This is where you will find photographs and videos of all the exciting thing that have been happening at Downderry and in our community.

In May 2023, children and staff were treated to a VIP visit as part of the culmination of the JR Sports Stars 12-week sports training programme, received by all classes from Years 1-6. The programme was funded by Balfour Beatty in partnership with MUSE who are responsible for the exciting and inspirational Lewisham Gateway development.

Former England World Cup rugby winner, Jason Robinson headed a VIP filled assembly which included Lewisham’s Young Mayor, to hear his inspirational story to sporting success and beyond. Jason showed his World Cup, MBE and OBE medals and even took part in a PE lesson, challenging pupils to a race off! The children really enjoyed the day, especially a child from Ash class who said “Today has been the best day of my life.”

Join the conversation and shape how we will celebrate Downham Estate’s 100th Birthday!

In February 2025, Downham Estate will reach the remarkable milestone of 100 years. We believe that this momentous occasion deserves both recognition and celebration.

Sevenfields Primary Care Network want to make this milestone truly special by organising community events and leaving a lasting legacy for future generations of residents, but can’t do it without your input.

Sevenfields want to hear from you about how you would like to get involved in and what you envision for the year’s activities.

To make it easier for you to share your thoughts, they have put together a list of exciting potential suggestions below so that we can understand what the community value most. This will help with a funding bid to ensure 2025 is an unforgettable year for all Downham Estate residents.

Here are some of the possibilities:

• Developing existing open spaces, parks, woodland walks and gardens to build on original vision of Downham Garden City.
• Create an oral history of Downham through videos, interviews, photo exhibitions and more.
• Street Parties and a Parade
• Sports events
• Public art installation (mural/statue etc)
• Envisioning the future - what do you want Downham to look like in the next 20 years?
• And of course, we welcome any other suggestions you may have!

Your opinion matters, please take a moment to share your preferences by downloading the questionnaire below and ranking the above from 1-6 (with 1 being your most preferred, and 6 being your least preferred). The age and ethnicity information is optional but will help to gather preferences from a diverse range of individuals.

Please send your complete questionnaire by email to downhamcommunityproject@hotmail.co.uk or bring in to the school office.

Thank you being a part of this exciting time.

Comic Relief

Today we celebrated Red Nose Day as children came to school wearing a touch of Red! Thank you for your kind donations. We will let you know how much was raised for the charity soon!

Sports Report - Downderry Primary School & Balfour Beatty

If you have been into Lewisham recently you will be aware of its transformation. Balfour Beatty is helping to regenerate Lewisham as part of the Lewisham Gateway Development. This is great news for the area; the development will include new homes, offices, a cinema and gym, and dedicated green spaces for the community to enjoy.

Zero Carbon Retrofit

Lewisham Council have successfully bid to central government for funds to create a zero carbon plan for five schools, one of which is ours!

We are delighted to have been chosen and look forward to working with RAFT (Retrofit Action For Tomorrow) to further reduce our energy bills and carbon footprint. This project is also perfectly aligned with our development plan goals including the development of Global Citizenships within the school community.

The proposal from RAFT is a response to the climate emergency by delivering educational workshops on climate change and thermal performance in parallel with the delivery of a deep retrofit, low carbon feasibility study and action plan for the school. The proposal aims to engage, educate and empower children and the wider school community to reduce energy and carbon use at school and homes.

RAFT Workshop 1

Children have been working in partnership with the local authority and RAFT to develop a plan to reduce the amount of carbon we are using in school. Workshop 1, which took place during the lockdown earlier this year, looked at the school building and the materials used in its construction.

Children researched the thermal properties of the building and considered ways this could be improved.

RAFT Workshop 2

Our next workshop is scheduled to take place mid- May, when children will be visualising and measuring our carbon footprint, and identifying priorities to reduce and improve this.

Help keep Beckenham Place Park litter and dog mess free!

Beckenham Place Park has launched a poster design competition for schoolchildren aged 13 and under.  There will be three winners, and the winning designs will be made into A4 size stickers and stuck on the littler bins in the park.

The brief: Design an A4 colour poster that encourages park visitors to use the bins provided for litter OR dog mess. The design should be eye catching and clear so that people can see it and read any words from a distance. It should convey the message that leaving litter or dog mess in the park isn’t nice for other park users and is not good for the environment. If the design relates to dog mess, please include that it must be bagged before binning.

The prize: There will be three winners. The three winning posters will be made into A4 size stickers and stuck on the litter bins in the park.

How to enter: Ask a responsible adult to email your image as a pdf to beckenhamplacepark@lewisham.gov.uk

We cannot accept emails directly from children. If scanning or photographing your poster, please make sure that it is a clear image. In the email please include: Your name, age, post code, school name and your school year

Deadline: 5pm Wednesday 31 March 2021

In remembrance of our fallen heroes, we joined together with local schools to pay our respects and to lay our wreath at Downham War memorial.

Our very own bugler played the 'Last Post' in our remembrance assembly, introducing our 2 minutes silence and members of Bellingham Golden Oldies shared their memories of wartime with year 6.

Thank you to everyone who supported our Poppy Appeal to raise funds for essential welfare work for our Service men and women, veterans, and their families. We will let you know how much was raised soon!

This year our Harvest Festival will be held on Tuesday 13th October. This years assembly will be different due to the present climate with Covid19. The children will be sharing ideas about what Harvest means to them and learning about Harvest. Father Stuart of St Barnabas Church will be presenting a virtual assembly to the children.

Please support us in this Harvest celebration by donating any tins, dried or packets food. This year we will be donating the food to the Children's Centre Food Bank to support the local families at this difficult time.

Your gifts will be truly appreciated.

Spooky Disco

Unfortunately this year we will not be able to have our annually Spooky Disco as usual. Instead the children will be invited to attend school on the Thursday before half term (Thursday 22nd October) in either their own clothes or a spooky outfit.

A massive thank you to children, staff, parents for the fantastic support that we had in raising funds for MacMillan Cancer Support to fight against Cancer.

Downderry raised £609.00 for the charity. 

Christmas Fair

Thank you to all parents, carers and friends who came along to the Christmas fair. We would also like to say a massive thank you for all your donations and support.

The amount we raised was £630.57! This will be going towards a variety of things within the school to support the children's experiences and learning!

School Council's campaign for a cleaner and greener area around our school

Read here about how our children have been campaigning to improve the area around our school for the whole community.

• Home>>Parents>>Latest News>>School Councils campaign for a cleaner and greener area

Food Bank Appeal

Due to demand our food bank is more popular than ever before but this means we are running short of our essential items. Can you help us? We are looking for donations of any tinned food, dried packets such as pasta and rice, breakfast cereals, tea/coffee, sugar, biscuits, toiletries and cleaning products. We have also started a Just Giving page to allow us to buy fresh items such as milk, cheese, eggs, fruit and vegetables to add to our stock, just search for 'Downderry' on the Just Giving homepage or copy and paste the link below into your browser:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/elaine-price-1

Food donations can be made to the main school office or directly to the Children's Centre (Shroffold Road entrance).