Miss Hamalis’ Bulletin – Monday 29 September 2025

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 find the Channing Promise on the school website. This is something the whole school community upholds and underlines our values of respect, tolerance and inclusivity. We know you will be nothing short of respectful in your communications with staff and you can expect the same in return.

On Thursday 2 October, pupils will be celebrating National Poetry Day with some brilliant poetry performances and exciting competitions. Poems on the theme of play have been chosen for each year group to learn, choreograph and perform during Reading for Pleasure sessions. The performances will be filmed and available for their year group peers to view over the next few weeks. 

There are also two competitions for pupils to take part in, if they so wish. Reception and KS1 are invited to illustrate a playful poem, Monster March by Jane Newberry. KS2 pupils are challenged to write a poem on the theme of play in any style. As well as prizes and house points for winning entries, all artworks and poems submitted will be displayed in the library after half term. You can find more information about how to take part here. Looking for inspiration?! Visit the library where you will find a new display of poetry books.

We will be running a Harvest Festival collection for The Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation (AWTF) from tomorrow until Friday 10 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. 

Suggested items for donations include: washing tablets, tinned/canned produce, pasta (and sauces), rice, spices, olive oil, juices, stocks, cereals, sugar, salt, tea and coffee. AWTF are also in need of the following items: long-life milk, cereal, crisps and tinned corned beef. Please ensure all items are long-life produce, as regrettably, fresh items cannot be donated. Additionally, all donations must be within their sell-by and use-by dates, as AWTF cannot distribute expired food. We ask that you kindly check dates before donating.

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.

As part of our celebration of Black History Month, the girls will be participating in an exciting series of workshops. On Thursday 9 October, the Reception girls will be invited to join the Story Tree Tickler who will retell the story of Handa. Their exciting journey will take them through the beautiful African landscape where they will help Handa collect surprises for her friend Akeyo.

On Friday 10 October, the pupils in Years 1 – 6 will join Focus, an entertaining storyteller, on a voyage of discovery. By travelling through time, they will discover the fascinating stories of brilliant black British people who have helped to shape our country but may not be well known. By learning about these important figures, the pupils will have an opportunity to gain an insight into the history that includes Black people as fundamental to creating the fabric of our society.

The next KS2 Recital Evening is on Thursday 16 October at 4pm in the Music Room. This is a chance for our pupils to develop their performance skills in front of a supportive audience. If your daughter has a polished piece ready to show off, please apply here by Thursday 9 October. Please note, slots will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Occasionally, clubs need to be cancelled in advance, particularly when whole-school events are taking place. If this happens, you can sign your daughter up for Late Owls, or she can be collected at her usual dismissal time. You will also receive a reminder text the day before so that you can make the necessary arrangements.

Same-day cancellations are rare and we always try to avoid them. However, they can sometimes be unavoidable, whether the club is a free, staff-run activity or an externally run, paid-for session. In these cases, your daughter can be collected at her usual dismissal time, be signed up for Late Owls or remain in Club Waiters free of charge until the club’s normal end time, at which point she will be brought to the door for dismissal.

Please note that if a paid-for club is cancelled, whether in advance or on the day, you will not be charged.

Please see below for the clubs that will be cancelled this term due to whole-school events. This list will be updated weekly, so please check this section carefully: 

• Monday 29 September: KS2 Creative Writing 
• Thursday 2 October: KS1 Cross Stitch 
• Tuesday 7 October: Reception Ballet, KS1 Science, KS1 Virtual Reality, Y3&4 Gymnastics, Y3&4 Engineer, Y5&6 Minimus, Y5&6 Science & Y4-6 Cooking cancelled 
• Wednesday 8 October: KS1 Art cancelled
• Tuesday 14 October: Reception Ballet, KS1 Science, KS1 Virtual Reality, Y3&4 Gymnastics, Y3&4 Engineer, Y5&6 Minimus, Y5&6 Science & Y4-6 Cooking cancelled
• Wednesday 15 October: KS1 Art cancelled
• Friday 17 October: Final KS1&KS2 Karate session
• Friday 28 November: KS1 Multisports cancelled 
• Monday 1 – Friday 5 December: All Gymnastics cancelled
• Friday 5 December: KS1 Multisports Cancelled

We are pleased to invite all parents and carers to a series of Curriculum Information Evenings, led by our Subject Leads and members of the Junior School Senior Team, in Fairseat Hall. These sessions will offer valuable insights into key areas of the school’s curriculum, including: Mathematics, English and Drama. They are designed to help you better understand what your daughter is learning and how you can support her progress at home. Each evening will provide practical advice and an opportunity to engage directly with the staff who lead these subjects. If you would like to attend one or more of these sessions, please sign up using the Google Form linked below.

Schedule of Talks

• Parent Workshop: Supporting with English from Home (Y1 – Y6): Tuesday 4 November, 6 – 7pm 
• Parent Workshop: Supporting with Mathematics from Home (Y1 – Y6): Tuesday 25 November, 6 – 7pm 
• Drama at Channing (Reception – Year 6): Tuesday 17 March, 6 – 7pm 

We look forward to welcoming you and appreciate your ongoing support in helping your daughter achieve educational success, as we strive for all of the girls to be ambitious, realise their full potential and become the very best version of themselves.

We are delighted to remind you that we subscribe to Tooled Up Education. This gives our families (and our staff) privileged access to a digital platform that ensures you are staying up to date with contemporary issues related to modern-day parenting and that you have access to actionable ideas derived from the highest quality research evidence.

This document Tooled Up – Registration Instructions explains the benefits of the platform and a quick reminder of how to sign up for your free Tooled Up account.

Register your account now:

Click on the link below to set up your personal account by entering your email address and our unique school PIN: cha0706

Create my Tooled Up Account

Once you have created your account, you will have immediate access to the entire Tooled Up platform.

You can view all the resources on your phone as well. Click the link if viewing this on your phone, or scan the QR code with your phone camera if not, to access the site that way.

If you have any questions, please click on the ‘Support’ button on the website and one of the Tooled Up team will be happy to assist you.

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

For upcoming Tooled Up courses and events please click here. 

• Thursday 9 October 4.00pm ~ Parenting a Child with Oppositional Defiance Disorder: Live Q&A with Adele Devine

Wallace Chess will be running camps this half term, where pupils aged 5–12 can develop their chess skills, enjoy “jokes time” and take part in outdoor activities. An award ceremony will take place on the final day, with children encouraged to dress up for Halloween.

Dates:

• Week 1: 20–23 October (half day only)
• Week 2: 27–30 October

Times: Half Day 9am–1pm, Full Day 9am–4pm

Locations: Swiss Cottage, Kensington & Chelsea, and Fulham (new venue)

Bookings are for full weeks only. For details and to reserve a place, please visit wallacechess.com/online-booking

Join Juliette and the coaching team for two exciting holiday camps, open to children in Years 1–6.

St Mary’s Hampstead – Gymnastics & Dance Camp
Tuesday 21 – Thursday 23 October, 9.30am – 3.00pm
A lively blend of dance, gymnastics (floor, vault, trampette) and creative craft activities – perfect for children who love to move and make.
Please note: this camp is for girls only, in keeping with the school setting.

Coldfall – Gymnastics Camp
Tuesday 28 – Thursday 30 October, 9.30am – 3.00pm
With floor, bars, beam, trampette and vault, plus games and crafts, each day offers the ideal mix of energy and creativity. This camp is open to both boys and girls.

Both camps are designed to build confidence, develop skills and make the holidays active and fun. 

For enquiries, please contact Juliette at jthsport@gmail.com 

Next half term, pupils in Years 4-6 will have the opportunity to once again participate in the online Primary Mathematics Challenge (PMC) in the week beginning Monday 17 November. This is recommended for pupils aged 9-11; 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 Mathematical Association. The questions asked are not necessarily based on topics that have been covered in the Mathematics curriculum by this time and are not heavily reliant on formal mathematical knowledge, but can be solved by logical reasoning.

We encourage you to discuss 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 working on developing their mathematical confidence and aptitude. We recommend only encouraging pupils to sit the PMC if they 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(s) via email by Monday 6 October (before the holidays).

Form Teachers in Years 4 – 6 will then review the list of entries and will also 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 17 November, all parent- and teacher-nominated Year 4-6 pupils will then sit the PMC online, during one Mathematics lesson within their timetable. Alternative work will be planned for girls in each Year 4-6 Form who will not be taking part.

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

We will be holding Autumn Term Practical music examinations over two or three days during the week beginning Monday 1 December for candidates in both the Junior and Senior School. These examinations are also open to candidates who have practical music tuition outside of school, providing 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 Monday 13 October at the latest. Regrettably, we will be unable to process late applications.

We are continuing to collect egg boxes for Food Bank Aid. If you are able to bring in any empty egg boxes, rather than recycling them, please place them in the blue bin marked Egg Boxes in the courtyard. We will continue supporting this worthwhile cause by collecting egg boxes throughout the academic year. Thank you in advance for your help.

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. 

Tickets to the CA Quiz Night are selling fast, so get yours today. This is a really fun social event and a great chance to try and beat the teachers’ table! Tickets and further information can be found here

The CA is running a charity raffle, with the draw taking place on the day of the Winter Fair, Friday 28 November. All proceeds will be donated to the new children’s cancer centre at GOSH. If you have a product, service or experience you could donate, please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com.

The Stanhope Road Fireworks are back after a year away. This will take place on Saturday 8 November from 5.30pm. Tickets go live this Wednesday and the information will be shared by the CA and in the Bulletin next week. This is always a popular event, so make sure to buy yours early. If anyone is free to volunteer either selling snacks on the night, or helping with clean up the following day, please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com

Our annual Christmas Pudding Label Competition will kick off this week. Look out for further comms from the CA on Friday about how to submit your daughter’s entry and when puddings will be available to order.

• Thursday 9 October 7.30pm – Quiz Night, Fairseat Hall
• Saturday 8 November 5.30pm – Fireworks, Stanhope Road Playing Field
• Friday 28 November 2.50pm-5.00pm – Winter Fair, Junior School
• Thursday 14 May – North London Laughs Comedy Night, Ally Pally