Newsletter November 2017 - Issue 2 Geraldine Gallagher Headteacher

North Road London N6 4BG 020 8340 7441 www.stmichaelsn6.com Newsletter November 2017 - Issue 2 Geraldine Gallagher Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers, We have had another exciting month with trips, special visitors, events and sport. The children have made a very positive contribution in both representing the school and raising awareness. At St. Michael’s the children know the importance of everyone making a contribution and how they can do so. We carefully plan opportunities, some are part of the school structure and others tie in with national events. Within the school children take on important roles such as play ambassadors, eco ambassadors and school councillors and make an important contribution to the whole school. Last week was national anti- bullying week and the children were involved in a number of activities to raise awareness of bullying and ways to prevent and respond to it. Having a positive view of themselves is also encouraged by the wide variety of sporting opportunities offered. On Friday, all of the children made an excellent contribution to the local community with St. Michael’s Great Exhibition at Lauderdale House. The event gave the children the opportunity to step into a role, share their knowledge (many of these women were hidden from history) and to develop their skills. A huge thank you to everyone involved in organising these events which enrich our School. Throughout the year every child from Early Years to Year 6 take part in performances, recently Year 5 Zhenyi Class lead a moving Remembrance assembly. The children in Nursery, Reception and KS1 are busy preparing for their Nativities' and Year 5 will lead the Christmas service. The children love their performances, learning how to step into a role, building on their confidence and making us all very proud of them too. I hope you have had the opportunity to read my letter of last week, which has been included in this newsletter on page 4. I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events. Best wishes,

Geraldine Gallagher Headteacher PagePage 2Page of5 of 20 203 of 18 St. St. Michael’s Michael’s St. Michael’s CECE CEPrimary Primary Primary School School School Newsletter Newsletter September March November 2017 2017 Issue2017 Issue 8Issue 1 2

Bonfire Night

This year’s bonfire and fireworks display was a huge success. A big thank you to the SMSA and all those involved.

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Dates to be added

Saturday 25th November 2017 9.30-11.30 Y6 Football Festival at Highgate Operation Christmas Child Monday 27th November 2017

Operation Christmas Child—children can donate a shoebox for a child St Michael's are supporting the Samaritans appeal Wednesday 29th November 2017 once again this year through sending gift-appeal All day Y4 Neasden Temple class trip shoes boxes to children in countries where there Thursday 30th November 2017 has been war, poverty or natural disasters. Many 9am KS2 Recorder concert of the children who receive the boxes have been Friday 1st December 2017 orphaned and this may be the only gift they 9am Y4 Krafft class assembly and coffee morning Monday 4th December 2017 receive at Christmas time. Your child will be 2pm Reception Nativity for parents bringing home a leaflet explaining all about the Tuesday 5th December 2017 project The final date for sending boxes is Monday 10am Nursery AM and Reception Nativity for 27th November and Ms parents Wednesday 6th December 2017 Wegner would be 10-12pm Nursery & Reception Jackson’s Lane Trip Thursday 7th December 2017 grateful for any offers to 1.30-3.30pm Y1 & 2 Jackson’s Lane Trip help check and seal the Friday 8th December 2017 boxes. Please let the 9am Y6 Clark class assembly and coffee morning office know if you are 2.15pm Nursery PM and Reception Nativity for parents available to help. Tuesday 12th December 2017 2.15pm KS1 Nativity Wednesday 13th December 2017 9.30am KS1 Nativity Thursday 14th December 2017 9.30am KS1 Nativity Wednesday 13th December 2017 9.30am KS1 Nativity Monday 18th December 2017 Y6 Old folks party Thursday 21st December 2017

Christmas Lunch Friday 22nd December 2017 9.30am Christmas service led by Y5 at St Michael’s Church Last day of term—finish at 2pm

Return to School Friday 5th January 2018 Inset day Monday 8th January 2018 Nursery & Reception Nativity Dates Children return to school Monday 4th December 2pm Reception only

Tuesday 5th December 10am ** Reception –Year 4 Flu immunisation date Nursery & Reception to be rescheduled ** Friday 8th December 2.15pm Nursery & Reception

Y1&2 Nativity Dates Tuesday 12th December 2.15pm Wednesday 13th December 9.30am Thursday 14th December 9.30am Page 4Page of 20 3 of 18 St. Michael’s St. Michael’s CE CE Primary Primary School School Newsletter March November 2017 Issue2017 8Issue 2 Page 5Page of 20 3 of 18 St. Michael’s St. Michael’s CE CE Primary Primary School School Newsletter March November 2017 Issue2017 8Issue 2

On Thursday 16th November, St Michael’s children were invited to take part in a fun dress-up day, raising money for the charity Children in Need. Children in Need is a UK charity run by the BBC. They raise money throughout the year to help disadvantaged children and young people in the UK. Children came to school dressed in their favourite pyjamas and brought in a donation. We raised £500!

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Attendance We hit our new and improved target ! We have hit our attendance target of 97% and coming top of the leader board is Year Five Zhenyi Class with the highest class attendance of 98%.

Book week was fantastic this year at St Michael’s. Every class had a copy of The Huge Bag of Worries and on Wednesday 11th October the author, Virginia Ironside, visited school to talk to us about why she wrote the book and what she thinks is special about it. In addition to this each year group had another book to look at about a different challenging topic. The Friday before the half term break each class shared their work in assembly and it was great to see the efforts they had made. Finally thank you for the wonderful outfits the children wore, it was great talking in class with them about their character, which book they were from, and why they liked the character they had come as. Finally the book fair was a wonderful success. A huge thank you to all of the parents, who helped with setting up the fair, and running the evenings. Also to everyone who came to buy books. It really does help the school and we are incredibly grateful for your generosity.

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Book Week Gallery

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Lauderdale House

To celebrate the work of women in science, technology, engineering and maths as well as the work of all our children, St Michael’s took over Lauderdale House with an exhibition of Fifteen Fantastic Women who Changed the World as part of National Take Over Day. There was work from every class with plenty of hands on interactive displays to investigate and some stunning art work too. Working hard behind the scenes of the museum were Year Five Zhyenyi class who were tour guides, photographers, tweeters and administrators. We are very proud of the work and the behaviour of all the children at Lauderdale House and St Michael’s has been asked to take over again in November 2018. Thank you to all staff, children and parents who helped make this happen.

Class Cake Sales 24th Nov Easley Yr 3 19th Jan Nursery 1st Dec Currie Yr 2 26th Jan Johnson Reception 8th Dec Anning Yr 1 2nd Feb Franklin Yr 4 15th Dec Earle Yr 1 9th Feb Clark Yr 6 12th Jan Earhart Reception

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To celebrate the work of women in science, technology, engineering and maths as well as the work of all our children, St Michael’s has taken over Lauderdale House with an exhibition of Fifteen Fantastic Women who Changed the World! At St Michael’s every class is named after one of these women and takes inspriation from them in their learning from Nursery to Year Six.

Maria Merian Nursery – Inspired by the work of Mai- Scientific Illustrator ra Merian the children have created a Born Germany picture using their handprints. (1647 - 1717)

Amelia Earhart Aviator Born United of States of America (1897 – 1938) Reception - Make an aeroplane out of different materials and see how far it will fly. Which material will be the best ?

Amie Johnson Aviator Born United Kingdom (1903- 1941)

Sylvia Earle Year One – Play with our active hands- Marine Biologist & Explorer on fun fishing game for all ages. Hook Born United States of America out as many fish from the bottom of the (1935 82 yrs old ) ocean in one minute.

Mary Anning Year One - Explore the fossils like Palaeontologist Mary Anning and enjoy the art work Born United Kingdom inspired by her work on dinosaurs. (1799 -1847)

Mary Seacole Year Two – Compare nurses and doc- Business Woman & Nurse tors from Mary Seacole’s era to those Born Jamaica of today. Read about the remedies she (1805 – 1881) used and how many we still use today.

Marie Curie Year Two - Match the x-ray to the Physicist and Chemist minibeast and see if you can name the Born Poland insects too. Look at the range of medi- (1867 – 1934) cal equipment from the past and match to the present day.

Annie Easley Year Three – Challenge yourself to Computer Scientist & Mathematician build your own 'Tower to the Stars'. You Born United States of America will have 2 minutes to build the tallest (1933 -2011) possible structure using only playdough and straws.

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Stephanie Shirley Year Three IT Pioneer & Business Woman Look at examples of our class building, Born Germany re-building and debugging our designs (1933 84 years old ) as well as art work we produced which uses a computer code.

Katia Krafft Year Four - Explore the 3D interaticive Geologist and Volcanologist volcano, and marvel at our Volanic art Born France work. (1942 – 1991) Our information booklets will tell you more facts about Katia and her amaz- ing life as a geologist and volcanologist.

Rosalind Franklin Year Four - Marvel at our huge model Chemist and X-ray Crystallographer of a DNA double helix as first photo- Born United Kingdom graphed by Rosalind Franklin. Observe (1920 - 1958) slides through microscopes showing cells of animals and plants. Read our information booklets about this remark- able woman.

Valentina Tereshkova Engi- Year Five - Russian space travel, art neer & Cosmonaut Born Rus- and propadganda merge together with sia (1937 - 80 years Tereshkova class. Come and write a old ) slogan and the winning idea will be used in the class poster.

Wang Zhenyi Year Five - Match the 3D constellation Astronomer & Poet to the picture. Can you find the odd one Born China out? Zhenyi class studied the constella- (1768 – 1797) tions and modelled them with mini marshmallows and cocktail sticks.

Alice Ball Year Six - Compare the elements with Chemist a Chemistry Top Trumps game. These Born United States of America cards are full a fascinating facts that (1892 – 1916) help you to recognise the differences in each element.

Mamie Clark Year Six - Take a test to find out your Psychologist & Civil Rights personallity type, or which character Born United States of America from the Lion King you’re most like. (1917 – 1983) Clark class have created their own per- sonality quizzes to tell you the things you never knew about yourself!

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Ex-pupil Holly Cullen Davies visits St Michael’s

Music is an important part of our lives as it stimulates us and evokes an array of emotions. We were very fortunate to have an ex St Michael’s pupil, Holly Cullen Davies, to join us in our Key stage 2 Collective Worship. She is a professional musician who with fellow musicians performs concerts (The Kids' Concert Company) targeted at children aiming to deepen their love of live music. The children were fully engaged listened intently and some were beating out the rhythm with their foot. Holly played a wide range of music styles. As the children left she played ‘Ragtime ‘by Scott Joplin. It was a joy to see the fun it evoked and some children were doing a gig as they left the hall.

If your child normally has packed lunch and would like to have the Christmas lunch, Children’s Christmasplease email Dinner the office by 1st December. 21st December 2017 Page 12Page of 20 3 of 18 St. Michael’s St. Michael’s CE CE Primary Primary School School Newsletter Newsletter March November 2017 Issue 2017 8 Issue 2

Y5 Zhenyi —Remembrance Assembly On Friday 10th December Zhenyi Class held their Family assembly. The theme was remembrance and the children educated St Michael's children staff and parents on the history of remembrance and the poppy. Children gave a fantastic performance as they read letters from fallen soldiers and re-enacted the battle of the Somme. Such a great celebration of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to uphold our British values. Mr Fowler would like to thank parents who worked hard on costumes at short notice and supported children at home learning their lines.

Anti-bullying Week – 13/11/17- 17/11/17 As part of our ongoing PHSE studies we study the different forms of bullying and the ways to combat it. The children across the school took part in a day where they could wear odd socks to highlight that we are all different all equal. During Monday’s collective worship we celebrated together that we are all different, all equal and that we need everyone to build a united community. The children in Key Stage 2 watched a show which looked at different types of bullying and how the different characters were able to combat it. They saw how actions impact deeply on others emotions.

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Year 2 Highgate Wood Trip

Year 2 had a great time at Highgate Woods creating art installations inspired by the artist, Andy Goldsworthy. They used leaves, bark, twigs and more to create beautiful butterflies, dragonflies and even a tribal campfire.

Our teachers were treated to a very special make-over by an ex-parent who has opened up their new hair dressing Salon Dobney’s in Highgate. Ms Patel made a dramatic statement by cutting off most of her long hair and we all felt very glamourous. The children noticed our transformation in the morning and were very curious about our Hairdressing Party! Thank you to Dobney’s Page 14Page of 20 3 of 18 St. Michael’s St. Michael’s CE CE Primary Primary School School Newsletter Newsletter March November 2017 Issue 2017 8 Issue 2

Medical

Children returning to school with a broken bone, crutches, a sling or anything which impairs their normal movement around the school - MUST come into school with a parent and meet with Mrs Sorapure or Mrs Parker to carry out a risk assessment before going to class. Children will not be permitted to go to class without this being done to ensure their safely.

SMSA Meetings PARKING

8pm 11th January 8pm 22nd Feburary Please be reminded not 8pm 19th April to double park on the 8pm 24th May roads near the school or park in resident 8pm 5th July AGM — driveways. [email protected] Page 15Page of 20 3 of 18 St. Michael’s St. Michael’s CE CE Primary Primary School School Newsletter Newsletter March November 2017 Issue 2017 8 Issue 2

Year 5 trip to the Natural History Museum - Friday 3rd November An excited Year 5 packed into the Tube to go and visit one of Britain's finest learning opportunities during the week after half term. After a long journey underground by both rail and foot, the museum's magnificent frontage appeared and we were in. Our learning focus was geology (specifically tectonic plates and volcanoes) so all of the groups made a beeline for the 'Restless Earth' galleries, ascending through a giant globe to discover the power of the ground beneath our feet.

Everyone then spent a fantastic few hours roaming around the museum, seeing not just what we came there for but also ensuring they enriched their knowledge of animal and human biology, paleontology, rocks and minerals and evolutionary history. Everyone enjoyed themselves - a big thank you from Mr Coffield and Mr Fowler to the whole of Year 5 for behaving impeccably and to our parent helpers, who help make these trips possible!

School Choir The children have been eagerly preparing for the upcoming Christmas Concert at St. Michael's Church on Saturday 2nd December and they are sounding beautiful! I have been told by the event organiser that tickets are selling quickly so if you intend on purchasing please do so soon.

The choir has also been invited to perform their Christmas songs at the school Christmas Fair the following day, Sunday 3rd December. The children will be asked to meet on stage in the Junior Hall at 1:00 pm to sing their songs. We look forward to seeing you if your child is able to attend. PagePage 16 Page 11 of of 20 920 of 18 St. St. Michael’s Michael’sSt. Michael’s CECE CE Primary Primary Primary School SchoolSchool Newsletter Newsletter Newsletter September March November 2017 2017 Issue 2017 Issue 8 Issue 1 2

From the Governors Planning for success Many congratulations to the children, teachers, parents and carers for the very strong – even outstanding – set of results for 2017. We aim to be a Christian school for the community. Which means we are inclusive in our intake and inour aspirations for the children. So whether you attend Church or live locally, this is your school. And when your child is here, we want each of them to make strong progress, regardless of their starting point. The data shows we are in the top ten percent of schools in the country on the ‘progress made’ measure. I want to draw your attention to the numbers of pupils we have who are performing at levels ‘above expectation’. In reading 61% of our Year 6 cohort achieved at the above expectation level compared with 25% nationally. Writing was 36% above expectation (18% national) and Maths 47% above expectation (23% national). More than twice as good as the national average in all three areas. There are a couple of key points here: children do outstandingly well right through the school and if your child is exceptionally able, you can expect them to flourish here at St Michael’s. These results don't happen by chance. The school’s senior leadership team and teachers have put in place a number of measures over the past couple of years that have led to this point. These include the focus on an improved marking scheme, differentiated learning for children at different abilities and high expectations of our teachers and the support to achieve them. Consistently teaching well in a busy classroom is not easy, but our teachers work extremely hard and their efforts lead directly to the attainments of our children. And while the results are strong, we have ambitions to do even better in the coming years. All while retaining the special qualities of St Michael’s that recognises the importance of Christian values, of creativity, fun and independent learning. These are the qualities we hope we have been able to communicate in the school’s new website. We went through a rigorous procurement process to find Lemongrass, the website developers (as we did with the overall branding project too) and they have been good partners for the project. We are very pleased with the new site but we want to hear what you think so please email [email protected] with your feedback. The new identity and website are both parts of the communications strand of the school’s overall strategic plan. We look at a number of areas in this. The head teacher works with the local authority and governors to produce the annual Learning Improvement Plan. This is where we identify key ambitions in areas such as teaching and learning and the children’s personal development, behaviour and welfare. Governors then oversee the budget- setting process where we ask the head teacher and school business manager to come up with a balanced budget that maintains or increases outcomes. Beyond this year-to-year oversight, governors are also working on a three-year strategy for the school that focuses on longer-term objectives for communication, leadership, our people and school resources. We feel it is vital to think further ahead to ensure we discharge our statutory responsibility to define the ‘vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school’. So, lots going on. St Michael’s has achieved some outstanding results but we are not going to be complacent. In fact the opposite is true: we are actively planning to improve the school in many ways over the coming years. Thank you again for your support in making that happen. Together stronger!

Adam Garfunkel Chair of Governors PagePage 17 Page 12 of of 20 620 of 18 St. Michael’sMichael’sSt. Michael’s CE CE CE Primary Primary Primary School SchoolSchool Newsletter Newsletter Newsletter September March October 2017 2017 Issue2017 Issue 8Issue 1 1

Tennis for Girls Sixteen girls from Year 6 visited Stormont Tennis Club on the 3rd October to take part in a Judy Murray initiative to inspire girls to take up tennis. The session was organised by Lucy Dean - the Women and Girls Tennis Ambassador for London & Middlesex - and involved lots of fun competitive activities managed by trainee female coaches. The girls had a wonderful time taking part in a series of fun stations that focused on hand and eye co-ordination development with and without racket. The girls would like to thank all the who staff enabled them to have such a rewarding session.

Year 5 Football Festival at Highgate School

It was Year 5's turn to attend one of a series of football festivals at Highgate School on the 7th October. Schools such as Heathside, Highgate Primary, Devonshire House, and of course - Highgate were in attendance for a fun morning celebrated out great game. The group that represented us were outstanding throughout in attitude and played some excellent football despite not getting the results they deserved. Through sheer determination and endurance they finished with a great 2-0 victory. Well done to all the boys and girls that attended. You all did us proud.

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Haringey Cross Country Tournament 2017

An enthusiastic group of Year 5 and 6 athletes attended the Haringey Cross Country tournament at the New River Stadium in White Hart Lane on the 3rd October 2017. A huge field of runners; some 200 boys and 200 girls from Year 5 to 9 ran a tough 2km course. Well done to Hattie and Max who finished in the top 10 for their age group. All the competitors received a medal for their achievement and should feel very proud.

Sainsbury School Games Gold Award St. Michael's recently received the Sainsbury School Games Gold Award for its com- mitment to the development of sporting competition across the school and into the community and beyond in 2016-17. Having achieved the Silver Award in the previ- ous couple of years, St. Michael's proudly achieved the highest level due to a in- creasingly busy and competitive diary at intra and inter school levels for all abilities. Furthermore, St. Michael's has seen the development of Year 5-6 sports ambassadors where children can voice their views on sport and P.E and organise and manage sessions and events such as the Super 7 House Tournament held in the Summer Term. Well done to all the staff and children for helping make St. Michael's a great place for competitive sport for all.

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Tag Rugby News

St. Michael's continued its success in tag rugby by finishing runners-up in the Haringey Mixed Tournament on Thursday 9th November 2017. The event, held at the New River Stadium and organised in conjunction with London Skolars, attracted 20 schools from across the borough.

St. Michael's got off to a flying start with a solid 3-0 win against Coleridge B. This was followed by a close match against Crowland in which St. Michael's came out top 3-2 thanks to a last ditch final second tackle from Michael. The final game in the group stages involved another win against North Harringay by a score of 2- 0.

As winners of their pool, St. Michael's went through to second pool of matches against other group winners. First up were Rhodes Avenue in what turned out to be a classic match with two teams playing attractive rugby in a highly competitive close encounter. The game ended in a1-1 draw with Ellie scoring a brilliant late try for St. Michael's.

St. Michael's then went on to defeat St. Ignatius 2-0 before drawing 2-2 against a good Muswell Hill team. Our last game against St. Paul's of All Hallows also resulted in a 2-1 win.

So a terrifically successful day for our team who ended the day unbeaten but losing out to Rhodes Avenue who won 6 of their 7 games, only drawing once against St. Michael's.

Our children can be very proud of their achievements. They played some attractive rugby throughout and displayed excellent sportsmanship and determination. Well done to Michael, Thabang, Ade, Aksel, Jonny, Jake, Gwen, Hattie, Talia, and Ellie.

Year 4 Football

Year 4 were invited to a morning of football at Highgate School. We were really impressed by the standard of playing. The level of teamwork was great and we were particularly happy with the way that many of the children volunteered to sit out to allow others to play. Well done to all our children who represented the school brilliantly and a big thanks to Raffi's mum who helped. PagePage 20Page 19 of of 2017 20 of 18 St. St. Michael’s Michael’s St. Michael’s CE CEPrimaryPrimary Primary School School School Newsletter Newsletter September March November 2017 2017 Issue2017 Issue 8Issue 1 2

Netball News

All of the girls in Year 5 were treated to an afternoon of netball at Highgate School on Friday 17th November 2017. The girls were coached by several Highgate coaches and made excellent progress in their skills and understanding of the game. It certainly inspired many of the girls to attend our netball club in the future. Well done to all of them for representing our school with pride and excellent sportsmanship throughout.

SPRING TERM SPORTING CALENDAR Thursday Jan 11th 2018 Sportshall Athletics Heats 1 Heartlands High School Mixed boys and girls teams 3.30-6.00pm Sports Hall Y5&6 Thursday Jan 18th 2018 Sportshall Athletics Heats 2 Heartlands High School Mixed boys and girls teams 3.30-6.00pm Sports Hall Y5&6 Thursday Jan 25th 2018 Sportshall Athletics Heats 3 Heartlands High School Mixed boys and girls teams 3.30-6.00pm Sports Hall Y5&6 Thursday Feb 1st 2018 Sportshall Athletics Finals Heartlands High School Mixed boys and girls teams 3.30-6.00pm Sports Hall Y5&6 Wednesday Feb 28th 2018 KS2 Dance Festival Highgate School Details to follow.