Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - 26th May 2023

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'. 

Churchbury Photos - Visit: www.churchbury.gotphoto.co.uk and use your access code. Orders placed online before 26.05.23 can be returned to school free of charge, after this date P&P will apply for home deliveries.

Welfare Donations - Could we please have donations of tissues, wipes and plasters.

Our Value - Respect

Our half termly value of Respect comes to an end this week, hopefully everyone in our community – especially parents, continues to display this for the remainder of the year and beyond.  We have focussed primarily on respecting the world around us but this past week we have looked at respecting others and supporting others by being part of groups and saying kind words wherever possible.  I hope you all have a nice half-term break and look forward to seeing you in the last half term of the year.

Important Dates for Diary

Monday 29th May - Friday 2nd June - HALF TERM

School Trips Coming Up:

13^th June - Year 3 Trip to Whipsnade Zoo

15th June - Thoth and Anubis will be visiting the Nanak Darbar Gurdwara

19^th June - Ra and Osiris will be visiting the Nanak Darbar Gurdwara

21^st - 23^rd June - Year 4 Cuffley Camp residential 

11^th July - Year 1 Trip to Walton on the Naze

Attendance week ending 26/05/2023

Overall school = 94.87% Lates = 56

Best attendance: 1st Odysseus 98.43%, 2nd Navajo 98.19%, 3rd Robin 98.13%

Punctuality: Well Done to Oak, Elm, Odysseus, Osiris and Snowdrop with 100% for punctuality.

Rainbow Class

In Rainbow Class we have been playing a game called Kim’s Game. It is played by using objects that might be relevant to a topic we are doing. We have been looking at some of the paintings by the artist Kandinsky. We decided on different coloured objects for this game. This is a good activity to play to help us to develop our memory and observation skills, concentration, attention span, language and reasoning skills. We have also been working on turn taking, as sometimes it is very hard to have to wait, especially if you can spot what is missing from the tray. We encourage the children to answer in full sentences, as it is important to know how a sentence are structured rather than just saying a word or two at a time. 

Reception Class

As part of our Computing lessons this week, Reception have been busy thinking of different ways to sort objects. We discussed the objects and carefully observed their properties, in order to categorise them appropriately. 

O suggested, "I think all those objects are hard so we could have hard in one tray, soft in another and some might need to go in the middle because they are a little bit bendy!"

Later in the week we learned about how we can sort fruit into different categories and vote for our favourite using pictograms. As you can see strawberries were very popular across Reception! What is your favourite fruit?

Year 1

On Friday, Year 1 finished their Kadinsky topic by using their knowledge of colour mixing to replicate pieces of his art. They took their time and showed close attention to detail.

This week Year 1 are practising recognising and making amounts using coins. We looked at all the different ways we could make 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p. We took part in some role play, and pretended to go to the shops with some money! If you go to the shops this weekend, ask your child to see if they can make the correct amount.

Year 2

Over the last few weeks, we have completed the Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) in Year 2.  The pupils behaved impeccably throughout and we were proud to see how far they have progressed.  They showed a great attitude to their learning which was very heart warming to see.  As part of our learning this week we have completed our retelling of the Australian fable ‘How the Koala got a stumpy tail’ with noun phrases to engage the reader and conjunctions to extend our sentences.  We have also started working on more of our Year 2 Art skills this week.  We have learned about Claude Monet, how he founded Impressionism and how he used thick brush strokes to complete his famous paintings of Waterlilies (of which there are 250).    The pupils had the opportunity to complete a landscape painting using the same brush stroke style. 

Year 3 

In History, the children have been learning about the Roman Empire. We discussed how as the Romans took over more land, more people became enslaved, which led to the Romans expanding their empire.

We also discussed the reasons behind the Romans wanting to expand (god, gold, glory).

The children took notes on information they had learnt about how the Romans showed respect to their gods, valued gold and wanted glory. They then demonstrated their understanding by filling out their grids with two sentences about each one. 

Year 5 

This week, Year 5 have been writing an information text about the Pharaoh Khufu's pyramid and burial chamber.  In its time, it was the tallest manmade structure in the world, a title it kept for the next 3,800 years. 

Year 5 have been continuing their Alevism unit of work in RE.  This week, they looked at the values of their role models and compared them with the values of Alevis.

In PSHE this week, they thought about recognising when they are spending too much time using devices (screen time).  They them came up with solutions to reduce their screen time, so their health (mental & physical) is not affected.

Year 6 

Year 6 have had an exciting week so far. The pupils that are in the residential have been enjoying the fun activities in the warm weather. The team work that each group have shown, have been amazing. The resilience and determination displayed by so many of the pupils so far have been inspirational. 

The Year 6 pupils can’t wait to get back to tell everyone about their experiences, but here are some pictures of them abseiling, doing a challenge course, wall climbing and scaling Jacob’s ladder in the meantime. 

Year 6 pupils at school had an action-packed week. They started off with an exciting visit from the Happy Puzzle Company, where they were immersed in a world of puzzles, challenging their minds and improving their problem-solving skills. Throughout the week, they explored their artistic abilities by trying pointillism art and enjoyed the delicious experience of baking flapjacks. They also had a great time playing games at the Playing Fields and dedicated a morning to mastering the intricate art of origami. The pupils had an adrenaline-filled adventure at Jump In, where they jumped, flipped, and had a blast. The week ended on a relaxing note with a 'movie' afternoon and the opportunity to bake a whole Victoria Sponge!

Here are some pictures of their activity-filled week so far. 

Learn to ride a bike for FREE in the Half Term. 

FREE Half Term learn to ride and group sessions taking place at Kingsmead school this half term 30^th 31^st May 1^st&2^nd June.  

Book online at:

https://www.cycleconfident.com/sponsors/enfield/

Bike Week 5th-16th June

Bike Week this year is  5-11^th June and this year is the 100^th anniversary, marking a century of celebrating everyday cycling for everyone. 

We would like to celebrate by trying to get as many pupils and staff as possible to cycle to school over a 2 week period 5^th – 16^th June.

Enfield Council will award schools with the most bikes a prize!!! Let’s get pedalling!!

Our bike racks may get full so please park your bike responsibly and always wear a helmet!

Enfield Music Service

If you would like your child to learn an instrument, please visit https://traded.enfield.gov.uk/musicstore .  The deadline for bookings is 9^th July 2023.