As our site is tinged with gorgeous autumn colours, it has been the season to celebrate harvest. In Pre-Prep Year 1 confidently led the singing and thinking about the gratitude we owe for the food we eat and it did feature a lot of mice, who were also very pleased about harvest!
At the centre of the Pre-Prep display was perhaps the biggest pumpkin I’ve ever seen, which was generously lent to the school by a friend.
Of course my memories of celebrating harvest and yours too, I imagine, had an abundance of fresh food which we would box up and take to any neighbours we knew who were old enough to perhaps be housebound. It’s a very different affair today and as our produce went off to the Trussell Trust food bank, which we support all year round, the extra food we were able to give helped people in financial difficulties and poverty right on our doorsteps. We recognise of course that there should not be poverty on our doorsteps and I hope that some of the pupils within St Michael’s will one day take on the role of making sure it stops in the future.
There was much rejoicing this morning as we showed round some 50 visitors to the school. I am grateful to all the staff who organised the event so seamlessly and for teachers who prepare children to perform and to share their love of what they do; we were grateful to the members of the P&F and the International Club, who joined us. Hats off to the tremendous team of pupils who spoke from the heart to the parents assembled in the chapel and made a moving contribution to showcasing the spirit of St Michael’s.
On Tuesday Mr Wiseman masterminded class and family group photos and I am extraordinarily grateful to him for his patience with a number of late and special requests, which perhaps exceeded what was reasonable. I look forward to seeing the shots when they arrive.
I was lucky enough to be included on the fantastic trip to Christopher Lloyd’s book launch at the Royal Institution last week. You will find an eloquent write-up by Oscar later in this newsletter. Christopher has worked with St Michael’s for some years now and we were invited to this event. He is the inspiration for our staircase leavers’ timeline and, in partnership with us, he launched and developed his “curiosity curriculum” which is now embedded in schools all over the world.
The weekend tournament that St Michael’s hosted went extremely well, I gather, and congratulations to the winners and to all who took part.
West Kent Mind has been at the school twice this week to deliver an assembly about what anger can feel like and the visual image of the bottle of fizzy drink made a good impression and communicated the message very well according to my lunch companions in Year 3. It’s not long now till the parent training that we are hosting. If you are interested in booking onto the next course (this one is full), please liaise with Lorna Sharp (lorna.sharp@westkentmind.org.uk ).
Next week one of our Year 4 classes is trialling the parent portal and the element that excites me the most is the interactive forms that will replace paper, save time and protect the environment. If an absence is needed, permission is requested, or a response for a concert or rehearsal is required, it will be possible to do this online.
I can’t wait!
Trusting that you have an enjoyable weekend together.
Jill Aisher