Taking Stock: March 2026

• To ensure our children are happy and we explain things well
• To ensure no child leaves our school unable to read
• To ensure children learn a broad vocabulary to access the world around them
• To enhance the educational experiences of diagnosed and undiagnosed children with SEND

As we reach the end of the Spring term, I cannot help but marvel at everything that we managed to pack into the last five weeks.

LKS2 put on their Spring production. Stockwell was turned into a school for performing arts (Stockwell: School of Dreams) as the children brought us a school's version of Fame, and they brought the house down. I was so impressed by the children's performances. They danced, sang, leapt, twirled and flipped their hearts out. Well done LKS2, we'll be talking about this one for a while!

In the second half of every term, all children in Years 1-6 have the chance to develop their oracy and public speaking skills. Communication is a key driver, which underpins our curriculum, and performances such as Spring term's LKS2 show, Summer term's Year 5 Carnival or our regular, half-termly, class assemblies, develop this vital life skill. This term, KS1 and UKS2 delivered excellent assemblies, showcasing the wide range of learning taking place in classrooms across the school. Thank you to all of the staff involved in getting the children ready for these performances and to the parents, carers, grannies, grandads, aunts and uncles who come along to support. Your attendance means everything to the children, and their faces light up when they see you in the audience.

The Infant and Junior choirs performed at the Lambeth Singing Festival this week. Each choir performed as part of a mass choir alongside other Lambeth schools at the Royal Festival Hall. They had to learn words and actions for 10 songs each and then sing, with confidence, in front of a huge audience. Both choirs did an incredible job and performed brilliantly.

At the beginning of March, we celebrated British Science Week and World Book Day. Parents and Carers were invited into the classrooms for drop-ins, reading with the children and taking part in Science investigations. The children, parents and carers in Reception were very involved in making a bridge strong enough to hold up Super Spud when I dropped by.

Throughout British Science Week, the focus was on investigations and developing Scientific thinking. We love immersing the children in their learning to ensure that their knowledge becomes sticky. Memorable experiences such as these help the children to remember what they have learned and, if they can explain their learning to others, they have a great understanding of the subject matter.

Thank you to everyone that came along.

On World Book Day, the children wore comfy, cosy clothes, as the focus was on enjoying reading and books. We started the day with our reading drop-in and then had reading activities throughout the day, including sorting book corners, talking about our favourite books, and ending the day with a reading swap, with the older children reading with younger children in the school.

The staff at the Children's Centres also got in on the fun, dressing up to honour the day.

In the run up to the event, we encouraged the children to send us pictures of themselves reading in 'Extreme' locations.

Sunday, 8th March was International Women's Day. As part of our work around possibilities, and ensuring that the children are exposed to as many different career paths and outcomes as possible, we, once again, flooded the school with women from lots of different backgrounds, careers and walks of life. We welcomed a tattoo artist, a doctor, a genealogist, a bus driver, a musician and entrepreneur and a broadcaster, and many others, into the school to talk about their work and how they got to their various positions.

Mrs Jenkins from our sister school, Jessop came over to talk to the children about being an Assistant Headteacher and our own Mrs Fraga went over to Jessop to do the same. Rebecca Vincent, spoke to the children about creating art and taught the children in Year 5 how to draw birds, leaves and flowers. Lisa Maffia came in to speak to the children about her journey as a musician, her experiences in television and acting and her work supporting other artists. Remy Burgz visited us to talk about being yourself and persevering even if you hear the answer 'no'. She had the children up on their feet, dancing like nobody was watching.

Our March Father Figure Friday event was another success with Mr Osman, Mr Serra and Father Nature teaming up to open the doors to males from our school community. These events are intended to welcome dads, grandads, uncles, brothers and family friends into the school. Our aim is to widen the school community, bringing these often-forgotten members of the Stockwell family into the school for non-sports events. We love welcoming so many in for these afternoons, and this time round, they were roasting marshmallows in Forest School.

Watch this space for information on a reading project that will bring male members of the community into the classrooms to read with the children. We love having the doors open and cannot wait to have you in the building championing reading with lots of children.

Tuesday, 24th March was our termly Enterprise Event. Classes worked together to create products to sell at the Enterprise Market Place in the Playzone. There were milkshakes, Eggscellent chocolate nests, and lots more on offer.

So far, the biggest earners are LKS2, with Year 3 earning over £160 and Year 4 earning over £140. We're looking forward to the summer event. The children are then able to choose what to spend their profits on, so watch this space.

We supported Comic Relief with the House Captains selling Red Noses in the run up to the big day. Children wore red on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th March, donating £1 for the privilege of wearing their own clothes.

We sold 4 boxes of Red Noses, raising £120 from this alone. I'll update you on the final amount raised in the next issue.

Stockwell did an incredible job at the BLC Science Fair. They competed against other schools from our cluster planning, carrying out and then presenting their Science investigation. The children, led by Dr Enoch, won for the second year in a row, speaking confidently and impressively about their research. The judges said the excellent answering of the questions from the judges was what clinched it for Stockwell. Jessop Primary School came second and Christchurch Primary came third. Well done team!

Phew, we have certainly been busy and we ended the term in style, with our Easter Bonnet Parade. The children in Pre-School, Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 paraded around the school making as much noise as possible to celebrate Easter and the beginning of Spring. Children and staff from KS2 lined the playgrounds to cheer them on and we were joined by parents and carers too. What a lovely way to end the term.

I am once again left feeling very proud of all that the children at Stockwell achieve, and it is only possible because of the dedication of the staff at the school. I am incredibly grateful for their hard work.

All that's left is for me to wish everyone a wonderful Easter break. Have a very restful two weeks, and we will see you after the holidays for another brilliant term. See you bright and early on Monday, 13th April.

It’s been an exciting and action-packed month for sports teams across Stockwell, with standout performances, dominant victories, and impressive individual achievements highlighting the school’s growing sporting strength.

Leading the charge, the A Team delivered two emphatic 5–0 victories, showcasing both attacking power and defensive solidity. Their performances have set a high standard and established them as a force to be reckoned with this season. Meanwhile, the B Team faced a tougher run of fixtures, suffering a couple of losses. Despite the setbacks, their determination and effort remain strong, with valuable lessons sure to shape their performances going forward.

The girls’ team also made headlines with a commanding 4–0 win. A special mention goes to Qendel (3T), who delivered a standout performance, alongside Jada Lei (6K), whose contribution played key roles in securing the victory.

On the boys’ side, several players put in exceptional individual performances. Raekeem (6A) impressed with his all-round play, while Luay (6K) showed great attacking strength. Rayyan (6A) also stood out, contributing significantly and helping drive the team forward in key moments.

In netball, Stockwell achieved a fantastic milestone by placing 5th across the entire borough—a remarkable accomplishment. Alexander (6K) was instrumental in this success, scoring all 7 of the team’s points in a standout display of skill and composure.

Adding to the month’s success, the Federation Netball Competition saw the Red House team dominate completely, winning all of their matches and “cleaning up” the tournament in style.

Overall, it’s been a month full of pride, progress, and promise for Stockwell sports. With strong teamwork and impressive individual talent on display, the future looks bright for all teams involved. We are now looking forward to Sports Day and the many different competitions coming up next half term.

Mr Osman, Sports Coach

Check out the latest issue of the BJS Federation SEND Newsletter by clicking the button below. This issue is al about vocabulary and attachment.

Don't forget to drop off your old, unwanted clothes. The donations will go to new homes that need them and we will raise money for the school. We have already filled the bank once, so keep your items coming please. Every time we fill the bank it raises money for the school.

Fill up a bag and pop it in.

Have a look at the poster below for more information.

The clothes bank is located outside the Main Hall.

We are raising money to buy new sports kits for the school.

The children can wear any sports clothes (football kits, martial arts, gymnastics outfits, cheerleading outfits etc) for a £1 donation on the gates.

In addition, we will be holding a Sponsored Walk/ Jog around the school. All children will be given a time slot during which they will complete as many laps of the school as they can manage. Attached to this letter is a sponsorship form. Please ask family, friends, aunties, uncles, grannies, grandads and any other generous adults the children know to support them. Every donation, however small, helps.

Forgiveness for kids is making the choice to let go of angry feelings, hurt, or thoughts of revenge against someone who has hurt them or made a mistake. It means choosing to show kindness instead of staying mad, offering a "fresh start" to a friend or sibling

Ask yourself, how do you show forgiveness?

To learn more about the curriculum for your year group/s next term, visit the school's website to access the knowledge organisers.

Homework is issued on a Friday and is due back in on a Wednesday. Please make time to help your child with their homework. All tasks are based on what the children have been learning in school. While the children can learn independently, they might need your help to get started.

All children should be reading at home daily. Please remember to make a comment in your child's reading record after you have listened to them read.

April

• 13th - School reopens for Reception to Year 6
• 13th - Nursery and Pre-School Stay and Plays (for new pupils)
• 13th - Nursery and Pre-School Closed for continuing pupils
• 14th - Nursery and Pre-School reopen for continuing pupils
• 14th - 5M Trip to Bank of England
• 15th - 5E Trip to Bank of England
• 15th - Football League restarts
• 16th - Art, DT, Topic and Homework Exhibition
• 16th - Y1 - Phonics Workshop
• 17th - Swimming lessons begin
• 17th - Football Shirt Friday/ Whole School Sponsored Walk/ Jog/ Run
• 20th - New to Nursery and Pre-School Staggered Starts
• 22nd - 5E Library Trip
• 22nd - 5M Into University Day
• 22nd - New to Nursery and Pre-School Staggered Starts
• 23rd - 5M Library Trip
• 23rd - 5M Library Trip
• 24th - Eid Celebrations
• 27th - Open Morning
• 27th - ASAs Begin

May

• 1st - INSET Day - School closed to all pupils
• 4th - BANK HOLIDAY - School closed to all pupils
• 8th - Father Figure Friday
• 11th - 14th - KS2 SATS Week
• 13th - Year 2 Trip to Science Museum
• 15th - Year 6. Trip to Brockwell Park
• 18th - Class Photos
• 18th - Open Morning
• 18th - Year 3 and 4 Tennis Tournament
• 19th - SEND Coffee Morning
• 20th - PTA Movie Night
• 20th - Reception and Year 6 Catch Up Height and Weight Checks
• 22nd - 3:30pm - End of Term

Monday 25th May - Friday 29th May

Half Term Break

School Closed for All Pupils

At times, growing up can be a stressful experience. It’s not unheard of for young people to fret about things that could potentially go wrong in their lives – and what implications this would have for their life. In some situations, this can go beyond feeling uneasy about the future and become full-blown anxiety, which affects their mental, emotional and even physical wellbeing.

While worry and anxiety can originate from many different places, it's immensely important for parents and educators to understand the effect this can have on youngsters – and how best to support them if they’re going through a difficult time. This guide from the Ntional College provides insight into the ramifications of worry and anxiety, and how you can help children manage – and hopefully overcome – these challenges.

We have an active PTA, called Friends of Stockwell, who do a brilliant job of fundraising for the school and bringing the community together. It is great to see new faces taking part. Every parent is a Friend of Stockwell. I ask that everyone gets involved. If you can spare an hour per term (that's three hours per year), your contribution would make a huge difference.

Please email friendsofstockwell@gmail.com to get involved.

This term, the PTA hosted our annual Disco and Own Clothes Day. The theme was Love and Friendship, and the event saw the children coming to school wearing their own clothes, dancing their socks off and writing wonderful, supportive notes about their friends for the Friendship wall.

The event raised over £600 for the PTA, all of which will go towards the children of Stockwell.

We are often asked how parents and carers can support the school. We have worked with the school to create an Amazon Wish List to enable parents, carers, friends and family members to buy items that the school really needs.

If you are in a position to support the school in this way, please have a look through, and if you see something you would like to buy, just follow the same process as you would if you were ordering something for yourself. Items will be delivered directly to the school, marked for the attention of the relevant teacher.

Can you help out around the school? Are you a keen gardener? Do you have skills or knowledge that the children would benefit from? Visit our Call to Action page to let us know how you can help.

Central to raising standards in all schools and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is the need for children to attend school regularly to benefit from their education.

There is a strong link between good learning, high achievement, rapid progress and developing good social skills with excellent attendance.

We want to take this opportunity to outline our expectations for school attendance this academic year.

If your child arrives at school from 9am they will be marked as LATE, if they arrive after 9.30am, they will be classed as “late after the register is closed” and their attendance is classed as absent for the morning session. As the registers would have already been returned to the Department for Education.

Regular poor punctuality can also have a negative effect on your child’s attendance as well as their academic learning. Being 6 minutes late each day equals 30 minutes of missed learning every week.

If your child’s attendance drops below 90%, we will need to share our concerns with the Local Authority Education Welfare Officer at Lambeth Council.

Holidays in Term Time

Education Law states that it is not a parent’s right to take a child out of school during term time to go on holiday. Families must seek permission from the school and your school’s Headteacher is limited in what they can authorise. We can authorise leave if a child is in a performance and a performance license has been granted by the local authority. For any other authorised holiday, there must be extenuating circumstances therefore we cannot authorise a holiday because it is cheaper outside of term time.

As we end the term, we have dipped slightly below National Expectations, ending the term on 93% attendance,.

Let's see if we can improve this in the Summer term.

School uniform should be worn throughout the school day. While we do not enforce that all school uniform should be branded, children should be wearing the correct colours (white t-shirt tops, navy trousers/ skirts/ pinafore dresses, sensible black shoes). Football boots/ coloured trainers are not school uniform and should not be worn.

Children should be changing into their PE kits for PE lessons (blue or black tracksuit bottoms, plain white t-shirt, trainers). We have made arrangements for girls and boys to be able to change separately, so the expectation is that all children change for PE.

While our supplier of school uniform is WearAbouts, we do have some items available for sale from the school office. Please check with us to see if we have what you need in stock.

If you have a concern, please see your child's class teacher in the first instance.

If they are unable to resolve the problem, please speak to your child's phase leader.

If they are unable to help, please see one of the school's Assistant Headteachers.

If you are still dissatisfied, please see the Head of School.

We let space around the school.

You can hire the school hall, and grounds, on a regular basis or as a one off.

Need a space for a party?

Looking for a pitch for your team?

Contact the school office on:

clericalofficer2@stockwell-pri.lambeth.sch.uk

to make an enquiry.

What are Pre-School, Nursery and Reception learning about? Find out below.

Years 1 and 2 are incredibly busy with their learning. Find out more on our website.

Are you keen to find out more about the learning in Years 3 and 4? If so, have a look by clicking the button below.

Please check our website, to find out what the children in Years 5 and 6 are learning about.

We are delighted to to have on site our Children Centre where the team works with families at Stockwell and our local community. The Children Centre is open every week day and during the holidays. All of the team will be happy to meet parents and carers to give help, advice and support relating to the following issues:

• Citizens Advice
• Parenting Support and Advice
• ESOL classes
• Vaccination clinics
• Access to Midwives and Health Visitors practitioners
• Take Your Pick sessions
• Baby and Toddler session
• Benefits advice
• Food Bank Vouchers
• Disability Living Allowance applications
• Cost of Living information
• Training and employment advice
• Activities for children during half-term breaks
• Advice on support available within Lambeth

In these difficult times any of us can find ourselves in challenging situations. Should you need support, please contact Mrs Fraga, or the staff at the Children's Centre, who can support with food vouchers discreetly.

Our Children Centre team have a great deal of knowledge and expertise and are a fantastic asset to have working with us at Stockwell. Please feel welcome to pop in and find out more during their opening times.

The Gaia Centre provides support for Lambeth residents affected by gender-based violence, including domestic abuse. It’s closed on 29th March and April 1st, 2024, but has an out-of-hours on-call service: 07725245779. Normal hours are 8am-6pm Monday – Friday. It also offers services for young people and advice for practitioners. Tel: 020 7733 8724, E: lambethvawg@refuge.org.uk.

Helpline support is available:

• National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 24/7
• Women’s Aid live chat, daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Men’s Advice Line, weekdays, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Samaritans Helpline, 24/7
• Childline 24/7
• In emergencies, call 999

Support online:

Kooth is a free online mental health and wellbeing service available to all young people in Lambeth aged 10-25. It is a self-referral service, where young people have access to fully-qualified online counsellors until 10pm every single day of the year. There is also a range of other support including: an online interactive magazine, discussion boards, self-help tools, and wellbeing activities.

The new Lambeth microsite to accompany the ‘It’s Not That Deep’ campaign is aimed specifically at young people and contains information for those experiencing harassment, those wanting to become allies, and those who are doing the harmful behaviour.

You can view useful resources on emotional wellbeing and mental health support services for children in Lambeth.

For the latest Lambeth VAWG news and campaigns please go to: https://linktr.ee/lambethvawg

We have an engagement hub with a specific page focused on what we can do to improve public safety for women and girls which asks residents and visitors to tell us where in Lambeth they feel safe and unsafe by placing a pin on the Map. Please sign up for email updates about the project using the ‘follow’ button on the new site.

If you have a safeguarding concern about a child during the holidays, please make use of the following contacts:

• Lambeth Integrated Referral Hub (Education & Children's Social Care): Office Hours: 020 7926 3100 | Out-of-Hours: 020 7926 5555
• Emergency Duty Team: Out-of-Hours: 020 7926 5555
• Police (Immediate Danger): 999
• Lambeth CAMHS (Mental Health Crisis Support): 020 3228 7370

A new child comes into care every day in Lambeth. Many of these children will need the love and stability that a foster carer can provide.

What is fostering?

Being a foster parent means caring for someone else’s child as part of your family. Foster carers look after children who are unable to live with their parents, through no fault of their own. You'll be given lots of training and support, as well as allowances to cover living costs, the costs of food, travel and for the time you'll need to invest in supporting any child in your care.

Who can foster?

Lambeth Fostering welcome applications from everyone with a passion for caring. You just need to be over 21, have a spare room, good written and spoken English, and permanent UK residency.

Find out how you can be the difference: www.lambeth.gov.uk/be-the-difference

Have you downloaded the BJS Federation parent app?

Stay abreast of school events, book trips, clubs and give permission.

If you are finding it difficult to find your way around the app, check out our guide below.