Miss Hamalis’ Bulletin – Monday 13 May 2024

You can view all events for the year in the school calendar via our Parent Portal: SchoolBase login. Your calendar view should already be filtered to display the Junior School events and events which are specific to your daughter’s year group. 

The ‘School Calendar Parent View’ button shows the complete calendar, which can be viewed by each month, week or day. Events also appear on the right-hand side of the home page under ‘Forthcoming Events’ and the monthly view of the calendar also appears at the bottom of the home page.

Due to many members of staff attending the Key Stage 2 residential trips taking place this term, there will be a number of club cancellations. Please contact jsreceptionist@channing.co.uk if you wish to sign your daughter(s) up for Mini Owls (EY and KS1) and/or Late Owls. 

As a reminder, please see below for the clubs that will be cancelled this week: 

Tuesday 14 May: 

• KS2 Arts & Crafts 

Wednesday 15 May: 

• KS1 Mini Games 

Thursday 16 May: 

• KS2 Touch Typing 

We are currently finalising our arrangements for Founders’ Day. This marks the 139th anniversary of the founding of the school and we are looking forward to welcoming you all. Please note that all pupils (wearing their Summer school uniform) are expected to attend Founders’ Day. All girls and families in the Junior School are invited to come into school anytime between 9am and 11am. 

As the girls are coming in on Saturday, there will be an early finish on Friday 28 June to enable staff to prepare the school rooms and grounds. The collection times are: 

• 11.45am: Reception (main gate) 
• 11.55am: Year 1 (main gate)
• 11.55am: Year 2 (side gate) 
• 12.05pm: Year 3 (side gate)
• 12.05pm: Year 4 (main gate) 
• 12.15pm: Year 5 (side gate)
• 12.15pm: Year 6 (main gate)

Monday 1 July is a holiday in lieu of attendance on the Saturday; we return to school on Tuesday 2 July for the remaining four days of term, which ends on Friday 5 July.

We will be hosting Sports Day for all girls in Reception – Year 6 on Thursday 4 July at St Aloysius Playing Fields (Hurst Ave, London N6 5TX). The event will run from 1pm – 3pm. There will be no Late Owls provision on this date. More information will follow after half term.

We have collaborated with TooledUp Education: an invaluable digital library of evidence-based resources on all aspects of parenting, education and family life. Founder, Dr Kathy Weston, has collated the best and most up-to-date research from around the world and distilled it into usable, easy to understand resources which can be instantly applied to daily life. Channing Pin: cha0706

For upcoming TooledUp courses and events please click here. 

• Friday 17 May 9:30am ~ Protecting Children and Young People from Violence and Abuse
• Monday 20 May 7:00pm ~ Experience P4C (Philosophy for Children)
• Monday 17 June 7:00pm ~ Getting Children Nursery School Ready: Tips for Parents and Carers

Once again this year, we will be encouraging the girls to take part in the Number Heroes Competition where they can win prizes for themselves and for school. The focus of National Numeracy Day, next Wednesday 22 May, is to recognise how Mathematics is everywhere and involved in all of the things we do, from dancing to baking! Please see this website for more information and helpful tips for children and adults. 

How your daughter can enter:

• Download a Number Hero sheet or grab a piece of paper and read the Terms and Conditions.
• Create a picture of herself doing her dream job or hobby – she can draw, paint, collage, use a computer or do any type of picture.
• Tell Number Heroes how she will use numbers in her job or hobby – don’t forget to add her first name, form and school.
• Support your daughter to upload her picture through the online form, before 23:59 on 31 May 2024.

More information is available here.

We know that it can be difficult to keep up with some of the rapidly changing environments. Ensuring that a balance is found between allowing your daughter freedom, independence and privacy on one hand, whilst on the other making sure that she stays protected from some of the potential risks online, also proves to be challenging.

The provider, Ineque, has specialised in safeguarding children in all contexts and, in particular, focus on keeping parents and educational settings abreast of the latest developments. Various resources are available on their website; they offer a number of courses for parents and also share a weekly newsletter: https://ineqe.com 

At the Junior School, we work hard to ensure that your daughter is aware of how to keep herself safe – both physically and mentally – and what to do if she does ever feel unsafe, whether that be online or out in the real world. We know you also want to play a role in your daughter’s safety, so we’re sharing information for parents and carers on how we’re teaching your daughters to stay safe, advice from experts on how you can help them stay safe, and some resources for you if you want to learn more. We all know that children will, from time to time, come across content that is unsuitable for their age, or that they find upsetting. What do the experts say we can do to help keep young people safe on these occasions? There are some clear and simple steps you can take as parents and carers to support your daughter: 

• Adjust privacy settings – for any apps or sites your daughter is using, set the privacy settings and content filters to their highest settings, or show her how to do this. 
• Monitor/ discuss your daughter’s usage – for younger children, set up parental controls where possible and monitor their devices regularly. 
• For older children, discuss with them what they have been looking at lately and any trends they have noticed online. 
• Spend time on the apps yourself – become familiar with how the apps work, what content is available, and what your daughter enjoys viewing online. 
• Learn how to report and block – make sure your daughter knows how to use the reporting tools, especially if they are using social media apps.
• Be there for them – let your daughter know that she can come to you at any time to discuss something she has seen, and that you will support her. 

For more tips, take a look at this quick guide from National Online Safety – 10 tips to keep your children safe online.  For further information, visit these websites: 

• National Online Safety – a library of explainer videos, webinars and quick guides such as the one above. Also available as an app, and free to Channing parents and carers. 
• Digital Awareness UK – experts in the field with a wealth of experience, videos and resources to support families, such as this 5 minute video on how to help your child stay secure online through privacy and security settings.

Thinkuknow – a site operated by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection command that offers advice, support, and a reporting mechanism for parents and children.

Tickets are on sale for the Summer Fair, ChanFest – buy your family’s tickets now! 

Where: In the school grounds: on the MUGA / Fairseat Hall (not in Stanhope Road playing fields) 

When: 1pm-5pm, Sunday 9 June

Buy tickets: Buy tickets – ChanFest – Channing JS Summer Fair 

The CA is hosting a festival-themed summer fair for the girls and their families: with food trucks, hair braiding, games and prizes, inflatables, a surf simulator and bumper cars, a 360 photo booth, glitter tattoos and nail painting, ribbon wand and flower crown making stalls, and much more. 

As with all festivals, there will be live performances and interactive fun. Sharkey & George will be running a dance workshop (Reception – Year 2 recommended) and there will be a theatre production of ‘Rubbish Romeo & Juliet’ (Year 3- 6 recommended). If your daughter (and her siblings) would like to sign up for either of these, please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com to be put on the list. Both are capacity restricted, so first-come- first-served.

The CA will be running a charity fundraising raffle for GOSH and are looking for fabulous prizes to list. If you have a product, service or experience you could donate, we would be most grateful. Please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com. Tickets will go live in due course. Prizes so far include: tea party with Miss Hamalis for a girl and friend of her choice; 4-night holiday for 6 at Secret Meadows Luxury Glamp site in Suffolk; and 2025 Greg Davies Wembley comedy tickets.

The CA is collecting small preloved items for the ChanFest prize stall (toys, hair accessories, stationery, etc) in good condition that children can pick as a prize using the tokens they win from the games stalls. Nothing bigger than a Sylvanian family piece please. Your donations will help us reduce the amount of new items we have to buy and promote sustainability. Thank you very much in advance.

The CA is recruiting and confirming Form Reps for the next school year (2024/25). If you would like to continue or step into the role for your form, or have any questions, please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com 

The role of the Rep is to help run CA-organised events and activities for our girls and their families, to organise form socials, and to manage subs / arrange seasonal gifts for Form Teachers. You are supported by the Co-Chairs throughout the year.

The Channing Association Parent and Teacher Choir meets fortnightly in term time on Thursday evenings from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at St Michael’s Church in Highgate. The choir is open to all genres of music, and there is a small cost per person per session to cover venue hire and sheet music.

Upcoming rehearsal dates are: 6 and 20 June, and 4 July. 

For any questions and to sign up please email jschanningassociation@gmail.com

• Thursday 6 June – next Choir rehearsal
• Sunday 9 June – Summer Fair “ChanFest 2024” 
• Wednesday 9 October – Quiz Night
• Friday 29 November – Winter Fair