Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - Thursday 6 January 2022

Happy New Year to all families in our George Spicer community.  It was so nice to welcome all the children back this week and hear stories of what they had been doing over the festive period.  Our attention quickly turns to the future and the start of a year brings with it new hopes and new opportunities.  Our value for this half-term is DETERMINATION – in our assembly this week we came up with our school definition as being ‘ Determination is having a goal and doing everything you can to achieve this goal and never giving up.”  I shared with the children the inspiring story of Stephen Curry, who as a boy was told he was too small and too weak to achieve his dream.  You can read a bit about him by clicking this link - Info – and there are plenty of documentaries on YouTube.  So as we start 2022 I ask you and your children to set yourselves goals and have the determination to realise them; never give up!

Important Information 

• Covid clarification - Please click here  for updated Covid clarification letter from Mr Spong.
• Communication with school - A reminder that the main contact with the School Offices are:

           Email:  office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk Telephone: 020 8363 1406

• Reporting absences - If your child is unwell or will be absent from school, please leave a short message on the answer machine clearly stating your child's name, class and nature of the illness.  Please advise what exactly is wrong rather than 'feeling unwell'.  Absences must be reported by 9am, either by phone or email.
• Lateness – The number of children arriving late in the mornings is high. Gates close at 9am and learning starts promptly at this time.  If your child is 5 minutes late every day, this equates to nearly 3 whole days of missed learning, plus it’s disruptive for other children.
• Free School Meals - If your circumstances have changed and you think you may be eligible for Free School Meals, please apply here. For every pupil premium/FSM child, the school receives £1,345 per year which collectively supports teaching and learning.
• ParentPay – ‘we are a cashless school’ -Every child has a ParentPay account (If you are new to George Spicer, a login will be issued shortly). If your child attends Breakfast and After School Club or has school dinners, please ensure that your account has at least 2 weeks’ worth of payments in advance.
•  PE Days - Children are to wear PE kits into school on PE Days.  Please remember; NO JEWELLERY for PE; earrings must be removed or taped (staff WILL NOT tape the earrings back)
• Deadline for Reception 2022 intake is the 15 January 2022, please click here to apply. 
• Spring Menu - the new menu has been added to the website, please click here to view.
• Safer School Streets is now FULLY OPERATIONAL.  Please don't park on or in front of resident driveways - use the Park and Stride locations.
• George Spicer vacancies - We are looking for relief Breakfast & After School Cub Playleaders and Lunchtime playleaders.  Please refer to the school's vacancies page on their website.

Challenging Stereotypes Focus Week

At George Spicer, we want our children to be Global Citizens. We refer to the UNCRC articles, the Global Goals and British Values in order for the pupils to be well rounded and ready contribute positively to society from a young age. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, there are stereotypes that people continue to subscribe to, even though there are mountains of evidence to prove that they are incorrect. Therefore, we decided to address some of these fallacies head on and every year group was given a stereotype to challenge by means of a question. From "Are all nurses female?" in Reception to "Do disabled people need pity?" in Year 4. We have approached these questions across our learning this week and fundamentally proved them wrong. It speaks volumes about the children at George Spicer that they were so passionate and engrossed in the learning. We surely do have amongst our number, children who will impact the world for good and make a change. Please find the time to talk to your child about what they have worked on this week and make sure to follow us on Twitter @GeorgeSpicerSch

I am so proud of what we have all achieved as a school. 

Miss McNamara (UNCRC Lead) 

How to start a happy new year! 

Things have certainly not been easy over the last year, and we are still in difficult and uncertain times. Action for Happiness are a group of people committed to build a happier and more caring society. This month, they're encouraging everyone to focus on small steps to try to boost happiness - for ourselves and others around us - to spread kindness and hopefully inspire others to do the same. We'd love the George Spicer Community to join in! Why not have a go at the daily activities in the calendar below or if you'd like ideas sent to your mobile,  download their app https://www.actionforhappiness.org/smartphone-app 

"The purpose of our lives is to be happy" - Dalai Lama

Spring term class assemblies

Please see below class assembly dates. We ask that you arrive at 2.30pm for a 2.35pm start.

Wednesday 26th January – Ra

Wednesday 9th February – Anubis

Wednesday 2nd March – Thoth

Wednesday 9th March - Navajo

Wednesday 16th March – Osiris

Wednesday 23rd March – Sioux

Wednesday 30th March – Cheyenne

Attendance week ending 06/01/2022

Overall school =  90.12% Lates = 35

Best attendance: 1st Oak 98.72% 2nd Elm 97.67%% 3rd Bluebell 95.98%

Punctuality: Well done Ra and Hurricanes with 100% punctuality

Reception

Reception have returned to school motivated and ready to learn! As part of 'Challenging Stereotypes' week we were given the question, 'Are all nurses female?' When we asked the children the question their responses were very interesting and varied dependent upon their personal experiences;

Ellie said, 'No, boys and girls can be the same and do the same thing.'

Atlas said, 'Nurses are girls, they wear blue dresses.'

George said, 'Boys are doctors, girls are nurses.'

We challenged this by showing the children a variety of pictures depicting different people in a variety of healthcare roles. We set up each classroom with a different role play area; doctors' surgery, veterinary surgery, police station and fire station. These pictures show how the children got involved and did not even consider who can undertake the job. They decided who could do the job by whomever came up with the best idea on how to save the patient or animal!

Year 1

For stereotypes week, Year one have been exploring the topic ‘Do children hate vegetables?’ They read the book ‘I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato’ (Charlie and Lola). They have provided reasons as to why vegetables are good for you. Some of the reasons they gave are below:

- Help you grow, good for your brain.

- They give you energy.

- They provide vitamins.

To persuade children to eat more vegetables, Year One said:

- Make it exciting, cut the vegetables into shapes.

- Play a game and change the names of vegetables.

- Cook as a family.

-Tell children about the benefits of vegetables.

They will take part in a debate by the end of the week. They have really enjoyed exploring the stereotype.

Year 2

This week in Y2 we have been challenging the stereotype ‘real men don’t cry’. In writing, we have been looking at the science behind tears and the different types of tears, along with the reasons our body produces them. We have produced some brilliantly informative writing in the form of a non-chronological report and tried hard to include as much technical vocabulary as we can! We concluded that people cry for a wide range of reasons regardless of gender and it is sometimes a necessity to keep us healthy.

Basal Tears – Keep our eyes healthy.

Reflex Tears – Protect our eyes.

Emotional tears – A response to our feelings.

In our reading lessons this week, we looked at a news article about whether boys should or shouldn’t cry. We wrote our own views, linking to Global Goal 5 – Gender Equality, in response to this article.

Year 3 

This week is stereotype week and Year 3 have been looking at the continent of Africa! We have been challenging the stereotype that all parts of Africa are poor when of course this is not the case. We watched two adverts that depict how the western world perceives Africa and we had a knowledge harvest describing what we think Africa is like. We were then stunned however to look at pictures of some incredible, massive houses and learn that they are also in Africa! It was an amazing afternoon of smashing through stereotypes and being able to broaden our knowledge of the continent. 

We also got to go to the computer suite to research different countries in Africa and learn about the diverse and rich culture all across the continent!

Year 5 

During Challenging Stereotypes Week, Year 5 asked the question 'Do women need saving by men?' We began the week by exploring how women are portrayed within Disney films and how in older Disney films, such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, women are portrayed as being, 'damsels in distress,' needing to be saved by a heroic Prince. Based on our prior knowledge, we questioned how women were represented in these films and realised that at some point in each of their stories, each were saved by a heroic male figure. Cinderella, Belle and Ariel were all represented as 'damsels in distress' characters, which many of us questioning gender roles and whether this would be accepted in today's society.

To challenge this 'damsel in distress' stereotype, during our writing lessons we wrote letters to Disney explaining the need for a fairer representation of women in films (Global Goal 5 - Gender Equality). We wanted to see more Disney princesses represented as resilient and reliant upon themselves, not needing the help of a man to succeed. We also looked at the UNCRC Article 2 - No Discrimination and analysed how earlier films, such as Snow White (1938) and Cinderella (1950) represented the princesses as flat characters fitting into stereotypical gender roles lacking personality and ambition. They were represented as merely beautiful and desperately in need of saving from their current situation. It also brought into question that we would like to see a more diverse representation of female characters in all films, which we do acknowledge has begun to happen with films such as Moana. 

The Year 5 team has been very impressed with how the children have shown enthusiasm, open-mindedness and are able to confidently challenge opinions and views respectfully.

Year 6 

In our reading lessons, we looked at songs that discussed beauty standards, such as Unpretty by TLC and Pretty Hurts by Beyonce. We also looked at a song that focused on how we perceive ourselves on social media, called False Confidence by Noah Kahan. We anaylsed the lyrics of each song, discussing what message the artist was trying to send through their lyrics. 

Through analsying the lyrics, we learnt how dangerous comparing ourselves to others can be. We learnt that being what society deems  to be perfect on the outside, won't necessarily make us happy on the inside. The key to success is self acceptance and love. 

Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed looking at challenging the stereotypes of beauty by asking the question: Who defines beauty? 

To begin the week, they considered the quote: 

“Comparison is the thief of joy”

The children quickly realised that when we compare our looks/bodies to those presented to us in the media this can harm our self-esteem. To try and overcome this, they wrote letters from their future selves explaining how they will feel differently about the parts of themselves they currently dislike. From this lesson, the children began to see that negative phrases such as “I hate my …” can really harm us and instead we should try to stop being our own harshest critics. The children all agreed that they would start being kinder towards themselves and begin to love who they are. 

We have also been looking at the definition of beauty through Barbie. We focused on the body image and stereotypes portrayed through Barbie and Ken dolls. We had lots of discussions about the unrealistic body image portrayed through the dolls, that shows an unhealthy, incorrect and unachievable body for both young girls and boys. We discussed the impact this might have on our health and in particular on our mental health (UNCRC Article 24).

Then, we did some drawing. We drew our own Barbie/Ken dolls to which we could relate. We wanted to draw Barbie dolls that would look like ourselves and look realistic as we are all different and unique individuals and therefore, we should have our own dolls that represent us (UNCRC Article 8 - Identity).