Dear parents and carers,
I hope you had an enjoyable Easter break. We have had to hit the ground running with this short half-term of only five weeks, including two four-day weeks. However, it has been great to see the children playing outside and using our grounds in this beautiful weather; I counted five classes learning outside at the same time on Monday. I can see the class teachers have put some examples of this in their year group news this week.
I have just returned from my day visit to the Y4 two-night residential trip to Juniper Hall. Year 6 have their SATs (public examinations) the week after next, and then they go on their 4-night residential school journey to PGL Marchants Hill in Hindhead - so it is a busy time.
For your information, the Living Value focus for this half-term is Happiness.
School finance meeting for parents
A reminder of the email sent on Tuesday; there is a school finance meeting online on Tuesday 6th May at 7.30pm. This is a presentation by myself, with a subsequent question and answer session, following the re-launch of the school fund. Whilst the re-launch has been quite successful, we still need more people to commit to it and I would like to explain further the context behind our situation. The link will be sent again on Tuesday.
Staffing
We congratulate Mrs Sparkes, who is pregnant. She will be here for the rest of the academic year, before beginning her maternity leave in September. Mrs Humphreys is returning from maternity leave five days a week, and she has already returned early to teach 4BH one day a week this term. Mrs Barrington-Haynes is on an extended maternity leave and the school has already recruited staff to cover for next year and will bring you news of this with our staff profiles before moving up day on Monday 7th July.
Equipment and playing with balls before and after school
Could we please remind you and ask for your help with ensuring children do NOT go on the equipment or play with balls before or after school. The children have been told this many times in assembly and a reminder from me last week. It is important for everyone's safety and our insurance does not cover accidents without a member of school staff present. There are notices on the equipment which are frequently ignored.
This is particularly prevalent with younger siblings waiting, with parents, to pick up older siblings at 3.30pm.
We did reach a slightly farcical situation this week, when I looked over at pick-up and two dads were playing basketball.
School events this week
Sport
Netball
The team went to the finals of the borough event last night. They won the quarter-finals by 1 goal but unfortunately lost to the eventual winners in the semi-final 11-4. Well done to all the team and squad on an excellent season. Many thanks also to our two coaches-Vanessa Westlake and Nikki Price-we've gone from struggling to win a game in a season to competing for borough titles. Whilst also exposing a huge range of children to competitive matches.
Girls football
The girls' team had their knock-out league quarter-final last week and unfortunately, were on the wrong side of 5-4 classic. The standard of football on our astroturf pitch was very high, with great goals scored by both teams. With three quarters of the team in Year 5, I know Mr Brown is already looking forward to next season. Well done girls on an excellent season in the league and tournaments.
Cricket
Three teams and over thirty children went with Mr Brown and parent volunteers to a tournament at Hampton Wick last week. We had a Y5/6 girls team, a Y5/6 boys team and a Y3/4 team. Our Y5/6 teams won over half their matches, whilst the Y3/4 team picked up a silver medal and losing the final by only 7 runs. Well done to everyone who took part.
Basketball
The team attended the finals today with a different format of 3 v 3. All of our 12 players did incredibly well, but one team reached all the way to the final and lost by on the golden buzzer.
Music
A reminder of the upcoming performance concert (the first in quite a few years) from the previous newsletter.
Sheen Mount Evening Music Concert
Please see the message below from Mrs Boa and Mrs Wrigglesworth who are organising this event. This is something that we have not run for many and so it is great to be able to launch it again. They are aware of many talented musicians in the school. However, could you fill in the form below for any child who has learnt an instrument outside of school.
On Tuesday 24th June, 6.30 -7.30, we will be holding a music concert which will allow some of the musicians in school to perform a piece that they have been learning this term.
The concert will be by invitation, including the orchestra and groups of children who have music lessons from the Richmond Music Trust. Some children will be invited to play solos. We would like to extend this to children who learn instruments outside of school and have reached a Grade 2 standard.
Please complete the google form below indicating the instrument, length of time they have been playing and grade/level achieved for your child.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScww3MrLTfUsxzBTT5yeKx1hwEviS-n40uixxrhJ_uH36szog/viewform?usp=header
English language support- 'multi lingua'-parent volunteers
We have children in various year groups in the school who would benefit from additional English language support since English is not their native language. We have a bespoke programme that parent volunteers have delivered in the past. Whilst some have continued even after their children have left the school, we would be grateful for more volunteers. If you think you can help with this please email the office FAO Mrs O'Brien. It is a very rewarding thing to do.
PSA
Some phenomenal work carried out by the PSA in the last few weeks. Thank you to all the community.
Tidy up day
Once again, the community pulled together for this invaluable event. The three main areas targeted were the outdoor classroom, the woodland trail area and the painting of an inside group room. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this in any capacity.
The outdoor classroom sail has been taken down, and the seating is now usable. We have one more part of this revamp, which is to put composite benching on top of the concrete to finish it off. I know lots of classes have been out there this week.
The woodland trail area is connected to the science curriculum, gardening club and areas for children to walk around supervised.
Sponsored Bounce
The final raised amount is a quite fantastic £14,500. Thank you so much to everyone for your donations. It was a wonderful community event for the children and, whilst we have a target for the playground works of £80,000, the more we raise, the more we can add to the project.
Recent Fundraising
Please see the attachment for all the amazing fundraising carried out recently.
PSA request for positions to be filled on the committee next year
I would like to inform you that, following their two-year term, two members of our PSA will be stepping down at the end of this academic year. The PSA is now seeking a new Class Rep Coordinator and Secretary to begin in September 2025 for a two-year term. If you're interested or would like more information, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Your support is greatly appreciated. Feel free to email clarazmnelson@gmail.com or haugekath@gmail.com.
Clara and Kath
Cycle link
The training rides for the upcoming cycle are very much in the flow. For everyone who is practising, either those on a bike for the first time or those wondering how they are going to achieve the 3-day challenge (that might be myself...)
The link for the overall sponsorship is here- https://www.justgiving.com/team/sheenmountride25
If you are not sponsoring anyone that why not sponsor the staff taking part?
They are:
Myself - the three-day challenge ......
The one-day 100-mile challenge-
Miss Bolton - two weeks before her wedding!
Miss Lawton - just borrowed her first road bike!
Mr Brown - last rode properly over 10 years ago, will begin training very soon.......
Please sponsor us here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/sheenmountstaff
Aerial pictures of the school
Please see attached two fantastic pictures by one of our parents of the school site. You can see the full space and appreciate it.
Additionally, the vision for the astroturf was not to lose any of the green feel of the school with all our trees and this reinforces that.
Many thanks to Laura Starbuck for taking these. We will be using them in the school for promotional material and our orienteering activities. We also thank her for her work on the Instagram feeds both from a creative and advice-giving side. Whilst the school is posting content, Laura's additional videos and ideas are still invaluable.
Community News
Libraries
Please see the various offers and update about the library service.
https://www.richmond.gov.uk/services/libraries/branch_libraries/local_studies_collection/know_your_place/kyp_events
Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend.
Should you wish to contact me directly, please do so on headteacher@sheenmount.richmond.sch.uk
Tom Holmes - Headteacher
