A Friday Night Round up from Mr Schumm
What a sunny, action packed few weeks we’ve had, filled with sounds of Oliver drifting around our school! I have enclosed our Oliver letter for information about next week’s production. Do take time to read this as the week is a busy one. Your children are doing an amazing job and will truly bring the house down with their superb performances.
Meetings and gatherings galore
In no particular order there have been quite a few meetings on offer …
This week we welcomed our new Reception and Nursery parents into our school. It’s exciting to greet the next cohort of pupils and the parents and carers that join our community. Thank you to Miss Billington and Mrs Allen for your informative Early Years presentation.
Mrs Ghoul, Mrs Wordsworth and Mrs Foster led the Year 1 transition meeting which, detailed life in Year 1 and the start of the National Curriculum. Thank you to the Year 1 team for their great introduction to Key Stage One learning and fun!
We have had two, well attended Open Classroom mornings, which is always a perfect opportunity for a chat with the class teacher and to look at your children’s books.
We ended last week with a spot of rum punch, a steel pan and ginger cake to mark the 77th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush, a landmark moment that symbolises the beginning of the Windrush Generation’s vital contribution to British society. This was a lovely fun, community celebration and we thank Miss Jessie for organising it.
Then it was time for the annual Summer Fair and what a delight to have no rain! Thank you FOSS and all those who joined us for such a special day. The food was amazing, the drinks refreshing the entertainment astounding! And we had more vital fundraising for the school delivered in the best possible format.
Smashing Sports Days!
Thank you Mr Blair for organising two amazing Sports Day – just Nursery to go now. The children demonstrated not just great sports skills but also a true sense of camaraderie supporting and cheering each other on.
Partner in Action with A Rocha
We are now a Partner in Action with A Rocha. A Rocha UK is a Christian charity working to protect and restore the natural world and committed to equipping Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment. A Rocha UK’s Partner in Action programme is taking action to improve biodiversity, address climate change and make a real difference to nature restoration in the UK. Our school is part of a growing network of Christian land managers demonstrating active care for the natural world.
Mayors Cup
Today Year 6 walked to Ravenscourt Park for a picnic lunch before the main event – the Mayor’s Cup semi-final, between us and Larmenier & Sacred Heart for the Championship of the Northern Division. It was a hard fought match which we pipped, winning 1 – 0. That win put the girls in to the grand final for the Mayor’s Cup itself against champions of the Southern Division, All Saints. The heat and the exhaustion of the previous match showed in both teams as they battled hard, but ending in a nil nil draw, it was time for the dreaded penalties. Alas, the footballing gods were not with us today and we went down 2-1. A sad end but we are enormously proud of our team and their superb efforts.
Raworth Cup
Thank you to all the amazing musicians who demonstrated outstanding musical skills as they competed against each other for the Raworth Cup. Miss Ruth had done a sterling job organising the numerous musical heats. With winners from each heat chosen, our final was on Thursday and the hall was filled with beautiful performances. After some deliberation the winner was James, from Year 4, who played the piano wonderfully.
Theatre trip to Oliver!
On Tuesday evening Year 6 trooped of to the Gielgud Theatre to watch a performance of Oliver. We had the most spectacular evening and it just happened to be the 65th anniversary of the first performance of Oliver so we all got free ice cream! The children’s behaviour was perfect as was the performance!
Year 4 at Bush Theatre
Year 4 enjoyed an excellent trip to Bush Theatre. Each class participated in their own drama workshop where they acted out a range of scenarios inspired by our local area of Shepherd’s Bush. A great time was had by all despite the incredibly lengthy journey their and back!
Year 2 Madan and Madame Tussauds!
Year 2 Madan had an unforgettable visit from a real-life wax expert who taught them all about how the famous wax figures are made — from head measurements and sculpting, to painting and styling.
The class was full of curious questions (and great answers!) as they explored how art, science, and creativity come together to make lifelike figures of celebrities, historical icons, and more.
This incredible experience was all thanks to Octavia, who won an art competition and brought Madame Tussauds right to our classroom!
Year 5 Debating Competition
Our Year 5 debaters had an amazing time at South Hampstead High School in a debating competition. We won two of out three debates and had a superb time!
Alumni
We had our first Alumni event last week, which saw over 40 over 18 students return to St Stephen’s for pizza, a beer and a good catch up. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces and find out what everyone has been up. Then it was time for a good old fashioned kick around in the playground, more chatting and the arrival of some rather curious old parents to keep the party going!
Cotswolds Walk- and a word from the teachers
Mr Schumm, Miss Marchant, Miss Bill, Mrs Hayes, Mr Perry and Mrs Walsh will be taking on the 15km walk through the Cotswolds to support FOSS. As teachers, we really appreciate all the things FOSS do for us and are using this as our opportunity to give back. If anyone would like to donate, please take a look at our Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/team-teachers?newPage=true
We are really looking forward to joining you on Saturday and hope to see many of you along the way. Fingers crossed for sun!
Well that’s all for now. I know it’s a busy newsletter but C’est La Vie at St Stephen’s.
Enjoy your weekend.
Mr Schumm
