Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - 10th March 2023

Punctuality - The school gates open at 8.45am for a soft start to support a calm arrival to school. All our pupils are expected to be in class for registration by 09:00 am. The school gates are then locked at this point.  Pupils need to be in school by 09:00 am for registration. If your child arrives after 09:00 am, they will receive a late mark (L). If your child arrives after 09:10 am, they will receive a 'U' code (missed session) on their registration certificate which will impact on their overall attendance percentage.

Absences - must be reported in writing by email or by phone by 9am daily. Please leave a brief message with your child's name, class and the reason for their absence.  It will be recorded as unauthorised if you do not leave a reason or say your child is 'unwell'. 

Lateness - 

Parent Consultation Day - Friday 24th March 2023  - Our Spring Term Parent Consultation Day will be held on Friday 24th March 8.30am-6pm. This is a designated INSET day, meaning that your child will only attend school for their learning review meeting.

Appointments will be available from 6pm Wednesday 1^st March via School Cloud.  

If you have children on both sites, please ensure you leave a minimum of a 30 minute gap between the appointments you book in order to give you time to walk between the sites.  

School Street - Please click the link to read the letter from Enfield Council about the ANPR cameras on Craddock Road. - School Street Extension Letter

Important Dates for Diary

Monday 13th March - Yr 6 History Workshop

Tuesday 14th March - Yr 3 History Workshop

Monday 20th March - Year 6 - Trip to RAF Duxford

Friday 24th March - Parent's Consultation Day

Year 1 - George Spicer Sings Concert:

All concerts will be from 2:30pm-3pm

Monday 20th March - Ash Class

Tuesday 21st March - Elm Class

Wednesday 22nd March - Willow Class

Thursday 23rd March - Oak Class

Thursday 27th April -  Poet/author Cheryl Moskowitz will be visiting Year 4

Attendance week ending 10/03/2023

Overall school = 94.83%  Lates = 79

Best attendance: 1st Apache 98.58% 2nd Daffodil 97.88%

3rd Bluebell/Sioux/Sparrow  95.58%

Punctuality: Well done to Bluebell/Odysseus/Lancaster & Defiants with 100% for punctuality 

Rainbow Class

This week in Rainbow Class we have been focusing on following instructions. We used a recipe to make Banana Milkshakes. 

We learnt about reading and following a recipe. We discussed the ingredients and equipment we might need. We used our maths skills to measure the quantity of milk needed using a measuring jug, which ties in with our learning (volume and capacity). Whilst doing this activity we were improving our active listening skills by looking at the speaker waiting for them to finish then putting our hand out if we wanted to add to the discussion. We focused on our teamwork skills by passing the bowl to each other to add and stirring the ingredients and taking turns. When we finally got to taste our banana Milkshake, we used straws to drink it with which helps with the muscles in our face and mouth. Most of the children enjoyed drinking the milkshake but some who tried it weren’t keen on the taste or the texture of it. Some of the children said they would like to make some more milkshakes but to try other flavours, like strawberry and blueberry. 

Reception Class

Reception have had a fabulous week in our story cafes! Our adults came to see us, we practised our phonics and then read 'Dear Zoo' together. We loved our activities relating to the story, we made masks, mini books and playdough animals. To complete the session, we have sent home booklets for the children to write their own version of the story with their adults, we are looking forward to reading them when they return them next week!

Year 1

This week in Maths Year 1 are learning about Volume and Capacity. On Monday, they looked at different containers from home such as milk and shampoo bottles, and identified the capacity using millilitres and litres. They then explored measuring different volumes using measuring jugs. Noah said, "Capacity is how much it could hold, but volume is how much there actually is". 

Year 1 have been busy practising for their George Spicer Sings concerts week commencing the 20^th March. They are really excited to put on a performance for their grown-ups.  

 

Year 2

This week Year 2 have begun their new topic 'See how they grow'.  They learned all about Jazzy the Jazz apple from New Zealand and wrote lovely diary entries to show what the journey was like from the orchards all the way to the UK.  

  

In Science we are also looking at plants, and have set up experiments to test what factors affect the growth of a broad bean seed.  

Year 3 

In Art this half term, Year 3 have been looking at Anglo Saxon coins. We learnt how Anglo-Saxon coins were used to pay fines and taxes, buy land and for long distance trade. We discussed how Anglo-Saxon coins have influenced how coins are made today, focusing on their shape, material and design. 

The children then designed their own Anglo-Saxon coin, including a King, a religious symbol and Anglo-Saxon alphabet lettering. Next, the children were given a ball of clay which they flattened to create their coin. They then transferred their designs onto their coins using carving tools. Finally, Year 3 used silver paint to really make their Anglo-Saxon coins stand out. 

Some of the finished fantastic examples are shown below.

 

Year 5 

In Science this week, we learnt about self and cross pollination.  The children explored how the male and female genetic information joins to form a seed in a fruit.

In art, the children mixed primary, secondary and tertiary watercolours to create a variety of skin tones.  They will use this skill to add colour to their sketches of Henry VIII, which they will create over the coming weeks. 

The children have loved our writing sessions this week, where they have become biographers, creating detailed accounts of the fascinating life of ‘Mary Queen of Scots’. The details of her enthralling life left them captivated. As a result, they have produced some excellent pieces of writing. From becoming Queen of Scotland when she was only 6 days old, to her engagement to the French Dauphin Francis at the age of 6, the children were gripped. We finished this week on a high, with Mary becoming Queen of France, as well as Scotland, and also she was now next in line to the throne of England. Next week however, we will learn about her demise.

Year 6 

World Book Day in Year 6

For World Book Day, the Year 6 teachers dressed up as characters from the book the 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. Year 6 had a brilliant time reading a passage from the book and discussed how the author has shown Cruella to be such a villain. We then learnt about the author Michael Rosen. We looked at his website and learnt about his life as a child and how he became a writer. The pupils really enjoyed the way Michael Rosen recited his poems. The majority of the pupils preferred the poem ‘Chocolate Cake.’

We also looked at the book ‘We’re going on a Bear hunt,’ and wrote an eerie story about what could have happened in the ‘deep, dark forest,’ that could have made them ‘stumble trip.’ For Art we designed and drew a front cover of the book based on their eerie story.

Can you work out the titles of these famous books from the clues below.

Friday 10th  March ~ GSPS Mental Health Focus Day ~ GSPS Unplugged Day  

This National Day of Unplugging is a campaign that encourages people to spend one entire day in March completely “unplugged” from technology. At George Spicer, we are going to take on this challenge. In class, the children will explore why it is important to have a balance of screen time and non-screen time and reflect on how being away from a screen can impact positively on our mental health and quality of sleep. No laptops or IWBs will be used in school for lessons or assemblies. Look out for next week's newsletter to see what the children got up to. 

Girls' Football Fixtures

On Tuesday, our girls' football team played their last round of fixtures as part of the Enfield cluster. Our first game was against Worcesters. We won 2-1 and played a disciplined game and held our defensive shape well. After taking the lead, we were pegged back. However, our superstar captain Amena-Santi scored a last minute free-kick to seal the win. In our second match we came up against an experienced St Andrews team. We went two nil down, but managed to pull a goal back. However, as we pushed for a winner, they managed to hit us on the break and make it 3-1. This means from our five games, we won 3 and lost 2. However, we are so proud of them, because our team made up of Year 4s, 5s and 6s, some of whom had never played football before this year, managed to compete with other teams, mainly made up of Year 6 girls and get some fantastic results. The future is bright for next season!