Newsletters

George Spicer Newsletter - 15th December 2023

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing everyone back in school in the New Year.

School opens for all children on Monday 8th January 2024.

ARBOR PARENT APP - Thank you to all parents/carers who have logged in to the ARBOR App. Currently, 80% have now 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

Reception School Admissions -If your child was born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020, you will need to apply for a primary school place by 15 January 2024. Your child will start reception class in September 2024.

You can register and apply online at www.eadmissions.org.uk .  Further information can be found at Admissions

New Reception Tours (2024) at Kimberley Gardens - Thursday 11th January at 9.15am.

One of the best ways to get to know a school is to request a visit.  Please email the office if you would like to visit.

Important Dates for Diary

Wednesday 20th December - Last day of term

Monday 8th January - First day of term 

Thursday 18th January - First Aid for parents - see below for more information.

Boreattan Park – final payment 16^th Feb 2024 £100

Cuffley Camp – final payment 1^st Feb 2024 £60

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

Attendance week ending 15/12/2023

Overall school = 92.63%  Lates = 83

Best attendance: 1st Hurricanes 96.24% 2nd Oak 96.08% 3rd Thoth 96.06%

Punctuality: Well done Hurricanes with 100% for punctuality.

Our value - Kindness

This week we concluded our assemblies linked to our value of kindness – that DOES NOT mean the children can now stop being kind!!  During the week we had World Human Rights Day, National Hot Chocolate Day and the second advent theme of Peace – a message that is very much needed right now.  The focus of the assemblies, which incorporated UNCRC 2 (No Discrimination) and 23 (Children with Disabilities), was the story of Auggie Pullman, the main character in the story of Wonder (KS2 version & KS1 version).  This heart-warming story of acceptance, kindness and celebrating the uniqueness of everyone, showed the children that it’s not on the outside that counts but what is on the inside, to not be afraid of things that are different to you and that you should be kind whenever and wherever possible.  Our value of kindness is the most important, in my opinion – it hopefully, has equipped the children with a superpower that can make the world a happier place.

Reception 

This week a mysterious box was found in our classrooms with a note from the kindness elves. They said it was the time of year to spread kindness, as everyone deserves a smile. The elves asked us to write a recipe of kindness to share with them; so, we did! 

We have been discussing what kindness means and how we could show kindness to others.  Lots of the children knew 'being kind' was one of George Spicer's four Bs and spent the day showing kindness to their friends. 

Well done Reception! 

Year 1

This week the children in Year 1 have enjoyed making salt dough ornaments. We discussed what ingredients we needed to make the salt dough. We then took it in turns to pour and mix the mixture together. Finally, we rolled out the salt dough and the children picked a cutter to make their ornament. We look forward to decorating them over the next few days.

Year 2

This week Year 2 made salt dough winter ornaments. We then wrote instructions on how to make them. We used imperative verbs and time adverbials. Do you think you could follow these instructions and make your own at home?

Year 3 

In Writing, Year 3 have been learning how to write an instruction text. As a result, the children can give instructions on what to do if there is a volcanic eruption using imperative verbs.

Year 3 have also enjoyed working towards creating their final stages of their totem poles.

Year 5 

This week, Year 5 has been designing and making moving Cam toys for Design and Technology. We researched what different kinds of CAM toys there are and investigated how they moved and how they are designed. Then we were given a design brief so the CAM toy was designed around a particular theme for a suitable audience. We designed the structure of the toy and specified the materials and dimensions we were working to. We then looked at the aesthetics of the design and how the finished item would look and be decorated. The children really enjoyed sawing and drilling the wood and the teachers helped us put our constructions together with a glue gun.  Watch this space next week for our finished designs.

In Geography we have been learning about Earthquakes, why they occur, how they are measured and the devastation they cause. We made eye catching posters showing everything we had learned. Here are some of ours.

Year 6 

Over the last two weeks, Year 6 have been inspired by the story "A Christmas Carol"  by Charles Dickens.  We have analysed the text and created our own opinions on the character of Scrooge. 

We then wrote diary entries about different significant moments from the story. We really thought about our authorial voice and how we can make our diaries sound like the character. We used language that would be appropriate to the time period too to add to this effect. 

The children have engaged really well with the text and the character of Scrooge. They have enjoyed seeing his character develop as the story progresses. Next week, we will be discussing the moral of the story as well as designing our own front covers for the book.

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