Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - 20th January 2023

Communication with school - A reminder that the main contact with the School Offices are:

Email:  office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk Telephone: 020 8363 1406

Breakfast and After School club - any queries in regard to breakfast and after school club should be emailed to basc@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk

Attendance - As a school we do not authorise absence for family holidays during the school term, Parents / Carers who choose to take their child out of school for holidays should be aware that their child’s absence will be recorded as ‘unauthorised’ and a penalty notice will be issued.  A Penalty Notice costs £60 per parent and per child, if payment is made within 21 days. £120 if paid after the 21 days but within 28 days.

Punctuality - The school gates open at 8.45am for a soft start to support a calm arrival to school. All our pupils are expected to be in class for registration by 09:00 am. The school gates are then locked at this point.  Pupils need to be in school by 09:00 am for registration. If your child arrives after 09:00 am, they will receive a late mark (L). If your child arrives after 09:10 am, they will receive a 'U' code (missed session) on their registration certificate which will impact on their overall attendance percentage.

Absences - must be reported in writing by email or by phone by 9am daily. Please leave a brief message with your child's name, class and the reason for their absence.  It will be recorded as unauthorised if you do not leave a reason or say your child is 'unwell'. 

Appointments - You must provide an appointment card / letter for your child’s absence to be classed as medical, otherwise it will be marked as an unauthorised absence.  Please note we expect your child to attend school either side of their appointment where possible.

Free School Meals - No Recourse to Public Funds Is a condition placed on someone because of their immigration status, which stops them accessing mainstream benefits such as Universal Credit, Housing Assistance and Child Benefit.  If this is you, then there has been a change for schools and we encourage you to get in touch by emailing office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk  or telephone 02083631406 where we will help you apply for Free School Meals for your child(ren.)

For more information watch this video or click the link no recourse to public funds

Residential Trips payment reminder - Please note the dates below for payment of the final instalments for the residential trips. 

• Year 4 - Cuffley Camp June 2023 final payment due 3^rd February 2023 £80.00
• Year 6 - Borreattan Park May 2023 final payment due 10^th February 2023 £95.00

Donations needed - Please can we have donations of boys and girls blue jogging bottoms or leggings and girls underwear for emergency use for children at Kimberley Gardens.  Thank you.

Donations for welfare - We would be grateful for donations of wipes, tissues and carrier bags for our welfare rooms please.

Important dates for your diary

W/C 23rd January - Year 5 Bikeability Week

25th January - Navajo class assembly - 2.45pm - 3pm

27th January - Y6 Hurricanes and Lancasters Dharma Mandir visit

1st February - Apache class assembly - 2.45pm and 3pm

3rd February - Y6 Spitfires and Defiants Dharma Mandir visit

Educational visits/workshops

Please visit ParentPay  to consent and make payments

• Year 3 - Whipsnade Zoo 13^th June 2023 £25.50
• Year 3 - Anglo Saxon Workshop 14^th March 2023 - £7.50
• Year 5 - Egyptian Artefact Workshop 2^nd May 2023 £7.50
• Year 6 - Dharma Mandir Temple 27^th Jan 2023 Hurricanes & Lancaster and February 3^rd 2023 Defiants & Spitfires £1
• Year 6 - Battle of the Atlantic and Codebreaking 13^th March 2023 £7.50
• Year 6 - WW2 Trip to RAF Duxford 20^th March 2023 £13.75
• Year 6 - WW2 Cheryl Moskowitz Summer 2023 - £3.50

Determination

This week we have continued to explore our value of Determination by looking at target setting for things to improve in school this term through visualising success and what steps they need to make to achieve the goal.  Other assemblies used national Winnie the Pooh Day (18/1), comparing the 100acre Wood to school and to get children to look at the different characters’ personal traits and decide which one they were most like.  Mr Spong, Miss Eberle and Mrs Mangiapane are a Piglet, a Tigger and an Eeyore – can you guess who is which? Maybe ask your children which character they are most like.

Attendance week ending 20/01/2023

Overall school = 93.78%  Lates = 109

Best attendance: 1st Odysseus 98.49%, 2nd Sioux 97.89%, 3rd Lancasters 97.22%

Punctuality: Well done to Willow, Sparrow, Owl, Odysseus, Thoth and Bluebell, all with 99.7% for punctuality.

Rainbow Class

We have been looking at money in Rainbow Class and so we decided to set up a shop. We discussed, what kind of shop it might be and what we might need for this role play activity. One of the children suggested that we needed to put price stickers on the items, "how else would we know what to pay the shop keeper?" "My Mum writes a shopping list before she goes to the shops." said another child. Everyone had a turn at being the shop keeper or the customer. This activity provided opportunities for writing, counting, adding and subtracting, and to model new vocabulary and phrases that we could use in our shop. All the children agreed that this helped them to learn and that they would like this experience again.

Reception Class

Reception Winter Walk

On Monday and Tuesday this week, Recpetion went to the playing fields to look for signs of Winter. 

We wrapped up warm in our coats, hats and scarves as we noticed that there was an icy wind and frost on the grass. We spotted lots of trees without leaves, some red berries to help feed the hungry birds and we even had to jump over a very wet path!

Oscar looked and saw that some trees still had their leaves on, "That means they are an evergreen tree."

Aidan spotted the allotments and spied an interesting character as we walked past. "There is a scarecrow, it scares the birds away because the birds like to eat the seeds." Leon told us about his allotment where he grows peas and carrots too.

We collected sticks and other interesting objects to make our own Stickman characters back in the classroom. The next day we wrote instructions for how to make a fantastic Stickman. Can you spot your Stickman?

Year 1

In Science Year 1 have been looking at properties of materials. We looked at a range of different natural materials and used a word mat to help describe their properties. 

Lyra said, "The shell is hard but also bumpy". 

Elissa said, "The wood is also hard, but it is smooth not bumpy". 

Year 1 are really enjoying their Stone Age topic. Year 1 have been writing about a day in the life of a Stonge Age boy. They have been writing about settlements, food and tools. They learnt that the Stone Age people were 'nomadic'. This means that they moved around - depending on where the food is. Fun fact: They used animal teeth to make necklaces. 

Year 2

As part of our final sessions for our ‘Travelling the Globe’ topic, we have been writing a diary from the perspective of Yossi Ghinsburg, an explorer who went to the Amazon Rainforest and got separated from the group his was with for three whole weeks!  The pupils were fascinated by his story of survival and wrote some amazing diary entries.  We have also kick started our new topic this week with an online session delivered by Alice and Jen from The National Archives.  They discussed how they use a variety of evidence to help them understand what life was like in the past and how the Great Fire of London was documented.  Our new topic is called ‘London – an Evolution’ and is all about how London has changed over time.  We will start in the Tudor times (during the Bubonic Plague and the Great Fire of London) and then through other significant changes in London’s history.

Year 3 

This week in Reading, Year 3 have continued to work on their inference skills. Using their Brother Eagle, Sister Sky text and accompanying pictures, they predicted what might be happening in the story. The children were encouraged to use their George Spicer Talking frame when giving their prediction. After reading and discussing the text and key words in detail with their teacher and peers, Year 3 then attempted to answer the questions that were set for them. 

Year 5 

Year 5 have been busy this week finishing our unit Realm of the Khan before moving on to our new unit The Tudors and Stuarts.  We started at the beginning of the Tudor era with the Battle of Bosworth - the decisive end to the War of the Roses. The children made connections to their learning in year 4 recalling how Richard III was an unpopular King after the imprisonment of the Princes in the Tower. The children were fascinated to learn how Henry Tudor finally came out of exile to challenge Richard for the throne. We watched the battle unfold and learned what a pivotal role Lord Stanley had in deciding the final outcome. Watch this space for some exciting NEWS reports year 5 will be writing over the coming weeks about this epic battle.

Year 6 

Hinduism:
Year 6 have started their new RE unit, learning about Hinduism. We began by looking at the story of creation. We then recreated a part of the story as part of an Instagram post:

Following on from this, we learnt about Lord Krishna. We learnt about his early life and what he represents to the Hindu community. As Krishna is often portrayed in Mandirs and in homes, we will create our own interpretation of this important god. We started this by practicing facial proportions and looking at how to use sketching pencils to shade effectively. We look forward to showcasing our final portraits later this half term.

Announcing 'Listen Up, Speak Up' 

To start the year the NSPCC has unveiled their new ‘Listen Up, Speak Up’ campaign, aimed at giving adults practical advice, about how to address concerns about a child. Although a core duty of safeguarding staff, the reporting of concerning signs among children in education is a key part of anyone charged with looking after children and young people. And the disheartening news is that at the moment the world of under-18s is in the midst of a spike in concern flagging. From April 2021 to March 2022 the NSPCC Helpline spoke 8,347 times with adults, compared to 7,338 in the same period for the previous year. The link below is for anyone who comes into contact with children from parent to hairdresser to staff in shops. It advises on how to support children who may be being abused by ‘connecting the DOTS’. The training is 10 minutes long. Please take the time to have a read through as you never know when you may be in a situation where a child or young person could be experiencing abuse.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/news-opinion/2023/listen-up-speak-up-campaign-provides-training-to-spot-and-report-abuse/

Mental Health Day

Multi-sports Camp 

There will be a Multi Sports Camp held at St. Andrew’s Primary School, Enfield, during the Feb Half Term. There are reduced Early Bird prices for the Camp which expire next Friday, 27^th Jan!