A Friday update and staffing arrangements for next year
Dear Parents/ Carers,
It’s hard to believe that we are two weeks before the end of term and England have reached the European finals and it may well just be ‘coming home! So, with Sunday’s match being a rather exceptional evening for our country, we fully understand if children are slightly late for school on Monday morning. However, we expect children to be in school no later than 10am. It’s at times like this that I miss my dad as he would have been beyond ecstatic and saying to me ‘I know it’s not your favourite thing, but let’s talk through the match!’ – That’s where my middle son Joe’s mammoth footballing knowledge and the phrase ‘I’ll just pass you on to Joe’, came in handy.
I had the most amazing week away with Year 6 on our tour of the North! We stayed in a Youth Hostel in York and we had the whole hostel to ourselves! We literally immersed ourselves in the North Sea at Whitby, built sandcastles, enjoyed Surf School explored the abbey and tucked into a seaside supper! We visited a massive Waterpark in Scarborough – Alpamare – fully recommend it. The staff took the challenge and hit the water chutes along with Year 6. Alastair and I were pleased to be asked to join the children on various inflatable rides only to discover that it was actually just for us to carry the inflatable! A day in Dalby Forrest for Go Ape and team games was fantastic and thoroughly challenging for us all! We even enjoyed an evening out at Ask Pizza in York all dressed up for the occasion. Great week, great children and great staff – who could ask for more! We did it!
I am delighted to introduce Colin Stuart our new Scientist- in -Residence – over to you Colin.
I am the new Scientist-in-Residence at St. Stephen’s. It’s a brilliant job to have and I’ll be drawing on my experience as an astronomer and award-winning science writer to kindle the children’s curiosity, help them think differently about their world and inspire them to dream big about their future careers. Having delivered some taster sessions this week, I can’t wait to get started in September! Please check out Colin’s website
Nursery had their very own Sports Afternoon in the school playground with the Year 6 Sports Captains on hand to ensure the proceedings ran smoothly. The excitement of the big playground and new toilets to explore proved a minor distraction for some but what fantastic athletes we have in the making!
Reception and Year 1 travelled to Shepherd’s Bush Cricket ground for their Sport’s Day and had a wonderful time. They were ably assisted by children from Year 5 and the superb Alastair and Clare. A great venue and one that I know the parents will thoroughly enjoy next year. The children were amazing and threw themselves whole heartedly into all the events!
On your marks, get set, go! The fantastic St Stephen’s Sports Day for the rest of the school, was able to go ahead this year and despite not being able to have a crowd supporting the children, the day (organised by Alastair and Clare) was excellent. The morning started off with the classic Mr Schumm warm-up of followed by the main events: 100m sprint, hurdles, javelin and long-jump. We had pupils sprinting like they had never sprinted before, throwing as far as they could, jumping through the air over hurdles and flying into the sandpit after a successful long-jump. It was a great day. While Wesley were the overall winners, the pupils all performed brilliantly – the results between all four houses were very close!
A quick break for lunch energised the children (and teachers!) for the longer running races held in the afternoon. We started off with the Y2 200m followed by 300m for Y3, 400m for Y4 and 600m for Y5/6. The children ran incredibly well – we definitely have some future Usain Bolts and Dina Asher-Smiths on our hands! As well as performing well, the children demonstrated excellent team spirit and resilience, all teachers were very impressed. To finish off a fantastic day, we held a teacher’s sprint. Miss Ceri, Miss Veronica, Miss Charrington, Mr McInroy, Miss Hall, Miss Marchant, Miss Mahon, Miss Lisa and Mrs Walsh all lined up, butterflies in their stomachs. It was a close race but Mr McInroy pipped everyone to the post and sailed over the finish line into gold position.
Last week, Year 2 went on a really fun trip to Gunnersbury Park and Museum. The children were greeted by Florence Nightingale herself, who told them all about her life as a nurse in the Crimean War and all the amazing things she did for nursing in general. All the children were chosen to dress up and play different people from her life. We had bloodied soldiers, her sister Parthenope, her mother and father and even someone dressed as Florence herself carrying her famous lamp. After the museum, we headed to the park where the children had a fantastic time running around and playing with their friends in the adventure playground. It was very special to be able to take the children out of school for the first time this year, they behaved beautifully and loved every minute of the trip!
A quick reminder that it is our Mini Summer Fair on Sunday, 11th July from 12 – 4pm in The Old Laundry Yard in Shepherd’s Bush Market. A perfect warm up to the big match!
Below are the new staffing arrangements for September 2021. At St. Stephen’s CE Primary School, we are in an extremely fortunate position to have truly dedicated and committed staff, who work tirelessly to ensure your children enjoy the best possible education we can offer.
A few changes this year and we sadly say good bye to Miss Veronica, Miss Amelia and Helen Chauncy who all move on to exciting new projects.
The class teachers for 2021-22 are as follows:
Nursery – Miss Quartermaine, Ms Newton, Miss Lucy and Miss Elena
Reception – Miss Billington and Mrs Kazem
Reception – Mrs Ghoul and Ms Johnson
Year 1 – Mrs Hayes and Miss Natalie (Mrs Ghoul’s Class)
Year 1 – Miss Whiting and Miss Karen (Miss Billington’s Class)
Year 2 – Mrs Walsh and Miss Lulu (Miss Williams and Mrs Wordsworth’s Class)
Year 2 – Miss Hall and Miss Karen, Mrs K Hall (Miss Whiting’s class)
Year 3 – Miss Kelly and Miss Anya (Miss Hall’s Class)
Year 3 – Mr Faith and Miss Amy (Miss Whiting’s class)
Year 4 – Mrs Jeffrey, Miss Tracey and Miss Avan (Mr Faith’s Class)
Year 4 – Mr Perry, Mrs Cummings, Miss Tami and Miss Lisa (Miss Kelly’s Class)
Year 5 – Miss Mahon and Mrs Connor (Mr Perry’s Class)
Year 5 – Mr McInroy, Miss Kayleigh and Mrs Koskinen (Mrs Jeffrey’s Class)
Year 6 – Miss Marchant, Miss Charrington and Miss Michelle (Miss Mahon’s Class)
Year 6 – Mr Gane and Miss Brine-Williams (Mr McInroy’s Class)
Miss Williams, Mrs Wordsworth and Mrs Lowry will be our specialist ‘catch up’ teachers for the year working with children from each year group.
The curriculum is further enhanced by the contribution of the following staff members;
Benchmark – Gymnastic Teachers
Alastair Park – P.E Teacher
Clare Howard –Vyse – Sports Coordinator
Mrs Pereira –Spanish Teacher and School Librarian
Miss Ailsa and Mr Yousuf – Music Teacher
Pelican Music – Instrumental Music Tuition
Siobhan Hardy – SEN/EAL support
Theresa Kyeyune – School Counsellor
Miss Tami – Emotional Literacy Support Counsellor
Colin Stuart– Scientist in Residence
School Business Manager: Natasha Joahill
Senior Admin Officer: Sharon Bautista
Clubhouse Manager: Annora Guiste-Tindle
Assistant Heads: Miss Bell, Mrs Bouwman
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continuing support.
Kind regards,
Michael Schumm
Headteacher
