Dear Parents and Carers,

The sun is shining at last and we have a beautiful weekend ahead of us! We now have our fingers crossed that it stays fine for the PTA May Fair and the Cycle Ride to Paris next weekend. More details about both these events can be found within this email so please do read on.

This week in school

ZooLab Experience for Y3 and Y4

We welcomed ‘ZooLab’ into school this week which was a fantastic experience for our Y3 and Y4 children. Harriet and Ian in Y3 said “We are studying rainforests and we learned about the layers of the rainforest. We got to see and hold some of the animals who live in rainforests like a tarantula, a cockroach and a frog. It was really fun!”.

Simon and Dearbhla in Y4 said “We are studying habitats and we learnt how animals adapt to where they live. As well as seeing a desert gerbil, we got to hold a snake which wasn’t slimy at all!”.

These hands on learning experiences are an important way to make learning memorable and exciting for the children. Unfortunately these cannot take place without parental contributions. Thank you to those who have made their payment for ZooLab and if you have not done so already, please make your payment on ParentMail.

Ascension Day Mass

Thank you to our Y6 pupils for leading our Ascension Day Mass for us yesterday. Ascension Day is a Holy Day of Obligation when we remember Jesus’s return to Heaven forty days after His resurrection at Easter. We thank Fr Peter for celebrating Mass for our whole school community and also for teaching the children ‘Two little eyes’ song.

Orchestra Concert

The children performed brilliantly in the Orchestra Concert on Wednesday evening. There was an incredible range of instruments and the children played their instruments with such confidence and clear enjoyment. Well done, everyone!

Next week in school

Y6 National Curriculum Tests (SATs)

Our Y6 children will be taking tests in Reading Comprehension, Maths, English Grammar and Spelling next week. They have worked very hard and are well-prepared. They now just need a restful weekend and a good night’s sleep to be able to perform to their best. To get the mornings off to the best start, all Y6 pupils are invited to breakfast in the hall each morning from 8:20am next week. Y6 children who are attending clubs will also be able to come along. Good luck Y6!

May Fair

We are on the countdown to the May Fair which takes place on Sunday 19th May between 12 and 4pm. This is the largest fundraising event of the year and always great fun for the family. Please do read the brochure emailed out this afternoon for information about the stalls, the performances and how to book the Animal Experience.

Richmond to Paris Cyclists

Our Richmond-to-Paris cyclists will be setting off from school between 8am and 9am on Friday morning. Parents and children are invited to cheer off each of the groups as they leave and Monsignor Bill will also be blessing each group of riders. A group of cyclists will be joining the school for assembly on Wednesday afternoon next week to talk to the children about their journey and of course encourage donations.

Our cyclists are absolutely amazing! This is a huge challenge which raises money for the school at a time when every penny is needed more than ever. Huge thanks goes to each and every cyclist! We may not all be able to cycle with them, so please do show your support by making a donation via this link: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/r2p2024

Y1 Educational Visit to Holly Lodge

On Friday 17th May, Y1 will be visiting Holly Lodge in Richmond Park to take part in a workshop on ‘Plants’ as part of their Science topic.

Mufti Day on Friday 17th May

On Friday, it is ‘Mufti Day’ when all children can come into school wearing their own clothes. We ask in return that the children bring in a full bottle of any kind for the very popular Bottle Tombola at the May Fair. Bottles will be collected as the children come into school.

Upcoming Dates

May

Friday 17th May Mufti (non-uniform) Day for children to wear their own clothes in exchange for bringing a bottle for the bottle tombola at the May Fair

Friday 17th May Cyclists leave for Paris – 8am to 9am

Friday 17th May Y1 visit to Holly Lodge in Richmond Park – Plants Workshop

Sunday 19th May School May Fair 12 noon – 4pm

20th to 24th May ‘Walk to School Week’

Monday 20th May Y5 visit to Barnes Literature festival at Rose Theatre

Tuesday 21st May Reception visit to Bockett’s Farm

Tuesday 21st May KS2 Choir to perform at the Rose Theatre

Thursday 23rd May Y1 class assembly – parents invited

27th to 31st May Half-Term break

June

Monday 3rd June INSET Day – school closed

5th to 7th June Y6 residential to PGL Osmington Bay

Values Awards this week

Congratulations to the following children who been awarded a Values Award this week.

Reception – Ines

Y1 - Tom

Y2 - Elijah

Y3 - Olivia

Y4 - Theodor

Y5 - Tristan

Y6 - Leyre

Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week is 96.29%. Congratulations to Y4 for having the highest attendance this week with 100%! This is closely followed by Y5 with 97.5% attendance.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines