George Spicer newsletter - Thursday 25 November 2021

Reporting absences - please call and report any absences by 9am.  Leave a brief message with your child's name, class and nature of illness - we must have a reason for all absences, so please don't just say 'unwell'.

Persistent lateness - there are some children who are coming in late regularly.  Please be reminded that a late start is incredibly disruptive for a child's learning and well-being.  Children do not like coming into a classroom late.  We are monitoring this closely and may refer to the Education Welfare Officer if necessary.  Please ensure that you allow sufficient time to have your child in school ready and on time. 

ParentPay - as we are nearing the end of the year please make sure all your accounts are up-to-date.  

Christmas Dinner - If your child doesn’t already have school dinners, you can book them in for a Christmas lunch. Cost is £2.50 if your child is in Year 3 - 6 and not eligible for Free School Meals. Please email the school office with your request (only if they are currently packed lunches) by Monday 6 December and top up ParentPay.

Attendance week ending 25/11/2021

Overall school =  93.79% Lates = 93

Best attendance: 1st Sioux 97.31% 2nd Theseus 97.3% 3rd 96.3%

Punctuality: 1st Theseus 99.72% 2nd Hurricanes 99.61% &

3rd Sioux/Daffodil 95.54%

Flu Immunisation

The Children’s Immunisation Team will be visiting George Spicer on Thursday 9th December 2021.

Flu can be an unpleasant illness and can cause serious complications. Vaccinating your child will also help protect more vulnerable family and friends by preventing the spread of flu. With COVID-19 still in circulation it is important to reduce the number of those becoming ill with flu this winter to help protect them, the NHS and social care.  Research also shows that if you get both flu and COVID-19 at the same time you may be more seriously ill.   

The vaccine is administered as a nasal spray is completely pain free for your child 

Click here for more information

Flu Consent We are now offering e-consent. Please access the online consent form at the following link:

Consent Form   The unique code for the school is ENF101993A

Please note: The Flu Nasal spray contains porcine gelatine, there is an alternative available. Information on this can be found in the link above.

We would be grateful if you could complete the e-consent form for the vaccination as soon as possible.  If you prefer your child not to be vaccinated, please complete the ‘no consent’ section and we will no longer contact you for consent. 

Books, games and toy donations

We thank all the parents who offer us donations for the school. If you are having a clear out before the Christmas holidays and have good quality books and games, we are delighted to receive them.

The classrooms are looking great this term as we have received donations and bought new books for the children to boost the reading corners. Look at this amazing reading area in Year 5, who are always so excited when new books arrive! Ask your children what new books they have seen or read in class.

# Help for Hunger 

If you are in a position to support with providing an item or 2 for the Help for Hunger hampers, we will be collecting non-perishable food items (tins, cereals, pasta, tea etc) & household essentials (shampoo, soap, toothpaste etc) on Monday 29^th November, before & after school, on both sites.  Any questions please ask your class Parent Rep or Miss Southgate.  Many thanks. 

Reception

This week Reception have been learning all about road safety. The children shared their knowledge of how to cross the road safely using the key messages of, 'Stop, Look and Listen.' We discussed why we need to wear clothes with reflective strips in order to be seen by vehicles on these dark winter nights. If you need to remind yourselves about the rules of being safe on the roads, ask Reception or come and see our road safety posters!

Year 1

This week is Road Safety Week. Children in Year 1 have been discussing how to cross the road safely in class. They had an opportunity to role play crossing the road safely with their partners. Elm class went outside and practised being a pedestrian. They drew a road using chalk. They remembered how important it is to look left and right to ensure that they avoid oncoming traffic. Children realised how important it is to look both ways and listen for any traffic. They were reminded to always cross the road with an adult.

We followed this plan:

1. THINK FIRST - PLAN. Find the safest place to cross then stop.
2. STOP. Stand on the pavement little way back from the edge.
3. WATCH AND LISTEN. Look for traffic in all directions and listen.
4. WAIT UNTIL IT IS SAFE. Wait patiently and let the traffic pass.
5. WATCH AND LISTEN. When it's safe, walk directly across the road.   

Year 2

This week in Year 2 we have been discussing Road Safety as part of our focus week. We discussed some of the road signs and markings we might see around Enfield that will help us cross roads safely. We know we must STOP, LOOK and LISTEN. To help road users see us and remain visible on dark evenings we talked about wearing bright colours. We designed helmets using lots of bright colours that we think will help.

We have just started our new topic “Habitats in Britain” and have been thinking about some of the habitats we may found around the country. We classified the animals into the habitat we thought they would belong to, which encouraged some interesting discussions about whether we may see some of the animals in more than one habitat.

Ezra (Sparrow) – “We see foxes in urban habitats because we are building on their homes. They have to find somewhere new to live and survive.”

Year 3 

This week, it's Road Safety Week! Year 3 have been learning all about how the roads around our school are safe and the features we need to look for to make sure we can cross the road safely. We conducted fieldwork by walking down Sketty Road and Southbury Road and using a tally to count the safety features we could spot. We saw zebra crossings, speed limit signs and yellow zig zag lines that are all in place to help keep our streets safe and ensure we are crossing the road in the right place. 

It was excellent to get outside and investigate our community. 

Year 5 

Computing: Scratch 

This week in Year 5, we started our Computing topic for the half term where we began to programme music using the application Scratch. We enjoyed using different code blocks to create our pieces and worked independently to explore how to embed basic sound commands and loops to create our own music soundtracks. We made sure to check for debugging simple errors in our code and enjoyed performing our soundtracks to our peers! 

Road Safety Week!

Year 5 also took part in Road Safety Week this week! We looked at road safety advertisements throughout the years and discussed the message behind them, as well as evaluating the impact they had. Thinking of Global Goal 13 (Climate Action), we understood that whilst it is safer to ride and bike to school than travel by car, it is also better for our environment! For those of us that scoot and or cycle to school, we discussed our own experiences with road safety and what strategies we used to stay safe. Looking at signs within our area, we learnt that signs are there to encourage children and adults to be safe on the roads, especially in the Safer Streets initiative where we walk, scoot and cycle into school! We decided we wanted to create our own adverts that we felt would be impactful and in small groups, we worked together to create our own engaging advertisements! 

Year 6 

This week in Year 6 has been Computing Week and we have been practising our Digital Literacy skills. For Geography, we are learning about rivers. For computing, we used the geographical information we had learnt to create information posters on Microsoft Word, demonstrating what we had learnt. We copied and pasted pictures and diagrams, entered text boxes and experimented with changing the font and colour of the text. 

In Science, we have continued our learning on the circulatory system. This week, we looked at different blood cells and their uses. We then wrote haikus, which are short poems that originated in Japan, about a blood cell of our choice and accompanied our haikus with a detailed sketch using pastels.         

For Road Safety Week, in our PSHE lesson, we discussed the different responsibilities we have and how this changes as we grow up. Then, we discussed the different dangers we might encounter on our journey to and from school, whether we are travelling on foot or using a form of transport (car, bus, train). We came up with a range of strategies that could help us stay safe when travelling (Using zebra crossing or using pelican crossings and waiting for the green man).

We discussed the impact the weather and the time of day would have when travelling and whether we would need to wear comfortable footwear or Hi-Vis vests to help us stay safe. 

After all our discussions, everyone wrote down one thing they would do to stay safe when travelling alone. 

In our History lesson, we looked at the relationship between King Leopold II and Henry Morton Stanley. King Leopold was desperate for a colony and tasked Stanley with travelling to Congo (now known as Democratic Republic of Congo) to establish trading posts. We looked at a secondary source, which depicted Stanley interacting with the people who inhabited the land, and considered how the people may be feeling. 

Road Safety 

Make the Brake Pledge: make a difference to road safety

Anyone can make the Brake Pledge. It enables everyone, especially drivers, to pledge to do their bit to stop road crashes, build happier communities, and help save the planet.

Make the Pledge using this link http://www.roadsafetyweek.org/schools-colleges/2-uncategorised/49-make-the-brake-pledge

Slow

Drivers – I'll stay under limits, and slow down to 20mph/30kph around schools, homes and shops to protect others. I'll slow right down for bends, brows and bad weather, and avoid overtaking.
Everyone – I'll speak out for slowing down and help drivers understand that the slower they drive, the more chance they have of avoiding a crash and saving a life.

Sober

Drivers – I'll never drive after drinking any alcohol or drugs – not a drop, not a drag.
Everyone - I'll plan ahead to make sure I, and anyone I'm with, can get home safely and I'll never be a passenger with a driver who's been drinking or taking drugs. I'll speak out if someone is going to drive on drink or drugs.

Secure

Drivers – I'll make sure everyone in my vehicle is wearing a seatbelt on every journey, and kids smaller than 150cm are in a proper child restraint. I'll choose the safest vehicle I can and ensure it's maintained. If I ride a moped or motorbike, I'll always wear a securely-fastened helmet, and make sure passengers do to.
Everyone – I'll wear a seatbelt whenever I'm a passenger in a vehicle, and a helmet if I'm a passenger on a moped or motorbike, and make sure friends and family do too.

Silent

Drivers – I'll never take or make calls or texts when driving. I'll turn off my phone or put it out of sight and on silent, and stay focused on the road.
Everyone – I'll never chat on the phone to someone else who's driving.

Sharp

Drivers – I'll get my eyes tested every two years and wear glasses or lenses at the wheel if I need them. I'll take regular breaks and never drive if I'm tired, stressed or on medication that affects driving.
Everyone – I'll look out for friends and family by ensuring they only drive if they're fit for it, and rest if they're tired.

Sustainable

Everyone – I'll minimise the amount I drive, or not drive at all. I'll get about by walking, cycling or public transport as much as I can, for road safety, the environment and my health.