Week 33

Kilmorie
Kilmorie have missed Y6 this week.  They have been away on School Journey to Wrotham.   The week passed by smoothly and lots of fun was had by all.   We look forward to seeing and hearing all about it at Leavers Assembly which in past years has always been a highly amusing and entertaining highlight of the school year.  In school the week began with an Assembly about kindness and a reminder from Emma that what we reap we sow.  Also on Monday, we proudly showed new parents around the school as parents are busy deciding on Primary Schools for Reception children.  Not all of our Year 6 went away on School Journey.  Those that remained behind also had an eventful week of Spanish learning with Will.   They have learnt some Spanish words, looked at culture and cuisine and have done a lot of drama.   The Home School Journeyers went to visit the Tate Modern on Wednesday to explore in more detail the artwork of Picasso in preparation for creating their own cubist paintings and had a Latin American themed party on Friday, including freshly made biscuits and a piñata!  Also on Wednesady, it was the turn of Y3 and Dominic to show us what they had been learning by putting on a Class Assembly.  This was a brilliant success!  The children had all written their own scripts to re-enact the story of Krindlekrax which they are currently reading in class and performed a great dance to the Monstermash.  We have interviewed for new staff this week, ready for next year, and on Wednesday evening Liz attended a Parent Voice 'Meet and Greet' session to mark the re-naming of this group, previously known as Parent Council.  This group provides a forum for all parents to express their views, thoughts and concerns about school life.  All are welcome.

Fairlawn

We started our week with a wonderful Whole School Celebration Assembly at which certificates were shared and musical achievements were celebrated.  On Tuesday, Year 6 pupils were invited to watch a performance of the 'Sustainable Transport Live Concert, at the Catford Broadway Theatre, a one hour show put on by the 'Big Green Machine Theatre Company' regarding the enviornment and how to be greener!  On Wednesday, four Year 6 pupils were chosen to represent Fairlawn in the Primary Maths Challenge at Dunraven School.  They competed against other gifted mathematicians from across the Lewisham borough.  They worked incredibly hard as a team and did very, very well at the event.  Well done to them all.  RH and 5E had an arrival of caterpillar larvae on Thursday.  They children will be closely observing the caterpillars as they go through their metamorphosis.  Year 2 classes welcomed the arrival of their chicken's eggs.  The eggs are currently warm and cosy in the incubators, where they will stay for the next three weeks while we await their hatching!  Year 6 are busy rehearsing for their final production... We look forward to seeing the end result.  On Friday we held our Class Reps meeting, which was very useful and construtive.  It was nice to see so many parents... and speaks, once again, of the great support, the great spirit and the great community that we enjoy at Fairlawn.  We ended our week with a Key Stage 2 sharing assembly.  Certificates and Stars of the Week were shared.  

 

Haseltine

We started the week at Haseltine with our affirmation 'I will treat everyone fairly.'  The children showed a good understanding and concluded that treating people fairly doesn't always mean treating everyone the same.  3W had a trip to the Maritime Museum on Monday as part of their topic on the Titanic and they enjoyed every second of it.  Year 6 went to the Broadway Theatre on Tuesday to see The Big Green Machine. They learned a lot about looking after our planet.  Ms Brumby led yet another Parent Tour on Tuesday as Hasletine becomes a popular school of choice amongst parents. There was a great deal of positive feedback, especially about how friendly our children are.  Friday was a very exciting day at Haseltine.  Courtney and Kevin from 3W reported something strange in the top hall to Ms. Brumby.  An emergency assembly was then called where we found a portal to another universe - just in time the gatekeeper arrived to help us.  In the corner of the Hall we found a PUP - a parallel universe person - who was very scared and could hardly walk.  The children asked her a few question and found out that we needed to spend the day writing/drawing/acting/singing and generally being creative to help identify the PUP's parallel universe.  The children had a fantastic day and came back together at the end of the day to share everything they'd done.  They were so amazing that the PUP returned to her universe through the portal.  What clever, creative children they are at Haseltine!

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mark Wilson

Executive Head teacher

Week 32

Dear Parent/ Carer,
 
This week at Fairlawn,  Mrs Clark began the week with an E-Safety message in our Assembly.   Our Pupil Parliamentarians launched a dance competition across the partnership on Tuesday.  Key Stage 2 have been busy rehearsing for this exciting event.  On Wednesday, class 1N visited The Horniman Museum as part of their topic.  They played with toys from past and present and from around the world.  Year 4 pupils took part and won the Tennis Tournment for Lewisham Festival at Sydenham Tennis Club, beating St William of York 3-1 in the final.  They now have been invited to represent Lewisham in the borough finals at Crystal Palace in July.  On Thursday, class 6A visited the Nursery to take part in 'The Egg' related activities, related to the discovery of the mysterious egg found in our gardens last week.   Nursery children also enjoyed inviting their parents in to share their learning this week.  On Friday, Key Stage 2 children ate breakfast with their dads at Dad's Breakfast.  1R performed and sang exceptionally well at their Assembly.

 

At Haseltine our affirmation for this week is 'We tell the truth and we are honest.' The children all showed an understanding of this in discussions in their classrooms.  Years 5 and 6 waved goodbye to their parents on Monday as they went on their School Journey to Arethusa.  They are having a great time climbing ropes, going out on motor boats and doing archery.  On Tuesday 4JB and 3M went to Catford to 'Meet the Grower.'  They learnt how to grow food and made a pizza each from scratch.  Film Club were treated to a very special screening on Wednesday.  They watched their film on the big screen in the middle hall with bean bags, pop corn and lots of excitement.  Friday was a very special day with RW showing off their learning for this term.

 

At Kilmorie, we are looking forward to our School Journey, Sports Day, our end of year trips and, of course, our phenomenal end of year production which the children are busy rehearsing for.  Children have begun auditioning this week for the 'inter-federation' Dance Competition "Got to Dance."  Auditions took place throughout the week.  On Wednesday, it was the turn of Year 4 to indulge in a musical treat as they were entertained at a concert at the Festival Hall whilst in school Lorna's Year 1 children had their Class Assembly during which they showed us all there fabulous learning about Farmer Duck and told us about their zoo trip.  On Friday, it was Year 2's turn to visit London Zoo.  Another great day out was had by all as the children had the opportunity to bring their rainforest learning to life.

Have a great weekend,

Mark Wilson

Executive Headteacher

 

Week 31

Dear Parent/ Carer,

This week at Kilmorie we welcomed our new School Direct teacher trainees who will be working with us full time from September.  Having trainee teachers in school is a valuable learning opportunity for both sides and we are impressed by the hard work and dedication that our new colleagues are showing.  Children really benefit from the enthusiasm and additional support that this training route provides.  There are School Direct trainees in all three of our schools and we also employ a Premises Apprenctice.  As a partnership of schools, we are committed to providing career pathways for members of our community.  Meanwhile, back at Kilmorie, Year 6 have been busy preparing for their Secondary Schools.  Transition meetings have begun this week with the Year 6 boys meeting their secondary tutors. Year 6 also had visiting speakers this week to talk to them about gangs, whilst their parents were invited to a meeting about the Wrotham School Journey.  On Thursday all three Pupil Parliaments were involved in learning walks across the federation. The children were looking at ways we learn best and will be feeding back their observations next week.
Our week ended with the Year 1 children going to see an orchestral interpretation of Giraffes Can't Dance at the Barbican.

It was a fantastic start to the half term at Haseltine.  Teachers and governors met on Monday to review the year and set new priorities for next year.  This weeks affirmation is 'I say sorry if I'm wrong.'  This was discussed in assembly... Ms. Brumby needed to apologise to Mrs Wylie after an accident.  The children taught Ms. Brumby how to say sorry properly.  We had another chance to show off our amazing learning during a parent tour on Tuesday.  On the same day, Year 4 went to the Museum of London to choose and plan their Topic for this Half Term.  Ms. Brumby and Mrs Jolley went to City Hall on Wednesday to meet London Headteachers to discuss Breakfast Clubs and how to develop them.  The food at Haseltine's Club is paid for by the Mayor's Fund.  Mentors from Forest Hill School came in to meet the Year 6 children who are going there next year.  Year 6 have had a huge treat for the last three days working with Translation Nation.  Parents, children and staff have been telling stories in different languages, writing plays, learning sign language, writing stories and finished the week with a performance to the rest of Key Stage 2.  Friday morning was a very special time at Haseltine as the year 4 ukulele group played to us and the Haseltine Band played.  The children have reached a new heights with the music at Haseltine.  It felt like we were at the O2!  The biggest treat of all this week happened when representatives from the Pupil Parliament Learning Committee visited Kilmorie and Fairlawn.  They brought backa whole series of good ideas from both schools which we will be using here at Haseltine.  One boy said,  'This is the best school trip ever.'

At Fairlawn, we began our week with a Training Day at which we welcomed our new teachers for September and continued the huge task of re-developing our curriculum in order to produce something that is exciting, stimulating, engaging, motivating and truly World Class.  We want our learners to have the best learning opportunities, provided by the very best teachers.  We are very excited about what next year holds for us at Fairlawn.  Our redecoration programme continues.  Years 3 and 4 returned on to the smell of freshly painted classrooms.  Tuesday saw the launch of our Fantastic Fairlawn Helpers project.  Our Pupil Parliament has devised and assigned responsibilities for children throughout the school, covering every aspect of school life, from Assembly Assistants to Dinner DJs, Good to be Green Gang and Playground Pals.  The children have already proved how fantastically responsible they are.   On Wednesday, Year 4 classes visited Horton Kirby Educational Centre and Farningham Village in Kent as part of their Geography and Science work this term.  They took part in lessons at the Centre, carried out a village survey that compared the area to our own and sketched landscapes.  A fun learning experience was had by all... and the sun shone brightly for them.  Meanwhile, there were strange happenings going on back at Fairlawn!  A huge egg appeared in our Golden Garden.  We called an emergency assembly that explained that the egg was being closely monitored for any cracks!  We asked everyone to keep a close eye on the website for updates!  On Thursday, two pupils from our Pupil Parliament Curriculum Committee met with Haseltine & Kilmorie Pupil Parliamentarians.   They all enjoyed a learning walk around each school.  They brought back many interesting ideas about how we might continue to enhance things at Fairlawn.  Also on Thursday all children were treated to some very special visitors - wild birds from Eagle Heights Wildlife Park.   The children were shown different species of wild bird that included eagles, owls, hawks and many more.  The birds flew and squaked their way around the Hall.   We ended our exciting week with a Key Stage 1 sharing assembly, which was followed by Key Stage 2 'Stars of the Week' and the Golden Ticket Class Winners Assembly.

 

We continue to build the momentum, build the energy and build the improvement in all of our schools.  There are no better places in the world to be when the sun is shining than Haseltine, Kilmorie and Fairlawn.  Do have a wonderful weekend,

 

Mark Wilson

Executive Head teacher