Hello Lyndhurst Family,‍

Those of you who have been at Lyndhurst for a while will know that we have been working on our communication over the last year and a bit. Whilst ‘The Scoop’ is the main way we communicate with you, our website contains lots of useful information including key dates. We have several opportunities throughout the year to talk with your child’s teacher, the first of which is our Autumn Parent Consultation, I’ll talk more about that later. There will be another consultation later in the year in addition to the two short reports at the end of the Autumn and Spring terms and the longer report at the end of the Summer term.

Here are this week’s announcements:

Sensory Room Fundraiser:

Come along and help support the creation of Lyndhurst’s state-of-the-art Sensory room. Tickets are £10 per person.  The quiz takes place on Thursday, October 19^that 7:30pm. Details of how to book can be found here. We have teams of teachers and central trust staff so the competition is well and truly on!

Black History Month:

At Lyndhurst we have worked hard (and continue to do so) to weave diverse histories and perspectives into our curriculum— in the summer term all pupils studied an Individuals of Significance topic linked to not only our values and local community but also with a less heard narrative. In addition to our curriculum we also do standalone work to mark Black History Month. This year the national focus is ‘Celebrating Our Sisters’, we will be looking at ‘Women of Windrush’. Over the next few weeks pupils will all produce several pieces of work linked to this topic. If you have women in your families or neighbourhoods who would be prepared to be interviewed about their experience of leaving their country and arriving to England, please contact Ms Moon.

In addition, we have an excellent speaker performing straight after school in the playground on Thursday 5^th October.  Brenda Garrick author of ‘Jamakespeare’ a fantastic book reimagining Shakespeare’s soliloquys and monologues into patois will be doing a family reading for all. There will be a chance to purchase her book at a diverse authors book stall before, during and after the session.  

Autumn Term Parent Consultations:

This is a short 8-minute meeting with you and your child’s class teacher to discuss the year ahead. The meetings will take place in your child’s classroom. We know that childcare is complicated so if you need to bring your children to the meeting we ask that they remain with you and not be allowed to play in the playground. Bookings open at 7:30pm tonight. Every child gets one appointment.  If you have a child in year five then you can also book an appointment with Mr Turnham to discuss secondary school options. If you log on to your My Child at School app or webpage you will see the booking options. You can find a detailed guidance documen there.

Picking up from School:

This academic year we have noticed an increasing number of families collecting their children late. The school day ends at 15:25 for EYFS or 15:30 for years 1-6. We know that many of you will have several children to collect and so we account for ten minutes to do this, after which we will start ushering parents out and closing the gates so that afterschool clubs can safely use the school. Pupils who have not been collected are then taken to the school office.  We know that the unexpected happens sometimes so if you know that you will be late, please call or email the office so that we can speak to your child to reduce their distress. If you are repeatedly late to collect your child, we will arrange a meeting with you to discuss how we move forward.

Working Weekend:

Last year we had several very successful working weekends where we renovated the memorial garden, treated the wood in the playground and tackled some of the flower beds. We would like to have one more push before the winter kicks in—we have a bit more to do in the memorial garden and many of our flower beds need some more love and attention. We will be having a working day on Saturday, 18^th November. You do not need any experience just gardening gloves, a travel mug and a smile.

Online Safety-WhatsApp:

A few weeks ago, I shared the link to the National Online Safety Website. This week they published a great guide to WhatsApp and how you can keep your child safe if they are using it. You can find more guides on our school website.

Bike Market:

This Friday we have our first bike market. If you have an old bike that you would like to donate please bring it to the carpark gates between8-10am. Throughout the day the team will service and repair the bikes and then after school they will be selling discounted bikes. More details can be found here.

Reception Parent Phonics Workshop:

The reception teachers will be hosting a phonics workshop for reception parents on the 19^th October between 3:45 and 4:30pm.

Friends of Lyndhurst:

This Friday we have our first FOL meeting of the year. All are welcome. The meeting starts at 09:05 in the library. It is a great way to meet other parents and to get involved in the school community.

Art Survey:

Our Trust Director of Creativity, Music & Culture would love to hear from you. Please use this link to give him some feedback about what you like and what you want to see more of in our trust. Please do take some time to respond so that we can celebrate all that is great about Lyndhurst and also so that we can see what we need to develop further.

Holiday &Christmas Cards:

Lyndhurst’s annual Holiday & Christmas Card Art project is back! Turn your children's festive creations into cards, wrapping paper, gift tags and more with our Christmas Card Project. Funds raised from the sale of items go to Friends of Lyndhurst. Art templates will be distributed in-class next week (2nd Oct), and collected week commencing 16th Oct, so children will have 2 weeks to create their festive masterpieces!  Look out for additional info coming from your class reps.

That’s it from us, have a great week.

Key Dates:

Fri 29^th Sep- FOL first meeting (9am in library)

Fri 29^th Sep- Bike Market (see Scoop from the 11^th)

Starting 2^nd Oct- Black History Month starts(focus: Women of Windrush)

Thur 5^th Oct – Jamakespeare Performance 3:45pm

Fri 6^th Oct- National Poetry Day

Fri 6^th Oct- Coffee Morning – Curriculum

Tue 10^th Oct- World Mental Health Day

Wed 11^th & Thur 12^th Oct- Parent Meetings & Yr. 5 1:1 Secondary Meetings

Fri 13^th Oct- FOL meeting AGM

W/C 16^th Oct- Religious Rotations (Sukkot, Navaratri & St. Francis Day)

Thur 19^th Oct- Reception Parent’s Phonic Workshop

Fri 20^th October – Yarra Class Assembly (10amstart)

Thur 19^th Oct --SEND Quiz Night

Fri 20^th Oct-- Coffee Morning- SEND & Mental Health

Fri 20^th Oct – Last day of half term.

‍