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Friday 5th December 2025

Dear Families,

It may not have been a typical week at JKPS, but it was certainly an extraordinary one. We were deeply honoured to welcome Elke Büdenbender, wife of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as part of the first German state visit to the UK in 27 years.

During her time with us, she enjoyed a wonderful performance from the school choir, joined in singing a traditional German Christmas carol, and shared tea and cake with pupils. Some children were also treated to a special bilingual storytelling session, with Ms Büdenbender reading Jim’s Spectacular Christmas in both German and English, before she headed to visit the children in German Songs and Stories club.

The visit highlighted the strength of our school community and celebrated our commitment to bilingualism and the teaching of German; language learning is such a powerful way to break down frontiers and share culture.

We are incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to showcase the talents of the children and to be part of such a memorable and meaningful occasion. In assembly today, we discussed how state visits play an important role in extending a hand of friendship around the world.

Looking forward to seeing lots of you tomorrow at St Nikolaus Fair - from 1pm.

Schönes Wochenende!

Patrick 

Key messages:

9.00am - 10.00am Monday 8th December - We have another great CPD session for parents and carers being delivered by Southwark Mental Health Team on Monday 8th December 9am - 10am. The subject will be 'Emotion Coaching'

World exclusive from the Mog Chronicle! 

https://mogchronicle.com/2025/12/05/exclusive-german-first-ladys-visit-to-jkps/

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What's happening in and around school 

Road Safety Along Half Moon Lane: Martha, Sterenn, Ida, Kitty and Bea confidently presented in KS2 assembly about road safety along Half Moon Lane. They had represented Judith Kerr at Southwark Council a few weeks ago to speak to local councillors about their recent speed watch (87% of cars/vehicles were speeding!) and road safety concerns. They impressed the councillors so much that now there's a consultation in place to make changes! James McAsh, Goose Green's Labour Councillor, came to speak to KS2 about the consultation and needing everyone's opinion. Just to remind parents, Southwark Council have launched a consultation for changes to the zebra crossing and pavement outside the school on Half Moon Lane. The proposals include widening the pavement on the school side and raising the zebra crossing to slow traffic down.

Please do share your thoughts - deadline Tuesday 9th December.  https://engage.southwark.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/half-moon-crossing

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Reception had loads of fun at the Dulwich Picture Gallery!

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Meanwhile, some Year 1's went to Lidl ...

We are learning about senses in science...how can we test our sense of taste? We need a collection of food! Luckily, we won a voucher from Lidl school programme. We headed to Lidl in Brixton and navigated the aisles for savoury, sour and interesting foods to taste (don't worry no sweets!) We also learnt the importance of budgeting as we had £100 for the class, around £3 each. We also bought some items for the classroom to help our learning like crafty supplies and calm corner toys!​ Thanks to all the parents and carers who came along with us!

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Wellbeing Warriors and Eco Reps

Eco Reps and Wellbeing Warriors teamed up this afternoon to complete a mission. Reduce waste and lost property!

Like every school things go missing! Often things get lost and do not get returned to the owner as there is no name!​

Eco School and Wellbeing Warriors teamed up to label water bottles and items across the school!​ Please do make sure we name all items at school !

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Attendance

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School attendance is mandatory for all students of compulsory school age. Whilst we understand that it isn't always possible to reach 100% attendance, we are fully committed to ensuring the highest levels of attendance to ensure we enable every student to meet their potential.  

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Friends Corner

The Friends were delighted to get the newly named Floelle-Benjamin-Biobliothek ready in time for the state visit. This is the result of over £1k in financial support and 50 volunteering hours from the Friends. It looked beautiful, thank you to Anna Geldart for the design and to the many parents who put in hours of volunteering time as well as the ever amazing Alex from the staff team!

The team is working hard on St Nikolaus Fair preparations - events like this, and the other Christmas activities allow the Friends to continue to support the priorities of the staff team. Other major funding support this term has included the anti-racism workshops and the Sensory Room.

🎄🌟St Nikolaus Fair - 6th December 1-5pm

We are still short of volunteers, even half an hour helps lighten the load, especially at clear up time, please sign up here: https://legacy.signup.zone/7nLxzwbToB8JADEWx

Join us for a festive afternoon with:

✨ Wreath-making

✨ Crafts

✨ Pre-loved Uniform and Christmas Jumpers 

✨ Fresh waffles & cinnamon buns

✨ Debrecener, Bratwurst, Chilli Beef Frankfurter, Nürnberger & vegan sausages + potato pancakes

✨ Mulled wine, cider & hot chocolate

✨ Write a letter to Santa at the Elf Post Office 

✨ Choir Singing, stalls & a cosy bonfire

🧑‍🎄✉️Santa’s Post Office at the Nikolaus Fair

This year at the Nikolaus Fair, children will have the chance to send a letter or wish list to Santa/Nikolaus! Our Santa’s Post Office will be set up in the Woodland area during the fair.

How it works

  • Children can write their own letter to Santa, and template letters will also be available.
  • Templates are being handed out today to Nursery–Y3 before home time. Anyone else who would like to join in is very welcome—just come to the stall.
  • Envelopes, address labels and festive stamps will be provided.
  • Children can post their letters in our special Santa Mailbox during the fair.
  • A festive reply from Santa may be collected the following week (see below).

Important information about replies

  • Template letters are provided, but families are welcome to create their own.
  • Envelopes, stamps and the post box will all be available at the fair.
  • If you would like to receive your child’s letter, replies can be collected next Thursday after drop-off (i.e. when there aren't prying eyes).
  • Alternatively, we can send your child’s letter via the Royal Mail “Letters to Santa” service. Please bring a first-class stamp or contribute the cost of one at the stall.
  • Please note that while Royal Mail aims to answer as many letters as possible, a reply cannot be guaranteed.

🎤🎶 Music at the Nikolaus Fair

🎼 2:30–3:00pm – Carol Sing-Along: Join our adult singers for a festive sing-along with a warming glass of mulled wine—everyone’s welcome! 

🎼 3:15–3:45pm –Come and cheer on our Choir Club children as they sing the festive songs they’ve been working on this term. If your child is in Choir Club, please confirm their availability by signing up here:https://legacy.signup.zone/7nLxzwbToB8JADEWx

🎼 4:00–5:00pm – Special Performance by Peter Savizon, Y6 parent 

🎁🎟️Raffle

A big thank you to all our local business and parent sponsors - Our Nikolaus Fair Raffle has had some more prizes added, get your tickets before they sell out! Buy tickets here: https://app.galabid.com/nikolausfairraffle/items/066416d7-76f0-4b58-84e8-fd93d738ab8a

🌠🎁 Christmas Mugs and Decorations

Christmas mugs, magnets and decorations that were ordered as part of the Christmas Cards can be picked up from the Christmas Tree Stall or on Thursday at drop off.

Forward Look:

🎁 Friday 5th December - Wreath Making

🎄Saturday 6th December - Christmas Trees and Sankt Nikolaus Tag Winter Fair

🏂 Date TBD (after Christmas) - Secondhand Ski Clothes Sale

🇩🇪 19-24th January - Shout Out for German Week

🇦🇹 23rd January - Kaffee and Kuchen Pop-up (be ready to bake cakes)

More community news...

Thank you, as always, to the incredible gardening volunteers last weekend! What an amazing team!

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Final chance to have your say about road safety on Half Moon Lane

A final reminder that Southwark Council is running a consultation for changes to the zebra crossing and pavement outside the school on Half Moon Lane. The proposals include widening the pavement on the school side and raising the zebra crossing to slow traffic down. Please have a look and respond to the consultation by next Tuesday, 9th December. Children are very welcome to respond too - just tick “other” and then write “pupil” in the appropriate box. https://engage.southwark.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/half-moon-crossing

Children and tech parent talk

Thank you to everyone who attended the Papaya parent talk on November 18th, “Let’s Talk About Our Kids & Their Tech". Ruth Smyth from Papaya covered the latest research on EdTech, phones, and gaming. The session gave us practical tips on managing technology and supporting our children’s mental health, and several parents shared their experience of managing tech use at home and preparing for secondary school. Ruth’s slides can be viewed here, and the 2 pager handout can be found here. If you’d like to talk about this further and share ideas with other parents, please join the JKPS Smartphone Cautious WhatsApp group. 

Key Dates

Key dates coming up:

Rock Steady Concerts   Wednesday 10th (am/pm), Thursday 11th December (am)

NEST Parent coffee morning - Mental Health Toolkits: Everday habits for your and your child - 9am Monday 8th December

The NEST pupil workshops - Growing healthy relationships through conflict and connection - Monday 8th December 

EYFS Christmas Performances -

9:30am Reception/ 2:30pm Nursery                                         Tuesday 9th December

KS1 Christmas Production                                                        Tuesday 16th December

Winter Wonderland Morning                                                      Friday 19th December 

Autumn Term ends                                                        2pm Friday 19th December

Spring Term starts                                                                       Tuesday 6th January 

(Monday 5th January is a Staff INSET day)

Year 1 Trip to the Tate Modern                                                    Tuesday 20th January

Eco Council Trip to the Recycling Centre                                   Tuesday 27th January

KS2 African Drumming Workshops                                     Wednesday 11th February

More term dates are on our website, including dates for 2026-27. 

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