Links News 
Friday 4th March 2025
An end of term message from the Executive Head.
I am writing to say a huge thank you, on your behalf, to all the staff team here at Links for the commitment and dedication they show towards their work with your children. They do a great job and, in my view, have thoroughly earned the upcoming break.
The school has continued to work hard on our school improvement priorities such as the transition from Reception to Year 1, Maths, Writing, and the way we provide for our children with Special Educational Needs. Earlier this term, we held a review of teaching and learning, conducted by colleagues from our partner schools Cranmer and Haslemere, as well as from the local authority. I’m pleased to report that the review went extremely well, and we received a glowing report about the school. Our Merton Education Partner also visited in February and was equally impressed with the quality of education being provided at Links.
It’s been a particularly busy few weeks with numerous trips and special events taking place, and I hope your children have enjoyed all these experiences.
Lastly, a special mention goes to Mrs Anderson and Mrs Murray, who continue to lead the school superbly.
I wish you all a fantastic Easter break and hope you enjoy the early spring sunshine that looks set for the next few days.
Mr Roughley
Dear Links Families,
We started off this week, with our Performing Arts Club, showcasing all the techniques they have learnt this half term. The Performing Arts Club is always a popular club and we always enjoy their end of term performances, as do their parents. On Wednesday, we welcomed Brian Egles from Reeds Independent School in Cobham. Brian worked with our year 4 pupils, to develop their programming skills in a Lego Innovate workshop. The children had so much fun programming using Lego, making crocodiles snap and birds move.
It was lovely to welcome you all to Links this week, for our spring parents evening. We hope that you enjoyed looking at your child's books and discussing all their wonderful learning with their teacher.
Your engagement is crucial to their development, and it truly makes a difference.
As we move forward, we encourage you to continue supporting your child at home, particularly in their reading and maths. Regular practice of these skills can significantly enhance their confidence and understanding. Should you require any resources or have questions about how you can assist your child further, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Once again, thank you for your continued support. It is always great to see such a committed community.
Just a reminder that school will reopen for all children on Tuesday 22nd April 2025.
Easter Tombola
After school today, the playground was full of children (and parents), with arms full of Easter treats. Thank you to our wonderful PTA for organising the Easter tombola. We and the Links community really appreciate your support.
If you would like to join the PTA, drop them an email or keep an eye out for dates of their next meeting - ptalinksprimary@gmail.com
Young Writers Competition
It's that time again where we have another exciting Young Writers Competition to participate in!
This year the theme is "The Legend" - We are asking entrants to think about what The Legend means to them as an inspiration for their story or poem. Legends are often at the heart of stories because they are exciting, inspiring and make us think – there are so many ways to interpret it!
The winning entries (with categories split into Years 1/2, Years 3/4, Years 5/6 and SEN) will be published in the Wimbledon BookFest 2025 Anthology of Stories and Poems.
For our children to enter, they need to type a short entry, between 100-500 words, based on the theme "The Legend" on the attached Word Document - it cannot be in any other format, hand-written, PDF etc. It needs to be independent writing, the judges will be looking for imagination, creativity and originality, energy and life, and a clear structure (beginning, middle, end).
The last day to enter is Friday 9th May, when we will send over any of our school submissions to Wimbledon Bookfest and see if we get any more winners this year!
This is a great project for the Easter holidays. We can't wait to read your stories.
Links Values Award
Links Value Winners 4th April 2025
This week’s Values Awards go to:
- Reception - Zeyd, for proudly talking about his work and participating in art activities.
- 1T - Zayn, for showing excellent problem-solving skills during his maths assessments.
- 1W - Ikenna, for a wonderful start in 1W, we have loved you joining our class.
- 2KB - Sumaya, in 2KB for contributing to the PSHE lessons and demonstrating maturity.
- 2EJ - Dheajith, for excellent effort in his arithmetic practice this week!
- 3B - Jason, for his hard work and enthusiasm, his learning has truly shone this week!
- 3T - Maida, for being an enthusiastic learner and always trying her best.
- 4M - Yusuf, for great effort and focus on improving the quality of his writing.
- 4P - Maram, for her enthusiasm and effort with all of her learning.
- 5GP - Leah, for consistently trying her best in all aspects of her learning.
- 5M - Shyal, for consistently demonstrating kindness, perseverance and taking pride in his work.
- 6G - Usman, for an outstanding observational drawing of a finch.
- 6P - Ariana, for her brilliant improvement in Maths this term.
Our Links Value winners joined Mrs Anderson and Mrs Murray for Hot Chocolate Friday!
House Points
The house point totals for this week are….
Red House - 8143
Yellow House - 8134
Blue House - 8011
Green House - 7523
Congratulations to Red House who are this term's winners. Everyone in Red House received the extra long playtime reward today.
Weekly Attendance
We wanted to take a moment to address the recent dip in our school attendance this week, which has been noticeably low. It appears that some families have chosen to take holidays during term time, and while these family trips can be wonderful experiences, they do have an impact on our students' education. Missing school can disrupt a child’s learning and social development, making it harder for them to catch up with their peers.
We kindly encourage all families to consider the importance of school attendance and the benefits of keeping holidays within the designated breaks. If you have any questions or need support in planning holidays around the school calendar, please do not hesitate to reach out. Your cooperation in prioritising attendance is greatly appreciated as we strive to provide the best educational experience for every child.
This week’s attendance figures for each class are:
- Reception - 84.1%
- 1T - 77.8%
- 1W - 88.1%
- 2EJ - 69.1%
- 2KB - 87.5%
- 3B - 85.2%
- 3T - 91.5%
- 4M - 87.5%
- 4P - 90.3%
- 5GP - 90.8%
- 5M - 88.2%
- 6G - 87.5%
- 6P - 91.7%
Congratulations to 6P who achieved the highest attendance this week. Next term, Lincoln the Bear will be learning with Year 6. Lincoln will be cheering them on with their SATs prep, as well as, learning about their new topic, the English Civil War.
95% Attendance Raffle
Unfortunately, there were no winning tickets this week, as no class achieved 95%+ attendance. We hope that every class gets one in the first week back!
But, today in assembly we drew the winning ticket for this half term. Congratulations to 3T! They received the mystery prizes of ………….. Ice Lollies.
Links in Action
Our Early Year children took part in an Easter egg hunt.
Year 5 made a planet cam toy in DT.
Lincoln has been learning with 2KB.
Year 4 took part in an Innovate Lego workshop, led by Reeds Independent School.
Year 6 sketched and learnt about Finches, as part of their learning on Charles Darwin.
Other Info
This year, our wonderful, unique borough turns 60 years old.
To honour this milestone and shine a light on our brilliant communities, we’re curating ‘We Are Merton at 60’ - a five-week programme of events, culture and celebration between April 1 and early May.
Check out Merton’s website for more information
