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Kilmorie Primary School Newsletter

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Friday 30th June 2023


image of headteacherDear Parents and Carers,  

This week’s senior leader assembly was led by Martha and was in celebration of International Women in Engineering Day, which took place on the 23rd June. In the assembly, the importance of engineering was discussed with a focus on four contemporary female engineers. Highlighting the role of science and maths, alongside problem solving and creativity, we looked at the opportunities for all in engineering careers and the need to increase the proportion of women in the profession. Martha then finished the assembly with an extract from the book ‘Rosie Revere, Engineer’ by Andrea Beaty.  

Shona's class assembly photoWe had our final class assembly from Year 2 Shona’s class, and what a finale this was! I was blown away with the enthusiasm and collaboration the children showed, they were clearly enjoying themselves. The main message of the assembly was a really important one; they shared elements of what they had been learning about the rainforest and what we can do in order to protect it. Well done everyone, it was a wonderful celebration of the learning that has taken place.   

This week: 

  • On Wednesday, Year 5 had a visit from the Explorer Dome. This workshopYear 5 - space workshop photo supported their space topic learning. The children built on their learning about our solar system and beyond. They were taken into a world of planets, nebulas, constellations and black holes and explored their curiosity with lots of amazing questions (below), here are some photos.

"Is there an upside down in space?" 

"What would happen if a black hole and white hole collided?" 

  • Year 3 Dulwich Picture Gallery photoYear 3 Maria’s class visited the Dulwich Picture Gallery today.  The children took part in an artist-led workshop looking at a small, themed selection of paintings from the collection to initiate enquiry-based dialogue. Then they experimented with a variety of materials, processes and skills to create a self-portrait with a twist considering the theme of identity. Jo & Elis’ class are going next week. Here are some photos. 

  • Today, year 2 visited Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan in One Tree Hill as part ofYear 2 Hindu Temple photo their learning about Hinduism. The guru, spoke to the children about the importance of kindness, animals and nature to the Hindu faith. He highlighted the significance of the Hindu Deities and shared some Hindu words. Following the visit children to some time to eat lunch in One Tree Hill park. The children enjoyed the trip: 

“I liked learning the names of the different gods” 

“I liked the flowery smell I the temple.” 

“I enjoyed bowing to the gods” 

  • Lion King Cast membersOn Wednesday, Rebecca and Kate G took the main cast of The Lion King to visit the stage at The Broadway Theatre in advance of the much-anticipated performances. They were taken to stand on the stage and look around back stage, including the dressing rooms. To say the children were excited would be an understatement. Do have a look up at the building where the posters are on show to see if you can spot ours!  

We are always looking at ways we can safeguard our children and support families too. Please have a look at some information we have been sent from Parent Shield read more here, there is more information in the wellbeing news box below.  

As we near the end of the year we naturally have some staff who are moving on for a variety of reasons; seeking to broaden their experience at a different school; going travelling/working abroad, trying a new profession and one member of staff deciding it is time after a long and fruitful career to retire. We will be saying goodbye to: 

  • Nora who has been teaching in year 6 
  • Jo C who has been teaching in year 6 
  • Ayo who has been teaching in year 5 
  • Jo B who has been teaching in year 1 
  • Simone who has been job sharing in year 3 with Maria 
  • Sarah N who upon her return from maternity leave, has been working in Conor and Nora’s class, as well as covering in other classes 
  • Sam who has been teaching Music in the Upper Phase 
  • Shula who covers across the school  
  • Nasrine who has been teaching French across the school 
  • Patricia who has been TA in year 1 

We will be welcoming 7 new teachers:   

  • Crystal who will be teaching in year 3 
  • Penny who will be teaching in year 6 
  • Isla who will be teaching in year 1 
  • Eleni who will be teaching Music in Year 3-6 
  • Rachel who will be teaching in year 5 
  • Hannah who will be teaching in year 4 
  • Laura who will be teaching French from January 

Wrap/Holiday Clubs & Enrichment Clubs Some of you may be aware that Louisa is off at the moment and as such you may not have had a response to your emails. As we are unsure of Louisa’s return date, Benita our School Business Manager (SBM) will be managing as an interim Wrap/playscheme and Enrichment Clubs. She is going through all emails sent to Wrap@ & Enrichment@ and any that relate to holiday clubs she will endeavour to answer first. Benita is currently working on a new schedule for the autumn term and would like to make all parents aware that further to the additional feedback received following the Summer Club release, we will be upgrading our MIS system over the summer, which should support a much fairer system and address concerns raised. More details will be released over the coming weeks.  

The school office: Can I also draw your attention to the fact that the office is again, down one member of staff, which is having a huge impact on managing the daily workload along with addressing parental queries. Please be assured that temporary solutions are being investigated in the hope of alleviating some of the pressure points currently being experienced by the office team and frustrations felt by the parent community. Can we please ask parents and carers to use the website as a first point of contact.  

T-shirt designs & winners photoOur Kilmorie T-shirt shop is now open! Well done to the winners and runners up, and to all the children who took part - what an incredible range of designs, it was tough job judging them. Original artwork is now back in the office and needs to be collected before the end of term. Thank you to Nadine for leading on this.

Do please have a look at all our Dreamland t-shirt designs by the children and order yours online SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEKEND ONLY! FREE POSTAGE ON T-SHIRTS & TOTE BAGS. I also hear there is also a special edition T-shirt 🦁 *All profits go to the school*. 

Competition winners were judged by Julie and SLT 

  • Early Years: Winner - Mabel year 1. Runners up - Sid year 1, Sophie year 1 
  • Lower Phase: Winner - Lucky year 2. Runner up - Sienna year 3, Ida year 2 
  • Upper Phase: Winner - Lexi year 5. Runners up - Emily year 6, Eidan year 4 

Dreamland cloud photoFor those of you who have been into school this week, you will have noticed that the Friends of Kilmorie creative team, led by Lauren & Rina (thank you) have started work transforming the main reception area into a Dreamland. Don’t forget it is not too late to offer a helping hand...please see Friends news box below.  

Next week – please remember strike days on 5th & 7th July, I look forward to seeing you at our parents open evening on Thursday (6th), school will be open between 4-6pm - don’t forget to bring your coins to purchase an item your child has made during the Great Kilmorie Design Challenge. Most items will be £1, no change will be available so please bring some coins! There will also be displays about the process the children went through to design and make the products.   

Wishing all our families a lovely weekend.  

Kind regards

Julie


Celebrations

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

Child's Name Celebrating...
Matilda - Year 1 I am impressed with your beautifully detailed illustrations. Matilda engages well with her learning and has continued to show that she is a resilient learner
Mylo - Year 1 I would like to congratulate Mylo because he has made great progress with his writing
Giulia - Year 1 She is beginning to apply her phonetic knowledge into her writing
Jo - Year 2 for good learning attitude & behaviour 
Shannon - Year 2 for good learning attitude & behaviour 
Xyla - Year 2 for good learning attitude & behaviour 
Bella - Year 2 for good learning attitude & behaviour 
Archie - Year 2 for good learning attitude & behaviour 
Arthur - Year 2 for good learning attitude & behaviour 
Abigail - Year 2 for being a great role model to the rest of the class. She shows independence, resilience and is always respectful. 
Ruben - Year 2 for his great learning behaviour. He tries his hardest and has a lovely attitude
Riley E - Year 3 for fantastic resilience
Chigozilim - Year 3 for brilliant progress in reading & writing
Erin S for brilliant focus and good handwriting
Lara - Year 5 for fantastic work & improved resilience in all areas of the curriculum 
Elsa - Year 5 for excellent biography & critical thinking
Brodie - Year 5 for improved determination to succeed and resilience to improve
Reuben - Year 5 for much improved attitude in all areas of the school
Elani - Year 6 for super writing a suspense story
Luc - Year 6  for super writing a suspense story
Daisy - Year 6 for being a good role model
Ben - Year 6 for being a good role model

 


SG Cricket Tournament - June 2023Some of our year 5 and 6 children participated in a School Games Cricket tournament held at Catford & Cyphers on Tuesday.

The boys came 2nd in their group having won 2 of their 3 games. Unfortunately we didn't make the semis, however we went on to play a friendly game where the boys showed the exact same level of play and determination. Read the full article here.


School News

Summer playscheme - we are now taking bookings for our summer playscheme - please apply online here.

Playscheme will be open for 4 weeks over the summer - Monday to Friday from the 24th July - 18th August. Drop off from 08:45am - close 5:30pm.


Instrumental Lessons

  • Cancellations - if you wish to cancel your current instrumental lessons, please let us know BEFORE the end of the day on Friday 14th July. Many thanks.
  • Applications - if you would like to apply for instrumental lessons for the next academic year - please apply via our website.

Reminders

Lost property - please take a look. The shed is full – the shed is located by the main gate and is not locked. We will, once again, put lost property out on the last day of term. We will bag up any unclaimed items for donation to charity. 


Everything you need to know about Lion King Performances - including costumes, dates, tickets etc etc.

Please visit our dedicated Lion King FAQ page here.

Wellbeing & Safeguarding

Summer Water Safety - drowning accidents are especially high in the summer months. Enjoy the water safely - read the safety leaflet here.

In its latest updates WhatsApp - the popular Facebook-owned chat application has stopped asking for any age verification for new users - meaning any child in charge of a smartphone can easily use the application to share photographs and videos without their parents' (or teacher's) knowledge. Read more

Attendance & Punctuality

Class Attendance % Punctuality %
Ladybirds 95.96 100.00
Treefrogs 94.46 99.26
Butterflies 96.68 99.26
Sarah C 96.46 99.56
Kate M 96.96 98.86
Shona 97.12 97.53
Elis 97.79 98.52
Jo G 88.97 98.90
Maria / Simone 96.67 97.41
Shipra 95.02 98.85
Sarah R 97.32 99.62
Rebecca 96.67 97.78
Vicky 98.08 98.08
Ayo 93.82 99.23
Conor 94.23 99.23
Dominic 94.68 96.58
Jo C 97.94 100.00
Nora 92.31 100.00

Well done! 100% Punctuality to:

  • Ladybirds class

  • Jo C's class

  • Nora's class

Friends of Kilmorie (FoK) News

FoK Open Committee Meeting - Tues 4th July, 8pm

Everyone is welcome to join the next FoK committee meeting where we will be discussing plans for the summer barbecue. The meeting will be online from 8-9.30pm. If you'd like to join us, please sign up here to be sent the joining link.


Barbecue Volunteers / Performance Schedule 

We still need lots of volunteers for the summer barbecue. To help you choose a suitable time slot, please follow this link to view the performance schedule for the barbecue.

You can sign up for a volunteer slot here: volunteersignup.org/CB494


Summer Raffle - Raffle books will be sent home with the children next week. Please check their book bags. The draw will be on Monday 17th July, live on Facebook and Instagram.

Summer BBQ Tokens - FoK committee members will be selling tokens in the playground in the run up to the barbecue (14th July). Tokens can be used on most stalls (excluding bars and BBQ/food trucks) but cash will also be accepted. 

Barbecue Donations - Please keep donations of soft toys and bottles coming. Unfortunately, we can't accept donations of other toys.  You can also help by purchasing something off our Amazon Wish List.


Community News

Road Safety Petition - Cranston/Woolstone/Houston Road

Two Kilmorie parents - Clare and Guy - have started a petition for safety improvements to be made to the junction between Cranston, Houston and Woolstone Road. Many Kilmorie families have to cross this junction, but it is also a concern for other local residents. If you would like to support their campaign, you can sign the petition here.


Summer Holiday Crash Courses with Better Leisure centres - from football camps to family fun and swimming courses (parents can use the code SWIMHAPPY to save 25%).

Downham Health and Leisure Centre Summer Programme Junior gym sessions, pool inflatable fun. Free Swimming to under 16s who reside in the Lewisham Borough which includes General swimming sessions with floats to the timetable.

Dates for your diary

Diversity Working Group session with Dennis
3:45pm – 4:45pm
03
July
Year 2_Educational Visit
All Day
04
July
NEU Strike Action - school closed
All Day
05
July
Early Years Beach Trip
All Day
05
July
Reception - Year 6 Open Parents Evening - drop in
4:00pm – 6:00pm
06
July
NEU Strike Action - school closed
All Day
07
July