winter break resources for families: Place 2Be have a number of resources available for families to use over the winter break to further support children’s wellbeing. There's plenty to do! More information. 

Family Thrive Early Help Co-ordinators are running a free course for parents or carers of teenagers and pre-teens who are looking to better understand and communicate with them. Offering an opportunity to understand what’s going on in the adolescent brain and how to understand their feelings and behaviours using an authoritative parenting style - click here for more information.

Invitation to parents/carers of black and dual-heritage neurodivergent children to an upcoming coffee morning, to discuss difficulties in education. On Tuesday 23^rd January 2024, 9.30-11am. 

This will be an informal meeting to share your ideas, perspectives and experiences to enable us to support you better and develop
services that are sensitive to your needs. More information.

Worried about a child?

Contact NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing help@NSPCC.org.uk

Well done! 100% Attendance to Shona's class - fantastic!

Before we sign off for Christmas, we would like to say a huge thank you for all your help and support in 2023.

We have had another successful year, raising money for our school. 

• Thank you to our class reps for making sure messages have been shared. 
• Thank you to the office staff for always being on hand to help us. 
• Thank you to Gary, Don and Louisa for always helping with set up and take down at our busy events. 
• Thank you to Kilmorie staff for volunteering! Without help from all of the above, our events would not be as successful as they are. 

Have a restful holiday, see you all in the new year for more fun! 

Thank you all again for purchasing the year group tea towels. You should have all received them from your child’s teacher. 

There have been a few minor issues and we are grateful for your patience whilst we sorted this out. 

Winkworth

Promise to give money for every instruction made by a Kilmorie parent.

They have kindly donated:

• £675 for boards advertising the winter fair
• A raffle prize
• A Christmas tree for the school. 

Christmas Camps from Munchkin Sports

Starting on Monday 18^th December with camps available at St Dunstan’s in Catford, Parish CofE Primary in Bromley and Poverest Primary in Orpington.

 The direct link to the booking page for your parents is https://munchkinsports.com/christmas-camps/