Headteacher News
Dear Parents and Carers
On behalf of all the staff at Tetherdown I would like to thank you to everyone who sent kind words of condolence following the death of Mrs Kyriacou. Your messages of love and thoughtfulness have helped colleagues, friends and family to reflect on how special she was to us and the legacy that she leaves behind.
As you may have noticed work has begun on our outdoor play area to install a wonderful new climbing frame. Friends of Tetherdown have funded this amazing project which we are dedicating to Mrs Kyriacou. These images show a mock-up of what we are installing and the current work in progress. Children are extremely excited and are able to watch (from a safe distance) the progress our contractors are making. We hope that children will be able to access this exciting new learning space by w/c Monday 13th March. This is Phase 1 of our Outdoor Learning Strategy, and we hope to complement the surrounding space by providing some lovely shrubs, trees, bushes and additional play structures. Your kind donations and fundraising will be invaluable over the coming months – so a big thank you in advance.
We are all super excited about this project and others being organised by Friends of Tetherdown but as you can appreciate, all schools nationally are struggling to manage under the current financial crisis. Tetherdown is one of the lowest funded schools in Haringey because of our demographic make up, and so we rely on your support and fundraising to help us to achieve many of our goals. This is why we have asked parents to consider making a regular donation to the School Fund. Please read this letter, here drafted by the Friends of Tetherdown asking for your continuing support. We hope you can help us to make a difference.
I would like to thank all those parents who have supported our Arts Event Week, this week, where children and teachers have focused on a variety of activities to focus learning on Music, Art and Design Technology. The children have had great fun reflecting on skills they have learnt in the past, complemented by new skills developed this week which have led to some amazing products, pieces of art work and songs. Thank you to all those parents who contributed their time to share their fascinating careers with our children which has enhanced their awareness of career opportunities for the future, too. Our week culminated in a lovely assembly whereby all the children got to share and see everyone’s work. Thank you to the staff who have gone above and beyond to ensure this week was a success. You can read more about this week from our roving children reporters!
At the start of February we opened our doors again and welcomed families to come and see their child’s work as part of our Open afternoon & Parents’ Evening experience. Thank you for your support and engagement with the teachers. If you were unable to meet the teacher for a one to one catch up please do try to make a separate appointment as it is so important for us to work in partnership to secure your child’s success.
On a really exciting note, I was fascinated to learn that one of our own staff, Ms Kelly Woodward (lunchtime and After School Club), has recently been working with the Harry Kane Foundation to raise awareness of mental health and well-being among children. As a scriptwriter, Kelly collaborated to produce a short animation promoting Harry Kane’s long-term goal to help transform a generation’s thinking about mental health. This short animation film has been entered into a national competition and is in the final stages. Kelly’s script identifies the challenges children face, through the theme of football and identifies how being resilient can support and transform lives.
The Charity Film Awards is the world’s biggest campaign to promote cause-based films. Since its creation, more than 2,500 causes have benefitted – gaining exposure, donations and volunteers. The awards, powered by Smiley Movement, are recognised by both BFI and IMDb. The Smiley Movement is a platform for change with a vision: to inspire positive change in society by highlighting the people – and organisations – doing good in our world. They are a non-profit community interest company, sponsored by the original SmileyⓇ brand. Through their four main content pillars – equality, planet, wellbeing and culture – they align all their work with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals Here is the link to vote for the FINAL 🙂 and watch the short film for - Harry Kane Resilience: https://smileycharityfilmawards.com/videos/harry-kane-resilience Please feel free to share with your child(ren), friends and family. I’m sure you will be blown away by the messages contained in the film and I know Ms Woodward would be very grateful for your vote. I hope this animation might inspire your child to consider joining in our very own Animation Competition being launched later in the year.
Please read on for further news and updates regarding our learning at Tetherdown, with reports on trips, assemblies and workshops from staff and children.
Thank you for your continuing support.
Tony Woodward
Headteacher
