SSq Newsletter - 19th December 2025

Dear Families,

We’ve reached the final day of the autumn term—and what a term it’s been!

Last Friday, we held our Changemaker Celebration Assembly, where we recognised the incredible efforts of children across the school who have shown leadership, compassion and a real desire to make positive change. Each class nominated one pupil to receive the Gold Changemaker Badge – a huge congratulations to the following children:

Year 1 – Khadija and Sofia
Year 2 – Xaya and Gift
Year 3 – Adam and Tyra
Year 4 – Emily and Mujidat
Year 5 – Lemarah and Alec
Year 6 – Raehannah and Darlene

(Photos below!) These children have truly embodied our “Be the Change” theme this term, and we’re so proud of all they’ve achieved.

We finished the term with a bang this week as we witnessed all our children perform at their Winterfest shows. It was amazing to see the hard work from children and adults on show. We had such a wide range of genres and styles and it was great to see all the stars of SSq shine on stage. It was also great to see so many instrumentalists be part of their class performances and share their musical talents. Thank you to all the families who came to see Winterfest this year. It’s always a joyful and heartwarming end to the term, full of music, joy and community.

On Monday, we also welcomed Mother Ellen, who led a whole-school assembly for Years 1–6 about the Christian story of Christmas. She shared how the values of joy, compassion and community shine through at this time of year, and we reflected on how learning about others’ beliefs and traditions helps us build a stronger, more respectful community – something we value deeply at SSQ.

Wishing all our families a joyful, restful and safe holiday and we look forward to welcoming you back on Tuesday 6th January 2026!

Matt

NEWS – Science Success Across School

See the latest Science Newsletter from Marcia – so many amazing things have been happening across the school. Read all about them here.

NEWS – Art Holiday Homework

Matt has set a whole school art challenge for the holidays. See below for more information and share any images with your child’s class teacher.

NEWS – Year 1 Get Festive!

We have been make festive winter themed cards using paint and pencils. Children have used the letter writing skills we have been learning in literacy to write their cards, using words like 'dear' and 'from'. We discussed who we might want to give a winter card to and children wrote their cards independently.

NEWS – Year 2 Out And About!

Last week, Year 2 went to the Little Angel Theatre to watch a performance of The Storm Whale and The Storm Whale in Winter. Everyone loved the songs and enjoyed seeing the stories come to life. The children loved the indoor snowfall as well, and the small theatre helped children interact with the characters.

On the penultimate day of the Autumn term, Perera class were lucky enough to visit the Secret Maps exhibition at the British Library for a workshop. We becme buccaneers and followed maps to find pirates. The children loved seeing the different maps and enjoyed having them come to life through stiry telling.

NEWS – ASPIRATION WEEK – JAN 2026 – FINAL CALL!

At SSQ, we teach our children to have high aspirations and to persevere even when faced with challenging situations. We are also keen to encourage our pupils to think about the social motivation of what they may like to do, not just their own personal ones. To enable this we run an aspiration week, which aims to challenge our pupils to think about the world of work, what they may like to do, what their dreams are, and how they can achieve them.

We always have an overarching theme (this year is 'Future Ready!'), and then invite speakers from a range of professions and backgrounds to come in and talk to the children about what they do, their journey (including any challenges they face) and top tips.

The children have the opportunity to share their future aspirations and identify the journey they will need to take to achieve their goals.

Are you able to give up a short amount of time to inspire our wonderful children with your area of expertise? Please fill in this form and we will be in touch with you shortly. Thank you!

Dear Parents and Carers,

The government has recently passed a new housing act called “Awaab’s Law”. Awaab's Law is a new rule for social landlords (like the council or housing associations). It was created after the tragic death of a two-year-old boy, Awaab Ishak, who died because of severe mould in his home that his landlord ignored. The main point of the law is to force landlords to fix serious problems in your home very quickly and stop them from ignoring dangerous issues like persistent damp and mould. If you report an emergency, like a leak, the landlord has 24 hours to investigate and start fixing the issue. If you report a significant hazard like severe damp and mould, they have to begin the repair within 5 working days and investigate within 10 working days. If you are experiencing any of these issues, please email repairs@southwark.gov.uk or dampandmould@southwark.gov.uk mentioning Awaab’s Law – feel free to copy me in fcarrick-davies@ssq.org.uk

Certain families in Southwark with a child who is under 5 years of age until August 2026 can apply for Rose Vouchers, giving them access to free fruit and veg. You have to be on certain benefits, or have No Recourse to Public Funds or if you are seeking asylum. Please use this link to register https://www.1stplace.uk.com/rosevouchers

More information here https://www.1stplace.uk.com/rosevouchers

I’ve been made aware that some Health Care companies are having their licenses to sponsor overseas workers revoked, which means that people in the care sector on sponsorships might lose their jobs. If this applies to you, please see this website https://hub.goodworkselondon.co.uk/international-recruitment and let me know if you’d like to discuss this further. The government also has this website for support https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-offer-to-international-asc-workers-whose-employers-sponsor-licence-has-been-revoked/support-offer-to-international-asc-workers-whose-employers-sponsor-licence-has-been-revoked

London South Bank University (LSBU) provides a free legal advice service for a range of issues. Please see this website for more information about how to access support https://www.lsbu.ac.uk/our-colleges/law-and-education/study/subjects/law/legal-advice-clinic

Please can you let me know if you currently live on the Aylesbury Estate. We know that conditions in some of these blocks are very poor right now, and we would like to support you if possible.

Please do remember to let me know if you are in Temporary Accommodation or are renting privately, and would like support with any housing problems. We have a great partnership with a housing advocacy organisation called Kineara, who can support our parents with questions they might have about living in TA or in the private-rented sector. Please come and collect a referral form from me if you would like to book an appointment.

I am available in school from Monday to Wednesday – do get in touch (fcarrick-davies@ssq.org.uk) if you have any questions in the meantime.

Keep an eye on my information page outlining advice from me about various issues that may concern you plus many opportunities that are available to you and your family here in Southwark, also check out the numerous opportunities in and around our area at the bottom of this page!

Attendance Last Week

Well done to Year 4 Floella Class who had 99% attendance last week. Keep it up folks!

Please contact us daily if your child is off ill or for another reason.

Email attendance@ssq.org.uk or phone 0207 7033049 (option 1)

Menu Update

This week’s menu is Week 2. After the holidays it will be is menu 2.

Key Dates for this academic year

A Message from Walworth Living Room

Hello everyone! As the year draws to a close, we want to take a moment to wish each and every one of you a truly wonderful end of year filled with well-deserved rest, joy, and beautiful moments shared with family and friends. We hope this season brings you warmth, peace, and time to recharge.

Thank you so much to everyone who was able to join us at “ Winter In Walworth “ last Wednesday Your presence meant the world to us, and it was so special to celebrate together .

As a reminder, Pembroke House will be closed over the holiday period. Please refer to the schedule board above for full closure dates.

We’ll be reopening on Thursday 8th January and we’re really looking forward to welcoming you all back into the space in the new year. For updates and everything happening across Pembroke House in the coming weeks, please keep an eye on our webpage: https://www.pembrokehouse.org.uk/whats-on/] Wishing you a restful, joyful end of the year see you soon

Family Cinema Fun in Covent Garden

See below for more local opportunities and events!

A message from Music Centre London:

We have been in Southwark for 15 years now and hundreds of Southwark children and young people have benefited from our provision. If you have a moment in your busy lives to take a quick look at our website you will find a lot more information about what we do and how we do it. Suffice to say here that we are committed to accessibility and provide free places from the charity to any family who cannot afford the subscription. No child is turned away through inability to pay. We are non-profit-making – all our income goes back into the provision.

For more information speak to Chris or check out their website.