Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - 10th February 2023

Wishing you all a peaceful and safe half term break. We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 20th February 2023.

After half term, we will be focusing on punctuality and late arrivals, which are causing a disruption to teaching

Registers are taken electronically twice a day; in the morning at 9am and again directly after lunch. Any pupil arriving after the close of the register must report to the school office and be signed in on the electronic system giving clear reasons for lateness. Any pupil arriving after the close of the register at 9.10am will be marked as an unauthorised absence.

Residential Trips payment reminder - Please note the dates below for payment of the final instalments for the residential trips. 

• Year 6 - Borreattan Park May 2023 final payment due 10^th February 2023 £95.00

Reception School Admissions - If you have a sibling due to start Reception in September and have not yet applied for a school place, there is still time.  Please visit https://www.eadmissions.org.uk/.  If you need any help or advice with the application, please contact the office.

Helping more people visit our Zoos - Tickets from as little as £3 per person

We know how hard things are for many families on low incomes right now, and we want to do what we can to help. 

As part of our Community Access Scheme, you can now buy reduced price tickets for London Zoo at our entry kiosks from as little as £3 per person, if you are receiving Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance. 

Please click the link for more information zoo information

FREE Half Term Basic cycle skills sessions -  Cycle Confident are offering a range of children's cycle sessions FREE this half-term.  Please read the details on the website carefully to ensure you book your child on the correct course for their ability. Below is the link to book.

https://www.cycleconfident.com/courses/child-group/

Lost property/labelling uniform - we have lots of lost property accumulating every term, we do however sort this out and return to the child if it is labelled hence why it's very important to ensure that all items are labelled.  

Missing property - If your child has taken any belongings of another child in error, please return it to the school office as we regularly have items missing especially jackets.

Meal changes - if you wish to change your child from packed lunch to school dinner or vice versa next term please inform the office via email by Sunday 12th February.  

Important dates for your diary

13th-17th February - Half Term

Year 2 Maths Workshops - 9.10 – 9.45am.  The dates are as follows:

Sparrow’s Workshop – Monday 27th February

Woodpecker’s Workshop – Tuesday 28th February 

Owl’s Workshop – Wednesday 1st March

Robin’s Workshop – Thursday 2nd March

Educational visits/workshops

Please visit ParentPay  to consent and make payments

• Year 3 - Whipsnade Zoo 13^th June 2023 £25.50
• Year 3 - Anglo Saxon Workshop 14^th March 2023 - £7.50
• Year 5 - Egyptian Artefact Workshop 2^nd May 2023 £7.50
• Year 6 - Dharma Mandir Temple 24^th Feb 2023 Defiants & Spitfires £1
• Year 6 - Battle of the Atlantic and Codebreaking 13^th March 2023 £7.50
• Year 6 - WW2 Trip to RAF Duxford 20^th March 2023 £13.75
• Year 6 - WW2 Cheryl Moskowitz Summer 2023 - £3.50

Attendance week ending 10/02/2023

Overall school = 94.18%  Lates = 93

Best attendance: 1st Odysseus 98.66% 2nd Woodpecker 98.44% 

3rd Apache 97.92%  

Punctuality: Well done Bluebell with 100% for their punctuality

Our Value - Determination

This week was our final week focusing on our value of Determination.  At Sketty Road we looked at what being successful actually means.  Then linking with our use of Middlesex Cricket Club for PE lessons in Year 3 and our using the Women’s T20 World Cup with our Ambassadors, I chose the inspiration story of Sri Lankan cricketer Marvan Atapattu to illustrate never giving up on your dreams and working hard to achieve them.  Ask your children what they can remember about him – you can watch this video if you want to find out - for yourselves.  At Kimberley Gardens we looked at learning from our mistakes and we looked at lots of everyday things that were made completely by accident.  Ask your children what some of those were. 

Our main aim this half term has been to develop a growth mindset in the children, the idea that hard work is the key to success and that by never giving up we can eventually achieve the outcomes we desire.

Rainbow Class 

In Rainbow Class this week we have been working on counting in twos.

To help us with our learning we had an activity that involved a washing line, clothes pegs, a number line and pairs of socks with numbers on them.

With this activity we had to work together, share the resources and talk to each other and decided who would do what. We then discussed which number comes next and used the number line to check when we were unsure. The clothes peg for proved to be a bit tricky in terms of using our fine motor skills, as you have to squeeze them and at the same time with your other hand place the set of socks on the line. When finished we felt a sense of pride at what we had achieved.

Reception Class

Reception Get Fit with Tanzii TV!

Reception had a fun start to Wednesday morning, when Tanzii TV came to visit our school. We learned about the importance of using exercise to keep healthy and we also got to play some exciting games to boost our fitness. We watched some interesting videos to help us chose our favourite vegetables and followed the coaches' instructions to learn new moves such as 'rocket jumps' and 'skate slides'! 

Reception have been thinking about their Dreams and Goals as part of our PSHE lessons this week. We read the book 'Riley Can Be Anything' and discussed what we would like to be when we grow up! We role-played different jobs in the learning environment and wrote about our dream jobs for the future!

Year 1

This week Year 1 are learning about Skara Brae. To recap prior learning of the Stone Age, they had 2 minutes to write down as many facts as they can remember. We were really impressed to see what they could recall from the week before! On Friday, we will be presenting all of our newly learnt information about Skara Brae to the rest of the class! Did you know that although it was built around 5000 years ago, Skara Brae was only discovered in 1850 due to a Great Storm? 

In Maths this week we are looking at Measurement.  We explored some of the key vocabulary such as ‘longer’ ‘shorter’ ‘taller’.  We looked at rulers and practised measuring different objects in cm.  We remembered to make sure that we are on the 'cm' side of the ruler and that we started measuring on 0 cm.  

Year 2

As part of our topic ‘London - the evolution of a city’ we have been learning all about the Great Fire of London. We have written some fantastic chronological reports that explain how the fire started, how it came to an end and what the impact was on London. The children have also had the chance to complete their Tudor houses based on their designs. They look amazing and the children showed great teamwork skills to create them.

Year 3 

This week, Year 3 have learnt that bread was eaten in large quantities by the Anglo-Saxons. It was included in nearly every meal they ate. 

The children were given the fun task of making their own Anglo-Saxon bread. After thoroughly washing their hands, they worked in groups to follow the bread making instructions. They had to ensure they used their ingredients and equipment correctly in order to make the bread dough. 

Next, Year 3 kneaded the dough until it was smooth, before sectioning it and making their individual shapes.  They then placed their creations on a baking tray, allowing them to rest and expand.

Over lunchtime, they were baked in the oven for the children to enjoy at the end of the day. 

Their finished creations were tasty and very impressive! All of the children enjoyed the experience of making their Anglo-Saxon bread!

Year 5 

This week in Year 5, the children became playwrights. They created their own scripts inspired by the demise of Anne Boleyn.  Each class focused on a different part of the story. From Henry’s fury that she had not produced a male heir, to the arrival of Jane Seymour and finally Thomas Cromwell’s cruel plot to having her executed for treason.  Once the children edited their scripts, they came together as a year group to perform the different pieces of the story to each other.  Well done Year 5! What a brilliant way to end the term. They have absolutely loved this topic and the results speak for themselves!  We are very proud teachers!

In Science this week, the children created line graphs to show the relationship between age and bone mass (amount of calcium in the bone).  We discussed how bone is living tissue which requires calcium to grow healthy and strong and that when we are young, our bodies make new bone quicker than it removes old bone. This means our bone mass (minerals, e.g. calcium in the bone) will increase so our bones tend to be stronger.  But after age 50, we start losing bone mass faster than we can build it.  The bones tend to be weaker.  After creating their graphs, they used it to explain why older people’s bones are more fragile! 

This week in PSHE, the children created alternative cinquains based on the lives of three different children from three very different cultures.  They thought about what life must be like for these children.  What their dreams might be and whether or not these dreams were realistic? We also talked about the power of education and how in the words of one of the children they studied, ‘With educations comes opportunity.’  The children’s maturity during these discussions and their empathy towards the experiences of others in less fortunate situations was heart-warming.

Year 6 

Science: Evolution and Adaptation

Continuing with their Science unit of: Evolution and Inheritance, this week the children considered how animals adapt and how sometimes this adaptation can lead to their extinction. 

To do this, we looked at the perfect adaptation of the Smilodon. The Smilodon is one of the most iconic predators to ever roam this planet. With its distinctive sabre canines, it was a fearsome beast. However, how this creature used its teeth was a mystery for a long time. 

We used our knowledge of how the Smilodon used its teeth and what adaptations they went through in order to better survive in its environment. We labelled the adaptations on an image of the smilodon. We thought about adaptations that were a strength and ones that were actually a weakness. 

George Spicer Girls football team

On Tuesday, the Girl’s football team played two matches at Enfield Grammar School and were an absolute credit to the school. The first game was a very tough game against St James’, however the girls shows great heart and a never say die attitude. Despite the loss, the girls came off the pitch smiling and ended with the now traditional “GEORGE SPICER!” chant they have adopted.

They then went into the second game with huge optimism and determination to come away with a win. They delivered. Sophia scored a fantastic opening goal, which followed some excellent passing from the defenders. Amena-Santi followed up with two more goals to make it 3-0, one of which was a clinically dispatched penalty into the corner. A shout out to George, who was tenacious throughout the game and deserved to score a goal. The score line ended 3-1 to George Spicer after conceding a goal late on but the girls were thrilled with their well-deserved win. Every member of the squad deserves huge credit for the progress they have made as a team and the fantastic football they played.

Netball

This week's player of the match goes to Martin who intercepted the ball with such passion throughout the whole game. Well done. 

    Ambassadors

Over the last half-term the GSPS Ambassadors have been working extremely hard to celebrate the Women's Cricket World Cup - which starts today. 

They arranged each year group to represent a country and delivered a presentation to their classes with more information on each country and its history. 

We certainly have leaders in the making and we couldn't be prouder of their hard work and confidence when delivering assemblies and lessons to the school.