Taking Stock: December 2024

We have reached the end of the Autumn term, the longest term of the school year.

We have managed to pack an awful lot into the last 15 weeks. We have had workshops, and exhibitions; coffee mornings, and parent workshops; International Evening and the Winter Fair; Enterprise week and Anti-Bullying Week; we supported MacMillan, Save the Children and Children in Need; took part in various sporting events and entered three teams into the Ferndale Football League; the children went on lots of school trips, including two residentials to Ufton Court and PGL. Whew! No wonder we're all ready for the holidays.

As I look back over the term, I cannot help but be proud of how far we have come. I am incredibly proud of the school and the staff do a brilliant job with the children every single day. I would like to thank each and every one of them for their hard work.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Friends of Stockwell (FOS), our PTA. They work incredibly hard not just raising funds for the school, but communicating with parents and sharing information. Thank you for everything that you do for the Stockwell community.

On Friday 6th December, FOS organised our annual Winter Fair. Thank you to everyone that came along, hosting stalls, offering time and support, and taking part in activities. We were even visited by Mrs Claus! I look forward to updating you with how much has been raised. FOS have also been collecting donations for Secret Santa. It is wonderful to be able to support so many families at this time of year.

Last week, we held our EYFS nativity, 'Whoops-A-Daisy Angel.' I am always amazed by our youngest children knowing their lines, knowing all of the words to the songs and being able to project their voices to the back of the hall. They even managed to handle the microphones brilliantly. There were huge smiles all round as they acted, sang and danced in style.

Well done to all of the children in Nursery and Reception - what a performance!

Ms Bowes took the Infant Choir to the Old Vic to take part in the 12 Choirs of Christmas. 12 Choirs of Christmas supports mental health and wellbeing by partnering community groups for people aged 50+ with primary schools across London to create 12 intergenerational choirs. Each choir was supported by a musical director and had three rehearsals before they performed their Christmas concert in the auditorium at The Old Vic.

It was a wonderful afternoon and the children thoroughly enjoyed performing on the stage at The Old Vic.

Years 1 and 2 performed their Christmas play, Operation Christmas on Friday afternoon and what a show it was! The children performed so confidently, speaking so clearly and singing with huge enthusiasm.

There were angels, kings, shepherds, snowflakes, inn-keepers and so many more.

Oracy is a very valuable skill, one that will serve the children for life. We are committed to ensuring that the children of Stockwell are given every opportunity to develop life skills as well as those defined by the National Curriculum. Being able to speak confidently, in public, in front of an audience, is a huge part of this.

Last Thursday was Christmas Jumper Day and the school Christmas lunch. Christmas Jumper Day raises valuable funds for Save the Children and your generous donations mean that we raised £150 for this worthwhile cause. While dressed in our Christmas best, we also had our Christmas lunch. We pulled crackers, wore amazing Christmas hats and crowns, told jokes and listened to delightful Christmas songs. It was truly a lovely meal.

The Pre-School singalong was wonderful. The children (and adults) sang their hearts out, following along with the actions. The team had decorated beautifully, ensuring that the children were engaged and able to take part - they even had matching T-shirts!

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all the staff that got the children ready, taught them songs and actions, made sure that they know lines, organised props and worked tirelessly to get the children ready. The performances were wonderful!

As well as our annual class parties, Reception hosted their first celebration afternoon. What an afternoon it was. Parents attended and joined in with the activities, there were party games and more food than we knew what to do with.

This week, Santa visited the classes and dropped off class presents. It was lovely to have him around, particularly as Mrs Claus visited earlier this month.

I would like to thank all of the parents and carers for their incredible generosity with supplying food and drinks for class parties.

Thank you to everyone that made donations towards the Secret Santa gifts that have gone out to some of our vulnerable families.

In the last issue I mentioned that we had hosted our Autumn term Enterprise event. The school was a hive of industry with adults and children across the school working together to develop products, and generate profits. I am delighted to let you know that the children made over £730 in profit, when their totals were combined!

Phew, great work everyone.

Unfortunately, we are also saying some 'Goodbyes' at the end of this term. Ms Beckles, who has been teaching 5O this term is moving on to a new school. We thank her for her hard work with the class. We are looking forward to welcoming Mr Amos to the Stockwell team.

We are also saying goodbye to our Sports coach, Mr Coker. We are very thankful for the time he gave us and his hard work teaching sports across the school. We are working with Rhythmogenic to fill this position and look forward to welcoming our new coach in January.

Lost property is available for parents to check every day. If your child has misplaced something, please check the box in the Courtyard. Please help by making sure that your child's belongings are clearly labelled with their name and class.

Items will be available to collect until Friday, at which point school will close for the rest of the holidays.

All that remains is for me to wish you all a wonderful, restful break.

See you on 7th January, when school reopens.

Merry Christmas to those that celebrate!

Don't forget to drop off your old, unwanted clothes. The donations will go to new homes that need them and we will raise money for the school. We have already filled the bank once, so keep your items coming please. Every time we fill the bank it raises money for the school.

Fill up a bag and pop it in.

Have a look at the poster below for more information.

The clothes bank is located outside the Main Hall.

definition: showing devotion and faithfulness to someone or something.

• She was a loyal friend.
• He was a loyal member of the organization.

To learn more about the curriculum for your year group/s next term, visit the school's website to access the knowledge organisers.

January

• 6th - INSET Day (School Closed for all children)
• 7th - Term Begins for Preschool/ Reception - Year 6
• 7th - Nursery Stay and Plays (Nursery closed for continuing children)
• 8th - Phonics Parent Workshop
• 8th - Year 3 Library Trip
• 9th - St Giles Parent Session
• 9th - New to Nursery (From SPS Preschool) children start
• 10th - Topic/ Art/ DT and Homework Exhibition
• 13th - ASAs begin
• 13th - New to Nursery (Not SPS Preschool) children start
• 13th - Parent Survey opens
• 14th - BJS Federation App (Weduc) Drop-In
• 14th - Year 2 Trip to Monument
• 15th - Writing Parent Workshop
• 16th - Year 5 Junior Roadwatch Session
• 16th - Reception and Year 6 Height and Weight checks
• 17th - Rocksteady Introductory Day
• 20th - Parent Survey closes
• 22nd - Writing Parent Drop-In
• 23rd - Year 6 SATS Parent Meeting
• 24th - Year 3 Trip to Tower Bridge
• 31st - Year 3 and 4 Parent Multiplication Check Workshop

February

• 3rd - 7th - MFL Week
• 5th - BJS Federation App (Weduc) parent Drop-In
• 7th - Number Day
• 7th - Year 2 and 5 Fire Safety Talks
• 10th - 14th - E-Safety Week
• 11th - Safer Internet Day
• 14th - PTA Non-Uniform Day
• 14th - Year 2 Trip to Southbank Theatre
• 14th - End of term (3:30pm)

Half Term Break

• 24th - Term begins for all pupils

Check out these helpful guides about how to keep your children safe while playing the game.

We have an active PTA, called Friends of Stockwell, who do a brilliant job of fundraising for the school and bringing the community together. It is great to see new faces taking part. Every parent is a Friend of Stockwell. I ask that everyone gets involved. If you can spare an hour per term (that's three hours per year), your contribution would make a huge difference.

Please email friendsofstockwell@gmail.com to get involved.

The Friends of Stockwell Primary School PTA have been busy this year! We’ve organised 2 movie nights, a disco, a summer fair and a winter fair, raising an incredible £1879. We’ve also raised another £250 from Easy Fundraising, the clothes recycling bin and the Asda Cashpot scheme.

We’ve used this money to support pupils at the school - we’ve contributed £1415 towards school trips to make these affordable to everyone, £480 to class Christmas presents, and added to parent contributions towards Secret Santa so families who need it get vouchers to help over the festive season.

We’re very proud of all the hard work by parents on the PTA. Please join us so we can do even more next year!

Can you help out around the school? Are you a keen gardener? Do you have skills or knowledge that the children would benefit from? Visit our Call to Action page to let us know how you can help.

Central to raising standards in all schools and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is the need for children to attend school regularly to benefit from their education.

There is a strong link between good learning, high achievement, rapid progress and developing good social skills with excellent attendance.

We want to take this opportunity to outline our expectations for school attendance this academic year.

If your child arrives at school from 9am they will be marked as LATE, if they arrive after 9.30am, they will be classed as “late after the register is closed” and their attendance is classed as absent for the morning session. As the registers would have already been returned to the Department for Education.

Regular poor punctuality can also have a negative effect on your child’s attendance as well as their academic learning. Being 6 minutes late each day equals 30 minutes of missed learning every week.

If your child’s attendance drops below 90%, we will need to share our concerns with the Local Authority Education Welfare Officer at Lambeth Council.

Holidays in Term Time

Education Law states that it is not a parent’s right to take a child out of school during term time to go on holiday. Families must seek permission from the school and your school’s Headteacher is limited in what they can authorise. We can authorise leave if a child is in a performance and a performance license has been granted by the local authority. For any other authorised holiday, there must be extenuating circumstances therefore we cannot authorise a holiday because it is cheaper outside of term time.

Well done to the attendance winners below.

School uniform should be worn throughout the school day. While we do not enforce that all school uniform should be branded, children should be wearing the correct colours (white t-shirt tops, navy trousers/ skirts/ pinafore dresses, sensible black shoes). Football boots/ coloured trainers are not school uniform and should not be worn.

Children should be changing into their PE kits for PE lessons (blue or black tracksuit bottoms, plain white t-shirt, trainers). We have made arrangements for girls and boys to be able to change separately, so the expectation is that all children change for PE.

While our supplier of school uniform is WearAbouts, we do have some items available for sale from the school office. Please check with us to see if we have what you need in stock.

If you have a concern, please see your child's class teacher in the first instance. If they are unable to resolve the problem, please speak to your child's phase leader.

If they are unable to help, please see one of the school's Assistant Headteachers.

If you are still dissatisfied, please see the Acting Head of School.

We let space around the school.

You can hire the school hall, and grounds, on a regular basis or as a one off.

Need a space for a party?

Looking for a pitch for your team?

Contact the school office on:

clericalofficer2@stockwell-pri.lambeth.sch.uk

to make an enquiry.

What are Pre-School, Nursery and Reception learning about? Find out below.

Years 1 and 2 are incredibly busy with their learning. Find out more on our website.

Are you keen to find out more about the learning in Years 3 and 4? If so, have a look by clicking the button below.

Please check our website, to find out what the children in Years 5 and 6 are learning about.

Drama

Our fantastic free drama sessions will return on 8th January, 4:30-6 pm, for ages 11-16. These sessions run weekly every Wednesday during term-time and are delivered by experienced actors/theatre professionals who will focus on script-work, acting styles, and improvisation.

Start date: 8th January

Where: St Vincent's Brixton Community Centre, Talma Road, SW2 1AS

How to register: email LeanneT@svp.org.uk, or follow the link: Drama registration

Arts and Cooking

Join us in January for another term of free arts and cooking workshops for ages 8-13. These sessions run weekly from 12-2 pm every Saturday during term-time and are delivered by a Wellbeing Practitioner and an Arts Assistant who will facilitate a fun youth space in which the young people can let their creativity loose in all things arts and crafts, board games, table tennis and a piano are also available. Cooking skills will be taught, and a hot meal will be provided.

Start date: 11th January

Where: St Vincent's Brixton Community Centre, Talma Road, SW2 1AS

How to register: email LeanneT@svp.org.uk, or follow the link: Arts and Cooking registration

Rhyme and Story time

Join us in January for a brand-new session for ages 0-5. These sessions will run weekly from 10-10:45 am every Friday. During these sessions, the facilitator will sing favourite nursery rhymes with actions for the little ones and grown-ups to join in with, a book will be read, and there will be time before and after the session for the little ones to play, and the grown-ups to socialise. Refreshments will be provided.

Start date: 10th January

Where: St Vincent's Brixton Community Centre, Talma Road, SW2 1AS

How to register: email LeanneT@svp.org.uk, or follow the link: Rhyme and story time registration

An amazing opportunity for our young children living in Lambeth!

Parents can register with Dolly's Parton's Imagination Library and receive a free book each month through the post, from birth up until their child's fifth birthday.

The flyer is attached, or visit this link: Register for the Imagination Library

The Gaia Centre provides support for Lambeth residents affected by gender-based violence, including domestic abuse. It’s closed on 29th March and April 1st, 2024, but has an out-of-hours on-call service: 07725245779. Normal hours are 8am-6pm Monday – Friday. It also offers services for young people and advice for practitioners. Tel: 020 7733 8724, E: lambethvawg@refuge.org.uk.

Helpline support is available:

• National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 24/7
• Women’s Aid live chat, daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Men’s Advice Line, weekdays, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Samaritans Helpline, 24/7
• Childline 24/7
• In emergencies, call 999

Support online:

Kooth is a free online mental health and wellbeing service available to all young people in Lambeth aged 10-25. It is a self-referral service, where young people have access to fully-qualified online counsellors until 10pm every single day of the year. There is also a range of other support including: an online interactive magazine, discussion boards, self-help tools, and wellbeing activities.

The new Lambeth microsite to accompany the ‘It’s Not That Deep’ campaign is aimed specifically at young people and contains information for those experiencing harassment, those wanting to become allies, and those who are doing the harmful behaviour.

You can view useful resources on emotional wellbeing and mental health support services for children in Lambeth.

For the latest Lambeth VAWG news and campaigns please go to: https://linktr.ee/lambethvawg

We have an engagement hub with a specific page focused on what we can do to improve public safety for women and girls which asks residents and visitors to tell us where in Lambeth they feel safe and unsafe by placing a pin on the Map. Please sign up for email updates about the project using the ‘follow’ button on the new site.

A new child comes into care every day in Lambeth. Many of these children will need the love and stability that a foster carer can provide.

What is fostering?

Being a foster parent means caring for someone else’s child as part of your family. Foster carers look after children who are unable to live with their parents, through no fault of their own. You'll be given lots of training and support, as well as allowances to cover living costs, the costs of food, travel and for the time you'll need to invest in supporting any child in your care.

Who can foster?

Lambeth Fostering welcome applications from everyone with a passion for caring. You just need to be over 21, have a spare room, good written and spoken English, and permanent UK residency.

Find out how you can be the difference: www.lambeth.gov.uk/be-the-difference

Have you downloaded the Weduc parent app?

Stay abreast of school events, book trips, clubs and give permission.

If you are finding it difficult to find your way around the app, check out our guide below.