Dear parents and carers,
On Monday, Dennis led the whole school assemblies. The theme this week was Holocaust Memorial Day (27th January). Dennis primarily spoke about the Holocaust and the build-up to the Holocaust in the 1930s. He spoke about the lack of respect, tolerance and lack of humanity, with the context that it was only 80 years ago. He then moved on to speak about other genocides in his lifetime, such as in Rwanda and Cambodia. It is important that we learn lessons from history so that these horrific events are not repeated. The assembly did however, end on a lighter note as a picture of Tully was shared with the children with a brief outline of the importance of not overwhelming her. We are all very excited about her arrival on Monday.
On Tuesday 23rd January, Philippa and Dennis held a SEND coffee morning. It was a useful session; Philippa led the session, which enabled her to get a better awareness of how parents feel. Parents shared their experiences and challenges at home when dealing with different needs. Philippa and Dennis outlined the changes to the Inclusion Team and how this should enable a broader range of support.
Throughout this week we have had parents’ evenings. I hope you have found the feedback useful, and have enjoyed browsing their learning journals, seeing the range of work covered and the progress they are making. If, for any reason you weren’t able to come this week or missed your appointment, please speak with your child’s class teacher to rearrange. If you haven’t already, do please give us feedback, we are always looking to hear what is good but also ways we can improve.
Dennis held a Diversity Workshop on Thursday. He was joined by 7 parents / carers. Each parent shared their reasons for coming to the group and their experiences of diversity at Kilmorie, both the strengths and the areas they felt that need to be developed. It was really good to get direct feedback from our parents. Dennis will collate the replies and responses and share more fully in a future newsletter on what our next steps are.
Today was the start of this term’s class assembly with Hannah’s class assembly. And what an amazing start it was! They started off sharing with us not only the knowledge they have learnt in science about sound, but also how this directly relates to hearing and teaching us the signing alphabet. They then went on to share the poetry they had learnt, as well as sharing their learning all about the Ancient Egyptians. It was lovely to see children independently writing aspects and then together sharing in many different forms. It was a brilliant assembly – well done Hannah’s class. I look forward to Jo’s next week.
Exciting news. This year's end of year production will be "Finding Nemo - The Musical" The performances will be on the 9th and 10th July and we are pleased to announce that the location will be Catford Broadway again. Information regarding the year groups that will be performing on which date will be sent out in the final week of this half term, along with information about who has got the key parts. Auditions are being held in the final week of this half term and we can't wait to get started. We thank you for your support, Rebecca and Eleni.
We have a parent governor vacancy. A letter will be sent to you next week with more information and ways to find out more. Parent governors are an important part of the governing body, ensuring the views of parents with children at the school are represented. Please do consider putting yourself forward it is important all voices are represented.
We are a Sugar smart and nut free school. Please can I remind parents that children should not be bringing in any form of sweets. This week a number of children have been seen eating, sharing or giving away sweets. It has also been shared that children bring in items for packed lunch that are not allowed. Any product containing nuts must not be brought into school, this includes pasta dishes containing pesto. No biscuits or chocolate should be part of packed lunches. It is important children have a healthy lunch. Thank you for your support.
We are looking forward to a week of wellbeing activities to celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week: 13th – 15th February. We will introduce the week to the children at Monday’s whole school assemblies, with a focus on this year’s theme of ‘Every Voice Matters’. We will also bring Tully in at the end of the assemblies so that everyone has a chance to see her, if they haven’t already met her by then. We have a timetable of wellbeing activities planned for the week, including Daily Mile and Reading Buddy activities. We have someone coming in to lead a mindfulness session with each class, and we will also be focussing on Zones of Regulation strategies and including some ‘time to talk’ sessions along with specific activities for this year’s theme. We look forward to sharing some of the outcomes and photos of the week with you and in next week’s newsletter will be informing you on ways you can get involved in this very important week at home.
Wishing all our families a lovely weekend and I look forward to welcoming you back on Monday.
Kind regards
Julie