Newsletters

George Spicer Newsletter - 26th January 2024

ARBOR PARENT APP - Thank you to all parents/carers who have logged in to the ARBOR App. Currently, 86% 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).

Reporting Absences - You must call in every day if your child is absent. Please, when reporting absences, leave a message with your child's name, class and the reason for absence.

Breakfast and After-School club queries - Please note that all communication with basc is via their email basc@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk NOT the office email.  

Donations for welfare - Please may we have donations of wipes/tissues and carrier bags for welfare.

Y6 Residential Trip (current Y5)  – We are delighted to offer your child a place on the Year 6 residential at Kingswood Activity Centre, Kent.  The trip will take place from Monday 14^th October to Friday 18^th October 2024.

To secure your child’s place a £50 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit will need to be paid by Friday 2^nd February 2024. All deposits will go through ParentPay https://www.parentpay.com/.  For more information about Kingswood Activity Centre please visit the school website https://www.georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk/page/?title=Kingswood+Activity+Centre&pid=163

Photographer Wanted - We would like to take some up-to-date professional photos of the school in action for the website and/or for pictures around school.  If any parents or close relatives would be willing to give up their time for a morning or afternoon to take some professional promotional-style shots - we would really appreciate it.  Contact Mr Spong via the School Office.

Illegal and Inconsiderate Parking

Two of our values are Respect and Kindness - please show these at all times when in and around school.  There is plenty of parking available in the Sketty and Ladysmith Car Parks as well as on the surrounding roads that are not Resident-only parking.  Sadly, we have a small number of parents who park on double yellow lines and across our neighbours' driveways. Please be considerate of everyone and be respectful to all in the local community.

Important Dates for Diary

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

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

Monday 29th January-Friday 3rd February - Year 5 Bikeability Week

Monday 29th January - Woodpecker class Maths Workshop at 9:15am

Tuesday 30th January - Owl class Maths Workshop at 9:15am

Wednesday 31st January - Robin class Maths Workshop at 9:15am

Thursday 1st February - Sparrow class Maths Workshop at 9:15am

Thursday 1st February - Navajo class assembly at 2:45pm

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 26/01/2023

Overall school = 92.86% Lates = 89

Best attendance: 1st Ash 98.48% 2nd Cheyenne 97.88% 3rd Hurricanes 96.57%

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

Determination

In assemblies this week, Mr Spong continued his theme of determination stories that also challenge stereotypes by sharing the book, Drummer Girl by Hiba Masood.  It is a joyful, heart-warming story, about a little girl's desire to help her community and of a father's support in making his daughter's dream come true despite the doubts of others, during the sacred month of Ramadan.  It challenges gender stereotypes while sharing a glimpse into the culture of the Muslim faith world.  Drummer Girl invites us all to stand up and heed the call of our own wishes and talents by being in service to our communities.  We encourage our children to dream big and to make plans to make those dreams a reality. Perhaps ask your children what their dreams/plans are.  The challenge this week is to change our mindset from saying things are impossible to one that thinks it is not possible yet!

Reception

Reception – Winter: investigating changes in the environment.

The winter weather is cold; sometimes refreshing and sometimes unwelcoming but always a reminder of the season we are in. The children in the Reception Classes have been investigating what changes they see in the playground during this time of the year. They have also explored what happens to ice as time goes by throughout the day. Some children gave their own ideas about what happens and why:

“When there’s ice in your hand the ice melts and the sun melts the ice outside.” – Arya

“The ice will be cold in your hand. It will be freezing. It changes; melts down to water.” Aren

Many of the children spoke about the types of clothes they would wear and what types of clothes would not be sensible for this time of the year. Well done to all the Reception scientists and investigators. What other changes does winter bring to animals and plants?  Have a little discussion and see how many winter words come up.

Year 1

This week in Year 1,  we have been thinking about setting goals and the process to achieve those goals. We discussed the stepping stones we have to take to achieve goals and used the example of making a jam sandwich to understand that we have to do all the different parts to accomplish the finished product. The children then applied the idea of stepping stones to achieve the goal of creating a tower.

In our topic All Aboard, we have been learning and performing poems about trains to prepare us for writing our own poems about a train journey. In Maths, we have been learning our number bonds to 20 and using different manipulatives to represent the number bonds.

Year 2

This week in our writing sessions, Year 2 have written and published a very persuasive guide for the city of Sydney!  They explain all about the different human and physical features you can see in this Australian city.   They have also been learning how to work towards a goal in PSHE e.g learning a new dance or how to count in a different language. 

Year 3 

Year 3 have been enjoying their new topic on Roman Britain. They have learnt about the importance of different sources of information  (primary and secondary) which gives them an insight into what happened in the past. As a result of this, they were able to explore pictures of Caratacus (who fought back against the Romans) with Emperor Claudius. They discussed how both leaders were represented in the pictures and possible reasons as to why. Y3 demonstrated their ability to justify and reason with the evidence provided. We definitely have some keen future historians in sight!

Year 5 

This week, in Year 5 we have been continuing to learn about space, particularly the planets and sun in our own solar system. We are learning about the rotation of the Earth around the sun, called its orbit, and how the Earth spins on its own axis one complete turn each day, making day and night. We learned how it appears the sun moves across the sky and the shadows this makes on the ground. You can tell the approximate position of the sun by the shadows on the ground. Long, thin shadows are formed when the sun is low in the sky at the beginning and end of the day. The direction the shadows face also indicates whether the sun is in the East or West. Although it was not sunny, we were able to replicate the effect of the sun by making shadows with torches in our classrooms and moving them to different positions to show the movement of the sun.

Year 6 

Scott and Shackleton

After learning about the Discovery expedition, we finished our dialogues between Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. We thought about how the two contrasting personalities of these historical figures could be shown through their actions. It was wonderful to read some of their fantastic work. 

Continuing on this topic, we have begun our Photo-Realism art project. Looking at a portrait of Scott and one of Shackelton, the children selected who they wanted to draw. They thought of their proportions and shapes. 

Hardship Funding

We have found a local charity who are dedicated to helping people or organisations in Enfield, who are facing challenges in these tough financial times.  From what we can tell, they can help funding emergency home repairs or needs and things like helping with costs for people in higher/further education.  This could also include school trips. 

https://thetrustenfield.org.uk/personalgrants/

NHS Immunisation

Half Term Camp