Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - Thursday 30th September 2021

School Information/Reminders 

Nut free school - We are a nut free school. No nut containing products can be brought into school.

Traffic Issues - We continue to have traffic issues with parents / carers:

• Do not slow down to drop off your child at a specific gate, notably Years 4 & 5 gates, as you block the street for everyone else and this becomes dangerous for others.
• Cameras will be in operation on Sketty Road soon, we don’t have a confirmed date, but we will continue to warn you to avoid receiving a fine. The best option would be not to drive on Sketty Road to drop off your children.
• Do not use disabled parking bays unless you have evidence.
• Do not park on zig zags, double yellow lines and street corners.

No jewellery in school - Hoop earrings, necklaces and bracelets must not be worn in school by children. They are a Health & Safety hazard, especially during playtimes and PE.

Dogs - No dogs are allowed on the playgrounds. 

Secondary school transfers -  The deadline for secondary school admissions is the 31st October 2021 - please click the link to apply  Secondary School Admissions

Free School Meals - If you are already eligible for Free School Meals then you do not need to take any action. If your circumstances have changed recently then you may now be eligible, please click here if you think this may be the case.

https://new.enfield.gov.uk/services/children-and-education/school-welfare-and-information/school-meals/

Parent behaviour expectations - message from Mr Spong

I’ve been so happy to see everyone back in school; the children keen to learn and their positive attitude and behaviour in the classrooms has been fantastic.

What has saddened me has been the conduct in and around the school by a small minority of parents so far this term. My leadership team and I have had to deal with several incidents of disrespectful, rude and inappropriate behaviour between parents and even more disappointingly towards staff, which have been witnessed by other families and children. This is firstly very upsetting for the children, and not what we would like them to see happening in the school community. But secondly it is not the conduct that I expect from George Spicer families – we are a Rights Respecting School, any parents who cannot promote our values and adhere to the parent code of conduct are welcome to find another school in Enfield.  

I do not want this to continue and ask that all families are courteous and respectful to one another.  After speaking to the individuals, I would say they have been reflective and respectful which has been positive but one incident has been reported to the Police.  I hope I never have to communicate in this way with you in the future and thank you in advance for your continued support and co-operation.

Attendance week ending 30/09/2021

Overall school =94.58%  Lates = 86

Best attendance: 1st Hurricanes 98.85% 2nd Robin 98.77% 3rd Sioux 97.13%

Punctuality: 1st Theseus 99.91%  2nd Bluebell 99.83% 3rd Sparrow 99.82% 

We continue to see the same children arriving late regularly. This impacts significantly on learning time as lessons start promptly at 9am. Please ensure you leave your home in good time to be punctual every day.

Year 1

This week, Year 1 have been busy testing out a range of materials to see which material is best suited to make a train. We saw that paper and plastic are not good options. Can you guess why? Some materials were also not waterproof. We had an enjoyable afternoon and learnt a lot about materials and their properties.

Year 2

This week in Year 2, we have made ship's biscuits! They were an important part of an explorer's diet before the introduction of canned foods. Matthew Henson used the ships biscuit on his expedition to the North Pole, so we decided to recreate them to find out what they were like! We have written our own recipes this week in our writing session and Zara has written her introduction. 

Year 3 

It is computing week in Year 3 and we are creating film trailers for The Three Little Pigs! We have discussed what a trailer is and what parts of the story would be good to include. We know to only add snippets of the story which leaves the viewer wanting more. After we planned our trailer on a story board we got to use the school iPads and go outside to film our shots. We all got a turn filming and acting. We can't wait to edit all of our clips together next lesson!

Year 5 

This week in Year 5, we have been writing an artistic appraisal on Henri Matisse's Icarus (1947).  We researched Matisse's background, skills he used in his artwork and the skills he used when creating his collage of Icarus. We took part in hot-seating to help support our writing, taking it in turns to be Matisse! We enjoyed writing questions and considering the responses Matisse would come up with! This term, the articles we are focusing on, linked to the Class Charter, are Article 2 - Non-discrimination and Article 23 - Children with disabilities. We discussed both articles in our classes and considered how Matisse may have reflected on these throughout his life. Given that Matisse used a wheelchair for the last 14 years of his life, we considered the challenges he must have faced. We learnt how he showed resilience and determination as he changed his style of art from painting and sculptures to, paper-cut collages that he affectionally coined, 'painting with scissors!' 

We have also taken part in computing lessons this week and have enjoyed looking at online safety and discussed how to use search engines effectively. Firstly, we recapped search engines and considered how we could use these both successfully and safely. Next, we considered inaccurate information and how we must check the reliability of a source. In addition to this, we also discussed the importance of online safety and how we can all stay safe online! Well done to Year 5 for their excellent contributions in their computing lessons and for showing safety online! 

Year 6 

This week is computing week in Year 6. We are looking at codes and how computers can crack them. This week, we looked at a variety of different codes, including the Caesar Cipher and Pig Pen Code. We worked in groups to try and crack each code, evaluating how effective each code was at the end.   We then tied to crack a padlock code using brute force hacking on the computers.

Week 1 - Black History Month book review 

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 first teacher recommendations:

EYFS/KS1:

Look up by Nathan Bryon
Reviewed by Mrs Tullett

This book has an ambitious main character Rocket who dreams of becoming greatest astronaut, star-catcher and space-traveller like Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space. She gets everyone excited about seeing a meteor shower, even her big brother Jamal who would much rather be on his phone!

Rocket was able to share all her knowledge and showed other people that they could enjoy her passion too. She wanted people to Look Up! and take in the beautiful things around us.

This book is great to encourage children to have a passion and to strive to be whatever they want to be. Rocket’s curious personality is infectious and definitely made me want to go on an adventure to see a meteor shower. The illustrations are lovely and the book gives some fun facts about space too!

KS2:
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
Reviewed by Miss McNamara

This book has become one of my favourite children’s books, not only because of the wonderful character of Amari but also because the author shows a sensitive subject such as discrimination in such an appropriate way for children.

Amari is a young girl who lives in a poor area. She is discriminated in this book for three things. The first thing is that she won a scholarship to go to a posh school so is not rich like the other children, the second is because of the colour of her skin and the third is due to the fact she is a magician.

In a world where the monsters under our bed are real, being a magician is a dangerous thing to be. Amari, who newly discovers her powers, has to face unfair and hostile treatment from her new classmates who do not trust her due to something she has no power over. Amari is seen to be a powerful and strong main character who does not let fear of discrimination stop her from being herself. She is a great role model to all.

Harvest Festival

Look at the amazing donations from so many of the children and their families for Harvest Festival this week. We know that North London Foodbank will be delighted to have such a generous amount to support families in need. Thank you all.

Census Day Menu

For Census day on the 7^th of October, Enfield Catering has put together a “Party” theme day menu to help encourage meal uptake on this day. This “Party” menu is has all the children’s favourites on it but with our usual twist to make it school food standard friendly. The other reason is that we are so happy to have the biggest number of children back eating in the dining hall since COVID began; the children are back learning via lunch time, picking up social skills and broadening their palettes.

We love seeing their smiling faces in the hall, so we felt it is an occasion worth celebrating!

Here's the menu:

If your child has school meals already, you do not need to do anything.

If you would like your child to have a meal next Thursday and they do not have school dinners usually, please contact the office at office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk by 9am tomorrow, Friday 1st October, so we can order enough food for all the children. 

Cost is £2.50 payable in advance via ParentPay for Years 3-6 and free to Reception - Year 2 children. 

BBC Good Food Gingerbread Home Competition 

Please see details below about a competition shared by a parent: bbcgoodfood.com/gingerbreadcomp  

Calling all young readers! Enter our competition to draw a gingerbread home of your dreams. The winning designer will have their creation brought to life in our December issue and win a stand mixer! Get your little ones involved in this exciting opportunity. There are three ways to enter: upload your drawings online, via email or send in the post

Your entry must:
❄️ Be a gingerbread home – this could be a house or any other accommodation, perhaps a block of flats or an igloo?
❄️ Be made of gingerbread pieces stuck together with icing, and all decorations must be edible.
❄️ Be original (not from television, a film or a book)

Good luck! Share your drawings with us #gingerbreadcomp. Entrants must be aged between five and 12 years old, living in the UK. The closing date is 5pm 17 October 2021