Dear parents and carers
We reach the end of a busy and action packed half term.
Thank you to the children and staff for the harvest assembly concerts, it is always a great way to finish the half term. The two performances for each key stage worked well and we will continue with this. Particular thanks go to Mrs Boa and Mrs Adams for putting together the performances and it was great to hear and see the orchestra at the KS2 performances.
A reminder, Monday 3rd November is an INSET day and we look forward to welcoming the children back on Tuesday 4th November with clubs starting that morning.
SCHOOL FUND REMINDER
Playground works
The children have been watching with great excitement as the wood has been carved and put into various shapes. This stage has now been completed and on time.
We now have the rubber mulch being added for the surface over the next few days.
We are hoping for the structure to be ready to be used for the children after half term.
The work on the ball court surface will follow.
Parents evening and sharing our learning
You will have received the timings for the parents evening on Tuesday 11th and Thursday 13th November, which are all in person appointments-you can book appointments from 8pm tonight.
Sharing our learning-as always before parents evening there is the opportunity for you to look at the books with your children on the Friday before on Friday 7th November from 2.30pm with the last entry at 3.10pm (R/KS1 and 3.20pm (KS2).
A reminder to please do not take siblings with you to other classes and you can leave with your child/ren once you have finished from 2.30pm.
The books are available on the parents evening night and are commonly referred to by the teachers.
Host venue for Independent ISEB test
The school will now host children who wish to sit the online ISEB test at school in Year 6. You just need to add yourself to the system and we will accept you. It is only for Sheen Mount children.
African School charity connection
I am delighted to say we have paired up with a small charity to support some of their work in a specific school in Uganda. The school is called Bukamba and is in a very rural part of the country.
The charity is supported by an AfC educational advisor and they were looking to connect with a school. Their due diligence around their spending and ensuring projects have a direct impact was a particular attraction.
Our initial work is to support two projects this year and I would very much like the children to lead on this. I discussed various ideas with the school council this week and we decided on a sponsored fun run along with a table top sale. More details will follow on this.
Additionally half of the donations from the Christmas carol concerts collection in the church will go towards this project.
Bukamba New school kitchen building. Construct ventilated new school kitchen 9,000,000 (£1,972)
Bukamba School kitchen stoves. Construct new school traditional kitchen stoves 8,500,000 (£1,862)
https://www.eacpcharity.com/
Ambassadors
All of our children in Year 6 are assigned an ambassador role and we like to give updates on what they are looking forward to doing or have done in their role.
First up is the maths ambassadors who are led by Mrs Humphreys our maths lead and Y5 teacher
It was excellent to meet with our Maths Ambassadors. During our meeting, we had interesting conversations about why we enjoy maths at school and why is it important. Riley explained that he is very enthusiastic in his lessons, as he loves to tackle challenges! Max stated that maths is incredibly important because we use mathematical skills in every day life. Rivaan and Daniel agreed with each other and said, they feel maths fluency is key to being a successful mathematician. Interestingly, William spoke about his maths lessons and how he really enjoys collaborative work with his peers, as he feels this is a really beneficial way to learn!
Taking on the role as a maths ambassador, requires the children to be apart of enhancing the children's experience of maths throughout the school and being involved in events and competitions.
School events
Science trip-New Scientist live
From Mina and Hunter-
On Monday, 20th September, we went on a science trip to Excel, London. When we arrived, we entered the building where we were greeted by a man hosting a stall who gave us information about Weetabix. We learned there were 70,000,000 made in a week! In order to make the most of our time, we rushed to a speech all about how to stop climate change and how fossil fuel companies affected climate change for the world in the 1990s. We also learnt that approximately 0.5% of our brain is polluted by microplastic.
While eating our lunch, we intently watched the Ministry of Science taking place live on the stage. There were loads of experiments including: a home made hovercraft, a liquid hydrogen explosion, a balloon friction and many more enchanting experiments! After looking at our maps, we navigated through the maze of science stalls where we experienced: a captivating light photo, an inflatable tube (the accelerator) and we used a VR headset that showed us what it was like in the ocean. We learnt astounding new facts and witnessed mesmerizing experiments.
We thank Mrs Adams and Mrs Brenna for taking us on this riveting trip
Tag rugby
The tag rugby team from year 6 had a great day at the borough event last week-with over 30 schools involved. 
They played 8 matches- won 6, drew 1 and lost 1. They lost out for a place in the semi-finals by tries scored. A great effort with excellent team spirit, in this mixed event with 4 boys and 3 girls on the pitch at all times.
Letter from Holly lodge
Please see attached a letter of thanks from Holly Lodge to the PSA. A reminder, all parents are members of the PSA.
Newspaper article from Holly Lodge
Our fundraising efforts for Holly Lodge made an appearance in the Richmond and Twickenham Times last week.
The article is here- https://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/25525908.sheen-mount-primary-school-richmond-donates-cycle-proceeds/
School street consultation - a reminder of the information sent on email
The formal consultation period around the West Temple Sheen school street has ended and they are now moving towards making a more permanent decision.
They will either - "amend the scheme, remove it or make it permanent, depending on their decision" this decision will be from the Transport and Air Quality Committee.
The school will be filling in slightly different documentation and strongly writing that the school street should become permanent for all the reasons that the street was initiated in the first place. Parental feedback on the gate tells me it has been success and without it, we would be back to the vehicle use of a very narrow road (West Temple Sheen) at drop off and pick up.
Parents have until the end of half term to email this address with your thoughts-
schoolstreets@richmond.gov.uk
Community news
Winter recital series at Christchurch
They are running a range of Friday night concerts and particularly asked us to promote a Violin & Piano concert on 21st November from 7pm.
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/christchurch-east-sheen
Have a good half term
Should you wish to contact me directly, please do so on headteacher@sheenmount.richmond.sch.uk
Tom Holmes - Headteacher
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