Miss Hamalis’ Bulletin – Monday 29 January 2024

You can view all events for the year in the school calendar via our Parent Portal: SchoolBase login. Your calendar view should already be filtered to display the Junior School events and events which are specific to your daughter’s year group. 

The ‘School Calendar Parent View’ button shows the complete calendar, which can be viewed by each month, week or day. Events also appear on the right-hand side of the home page under ‘Forthcoming Events’ and the monthly view of the calendar also appears at the bottom of the home page.

Tomorrow and on Wednesday this week, all Form Teachers (Reception – Year 6) will host appointments with parents to share academic and pastoral news about your daughter: her mental and emotional wellbeing; her organisation skills (including homework); behaviour; and friendships. These ten minute appointments will be in person (tomorrow only), or online (on Wednesday). Thank you for booking your meetings on Schoolcloud.

Starting on Wednesday this week, online appointments with our six Specialist Teachers will also take place for parents of Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils only. All meetings with Specialist Teachers are taking place online, on Schoolcloud.

Further details were provided via email before the booking system closed, including a short guide on how to confirm and attend Schoolcloud appointments online. Please check your inbox carefully. 

• On afternoons of all Parent Evenings, Late Owls will run as normal, with pick up at 5.50pm. 

Due to Parents’ Evening taking place this week in-person and online, some clubs have been affected. The clubs that will not be running tomorrow, Tuesday 30 January, will be:

• Key Stage 1 Science 
• All other clubs are running as usual, but please note that the library will be closed to parents after school this day to facilitate the running of all clubs. 

The clubs that will not be running on Wednesday 31 January will be:

• Reception Storytelling 
• Key Stage 1 Paper Crafts
• Years 3&4 Hockey 
• Key Stage 2 Cartoon Drawing
• Key Stage 2 Book Club
• Years 5&6 Football

Due to the Specialist Teacher Parents’ Evening taking place on Thursday 1 February and Tuesday 6 February all clubs will run as usual with the exception of the following which will be cancelled:

• Key Stage 1 Hockey (Thursday 1 February)

In case you missed it at the beginning of term: a fantastic opportunity to support your daughter to practise every day and get her off to a smashing start. She can practise her instrument every day AND raise money for a great cause: Camden Music Trust. Your daughter will also be rewarded by Mrs Munro, Head of Music: she will award a House point for every square your daughter fills in. If she fills in all the squares, that’s a whopping SEVENTY House points. Perseverance Squirrel will be very proud indeed! All the information and forms can be found here.

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, pupils in Years 3-6 will be taking part in a gong sound bath activity on Monday 5 February. This experience is also being offered to parents and carers as an evening session also on Monday 5 February, taking place at the Junior School from 6.00pm – 7.00pm (please arrive 10 minutes early in order to sign in and settle).

If you’ve never been to a gong bath, here is a little more information: Gong baths promote relaxation, reduce stress, and can stimulate altered states of consciousness. Benefits include relief from anxiety, better sleep, released emotional blockages, and improved focus. They also help slow down heart and respiration rates, and increase nitric oxide levels. Entrainment, or synchronising brain waves with gong frequencies, can create overall harmony within the body. You will hear sounds from the gongs, as well as other instruments, such as Himalayan singing bowls, flutes, rattles, and chimes amongst others. No two ceremonies are quite the same. 

To take part in the activity, we are requesting a £15 donation, which will go directly to the charity Hypo Hounds. To secure your ticket, please use this Google Form in addition to paying via this link. 

On the Google Form, you will find more information to note about sound therapy. Places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to email Miss Wright (dwright@channing.co.uk).

Next Tuesday, 6 February, we will be joining schools and youth organisations across the UK in celebrating Safer Internet Day. Safer Internet Day is a global campaign to promote the safe and responsible use of technology, which calls on children and young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers and more, to help to create a better internet. 

Using the internet safely and positively is a key message that we promote in school, and celebrating Safer Internet Day is a great opportunity for us to re-emphasise the online safety messages we deliver throughout the year.

We would be delighted if you could join us in celebrating the day by continuing the conversation at home. To help you with this, the UK Safer Internet Centre has created some free activities and information for parents and carers which are available here. Whether you have 5 minutes to start a conversation, or hours to spare, there are top tips, quizzes and films which you can use at home with your child. 

If you have any concerns, or questions about keeping your child safe online, please get in touch with your daughter’s Form Teacher in the first instance.

You are warmly welcomed to attend the next KS2 Recital Evening on Thursday 8 February at 4pm. The event, taking place in the Music Room, is an informal chance for pupils to show off their learning in their instrumental lessons. As it is a popular event and fills up very fast (sign-up is here),. this will be run on a first-come first-served basis. Regrettably, incomplete applications cannot be processed.

Date for the diary: Thursday 21 March – next KS2 Recital Evening.

We will be holding practical music examinations over two or three days during Monday 18 – Wednesday 20 March for candidates in both the Junior and Senior School. These examinations are also open to candidates who have practical music tuition outside of school, provided their teacher has stated that they are ready to take an ABRSM practical examination this term. Please note: regrettably, Year 6 pupils will be unable to take their examination in the summer term, as they are away on a residential trip the week the examinations take place in May.

We need parental consent before we enter candidates. Therefore, parents need to complete the online form by 4pm on Monday 5 February. Regrettably, we will be unable to process late applications.

Wallace Chess half term camp offers a wide range of chess lessons, challenges, games and activities to keep the young ones engaged and having fun, and improve your daughter’s chess skills. Your daughter will learn tactics and strategy, as well as enjoy “jokes time” and have fun outside playing football and other activities. There is something for everyone from ages 5-12 – whether your child is a complete chess beginner or a tournament player. Please note that bookings are only possible for a full week (four days). Regular and Elite groups (for advanced/tournament players) will run at both venues. Click the link for bookings: Wallace Chess

Dates & Times:

• Monday 12 – Thursday 15 February
• Half day camp 9am – 1pm
• Full day camp 9am – 4pm

Locations:

• Swiss Cottage Community Centre
• Kensington St Mary Abbots Centre

London Dance and Cheer Academy (LDCA) are preparing for their February half term camp.The camp is open to children currently in Reception to Year 10. It runs from Tuesday 13 February to Thursday 15 February, 10am – 3pm at Haverstock School. The cost is £55 per day or £150 for 3 full days. If you would like to sign your daughter up for camp, please contact info@ldcacademy.co.uk asap as places are limited.

A polite reminder for you to sign your daughter up to Mini Owls and/or Late Owls in advance so that she is on the register. Please do not worry if you have signed your daughter up in advance and then change your mind: you will not be charged if she doesn’t attend. Charges are calculated based on when your daughter is signed in and out of the provision. Thank you for adhering to this policy to safeguard our pupils and ensure the smooth running of our wraparound care provision.

As you know, we have collaborated with Tooled Up Education; an invaluable digital library of evidence- based resources on all aspects of parenting, education and family life.  Founder, Dr Kathy Weston, has collated the best and most up-to-date research from around the world and distilled it into usable, easy to understand resources which can be instantly applied to daily life. 

For upcoming TooledUp Courses and Events please click here. 

• Friday 9 February 2pm  ~ Ask The Sleep Experts: Q&A. The Sleep Project
• Monday 11 March 12:30pm ~ Brain Development: The Early Years and How Parenting Can Optimise Lifelong Skills for Emotional Wellbeing

On Tuesday 21 May, we will be celebrating Cultural Diversity Day. We are looking for parents/carers to volunteer and run a session (30 – 45 mins) about their culture. The session could include a presentation, an activity (cooking, crafts, dancing), sharing music or videos. The session will be delivered to a mixed group of girls from a range of year groups and you may need to deliver the session more than once. We are also happy for you to group together with other parents/carers to deliver a session. Once we have gathered interest from parents, we will be in touch with full details. Please note: Year 6 will be on their residential trip, but we are still happy for Year 6 parents/carers to help should you wish to. 

To register your interest in taking part in this event, please complete this Google Form by Wednesday 31 January. 

If you have any further questions please email either: Mrs Eliad geliad@channing.co.uk or Señorita Jimenez ajimenez@channing.co.uk (Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Leads)

The first rehearsal for the new Channing Association Parent and Teacher Choir will be on Thursday 22 February. The choir is for parents and carers, as well as staff, and is open to all genres of music. Rehearsals will be fortnightly, and will run on Thursday evenings from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at St Michael’s Church in Highgate. There will be a (very) small fee per person per session to cover venue hire. For any questions and to sign up please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com 

Confirmed rehearsal dates: Thursday 22 February, 7 March and 21 March

Thank you for donating and coming to our preloved uniform sale last week. Despite the weather, we raised £1,191, which will go towards a number of events for the girls this year. 

Following feedback, we are looking into how we can offer more of the larger sizes in upcoming sales.  

Please continue to leave any donations of unwanted uniform in good condition, unlabelled, washed, and bagged in the blue bins in the courtyard. Thank you!

• Wednesday 20 March – CA Charity Comedy Night, North London Laughs
• Saturday 23 March – Channing Association Charity Swimathon 
• Sunday 9 June – Summer Fair “ChanFest 2024”