Miss Hamalis’ Bulletin – Monday 9 September 2024

We will be migrating to a new version of the Parent Portal to start anew in September 2025. This has been rolled out initially at the Senior School this academic year whilst parents/guardians of pupils at the Junior School will continue to use SchoolBase. Current parents logging in to SchoolBase may have noticed some changes to the homescreen of the Parent Portal in anticipation of this change. 

All parents and guardians of new joiners will receive login details for SchoolBase by the end of this week. 

During the Welcome Evening this Wednesday 11 September, all parents will receive an overview of SchoolBase, including: reminders of how to log in; where to view key information about pupils and parents/ guardians; how to provide and check existing consents; how to view extra-curricular activities and upcoming calendar events; and how to update essential information. 

We would like to acknowledge and apologise for the inconvenience caused due to launch of the new version of the Parent Portal for Senior School students and parents during this first week. We thank you for your patience and understanding whilst we have worked through this.

Please find the email contact details of the staff: JS Key Contact information. Please could we ask that your specific query is directed to the appropriate individual and anything of a more serious nature is directed to a member of the Senior Team. Please note that Miss Hamalis needs to approve all requests for absences so please send them via the Junior School Office: jsoffice@channing.co.uk. 

In order to prevent unnecessary awkwardness and/or embarrassment, please remember to address members of staff by their title and surname. 

Please be mindful that staff may not pick up emails immediately (teachers will, of course, not be checking emails when they are teaching, running clubs or supervising pupils at break and lunchtimes) and may choose to take time to investigate the matter before responding. However, they will endeavour to answer your queries within 24 hours. Please do not think that a lack of instant response means a lack of interest on the part of the member of staff. 

Please note that staff are not expected to reply to emails outside normal school hours, weekends or during school holidays. If you have an emergency which needs to be dealt with before school next opens, please email: jsoffice@channing.co.uk. Please do not send communications or information to communication@channing.co.uk or info@channing.co.uk. 

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 part of the evening, Miss Hamalis will lead a talk and introduce the Form and Specialist Teachers, Teaching Assistants and some of the Support Staff. You will also visit your daughter’s Form Room to meet the year group Form Teachers and Teaching Assistants to learn more about the expectations for the year ahead. 

If you have two daughters at Channing, we advise parents/ guardians to split up to attend the separate talks. If this is not possible, or you are a single parent/ guardian household, please select one talk to attend. Please note that all information from the evening will be shared electronically after the event. 

Reception, Year 1 & Year 2
Please note, if your daughter is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2, you will be in Fairseat Hall first at 6pm. You will then go to your daughter’s Form room at 7pm to meet the year group Form Teachers and Teaching Assistants.

Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 & Year 6
If your daughter is in Year 3 – Year 6, you will go to your daughter’s Form Room first at 6pm to meet the year group Form Teachers and Teaching Assistants. This will then be followed by a talk from Miss Hamalis in Fairseat Hall at 7pm.

We politely ask all parents/ guardians to please adhere to the one way system around school (following the signs). Members of staff will be available to point you in the right direction.

Due to our Welcome Evening, which is taking place in Fairseat Hall, Late Owls will be located in the Drama Studio. Normal dismissal procedures will still be in place on this day: please collect your daughter from the main office.

On Friday 20 September, the girls will have individual and Junior School sibling photos taken. The girls can wear either their summer or winter uniform; however, we ask that siblings please wear the same uniform and for everyone to be smart and tidy with their hair fully back (if it is longer than shoulder length) with black, brown or Channing blue hair accessories.

All girls should come into school dressed in their school uniform. If they have PE or Forest School on this day, then they should bring in their PE or Forest School uniform in a separate bag and will then change into this after their photograph has been taken.

Taking place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, Saturday 5 October and Sunday 6 October, the annual Festival of the Girl promises to deliver an exciting lineup of activities and workshops. Should you wish to get your daughters involved, please visit the website for more information: 2024 FESTIVAL

In the new Autumn Term Club Programme you will find detailed information about each of the before, during and after-school clubs on offer this term. To ensure that you only sign up for those clubs that your daughter is interested and committed to joining, please read through the booklet carefully. It is essential that you discuss the new and exciting options together. Please carefully consider how many clubs your daughter can attend; avoiding signing her up to multiple clubs in one day, and every day. 

Please note that pupils who play musical instruments must still sign up for their place in our ensembles, with the exception of Year 1 and Year 2 String Group, where places have already been allocated. If your daughter attends any ensemble or squad during lunchtime, it is not possible for her to attend another lunchtime club on that day. It is also vital to sign up for clubs that your daughter enjoyed last year as there is no automatic rollover for any of our clubs other than some of our squads (you will have been contacted via email and asked to confirm your daughter’s attendance for these already). 

If your daughter is interested in attending any of the clubs on offer this term, you will be emailed tomorrow (Tuesday 10 September) with all the details of how to register your daughter’s interest. This term we are trialling club sign up via a simple Google Form rather than the Parent Portal – following parental feedback. We are hoping this change will make the sign up process for clubs much more straightforward. Confirmation of the club(s) that your daughter has been allocated will be confirmed the week commencing Monday 16 September. 

All clubs will commence on Monday 23 September, and will run for 8 or 9 weeks, with the final week being Monday 2 December. Most externally run clubs continue to run until Thursday 5 December. Once a place on an chargeable external club has been confirmed, you will be charged for the block of 8 or 9 sessions for the Autumn Term, which will be added to your school bill as all pupils are required to commit to the full block of sessions. We do not operate a pay per session policy. 

If you have any questions about the club programme, please contact Miss Radford, in the Office: jsreceptionist@channing.co.uk

In the final Monday Assembly of last academic year, the girls were encouraged to participate in the BooksforTopics Summer Reading Bingo challenge over the holidays: Reception & KS1 and KS2. Each pupil was given a printed copy of their age-appropriate reading challenge to take home over the holidays to inspire a continued appreciation of books and reading throughout the Summer. If your daughter attempted the challenge, please return the resource back to school by the end of this week to receive House Points for effort and participation, as well as a certificate for a full house!

We believe that homework contributes to the development of children’s motivation to achieve. More specifically, homework assignments provide the girls with the time and experience they need to develop independence; beliefs about achievement; study habits that are helpful for learning, including the value of effort; and the ability to cope with mistakes and difficulty. 

Mindful of the screen time involved in both classroom activities and homework, we have revised our homework offer this year to include assignments which will not require the use of digital devices. This year, Key Stage 2 homework, prioritising English and Mathematics, will specifically use school-trusted online platforms (such as SpellingShed, TTRS and Mathematics), as well as paper-based resources (for tech-free home nights), plus a termly focus on one of the following foundation subjects across each half term: History, Geography, Computing, Science, PSHE and RE and Philosophy. This means that, across Key Stage 2, pupils will have two dedicated homework tasks each week, utilising our trusted online software and two dedicated homework tasks solely using paper-based materials. 

For Key Stage 1 pupils, homework has always centred around the core subjects of Mathematics and English. This year, we will have a fortnightly rota to provide weekly homework for pupils in Key Stage 1, using both school-trusted online platforms (such as SpellingShed, TTRS and Mathematics), as well as paper-based resources. 

Reception children will continue to complete homework, focusing on developing early number, reading and writing skills, predominantly using paper-based resources.

Weekly homework will be assigned from next week, following further information and guidance at the Welcome Evening this Wednesday evening.

Your daughter will soon start to bring home a RWI Spelling Log book. This will be used to store login details for online accounts, as well as to keep a record of any words that she needs to practise more than other words. Every pupil will have different words that they find challenging to spell, so it’s important to keep a log of the ones that they personally need to learn. 

For each unit, your daughter will record at least five words that she has found the most challenging to remember. Please support your daughter to continue to regularly practise these words at home. Your daughter can spell them out loud and/or jot them down. You may want to do it after you have heard your daughter read. 

Please keep revisiting words from previous pages until you are sure your daughter can spell them readily. Please also encourage your daughter to keep her Log Book in her bag to bring to school everyday.

Girls from Reception to Year 6 are invited to take part in the Junior Duke Award at home. This encourages the girls to work through a range of tasks to earn a badge and certificate at the end of May half term. There are a maximum of ten challenges at each stage – some creative and others domestic. These tasks will help to encourage the girls to develop life skills, including developing independence and responsibility (linked to the Channing Characters). 

Girls in each Year group can choose to participate in the Junior Duke Award; £10 will be added to your termly bill should your daughter wish to take part. The girls will work to achieve the following Junior Duke Awards across this year with support and encouragement from Mrs Castle and Miss Marshall (Junior Duke Leads):

• Micro Duke – Reception
• Silver Mini Duke – Year 1
• Gold Mini Duke – Year 2
• Bronze Junior Duke – Year 3
• Silver Junior Duke – Year 4
• Gold Junior Duke – Year 5
• Platinum Junior Duke – Year 6

Mrs Castle and Miss Marshall (Junior Duke Leads) actively encourage your daughters to participate if they are keen to develop skills outside of the curriculum; however, it is not compulsory for girls to participate. 

If you would like your daughter to take part in the initiative this year (to be completed by Friday 23 May when we break for the May half term holiday), please fill in this Google Form by 8am this Friday (13 September). Unfortunately, any late submissions can not be accepted.

Should your daughter wish to participate, her Junior Duke Award challenge workbook will be sent home this half term ready to begin working through her challenges independently (or with some adult encouragement) at home. She will then attend one breaktime meeting to celebrate her achievements each half term and share her accomplishments with her peers.

Once your daughter has completed a minimum of seven challenges, having attended half-termly break time meetings to share her achievements with Mrs Castle, Miss Marshall (Junior Duke Leads) and her Junior Duke Award peers, she will be presented with her special certificate and badge in assembly in the final half of the Summer Term.

Families (including parents/carers of children in the EYFS) may bring mobile devices onto the premises or to events, but may only take photographs or videos during events such as year group assemblies or sporting events for personal use and DO NOT have permission to film or take photographs of other people’s children, nor members of staff. Please note that parents cannot take photos or videos during performances in the Arundel Centre, our theatre. As appropriate, parents may be able to take photos at the end of performances and will be advised if this is possible. Additionally, no photos or videos may be taken at any point during a drama exam performance. Parents should be reminded that the publication of such images (including on personal social networking sites even where access to the image may be limited) may be unlawful.

Staff who are managing events or leading trips where parents are in attendance will be expected to remind parents about this policy. Staff, supported by members of the JSST/SLT will also be expected to enforce the policy.

In the Junior School, when supporting trips and workshops, parents do NOT have permission to use their personal device to take pictures of ANY children or members of staff. They must ONLY use the School’s devices to take photographs or films, which will be uploaded to the School’s approved sharing platforms in according to the School’s policy.

We are mindful of parents’ wishes to have an occasional record of memorable events in which their daughters participate. In the Junior School, we publish photos and/or films of events such as year group assemblies, performances and trips on Firefly, our password-secure website. Additionally in both the Junior School and the Senior School, we display/publish photos on internal displays (including TV screens) and in the Channing Magazine, as well as publish photos and films on School social media accounts when parental permissions allow.

Channing Association events that take place during the school day, when there are pupils on site, must adhere to this policy. Channing Association events that take place after hours or during the weekend, when pupils are solely being cared for by their parents, are not covered by this policy. It is up to parents/guardians to decide what they are comfortable with at these events.

Performances/events may be stopped if unauthorised photography or filming takes place.

We publish photos and films (depending on parental permissions) on our social media accounts. Follow us on: Channing Instagram Account, Miss_Dina_Hamalis Instagram Account, Channing X Account and Channing Facebook Account to see what the girls are getting up to at school.

Unfortunately we have had several complaints recently, in particular about parents parking at the junction of Bisham Gardens and Highgate Hill. This creates a real risk to parents and pupils, as well as members of the general public, who cross the road at this point. Please be mindful of our neighbours, the local community and other members of the Channing community when you drive and park during morning drop off and afternoon collection by driving sensibly and parking legally. In order to help alleviate traffic and parking issues in the village, we offer Early Birds from 7.30am and have staggered collection times. 

It is fantastic to see many of you organising ‘park and stride’ (parking a few roads down and walking), as well as arranging car shares if you live close to other Channing families.

As in previous years, the local immunisation team are offering the nasal flu vaccination to help protect children against flu. The vaccination team can also offer the flu injection which is porcine-free. The vaccinations will be administered at school across Wednesday 2 October and Thursday 3 October.

You will receive an email this week sent from Miss Bodell (School Secretary) on behalf of Haringey & Islington Vaccination UK with further information and instructions on how to give or decline consent for your daughter to receive the vaccination. Should you have any further queries, contact information for the team will be included in the email.

Head lice are not serious, but can be very annoying. Research has shown that infections of head lice occur just as often in school holidays as during term time. Despite young children being the most affected, it is a community problem rather than a school problem. As a school, we need to follow the advice as outlined by Public Health England:

• School nurses should not send out letters informing parents about any incidents of head lice.
• There is no need for a child who has head lice to stay away from school.
• Routine screenings/ head inspections should not be carried out at school. 
• Parents should be encouraged to check their children’s hair regularly using a nit comb on wet hair.
• Parents should be advised to only treat if live lice are found.

Click the link for further information.

Following this guidance, we do not share information to or regarding specific cases as this could result in bullying and unkindness towards individuals and/or groups or children and/or parents. We do; however, include reminders in the Bulletin in order to remind you to check your daughter’s hair. If individual parents would like to share information with other parents in their daughter’s form, you are, of course, able to. 

If you are at all worried about head lice, or feel you need more advice, then you should consult our school nurse, your health visitor, pharmacist, or family doctor. Some parents also choose to work with professional nit and lice removal services, who will support you to remove head lice in a clinic or at home. 

We encourage everyone to check their daughter’s hair and treat it if any live lice are found. It is thought that if we all do this three times per year, once every school term, then we will eventually reduce the spread of lice.

The CA is running a preloved uniform sale on Thursday 19 September from 7:45am until 8:30am. If you would like to help set up and/or run the sale, please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com 

For any donations of unwanted, clean and unlabeled uniform items (especially PE kit), please leave items in plastic bags in the blue bins in the courtyard! Thank you.

The CA parent (and staff!) Quiz Night is on Wednesday 9 October, and tickets are now on sale! You can buy individual tickets and be allocated to a team, or buy a full table. 

Doors will open at 7pm for an evening of questions, curry, drinks and socialising! 

Buy tickets: https://buytickets.at/channingjuniorschool/1384974

If you would like to get involved with the CA this year or have any questions, please get in touch. Our email is: jschanningassociation@gmail.com  

Being part of the CA – as a rep or just as an ad hoc volunteer – is a wonderful opportunity to get more involved with non-academic school activity, and there is so much fun to be had this year!

• Thursday 19 September, 7:45-8:30am ~  PreLoved Uniform Sale 
• Wednesday 9 October, 7:30pm ~ Quiz Night Parent Social, Senior School Dining Room
• Friday 29 November, 2:50-5:00pm – Winter Fair