Taking Stock: 18th September 2024

Welcome back everyone! We have hit the ground running, making a flying start. The children are incredibly settled and all around the school I am seeing excellent learning behaviours in the classrooms and the playgrounds.

We hosted our annual Meet The Teacher events over the first two weeks of the term, and have shared the slides with all parents and carers. Please check these carefully as they will let you know what to expect this year.

15th September was World Afro Hair Day. We honoured this day by putting on an exhibition of work that celebrated Afro hair. All three schools from the BJS Federation of Schools took part, bringing together mixed media works. There were collages, photos, audio and videos to be enjoyed, all celebrating afro hair in all of its forms. Children worked in groups across the schools to take part. At Stockwell, children interviewed parents and carers (including my mum!) to find out their views on afro hair; Ms Bonsu and I took children into Brixton to some hair shops to take photos from their points of view; and classes contributed to pieces that were exhibited. The exhibition moved to Bonneville last Friday and will be at Jessop this Friday.

Last Thursday, Ms Kelleher and Ms Ali hosted our Secondary Transfer Meeting. This gave parents all the information needed to identify and apply for a secondary school place. The meeting was very well attended by Year 5 and Year 6 parents. We also had representatives from a number of secondary schools, who came along to tell us about their schools. We have sent the information out to Year 5 and 6 parents and carers and I have also attached it below.

On Friday 20th, we also hosted our annual International Evening. This is a great way for the community to come together to celebrate the beginning of the school year. Each class sang a song, flags decorated the playground and sun came out to cheer us on.

We made the most of the last of the summer's sun, sharing some food and socialising together.

Please remember to label all of your child's belongings. A clear label showing your child's name and class will greatly help when trying to reunite the children with their misplaces items.

After School Activities return this week. We still have a few places, so please log on to Weduc to have a look. Our aim is for every child to have the opportunity to take part in a club by the end of the year.

Have a fantastic week everyone.

Between 2nd September and 30th November 2024, every time you shop with Asda using the Asda Rewards app, Asda will donate 0.5% of the value of your shop to our school.

Also, every time somebody opts in, Asda will give an additional £1 to the school Cashpot.

All you have to do is opt in through the Asda Rewards app, choose Stockwell Primary School, and shop instore or online at Asda.com. The offer ends on 30th November 2024.

Asda does the rest! We are aiming to spend our donations on much-needed tablets for all classes in the school.

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: Working together to achieve a common goal

What it looks like: Being flexible, showing good sportsmanship, compromising, problem solving, listening, and supporting others

Why it's important: A crucial skill for academic and social success

With your cooperation, we can finish planting the flowers today.

We cooperated to complete the task effectively.

synonyms: coordination, teamwork

Pre-School- day, night, sleep, parent, place, doctor

Nursery - Body, Heat, Different, Vegetables, Fruit, Exercise

Reception - compare, shorter, longer, before, after, more

Year 1- Minus, Sort, Numeral, Number sentence, Minus, Sort, Place value, Equal/s, Measure

Year 2- Partition, Sum, Calculate, Vertice/s, Times, Centimetre

Year 3- appraise, accumulation, opposite, reflection, arrangement, minimum, tenth

Year 4- round, decimal, decline, parallel, result, remainder, interchangeable

Year 5- congruent, Decade, Duration, Finite, Implications, Interval

Year 6- Aggregate, Compensation, Compiled, Context, Converted, Expression

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

• 27th - MacMillan
• 27th - Year 1 Trip to Slade Gardens
• 
  

October

• 2nd - Year 5 and 6 Rugby Tournament
• 2nd - Year 4 Trip to Gurdwara
• 3rd - Parent Phonics Workshop
  
• 7th - 11th - Wellbeing Week
• 9th - Parent Phonics and Spelling Drop-In
• 10th - World Mental Health Day
• 10th - Parent Google Classroom/ Homework Workshop
• 15th/ 16th - Parent/ Teacher Consultations
• 16th - Open Morning
• 18th - Year 3 Trip to British Museum
• 18th - Reception Local Area Walk
• 23rd - Flu Clinic
• 23rd - Year 4 Residential Meeting
• 24th - Year 6 Residential Meeting
• 25th - PTA Dress Up Day

Fortnite is a game well-known for its popularity with younger players, as well as its many different modes and expansions intended to keep the experience fresh for long-time fans. One such addition has been LEGO Fortnite – a kind of “survival mode” where players take control of LEGO characters, craft tools, and build structures in a manner similar to the toy set of the same name.

While the content of LEGO Fortnite has been rated as suitable for children of 7 and older in the UK, it – like any online game – carries safety concerns. For this reason, parents and educators should be aware of any potential dangers posed to children who enjoy this title. This free guide offers plenty of insight into the biggest risks associated with this title, and lets you know how to ensure children can safely enjoy their time with this expansion.

The National College has lots of information and free guides for keeping children safe online. These can be found here.

We have an active PTA, called Friends of Stockwell, who do a brilliant job of fundraising for the school and bringing the community together. Last year, every child was given a £5 donation to reduce the cost of trips; the PTA contributed to class Christmas presents; they also raised money for vulnerable families at Christmas.

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.

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.

Have you read the BJS Federation Newsletter? You can find it below.

This issue is all about transition

Check it out.

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 3T and 5H for the best attendance in the school. They achieved 99% attendance last week. What a great way to start the year.

Our overall attendance last week was 96%. We have started the year well. Let's see if we can continue to build on this solid foundation.

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.

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