✨ This Week at Morningside ✨

It has been a wonderful week at Morningside and full of festive cheer. It was lovely to see so many families at our Winter Crafting Session on Wednesday. Thank you for joining us and for making it such a warm, creative and community-filled event.

A big thank you to all the families who attended our first Nativity performance today, EYFS: Shine Star Shine. The children were fabulous, full of confidence and sparkle, and it was a joy to watch. Thank you also to all the staff involved for their hard work in preparing the children so beautifully. We have lots more performances to look forward to next week.

The children also thoroughly enjoyed watching the pantomime on Wednesday. It was a brilliant performance and a great way to begin this festive season with laughter and excitement.

Thank you to everyone who brought in a tombola donation for own clothes day today. Your generosity will help make our Christmas Bazaar a great success.

We were also pleased to welcome our Executive Principal to school yesterday. She enjoyed visiting classrooms, saw excellent phonics lessons in action and was very impressed with the children’s reading skills and their love of books.

There are many exciting events and celebrations ahead as we continue towards the end of term. Please make sure to check next week’s dates carefully.

Jo and Rachel

What’s on in the week beginning 8th December:

Tuesday 9th December Years 1 and 2 Nativity – M classes 9:30am

Wednesday 10th December Years 1 and 2 Nativity – S classes 9:30am

Thursday 11th December Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Lunch

Thursday 11th December Years 3-6 Nativity – M classes 9:30am

Thursday 11th December Years 3-6 Nativity – M classes 9:30am

Friday 12th December Years 3-6 Nativity – S classes 9:30am

Nativity Dates

You Said; We Did

 Staff make a real difference

• Families described the school as warm, welcoming, caring and supportive.
• Children feel nurtured, valued and treated as individuals.

 Teaching is strong

• Learning is fun, practical and engaging.
• Goals are realistic, and children make good progress.
• High expectations, particularly around reading, are appreciated.

 Inclusivity matters

• Morningside’s diversity is valued.
• Families feel the curriculum genuinely represents and celebrates the community.

 Children are happy and supported

• Most families strongly agree their child is happy, safe and progressing well.
• Over 90% rated emotional wellbeing support as “excellent” or “good”.

 Communication mostly works well

• Emails and text messages are the most effective methods for families.
• Half-termly overviews and enrichment updates are helpful and clear.

WHERE YOU SAID WE COULD DO BETTER… AND WHAT WE WILL DO

 Event information can sometimes be unclear or late

We will: Continue reviewing how and when we share information to ensure accuracy and timeliness.

 Requests for more text messages

We said: Sending just one text to the whole school costs around £25, so we use this option carefully.
We will:

• Continue to share dates and reminders via email.
• Share all dates via the weekly newsletter
• Keep key information displayed in the school office.
• Provide children with paper copies of important dates.
• Continue to consider sustainable ways to improve communication.

Pastoral Team Update

We would like to let all parents and carers know that Paul, our Pastoral Manager, has now left Morningside. We thank him sincerely for his hard work, dedication, and the positive impact he has had on our pupils and families. We wish him every success in the future.

We are pleased to share that Sting will be stepping into the role of Interim Pastoral Manager. Sting is already a highly respected and valued member of our pastoral team, known for his calm approach, strong relationships with pupils, and unwavering commitment to supporting our school community. We are confident he will provide excellent leadership during this transition period.

If you have any pastoral queries, please continue to contact the school office and they will direct you as needed.

Community Project with The Pizza Room

ACT Early and be vigilant when buying new devices for children this Christmas

We know many parents and carers will be buying new phones and devices for their children in the run up to Christmas, which is why we’re calling on parents to be vigilant about your child’s online activity.

This follows a 38% increase in referrals of children to the Prevent scheme last year in London, which helps stop people becoming radicalised. It’s vital that parents are setting appropriate controls to ensure their children are kept safe on their devices. We’d also urge parents and carers to take an active interest in their children’s digital lives to try and ensure they don’t become drawn towards extremist content that could lead them down a path to radicalisation.

There is information on the ACT Early website (https://actearly.uk) which has tips on warning signs to look out for, as well as advice on having conversations with your child, and information on what to do and who to contact if you do have any concerns.

Link to full news article: https://news.met.police.uk/news/parents-urged-to-be-vigilant-over-their-childrens-phones-503763

Link to Met Police X post: https://x.com/metpoliceuk/status/1994692813628256294?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Link to CTP Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1300435232122508&set=a.305157808316927&locale=en_GB

Attendance Classes of The Week 

This week, we want to celebrate RM who have 96.4% attendance. A HUGE congratulations and keep up the excellent work; it has a great impact on learning and progress. You can help your child’s class win the weekly fruit platter by making sure they are at school everyday.

Whole School attendance this week: 90.8%

Our school target is 97% attendance this year.

Class attendance this week

Around school this week…

All sorts of exciting things have been happening around school this week. See what’s been happening in the pictures below.