Christ The King News

As we reach the end of another half term, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what has been an incredibly successful and enjoyable start to the school year. It has been a busy few weeks, filled with learning, achievement and memorable experiences, and I am immensely proud of all that our children and staff have accomplished.

This week began with a thoughtful and inspiring Collective Act of Worship led by our Deputy Headteacher, Mrs Lane. Reflecting on the Gospel message, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,” pupils explored the importance of honesty, responsibility and putting God first in our lives. The assembly encouraged the children to think about making good choices, showing kindness to others and remembering that we belong to God in all that we do.

Our youngest pupils in Nursery and Reception deserve special recognition for the fantastic start they have made. Settling into a new school can be a big step, but they have embraced school life with enthusiasm and confidence. They have quickly learned the routines and expectations of school, formed strong friendships and become a valued part of our school community. It has been wonderful to see them grow in independence already.

Across the school, children have demonstrated a positive attitude to their learning and a determination to do their best. This is particularly evident in Year 6, who have begun their final year of primary school with maturity and focus, working hard and setting an excellent example for younger pupils.

The past half term has also been packed with enrichment opportunities which reflect the outstanding personal development opportunities recognised in our most recent Ofsted inspection. Our boys’ and girls’ football teams have made an excellent start to the Islington tournaments, showing both skill and teamwork. Year 3 have enthusiastically welcomed the Adopt a Chef programme, helping them learn more about healthy eating and food preparation. We were also delighted to receive a Bronze Music Award in recognition of the high-quality music provision we provide for our pupils.

Children across the school have benefited from a wide range of experiences, including Bikeability training, educational visits and exciting trips. Pupils have enjoyed opportunities to visit places such as Arsenal and Cambridge, broadening their horizons and bringing their learning to life. Today, we were also delighted to hold our whole-school poetry competition, which showcased the creativity, confidence and talent of so many of our children.

This week, St Maximilian Class enjoyed their well-deserved trip to the London Aquarium, using the prize money they earned for achieving the best class attendance last academic year. Attendance remains a key priority for our school, and we are pleased to confirm that this initiative will continue this year, with the class achieving the highest attendance once again earning a special reward.

What stands out most when reflecting on the term is the positive and vibrant atmosphere that exists throughout our school. Our children arrive each day ready to learn, challenge themselves and support one another, while our dedicated staff work tirelessly to ensure every child receives the very best education and experiences possible. Together, they make our school a wonderful place to learn and grow.

Next half term promises to be just as busy as we continue our learning journeys and begin preparations for Christmas. The festive season is always a particularly special time in a primary school, and we look forward to sharing many exciting events and celebrations with you.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our parents and carers for your continued support. The partnership between home and school plays a vital role in our success, and we are grateful for everything you do to support your children and our wider school community.

I wish you all a restful and enjoyable half-term break. Please remember that Monday 2 November is an INSET Day and the school will be closed to pupils. Children return to school on Tuesday 3 November.

Thank you once again for your continued support, and I look forward to welcoming everyone back for another exciting half term.

Mr Lane

We are delighted to share the wonderful news that Miss Ritherdon and her partner, Nick, have welcomed their baby son, River.

River was born on 20th September and is doing well.

Congratulations to the whole family on their lovely new arrival.

A reminder to all Year 6 parents and carers that applications for secondary school places must be submitted by 31 October. If you have not yet completed your application, please ensure this is done before the deadline to avoid any difficulties with the transfer process.

Remember you must apply to the borough in which you live. You can apply to schools in any borough through your own borough application.

Following the half-term break, we look forward to welcoming parents and carers to our Parent and Teacher Meetings, which will take place on

Appointments can be booked through your Arbor app. Please contact the school office if you need any support with this.

We strongly encourage all parents and carers to make an appointment, as these meetings provide an important opportunity to discuss your child's progress and attainment, celebrate their successes, look through samples of their work, and discuss any questions or concerns you may have regarding their learning and development.

The partnership between home and school is key to ensuring every child achieves their full potential, and these meetings play an important role in strengthening that partnership. We look forward to meeting with you and sharing the excellent progress your children have made so far this year.

Behind the scenes there has been plenty of hard work, planning and paperwork, and we're delighted to share some fantastic news. Christ the King has been awarded the Bronze Music Award by Islington Music Service in recognition of our outstanding practice in music education.

This award celebrates the high-quality musical opportunities available to our children and reflects our commitment to ensuring that music is a vibrant and valued part of school life. We are already working towards the Silver Music Award, and with a few additional developments planned over the coming months, we are hopeful of achieving this by Christmas.

A huge thank you to our staff, pupils and families for supporting music at Christ the King. A special thank you to our music lead in school- Miss Smith.

We look forward to sharing more exciting musical achievements with you soon! 🎼🎤🎻

At Christ the King, we believe that every interaction matters because every person matters. The way we speak to one another, respond to challenges and show kindness each day helps shape our school community and has a lasting impact on children's wellbeing, confidence and learning.

Our Every Interaction Matters initiative is about creating a culture where every child and adult feels valued, respected and safe. We want every interaction, whether in the classroom, playground, at the school gate or online, to be positive, supportive and rooted in our school values of being Ready, Respectful and Safe.

We are promoting this initiative because research and experience tell us that positive relationships are at the heart of successful schools. Children learn not only from what we teach them, but from what they see and experience every day. By modelling respectful communication, empathy and understanding, we help children develop the social and emotional skills they need to thrive.

Parents and carers play a vital role in this. Children notice how adults speak to one another, resolve disagreements and respond to frustrations. By treating others with kindness and respect, speaking positively about school and demonstrating patience and understanding, families can help reinforce the messages we are teaching in school.

Together, we can ensure that every interaction, no matter how small, contributes to a caring, respectful and inclusive community where everyone feels they belong.

Every interaction matters because every person matters.

We are incredibly lucky to have our brand-new Reading Book Hut, stocked with a wonderful selection of new books for children and families to enjoy. We warmly invite parents to borrow books, share them together at home, and return them when finished so that everyone in our school community can benefit. The Book Hut is located outside of the library and can be accessed via the KS1 gate.

Reading for pleasure is one of the most powerful ways to support a child’s learning and wellbeing. Research from the National Literacy Trust shows that children who enjoy reading are more likely to read regularly, develop stronger literacy skills, build empathy and improve their overall wellbeing. In the UK, reading for enjoyment is a national priority, with the National Year of Reading 2026 encouraging families to make reading a part of everyday life. Thank you for helping us create a thriving culture of reading and for making the most of this fantastic new resource.

Please find attached your menu for Autumn-Winter which starts on 2nd November 2026.

Please also see the attachments below for information on allergies and intolerances.

We continue to monitor attendance closely and would like to thank all parents and carers for working in partnership with us. Our aim is to bring attendance in line with the Islington target, which we are currently below. We want to ensure that every child receives the full educational entitlement they deserve. This means attending school every day and arriving on time so they can benefit from all the learning opportunities available to them.

You may notice a greater focus on attendance across the school. This may include:

• More regular communication regarding attendance levels.
• Earlier conversations with families where attendance begins to decline.
• Celebration of strong and improved attendance.
• Meetings and support plans for pupils whose attendance causes concern.
• Close working with the local authority and other external agencies where appropriate.

We ask all parents and carers to support us by:

• Ensuring children attend school every day unless they are genuinely too unwell to do so.
• Arranging medical appointments outside school hours whenever possible.
• Avoiding holidays during term time.
• Informing the school promptly if your child is unable to attend.

By working together, we can continue to improve attendance, maximise learning opportunities and ensure that every child at Christ the King has the best possible chance to flourish.

Our parents are a vital part of our school community, and we'd love for you to share your experience with us.

Please click the link below to complete a short parent testimonial. A testimonial is simply a few comments about what you and your child enjoy about our school, and how your experience has been.

Your feedback helps us celebrate the wonderful things happening in our community and gives prospective families a genuine insight into school life.

Thank you for taking a few moments to share your thoughts and support our school! 🌟

Click below to submit your testimonial:

Next half term for Science Year 3 will be investigating Light and will need lots of boxes for initial investigations and their final task, which is making a shadow puppet show.

Please drop off any shoebox sized boxes to the office

Thank you in advance

Each Friday in our Celebration Assembly, we proudly award Special Mention Certificates to children who have demonstrated one of our 5 Keys and gone above and beyond in living out our school values.

These children are recognised for their exceptional effort, positive attitude, kindness, resilience, or contribution to our school community.

As a special reward, certificate recipients are invited to attend Hot Chocolate Club with Miss Brady, where they can celebrate their achievement and enjoy some well-deserved recognition.

We are incredibly proud of all the children who consistently strive to be their very best and set such a wonderful example for others. Congratulations to all of our Special Mention winners! 🎉

Well done for unlocking one of our 5 Keys and showing what it means to go above and beyond! ✨

St Francis- Nursery

Lyncoln- Hunger to Achieve

for always making good choices, following our class rules and always willing to help others.

Taliana- Curiosity and Wonder

for settling into nursery and using her curiosity to explore new things and making lots of new friends.

St Nicholas- Reception

Golden- Hunger to achieve

for working so hard in phonics and making great progress with Set 1 sounds

Max- safe and responsible

for going above and beyond to care for God's creation, our environment and all his friends.

St Therese- Year 1

Caleb - the Power of Me.

You have written some fantastic sentences in your writing lessons and have made sure to use capital letters and full stops correctly. Well done!

Hudson -demonstrating the Power of Me.

You can build simple sentences and write matching number sentences independently. Well done!

St Patrick- Year 2

Elijah for Community Unity.

Elijah consistently shows a positive attitude through his kindness, politeness and excellent manners. He regularly checks in on both his peers and adults and helps to make our classroom a happy and welcoming place for everyone.

Sofia -Hunger to Achieve.

Sofia always tries her best and has produced excellent work in English this week. Even when learning is challenging, she approaches it with determination and a positive attitude. She is a wonderful role model.

St Margaret- Reception, Year 1/2

The whole class for being ready respectful and safe during our R.E creation topic

St Martin- Year 3

Amber -Safe and Responsible

for setting a wonderful example to others while praying the rosary at Mass

Sienna -Community Unity

for trying her best in all her lessons at school and being so happy to see everyone each morning

St Bernadette- Year 4/5

Eliona Hunger to Achieve

for producing a beautiful poster in RE.

Mia- Hunger to Achieve

for showing an amazing commitment in reading this week. She has read every day and has shown a huge improvement

St Josephine- Year 4/5

Eva- Power of Me

when writing about Joseph and how he showed the virtues when facing adversity

Zidan- Power of Me

within all of his learning by becoming independent in the tasks he is completing

St Maximillian- Year 4/5

Mario -Power of Me

for independent writing during English. He worked incredibly hard, using a range of writing features accurately and effectively. His presentation was also outstanding, showing great pride in his work. Well done, Mario!

Tomasz- Curiosity and Wonder

for asking thoughtful questions in his computing lessons and engaging enthusiastically with his learning. He created a fantastic poster about how to stay safe online, demonstrating both creativity and a good understanding of online safety. Well done, Tomasz!

St Carlo- Year 6

Etienne – Hunger to achieve

Etienne has produced high-quality pieces of work in RE this term especially his piece relating to the Nicene Creed.

David – Curiosity and Wonder

David was engaged and inspired by the performance Drastic Plastic Fantastic. He asked relevant questions and considered the impact of plastic on his life and the environment.

We are pleased to share that Maia took part in a Taekwondo competition at the University of East London on 17th October, where she achieved 3rd place in the Girls’ Under 11 category .

She has also successfully passed her Taekwondo grading exams and achieved her green belt.

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and Olympic sport that focuses on kicking techniques, speed, balance, discipline and self-defence.

The word taekwondo can be broken down into:

• Tae (태) = foot or kicking
• Kwon (권) = fist or punching
• Do (도) = way or discipline

So taekwondo is often translated as "the way of the foot and fist."

26-30th October - HALF TERM

02/11/26- INSET day- school closed

03/11/26- Girl's football match (after school)

05/11/25-Whole School Mass- All Saint - led by St Martin (Year 3), computing workshops

06/11/26- Poetry Performance for Parents

10/11/26- parents evening

11/11/26- St Therese (Year 1) visit to Transport Museum

12/11/26- parent's evening

13/11/26- St Martin (Year 3) Class assembly

20/11/26- St Carlo (Year 6)- class assembly

WB 23/11/26- Year 2 Bikeability week

26/11/26- Boys football (during school)

Each week, we share the Wednesday Word with parents. The aim of the Wednesday Word to help children grow their vocabulary and spark meaningful conversations at home about the weekly Gospel. It’s a simple but powerful way to make talking about the Gospel and the things Jesus said and did and how we can relate this to our own lives in a fun and interactive way.

How can parents use the Wednesday Word?

• Talk about the meaning: Ask your child what they think the word means, then explore it together.
• Use it in conversation: Challenge each other to use the word naturally during the day.
• Create together: Draw a picture, write a sentence, or make up a short story using the word.
• Connect to experiences: Ask questions like, “When have you felt this word?” or “Where might you see this word in action?”

We are pleased to offer drum lessons at Christ the King Primary School!

Lessons will take place within the school, during school hours.

Lessons start from £8 per session.

Please note:

• Monday 2nd November is an INSET day and school will be closed for all children

Follow us over there to see how we celebrate our children at Christ the King, every day!

Click on the picture to go to our page or follow us at @ctk_islington