​This was a lovely opportunity to bring together the parents of Year 1 for a chat and a chance to spend a bit of time with their child in school. It’s been a long time since we have been able to do this and we have really missed it!  The children love to see their parents in school and to share a little of their day with them. As a school we really value parental engagement so thank you to all the parents who came in. Parental engagement is key to your child making good progress as it shows them you care and it lets the school know what it is doing well and what you as parents might like more of.

As you can see we have some budding bakers -watch out the Great British Bake Off! The children really enjoyed decorating their cakes and showing their parents how grown up they are in moving around the school so responsibly!

​Year 3 have started their own drop in club on a Monday lunchtime where they can get crafty and creative! So far they have created amazing glitter pictures, chatterboxes and last week they made these beautiful rainbow clouds! The children love trying out new skills. Do you have any old art or creative materials at home that you are no longer using? Pieces of material or old beads and buttons would be especially welcome for our crafty box of goodies! 

It was great to get some of the parents together again at last in the Community Hub to socialise and chat about how their children were settling into Reception Class. There was also an opportunity for the children to join them and decorate fairy cakes. As you can see there are some very creative little hands in Reception Class and the end results looked delicious! 

Doing simple things together with your child is a lot of fun and provides important shared experiences that help you to understand and communicate with your child. Try and spend a little special time each week decorating cakes, colouring in or building things together.

In our listening survey with parents (2019) the overwhelming issue affecting our families was housing and since the pandemic this issue seems to be even more of a priority. Last term two meetings with parents were held in the community hub to share concerns and to start thinking about how we might start to make some changes in Lewisham.

Councillor Stephen Penfold came along as a guest to one of the meetings. He is a former housing solicitor and now also works with Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network. He was moved by the stories shared and also concerned at the recurring themes about the way people were treated by the housing department and how hard it is to make contact with a named person especially since all the council offices have been closed to the public since March 2020. He has written on our behalf to the Cabinet Member for Lewisham Housing.

In the meantime our wonderful parents put into words their wishes for Lewisham Housing.....

If you have any housing issues please come and join us at our future meetings or contact Marta Tildesley for some help and advice.

Our journey to becoming a Sanctuary School is included within this Resource Pack (see page 20) and why not enjoy all of this valuable resource to find out more about the work of Sanctuary Schools.

Friends of St Mary’s Parents Group have been working hard this year to prepare for the Christmas Fayre. Parents have been buying, sorting and wrapping presents for Santa’s grotto. They have also helped with ideas for stalls and been busy contacting local businesses to obtain gifts for the famous St  Mary’s raffle.
A big thank you to all the parents!

As part of our whole school approach to growth mindset training was offered to parents both in the hall and we had many parents joining us online via Zoom which was great!

​Growth Mindset is a way of trying to get ourselves and our children into a "can do" way of thinking. It encourages us to step outside our comfort zone and give things a try. It's okay to get things wrong we often just need to find another way or a different strategy. 
So if your child gets frustrated and says "I can't do it!" - encourage them by saying "You can't do it...yet."
Rather than saying "You're so clever!" - tell them "I can see you've worked hard on this because..."
If your child says " I'm not good at maths/english/art" - tell them "No-one is good at this in the beginning. Let's find a way to help you understand".
We all need to practice having a growth mindset so give it a go!

Our Reception class parents were invited to a couple of sessions where we talked about positive parenting, setting boundaries and creating the best opportunity for children to learn. We also learnt about our own parenting styles and shared good practice. What an amazing group of parents - honest, open and a good sense of humour which always helps when you are on the rollercoaster journey that is parenting!

​If you are interested in parenting classes you can ask Mrs Tildesley or refer yourself via this link https://www.lewishamcfc.org.uk/parenting/​

A huge thank you to our parents who came to help wrap Santa's presents in the Community Hub. There were a lot of presents to wrap (over 200) and they did a great job! Friends of St Mary’s also donated class presents which Santa delivered on his rounds - two games and activities for each class to use when it's too wet to go outside at playtime. A big thank you for all the fundraising from the parents of the school which has made this possible.

Our Stay and Sing sessions continue with gusto every Thursday morning in the Community Hub! This term we have had Mya with her guitar and beautiful singing voice to lead the sessions.
The children love singing the nursery rhymes and playing instruments. There are scarves and teddies and even, on the odd occasions, a parachute! Anyone with a baby or a child under 5 is welcome, as are parents, grandparents, carers and friends! The children also love tucking into the fresh fruit that is available after all the hard work of singing and dancing is done.