St. Michaels E Primary School Newsletter · Introducing St Michael’s Eco-Team Two children from each class (Years 2-6) have volunteered to help make St Michaels a more eco-friendly

St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter North Road, Highgate, London N6 4BG Tel: 0208 340 7441

Email: admin@stmichaelsn6.com Website: www.stmichaelsn6.com

February 2017 Issue 6

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are at the end of this half term and half way through this academic year. It is hard to

believe how quickly the year is going by but I think, it’s because there is always so much

going on at St. Michael’s School.

This half term I have attended two special events. On Saturday 14th January Mr

Davenport and I attended the official opening of the Highgate Synagogue’s new building.

It was lovely to see the building from the inside and indeed from the other side of our

playground. We met Rabbi Nicky Liss and we will be arranging for him to visit our school

and for our pupils to visit Highgate Synagogue. The Shabbat morning service itself was a

very welcoming experience and I had the good fortune of being seated next to Councillor

and former Haringey Mayor Sheila Peacole.

On Friday 20th January 2017, I had

the pleasure of accompanying a

group of Year 5 and 6 pupils to a

service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The

service was to celebrate LDBS

schools and the retirement of the

Bishop of London. I was very proud of

our children, of their exemplary

behaviour throughout the trip and

their excellent contribution to the

singing.

I hope you enjoy reading the

newsletter. Please do take note of

upcoming events in the dates section.

Have a lovely half term break and a special time with your families. Best Wishes,

Geraldine Gallagher

Geraldine Gallagher

Head Teacher

Page 2 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

Dates

HALF TERM 13 - 17 February 2017

Monday 20th February 2017

Children back to school

All day—Year 3 Trip to Institute of Imagination

Wednesday 22nd February 2017

15.20-17.00 Y5&6 Total Control Football

Whitefield School

Thursday 23rd February 2017

18.30 Flatford parents meeting with Mr Whiting

Friday 24th February 2017

9.30-14.00 Y5&6 Grieg City Academy

Basketball 3v3

Monday 27th February 2017

All day Y3 Coleridge Natural History Museum

School Trip

Wednesday 1st March 2017

15.20-17.00 Y5&6 Total Control Football

Whitefield School

12.30-13.30KS2 Dance Festival at Highgate

School

Thursday 2nd March 2017

19.30 Camelot - The Panto

Friday 3rd March 2017

9.00 KS1 Recorder concert with Elspeth

10.00-1100 Y4 Football Friendly with Highgate

School

16.00-17.00 Y5&6 Primary Schools Cross

Country Event New River Fields & Track

19.30 Camelot - The Panto

Saturday 4th March 2017

14.30 Camelot—The Panto

19.30 Camelot—The Panto

Introducing St Michael’s

Eco-Team

Two children from each class (Years 2-6) have

volunteered to help make St Michael’s a more

eco-friendly school!

As a group we have come up with an action plan

to jump start our journey to the Eco School

Bronze Award.

We will be tackling issues such as recycling,

energy usage and looking at reducing our carbon

footprint.

Keep posted for more news…

Parents Evening

Parents will be able to book a parents evening slot with their child’s teacher next term.

An email will go out to families when appointments are available on Scopay to book.

Dates: Tues 7th March approx 3.45-6.30

Thurs 9th March approx 3.45-6.30

Page 3 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

Dates

Wednesday 8th March 2017

15.20-17.00 Y5&6 Total Control Football

Whitefield School

Thursday 9th March 2017

13.30-16.00 Y5&6 Hockey Quicksticks

Tournament at Fortismere

Friday 10th March 2017

9.00-9.30 Y2 Wilson Class Family Assembly

and Coffee Morning

Tuesday 14th March 2017

All day Y5 Marx class trip to Westminster Abbey

Wednesday 15th –17th March 2017

Y4—Flatford Trip

Thursday 16th March 2017

All day Y5 Orwell class trip to Westminster

Abbey

13.30-15.30 Y5&6 Andrew Szydlo 'As if by

Magic' Science Show Highgate School

14.00-15.30 Gymnastic Event for Year 3-4 at

Hornsey Girls

Friday 17th March 2017

9.00 –9.30 Y1 Kenwood Family Assembly and

Coffee morning

14.00 –15.30 Y5&6 Gymnastic Event at

Hornsey Girls

Y4 Flatford return

Wednesday 22nd March 2017

15.20-17.00 Y5&6 Total Control Football

Whitefield School

Tuesday 28th March 2017

All day Year 5&6 girls 7 a side event Whitefield

16.00-18.00 Tag Rugby

Tuesday 31st March 2017

9.30-10.00 Church service led by Y3

End of term—school finishes at 2pm

We are collecting Sainsburys

Active Kids Vouchers

in the office

Packed Lunches

If your child has a packed lunch, or brings in any snacks please ensure that they are nut free.

This includes any nut ‘flavoured’ items.

.

Shelter Building

The Year Six students covered a topic on Mountains. Marlon led a very successful mountaineering survival skills workshop. Both classes worked in groups to design a shelter using equipment he had given them. They discussed what you need when going walking or climbing. All the children worked well as a team.

On Thursday 9th February, Burdett-Coutts class had their first violin and cello concert

assisted by the year 5 and 6 continuers. Year 3 Coleridge and a lot of parents turned up

to watch and the concert was a great success. Huge congratulations to Coutts for all of their hard work

since September and we look forward to their Summer concert.

Page 4 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

From the Governors Dear Parents, Guardians and Caregivers

Professional fundraiser? St Michael’s needs you!

If you are a professional fundraiser, we need to hear from you!

St Michael’s governors are setting up a Fundraising Working Group and we want to invite parents and other friends of the school to join the group.

The group’s aims are to raise the significant sums the school needs for major programmes of work like refurbishing all the classrooms.

We are doing this because the various other sources of money we can access are not sufficient to meet the long-term investment plan the school needs. This new way to raise money will be for these strategic, long-term improvements to the school.

Just to remind you, St Michael’s currently gets money from three sources:

1: From government, through Haringey Council. This was around £2 million this year. Almost all of this goes on salaries and essential equipment to run the school.

2: From the SMSA. The parents’ body raises an amazing £40,000 or thereabouts each year through social events we all enjoy. This goes on items that improve our children’s experience through the school day, such as climbing frames and classroom extras.

3. The Governors’ Fund. This money comes from property and access rentals as well as parents making a regular monthly contribution (reminder: you can do this through Scopay!). These funds go on small-to-medium sized capital expenditure projects such as the current work to convert the flat to music and intervention spaces.

Unfortunately the future for school funding is looking gloomy. Under the incoming National Funding Formula, the school is predicted to be nearly £200,000 worse off by 2019.

So, now is the time to act!

We are inviting parents and friends of the school with specific skills in fundraising and supporting activities such as advertising and campaign management to join a governors’ fundraising working group. We expect the group to end up around six in number, including two governors.

We expect there will be a fair bit of work in the beginning to get things up and running, establishing a plan, some principles and approaches. Perhaps a meeting every other week and leg-work in between. After the set-up phase, it will be a case of running specific campaigns with quarterly reports to the full governing body.

If you are interested, please send your CV with a short covering note highlighting relevant skills and experience to governors@stmichaelsn6.com by Sunday 26 February.

We will review the CVs and set up some face-to-face chats with a view to having the membership complete by the end of March.

And even if this isn’t right for you, you may well know someone who would be great. So please ask around!

Help make the Fundraising Working Group a success. Thank you!

Adam Garfunkel

Chair of Governors

Page 5 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

To nurture and inspire our children to develop a love of learning in a

supportive Christian community and become the best they can be.

Would you like to support children’s

learning in our school?

We are seeking volunteers who can offer some of their time on a regular basis.

Volunteers are currently needed for:

Individual reading support

General classroom support

Support for small groups

To find out more, please contact:

Inclusion Leader Nicholas Fletcher on 02083407441

or email senco@stmichaelsn6.com

Training and support will be provided.

All volunteers will be subject to a DBS check.

St Michael’s students - WWF fundraising

Page 6 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

Morning Drop-offs and Afterschool

Pick ups.

Outside the school can be very busy at

pick up and drop off. To ensure safety

for everyone and especially child

safety—please ensure you park legally

and safely outside the school at all times.

The school lane is in constant use for

staff and walking children—it is not to be

used for parking for any reason.

Please note that the lane is also the

access route for emergency services for

the school.

Thanks to the very generous

donations from our EYFS

Nativity, the children in the

KS1 playground have been

enjoying playing with the

new playground equipment.

We raised over £250 and

were able to buy plenty of

hoops, balls and team game

equipment for the children to

enjoy. Thank you.

Highgate Market

Please come along and help us support Highgate Village Market. Stall4all rents our front playground every Saturday morning and has proved very popular, offering a wide range of delicious produce. As a school we are also delighted to have the market every Saturday as it brings in much needed rental income and strengthens our ties to the local community.

Christian Meditation

This is being practiced throughout the school each

week. For around five minutes, the children have

the opportunity to reflect and spend some time with God.

We are finding this is helping children to focus and be ready for their afternoon

lessons.

Page 7 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

Year 6 Trip to the Castle Climbing Centre

Year 6 have been studying mountains in Geography and this week, they went on

an adventure of their own. Du Maurier and Richardson class went to Castle

Climbing Centre in Manor House and tackled a number of challenges. The

children had to work together as a team; whilst some children were climbing

others were responsible for the ropes. The children climbed some extremely tall

walls and had a lot of fun.

This year’s school Panto Production

CAMELOT THE PANTO

2nd March Thursday 7.30pm

3rd March Friday 7.30pm

4th March Saturday 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Tickets on sale now from the SMSA

FSM tickets available from the office

World Autism

Awareness Week 27 March –2 April 2017

Page 8 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

PCu3ed Tag Rugby Challenge 2017

St. Michael's once again attended the annual PCu3ed Challenge at the HAC Moorgate on Friday 20th January 2017. The event organised by the London Skolars rugby club - along with sponsors PCu3ed – is a highlight of the sporting calendar. St. Michael’s competed admirably throughout and came up against some very tough competition indeed. The 6 schools involved were all part of London Skolars Community Programme with all earning the right to be there through their performance at the Haringey Tag Festival. St. Michael’s record of won 1, drew 2, and lost 2 was indeed a great achievement. Despite an unsuccessful attempt at reaching the finals for St. Michael’s, the real winners on the day were the children who took every opportunity to enjoy the fantastic experience of the day. After the tag rugby they helped form a guard of honour for the main event a match between Wigan Warriors and London Skolars. The children watched the whole match and particularly enjoyed the tough tackling throughout. They also managed to collect quite a few autographs and were all awarded a PCU3ED flask for competing.

Haringey Sportshall Athletics Tournament 2017 St. Michael's entered the Haringey Sportshall Athletics event at Heartlands High School on the 19th January 2017. This event has grown enormously over the last few years with now over 30 schools from Haringey competing. St. Michael's competed in Heat 2 and a squad of 18 girls and boys arrived at the venue with great excitement and optimism. The event started with 'field' events - standing long jump and triple jump, vertical jump, speed bounce, and chest push, before moving on to an exciting array of relay races. Cheered on by fellow team members the squad gave their all and achieved a fantastic set of results. With 11 schools involved in Heat 2 it was going to be tough to finish in the top 2 which meant qualifying for the finals a week later. In the end St. Michael's finished a respectable 5th place. Well done to all the girls and boys for competing with a smile and great determination and

representing the school so well throughout. Their attitude and support for each other

throughout was first class.

Page 9 of 9 St. Michael’s CE Primary School Newsletter February 2017 Issue 6

SPORTS TIMETABLE SPRING TERM 2017

February Weds 8th 4-5p.m Total Control Football Whitefield

School 5 a side football boys

Leave 3.20p.m.

Year 5-6

Fri 10th 1.15-3p.m Futsal Event Rhodes Ave 5 a side futsal for girls Year 6 girls

Fri 24th 9.30-2p.m Greig City Academy 3 v 3 Basketball

Greig Academy All day 3 v 3 event. Year 5-6

March

Weds 1st 4-5p.m Total Control Football Whitefield School 5 a side football girls

Leave 3.20p.m.

Year 5-6

Weds 1st 12.30 p.m. KS2 Dance Festival Highgate School Details to follow. Several tbc

Friday 3rd 10-11 a.m.

Highgate Football Friendly Tournament

Highgate School 30 x Year 4 pupils to attend for friendly 7 a-side games

Year 4

Friday 3rd 4.00pm – 5.00pm

Primary Schools X Country Champs

New River Fields & Track

Separate boys’ and girls’ teams of ten runners with 6 to score

Years 5 and 6

Weds 8th 4-5p.m Total Control Football Whitefield School 5 a side football girls

Leave 3.20p.m.

Year 5-6

Thursday 9th 1.30pm -4.00pm

Hockey Quick Sticks 5/6 Fortismere School Open to all Haringey Schools. Squads of 6 of which 2 girls & 2 boys on pitch.

Years 5 and 6

Thursday 16th 2.00pm Gymnastics festival Y3/4

Hornsey Girls School

Open to all Haringey schools. Mixed boys & girls team.

Years 3 and 4

Thursday 16th All day London School Games for Tag Rugby if school qualifies. Venue: Barn Elms

if we qualify

Friday 17th 2.00pm Gymnastics festival Y5/6

Hornsey Girls School

Open to all Haringey schools. Mixed boys & girls team.

Years 5 and 6

Weds 22nd 4-5p.m Total Control Football Whitefield School 5 a side football girls

Leave 3.20p.m.

Year 5-6

Wed/Thurs

22nd/23rd

All day London School Games (if we qualify) – Crystal Palace

Year 4-5 Girl’s Futsal Tournament

A gallant team of girls entered a futsal event at

Rhodes Avenue School on Friday 27th January

2017. Futsal is played with a smaller ball with less

bounce than a regular football due to the surface

of the field. The surface, ball and rules create an

emphasis on improvisation, creativity, and

technique as well as ball control and passing in

small spaces.

Well done to girls for competing well. They

certainly enjoyed representing the school for the

first time.