Miss Hamalis’ Bulletin – Monday 5 February 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.

As a reminder, today we running are Channing Community Gong Bath, as part of our Children Mental Health Week. The session will take place in the Music Room between 6pm and 7pm. 

There are spaces still remaining. All that’s needed to take part is 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.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to email Miss Wright (dwright@channing.co.uk).

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

We eagerly anticipate our week-long celebrations for World Book Day on Thursday 7 March. The week will be filled with costume-clad excitement, engaging literacy activities, author visits and a captivating story box competition. Both staff and pupils will immerse themselves in the celebration, dressing up as their favourite story characters and participating in a parade. The girls are encouraged to make their outfits using recycled materials wherever possible; half-term is a great opportunity to plan and make those costumes together!

We are very excited to welcome five amazing poets, authors and illustrators for assemblies and workshops throughout the week:

• Poet author Laura Mucha will work with Years 3 and 4 on Tuesday 5 March in performance sessions and creative writing workshops. 
• Illustrator Sav Akyuz will work with pupils from Reception to Year 2 on Thursday 7 March in drawing workshops, sharing readings from his picture books. 
• Author Eve Wersocki Morris will work with the Year 5 and 6 girls in workshops about her new book The Wildstorm Curse on Thursday 7 March. 
• Leanne and Sara Miller will be conducting workshops with Reception and Year 1 on Friday 8 March, sharing excerpts from their book, Party Parade. 

You can order your own copies of books by the poets, authors and illustrators through Pickled Pepper Books using this link. Any books purchased will be delivered to school in advance of their respective author visits to be signed and handed out. Please state your daughter’s full name and form and ensure your order is in by the deadline of Wednesday 21 February.

After the half term holidays, we will be celebrating Maths Week (Monday 19 – Friday 23 February). The theme this year is mathematical games. In lessons, each form will be completing strategy games and puzzles that will help them to develop their mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills. They will also be taking part in workshops by the Happy Puzzle Company. The workshops will run on Monday 19 February and Tuesday 20 February; their aim is to challenge the girls to use collaboration, strategic planning and perseverance in order to find solutions to various puzzle-based challenges.

Each form will also be assigned a homework project where they will have the opportunity to put their experiences and skills they have gained in the classroom and in the workshop to create their own board games made from recycled materials. Further details will be shared on Firefly during Maths Week.

On Friday 23 February, we will be joining up with the NSPCC for a belated Number Day. The girls and staff are encouraged to take part in Dress up for Digits, raising money to support NSPCC services such as the Speak out Stay safe programme.There is a suggested £2 donation; if your daughter is unable to bring this to school on Friday 23 February, please donate online here.

The girls are invited to come into school dressed as a number; this could be anything from wearing a football shirt with a number on to dressing up as a dice. To help us be more sustainable, we encourage the girls to make an outfit using items they already have. We look forward to seeing their creativity!

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 today. Regrettably, we will be unable to process late applications.

Thank you for signing up your daughter(s) to Mini Owls and Late Owls in advance. This helps to support the smooth running of our wraparound care provision whilst, vitally, safeguarding our pupils. Remember, you won’t be charged if you have signed your daughter up and then have changed your mind. Charges are calculated based on sign-in and sign-out times only.  Furthermore, if your daughter is in Reception or KS1 and you have signed her up to Late Owls, please remember to sign her up to Mini Owls too, which she will attend before Late Owls commences. 

Early Birds (Before school)
Booking form: Early Birds (before school) 

Procedures remain unchanged: The girls can be dropped off at the office door between 7.30am and 7.55am. They make their way down to Fairseat Hall, (staff will be available to help the younger girls) where they are given a healthy breakfast and there are a choice of activities. There is no charge for this. Please note that we are not able to give girls breakfast if they arrive later than 7.50am.

Reception/ KS1 Mini Owls (After School)
Booking form: Reception/ KS1 Mini Owls (After School) 

This runs from the end of the school day until 3.35pm (3.20pm on Fridays). The girls, who are signed up to Mini Owls, are taken by their Form Teacher after their pick up time where they will be offered a snack and will take part in a practical, adult-led activity. Parents are only able to collect their daughters from Mini Owls at 3.35pm (3.20pm on Fridays) at the School Office, unless they are attending Late Owls. There is no charge for this.

Reception/KS1 Late Collection (After school)
Girls in Reception and KS1, who are not signed up to Mini Owls, and who are not collected at their Year group’s dismissal time, are taken to our new Late Collection provision located in the Library. You are able to collect your daughter directly from the Library’s external door at any point between 3.10pm and 3.35pm (3.00pm -3.20pm on Fridays). Girls who are not collected at 3.35pm will attend Late Owls where normal dismissal procedures will follow. 

Late Owls (after school)
Booking form: Late Owls (after school) 

This runs from 3.35pm – 5.50pm (from 3.20pm on Fridays), and is charged from 3.50pm (from 3.30pm on Fridays). There will be structured activities for the girls to take part in and they will also be offered a snack of fruit, soup and a sandwich. Please collect your daughter from the School Office. Charges apply for Late Owls. Please note you are only charged if your daughter attends Late Owls; her time ‘in’ and ‘out’ is recorded and this is added to your termly bill. 

Whilst we await news of our ‘Young Art’ competition entries, pupils are now invited to create a masterpiece fit for the prestigious Royal Academy as part of the Young Artists’ Summer Show 2024. This competition is open to people aged between 4 and 19 years old. Submission is done online by parents (for free) and closes on 27 March. 

Things you need to know:

• Pupils can submit one piece of artwork of any type and there is no theme. 
• The artwork can be made using any medium. It can be a painting (including digital), sculpture, photograph, installation, video, drawing, or a combination. 
• Parents submit their own child’s work on the Royal Academy website. Simply:
• Register for an account
• Select ‘Channing School: The Bank, London, N6 5HF’ in the school finder
• Share the necessary details and submit jpeg photos of the artwork
• The artwork will be seen by a panel of judges and selected pieces will be shown in an online exhibition. Some of the artwork will also be shown at the Royal Academy of Arts in July and August.

Good luck to all entrants!

All pupils are invited to enter the Purple Mash Mascot Design Competition to showcase their artistic talents. Purple Mash, by 2Simple is an educational platform that our girls engage with and this competition is a unique opportunity for them to leave their creative imprint on this widely used resource. The girls are encouraged to design Purple Mash’s new mascot, known as the “Mashcot.” It’s a chance for them to showcase their unique perspective and artistic skills. Exciting Prizes are also on offer: the grand winner will receive a Purple Mash goody bag and the extraordinary opportunity to see their mascot design transformed into the official Purple Mash Mascot (Mashcot)! Additionally, they’ll enjoy an exclusive office tour, a meet-and-greet with the in-house designer, and a plush toy version of their winning creation. Purple Mash Mashcot Competition 2024 terms and conditions are available here. 

To enter, encourage your daughter to let her imagination run wild and design a one-of-a-kind mascot that embodies the spirit of Purple Mash. Will it be a friendly explorer, a whimsical creature, or something entirely unique? The choice is hers! The entry should be hand-drawn but can use pens, pencils, crayons, or paints on this template. The mascot should represent the spirit of learning, creativity, and fun and can be anything; PurpleMash wants children to be as creative and imaginative as they can be. Return completed entries to school by Monday 26 February and Miss McGinnety (Deputy Head Academic) will organise sending the entries to the 2Simple offices. 

We encourage you to support your daughter in this exciting endeavour. Who knows, their creation could become the new face of Purple Mash! Thank you for your continued support in nurturing the girls’ creativity.

For the second year running, the CA is organising a charity swimathon. This year, participating girls will be raising funds for Hypo Hounds which supports people with Type 1 Diabetes, and is a charity close to a Y6 family. 

If your daughter(s) would like to take part, please add name and form to the sign-up sheet (link below), and collect a sponsorship form from the CA by emailing jschanningassociation@gmail.com or downloading it from Classlist (under ‘What’s On’ in the app).

For safety reasons, your daughter must be able to swim at least one length (18m) on her back and front unaided, and must be accompanied on the day by an adult at the poolside.

Venue: Poolside Manor Swimming Pool, Lyndhurst Gardens N3 1TD

Time: Saturday 23 March, 4:30pm and 7:30pm

Sign-Up Form: Link to Sign Up Form

Event details: Classlist.com

The first rehearsal for the new Channing Association Parent and Teacher Choir will be on Thursday 22 February. There is still time to join – tenors and baritones are very much needed.

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.

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

For any questions and to sign up please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com

We are always building our preloved uniform stock up and welcome donations. Please continue to place any unwanted uniform in good condition, unlabeled, 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”