Latest News | Merton Abbey Primary School

Sonoro Opera Workshop

Fri 11 Jun 2021

Y6 had an amazing up-close experience of the opera today. Professional singers from Sonoro opera led a workshop, introducing children to a range of different singing styles. It was a truly captivating experience. Being so close to the singers allowed the children to feel the power of the music and the intensity of the emotions. You can see a clip of the workshop by clicking here: Sonoro Opera Workshop.

The children will be following the music workshop with two related art activities. We look forward to sharing the children's artwork with you soon. Thank you to our community partners Merton Music Foundation for making these workshops happen.

Mayor of Merton Visit

Tue 30 Mar 2021

Recently the Major of Merton, Cllr Sally Kenny, visited the school to present Headteacher Mr Bradley with a certificate in recognition of the school's committed dedication, professionalism, and resilience in educating your children during the COVID19 pandemic.

World Book Day 2021

Tue 30 Mar 2021

We enjoyed celebrating World Book Day 2021 in school and encouraging the children to read and discover new books!

Children and staff made an amazing effort at dressing up as a book character and there were some fabulous costumes.

Full Reopening of School - Monday 8th March

Wed 03 Mar 2021

Full reopening of Schools Under COVID-19 Restrictions

We are delighted that we are able to welcome the children back to school on Monday 8th March. Most of our routines and procedures will run in a similar way to the Autumn Term, but please check your emails and messages on MyEd, as they contain important information on how to help us keep the whole community safe as the children return to school.

Christingle 2020

Fri 18 Dec 2020

On Thursday 17th December, Year 4 visited Trellis House to sing for the residents in the courtyard. The residents really appreciated the children's performance - well done Year 4!

Full opening of school - September 2020

Tue 01 Sep 2020

Please see the letter below for information about the school's reopening:

Thursday 27 August 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

Full reopening of schools under COVID-19 restrictions

I hope you and your families are well. I am writing with further details about the reopening of school to all children at Merton Abbey on Thursday 3 September. Please remember that the school is closed to all children on Wednesday 2 September for a staff INSET day. This is important as the staff teams need to have additional training as we prepare to welcome back all pupils. This will help to keep everyone as safe as possible.

At Merton Abbey, we were fortunate to have welcomed back most children before the summer holidays. This means staff are well prepared for full reopening next week. However, as we are now preparing to welcome back all pupils, some further adjustments to our procedures are needed. Please read the following information carefully: while some of it is the same as the guidance for July, there are also some important changes.

Actions to keep children safe and changes to our usual routines and procedures

1 Minimizing contact with individuals who are unwell

The most important action to keep children and staff safe is to ensure that those who have coronavirus symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, do not come to school.

2 Handwashing and keeping clean

Children will wash hands on arrival, before leaving and frequently throughout the day. Children will be supervised to ensure they are washing their hands properly. Children will be taught further lessons in the importance of good hygiene.

If children wear a mask to school, they must take it off by themselves and put it in a sealed bag.

3 Ensuring good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘Catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach

Children will be taught the Catch it, bin it, kill it approach once again. Classrooms with exterior doors will be used wherever possible to ensure good ventilation and to reduce the movement of children through corridors in school.

4 Cleaning frequently touched surfaces often

Cleaning of high touch surfaces (e.g. bannisters and toilets) will be cleaned in the middle as well as at the end of the day. Unnecessary equipment has been removed from classrooms.

5 Minimizing contact as much as possible

Children will work in consistent class groups with the same two adults each day. These groups will be kept consistent and separate: they will not come into contact with other groups of children. Each group will use the same classroom. Some children will eat their lunch in their classroom to ensure that different classes do not come into contact with each other in the dinner hall. Breaks and lunchtime will be staggered. Children will be able to play with children in their own class at playtime and lunchtime but they will not be allowed to mix with other groups. For equipment that is frequently used, children will have their own items in school (e.g. pens and pencils). Children should only bring essential items to school e.g. hats, coats, reading books.

Children should bring a water bottle.
Children may bring a packed lunch if necessary.

6 The beginning and the end of the day

Arrangements for the beginning and the end of the day have been changed to promote social distancing and to ensure that large numbers of pupils and parents do not congregate. Parents will now be allowed to come into the playground to avoid congestion on the narrow pavement outside the school. However, parents must not congregate in groups in the playground nor must they come inside the school building. Parents and carers must wait in their family groups and not mix with others. The system for arriving at school is very similar to the pre-COVID19 arrangement, because this is efficient and does not lead to larger numbers of adults being on the school playground at the same time. However, the arrangement at the end of the day has been changed to avoid people congregating in the playground.

Children in Nursery and Reception will enter by the Early Years entrance, near St John the Divine church.

Children in Y1 to Y5 will enter by the gate on the field.

Children in Y6 will enter via the courtyard.

Nursery children may enter from 8:30am – the start time for the nursery session.

Children in other year groups may enter the playground from 8:40am.

Classroom doors will open at 8:45am. When children arrive, they should come straight inside and their adults should leave the site promptly. Classroom doors and the school gates will close promptly at 8:53am.

Children in Reception, Y1, Y3 and Y5 will be dismissed at 3:20pm.

Children in Nursery, Y2, Y4 and Y6 will be dismissed at 3:30pm.

This staggered exit time is essential to promote social distancing.

It is extremely important that children in each year group arrive and are collected at the correct time for their year group. Staggered entry and exit are essential to promote social distancing. Parents will come to the playground to collect their children, but they must remain in their family groups. Parents must not congregate on the playground or outside the school.

Travel advice from Transport for London remains that children should walk, cycle or scooter to school whenever possible. Public transport should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

After School Club and Breakfast Club

After School Club and Breakfast Club will resume at the beginning of term. Bookings must be made online a week in advance. Priority will be given to key workers and to those using the service every day, as this will help to keep the group consistent.

School uniform

School uniform will go on sale on Wednesday 2 September from 1:00pm. Please remember that only one family should enter the Reception area at a time. Families waiting must queue outside the school building.

I hope you can see we have given careful thought to these plans. We are determined to make it as safe as possible for all children to return to school. I look forward to welcoming your children back to school on Thursday 3 September.

Your sincerely,

Michael Bradley

Headteacher

Back to school: what is life in school like after lock down?

Mon 08 Jun 2020

Now that more children are returning to school, we have been working hard to make sure that they have a safe and positive experience when they come back. There are lots of new routines in place and the children are adapting to this very well.

These photographs show what school life is like now. You will be able to see that we are promoting social distancing; we are also making sure that children still have great opportunities to enjoy playing with their friends.

Merton Abbey Primary School in the Daily Telegraph!

Fri 05 Jun 2020

A photograph of the school and some our children featured in the Daily Telegraph today. It was part of an article about returning to school after the lock down.

Star of the Week Friday 24 April 2020

Mon 27 Apr 2020

This week's stars of the week, with comments from the class teachers are -

Y1 Wandle: Tai-Amari. She did a fantastic recount of her Easter holidays. She included lots of beautiful pictures and I really enjoyed reading her work.

Y2 Liberty: Maja - for always having a go at her Purple Mash work and responding really well to feedback. She has taken on board the comments I have given her and then implemented them into her work.

Y3 Nelson: Anita for awesome writing everyday. Not only for the focus Reading book, but about Ancient Egypt, too. Well done!!

Y4 Hardy: Sherlyn for always trying very hard and for writing a fantastic letter.

Y4 Triumph: Eliana for writing a very impressive, well-structured letter.

Y5 Victory: Neda - she has handed in some fantastic English work.

Y5 Napoleon: Mable puts 100% effort into her work online. Even though she was unable to access a video on Purple Mash, she did some research online so that she could still complete the work.

Y6 Trafalgar: Dominykas, who has been working very hard on all his online writing tasks. I am really impressed with the time he has been taking to edit his work, considering vocabulary and punctuation carefully. He has been very organised and consistent with his home learning and I always look forward to reading his work.

Well done everyone and keep and the good work!

School closure

Fri 20 Mar 2020

In line with government advice, school is now closed to the vast majority of children until further notice. Regular updates will be sent to parents and carers via email and will also be posted on this website.