Newsletters

George Spicer Newsletter - 24th November 2023

ARBOR PARENT APP - Thank you to all parents/carers who have logged in to the ARBOR App. Currently, only 65% have logged on and for those who have not yet logged on please check your email subject “ Welcome to ARBOR” and follow the instructions.  ARBOR App allows you to receive the latest messages from your child’s school, track attendance and update the information we hold about you and your child. IMPORTANT: Please allow notifications when installing the app. The notifications will alert you when you receive a message from the school.

Please ensure you communicate to the school via office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk and do not reply to ARBOR messages.  Please see at the bottom for help with setting up your app.

Attendance – you are now able to view your child’s attendance by logging into the Arbor App.  Please note that if your child’s attendance is below 90%, we will not authorise any absence without medical evidence (e.g., doctor’s certificate or letter, hospital appointment card, prescription or the prescribed medication, or text message appointment).

No dogs allowed - please be aware that no dogs are allowed on the school premises either on their lead or being carried.

Foodbank & Felix Project – Available to all our families struggling to make ends meet. Please come to the Sketty Road site every Wednesday from 2.30pm to 3pm.

BASC invoice - The BASC Autumn Term 2 invoice is now available in ParentPay. For any queries please email basc@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk

Residential trip payment reminder -

Y4 Cuffley Camp - £60 due 1^st December

Y6 Boreattan Park - £100 due by 30^th November

Important Dates for Diary

Carol Service Dates:

Friday 1^st December - Y4 Enfield Baptist Church at 10am

Friday 8^th December - Y3 & Y6 St Andrew's Church at 10am

Friday 15^th December - Y5 St Andrew's Church at 10am

FoGS Dates - please see below in FOGS section for more info 

26th November - Winter Wonderland 

2nd February 2024 - Year 3 + 5 Glow Disco

9th February - Non-Uniform Day Fundraiser 

23rd March - Reception, Year 1 + 2 Glow Discos

7th June - Non-Uniform Day & Donations for Summer Fun Day

6th July - Summer Fun Day

Attendance week ending 24/11/2023

Overall school = 94.83% Lates = 99

Best attendance: 1st Osiris 98.83% 2nd Theseus 98.79% 3rd Snowdrop 98.7%

Punctuality: Well done to Osiris and Snowdrop with 100% for punctuality.

Road Safety Week

Assemblies this week centred on Road Safety Week and the theme of speed, most importantly the dangers of going too fast.  We shared some worrying facts with the children that sadly, six children are seriously injured or killed every week in or around schools in the UK.  Let us make sure we don’t add to that statistic by parking safely and sensibly, using the Park and Stride zones and being safe and respectful of everyone.  It was good to see so many helmets being used this week – please continue to do so as it will encourage others to be safer. 

At Sketty Road we continued to discuss our value of Kindness, and rather than repaying it, you pay it forward by being kind in some way yourself.  We shared that World Hello Day, on November 21st, recognises the role communication plays for preserving peace. The day also encourages world leaders to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts – something very much needed now, it seems.  It does not take a lot of effort to say hello. It’s one little word that means a whole lot.

Mr Spong shared the book – Do Something For Someone Else – which shares the stories of children who decided to be kind to others or the world, very inspiring.  He shared the story of a 7-year-old boy in New Zealand who started his very own National Kindness Day.  Every year on November 23rd, Wolfenoot celebrates both the spirit of the wolf and kindness. It is also a day that encourages people to be kind to animals, especially dogs, as they are descendants of the wolf.

Finally, every third Thursday in November is World Philosophy Day, a day that promotes the intellectual culture of philosophical debate that respects dignity and diversity. Mr Spong uses ‘Thunks’ at the start of his assemblies. This week’s was ‘If you could choose just one thing to change about the world, what would it be?’ Perhaps you could ask your children as well as sharing your own ideas.

Road Safety Week - Golden Padlocks

Well done to all the lucky winners of a Golden Padlock.  It was lovely to see so many children (and their adults too!) wearing helmets to be safer when cycling and scootering to school.

Reception

Reception have been learning about road safety this week. We have been modelling 'Stop, Look and Listen' and understanding the differences between things that are safe and not safe when crossing and being near a busy road. 

The children have been writing about how to keep safe when walking near roads and have made a mixture of road safety signs to use within roleplay. 

"You must use a zebra crossing with your Mummy" Leah said 

"Red means stop and green is go" Jade said 

Year 1

This week in Year 1, the children have been talking about what they would like to be when they grow up. Each class has set up a number of role play areas for the children to explore different job roles and it was interesting to see how many doctors and astronauts there are within the year! 

In history we looked at Florence Nightingale and the children have loved finding similarities and differences between her and Mary Seacole. They then plotted a timeline of Florence Nightingales life. 

Year 2

This week in Year 2, we have moved onto our next topic - Explorers.  We have been learning about life as Sacagawea and wrote a first person narrative to describe how she, and her tribe called the Shoshone, would hunt buffalo. In Maths, we have learned how to use the column methods for addition and subtraction, and started to exchange from the tens if there are not enough ones.

Year 3 

In Year 3, the children have had a busy week learning about totem poles and working towards creating a replica. In geography, they have been learning about tectonic plates on the earth’s surface and carried out activities identifying them on a map. In maths, they have been using their knowledge of subtraction to solve a range of different number problems. 

Year 5 

This week, it has been Road Safety Week. The children talked about independent travel, something the children will do more as they grow up. We talked about the benefits of being independent along with the risks and discussed how we can stay safe. The children created mind maps to show their ideas. 

We have also been continuing our writing about Genghis Khan. We were writing information reports about the life of Mongolian Warriors. We learnt and wrote about Mongolian warriors and warfare. We were surprised the Mongolian soldiers did not use swords and most of their fighting was on horseback. We were impressed with their strength and the fact that they could ride a horse with their legs, while shooting an arrow and not fall off. However, we were disgusted to learn that sometimes Mongolian warriors drank the blood of their horses for a protein boost and even killed their horses to eat them if there was no food.

Year 6 

This week, in our writing, we have been looking at the mythical creature: the basilisk. We learnt about it and decided to write non-chronological reports based on it. Our focus was on the format of what a non-chronological report should look like so ensured we included elements such as: subheadings, bullet points and noun-phrases. As well as this, we thought about using our presentation skills to entice readers to read on. Have a look at our works-in-progress!

We will be using our knowledge of the basilisk to help us write narratives next week. 

Online Safety - Black Friday and Cyber Monday

HAF Holiday Club