Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been another busy week in school with our choirs singing at the Rose Theatre, our Y3 and Y4 children performing the Passion Play and our Y5 children experiencing their first school residential visit to Sayers Croft.

Y3 and Y4 Passion Play

Our Y3 and Y4 children performed brilliantly this morning in the Passion Play in which they told the story of Jesus’s passion, death and resurrection in music and drama. It was wonderful to see so many children singing solos in front of the audience of parents and the standard of singing and acting was really excellent. Many of the audience said how moving they felt the performance was – a really special way to focus on the events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Thank you to the Y3 and Y4 staff team, Miss McCrossan Y4 teacher for directing and Mrs FitzGerald for musical direction.

Rose Theatre

On Wednesday this week Mrs FitzGerald took sixty children from our Infant and Junior choirs to the Rose Theatre in Kingston to perform a number of songs with several other local schools. The children sang well-known contemporary songs with irrepressible enthusiasm and thoroughly enjoyed performing in a professional theatre in front of a large audience.

Sayers Croft

Our Y5 pupils have spent the last three days at Sayers Croft outdoor activity centre in the Surrey Hills. They have not let the weather put them off as they tried climbing, a rope course and a blind fold maze. They have also carried out Geography field work including a river study and an orienteering challenge. For many children this is their first taste of being away from home and it is a valuable way to develop independence and build relationships. Thank you to the staff team for accompanying the visit. I think all involved, both pupils and staff, should sleep very well tonight!

Y4 History walk to discover our school history

On Monday, as part of their study of the history of our school, our Y4 children visited the original Victorian St Elizabeth’s School building in Richmond town centre. Our school moved to our current Queen’s Road site in 1969 and it was the children’s task to make comparisons between our old building and our current one. They commented on how small the playground and main building were, as there were only 45 pupils when it opened. They have also been learning, through original documents, what the school was like during WW2.

Sports Update

The week began with a Sports assembly to celebrate the swimming squad's achievement at the recent Borough Gala. We also celebrated all the children who have proudly represented the school over the last term.

Many of our teams have been in action this week. On Tuesday, the rugby team played away against Darell School. After a great display of 'tag' tackling, our solid passing game and speed down the wings saw us win 4-nil. The rugby team finished 2nd in the league and may progress to the knock out stage, depending on other results in the Borough.

On Thursday, the boys football team were proud to be invited to the Brentford Football Tournament, where they played against some of the best schools in our area. In a tough tournament, they managed a win and a draw, scoring 4 goals. Whilst they lost 1-nil to the eventual winners, they all worked their socks off and a good day was had by all.

To finish the week, the netball club played several games against Queen's School. The league game was a really close and tight game. Queen's School eventually won the league 12 v 7. We played a further 2 competitive games which demonstrated the depth of talent in our netball club.

Next week, we will complete our Lenten Challenge. The children will take their final 5 minute challenge and get the opportunity to see how much they have improved their stamina and fitness. They will be able to share their number of completed laps with families and we look forward to the sponsor money being returned to school on Thursday.

Award Winning Writer

Congratulations to Naomi in Y4 who has been selected for the Arts Richmond Finalists of Young Writers’ Festival 2023! Naomi's entry will be published in the anthology of shortlisted entries and we look forward to sharing her work with the rest of school during assembly next week.

Million Word Readers

Many congratulations this week to Maya in Y4 and Sophia in Y6T who have read a million words, and to Ciara in Y6T who has read an amazing 5 million words. Well done everyone!

Values Awards

Congratulations to the following children who received Values Awards this week.

Y1: Margaux

Y2: Benjamin

Y3: Simon

Y4: Olivia

Y6A: Dylan

Y6T: Sophie

Parish News from Fr Tomasz Margol at St Thomas Aquinas

There will be a traditional Polish blessing of food for Easter which will take place in St Thomas Aquinas Church in Ham on Saturday 8th April at 10am and 11am. All are warmly welcome.

And finally, Good Luck to Miss McCrossan who will be doing her Sky Dive in aid of Down’s Syndrome Association this weekend!

Have a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines