News and Gallery

We have had a busy half term of singing for our Junior Choir Children.  Not only have children been rehearsing and singing in their Christmas shows, but there have also been seven Junior Choir performances! The first performance was singing at the Mayor's Thanksgiving Service at St Mary's Church, Twickenham on Sunday 17th November.  Year 5 & 6 members of the choir also sang an assortment of Christmas carols at the Squires Garden Centre Shopping Evening to a large and enthusiastic audience of parents, friends and shoppers.  Year 6 Junior Choir children sang in the local community at the Gifford Lodge Christmas Coffee Morning and the whole choir sang at the Holy Trinity Pop Up Coffee Morning.

The Junior choir performed at Holy Trinity Church, joining the Trinity Singers at the hugely popular candle-lit Carol Service on Sunday 15th December where together they sang a beautiful rendition of Away in a Manger.  Our Junior Choir also showed off their beautiful harmonies and singing at our annual End of Term and Christmas Service during the carols.

The absolute highlight of the Junior Choir's activities was on the evening of Sunday 8th December where they had been invited to perform a Christmas Concert jointly with the prestigious West London Chamber Choir at St James' Church, Hampton Hill.  We have sung with this choir before but this time were asked to perform two longer challenging Christmas vocal works 'Christus Natus Est' by Cecilia McDowall and the song cycle 'On Christmas Night' by Bob Chilcott.  Not only did the children sing alongside the adults (in Latin) but they also sang six carols by themselves and the results were spectacular.  We received hearty cheers from the audience and many compliments, including from award-winning conductor Hilary Campbell who was very impressed with the standard of the choir as well as their behaviour and organisation. 

Many thanks to children and especially Ms Dallosso for all the wonderful singing that we have been enjoying from the Junior Choir this Christmas.  Thank you too, to all the Junior Choir parents for supporting the children in their rehearsals and performances.

The PTA hosted a fabulous day of Christmas Activities for Nursery - Year 6 including Father Christmas in his Grotto and the annual Family Present Stall (Elfridges!).  Classes visited Father Christmas and were given a class present and at the Family Present Stall, children were able to choose a present for a family member which was then wrapped for them to take home and save for Christmas Day.  The PTA also provided the classes with a Christmas craft to make in their classrooms.  Our PTA Christmas Activities Day is a wonderful way for the school to start the Festive Season.

On Wednesday 20th November, we welcomed Bishop Emma to Archdeacon Cambridge's school.  Bishop Emma started the morning by leading our Wednesday Collective Worship with Reverend Simon from Holy Trinity Church during which the children had the opportunity to ask some questions in 'Grill a Bishop' and came up with some challenging questions!  Children were also able to to try on her mitre and construct and hold her crosier.  After Collective Worship, Bishop Emma and Reverend Simon toured the school and met with children and staff in their classrooms. 

Last Saturday, we had our final Wildlife Area Dig Day for the year and after a very wet start to the day the sun came out.  Children, Parents and staff worked hard making bug hotels with stones, wood, broken pots, pipe and hay and enjoyed spending time at the pond watching Theresa prepare the pond for winter.

Reception, Infant and Year 3 children are really enjoying the new Infant Play Tower in the Infant Playground which has been fully funded by our PTA.  Construction of the tower began in the last week of the Summer Term and children were able to watch the builders work and put the tower together.  Work was finished in the Summer holidays with the laying of the new green surface.  This really is a great addition to our Infant Playground and we are very grateful to parents and the PTA who raised the money for the Play Tower.

In our School Foyer Area, we have a fantastic Windrush art installation made by our Year 6 year group when they were in Year 5 in the Summer Term.  The installation is inspired by the Empire Windrush Event that began on 22nd June 1948.  Children were studying the core text 'The Story of the Windrush' by K.N.Chimbiri, watching videos, reading diary entries and were immersed in the thoughts and feelings of the passengers.  During art lessons, children made wire figures to represent people who made the journey to the UK and in conjunction with their art, they also wrote poems based on this significant time in British History.  The art installation will remain in the foyer until the Autumn Half Term and throughout October's Black History Month.  Please do come in and take a look.

Mrs Buncher and our Year 6's have made a wonderful Cycle Wheel Dome for the Junior Playground.  We are very grateful for the donation of cycle wheels from parents, Richmond Cycles, Dan the Bike Man and Halfords.  

Congratulation to David Attenborough House who won the Sports Day Plate and the Swimming Gala Cup this year.  Last week we enjoyed lovely weather for our Health, Fitness and Sports Week where children took part in different activities including dance and dodgeball and learnt about how to keep healthy and fit.  Year 1 made and ate their own fruit salad.  Years 3-6 took part in their Swimming Galas in the school pool which was won overall by David Attenborough House. On Friday, Infants and Juniors took part in Sports Day on Twickenham Green and collected house points for the events.  Mo Farah House won the Infants Sports Day and David Attenborough won the Junior Sports Day and was the winning house overall.  On Friday afternoon, our annual Year 6 vs Staff Golden Child Netball competition took place which the whole school watched and was a draw this year!

On Friday 7th June, the School Council Team and the new AC Ambassadors launched 'The Big Help Out' by giving up some of their lunchtime to help tidy up the playground and collect any litter debris or recyclable items (most of which blows into our school grounds).  On Saturday 8th June we then welcomed families who took part in the litter pick in the areas around the school.  We had a helping hand from Richmond Council who generously lend the school sets of litter pickers and bags.  We were amazed by how much was collected by everyone.  Many thanks to Mrs Jones for organising our litter collections.

We also held an extended Wildlife Area Dig Day on Saturday 8th June and were delighted that so many Archdeacon Families came along to volunteer an hour or more working in our wonderful outdoor space.  Thank you especially to Theresa and Jill, Ms van den Broek and everyone who came along to the Dig Day!

On Saturday 11th May, 29 children from the Junior Choir sang at St Mary Magdalene's Church in central Richmond as part of the annual Richmond May Fair celebrations and in aid of the Richmond Soup Kitchen Charity.  It's a really historic church with a wonderful historic church with wonderful acoustics and our children sounded gorgeous.  The church was filled with sunlight streaming through the windows and beautiful singing from our children.  It is a lovely event to be part of as the choir has the opportunity to sing a whole programme of songs by ourselves.  We are very proud of our choir children for working so hard on the songs and very grateful to their families and friends for giving up their Saturday morning to come and support them.  The church ministry have been in touch to say thank you and told us that we helped them raise a total of £3500 for the charity.  They are absolutely delighted and have already invited us back next year!

Grinling Gibbons (1648 - 1721) was Britain's most celebrated wood carver who transformed the interiors of many of the nation's greatest palaces, churches and institutions.  Year 4 saw some of his work when they visited Hampton Court in the Spring Term and inspired by the carvings, children have made their own examples.

Despite the weather being very wintery, we have enjoyed our Easter celebrations this year.  We had 10 chicks hatch through The Living Egg project funded by the PTA and children enjoyed watching the eggs hatch and then the chicks grow very quickly! Years 1 & 2 took part in an Easter Journey at Holy Trinity Church led by Rev Simon.  On the last day of the Spring Term our Reception, Year 1 and 2 year groups made and brought in some beautiful Easter baskets for our annual Easter parade.  Parents came into school to watch and everyone sang Easter songs.

On Friday 22nd March, Year 3 enjoyed a Romans and Celts Day in school.  Children and staff dressed as Romans or Celts and enjoyed activities such as dancing, mosaic making and collating their museum pieces that they had made at home.

On Tuesday 12th March 50 children from the Junior Choir travelled up to London by train to take part in Prom Praise for Schools (PP4S) at the Royal Albert Hall. This is a wonderful Christian musical event organised by All Souls Music for London Diocesan Board Schools. Archdeacon Junior Choir has sung in many PP4S concerts in the past and last took part in 2019.  PP4S 2024 was based around the story of King David, with actors, singers and dancers telling the story, the All Souls Orchestra and the Royal Albert Hall organ playing the music, and a massed choir of children from primary schools across London singing related songs and backing vocals. We arrived at the Royal Albert Hall early in the afternoon for a rehearsal with the orchestra. It was an amazing sight to see the hall from the outside as we walked up the steps opposite the Royal College of Music, and even more amazing to see it from the inside, with its red plush upholstery, gold fittings, and of course the iconic dome rising above us. After the rehearsal we had a break to eat a packed supper, then the Hall gradually filled up with an audience of parents and friends. The concert itself was wonderful, with a focus on the idea that it's not what you look like from the outside that's important - it's the kindness and love inside every one of us that really counts. We were really proud of all of our choir children for their exemplary behaviour and gorgeous singing. It was a long and exciting day, and we were very happy to climb onto the coach to take us back to school when it was all over. 

Last week we celebrated Book Week in school.  We were delighted to welcome back poet Rachel Piercey to Archdeacon who lead workshops for all children in Reception to Year 6.  Rachel also signed copies of her books for children and has inspired them all in their poetry writing.  During the week all year groups studied the book 'Our Tower' by Joseph Coelho and illustrated by Richard Johnson.  This book is about 3 children who go in search of adventure only to find that the magic of the ancient forest is not so different from the magic right at home in their Tower Block.  During our Book Week Assembly, children presented their thoughts and writing about 'Our Tower' to the school and on Friday 8th March, children were invited to come into school dressed in something linked to the theme 'Creating Magic'.  Children and staff dressed in some fabulous costumes and the whole school felt 'magical'!

(Pictures credit: Nicola Tree Photography  www.nicolatree.com)

On Friday 8th March, we welcomed Munira Wilson to Archdeacon Cambridge's School.  As well as holding our annual Book Week Costume Day, we were taking part in the Football Association's #LetGirlsPlay.  Munira met with our Girls Football Team who have made it through to the Last 16 of the Borough Tournament and she also joined in with the various football activities that our staff and Girls Football Team had organised for Archdeacon Girls.  Munira then held an assembly for our Years 4-6 who were able to ask her questions about her life and work as an MP.

Before half term, our School Council arranged a 'Heartbeat' Fundraising day to raise funds towards the new defibrillator at Holy Trinity Church.  Children were invited to come to school in their own clothes with a red/pink or heart theme if they wished and classes created collages of what hearts mean to them. The day raised over £600! The defibrillator is now in place and Year 5 & 6 councillors, Mrs Jones (School Council Lead) and Miss Lambe are pictured with Rev Simon from Holy Trinity Church.

Before half term, our Year 5 children enjoyed some action packed days during their residential School Journey.  During their stay, children and staff took part in caving, orienteering, low ropes, a night walk and pond dipping and also enjoyed the disco!  Some comments from the children's activity reports include 'We had a brilliant few days and time whizzed by.  From caving to the Night Walk, I'll never forget it!'  'The low ropes was the activity that scared me the most but by the end it was my favourite activity!'  'Year 5 all enjoyed doing our orienteering with maps and compasses to find our way around the site' 'I loved caving - it was one of my favourite activities'.

Congratulations to our team of 11 pupils from Years 4, 5 & 6 who took part in the Richmond Borough Swimming Gala Heats on Thursday 8th February.  We are really proud of the team who came back with many medals including gold for the 3 x 1 Girls Medley and gold in the 4 x 1 Mixed Relay Final.  We are delighted that our girls have won the Medium Schools Swimming Trophy.

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the amazing Twickenham Conservation Volunteers worked hard in our Wildlife Area laying a hedge and clearing and tidying up the area for Spring and Summer.  We are so grateful to them for their time and expertise and staff and children will all benefit in this beautiful space.

On Monday 18^th December we held a whole school RE Day to explore the core Christian concepts of: God, Creation, The Fall, People of God, Incarnation, Gospel, Salvation and the Kingdom of God to help us with our understanding of the ‘Bible’s Big Story’ for Christians.

Each year group were given a Christian concept to investigate and then each child produced a piece of artwork to represent their given concept and a written explanation.

In the New Year, we will choose different pieces of the children’s artwork to represent each core Christian concept, which will then be used throughout the school to support RE learning.

Last week our Years 5 & 6 groups performed their Christmas Production 'Olivia' to parents.

Our Years 3 & 4 performed their Lessons and Carols at Holy Trinity Church last week.

Nursery and Reception and Years 1 & 2 performed their nativities to parents in the Large Hall in school last week.

On the evening of Wednesday 6th December, a number of our amazing Archdeacon staff walked 5K from the Star Pub in Hampton via The Three Kings in Twickenham and finally onto the Vic Inn in Richmond dressed as characters from the Nativity.  The walk was in aid of Shelter who support people at risk of homelessness and Archdeacon families and friends helped them raise over £2100!  They were met at the Vic Inn by our friendly Inn Keeper, Miss Lambe for a well deserved warming drink as it was very cold! 

Congratulations to our Girls Football Team who reached the Quarter Finals of the Borough Football Tournament in November after being placed 2nd in their Group.  Our team played brilliant showing a great positive attitude and togetherness as a team. Our Boys Football Team also played well in their Borough Football Tournament but unfortunately lost out in the knock out stages.  Both the girls and boys teams have played league matches against other local schools and have had  number of matches postponed to next term due to the heavy rain we have experienced.

Last week we held our second Wildlife Area Dig Day for the term and we completed the refurbishment of our Outdoor Learning Classroom.  Although the day started with torrential rain, we welcomed back former parents, friends and current parents, children and staff who worked hard all day and our Wildlife Area is looking fantastic!  We would also like to thank Les West, Tree Surgeon, who kindly donated the woodchip which we have spread on the pathways and Outdoor Learning Classroom

We had a fantastic turn out of families for our first Wildlife Dig Day of the year.  Everyone worked really hard for an hour or more on Saturday tidying up the Wildlife Area at the back of the school, moving woodchip and cutting back overgrowth.  We are looking forward to using our outdoor classroom again and classes will soon be pond dipping.  Our Dig Days are a great way to meet other families and enjoy the wonderful outdoor space together.  Many thanks to all our families and especially Ms van den Broek for all their hard work; our next Dig Day will be held in November when we will be preparing our outdoor space for the winter months.

On Tuesday 26th September, we held our famous Archdeacon Airport Day which is only held once every seven years! Each year group chose a country to fly to and children brought in a small suitcase which they had packed with five items they would need.  Passports had been made in class and the Small Hall was turned into a check in, security and departure lounge and the Large Hall was the plane and passport control.  We had two BA pilots and two BA cabin crew who are parents or friends of the school who 'flew' the children to their destination.  Children even enjoyed a biscuit and drink from the refreshment trolley.  Many thanks to Mrs Capon for organising such a fabulous day and thank you also to our wonderful pilots, cabin crew and our four ex pupils now at Orleans School who acted as baggage handlers.  We are also very grateful to  Archdeacon parents who volunteered as security and passport control throughout the day.

Year 5, have been reading 'The Story of the Windrush' by K.N, Chimbiri, as their core text this Summer Term.  The children learnt about the historical and social factors of the 'Windrush Generation' and planned an art installation with a view to convey their feelings and emotions. The installation was inspired by 'Dance' by Henri Matisse and the idea of a procession.

The children used photo images from original Windrush passengers along with flags from the countries that the Windrush and other vessels docked at to pick up passengers.  Children also thought about what skills, culture and flavours they bought to Britain.

Year 6 have enjoyed their residential trip to PGL Liddington this month.  They stopped off at Stonehenge on the way there and during their visit, they took part in climbing, orienteering, zip wire and team games.  It was a fantastic way to spend time together as a year group after their SATS and as they come to the end of their Primary School years.

As part of our celebrations for the Coronation of King Charles III, each Year Group has been learning about a different King or Queen for the United Kingdom.  The Year Groups have together a wall display in school about their King or Queen they studies.

Our Year 5 children have been busy in DT designing and sewing cushions based on the artist Sonia Delauney (1885 - 1889). Using geometric shapes and bold use of colour to design their cushion, children then used a variety of stitches including running stitch and blanket stitch and the sewing machine to put their cushion together.  Year 5 have also been studying The Egyptians as part of the history curriculum and have created wonderful masks.  We are all enjoying the displays of artwork in the school.

We were very relieved that the rain stayed away for our annual Infant Easter Parade in the Junior Playground.  This year Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children made colourful Easter Bonnets at home and sang their favourite Easter songs to watching parents.  Children were able to wear spring colours instead of school uniform for the day!

We have been enjoying watching our chicks hatch and grow during the past week.  All 10 eggs hatched between Tuesday and Wednesday last week and we have 6 girls and 4 boys.  Nursery and Reception children have been coming up in groups to see the chicks and later this week the chicks will be visiting some of the classrooms.  At the end of the week, the chicks will be returning to the farm.

Last week we had an invasion of Celt and Romans in school!  Year 3 celebrated the end of their history topic 'Invaders and Settlers' with a Celt and Roman Costume day.  Children had also made different objects including, coins, jewellery, shields, helmets and pots for the Year 3 Class Museums and during the day, our Celts and Romans made mosiac tiles and they also enjoyed listening to the Year 4 Brass Instrument concert! Before the end of term, Year 3 will be visiting the Roman Museum, Verulamium at St Albans.

Last week we celebrated the annual Book Week in school.  This year we had a focus on poetry and throughout the week every class had poetry based activities including writing their own poetry and learning a famous poem as a class.  The week culminated with a visit from local poet Rachel Piercey who led a whole school assembly and then hosted workshops for our Years 1-3 based on her woodland poetry.  Children found these workshops really inspirational and thoroughly enjoyed writing class woodland and animal poetry with her.  We also held a poetry themed costume day and children and staff came to school dressed up with a link to a poem of their choice. 

Our Year 6 children have been continuing their Greek DT topic and have made and painted some beautiful ancient Greek inspired pots.