Newsletters

George Spicer Newsletter - 8th December 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

Enfield Music Services - If you would like your child to learn a musical instrument in the Spring Term, the deadline to register is Sunday 3rd December. Please see below for details on how to register.

Welfare Donations - Please can we have donations of jogging bottoms and wipes for both of our sites. 

ASC Donations - Please can we have donations of newborn baby clothes for our dolls in ASC.

Christmas Jumper Day - Children are welcome to wear a Christmas jumper alongside their uniform on Wednesday 13th December.

Important Dates for Diary

Monday 11th December - Ash class Parent's Consultations evening

Wednesday 13th December - Christmas jumper & dinner day

Carol Service Dates:

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

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

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

Our value - Kindness 

It has been lovely this past week to see our community come to life in celebration.  People of all different faiths, cultures and backgrounds coming together to share performances by their children.  It certainly has been becoming far more festive in school this past week, with heart-warming Nativity performances by Reception and Carol Concerts by Years 3,4 and 5.  All of which I hope has empowered the feelings of kindness and caring for others throughout our school family.  Our value of kindness was shared in assembly by watching the video of ‘The Man in the Queue’ which introduces the idea of Karma – what you put out into the world, you have returned to you. Feel free to watch it and see the message that showing kindness creates and endless ripple in the world – I challenged the children to be kind to someone or something for no apparent reason as part of their ‘Be the I in Kind’ challenges this week, perhaps grown-ups could join in too.

Attendance week ending 8/9/2023

Overall school = 94.46% Lates = 133

Best attendance: 1st Achilles/Oak 98.48% 2nd Heracles 97.27% 3rd Ra 97.08%

Punctuality: Well done to Hurricanes with 100% for punctuality

Reception 

Reception performed their Christmas nativities this week to parents and carers.  They all sang fantastically well, shining with confidence and pride. We are very proud of all the children in Reception! Well done! 

"I like singing all the songs" Lea said. 

"I was an angel; my dress was so sparkly and pretty" Chloe said. 

Year 1

In Maths this week, Year 1 have been looking at how to solve word problems for addition and subtraction. The children have been reading the questions carefully, circling the key information and looking for words that tell them whether the problem is addition or subtraction. Once the children had decided if it was an addition or subtraction, they used manipulatives to help them solve the problems. 

Year 2

This week Year 2 have been learning all about money in Maths. They have practised counting coins and finding change after buying something.

As part of their topic, “Explorers’, they have learned about Yossi Ghinsburg and his perilous journey thought the Amazon rainforest. They wrote about his experiences in their writing session.

Year 3 

Year 3 have enjoyed being a scientist and investigating which soil was the most suitable for creating a wormery.

They have also learnt about fossils and how they were formed.  In addition, they experienced looking at different types of fossils and making predictions about the type of fossil it was. 

In writing, the children have been looking at features of an informal letter in order to write a letter in the role of a character and posing different questions.

Year 5 

This week, Year 5 have been writing about the fall of the Mongolian Empire. We have been learning and writing information reports on how this great empire finally came to an end, how it was split into 4 different khanates and how the Mongolians finally were defeated at the Battle of Ain Jalut which halted their world expansion and domination. 

In Geography, we are continuing our learning about Mongolia. We learned the traditional way of life for Mongolians was nomadic and today up to 30% of the population of Mongolia are still nomadic. We learned what it means to be a nomad and about the different types of nomad in the world.

In Science, we have been learning about forces. We investigated the effect of air pressure on an object moving through the air by making parachutes and recording how long it takes them to fall. We were surprised to learn that in a vacuum (i.e no air pressure) a bowling ball and a feather fall to the ground at the same speed!

Year 6 

RW - Humanism

As part of our RW unit this half term, we have looked at the belief system of Humanism. We looked at this quote from AC Grayling:

Our lives are like a piece of string:

They have a beginning and an end

We are made from limited materials

We can mould ourselves into who we want to be

Our characters can be fluid and flexible

There is no single ‘right’ way to live

‘The meaning of your life is what you make it.’

Thinking about this idea of our lives being like a piece of string, we drew continuous line drawings to explore: What is important to us, what makes us happy and how we see ourselves in the future.

First Aid for Parents

We are offering a first aid course for parents which will be held on the 18th January in the Studio at SR from 9.30am – 12 noon. 

The course is being offered by a parent who is a certified first aid trainer.  There will be a maximum of 20 spaces, so it is offered on a first come basis.  Please email the office on office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk if interested.

We will aim to cover the following:

• Role of first aid
• Dealing with a non-breathing child
• Dealing with an unconscious child
• Dealing with Choking
• Dealing with heat exhaustion and heat stroke
• Dealing with Asthma
• Bleeding and minor injuries