Weekly Welcome from Matt
Dear families,
I hope you had a lovely weekend and are enjoying this burst of September sunshine! It’s been lovely to see the children settling into their new classes over the last 2 weeks, enjoying their learning and getting to know the new members of their classes and the adults they are working with.
As you know, at the start of each year we always hold Meet the Teacher Meetings to give you the opportunity to come into school to meet your child’s new teacher and hear about the year ahead. Please see the dates and times above. We look forward to seeing lots of you there.
Have a wonderful week ahead, Matt
I hope it’s been a great start to the new school year for all of your children, and for you as well!
My role is to work alongside families to address issues that affect their wellbeing, which might include family relationships, immigration status, housing, parenting, employment and training opportunities, mental and physical health etc. We have positive partnerships with a variety of wonderful organisations, both locally and London-wide, which I can signpost you to if necessary, to find solutions and access support. I’m in school Mondays to Wednesdays and you can email me on [email protected]
As well as supporting families with difficult situations, we are active in the borough and across London in challenging injustice and ensuring that people’s voices are heard. We are one of 24 organisations who are members of Southwark Citizens, see https://www.citizensuk.org/ If you're interested in getting involved in our campaigning, please let me know!
There are 2 upcoming events hosted by our friends at Pembroke House – see the flyers below for more information.
For more information about Housing, Cost of Living and Benefits then please click on my information page here.
Responsibility Core Value Champions for this week:
NEWS – Music Makers in Key Stage 1
Years 1, 2 and Darwin Provision had their first Music lesson this year, and everyone had a wonderful time!
The children worked with Fiona and Nicola from Southwark Music Service using percussion instruments to follow patterns and sing songs as a class. They are all excited for next week's lesson already!
Years 3, 4 and 5 will be taking on an instrument as a class (Recorder, Ukulele and African Drumming) throughout the year. Peripatetic group instrumental lessons will also be available for Years 3-6 and will be starting soon. Stay in tune for more information.
NEWS – Marcia Proud of Science Award
A big congratulations to SSQ for being awarded Gold Medal Certificates for our efforts in the Summer Seed Competitions.
Thank you to all those children who entered!
NEWS – Mental Health Support Team joins SSq
We’re very lucky to have Bonnie and Anabel from Groundwork London who will provide SSq with a Mental Health Support Team (MHSTs).
The team will be working in school every Tuesday throughout this year.
MHSTs are part of a governmental initiative to transform children and young people’s mental health. To promote access to mental health services and improve children and young people’s wellbeing. Please see this flyer to find out more information and do get in touch with Kathryn [email protected] if you have any questions.
NEWS – Aspiration Speakers Wanted!
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 fortnight, 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 'I can!'), 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.
We are always looking for speakers to come in and share their experiences of their career journey including the challenges they may face. Email Megan ([email protected]) or Chris ([email protected]) if you think you may be able to come in and talk to our children any day or time between Monday 4th November and Friday 15th November.
Attendance Last Week – well done Mellah Class
Well done to Year 3 Mellah Class for having the highest attendance last week – 100%! Keep it up folks!
Please ensure that you never send your child in with any foods that may contain nuts. Click here for more details.
Key Dates for this year!
We know that some of you like to plan ahead for the year. Please see our summary of key dates for 2024-25. Please note that some dates may change so keep checking this website or our social media channels (X formally Twitter and Instagram).
Class Names for this Year!
Each year our teachers think carefully about an inspiring person to name their class after. We will be looking at each class name in more depth over the coming weeks; this year we have artists, activists, athletes, paralympians, musicians, mathematicians and TV presenters. See if you recognise any of the faces below and be sure to ask your child about the significance of their class name this week.
Southwark Food Action Alliance Food Map
Southwark Food Action Alliance have launched their new food map which you can access using this link. This map shows food banks and pantries, community fridges, community meals and more. They have also produced a leaflet that is split into four sections: Places to go for free food, Places to go for low-cost food, Places to go for meals, cafes and takeaways, and Foodbanks where you need a referral or voucher from an agency. You can view and download the leaflet here.
Footballers in Years 3,4 and 5 wanted!
As you may or may not be aware, Southwark Jaguars launched their first ever girls football team in August 2023. Since that first sunny day they have grown from strength to strength and currently have 60 girls registered across our U9’s, U10’s, U11’s & U12’s teams. We can guarantee that most of you will have at least one girl at our school that is a Southwark Jaguar. With that in mind they are keen to offer the opportunity of playing competitive weekend football to more girls. Unlike most football teams they do not offer trials. If you are girl and want to play, then this is the club for you. Please note they are looking for girls that are currently in year three, four and five.
Parents/carers will need to follow the link below or scan the QR CODE on the attached flyer to register their interest.
Southwark Jaguars Register of Interest – The PE & School Sports Network (lpessn.org.uk)
The SEND Saturday Sports Club returns!
This amazing opportunity reopens again on Saturday 21st September! Please see the below info or find our more from the LPESSN website.
