Week 23

Dear Parent/ Carer,

Our Assembly theme at Kilmorie this week was ‘Inspirations’.  I was inspired by our Year 3 & 4 Singmorie Voices on Monday evening.  The children sang at Sydenham School alongside pupils from Haseltine, Fairlawn and other Lewisham schools.  The children all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and sang wonderfully.  As part of the fortnight long Songfest.festival of music, members of the Jazz Band gave a performance in the Assembly on Wednesday.  Our thanks to those parents/ carers who attended.  It is your attendance that makes these occasions magical for the children.  On Thursday, the Reception and Key Stage One classes enjoyed West African music and Dance workshops with Yaye Dib Sabar.  Also on Thursday, Year 4 Ukelele players attended Sedgehill School for Tune Up.   On Friday, our Year 6 Rock Band performed at Haseltine and we ended the week with an International Evening, complete performances from the Rock School Rock Band and parent bands.  Many parents brought along a national dish for what was a wonderful evening of celebration.

The choir at Haseltine made us very proud on Monday night when they sang at Sydenham School alongside the other choirs in our federation.  It was a brilliant night for all.  The children enjoyed having their individual photos taken by Andy of Say Cheese Please on Tuesday… it was lots of fun and I saw some beautiful photos.  .Also on Tuesday, Years 3, 4 & 5 had the privilege of listening to and working with the Thorne Trio.  What amazing musicians they are!  Tuesday afternoon saw some of our guitarists playing in assembly, along with two fabulous violin soloists.  On Wednesday our Key Stage One children had workshops with Rhythm Connections Trash Orchestra.  I saw the fun that the children were having making and playing instruments made out of everyday rubbish.  Thursday was a real treat when Fairlawn's Wind Band played at Haseltine.  It was the turn of the Kilmorie Rock Band to perform on Friday, with the children from both schools thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Songfest also continued throughout the week at Fairlawn.  Monday featured a whole school Woodwind Assembly.    As reported above, I was delighted to see children from Fairlawn and all three of our schools perform at the Songfest at Sydenham Girls School as part of Lewisham Live. The children sang with great passion and enthusiasm.  At Tuesdays afternoon assembly we had guitarists playing with violin soloists.  I began my day on Wednesday at the Nursery.  On my way back up to school, I saw our Year 6 classes walking down to the station on their way to The Horton Kirby Educational Centre in Kent for the day.  They took a trip back in time to 1942 and lived life as evacuees.  We also had a whole school String Assembly on Wednesday, and another on Thursday.  Our Wind Band visited Haseltine on Thursday and were very well received.  The band will be performing at Goldsmiths College on Monday evening next week.  I am very much looking forward to attending that event.  On Friday we had a whole school Brass Assembly and had drumming workshops for Years 3 and 4 throughout the day.  I joined in with Mrs Njoku’s class…. The children were all far better than I was!  It was a very lively and a very loud experience and everyone had great fun… which is what a quality education is all about.

We are looking forward to another action-packed week in our schools this week… and a reminder that we break-up a day early next week… on Thursday rather than Friday.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mark Wilson

Executive Head teacher