St Edmund's Primary School & Nursery Whitton

We wish all our families a peaceful summer full of rest and relaxation.

To all the children, staff and families departing for new adventures,
we would like to remind you that you will always be part of the St Edmund's family and we look forward to hearing about your future progress.

God bless you all and please remember us all in your prayers.

Have a wonderful rest filled break and see you all in September.

End of Year Awards - July 2023
At the end of the summer term, pupils and teachers look forward to the “end-of-year awards” assembly.

This assembly is an important part of the school year, as it provides an opportunity to recognise achievements. These awards are not just about academic excellence, they also recognise pupils who have made a positive impact on the school community through leadership, kindness and integrity as well as effort on and off the sports fields, and those who have attained 100% or 99%+ attendance.

Summer 2023 has been another busy term and our end-of-year assembly was a chance to reflect on many achievements and successes. Well done to everyone on receiving their awards and you can see details of this in the school newsletter. We are looking forward to the holidays but also to new beginnings in September.

Year 1 enjoyed a fabulous day out at Bocketts Farm recently. The children travelled by coach to the farm and enjoyed feeding and stroking the animals, playing in the playgrounds, having a tractor ride and watching a pig race. It was all great fun!

Ancient Egyptian Day for Year 3
Yesterday they joined the Freshwater theatre in exploring and unlocking the secrets of an Ancient Egyptian tomb, encountering Anubis and Tutankhamun. There were many interactive elements where the students help solve Egyptian related activities to lift the curse of the tomb. The children were able to learn and enjoy the workshop whilst covering key subject areas: the River Nile, pyramids and the landscape of Egypt, the battle between Alexander the Great and the Egyptians, Tutankhamun, Osiris and Anubis.

This week was the last session of the sewing club and all the children have been working very hard to practice the different stitches they have learnt, in order to complete their individual binka pieces.

They have all really improved their sewing skills and now know many different stitches. Well done to the Sewing Club!! we are really impressed with all your work.

History is BORING!' say the children - until suddenly their teachers transform it into the musical “A Complete History of the World -abridged”.

Going on a magical journey through time, they drop in on the Sumerians, Ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Vikings, the Aztecs, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution and finally the story concludes back into the modern world.

The production was fun and exciting and gave everyone an opportunity to take part. The songs were an instant hit with the children and it was a great way for them to be involved in music, history and literacy all in one go!

Well done to all the Year 6 actors – the show was a resounding success!!! and a big shout out to the Year 6 Production Team without whom the show could not go on.

For Sky Arts week, year 6 created identity art work to illustrate their personalities.

We have been really impressed at all the hard work the Year 6's have put into their amazing Skern Lodge projects.

Different projects have been on display in the main corridor for all to view. This is a snapshot of just a few but well done to all in Year 6! for being so creative.

The Mini Vinnies have been very busy over the last few weeks making and creating bookmarks for their sale. They raised £36.70 for 'The Passage', a charity for the homeless by selling them after school for 50p, well done to our Mini Vinnie Team.

This week, Year 2 visited the London Wetland Centre and took part in a Plant Detective workshop. They learnt about the importance of plants and the different types of leaves. The children spent time in the meadow looking for a variety of plant types. They had the opportunity of exploring the Wetlands and enjoyed seeing the City of London from the Observatory. They were lucky enough to see otters, wild birds, frogs and dragonflies.

Jordan Kopy is the author of the THEODORA HENDRIX series. Her debut novel, THEODORA HENDRIX AND THE MONSTROUS LEAGUE OF MONSTERS, came out in October 2020.

A born and raised New Yorker, Jordan now makes her home in London, with her husband and poorly behaved (but lovable) cat. A financial services professional by day, Jordan spends her nights with ghouls, witches, and the occasional wicked hag.

The Year 3 & 4 children loved hearing all about her stories in school today and we are delighted to invite Jordan to come and visit our school. We loved hearing about the process of writing and hearing Jordan read excerpts of her stories to us. Thank you.

Today was Pirate day in our Reception classes.

All the children were invited to dress as pirates as they will be focusing as pirates on their current topic of “Water, Water, Everywhere”, along with a bit of “Pirate PE” for good measure.

We are sure they will all have a very jolly and interesting day.

Attachment Aware Schools Award
Congratulations to the Wellbeing Team at St Edmund’s who continually look for ways to promote the wellbeing of all our children. We have worked together to achieve the Silver Award!

The Buddies have been very busy this term in their herb garden at school. They have been growing and tending to their crops of sage, mint, chives and rosemary. As you can see they have had a very successful growing season, which has enabled them to sell their herbs to parents and staff in order to build their fund for playground resources.

Founded in 1859 the Catholic Children’s Society is one of the oldest charities supporting disadvantaged children and families in the UK.
Vision
“Our vision is a world where every child and family facing disadvantage get the support they need to achieve their potential, creating a better society for all”.

The Catholic Children’s Society supports disadvantaged children and families across London, Hertfordshire and the South East. They work with individuals of all faiths and none; their sole aim is to help those in greatest need.

Thank you for your kind and generous donations towards our Lenten Appeal with your help we raised £304.36 for the Catholic Children’s Society.

Year 4 had a wonderful time at Hampton Court, they explored the palace and took part in a very interesting workshop all about the jobs people did during the Tudor times.

Borough Sports 2023
After all the disruption of the Covid pandemic, and the upgrade to the running track at St Mary’s last year, it has been three years since the Borough Sports last took place, and the St Edmund’s team were delighted to return to the event, although this year was tinged with deep sadness due to the tragic loss of our Caretaker Mr Dave Young.
Dave was an instrumental member of the Organising Committee for over 10 years and was very passionate and enthusiastic about Borough Sports. He will be sadly missed and in his memory and honour the relay shield was named after him “The Dave Young Team Relay Shield”.
This was the 55th Primary Schools’ Borough Sports event and there were over 300 athletes competing. Well done to all the competitors who took part in this event.

This week our Year 6 classes travelled to North Devon for their residential stay. They have had wonderful weather for all their activities, both around the lodge and at the coast, the groups have been raft building, surfing, trail biking, climbing the high ropes, using the zip lines and coastal traversing in Westward Ho!

Last few afternoon sessions available, please contact the school on 020 8894 7898 Whitton Village

Congratulations to our worthy winners of the Coronation Virtual Balloon race.

After a very slow start the wind pushed the children's balloons to the finishing line. We hope parents and children were able to follow the race online, at the height of Mrs Moreland's race her balloon was placed 52nd but finished in 209th place. Well done to all the entrants.

Well done and thank you to the wonderful members of the school choir who were able to avail of the opportunity to sing alongside other Richmond Catholic School’s performing Vivaldi’s Gloria.

The children had to attend many rehearsals and were accompanied by professional musicians who were simply stunning. The concert was held at St Mary the Virgin Church in Twickenham.

Mr J and Mrs Moreland were in attendance and were blown away by their performance – well done.

On Friday 5th May all the pupils and staff at St Edmund’s celebrated the coronation in style. Throughout the week leading up to the momentous occasion, the children learnt all about our new King, and created their own crowns for the school ceremony.
At 2pm prompt our very own Charles and Camilla arrived for the coronation ceremony held on the school field to be officially crowned by Father Nigel.

Everyone shared this special moment, and then joined in singing the National Anthem ‘God Save King’, followed by music and a picnic on the field, we were very lucky to have sunshine for this auspicious occasion in readiness for the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th May.

To commemorate this moment, we would like to thank the PA for gifting every child in the school with a Coronation bookmark.

Year Five had a wonderful opportunity to visit the Hanuman Hindu Temple in Brentford on Wednesday. This experience allowed them to learn about a another faith. The children enjoyed exploring the temple and finding out about a range of Hindu beliefs and customs. It was an enriching experience for all.

St George’s Day Parade 2023, how delighted were the school to join the parade in Whitton High Street last Saturday. It was good to help celebrate the patron saint of England and enjoy all the activities that had been organised for the day.

Every year our Year 3 children are tasked with making an Easter Garden during the holidays, this is to help them reflect on the importance of Easter Sunday and the new life it brings.

The Easter garden specification was to include a tomb and a cross and the remaining design would be up the child to use their own creative flair. Below is a selection of their gardens, I think you will agree they were very artistic in their ideas.

A small group of Year 3 children went to the Sports laboratories at St Mary's University last week to help the lecturers develop a PE programme for key stage 2 children. They all had a very interesting time helping the lecturers.

Following the very sad, sudden and unexpected passing of Mr Young, our Site Manager, the family will be holding his funeral this Friday, 21st April. In order to support the family’s wishes and out of respect for Mr Young, the school will be closed on this day. The funeral will take place at St Edmund’s Church at 9.45am followed by a wake to be held on school grounds.

Mr Young (Dave) worked at St Edmund’s School for over 31 years, he was instrumental in many adventures and his work can be found in the fabric of the building. He was dedicated to St Edmund’s School and the wider community. He had a wonderful sense of humour and often shared this with staff and pupils. Generations of children will remember him for his encouragement when undertaking the ‘leap of faith’ whilst on school journey, his cheerful greetings in the morning, the numerous props for school productions, discos and whole school events that couldn’t have taken place without him.

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter with all our best wishes. May the Easter Days bring lots of happiness and joy in your life.

We look forward to seeing the children return to school on Monday 17th April.

After school yesterday the team walked to Bishop Perrin to play their netball match.

When they arrived they practiced shooting and passing before the game started. It was a great game with both teams displaying great sportsmanship. One of our players was awarded ‘Player of the Match’ and the team were delighted to win 5-4.

Our boys football team walked to Heathfield School on Wednesday for a match and had a very difficult game against a very strong Heathfield team and lost 6-0. Our boys made every effort to the end and although we could not convert the chances we did still finish 3rd in our mini league.

Well done to our squad and also to the Heathfield team and a big thank you to the parent helpers and supporters.

Yesterday Year 4 told the story of the Easter Passion, to the school and parents.

It was a beautiful and spiritual time for the whole school community to travel with Jesus through the dark moments of Good Friday to the the joy of Easter.

Well done Year 4!

Reception's Visitors
Over the last term, Reception have been learning about people that help us. As part of this topic, they visited Whitton library, the staff showed us how the library works, let us explore, and read us a story. As a result, lots of us have been visiting the library after school, and have been going to the story time on Tuesdays at 4pm.

Reception class have also been incredibly lucky to have over 10 parents come in to visit and share their jobs. These visitors have included; nurses, doctors, police, architects, pharmacist, TV and charity work, and driving instructors. The class have been able to experience some incredible things including; bandaging each other, listening to their hearts and stomachs with stethoscopes, turning on police sirens, trying on police uniform, taking finger prints with the police, sitting in a driving instructor's car and looking at the Harry Potter and Mary Poppin's TV sets.

We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the people who were able to share these experiences with the children. We know that a lot of permission had to be gained in order to have time off, to wear uniforms and to bring in the equipment.

Thank you for providing the children with these incredible opportunities.

British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths.
This year's theme - connections!

This is a fantastic opportunity to spark the children’s curiosity and develop their scientific skills and understanding.

Year 5 had an amazing time planning and carrying out their own scientific investigations. They learnt all about the six different enquire types and how science is happening all around them.

Year 1 enjoyed listening to some of the Year 5 children reading them stories with a scientific twist. Oscar and the Bat was a story all about sound which linked to their topic of senses.

The Stations of the Cross is a form of prayer used traditionally in Lent. Each of the 14 Stations retells part of Jesus' Passion through images and words. These Stations of the Cross introduce children to Jesus' Passion, breaking it down into stages that they can reflect upon and remember. Year 6 went outside and completed the stations of the cross before reflecting and having a quiet moment to say their own prayer.

Year 1 were very excited when we had a visit from a Forensic Scientist yesterday, she set up a 'Who Done It' Easter egg hunt. The children looked at how to find evidence from a crime scene and the scientist took their finger prints.

They also looked at how to preserve evidence, such as footprints on the ground. They eventually found the missing eggs and realised that Mrs Brown was in fact the culprit! Thank you for such a wonderful experience during Science Week.

London Youth Games
Due to being the winning team in the Richmond tournament in December, our Year 3 & 4 Girls Football team were invited to participate in the London Youth Games football tournament in which 29 London boroughs competed. The tournament took place on Thursday in Ilford.

In their practice match they won 6-0 with three strikers scoring goals. In their second match, their first proper one, they won 3-0. In the third match they played a friendly match and won 2-0. In the knockouts they drew 1-1 but won 2-0 in penalties with great goals scored and a spectacular save from the goalkeeper securing victory.

In the quarter finals, they won 1-0 with a great goal scored and the goalkeeper diving at a player’s feet to help win. Sadly, they lost in the semi-finals 4-2 against Islington, who went on to win the tournament, despite displaying great striking and exceptional defending. However, St Edmund's are now West London Champions and third in London overall! The team are so delighted with their bronze medals. On the coach journey home they were singing and having lots of fun. The tournament was a great experience and they are very happy to be the first team to participate in this in the history of our school.

Our coaches reported that they played exceptionally well as team with everyone playing their parts, showing real team work and supporting each other beautifully.

A huge thanks to Mrs Stringer and Mr Frosdick for coaching them so well in preparation for the tournament and supporting them all the way.

St Edmund’s Girls Football Team played Bishop Perrin at home last Wednesday with a winning result for St Edmund’s of 4-0. Well done to both teams for playing such a good match.

A really good all round performance by all members of the football squad in an 11-0 win v Bishop Perrin, played in an excellent spirit from both teams on Wednesday. Well done everyone.

Year 5 Trip to Greenwich Royal Observatory

The first stop on this trip was to the Prime Meridian line, as you can see from the pictures, they stood with one foot on one side and the other on the left, then they were perfectly in the middle of east and west according to the prime meridian line.

Next stop was to the Great telescopes that observe the planets and stars. Then the children learnt about the sun, moon and the earth, and the final stop was to see the oldest object they will ever touch – a 4.5 billion that’s 4,500,000,000 years old meteorite. Everyone agreed it was an amazing trip to experience.