Dear Parents / Carers, This has been an exception- ally good term for us all at Dalmain. The Grand Opening of the Dalmain Pen, our multi-use games area, was one of the highlights. To see young children participate in healthy activities in their leisure time, brightly lit up by the floodlights during the dark winter months, is truly heartening. The booking system is working well and in addition to school and community use, local clubs are now hiring the space too. Our Christmas Fayre was a huge success too (see page 2). My reindeer food is ready for use and I’m the proud owner of a beautiful bowl made by Joanne Green. Profuse thanks are due to all the hard workers, in par- ticular our new DHSA Chair Jacqs Morrish. I must say that I’ve rarely seen a more magical Santa’s Grotto, set up by our hard-working and

talented nursery parents and staff. On the morning of 5 De- cember thirty children, along with Ms Bernard, Ms Bisatt and myself, sang in Lewisham Shopping Centre in aid of St Christopher’s Hospice, a local charity that supports the terminally ill and their families. Thank you to all the parents and carers who came along to

support the choir and St Christopher’s. This term we re-launched Walk on Wednesdays, a Healthy Schools initiative that encourages children and adults to walk to school at least once a week, preferably on Wednesdays. Please sup-

port us by reinforcing the health and environmental benefits to your child by walking on Wednesdays. In November the school nurses gave a talk on HIV to years 5 and 6. the lesson was closely linked to our science topic ‘Micro- Organisms’ which teaches children about microbes, bacteria, mould, viruses and how we get them. Parents who attended the session were impressed by the sensitivity and delivery of the talk. I have now seen all but four parents who didn’t turn up to Parents’ Evening. These are invaluable meetings which enable us to discuss your child’s progress and targets for the year. Children say they learn the most from school trips—so a great deal of learning must have taken place this term (see back page). With your help we have re- viewed the School Improve- ment Plan, and this year’s plan incorporates the sug- gestions we received from parents. Two children now use the bike rack on a regu- lar basis. Finally, as this is the festive season, can I sincerely thank all staff for their hard work this term, and wish you all an enjoyable Christ- mas and a peaceful and happy new year. I look for- ward to seeing you all again on Tuesday 6 January 2009. Elizabeth Booth Headteacher

Headteacher’s Report COLLECT ‘BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS’ TOKENS IN THE

TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES EVERY DAY FROM JANUARY

2009

THE MORE TOKENS WE COLLECT THE MORE BOOKS WE

CAN GET FOR THE SCHOOL LIBRARY

Inside this issue:

Bollywood Workshops 2

Christmas Fayre 2

Farmer’s Choice 2

Anti-Bullying Week 3

Wanted—lunchtime staff 3

Healthy Schools 4

Dance Festival 4

‘Take a Bow’ 4

Financial Advice 5

Diary dates 6

Football 5

School Council 5

Green Task Force 5

Visitors and school trips 6

December 2008

DALMAIN PRIMARY SCHOOL Newsletter no. 43

STARTING SCHOOL Parents of children born between 1 September 2004 and 31 August 2005 will need to apply for a place at primary school before 30 January 2009.

It is extremely important that you send in your appli- cation before the deadline, or you might not be allo- cated the school of your choice.

Application packs and Starting School booklets are available at the school office.

By Cameron, Mangeshkar class

By Amelie, Mangeshkar class

Children in Key Stage 1 had a wonderful time learning how to dance Bollywood-style earlier this term.

The feedback from the workshops was so positive that we have arranged for them to be repeated for Key Stage 2 next term.

Page 2

Farmer’s Choice

Bollywood Workshops for Key Stage 1

We must say a special thank-you to Mrs Golding for liaising with Santa to make sure he could make it, and for gathering together all his helpers.

We must thank Jacqs Morrish, Chair of the DHSA, for all her hard work organis- ing the event. Thanks also to the DHSA Committee members who worked so hard to make the event a success.

Thanks to Graham for organising the football, and thanks as always to Chris Woodhall, and to his assistant Joseph Neequaye, for helping to set up the hall.

To all staff, parents, carers and gover- nors who contributed, helped out on the

Last Friday’s Christmas Fayre was a great success, with children, par- ents and staff enjoying ‘Put the Nose on the Reindeer’, a wine tom- bola, ‘Pound in a Bucket’, a green stall, mulled wine and mince pies, a cake stall, raffle, kids’ tombola and much more. Children played football in the Pen, had their faces painted, sang carols and guessed the number of sweets in a jar.

Children visited a jovial Santa, who had set up a temporary grotto in the Family Learning Room. He en- tertained the children throughout the afternoon with the aid of his merry elf helpers.

stalls or helped to clean up, a huge thank-you. The ‘can-do’ attitude of the whole school community was a joy to behold.

Christmas Fayre

If you visited our Green Stall at the Christmas Fayre you might have seen a big box of organic fruit and vegetables from Farmer’s Choice, a not-for-profit scheme which pro- vides schools with freshly har- vested organic fruit and vegetables packed into bags to sell to parents.

We are going to be selling these bags in school via DHSA representative Linda Vallarino. For £5 you can get an Organic Veg Bag with 5 types of vegetables. For £6.50 you get an Organic Fruit bag with 4 types of fruit, or for £7 an Organic Combi bag with 2 fruit and 3 veg.

This is a great way to raise money for the school, as 25% of all sales goes straight back to the school. The Farmer’s Choice will be making weekly deliveries to the school. If you’d like to place an order please speak to Linda or leave her a mes- sage in the school office.

Carol singing at the Christmas Fayre

riod. You will need to enjoy working with children and be understanding and sympathetic to their needs. Full induction and training will be given. When lunch time staff are absent, we call on one of our ‘As & When’ people to take their place. It may be for only one day a month, or a full week, or not at all.

We are looking for parents who would like to volunteer their services as ‘As & When’ lunch time supervi- sors to cover staff shortages. Lunch time runs between 12 and 1.30pm and you would need to be available to work during this time. Duties include assisting in the dining hall, playground area and school premises during the lunch time pe-

You would be paid at a rate of £8.69 per hour and this would be paid monthly. Any offer of appointment will be subject to a satisfactory en- hanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure. If you are interested in putting your name forward to be considered for an ‘As & When’ Meal Supervisor position, please contact the school

WANTED—LUNCH TIME STAFF

Dalmain Primary School

Anti-Bullying Week this year fell on 17-21 November. This year’s theme was ‘Being Different, Belong- ing Together’.

Bullying is a subjective experience and can take many forms, making it extremely difficult to define. It is harmful to all involved, not just the bullied, and can lead to self-doubt and lack of confidence. Bullying generally fits into one of two catego- ries: emotionally or physically harm- ful behaviour.

At Dalmain School we are proud of our behaviour management policy and its consistent application, and we are keen to support the total elimination of all forms of bullying.

Our Learning Mentor, Pat Powell, arranged various activities through- out the week: anti-bullying work- shops were held in classes and chil- dren enjoyed a ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ style assembly on the subject of bullying.

In line with the theme of ‘being dif-

ferent, belonging together; children watched the films ‘Happy Feet’ and ‘Racing Stripes’ in class and dis- cussed the impact of bullying.

Wristbands and CDs were sold each day and a non-uniform day on the Friday raised nearly £100 for Child- line.

Key Stage 1 children entered a com- petition to create an anti-bullying superhero. The winner was Luca Varela, and the runners-up were Meghan Sarris and Niah Hay-Henry.

In the Key Stage 2 competition chil- dren designed anti-bullying leaflets for younger children. First prize went to Ryan Gregory-Barnett, with run- ners-up Sophie Allen and Alice Sabourin. Congratulations to the winners, and to all those who took part.

Ms Powell was so impressed with the standards of the entries this year that everyone who took part was awarded a small prize.

Page 3

Anti­Bullying Week

BREAKFAST CLUB

THERE ARE SPACES AVAILABLE FOR CHILDREN TO JOIN OUR BREAKFAST CLUB, WHICH RUNS FROM 8AM TO 8.45AM EVERY WEEKDAY MORNING. CHILDREN ARE SERVED HOT AND COLD FOOD AND TAKE PART IN QUIET ACTIVITIES IN THE LOWER HALL.

THE COST OF MEMBERSHIP IS £7 PER WEEK. PLEASE ASK IN THE SCHOOL OFFICE IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR CHILD TO JOIN.

The back page of Ryan’s anti-bullying leaflet, which won first prize

Congratulations to our Senior Leader Sarah Rose on the birth of her daughter this month, and to lunch time supervisor Pia Coulton on the birth of her baby boy in November

The NHS recommends that children should aim to be active for at least one hour every day. It’s a good idea to limit screen time (computer or television) to a maxi- mum of two hours a day, and probably less for young children.

A variety of activity is important to help children de- velop strong bones, muscle strength and flexibility. Remember to praise your children when they take part or are active and try not to criticize them if they are not as able as other children.

To the right are some ideas to help your children achieve one hour of activity a day, in addition to their PE and school sport.

The Cheerleading team and the Street Dance Club took part in a Dance Festival at Eliot Bank School this month with five other Lewisham primary schools.

The festival was organised by Glen Burt, School Sports Co- ordinator, in line with her objective to raise the standard of sport in primary schools.

Children performed dances that they had learned in their af- ter school clubs. Thanks to Graham Curtis for organising the event.

Page 4

London Symphony Orchestra ‘Take a Bow’

Dance Festival December 2008

If you are worried about childhood obesity, you can get advice from MEND (Mind Exercise Nutrition... Do it!). This organisation aims to reduce global childhood overweight and obesity levels. Visit www.mendprogramme.org or call 020 7231 7225 for more information.

Healthy Schools, Healthy Children

We are extremely proud of Scheindlin Bellino, Sarah Holdaway, Rehanah Razak and Leyla Cedillo Robinson, who played with Lewisham Music Service’s string players in the LSO’s ‘Take A Bow’ concert in November at St Luke’s Church in the Barbican.

The performance brought together some 100 young string players along with the LSO string section. A recent poll shows the LSO to be one of the five best orchestras in the world! Thanks to Alice Bowen for accompanying children to rehearsals and to the evening concert.

Dalmain Primary School

The school football team played in a tournament at Sydenham Secondary

School against all of the primary schools within our local partner- ship. We played 4 games winning 2 of them. It was a good pre- season competi- tion for us and we finished sec- ond.

The girls’ team

also played four games and finished second overall.

Well done to all members of the squads:

Boys’ team: Shaquille Williams, Anda Collins, Tyrrell Charles, Axel Jaworski, Ijah Currie- Wilson, Omar Hassan, Miles Richards and Ryan Gregory-Barnett.

Girls’ team: Denada Histoni, Olivia Francis, Estera Cicakova, Naomi Ouete, Kianne Minott, Karen Bidi-Lecadouq, Tanya Parris and Tia McLean.

Capitalise is a London-wide partner- ship that aims to reduce debt and financial exclusion by improving people’s capacity to manage their debts, and helping people to take more control over their finances and make informed choices in the fu- ture. Capitalise is running this free, confi- dential and independent service at Stillness Junior School every 2nd Friday of the month commencing

8th December to provide face-to-face debt advice to people experiencing debt and other financial problems. We can access this service as part of a collaboration with Stillness and other local schools. The programme is supported by the Government’s Financial Inclusion Fund and is part of Blackfriars Advice Centre. If you would like to talk to an advisor please contact Mrs. Kennedy on 0208 690 1416.

Page 5

School Council initiatives

Dalmain Football Results

Free Financial Advice

Charlotte Fairman and Travis Barton have been elected as Junior Road Safety Officers and they will run an assembly on road safety and the need for children to ‘be bright, be seen’.

School Councillors are leading on a school-wide environmental review which they will take back to their classes to complete. This will form the basis of the school’s Sustainabil- ity Policy, which we hope will be pu- pil-led and will respond to the areas of concern that they identify.

The Green Task Force has appointed Eco-Warriors who are carrying out classroom inspections to see whether we are using, saving or wasting en- ergy. They are also reading energy meters to monitor our consumption. Over the next year they will be using this infor- mation to evaluate how eco-friendly we are and how we can become more eco-friendly. The Green Task Force organised a green stall at the Christmas Fayre and sold hand-made wrapping paper and cards.

The School Council has been ex- tremely active this term. They repre- sent all of the pupils at Dalmain and hold regular meetings with the Headteacher to discuss issues of interest and concern.

This term they have chosen three new meals that they would like to see on the lunch menu next term. We will feed back to Scolarest, the school meal providers, with their choices.

School Council also requested that children be taught how to cook pizza next term.

Green Task Force

The Pen Football Evening football sessions started in the Pen this term for all year groups from Year 1 upwards, boys and girls.

Sessions will start again on the week commencing Monday 12 January.

The cost of four ses- sions is £10.

For more information speak to Graham or ask in the school office. By Luke, Moloney Class

Dalmain School Grove Close

Brockley Rise

Newsletter no. 43

Wednesday 10 December 2pm KS2 Christmas performance 7pm KS1 Christmas performance

Thursday 11 December 2pm KS1 Christmas performance 7pm KS2 Christmas performance

Tuesday 16 December am ‘Jack and The Beanstalk’: Trip to Greenwich Theatre

pm ‘Cinderella’ – whole school Wednesday 17 December Christmas lunch and an entertainer Thursday 18 December am am ‘Christmas Carol’

pm Christmas parties Friday 19 December p.m. KS2 talent show

At 3.15pm on Fri 19 December, we break up for the Christmas holiday – returning on Tues 6 January 2009

Christmas Diary

Phone: 020 8699 2675 Fax: 020 8291 4546

E-mail: info@dalmain.lewisham.sch.uk Website: http://www.dalmain.lewisham.sch.uk

Newsfeed: http://dalmainschool.wordpress.com —- visit this site to look at the newsletter in colour —-

November / December 2008

Visitors to Dalmain School this term

Working With Men Raising Boys programme Action Aid Climate change talk Fraser Portraits Soundsteps Keyboard assembly MDD Street Dance workshops The Arts Temple The Kinetic Theatre ‘What if it rains?’ Scholastic Book Fair The Kinetic Theatre ‘The Hospital Force’ Desrine Nelson Steel pans workshop African storyteller Carmelita Bollywood dance workshops (KS1) Freshwater Theatre Victorian Schooldays (Y5&6) The Globe Players ‘Cinderella’

Recent school trips

School Council Junior Ward Panel (Stillness Juniors) KS1 Fire of London Walks Year 6 Junior Citizen Event (The Mansion House, Beckenham) Year 3 ‘The Musical Storytellers!’ (The Barbican) Year 2 ‘Peter & The Wolf’ (The Barbican) Year 3/4 Science Museum Y5/6 Imperial War Museum

Attendance Attendance for this term was 95.5% This is good, but we managed 96.1% in the first half of the Autumn term, so we know that you can do better!

The figure has slipped this term, mainly because of illness but also because of parents taking their children out of school for holidays during term time.

Let’s aim to get over 96% attendance again next term.

Eco-friendly initiatives—help us to be green!

Please sign up to http://www.generationgreen.co.uk/ and help us collect leaves for our school. If we reach our leaf goal we can exchange our leaves for green rewards such as a wind turbine kit, camera nesting boxes and

PC integrated weather stations.

Denise enjoyed popcorn and face- painting at the Christmas Fayre