Dear parents and carers,
We arrive at the last newsletter of the term with the final day tomorrow. A very busy last two weeks in school, as you can see from all the events below. We enjoyed our first year group assembly on Wednesday with Year 3 and our KS1 did a great job yesterday holding two concerts in an hour, due to the rain preventing an outdoor event.
I wish you all an enjoyable Easter break, and we look forward to the summer term and welcoming the children back on Monday 13th April.
A reminder that we finish earlier tomorrow. 2pm for R/KS1 and 2.10pm for KS2.
SCHOOL FUND REMINDER
Clubs not running in the first and last weeks
We have had a couple of questions regarding why they do not operate in the first and last weeks of term. The first week is so that we can fully collate all the registers from the various providers, and we need to get this right for our staff and are safeguarding, so they know where to dismiss children to at the end of the day. The last week is used as a catch-up, in case any sessions are cancelled. It is very difficult for us and outside agencies to offer refunds if we do not have the catch-up week.
Reminders
Sports shorts-PE days
Whilst we allow children to wear 'tights shorts' on PE days, the shorts should be half way down to their knee if they are tight. Some of those seen recently from Year 4 upwards have been too short.
Switching to pack lunches
Please note you cannot switch to a packed lunch on specific or random days of the week. You are recorded as either a packed lunch or school dinner. Currently, all school meals are free (universal scheme in R/KS1 and through the London Mayor's programme in KS2). Therefore, if you randomly send your child in with a packed lunch, you are adding to food waste in the kitchen as they will not have accurate numbers.
Snacks
The level of unhealthy snacks appearing at after-school clubs needs to change please. No crisps, chocolate or biscuits. Cereal bar type snacks are permissible or breadsticks.
A reminder of the wording from our website around break time snacks-
Healthy Snacks at Breaktime
If your child is bringing in a snack for break time :
- the food provided should be simple and easily eaten
- please select from fruit, peeled vegetables or dried fruit
Mobile phone policy and uniform policy
Hopefully you saw the separate communication sent out last week around these new policies.
One area we need parental support with, regarding mobile phones, is when you are in school volunteering. Unless you are waiting for an emergency call (in which case please let us know), we do not want any mobile phones visible in the building or around children.
One further note on parent usage of mobile phones at pick-up/collection. As a parent group, there are very few parents on their phones when greeting or saying goodbye to their children and this is very welcome. I know in some schools this is a significant issue.
Charity Event -Friday 24th April
After numerous attempts by various school councils over the last few years, I have eventually given the green light to a charity pyjama day. This will be on Friday 24th April and will be for our focus charity for this academic year - EACP. We have already raised nearly £1500 for them to support a new kitchen in a school and need to raise more to finalise this project and, hopefully, we will also be able to support our other targeted project of new kitchen stoves. This is for a specific school in Uganda called Bukamba school. The charity has a trustee who works for AfC and has a history of impactful and immediate use of funds.
The East Africa Children's Project (EACP)- https://www.eacpcharity.com/
Earth Day Celebration – 23rd April from our Geography lead Miss Dodsworth
On 23rd April, we will be celebrating Earth Day with a special focus on our oceans.
Did you know that every second breath we take comes from the ocean? While we often think about trees and plants producing oxygen through photosynthesis, it is actually marine organisms, mainly phytoplankton, that generate around 50–80% of the Earth’s oxygen.
Throughout the day, students will explore the theme “Our Promise to the Ocean”, inspired by David Attenborough’s ocean film, and reflect on the question: “If the Ocean could speak, what would it ask humans to change?”
Through discussion and creative activities, pupils will learn about the importance of our oceans and consider simple actions we can all take to help protect them. The day will conclude with a shared assembly where students will showcase their ideas and commitments, inspiring each other to care for our planet.
Catering - Accent
On the last Thursday of every half-term, the kitchen provides a themed menu and we are currently making our way through the continents of the world and today was Africa day.
The kitchen are also providing a themed menu for the Earth Day mentioned above.
School events
Numerous school events over the last two weeks, many are mentioned in the year group sections further below. It is wonderful to see all the wider opportunities the children engage in: Year 4 Putney Arts Theatre, Year 6 at Junior Citizen – Holly Lodge, Year 6 Bikeability (cycle proficiency), Choir visit to Ibstock Place and Year 5 Shakespeare workshop
Choir singing at Ibstock
Last Monday, members of Year 4 attended a singing workshop at Ibstock Place School. Along with other local schools, they rehearsed and performed a medley of Disney ballads in the afternoon. It was a fantastic opportunity for members of our choir to build on their singing and performing skills.
Maths mastery at Kings House – Defne Solak and Jamie Arnold Y6.
On the past two Mondays, we attended the Royal Institute's Maths Masterclasses at King's House. During the first session, we looked at secrets, ciphers and codes. We explored seven secret languages, including the Caesar cypher and the enigma code. In small groups, we experimented on the different codes they showed us. During the second session, we learnt about patterns and Sierpinski's triangle, an iterating fractal. We were given three numbers in a sequence, 1,2,4… and had to continue it. Surprisingly, we found more than seven different ways to continue the sequence! Then, we made our own Sierpinski's triangle using a grid and pencil, and then folded it into a tetrahedron. We also looked at fractals in nature (on a school hall's projection) and found broccoli to be fractal! A poem about fractal foods left the end of our maths adventure happy as we made our way back.
PS: They gave us biscuits ! : )
Sport
Last 16 league matches – Netball, Football – Boys/Girls and Tag rugby
It is fantastic to write about our four league teams under one heading. All four teams have qualified for the quarter-finals of their events with victories. The netball team move onto the finals evening with the possibility of three matches all the way to the final. The other teams need to progress through their quarter final before a finals evening.
Chess
Congratulations to our chess team who played in the National Primary School Chess Championship last week. The team, with only 1 Year 6 child involved, reached the semi-finals and the next stage of the competition. Well done!
Netball
Further netball matches took place with a Y6 team and a Y5 team playing this week against St Elizabeth's. Two good victories for the teams – well done.
Basketball
Two teams headed to the 3v3 event this week. Both our teams performed very well, losing just one group game. They then ended up playing against each other in the 5th v 6th play-off.
Siblings in class assemblies
A reminder that the school will ensure siblings are in class assemblies for reception, Year 1 and Year 2. We will not have siblings in year group assemblies as the hall becomes too busy, and we need more space with 90 children performing and all the parents watching.
Lead school for Music
We were given the opportunity to apply to be the lead school for Richmond as part of the London South West Music hub. We look forward to working with them and sharing our expertise and continuing to develop our own provision through Mrs Boa and the team.
Readathon
A reminder of our involvement in the 'Read for Good' Readathon. The original letter is attached. The sponsorship ends on 13th April and the money raised goes towards books in hospital and the school receives 20% to spend on books. This all coincides with the national year of reading and our involvement.
Staff charity challenges
Two of our staff are taking on challenges in the coming months, should you wish to sponsor them.
Miss Dodsworth (Year 2 teacher) is taking on the London marathon for the charity Mind-her motivation behind the challenge is on her charity page.
https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/anna-dodsworth?
Mrs O'Brien is taking on a walking half marathon. Her words are below
https://www.justgiving.com/page/maria-obrien-3
On Saturday 9th May, I am walking a half-marathon with my sister in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society. Like so many people I know, Alzheimer’s is affecting our family as our dear dad has been diagnosed, and we are gradually seeing a decline in his memory and executive functioning. Whilst there is little we can do to change this, we can certainly support the work that the Alzheimer’s Society is doing to support families and contribute to the excellent research being undertaken by dozens of dementia research projects, many of which are based in the UK. Anything you can donate to support this work would be very much appreciated.
Chickens
Please see an update from our family who have been looking after the chickens.
We very sadly lost Poppy and Ginger this year from old age; having been rescued from a battery farm in 2024 to live at Sheen Mount we gave them a very healthy and happy 'retirement' and every student should feel incredibly proud to have contributed to their welfare. Waffle is still very much a healthy and active chicken, but she cannot live alone, so we've made the decision to re-home her with a Sheen Mount family.
The school coop will have a full reset and thorough clean, ready to welcome a new flock of hens soon. However, this is on pause for now: due to the nationwide Avian Flu outbreaks, a mandatory housing notice restricts any 'hobby' keepers of hens to sell their eggs, so we currently do not have incoming funds to pay for bedding and feed. Until this changes, we cannot move forward with a new flock.
Hopefully, this will change in the coming months, and we can 'crack' on! In this instance, we would need additional support from parents who might want to be part of the Chicken Team and help to clean the coop, collect the eggs and top-up feed/water on weekends and school holidays. Please email info@sheenmount.richmond.sch.uk if you are interested in helping.
In the meantime, a huge thank you to our Chicken Ambassadors, James and Rudy from Y6, for their fantastic support and help with the hens.
PSA events
Quiz
Thank you to all those who attended the quiz last Friday. A record turn out and an excellent community event. There was a national curriculum round for all those that missed the event....
Re-constitution and looking to the future
There was a healthy turn-out for the online meeting on Monday. A reminder that the PSA are looking for new committee members from September. The presentation from Monday night is included as an attachment here.
Community news
Football club on Saturdays
Please find attached a flyer about a local Saturday morning football ran by one of our parents. Cameron has also been voluntarily assisting the school with sports fixtures when Mr Brown is teaching or already with a team.
The Victoria Pub
As our neighbours, we are looking to ensure everything works the best it can for both of our communities. Please see a couple of attachments around their offers. They have also given our staff special lunch offers, coffee deals and, once a term, a prize draw for a free meal for two.
Have a good Easter break.
Should you wish to contact me directly, please do so on headteacher@sheenmount.richmond.sch.uk
Best wishes
Tom Holmes - Headteacher
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