Miss Hamalis’ Bulletin – Monday 1 December 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.

Any unclaimed and unnamed lost property (both uniform and non-uniform) will be out in the courtyard on the days and times below

• Thursday 11 December: 7.30am-8.30am & 2.50pm-5.30pm
• Friday 12 December: 7.30am-8.30am & 11.30am-12.30pm

Any unclaimed items still remaining will be donated to charity (non-uniform) or the pre-loved uniform sale (uniform).

As the end of term approaches, please make a note of the dismissal times and locations below for the last day of term, Friday 12 December. Please can all of the girls wear school uniforms on this day, as they will attend Mark Reading (a joint Junior and School Celebration Assembly) at the Senior School.

There will be no Late Owls or after school provision on this date.

• 11.45am: Rec (side gate) 
• 11.55am: Year 1 (main gate)
• 11.55am: Year 2 (side gate) 
• 12.05pm: Year 3 (main gate)
• 12.05pm: Year 4 (side gate) 
• 12.15pm: Year 5 (main gate)
• 12.15pm: Year 6 (side gate)

Our Magazine Club girls are delighted to announce the first edition of their publication they have titled Channing Life. Pupils have created their own content and designed pages of pop gossip, book recommendations, quizzes and puzzles, comic strips, tips on how to draw and even a feature on family trees – and all with a seasonal theme. 

The magazine will be available to buy at breaktime Monday 8 December. If your daughter would like to purchase a copy, she will need to bring £1 to school on that date. You are also welcome to pop into the library to buy a copy in the last week of term.

All proceeds from the sales of the magazine will be donated to a charity close to our heart, which was nominated by the family of Rebecca Pieri in her memory. Rebecca was a much-loved Teaching Assistant who worked at the Junior School for many years before leaving to train as a child counsellor. Anyone wishing to make a donation to Rephael House mental health charity is welcome to do so here.

JD Cricket Coaching is offering Cricket Taster Sessions for girls in Years 4 – 6 as part of its mission to encourage more girls to take up the sport. They are keen to grow their thriving girls’ section, led by multiple female coaches, and are inviting interested pupils to attend one free taster session. This is part of the work they are doing in the local community, with the hope that girls who enjoy the session will continue with cricket through the winter, spring and summer.

The sessions will run at Middlesex Indoor Cricket School, N3 2TA, from 2.00pm to 3.30pm on: Saturday 6 December and Saturday 13 December.

Parents who would like their daughter to attend are asked to contact Johan de Silva (Director of Junior Cricket) at Old Camdenians Cricket Club: 07481 622 191 (WhatsApp preferred /camdeniansjuniors@gmail.com)

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. Channing Pin: cha0706

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

For upcoming Tooled Up courses and events please click here. 

• Tuesday 2 December 12.15pm ~ Leading Voices in the Field of Dyslexia
• Tuesday 9 December 12pm ~ Supporting Young People with Eco-Emotions
• Tuesday 9 December 19.30pm ~ Family Coping: Ways Families can Manage Stress, Disorganisation Conflict and Everyday Challenges

Please see below for the clubs that will be cancelled this week. As a reminder, the final club of the term will be KS2 Cheerleading Club on Friday 5 December. 

• Monday 1 – Friday 5 December: All Gymnastics cancelled 
• Tuesday 2 December:  KS2 Spears String Orchestra and Y1 String Group cancelled
• Wednesday 3 December: Reception Mini Makers cancelled 
• Thursday 4 December: Y5&6 Netball cancelled
• Friday 5 December: Y5&6 Folk Band & KS1 Multisports cancelled

Thank you to all those who have registered their preferences for the Spring Term Club Programme using our new online co-curricular platform, SOCS.

Please note that the deadline has now closed and it is no longer possible to register your daughter’s interest through SOCS. If you missed the deadline and have not logged into SOCS at all, please ensure that you do so over the next two days. Although you are unable to register preferences now, you will still need access to the platform for the release of confirmed clubs and for all future sign-ups. If you have emailed your preferences because you missed the deadline, your daughter will be allocated a space once all club places have been confirmed.

For families who requested technical support before the deadline (whether due to difficulties logging into the Firefly Parent Portal or not receiving a SOCS activation email), the IT Team is working to resolve these issues to ensure you have full access to the platform. In the meantime, please ensure that you have informed jsreceptionist@channing.co.uk of your daughter’s preferences so these can be included in the allocation process.

Confirmed club allocations will be released via SOCS following further staff training this week, and will not be emailed to parents individually. You will receive an email with instructions on how to view your daughter’s confirmed clubs for the Spring Term.

Thank you to all the parents who attended last Tuesday’s Mathematics workshop. We hope you found the session informative and left with a range of practical strategies to support your daughter’s learning at home. The presentation slides have now been uploaded to the Firefly Parent Portal and can be accessed via the link below. We have also added a document from White Rose Maths, which outlines where new concepts are introduced and provides examples of the vocabulary and strategies taught in the Junior School.

Supporting Mathematics From Home

White Rose Maths Calculation Policy

The Form Teachers and Specialist Teachers are busy completing an academic Autumn Term Report for girls in Years 1 to 6. Teachers are reporting grades on all subjects in the curriculum (with the exception of PSHE which will be reported on in Summer Term). Grades will be given for Academic Achievement as well as Attitude and Engagement. The core subject grades (English and Mathematics) will also be accompanied by three concise targets for your daughter to work towards throughout Spring Term. 

The grades are:

• Above Expectations

• Meeting Expectations Securely

• Meeting Expectations With Support

• Working Towards Expectations 

The grades will reflect your daughter’s performance at the end of this term and will take into account their performance in lessons, assessments and homework. If one of your daughter’s subjects is missing a grade entry, this will be due to the fact that she has been attending internal counselling or intervention support sessions, as agreed, during a scheduled lesson throughout this term. 

The reports will show your daughter’s standardised score from English and Mathematics (as well as Science for Years 4 – 6 only) assessments taken at the start of the Autumn Term. 

We hope the academic Autumn Term Reports will provide an overall picture of what your daughter has achieved at the end of her first full term. You will be able to access your daughter’s Autumn Term Report from 3.00pm on Wednesday 10 December, on the Firefly parent portal. 

In preparation for accessing your daughter’s report on the Firefly parent portal, please see the relevant Firefly guidance below:

• Guidance for parents joining Firefly for the first time, click here.
• Parents who already have an account can access Firefly from the link in the guidance above and ‘log in’ using the details they used to create their account.

Once you have logged in to Firefly parent portal, you will be able to locate your daughter’s report via your individual child’s records in the ‘documents’ tab.

What are Standardised Scores?
Standardised scoring is a method used in education to allow pupils, parents and schools to directly and easily compare performance in different subjects. Standardised scoring converts each pupil’s score into a consistent scoring system, taking into account the number of marks available and the average score. The average score for each assessment is awarded a score of 100. Performance above the average therefore results in a standardised score higher than 100.

How do I interpret Standardised Scores?
A score of around 100 means your daughter scored in line with the national expectations in this assessment. A score of significantly above 100 means your daughter scored above national expectations in this assessment. A score of below 100 means your daughter scored below the national expectation in this assessment. The below brackets give you a more detailed view of how your daughter performed in each of their assessments at the start of the Autumn Term, relative to expectations:

Below 70: Significantly below expectation

70 – 84: Below expectation

85 – 94: Low average

95 – 104: Average

105 – 114: High average

115 – 129: Above expectation

Above 129: Significantly above expectation

Following the standardised assessments earlier in the term, Form Teachers and Specialist Teachers have been able to provide adaptive teaching in their lessons to ensure common misconceptions have been addressed.. Your daughters will have gained targeted advice from their teachers throughout this term in response to these standardised assessments, as well as continuous assessment for learning opportunities built into their lessons. 

You may observe a discrepancy between school-assigned grades and the standardised scores from assessments taken at the start of the Autumn Term. This can occur due to several factors:

• The standardised scores are based on a single assessment at the start of the Autumn Term. They provide a snapshot of your daughter’s performance relative to national averages at that particular time. Whereas, the Channing teacher-judged grades reflect your daughter’s ongoing performance relative to her peers throughout the term, including lessons, assessments, homework and response to feedback. They are a cumulative measure of your daughter’s progress and effort over a more extended period.
• The standardised assessments focus primarily on specific knowledge and skills tested. They may not cover the entire curriculum or all areas of a subject. Whereas, the Channing grades take into account a broader range of activities and skills, including lesson participation, practical work and project assignments, providing a more holistic view of your daughter’s attainment.
• The standardised scores do not account for improvements made after the assessment. If your daughter received a lower score at the start of the year, but has since worked hard and improved, this will not be reflected in the initial standardised score. Whereas, the Channing grades reflect ongoing improvement and the ability to respond to feedback. A pupil who has shown significant progress and effort during the term may receive higher grades despite an initial low standardised score.
• The standardised scores are objective and based purely on the number of correct answers in the summative assessment. Some pupils perform particularly well in these types of assessments, whereas they may also continue to require support in lessons in order to continue to make progress. The Channing grades include subjective elements such as teacher observations and judgments about a pupil’s participation, effort and attitude, which impacts the final grade given.

By considering both the standardised scores and the school-assigned grades, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of your daughter’s academic performance, strengths and areas that may need additional support or focus.

We have noticed that a significant amount of earring tape is being used during PE lessons. As you may be aware, wearing jewellery during physical activity poses a safety risk, and in most sports it is not permitted.

From January, we will be introducing a clearer rule regarding jewellery in PE and Games:

During PE lessons and Games afternoons: Earrings may be taped if necessary.

For all fixtures: All jewellery must be removed, including earrings. Earrings may not be taped for fixtures. If a pupil is unable to remove her earrings for a fixture, she will sadly be unable to take part on that occasion.

These expectations follow national sporting guidance. For example:

• The FA: All jewellery is forbidden and must be removed; taping is not permitted.
• England Netball: All jewellery must be removed before play (except a wedding band, which may be taped).
• England Hockey: Players must not wear anything that could be dangerous to others.

Thank you for your support in helping us keep your daughters safe and ensuring they can participate fully and confidently.

Thank you to everyone who supported the Winter Fair last week, from organising stalls to running games, making treats and much more. We hope that you and your families enjoyed it.  The charity raffle for Great Ormond Street raised a fantastic £2330. All winners have been notified, and to claim your prize, please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com.

EY and KS1 girls will enjoy a pantomime on Tuesday 9 December during the school day. Whilst, KS2 girls will have a fun afternoon on Thursday 11 December with a Christmas Comedy 4 Kids show.

For the girls who participated in the Cauliflower Cards this year and created festive cards/gifts, please note that all items will be delivered to school and given to the girls via their Form/CoForm Teachers during the final week of term. Mugs have already been delivered, if you haven’t received yours yet, please email jschanningassociaiton@gmail.com. Thanks to all those that took part and helped to raise £326 for charity.

The puddings will be distributed to the pupils via their Form/CoForm Teachers next week. If you have any issues with your order or have not received it by the end of Tuesday 9 December, please contact sschanningassociation@gmail.com.

• Wednesday 14 Jan – 8am Pre loved uniform sale, Courtyard
• Saturday 28 February – Charity Swimathon in Poolside Manor
• Thursday 14 May – North London Laughs Charity Comedy night, Ally Pally, with Channing parents offered first access to tickets. 
• Sunday 7 June – Summer fair ‘Chanfest’ held in the grounds of the Junior School