Links News- 15th November
15th November 2019
Dear Parents/Carers,
Playground update
This week we added another couple of new additions to our playgrounds with the arrival of our traversing walls, one in the Early Years playground and one beside our gym equipment in the main playground. I saw these traversing walls in a school playground in Wimbledon last year and I was really hopeful we could get some. I hope the children really enjoy the challenge they will bring.
We are also continuing to clear and clean the end of the Early Years playground. Mr Hall and Sylvester have power-hosed the space every few days over the last couple of weeks. It will take us a little while to get the space into the great learning space we want it to be. As always I will keep you updated.
Christmas Fair
Thank you to everyone who joined Niki and Michelle this morning to help plan the Christmas Fair. It was great to see so many people working together to make our fair a great success. Every Friday, from now until the fair, Michelle and Niki will meet with anyone who is available from 9-10 on a Friday morning. Please come along if you can.
Allergies
Like most schools we are a nut free school. We have a number of children with allergies to nuts, so we all need to be very careful when bringing food into school. Our school dinners are nut free. If your child brings a packed lunch to school please ensure you do not include any nut products, including peanut butter. As well as allergies to nuts we also have children with allergies to foods such as eggs, citrus fruit and fish. Our children have to be careful to only eat food served to them. We usually encourage our children to be generous and share, but not with their food.
Silver Healthy Schools Award
We are very proud to hold the Silver Healthy School Award an accolade we share with only seven other schools in Merton. No school in Merton has yet achieved Gold status. As a Healthy School we strive to promote healthy food choices to our pupils. As part of this, we ask that treats or ‘Sometimes' foods such as crisps, sweets and chocolate are only part of packed lunches on Fridays. Even then, please make sure that these are small, child sized portions. You can find lots of Healthy lunch box ideas at https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes​
Thank you for your support in this.
Learning outside the classroom.
On Monday we, along with much of the country, observed a two minute silence for Remembrance Day. That morning a small group of Year 6 children also went to the Mitcham War Memorial and laid a wreath on behalf of our school.
5P went to Reed’s school on Thursday and like their peers last week they participated in the Launch Car Challenge. Sylvester and Beata joined in the fun and they too made a car! Everyone had a great day out and the children had a fantastic time learning how to plan, design and build their cars.
School journeys
On Wednesday I attended a whole day’s training relating to Educational Visits. I know many of my school memories relate to the days I spent learning outside of the school grounds, trips to museums, sporting events etc. I am very passionate about our children receiving the same experiences. I was never lucky enough in my primary school days to go on a residential trip, but I did go to Italy in Year 10 and I loved the experience. At Links we offer children three opportunities to experience a residential trip. Year 3 will spend three days at Sayers Croft (10th-12th June 2020); Year 6 will spend five days on the Isle of Wight (15th-19th June 2020) and Year 5 (the current Year 4) will go to PGL Osmington Bay in Dorset for five days (7th-11th September 2020). We are currently booking places for all three trips. If you have any questions about these trips please come and ask us. I attended all three trips last year and it was fantastic to watch the children learn and mature during their time away.
Snippet from the past
15th November 1966, “Architects and Surveyors in school to prepare for alterations to the building” and “Tape recorders overhauled”.
The diversity of this logbook entry made me laugh, a perfect example of how every day is different in a school.
Attendance
Congratulations to 4M who came 1st this week with 98.5% attendance.
House Points
Well done to Dragon house who were this week’s winners.
Sport at Links
Well done to the children from Years 5 & 6 who represented the school in the borough Quick Sticks Hockey finals at Raynes Park High School today. I will let you know how they got on next week.
Upcoming dates
Please remember, important upcoming dates are available on our school calendar, which can be found at https://www.links.merton.sch.uk/Calendar/
Enjoy your weekend,
Ciara Parris and the Links team
