Miss Hamalis’ Bulletin – Monday 7 October 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.

We are running a Harvest Festival collection for Food Bank Aid until Friday 11 October. In keeping with our community spirit, we would appreciate your generous donations. Please ask your daughter to place any donations in one of the blue labelled Food Bank collection bins in the courtyard at the front of school. 

The Year 4 Channing Association reps will deliver the donations to North London Food Bank Aid. This was set up in April 2020 to help North London food banks through lockdown. Food banks were, and still are, due to the cost of living crisis, struggling with an enormous increase in demand for their services with many reporting more than three times the normal numbers. 

Food items needed: tinned meat, tinned fish, rice, pasta, couscous, pasta sauce, tea, coffee, sugar, hot chocolate, biscuits, cereals, cooking oil, flour, tinned vegetables.  

Other items needed: toothbrushes (adult & child), toothpaste (adult & child), shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, soap, sanitary items, nappies (sizes 4, 5 & 6), baby wipes.

Food Bank Aid is a charity which supports over 30 independent food banks across North London by collecting, sorting and distributing food, toiletries and household items to over 16,000 people, including more than 5,200 children. There has been a significant increase in people attending food banks, with rising energy and food prices coming into effect, and they need our help!

We are delighted to help support such a worthy cause. We feel strongly as a school community that we should help raise awareness of food poverty and engage particularly with our pupils about social responsibility, but, most importantly, help those families who are really struggling.

We will be holding Autumn Term practical music examinations over two or three days during the week commencing Monday 2 December 2024 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.

We need parental consent before we enter candidates, therefore parents need to complete the online form by 4pm on Wednesday 16 October at the latest. Regrettably, we will be unable to process late applications.

Our Autumn Term Reception – Year 6 Form Teacher and Specialist Teacher meetings start this week. Thank you to those parents and carers who logged on to the Schoolcloud booking system to secure their online and in-person Parents’ Evening appointment times with teachers before the system closed (8pm last Thursday). Further details were provided via email, including a short guide on how to add appointments. 

Form Teacher meetings for the Autumn Term will take place on:

• Tuesday 8 October (in person 4:15 – 7:15pm)
• Thursday 10 October (online 4:15 – 7:15pm)

These ten minute appointments will be in person (on the first day), and hosted by Schoolcloud online (on the second day). 

Specialist Teachers will meet with parents of KS2 pupils only this term. Reception – KS1 parent and carer meetings with Specialist Teachers will take place in the Spring Term. If you secured a booking with a Specialist Teacher, they will provide an academic overview of your daughter’s effort and attainment since the start of the academic year. Specialist Teacher meetings for KS2 pupils will take place on:

• Monday 7 October (online 4:15 – 7:15pm – excluding PE)
• Thursday 10 October (online 4:15 – 7:15pm – excluding PE)
• Tuesday 15 October (online 4:15 – 7:15pm)
• Wednesday 16 October (online 4:15 – 7:15pm)

Meetings with Specialist Teachers will be five minute online appointments hosted by Schoolcloud:

• Miss Bolton (Year 3 & Year 5 ~ PE)
• Mrs Castle (Year 4 & Year 6 ~ PE)
• Mr Fellows (Year 3 –  Year 6 ~ Art & DT)
• Miss Jimenez (Year 3 –  Year 6 ~ Spanish & French)
• Mrs Lynch (Year 3 –  Year 6 ~ Drama) 
• Mrs Munro (Year 3 –  Year 6 ~ Music)

Should you wish to make any changes to your bookings now that the booking system has closed, please contact the school office. 

Due to Parents’ Evening taking place over the next few weeks, several clubs will be cancelled. Please see below as a reminder of the cancellations: 

Monday 7 October:

• Years 5&6 Football (due to a fixture) 

Thursday 10 October:

• Years 5&6 Swim Squad 
• KS1 Cross Stitch
• KS2 Touch Typing
• Years 5&6 Spears String Orchestra 

Wednesday 16 October:

• KS1 Arts and Crafts 
• Years 3&4 Lights, Camera, Act!
• Years 3&4 Netball 
• Years 5&6 Hockey 

If your daughter’s club is not listed above, then it is running as normal.

Active Day Camps are running a Multi-Activity Camp at Channing Junior School this half term. The details are outlined on the posters below.

We have collaborated with TooledUp 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. Channing Pin: cha0706

For more information about this resource, see the dedicated section below. 

For upcoming TooledUp courses and events please click here. 

• Wednesday 9 October 7pm  ~ What Exactly is a ‘Smartphone Free Childhood’? And How Might Parents Implement One?
• Monday 14 October 12pm  ~ The Truth about Gaming
• Thursday 17 October 4pm ~ Fact vs Fiction: Debunking Health and Fitness Myths on Social Media
• Friday 18 October 12pm ~ A Parents’ and Educators’ Guide to ADHD Medication
• Friday 18 October 1:30pm ~ Live Q&A with Dr Fionnuala Barton, the Menopause Medic

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.

The Channing Association are once again organising a project where the girls design a piece of artwork that can be turned into a range of printed products for home use, including seasonal cards as well as mugs, spiral-bound books, wrapping paper and gift labels. In previous years, the girls’ designs have included Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter and ‘thank you’ cards. The cards can be used at home for family and friends. The girls might also like to use their own card design for end-of-term greetings to their classmates and friends, as part of our annual school tradition of seasonal ‘Form Room Postboxes’. 

If your daughter would like to take part, please keep an eye out for an Artwork Form and accompanying instructions which will be going home in bags next week. The artwork needs to be prepared at home, all orders for products placed online, and then the original artwork handed to your daughter’s Form Teacher by Friday 8 November. Please read the instructions carefully, as they offer helpful tips, such as ‘no glitter or shiny materials’. Each form has a unique QR code for ordering, so if you lose your form, please collect a new one from the school office; do not attempt to take copies of forms.

If a non-Channing sibling would also like to take part, please pick up a spare Artwork Form from the office. The finished products are expected to arrive at school in early December and will be distributed to  pupils.

The CA will receive a small contribution from each order. Funds raised will be given as charitable donations and put towards experiences for our girls.

Miss Hamalis will be printing her own seasonal cards, sent to feeder nurseries and friends of the school, from designs made by Channing pupils.

If your daughter is already submitting a design for the Seasonal Cards project, you do not need to do anything additional to enter the competition. Miss Hamalis will consider all entries submitted to the home Seasonal Cards Project after the deadline of Friday 8 November. Any winners among these artworks will be contacted.

If you daughter would, however, prefer to submit a different design for Miss Hamalis’ card competition, or would like to take part in the competition without ordering any home Seasonal Cards, please hand in a separate piece of artwork for the competition (A4 or A5 in size) to the school office by Friday 8 November, with your daughter’s name, form and ‘Miss Hamalis Competition only’ written on the back. This artwork could be a digital image created using a device at home using: Purple Mash, Google Draw, Kids Doodle, Pic Collage and any other online art platforms to create their festive entry. 

We hope the girls enjoy drawing, painting and/or collaging their designs over the half term break!

For the final few weeks of this term, we are asking the Channing community to help us to support ​​The Toy Project by donating any unused or unwanted Jellycats toys. The Toy Project has recently opened a Jellycat & Soft Toy Rehoming Centre at Selfridges and is currently seeking Jellycat donations to help find them new homes. Jellycats, a popular brand of soft toys, are known worldwide, and reselling pre-loved ones helps raise essential funds for The Toy Project to continue its vital work. If your children no longer play with or use the Jellycats you have, please drop them off in the collection box located in the entrance area by Friday 18 October.

The Toy Project is dedicated to ensuring everyone has access to play. Through their work, they provide toys directly to vulnerable families and children facing challenging circumstances, as well as to schools, hospitals and community spaces. They also offer play-based activities at The Playroom: a special space designed to bring people together through play. These activities are free, supported by donations, sponsorships and proceeds from The Toy Project’s second-hand toy shop. Their newest initiative, The Gallery at The Playroom, serves as a vibrant community arts space that features exhibitions by local artists and offers artist-led workshops for the community.

Thank you in advance for your support!

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.

This November, pupils in Years 4-6 will have the opportunity to once again participate in the online Primary Mathematics Challenge (PMC). This is recommended for pupils aged 9-11 on Monday 11 November; however, all pupils in Years 4 – 6 are permitted to enter even if they are under 9 years old should they feel ready to take on the challenge!  

The PMC is a school competition-style challenge which is run by the registered charity The Primary Mathematics Challenge. The questions asked are not necessarily topics that have been covered in the Mathematics curriculum by this time, but they can create a great starting point and lead to discussions later in the year. The questions are not heavily reliant on formal mathematical knowledge, but can be solved by logical reasoning.

Thank you for discussing this stretch and challenge opportunity with your daughters at home ahead of the holidays. Whilst we wish to offer the opportunity to all pupils, we do not wish the PMC to cause upset for pupils who are developing their mathematical confidence and aptitude. We would not encourage pupils to sit the challenge unless they feel comfortable and confident. We recommend only encouraging pupils to sit the PMC if they and their teacher feel they have shown above expected mathematical aptitude in lessons; focus when completing mathematical tasks in lessons and homework tasks; as well as the confidence and growth mindset to tackle unknown challenges.

Should your daughter wish to enter and participate in the PMC this November, please contact your child’s Form Teacher via email by next Monday 14 October (before the holidays).

After pupils have self-nominated themselves to enter the PMC (confirmed via parent emails to Form Teachers), Form Teachers in Years 4 – 6 will review the list of entries and will nominate girls, who regularly complete extension classwork activities and who they believe will excel and enjoy participating in the PMC, to sit the online challenge.

Throughout the week beginning Monday 11 November, all pupils in each Year 4-6 Form, who have been self-nominated and teacher-nominated, will then sit the PMC online, during one Mathematics lesson within their timetable. Alternative work will be planned and supported for this lesson, for girls in each Year 4-6 Form who do not take part.

Additionally, in preparation for the PMC, Form Teachers in Years 4 – 6 will provide, for competing pupils, practice papers and answers to work through at home after the half term holidays. This will be an alternative to completing  the weekly paper-based Mathematics homework set.

The UK’s most successful children’s writing competition has opened for submissions and will run until Friday 8 November. Since the competition was first launched in 2011, it has received over one million stories from children throughout the UK.

This year, the two age categories will be 5-7 year-olds and 8-11 year-olds. Children are encouraged to use their creativity and imagination to write a story they would love to read without the pressure of having to worry about spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Amazingly, 50 finalists will be invited to go to a glamorous grand final at Buckingham Palace in February next year, where the bronze, silver and gold winners in each category will have their stories read out by celebrities. There are also lots of prizes to be won – each winner will take home a bundle of books and the gold winners also win 500 books for their school library. Not only that, the winning stories will receive an original illustration from Dapo Adeola, Nigel Parkinson, Lydia Monks, Momoko Abe, Rob Biddulph or Yasmeen Ismail. 

We champion all of the girls to take part at home, especially if they are budding writers! There are very few rules on 500 Words but a few points to remember:

All the stories must:

• Be 500 words or less (title is not included in the number)
• Be written by an individual and not a group
• Be a child’s own original idea
• Be prose, not rap or poem

Stories must not:

• Give any personal details of the child, including their name
• Recount an historical event (but they can use a real person or historical character for inspiration)

Further details, including how to submit your daughter’s work online, is available here.

The CA parent (and staff!) Quiz Night is this Wednesday 9 October.

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

Any questions please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com.

The Channing Association Parent and Teacher Choir is regrouping to prepare to sing at the Channing Junior School Christmas Concert at 2pm on 6 December.

Rehearsals will be on Thursday evenings in November (7, 14, 21 and 28) from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at St Michael’s Church in Highgate, and on Thursday 5 December, time TBC. 

The choir is open to all and there is a one-time £15 sub per person to cover venue hire and sheet music.

For any questions and to sign up please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com and you can be added to the Whatsapp group.

The CA will be running a charity fundraising raffle for GOSH at the Winter Fair on 29 November, and they are looking for fabulous prizes to list! If you have a product, service or experience you could donate, we would be most grateful. Please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com. Tickets will go live in due course. 

Prizes so far include a tea party with Miss Hamalis for a girl and friend of her choice, a beautiful gold bangle, 2025 comedy tickets, Pacifica beauty products, Everyman cinema tickets, and a gym pass.

The CA is collecting items for the Winter Fair PreLoved Stall – any toys, hair accessories, stationery, puzzles, books, games, etc in good condition that you would like to donate we will gratefully receive.

Please leave items in the labelled bins in the entrance courtyard. Thank you!

• Wednesday 9 October, 7:30pm ~ Quiz Night Parent Social, Senior School Dining Room
• Monday 14 October, 7-8pm – AGM in the Senior School, all parents welcome to attend
• Thursdays 7, 14, 21 & 28 November & 5 December, 7:30pm – 9:30pm and on, time TBC, St Michael’s Church in Highgate – Parent & Teacher Choir rehearsals
• Friday 29 November, 2:50-5:00pm – Winter Fair
• Tuesday 28 January 2025, 7:45-8:30am – PreLoved Uniform Sale
• Saturday 15 March, 4:30-7:30pm – Charity Swimathon in Poolside Manor