Deep Dive Form - Monday 3rd March 2025

Governance at PolyMAT

This week we were delighted to be able to welcome volunteers in governance roles from across the Trust to come together and explore how our schools help to give back to our local communities.

We were pleased to also welcome fantastic external speakers from the local police and Peabody to help us learn more about their work in the local area.

Thank you to everyone who attended this event and for the continuous support you provide to our schools within the Trust.

#governance #deepdiveforum #polymat #polymatschools #greenwich #thamesmead

Tomorrow is Pancake Day, and what better way to celebrate than by sharing our favourite pancake recipes? Whether you're a fan of traditional lemon and sugar or prefer something more adventurous, it is the perfect time to indulge!

• Lemon drizzle mille crêpe cake recipe | Good Food
• Chinese chicken with pancakes recipe | Good Food
• Paneer-stuffed pancakes recipe | Good Food
• Jam doughnut pancakes recipe | Good Food
• Cinnamon roll pancakes recipe | Good Food
• Blueberry & orange traybake pancake recipe | Good Food
• Courgette pancake fritters recipe | Good Food
• Chocolate crepe cake recipe | Good Food
• Korean-style prawn & spring onion pancake recipe | Good Food
• Smash burger pancakes recipe | Good Food

Advice Hub 

Get guidance on housing, immigration, employment, domestic abuse and other issues by coming along to the Advice Hub every Wednesday between 9:30am and 12:30pm. It’s completely free and is on a first come, first served basis. Every Wednesday 9:30am -12:30pm at Moorings Sociable Club, Thamesmead, SE28 8BG. 07815 734080  geogia.mann@peabody.org.uk 

Food provisions in Thamesmead 

Foodbank support 

If you find yourself in an emergency situation and you need access to free food, support can be accessed via a local foodbank. It’s important to get a food bank voucher before attending. These can be accessed by calling Positive Steps on the number below. Our referral agent will also work with you to find a location and day that suits you best. 

FOOD club 

Family Action launched Food on Our Doorstep (FOOD) Clubs to provide good-quality food at a lower cost, while also reducing food waste. It costs £1 a year for a family to sign-up and members can purchase a bag of healthy food items worth around £15 every week for just £4. 

Every Friday 11am - 1pm at Jubilee Community Centre, Lytton Strachey Path, SE28 8DU 07815 343 080 

Events and activities

Winter Sculpture Park Opening Party 

Thamesmead will be home to London’s largest free sculpture park as part of the former golf course transforms into a huge open-air exhibition space! Join the organisers, No.32, at the launch party of the park on Saturday 1 March 2025. 

Saturday 1 March 2025 11am - 5pm SE28 8QS | what3words: ///Hedge.Thus.Reward  

Healthy cookery classes 

Join these tutor-led classes to learn how to prepare delicious and healthy meals! The course will take place every Tuesday across a 5-week period and is open to anyone aged 18 or over. 

Tuesday 4 March 2025 - 1 April 2025 11am -1:30pm Lakeview Court, Central Thamesmead, SE28 8GL 

Bike Days 2025 

Learn basic bike maintenance skills from a specialist, Dr Bike. Help keep your bike secure by having it security marked or borrow one of our bikes and learn to cycle through an instructor led session! 

Khadeja Chowdhury - 07765 742387 Book your space for Bike Days 2025 on eventbrite 

Saturday 29 March and 26 April 10am - 12pm Sporting Club, Thamesmead, SE28 8NJ 

Repair and reuse programme 

We’re working with Lovell, who are helping deliver the second phase of new homes in South Thamesmead, to find out what would help you and your family to save money and to make small changes so that less items go to landfill. We would love to hear ideas on how residents can get more value from their items and cut down on unnecessary spending.” 

You can fill in this short questionnaire to share your ideas with us. All participants will be automatically entered into a raffle with a chance to win a £50 voucher! 

 

Young Greenwich Parents Online Support Groups March - June 2025

These are free for parents to attend and will be online for their convenience. For parents that live, work in Greenwich or have children aged 10-18 that attend school in the borough.

From March, we are running weekly online sessions for parents to support them with a range of challenges they may be facing. There will be two groups; one for general parenting support and one for parents of teens who are neurodivergent (or on the pathway for assessment).

The sessions are one hour long and will take place at lunchtime to allow parents to attend without interrupting their days or having to find childcare. Each month we will explore a different theme, as listed below:

Support Group for Parents of Neurodivergent Teens: 

• MARCH: Understanding Triggers; learning what they are, why they happen and what you can do about them.
• APRIL: Advocation; how to advocate for your teen and teach them the skills to advocate for themselves.
• MAY: Social Skills Building; teaching your teen how to navigate relationships with more ease.
• JUNE: The importance of Support: how to identify and build your support village.

General Support Group Themes:

• MARCH: Teen Anger; learn why it happens and how to manage it.
• APRIL: Screen Time and Digital Safety; how to talk about it, manage safety and prevent arguments.
• MAY: Getting Your Teen to Listen; learn strategies for effective and harmonious communication with your teen.
• JUNE: Peer Pressure: understanding it’s impact and how to support your teen to be an individual.

Young Greenwich Parents Online Workshop Flyer

How closely are our schools situated within the trust?

For those who may not know, PolyMAT is located in South East London, specifically in the borough of Greenwich, Thamesmead. We currently serve around 3,600 students in our local community and are eager to expand further, creating exceptional educational opportunities.

As a cross-phase Trust, we aim to design the learning journey “through the eyes of the child,” minimising disruptions during transitions between educational phases.

We are dedicated to delivering an outstanding education to children of all ages in Thamesmead and the surrounding areas, with a strong focus on helping our students achieve the best possible outcomes in line with our vision of ‘Success for Everyone.’

At present, our schools are situated across four sites. If you were to walk from Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys to Bannockburn Primary School on Church Manor Way, it would take approximately 56 minutes to visit each school along the route. Driving this route would take around 11 minutes, while cycling would take about 13 minutes.

Over the past 20 years, since the first UK LGBT+ History Month in 2005, we have highlighted the incredible things LGBT+ people in all our diversity have achieved throughout history in all areas of life.

LGBT+ History Month 2025

LGBT+ History Month Quiz

Schools Poetry Competition - Deadline 28th February 2025

Over the past 50 years Schools OUT have worked to #educateOUTprejudice and usualise LGBT+ lives, creating learning environments where all LGBT+ people feel safe, seen, and supported; which is why we founded UK LGBT+ History Month following the repeal of Section 28 to be a dedicated space to celebrate our rich and diverse history, herstory, theirstory. This year it is even more important that we:

• Claim our past
• Celebrate our present
• Create our future

Activism and Social Change

Throughout history LGBT+ people have been activists and helped shape and create social change, advancing society for everyone using many different approaches to activism:

• Protests and rallies
• Campaigns – letter writing and social media
• Boycotts and direct action
• Collaboration and education
• Art and music
• Literature and poetry
• Theatre, film, comedy and dance
• Crafts from banners to zines
• Living openly

Each year we choose five LGBT+ historical figures in line with the theme to highlight. This year we have chosen five LGBT+ people who have created social change from across the centuries in progressing change for women, the environment, housing, nuclear disarmament, preserving heritage, abolition of the slave trade, and immigration, among many other causes.

The 2025 LGBT+ Historical Figures are: Octavia Hill, Ivor Cummings, Annie Kenney, Charlie Kiss, and Olaudah Equiano.

The official 2025 UK LGBT+ History Month badge was designed by Emily, a 12-year-old pupil from St Anthony’s Girls’ Catholic Academy in Sunderland who was the winner of our Schools badge competition. Buy your badge here.

“I was inspired to draw the megaphone because everyone deserves to be heard and sometimes to be heard you need help to be loud. The colours coming out of the megaphone were the LGBT+ flag, to represent everyone and how we need to be loud about the LGBT+ community and its history. It was important to support the community even if you aren’t a part of it, it is important to be an ally and to be kind. I made the badge a different shape to make it stand out and raise more awareness. I feel my badge means a kit because I can raise awareness and I feel like I have made a difference so I am very happy!”