Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - Thursday 21 October 2021

Important Information:

• Please remember that Monday 1 November is an INSET day. School will be closed.
• Cameras are up in Sketty Road. We are yet to receive any update as to when they will be activated, but please continue to avoid Sketty Road during school drop off and pick up times. There is more than sufficient parking in the Parents’ carpark off Ladysmith Road and in TGI Fridays carpark off Southbury Road.
• Secondary school admissions deadline is 31 October 2021 – If your child is currently in Year 6, please ensure that you have applied for a secondary school by the end of ½ term. Full details can be found here: school admissions information and applications are via eAdmissions -  eAdmissions
• FoGS Donation Day/ non uniform day is tomorrow, Friday 22 October.  Please support our PTA by bringing in a suggested donation of £1 - cash collections will be taking place on all gates before school.  Thank you for all your support during a difficult year for fundraising.
• Reception tour dates 2022 – these can be found on the homepage on our website, where you can register your interest. Please share with family and friends if they have a child born between 1 September 2017 and 31 August 2018. |The deadline for applications is 15 January 2022, details can be found here.
• Years 4 and 6 residentials 2022 – Payment options are now set up on ParentPay and we ask that you start to pay the instalments by the deadlines requested.
• Mental Health/Anti bullying week - the theme for this is 'one kind word' 
• Parents evenings - these will be held on Monday 22nd & Wednesday 24th November via Schoolcloud.  More information will follow after half term.

Attendance week ending 21/10/2021

Overall school = 92.46 % Lates = 88

Best attendance: 1st Sioux 98.85% 2nd Woodpecker 97.69% 3rd Ra 97.31 %

Punctuality: Well done Lancasters, Defiants, Navajo, Sioux, Bluebell and Daffodil all with 100% for punctuality

Year 1

This week, Year 1 had a visit from the Metropolitan Police to talk about keeping safe. A Year One child stated “The Police came to visit us at school. They spoke to us about being safe and they reminded us that we have to make good choices”.  They also reminded us that in an emergency, always call 999 so that the Police can help you. Always remember to protect yourself and do not speak to strangers.

They told us to wear bright colours in winter and to always cross the road in a safe place.  The Police have a very important job to keep everyone safe. We learnt a lot of very useful information and thoroughly enjoyed the visit. We look forward to having them back soon.

Year 2

Geography. In year 2 this week, the children have been identifying where in the world George Spicer Primary school is.  The children discussed a town, city, country and continent.  The children identified all seven continents in the world.  They drew their own maps of the world and labelled. 

The children became more familiar with using atlases.  They used the 'Contents page' as well as the index to find a range of places including Bolivia and Oxford. 

Year 3 

In RE over the last half term we have been learning all about the Hindu celebration of Diwali. We have studied why Hindu people celebrate, how they celebrate and what traditions are similar to ones that we celebrate within our own culture. We were also fascinated to find out that Sikhs also celebrate at this time of year! We created a table, noting all the similarities and differences between these two festivals. It was a great end to our learning about Diwali! 

Year 5 

This week in Year 5, we finished our Forces unit by creating our own levers! We learnt that levers are simple machines which makes things easier by helping us lift things that would be too heavy to lift on our own. This is by pushing down one end of the lever to make the other side to go up.

For our experiment, we needed to design our own levers to help Miss Ahmed decide where she will need to position the fulcrum so she can lift the large, heavy rocks in her garden. We made a fulcrum using lollypop sticks, used plastic cups to hold the load on one end and used the other cup to apply force on the opposite end. To ensure that we measured force accurately, we used marbles of the same size and weight and determined how many marbles were needed to lift the load.

Here is what we found out when we changed the position of the fulcrum:

Clancy, “The fulcrum should be closer to the load because it was easier to lift the marbles.”

Chloe, “The fulcrum should be closer to the load because we only needed 2 marbles to lift it up.”

Macy, “The fulcrum should not be too far from the load because it took 24 marbles to lift it up.”

Lorenz, "A fulcrum is important as it helps create balance.~

In conclusion, the further the fulcrum is from the load, the harder it is to lift the load. The closer the fulcrum is from the load, the easier it is to lift the load.

Well done to Year 5 for a fantastic start to the school year! This term has been very exciting and the children have shown tremendous kindness to one another, perseverance and determination as we adjust to the new normal. We are all very proud of you, Year 5! Keep up the excellent work and we look forward to seeing you after half term, on Tuesday 2nd November. 

Year 6 

In Year Six, we are approaching the end of our Art topic and thinking about creating our final pieces. Before we begin this however, we looked at art that used more than one medium. We carefully examined the art to determine what mediums had been used. At times we found this tricky and discussed how some mediums can create similar effects. We also talked about why the artist may have chosen to use these two mediums and what feelings this art evoked in us, the viewer. 

Celebrating black authors

Each week, in October, we will have a recommendation of both an EYFS/KS1 and KS2 book from the teachers. The teachers will choose a book they love that is written by a black author. By doing this, we hope to celebrate diversity within our reading choices.

Please read below, for our next teacher recommendations:

EYFS/KS1:
So Much By Trish Cooke
Reviewed by Mrs Wright

I enjoy reading this story with the children because of the warm vibrant illustrations and the children can relate to the characters in the extended family.

The story generates lively conversation about our families and special experiences we have had with them.

KS2:
Pig Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman
Reviewed by Miss Keceli

In secondary school, I read a series of books by Malorie Blackman. The first one was called Noughts and Crosses and the series blew me away. Although this series was not suitable for primary aged children, I was curious when I saw a book by the same author called “Pig heart boy” in my book corner. Knowing how much I’d loved the young adult series, I gave this a try.  

This story is about a boy named Cameron who has a heart transplant. Within the novel, I feel like you get a real sense of who the characters are and really grow with them.  They face tough problems and it’s interesting to see how the characters dealt with these.  This book is not just for children, I honestly think adults will engage with it as well. It is thought provoking and moves at a good pace. 

PSHE - Being Me In My World  

This half term in our PSHE lessons, we have focused on the theme of ‘Being Me In My World’.  This covered a wide range of topics. To begin, the children discussed the sense of belonging that comes with being part of our school community, our wider community and also being a member of the global community.  Some year group’s work focused on how to be welcoming to others who join these communities. All year groups thought about the UNCRC rights of the child and the responsibilities that they have in order to ensure these rights are respected in their classrooms.  Other key discussion points were how to work as a team; how to socialise with others and pupils having their voices heard.  

Reception and KS1:

KS2

Half Term Activities