February 2025

Coffee Morning – Don’t Miss it

A Smartphone-Free Childhood: Let’s Take Action Together

Join us on 17th March at 9:00 AM for an unmissable coffee morning, where we’ll be tackling one of the biggest challenges facing children today—the impact of smartphones and social media. From distractions in learning to mental health concerns, excessive screen time is shaping childhood in ways we can’t ignore.

We have a fantastic speaker who has been leading the way in this movement, working with schools nationwide. Just last week, 70 headteachers in Ealing took a stand by committing to smartphone-free schools, with Barnet set to follow. Now, it’s time for us to come together as a community and explore how we can protect and empower our children.

The more we stand together, the stronger we are.

Let’s make a change—starting now.

Attendance Award

Education Sunday – Send Me, Teach Me, Use Me

It was a pleasure to see so many of you at our special Education Sunday celebration! The message was clear—Send Me, Teach Me, Use Me—reminding us that learning is a lifelong adventure, both in school and in faith. Through inspiring Bible stories and even one of my science experiments with a hidden message, we explored how God teaches, guides, and prepares us for amazing things. Learning isn’t just about knowledge; it’s about trust, courage, and saying yes to new challenges. Let’s continue to grow together, knowing that God has great plans for each of us.

New Books, New Adventures—Thanks to Our Generous Donors

We have been incredibly lucky this half term to receive some wonderful book donations from Nexus’ No Privilege, No Words project, Primary Arts—who will also be running an exciting English project with Year 3—and Readathon, all who have provided us with fantastic, diverse texts rich in language. We are also so grateful for the generous donations from our parents! Ms. McGunnigle and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these books before adding them to our library. A huge thank you as well to everyone who took part in the Readathon—we raised an amazing £1,192 to help provide books for sick children in hospitals.

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Exploring Places of Worship – A Month of Learning and Respect

February was a busy and enriching month for our students, filled with visits to places of worship as part of their Religious Education lessons. Year 1 to Year 3 visited a Synagogue, deepening their understanding of Judaism. Year 4 explored a Jain temple and compared it to a Hindu temple as part of their Hinduism unit. Year 6 had the opportunity to visit a Buddhist Centre, gaining insight into Buddhist beliefs and practices. Year 5 will soon be visiting a Gurdwara to learn more about Sikhism.

These visits provided a wonderful opportunity for our children to witness how different faiths pray and perform rituals. They showed great respect and curiosity, asking thoughtful and insightful questions that reflected their eagerness to learn. We are incredibly proud of their engagement and appreciation for different religious traditions.

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Getting Creative

Nursery

Last term, Nursery learnt all about how the Lunar New Year is celebrated. This year is the Year of the Snake. The children made their own snakes, tasted Chinese noodles using chopsticks, and worked together to create their very own dragon. On the last day of term, they celebrated by leading a lively dragon dance around the school, making lots of noise with their handmade, Chinese-inspired shakers.

Here they are visiting the office staff and Mrs Bacon

Year 1

Our talented Yr1 children were inspired by the work of Pier Mondrian! They explored primary and secondary colours, shade, tone and line to create stunning artwork.

To celebrate their creativity, we hosted a fantastic art gallery exhibition where proud parents had the chance to admire their masterpieces. What a wonderful way to showcase their artistic journey!

Millfield Theatre Trip to The Shoemaker
On Tuesday 25th February, Year 3 and some other children were lucky enough to see a special performance of The Shoemaker, a new dynamic hip-hop theatre production written by Elizabeth Lahav.
The Shoemaker used the power of song, dance, music, and rap to address important topics surrounding children’s mental health and well-being. Through engaging characters and a relatable story, the play delved into themes such as ADHD, fear, identity, and the search for meaning and purpose. It highlights the positive aspects of ADHD, and encourages children to embrace their uniqueness as a strength.
The relatable story and positive role models really resonated with the children and the show embraced the British values of respect and tolerance and individual liberty.
As a school, we pride ourselves on respecting and accepting one another’s differences and, as daily practice, promote the fact that we ALL belong.

Safer Internet Day – Staying Safe Online, Every Day

On Tuesday 11th February, we marked Safer Internet Day, with this year’s theme: Too Good to Be True? Protecting Yourself and Others from Scams Online.

https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2025

Online safety isn’t just a one-day discussion—it’s something we should all be thinking about regularly. Scams and misinformation are becoming more sophisticated, so it’s important for children (and adults!) to stay alert.

Why not take some time at home to chat about how to spot and avoid online scams? In fact, St Michael’s children might have some great advice for the grown-ups.

A few key reminders for staying safe online:

🔹 Think before you click – If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is!

🔹 Question the source – Not everything online is trustworthy. Check where information comes from.

🔹 Protect personal information – Never share passwords, addresses, or bank details.

🔹 Talk about it – If something feels suspicious, speak to a trusted adult before taking action.

Let’s keep the conversation going all year round—online safety is an ongoing responsibility for all of us.

Children have been asking Chef Michelle for some of her secret recipes, so she has decided to share this yummy recipe with you.