Dear Families,

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As we enter the second full week of November, it seems that winter is most certainly here. Last week our year sixes led the school in a moving assembly for Remembrance Day explaining its significance and sharing poetry that they had written for the day.

Here are this week’s announcements:

Black History Month:

The national theme for Black History Month this year was ‘Saluting our Sisters’. At Lyndhurst, we decided to combine this with a request from one of our staff members to continue to celebrate the 75thanniversary of the landing of the Empire Windrush.  

We worked with Catherine and Lynda of the National Caribbean Heritage Museum based in Nottingham. We were inspired by a touring exhibition they had organised titled “Stories in a Suitcase”. This was an exhibition exploring what the Windrush Generation brought with them to the UK. This included mock-ups of luggage brought by women and young girls, using 1950s-70scharity shop items collected by Catherine in the years beforehand. Catherine suggested that they come to Lyndhurst, bring some of the objects they had collected with them and talk to the children about Catherine’s experience coming here from the island of St Kitts. Friends of Lyndhurst kindly agreed to provide the funding for this experience.  

Following from the workshops each year group looked at the notion of a story in a suitcase, whether it was from the perspective of the children thinking about what they would pack in a suitcase if they had to leave their homes or looking at the different objects women might have packed when they were coming from the Caribbean in the 1950s. 

We also used National Poetry Day to write poems about inspirational Black British women which was preceded by a whole assembly during which staff members introduced Black British women who were not only inspirational but also embodied the values of our school. Brenda Garrick, poet and author of Jamakespeare, visited the school and ran poetry workshops withKS2 which was followed by a poetry reading in the playground for all parents and children. 

Beyond the Classroom:

Please lookout for an email from Mr Peddle this Friday providing you with our Beyond The Classroom (clubs) offer for the Spring Term.

We’re adjusting the expression of interest form slightly from last term so please follow the instructions in the email to give your club preferences.

The sign-up form will close on Friday 24th November at midnight. Offers will be sent out by Friday 1stDecember.

To reduce the financial impact of the school having to cover the cost of late cancelations with external providers we are tightening up our cancelation process. If you do not want the club you are offered, you must email hpeddle@lyndhurst.southwark.sch.uk before Friday 8th December to cancel, otherwise you will be charged for the full term  (many of our providers ask for payment in advance). Payments for the term will need to be made by Friday 15th December.

International Evening:

You will have received a letter about international evening last Friday. We can’t wait to see everyone after school this Thursday to share in a celebration of food from our cultures and heritage. We’re especially excited to see everyone in their national dress or clothes in the colours of their flag. Thankyou in advance for all of your food donations.

Stay and Play Sessions:

Our first Stay and Play session for any child under 3 years old will now take place on Friday 24^that 9am. They will then take place every week. Please do spread the word.

Winter is coming:

We try and get outside in to the fresh air as much as we can and we are not deterred by light rain so it is really important that your child has a waterproof jacket in school at all times. As it gets colder we would recommend a warm jacket, hat and gloves too (all labelled with their name).

School Spaces:

You may have seen the banner on the school railings, we have partnered up with a social enterprise called ‘School Spaces’ to help maximise the use of our school and to generate much needed funds to help cover our running costs. If you know of anyone looking for a space to rent, please do direct them to our website or the school spaces website. You can also share this image with any relevant networks. Our rates are reasonable and the spaces are great.

Year Six Fundraiser: Alex Monroe

Looking for gift ideas? We have an Alex Monroe sample sale in the library from 9 am and after school on Wednesday 22^nd November. This is a great chance to grab a bargain!

Anti-Bullying Week:

This week is national anti-bullying week. It seems like a great time to share with you our new Anti-Bullying Strategy which works alongside our Behaviour Policy and Online Safety Policy which are all available on our school website.

Working Weekend:

A reminder that this weekend between 10am -2pm we have a working weekend. Please come along and help out. All that you need is a cup for a warm drink, warm clothing and gloves.

Sporting Update:

Our boys team had a great result on Saturday in the Southwark and Lambeth Saturday League winning 10-0 against Holy Trinity- man of the match was Muizz. The girls begin their season on Saturday playing Judith Kerr at Dulwich Sports Ground at 10:30am.

Recruitment:

We are looking for midday meal supervisors to support during lunchtimes in the playground and lunch hall. If you know of anyone looking for work that fits within the school day, please direct them to our website.

Walk to School Map:

You may have seen our fantastic new map on the wall by the main gate. This is a great tool for planning your walk to school. It’s also available on our website.

Attendance:

Please ensure that you are giving yourself time to get to school before the gates shut, it can be very upsetting for pupils to be late to school and it has a bigger impact on their learning than you might think. Can we also respectfully flag up the Christmas term dates are odd this year meaning that the first day back for pupils is on a Friday. We will be doing normal learning on that day and will follow our normal absence procedures.

Have a great week

Key Dates:

Thur 16^th Nov – International Evening- 3:40pm start

Thur 16^th Nov – Friends of Lyndhurst Zoom meeting 8pm

Fri 17^th Nov- Coffee Morning (behaviour and bullying)

Wed 22^nd Nov- Individual & Sibling Photographs

Fri 24^th Nov- Hudson Class Assembly 09:30 TO BE RESCHEDULED

Fri 24^th Nov- First Stay & Play (will be weekly thereafter)

Fri 1^st Dec- Coffee Morning (Reading)

Sat 2^nd Dec- Winter Fair

Thur 7^th Dec- Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Lunch

Fri 8^th Dec- FoL Meeting in library 9am

W/c 11^th Dec- Nursery Winter Performance tbc

Fri 15^th Dec- Coffee Morning (SEND)

Fri 15^th Dec- End of term report sent home

Tue 19^th Dec- Winter Concert 6pm at St Giles Church

Thur 21^st Dec- Last day of term (Early Closure1:15pm)

Thur 4^th Jan -INSET Day

Fri 5^thJan- First day of school