Headteacher's Message
We had a wonderful end to this term with our Reception classes putting on their Spring show. This week we have talked about Autism Acceptance week, with our children, and today children have come to school wearing any colours they like. Lets see if we can create and celebrate our own colourful spectrum as a community.
As a school with a resource base for pupils with Autism, we work hard to create a community where children and adults are welcome, feel safe and are purposefully included in learning and the day to day life of the school.
We say goodbye to Mrs Satchwell at the end of this term, but a welcome back to Mrs Ennis who will replace her in Year 2.
Summer term is always a busy term in school. Assessments and testing happen across the whole term and although we have wonderful bank holidays, they do shorten important weeks of learning. Year 5 are heading to Nethercott and Year 6 to Normandy in France. Adults as well as children work incredibly hard to make all of these events safe, happy and successful.
Please keep a sharp focus on your child’s punctuality and attendance. This is so important, especially in the coming term with assessments.
Thank you to everyone who came to the Spring Fair yesterday, and to our PTA who give up lots of their own time to organise the event for us all. It was great to see so many of you there and wonderful to hear our school choir. I wish you all a happy Spring/Easter break and will see you all on Monday 17th April.
Food Waste at KG
The school council has continually lobbied us about how we manage food waste at Kelvin Grove. The hard work of the school council has paid off and we are pleased to announce that:
All food waste will now be collected by Lewisham Council and taken to a plant in Dagenham called East London Biogas Limited, where it goes through a process called anaerobic digestion. If you want to find out more, you can read all about it here: Anaerobic Digestion.
In short: food is broken down; heat makes electricity; sludge left over is high potency fertiliser and spread out farm land.
School Council
In our latest School Council meeting we explored the school grounds and thought about play spaces and our connection with nature. In line with this, we have been given the opportunity to name our four new street trees. This will help us feel more connected with the trees. After many discussions we have decided on the following names:
The small leaved Lime Winter Orange will be named Shakleton, after Ernest Shakleton, the Antarctic explorer who lived nearby. From 1945-1956 our school was called Shakleton School.
Upright Tulip Tree – Greta, after Greta Thurnberg. Greta is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for challenging climate change. She is also known for wearing a yellow raincoat, similar to the yellow petals of the tulip tree flower. She is also open about her ASD diagnosis.
Yellow Magnolia – Maggie the Magnolia
Rudolph Crab Apple – Rudolph
Thank you to the Scout Group who have agreed to water our trees.
In our walk around the school grounds we looked at how play spaces could be improved and how we could make spaces more biodiverse. In general children were keen for there to be more plants and opportunity to grow plants around the school. They were overwhelmed by the number of high walls and fences around the school. It was felt that the Year 1 playground was in greatest need for improvement. Key areas for growing and increasing biodiversity were felt to be the alleyway behind cerise class and along the walls outside violet and green class in Paxton. Children would also like more places to sit and relax.
Year 6 School Newspaper
Year 6 will writing their very own termly newspaper. Take a look to find out about events, interviews, reviews and more:
Gardening Club
Now that spring is just about with us, we’re starting the Kelvin Grove gardening club after the Easter holidays.
The club runs on Thursdays from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. We welcome any children accompanied by an adult carer or parent. Please sign in at the office and meet down at the community garden next to the Paxton playground. It can be muddy so bring boots if you have them. (Look out for text messages for any updates.)
We look forward to welcoming you!
Achievements
Lenny is on a winning streak !!
At the weekend he won three medals and a cup at the Primary Schools Swimming Gala at Glass Mills. He won:
- Silver for front crawl
- Bronze for back stroke
- Bronze for breast stroke
- The Year 5 ‘BEST BOY’ cup
And so is Duy Anh – he became a Tennis runner up for 8U Boys (8 years old and under) of KENT County on 19 March 2023. We are very proud of him as there were many tennis players in Kent county at that time and he got a second place in the county.
Luke blew us all away this morning when he brought in his home learning. Take a look at what he has made below from clay, can you guess what his topic was? ..
A great big well done to Lenny, Duy Anh and Luke from everyone at Kelvin Grove.
Drumming
Lavender Class has been Djembe drumming since September and learning how to play a number of rhythms and patterns. Here is our final performance.
School Dinner £ Increase
From 17th April 2023, the price of a school meal will rise from £2.30 to £2.50. Nursery school meals are charged at a slightly higher rate as the lunch period sits outside of the free 30 hours entitlement, and will rise from £3.20 to £3.30.
If you plan to change your child’s school meal pattern next term, please ensure you fill in our Pupil Meal Choices form. This is to ensure that we pre-order the correct number of meals and that you are not charged for meals that your child has not eaten – PUPIL MEAL CHOICES
If your family’s financial circumstances have changed lately, you may well qualify for free school meals, please read this letter explaining who qualifies for this benefit and how to apply. FREE SCHOOL MEAL LETTER
Lost Property
All lost property is stored in the Club Xtra cupboard. Alison Jupp, our Club Xtra Manager, will get the lost property out every couple of weeks for parents to look through and find anything they may have missing. Unnamed and uncollected items will be sent to the local charity shop. Alison will next display the lost property by the pod in the main playground on Friday 31st March from 1.30pm.
Class News
Bronze Class News
Bronze class have been working exceptionally hard this term and are looking forward to a well-deserved break. In maths, they have been learning all about decimals,
Green Class News
We have been busy in our English lessons in Green class writing our own recipe book! This week we are going to be star bakers and
Emerald Class News
Emerald class has been writing their Greek myths this week and enjoying adding specific adjectives and verbs to describe a setting and the actions of their hero.
Gold Class News
In English, Gold class’ topic this term has been Ancient Egypt. The children have learnt so much. They wrote their names in hieroglyphs, they have learnt about
Blue Class News
We have had a fantastic week in Blue class. We used our knowledge of adjectives to create some brilliant poems all about yummy chocolate! We went in
Turquoise Class News
This week in English, we are going to be writing our own 5 part story based on Pie Corbett’s ‘The Caravan’. Today, we began by writing
Coral Class News
We have had a fantastic couple of weeks in Coral Class. The children completed a DT project on ‘smoothies’. The children spent time looking at different
Magenta Rose Class News
This week in Magenta Rose class we have been doing lots of learning through the story of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle. As we
Mint Class News
In Mint class this week, we’ve been learning about the Groovy Greeks. In History, we’ve learnt about how the Greeks came up with the idea of
Saffron Class News
We have had a great week in Saffron class. Last Monday we went on a school trip to the Butterfly House at the Horniman Museum as
Letters sent home
Forest School – Orchid Class – Group B
Forest School – Orchid Class – Group A
Forest School – Cerise Class – Group B
Forest School – Cerise Class – Group A
Reception Newsletter 31 03 2023
Autism Acceptance Week
Road Rage!
Y4 River Trip – Wednesday 29th March 2023
Cinnamon Class Update
Nethercott Farm – Clothing List
Nethercott Visit 24 04 2023
Magenta Newsletter 17 03 2023
Governors' News
the Governors
We hope that everyone enjoyed the Spring Fair, well done to the Friends of KG for organising it. Events like these not only raise money for the school, but foster a sense of community, which is so important. We are lucky to have a strong community within KG, even though the size of the school can sometimes mean it can be challenging! We are focussed on building even stronger relationships within the school community and between home and school, which is a core focus for the pupils, parents & community committee.
Governors help support the school and the Headteacher. To that end, we would like to echo some of the messages communicated recently. Firstly, please can you make every effort to ensure your children are at school on time – lateness affects not only your child’s learning, but that of the whole class. Secondly, please, please, please drive/park carefully and considerately – especially around Dallas Road and the back gates. Too many times there have been parents driving dangerously, which poses risk to children. Please consider parking slightly further away and walking for a couple of minutes.
We wish everyone a happy Easter break.
Community News
Friends of KG
Thank you to everyone who came & supported our Spring Fair yesterday, we raised a fantastic £650 for the school, we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did! You can view more photos in our album here:
We hope you can join us for another yummy cake sale on Friday 21st April to celebrate EID.
Your PTA is having a rebrand, we’re really excited to share our new logo and vision with you very soon.
As always, we’d love to hear from you with your ideas for new events and initiatives for the school community, the more help and volunteers we have the more we can do for the school.
More news and events to follow!
Thanks
Wei, Becky, Sam, Jenni & Einat
Children's Centre
Babies & Crawlers at Eliot Bank CFC on Monday 10.00-11.30 3rd April
Snack & Chat at Eliot Bank CFC on Mondays 11.45-12.30 3rd April
Easter Egg Hunt at Wells park on Wednesday 11.00-13.00 5th April
Mini Messy Play at Eliot Bank CFC on Wednesday 11.00-13.00 12th April
Mini Music Players at Eliot Bank CFC on Thursdays 10.00-11.00 .
Sydenham Community Supermarket at Kelvin Grove CFC on Thursdays 09.00-14.00 £3.50 membership fee per week
Mini Chefs at Eliot Bank CFC on Thursdays 12.30-14.00
Free Legal Advice Duncan Lewis via phone call 0208 613 0172 for appointment
Children’s Centre Easter Break Time Table 2023
Please join our Facebook page: Eliot and Kelvin for the latest updates.
KST would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Happy Easter & New beginnings! Don’t forget the launch of raffle will be on Friday 5th May Fabulous prizes to be won!
We have set up a gofundme, with all donations going directly to the Kelvin Grove community centre: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kids-support-tree
Please check out our noticeboard in the main playground for details on our upcycled uniform shop and for all the latest news, updates and ways to help.
If you would like to join our WhatsApp group, please contact the school office, who will send you the link to join.
Thank you
Simone Daniels
#KTS #GIVEBACK
Instagram: @kidsupportree
Twitter: @kidsupportree
Facebook: Kid’s Support Tree
Holiday Activity and Food Programme 2023
- aged 4 to 16 years (reception to year 11)
- in receipt of benefit-related free school meals
Each club will provide:
- a wide range of exciting activities to suit different ages and personalities
- fun physical activity sessions
- free, nutritious and tasty food
We’ve teamed up with local organisations, clubs and others to offer a wide range of free activities for eligible school children. There’s something for everyone, from sports and drama, to arts, crafts and cooking.
You’ll need to book your activity in advance – places will be allocated on a first come first served basis, and there are priority places for children eligible for free school meals. Find out how to book, and who to contact, in the programme.
Spring holiday programme of activities
If you have any questions or need support with booking, please contact: HAFProgramme@Lewisham.gov.uk
- Free School Meals: find out if your child’s entitled to Free School Meals during term-time
- Short Breaks: see what SEND Short Breaks are available in the borough with our SEND Local Offer
- Family Information Service: get help and advice on a range of issues affecting you and your family from Lewisham Family Information Service
Easter Egg Trail
Calling all 
10 year olds and under for Sydenham’s very own:
EASTER EGG TRAIL
Saturday 8th April 2023
12noon – 2pm – FREE Easter Bonnet making workshop at Ignition Brewery
2pm – 3pm – Collect mini-eggs in shops along the High Street displaying this poster:
Growing Hope Brockley
Growing Hope Brockley has some new groups starting next month and we would be happy for you to take part or to share with others who would benefit.
When Dreams Change – this is a 4 week group for parents and carers that explores what happens when dreams change and how we process and adjust to our child’s additional needs. You can sign up to attend here!
Siblings Group – this group is a 7 week course for children who have siblings with additional needs. Research shows that these children can often find expressing and managing their emotions a challenge which can result in negative behaviours or poor self-esteem. See the flyer attached for more information and sign up here to attend.
For more information please see the leaflets:
Global Camps - Easter Holidays
If you are looking for childcare over the half term holiday, then look no further. Global Camps will be running at Kelvin Grove School from 3rd to 14th February.
A Global Experience…
At Global Camps we pride ourselves on our innovative programme, which offers a rounded mixture of foreign language learning, sports and outdoor and creative education, to keep kids active and engaged during the school holidays. Children feel safe, fulfilled and make lasting friends and memories. That’s why children come back to us again and again!
Painted Pebbles
Holy Trinity Church has made a #PaintedPebbles hunt for families in the area. They’ve placed over a hundred painted pebbles all over Forest Hill and Sydenham for families to search out over the Easter holidays.
You can either grab a map from outside the church building, or download one from the link below:
Holy Trinity Church, 4 Trinity Path, Sydenham Park, SE26 4EA – www.holytrinity.life
Swim School Short Course
Forest Hill Pools – 5 day Easter short course
3rd – 7th April and 10th -14th April
£35 + 25% OFF
9am, 9:30am, 10am, 10:30am – Foundation
11am, 11:30am – Development
The promo code is SWIMHAPPY for the 25% off the course price.
Visit better.org.uk/swimming-lessons for more information
Forest Hill Pools, Dartmouth Road, SE23