Newsletters

Welcome Back!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful break and are feeling refreshed and ready for the year ahead. Our theme for the new year was to make plans not resolutions.  I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the incredible work our children have been doing this week in challenging stereotypes, some of which you will see later on.

Throughout the past week, our assemblies have focused on the value of Determination in breaking through barriers. We shared the inspiring story of Janet Collins, the first African American Prima Ballerina, who defied stereotypes and paved the way for future generations. It was a powerful reminder of the importance of perseverance and believing in oneself.

In addition, at Sketty Road, we discussed how TV shows and films often portray facial disfigurement as a characteristic of villains. This perpetuates harmful stereotypes and can be extremely hurtful to those who look different in real life.  I encouraged the children to recognise and challenge these stereotypes, promoting empathy and understanding towards individuals with visible differences.

Looking ahead, we have many exciting opportunities for parents to come into school this term. Our Story Cafes provide a wonderful chance for parents to share a love of reading and how to read with their children. We will also be hosting Maths Workshops, where parents can learn more about the strategies and techniques we use to teach maths. In addition, of course, our Class Assemblies are always a highlight, showcasing the incredible talents and achievements of our children.

As always, our school community continues to thrive thanks to your support and involvement. We are grateful for the trust you place in us and are committed to providing the best possible education for your children.  There will be a Parent Survey later in the term to gather your feedback.

George Spicer Newsletter - 12th 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.

Messages will no longer be sent via Marvellous Me - only via Arbor.

Please ensure you communicate with 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).

Music Lessons - If your child has a music lesson in school, please see below the days of lessons for each instrument.

Monday-Flute

Tuesday-Violin/Viola

Wednesday-Piano/Keyboard

Friday-Piano/Keyboard/Guitar

Scooters at KG - Several scooters have been forgotten over the Christmas break and were left at Kimberley Gardens.  They are hanging on the fence by the main entrance.  Please have a look and reclaim if they belong to you. 

Any scooters left behind at the end of the month will be removed. We highly recommend naming scooters, bikes and helmets.

Lost Property at SR - Please can you claim any lost property from the Sketty Road office. Anything unclaimed in 2 weeks' time will be donated.

Reception starters 2024

There are only a few days left to submit your application for a place in Reception for your child to start school in September 2024. The deadline is 15th January and applications are made via the Enfield Council website. 

To apply follow this link;  https://www.enfield.gov.uk/services/children-and-education/school-admissions-and-applications/admissions-to-primary-school-september-2024

National Offer Day is Tuesday 16th April 2024. We can’t wait to welcome you and your child into Reception at George Spicer in September.

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

Important Dates for Diary

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

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

Thursday 18th January - First Aid session for Parents 9:30am - 12pm

Thursday 18th January - Thoth class assembly 2:45pm

Thursday 18th January - Y5 Residential Trip Information Meeting - 3.40pm Sketty Road.  

Thursday 14th March - Parent Consultation day (school is closed to pupils).

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 12/01/2024

Overall school = 98.5% Lates = 60

Best attendance: 1st Osiris 98.92% 2nd Cheyenne 98.89% 3rd Odysseus 98.21%

Punctuality: Well done to Elm, Navajo, Osiris and Ra with 100% for punctuality.

Reception

Challenging Stereotype week in Reception

In Reception, we have been challenging the stereotype of what boys and girls can do. We looked at the sort of things we like to play with in our classes and came to the conclusion that all areas of the classroom and all manner of toys are accessible to girls and boys. We talked about our preferences, and discussed that it’s a matter of choice, and how it is fair for all children to have access to everything available to them. We then discussed whether only boys or girls can do certain jobs and wrote down their ideas. Overall, the children all agreed that having the same opportunities available for everyone is fair. It has been a wonderful first week back and the children have shown how determined they are at making sure that they are understanding and treating each other in a good way.

Year 1

This week in Year 1, we have been discussing the question “Is ballet only for girls?”. The children have enjoyed sharing their views on this stereotype and have even challenged further stereotypes from their discussions. OC – “boys do the lifting – is that another stereotype?”.

The children have made posters to let people know that boys can do ballet too. They have used all the key features of a poster to encourage boys to join in with ballet. In P.E we practised our ballet and showed that girls and boys can do ballet together.

Year 2

This week is Stereotypes week, and Year 2 have focused on challenging gender stereotypes like 'Boys don't cry'.  They read the book 'My shadow is pink' and wrote some lovely letters to the boy in the book encouraging to be himself.  They have also started growing beans as part of their Science sessions on plants.

Year 3 

As part of Challenging Stereotypes week, Year 3 has been challenging the stereotype of Africa being one country and how it is portrayed in the western media as always being poor. Pupils completed map work to show the range of countries on the continent of Africa and wrote poetry to show what an amazing and diverse place it is to live in or visit.  

Year 5 

This week, Year 5 have been challenging stereotypes. In Writing we have been learning about the stereotypes Disney films have been perpetuating through the ages. Ideas like girls should always be beautiful, that, beautiful = good and ugly = bad, and the idea that girls need rescuing by men is prevalent in the Disney films of old. Nowadays, Disney films are thankfully better with excellent, strong female role models. We wrote letters to Disney explaining how their films have helped perpetuate negative stereotypes in the past.

In History, we have started our topic about the Tudors and Stuarts. We learned about how the Battle of Bosworth ended the 30-year-long War of the Roses. We drew the Tudor Rose and learned about its importance as a symbol of peace and unity.

In Science, we kicked off our topic on Space on a lesson about the solar system. We learned about the relative sizes and distances of each planet from the Sun. We drew a representation of the solar system and labelled it.

Year 6 

Challenging the Stereotypes of Beauty

In Year 6, for challenging stereotype's week, we asked the question: "Who defines beauty?"
We began the week by reading the beautiful story of Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o. In this story, the main character, Sulwe, compares her appearance (in particular her skin tone) to that of her families and others around her. She deems herself less beautiful because she does not look like them. We discussed how representation matters. Because Sulwe could not see others like her in the story, she felt alone, isolated and different. Throughout the story, she learns that what makes her different makes her beautiful. We are using this story to inspire our writing this week. 

As well as this, we looked at how social media can impact our view of beauty. Use of filters and lighting can change someone's appearance and if we do not meet this unrealistic expectation, we can feel "ugly". We saw how filters can drastically change a person's appearance and even saw some of our teachers and how their image changed with a filter applied. 

We looked at images and decided whether they challenged or conformed to beauty stereotypes. 

Spanish Club

Half Term Camp

Wellbeing Services

Congratulations

Well Done to Eliot in Year 6, who entered the Blue Peter Doctor Who artwork competition, and as a result, was awarded a Blue Peter competition winners badge and a special Doctor Who badge for being one of the top ten entries in his age group out of thousands. The artwork took him several days to complete and celebrates 60 years of Doctor Who.