From the Head

From the Head of Pre-Prep

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the second half of Lent Term. The children have arrived back in school refreshed and eager to learn. Most children seem to have shaken off the coughs and colds they had when we broke up. Many of the Pre-Prep teachers have been at the school for several years and it is always a joy for us to see the 11+ and scholarship results for St Michael’s children. Well done to all of our Year 6s for so many fabulous offers from senior schools. We are all proud of you!

Kindergarten has been a smelling of pesto again this week as they celebrate all things Italian. Reception have enjoyed having Exotic Explorers in school to see the amazing differences amongst owls. They are beautiful birds and I’ve noticed how much writing Reception have been doing inspired by the owls. Year 2 have started learning about Amelia Earhart and building miniature biplanes.

Next week parents of Year 2 children are invited up to Prep on Tuesday 4^th March to find out about life in Year 3. Please arrive at the White Doors/ Dining Room for 8.30am. 

Our face-to-face Parents' Evening for parents with children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will be held on Tuesday 4^th March. There will be no activities on this day apart from paid ones. Our second Parents' Evening will be on Thursday 6^th March. This will be for those parents who have booked online appointments with class teachers. I hope the mixture of in person and on-line will suit parents and I would be interested to hear your views. The first Parents' Evening in November each year I would like to keep as an opportunity for you to meet your child’s teacher in person.

Thursday 6^th March is our World Book Day event. Children are welcome to come in dressed as a character from a book. Please ensure your child has their school coat and suitable footwear for outside play on Thursday.

Please make sure your child is safe crossing over from the car park to the bridge. I am very aware that drivers cannot see small children stepping out between the two cars parked closest to the Zebra crossing in the car park. As drivers please be aware that children could be crossing the road. Thank you.

Overheard in Pre-Prep: "My grandad said that ivy gives you wrinkles!"

Have a lovely weekend,

Zerrin Leech

Unacceptable use of St Michael's disabled parking spaces

Dear Parents,

I am increasingly noticing parents using the school's disabled parking spaces for reasons such as dropping items off for children, waiting for children etc. which are unacceptable and invalid reasons to use these spaces, depriving those in need. 

We have members of the St Michael's community who possess official Blue Badges as well as those who the school create temporary permission passes for to use these spaces for specific reasons.

Please stop using these spaces if you do not have a Blue Badge or a temporary permission pass from St Michael's. 

Mr Wiseman, Deputy Head (Pastoral)

Pirate Day memories to treasure

Adorned with eye patches and skull and cross bones, Year 1 had a wonderful day celebrating their topic of pirates on Thursday 13th February. The children were excited to meet Gem from CBeebies’ Swashbuckle who treated them to a show filled with pirate songs and games. Afterwards, each pirate crew was given clues to follow around Pre-Prep which led us to a chest filled with treasure. We returned to our classrooms to find that pirates had replied to our messages in a bottle! The children were thrilled to have their questions answered and eagerly read tales of their pirate adventures.

Mrs Grove, Year 1 Teacher

Charity Pyjama Day for Corfu Donkeys

Pupils were excited to wear their pyjamas and onesies on Thursday 13th February in support of our Pyjama Day for Corfu Donkey Rescue Sanctuary.

The Corfu Donkey Rescue Sanctuary do everything possible to give old, injured, mistreated and sick donkeys a peaceful life and retirement in dignity. They bought a piece of land that is beautifully located in the quiet countryside, surrounded by olive trees and the mountains of Corfu. Although they are primarily a donkey rescue, some cats and dogs are cared for too.

Mr Powell, Miss Lambert and Mrs Caswall were lucky to visit the Sanctuary last October as part of their research for this year’s school play to see first-hand the superb and vital work that the volunteers do there. Consequently, we will be fundraising for the Corfu Donkey Rescue Sanctuary as part of this year’s school production which audience members will have the opportunity to contribute to. We will share the total raised from our Charity Day as part of our final fundraising total for the charity following this; thank you for your generous donations. 

For more information about Corfu Donkey Rescue Sanctuary, please visit: https://www.corfu-donkeys.com

St Michael's U11s win IAPS Regional silver

On Thursday 27^th February St Michael’s U11A team competed in the Regional IAPS Netball Competition held at Kent College. It was a cold morning but luckily the sun came out later in the day.

This tournament was run in a 5-a-side Stinger format where the girls were required to swap positions after each half of a game. There were 4 groups of 4, meaning the girls had 3 group games before progressing further. The first game resulted in a score of 2-3 to Holmewood House. However, as they scored 50% of the winner's score, they were awarded a point which proved to be vital later on in the tournament. Their second group game was against Caterham School - this was a very good game with our girls eventually winning 6-4. The third group game against Ashford Prep: the standard of the girls’ netball got increasingly better and they won this final group game 6-3. They were winners of their group with the 1 point they received against Holmewood House was significant to their victory.

In the Quarter-Final of the cup competition the girls faced Kent College. They played exceptionally well and totally dominated the game, winning 11-0! The Semi-Final followed with the girls playing a strong Sutton Valence team who had many very tall girls! After an end to end game, our girls were victorious, winning 4-1. Consequently, they had reached the Final of the Regional IAPS Competition, playing a team they had faced before in another tournament, Downsend. This too was an end to end game and it took some time for the first goal to be scored. Our shooters were very unlucky that many of their shots skimmed the ring but did not drop in and so the final result was a 4-1 win to Downsend. Our U11A team were therefore runners-up and silver medal winners. Unfortunately, only the winners of this regional competition go through to the IAPS Finals.

The team should be extremely proud of themselves and the standard of their play! The team consisted of, Abigail S, Sophie N, Isabel E, Anna W, Grace P, Mollie H, Iris L and Amelia Rose B. Very well done girls!

Mrs Wade, Sports Coach, and Mrs Denton, Head of Girls’ Games

Reception Owl Experience

On Wednesday Exotic Explorers came to visit Reception. Each class got to spend time with a variety of British owls, learning all kinds of interesting facts about them. Amongst other things, we learnt how the colour of their eyes can tell you what time of day they are active and how their soft feathers mean they can fly silently to hunt for their prey. We got to see this for ourselves as some of the owls swooped across the Hall – very close to our heads! We were also fascinated to hear that despite being portrayed in stories as very wise, owls are actually not that clever! This is because their brains are only the size of a peanut! The children had a fabulous time and couldn’t stop sharing the facts they’d learnt throughout the day and I’m sure parents at home learnt a few new facts too!

Mrs Hernandez, Reception Teacher

St Michael's Traitors video...arriving on World Book Day!

A visit from NHS GP and author, Dr Hannah Weston-Simons

Pre-order Blood, Bones & Bladders for your child

To get this year’s Science Week off to a flying start we are looking forward to welcoming Dr Hannah Weston-Simons to St Michael's on Monday 10th March to speak to pupils in Year 6. Dr Weston-Simons combines her day job as an NHS GP with writing poetry and has recently published Blood, Bones & Bladders, The Poetry of your Body, a delightfully illustrated tour around the body in a collection of humorous and informative poems and rhymes suitable for all ages!

In advance to Dr Weston-Simons’ visit, parents have the option to pre-order her book from www.bloodbonesandbladders.co.uk which will be delivered to school on Monday 10^th March.

Parents of children in all St Michael's year groups can pre-order Blood, Bones & Bladders to be delivered on this day.

Mrs J Clarke, Science Teacher

This year we have formed a new pupil Wellbeing Committee to continue to nurture the wellbeing of the St Michael's community through pupil voice. The representatives of each year group from Reception through to Year 8 meet once every half term to discuss and share ideas. There have been some wonderful suggestions already and a great sense of collaboration between the year groups. We look forward to sharing our future plans with you!

This week members of our Eco Committee have taken part in a litter pick across the school site. The children are invited to take part in a litter pick during a break time every two weeks which we have been pleased to see a number of them volunteer for. We are grateful for their help in keeping our environment a clean and safe place for wildlife. 

TikTok

"Among children – and especially teenagers – TikTok boasts approximately 220 million users, providing a near-endless reel of short clips intended to entertain, educate and more. However, along with its enormous user base comes a significant number of possible risks. 

With the platform reaching astronomical levels of success among the younger generation, it’s vitally important for parents and educators to understand the risks it poses. This week’s poster lets you know about the most prominent potential dangers associated with TikTok and offers expert advice on how to safeguard youngsters who are navigating the site."

Words by Alan Martin from the National College

Special Lunch Menus

Please find details of special lunch menus coming up below:

Pancake Day – Tuesday 4th March

World Book Day – Thursday 6th March

St Patrick’s Day – Monday 17th March

The sewing machine took centre stage this week as the children eagerly cut out templates and fabrics to create wonderful Easter Bunny soft toys.

For more information about the Hive or Breakfast Club or to book in your child, please contact Nicky Smith at WrapAroundCare@stmichaels.kent.sch.uk.

Players of the Match - week commencing 10th February

Players of the Match - week commencing 24th February

House Point Certificates

Dover: Raphael S

Leeds: Rupert A

Rochester: Alaia A

Windsor: Dilan D; Savannah S and Max Z

Times Tables Certificates

Bronze Times Tables Certificate: Charlie B; Oliver F; Thomas R; Erin S; Ralph C; Teddy D; Iona H; Sebby B; Hugo W; Walter B and Owen J

Silver Times Tables Certificate: Martha S and Max Z

Izzy vlogs down the yellow brick road!

Congratulations to Izzy who performed six performances of the pantomime The Wizard of Oz with a local amateur dramatic company before half term. She played the part of Tiffany Tik Tok who was vlogging the story for her followers! 

Keep up the brilliant acting, Izzy!

Luke hosts his own Scratch Club!

Congratulations to Luke who during the half-term break ran his own Scratch Kids' Club for children aged 5 to 9 years old. Luke began the Club when he was 9 and has since expanded his coding knowledge further with help from his St Michael's Computing Teacher, Mrs Robertson. Luke's Scratch courses are free and taught over 4 hours across two days, the 1st day for Beginners and the 2nd day for Amateurs. 

Luke presented framed certificates of completion to the children who took part as well as Scratch Coding Books as a reward for their hard work. Luke was thanked by grateful parents with yummy treats!

Amongst the children who attended the sessions were St Michael’s Faith who completed the Beginners' course and Amelia who completed the Beginner and Amateur courses as well as the Advanced Amateur course. Well done, girls!

Excellent work, Luke!

Archie wins Judo gold!

Congratulations to Archie who won gold at his Judo competition on Sunday 16th February. Keep up the great Judo, Archie!

Rusen's golden Judo victory!

Congratulations to Rusen who won Gold in his Judo Competition during half term. We are so proud of you, Rusen!

World Book Day at Chiddingstone Castle

Otford Village Fete 2025 Poster Competition

Junior Bake-Off applications open

Kemsing Cricket Club

Kent Fostering

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