Screen time advice from Dr Aric Sigman
On Thursday 11th February, the St Michael’s community enjoyed an hour-long webinar with children’s mental health expert, Dr Aric Sigman. Guided by a wealth of experience including his role as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and work with the Department of Health,Dr Sigman gave a presentation on the impact of increased screen time due to lockdown, as well as giving parents useful tips for creating balance in their family’s routines. St Michael’s Head Nik Pears also hosted a Q & A with the expert using questions submitted by the school’s parents. Commenting on the success of the event, Nik Pears said: “The webinar was a brilliant opportunity to bring the St Michael’s community together to discuss a topic which is very relevant to our lives at the moment. It gave a lot of reassurance and equipped us with tools and strategies for navigating life in lockdown.”
St Michael’s gives 318 kilo donation to local food bank
A Sevenoaks food bank is 318 kilos heavier following a donation from St Michael’s.
The school surprised charity The Community Cupboard with the generous donation on Monday 1st February following a Christmas collection for the cause.
In total, £965 was raised from parent and staff donations throughout December, which St Michael’s Parents and Friends Association (P & F) used to organise a Sainsbury’s shop of food and toiletries for the charity.
Commenting on the school’s motivation to help the food bank, Co-Chair of St Michael’s P & F, Kelly Downey, said: “Delivering our donation to The Community Cupboard was an amazing and uplifting moment. Being able to bring the school together to contribute to a cause which plays such an important role in our community during this time was very rewarding.”
Greeted with three carloads of canned foods, long-life products and toiletries, Kelly also describes how delighted the charity were with the school’s generosity. She added: “The team were really blown away by our donation and thankful for the time we’d taken to raise the money and organise a delivery.”
Trustee at The Community Cupboard, David Carter said: “We would like to express our extreme gratitude to St Michael’s for their wonderful donation. We are very lucky to receive regular donations from local groups, but they are rarely to this scale.
“The food and toiletries kindly given to us by St Michael’s have allowed us to fully restock our shelves as well as putting plenty of stock on standby for new referrals. The size of this donation will allow us to give substantial food packages to the 22 new families who were referred to us in January. St Michael’s help is invaluable to us and will make a huge difference.”
For more information about The Community Cupboard, or to donate to the charity visit www.thecommunitycupboard.co.uk.
St Michael’s runs the extra mile for Thames Valley Air Ambulance
On Tuesday 15th December 2020, St Michael’s hosted a fun filled charity day for Thames Valley Air Ambulance (TVAA), raising £3000 for the cause.
Organised by Year 7 pupil Lucy, whose life who saved by the emergency team last Christmas, the school partook in a range of fundraising activities including a fun run, Christmas jumper day, and brain-teaser quizzes.
Lucy said: “With Mr Wiseman’s help, I planned activities to raise some much-needed money for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance and increase awareness of their work.
“A lot of people don’t realise what a great charity they are, and I hope our fundraising day has changed that.
“Not only do they save people’s lives in moments of crisis, but they provide long-term support to families who undergo medical emergencies.”
Nicola Bishop, Community Fundraising Officer at Thames Valley Air Ambulance, said: “A big thank you to the staff and pupils of St Michael’s. This is an amazing amount of money, which could cover the cost of five missions in one of our response cars, getting our crew to the scene of a serious incident and bringing the expertise, equipment and medication of the hospital to where it is needed most, so thank you so much.”
Lucy, whose story recently featured in the TVAA’s Christmas appeal, said: “Thames Valley Air Ambulance helped me at a time when my parents couldn’t. When I was seriously injured, the team stepped in and became my heroes.”
“It means so much to me that St Michael’s have come together to support this cause.”
And Lucy’s family echoed this gratitude for St Michael’s support. They said: “We wanted to say a huge thank to the St Michael’s community for supporting Lucy’s appeal for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. We’re so grateful to you for getting behind this amazing charity to whom we owe so much. We know from experience that your donations really do save lives.”
For more information about the Thames Valley Air Ambulance or to donate visit: www.tvairambulance.org.uk/support-us/donate
St Michael’s librarian launches fun reading project for pupils
“Good readers make excellent writers.” says St Michael’s Library Assistant, Helen Yarrow, who has launched an exciting reading initiative in the Prep school this term.
Mrs Yarrow, who joined the St Michael’s team in September 2020, is passionate about books and believes children should read a variety of genres and authors before they choose what’s best for them.
Keen to implement this strategy at St Michael’s, Mrs Yarrow has introduced First Chapter Friday, a project designed to get pupils reading a range of books, rather than the same authors, characters and storylines over again.
First Chapter Friday sees pupils receive a list of 10 books, suited to the reading proficiency of their year group, each term. Every Friday, pupils read the first chapter of a new book with their form groups before deciding whether to continue reading it in their own time.
Mrs Yarrow said: “The aim of First Chapter Friday is to help the children find a book they really want to read.
“By exposing the children to books that they wouldn’t normally pick off the bookshelf, it introduces them to a range of subjects, and inevitably fosters their love of reading.”
Helen added: “Some form groups choose to read the chapter independently during the sessions, some listen to their form teachers reading the chapter, and some take turns to read different paragraphs.
“By inviting pupils to read sections of the chapter out loud, the form tutors are also helping to develop the pupils’ language acquisition and public speaking skills. The challenge has many benefits to it.”
Explaining the planning process behind First Chapter Friday, Mrs Yarrow added: “I create the reading lists using recommendations from websites such as Love Reading for Kids as well as my own research.
“Friday Chapter Friday helps pupils recognise the importance of a first chapter and shows them various ways they can make their writing engaging.
“One of the main aims of the initiative is to inspire the children to write their own stories.”
Remote Learning at St Michaels
Remote Learning at St Michael’s has continued to be successful this term. This has been echoed by the feedback from parents:
“St Michael’s has gone above and beyond to keep pupils motivated and connected to their classmates during this time”
“Thank you for organising such an amazing choice of live lessons and sensible time to catch up and get creative off screen.”
“We are grateful to be part of a school that works so hard to ensure the children are given the best education possible in these circumstances.”
Dancing through lockdown
This term, St Michael’s pupils and staff are keeping connected through the art of dance.
Determined to keep spirits high during the lockdown period, the school launched its Freestyle Friday project which sees weekly videos posted on its social media in the form of a dance montage.
Each week, a unique theme and song is announced which members of the St Michael’s community are invited to respond to.
Themes so far have included dance with your pet, confidence, dancin’ 9 to 5 with Dolly Parton, and a Valentine’s special.
To view the Freestyle Friday series so far please visit St Michael’s YouTube Channel.
