Caring Curious Courageous

Enabling all children to learn and grow

Dear families,

Just like that, the half-term is over! It has certainly been jammed packed and the children have made an excellent start to their learning.

What have the children been up to?

• Whole school geography fieldwork day (reception to have theirs in the summer), where the children explored different areas in Richmond including; The Thames, Richmond Park, sustainable office building, Richmond Green
• Curriculum enhancement: The Wetlands, singing workshop in a local church, Goldilocks workshop, Diwali and harvest assemblies, Cressida Cowell visit and book signing, football and tag rugby tournaments
• The orchestra is up and running along with many musical instrument lessons. Children playing in assemblies and for the prospective family tour

What parent engagement events have taken place this term?

• Meet the teacher events for all year groups
• New to The Vineyard and SEND coffee mornings
• Launched The Vineyard Vision - in person and online
• Behaviour for Learning workshop
• Open classrooms
• Learning bulletins for next term are included in this newsletter with ideas about how you can support learning at home
• Phonics workshops for year 1 and reception

How about the PTA?

• AGM - new committee elected (crèche was provided)
• Supported school events by making tea and coffee or serving wine
• Bingo night

Not forgetting the Governors!

Please find a letter here from Antony Cook, Chair of Governors.

For those celebrating, Happy Diwali! I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating with your friends and families.

Wishing you all a lovely half term,

Frances

Frances Bracegirdle

Headteacher - headteacher@vineyard.richmond.sch.uk

Behaviour for Learning Workshop for Families 

Thank you to all those who attended our Behaviour for Learning workshop last week. One of our aims this year in our School Development Plan is to improve behaviour for learning, which means focusing on pupil engagement through positive relationships between children and adults, embedded classroom routines, high and consistent expectations across the school and clear boundaries. If you were unable to attend, please read through the slides from the workshop for more information. 

Learning Bulletins 

Each half-term, learning bulletins are created to help families understand what their children are learning in school. To improve these documents further, we have added a section - 'extra resources to support your child's learning'. The teachers have thought about additional ideas that are all linked to that half-term's learning, including books, places to visit and useful websites. We hope families will find this useful as a way to engage with your child's learning. 

Please find links to the learning bulletins below:

         Reception      Year 1     Year 2     Year 3     Year 4      Year 5    Year 6 

Ms Reilly and Mrs Dempster 

Assistant Headteachers for Teaching & Learning

STEM Week 4th-8th November 2024

STEM week starts on Monday 4^th November with this year’s theme being ‘Change and adapt’. Across the week, children will take part in specialised explorative workshops, as well as taking part in a class project based around a thought-provoking ‘What if’ question. To celebrate on the final day, we are once again hosting a science fair, where children can create their own ‘Change and adapt’ projects/models at home and bring them into school on Friday to share them with other children and families. The science fair will start at 3:15pm in their classrooms. With the half-term break leading up to STEM week this year, it is a great opportunity for children to develop their creative ideas. 

Black History Month Assembly

Last week we celebrated Black History, with the theme of “Reclaiming Narratives,” marking a significant shift towards recognising and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture.  During our whole school assembly, the children were introduced to Nzambi Matey, who is a hero both in her city and globally. The slides share a timeline of her life and how the impact her perseverance and determination have led to her success.

We also shared with the children how at The Vineyard we have many teachers and families of different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs, which unite us and shape our community. 

The children will continue to observe the posters around school, embracing, educating, and empowering one another through the stories that shape our collective identity.

Odd Socks Day - 15th November 

As part of this year's national Anti-Bullying Week, the children will take part in anti-bullying workshops.

We will also celebrate Odd Socks Day on Friday 15th November. All the children need to do is wear odd socks to school! This is an opportunity to encourage the children to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes them unique. 

Mobile Phones - Smartphone Free Childhood

• We all know that smartphones are addictive. For children, smartphones can get in the way of all the good stuff: playing outside, hanging out with friends, reading, talking and laughing.
• Navigating the fast-changing world of smartphones and social media is complex. This stuff’s tricky; the evidence is evolving fast, and every family is different.
• Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) is a grassroots movement of parents who believe childhood’s too short to be spent on a smartphone https://smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk.
• This QR code will take you to the rapidly growing SFC WhatsApp group established for parents/carers at The Vineyard. Please also join via the SFC website (select ‘London, South West (schools P-Z)’ from the drop-down).
• Over the course of the coming months, look out for stalls, presentations, and other events.
• On behalf of the Vineyard SFC parents/carers, we look forward to continuing the conversation.

Mary-Ann and Hywel (Vineyard parents)

A message from the police 

Dear Parents

I have been made aware by some of our local Sutton schools that a large WhatsApp group has been circulating amongst our young people. I would appreciate it if you could check your children’s phones and advise them to only be in WhatsApp groups with friends and family who they ‘know in real life’.

Please see below some online safety messages regarding social media apps that could be helpful to you. If you have any concerns, please contact your Designated Safeguarding Leads at your school or contact 101.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/staying-safe-online/

https://saferinternet.org.uk/

https://www.internetmatters.org/

Yours sincerely,

PC Amanda Stonehouse 3274SW

Youth Engagement Diversion Officer

Twickenham Police Station

Harvest Donations

Thank you so much to everyone who donated food this month. It was wonderful to see the generosity of our school community. (Below is a photo of a small sample of the donations collected.) The donations were delivered to Richmond Foodbank and the staff were very keen to pass on their thanks to The Vineyard School. 

New Saturday Club at The Vineyard - Ying Bridge Chinese School

Ying Bridge Chinese School will be holding sessions here every Saturday in term time.

Please access their website to book a session or click the image for more information.