Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - Friday 6th May 2022

Year 6 SAT's week - Please ensure that if your child is in Year 6 that they are on time each day in order for us to start tests on time.  We wish them all good luck.  

Lateness and attendance - Please ensure your child is in school on time, gates close at 9am any children that are in after will be recorded as unauthorised.  If your child is sick please report their absence by email/leaving a voicemail message stating their name/class and nature of illness, any messages reported as 'unwell' will be unauthorised.

Late collections - Please be reminded to collect your child/ren on time.  If you are running late call the office and advise asap or make alternative arrangements for collection of your child/ren.  After 3.30pm any late children will be signed into after school club where a £15 per child is charged as per our late collection policy. 

Mental Health Awareness week is next week with the focus on loneliness.  The children will take part in wellbeing activities.

Attendance week ending 06/05/2022

Overall school =  95.12%  Lates =  42

Best attendance: 1st  Daffodils 100%  2nd Woodpecker 98.79%  3rd Sioux 98.17% 

Punctuality: Elm, Owl, Defiants, Apache, Ra, Hurricanes and Daffodil with 100%, well done 

School Governors visit 

School governors have had a tricky job over the last couple of years, with visits to schools being almost impossible. We have continued to meet virtually once a term throughout the pandemic but on Friday 22, three governors spent the morning at Kimberley Gardens, observing the children’s lessons in all three year groups. One of the main roles of governors is to hold the school to account and so we were interested to see if what we had been told the school were doing in our meetings could be seen in the classroom.  

So, what did we observe? Too much to fit in a short piece for the newsletter but we saw a very energetic and engaging phonics lesson in Reception with the children already writing their letters very clearly. In year 1 there were lessons about Mary Seacole and Enfield and the children were starting to learn to correct their own work in purple pen. This helps them to remember not to make the same mistake next time. In year 2 we saw maths lessons about weights and fraction and in this year, the children were well practised in using their purple pen. We also saw lessons about Captain James Cook and his journey to Australia. We were really impressed by the quality of work we saw both in books and in the many displays around the school. 

We also spoke to teachers across all year groups. It was good to hear about how well Reception children have settled in school, the good progress children are now making after the disruptions of the last two years and how teachers are promoting diversity in their classrooms.

There was a real buzz about the school with the teachers, TAs and children clearly engaged in what they were doing, and lots of teamwork between the children; helping each other to learn in pairs or bigger groups. We asked the children what they were learning about, and they were enthusiastic to tell us. Behaviour was routinely excellent. It was a really enjoyable morning, and we were all so impressed with what we observed. Thank you to Mrs Mangiapane for organising the morning and to the staff and children for making us feel so welcome. 

Anne Del Greco

Sarah Leslie

Joanne Brinklow

George Spicer Primary School - Governors

Mental Health Awareness Week 

Next week is a national Mental Health Awareness Week with the focus of loneliness.  Loneliness is often described as when we feel we do not have the meaningful relationships we want around us.  At George Spicer, we will be talking to the children about loneliness during our assemblies and focusing on how we can help our own and others mental health through the 5 ways to wellbeing.

Year groups will be connecting with each other and taking part in shared wellbeing activities.  Look out for the pictures in next week’s newsletter!

Please take a look at the links below to see how you can support discussions about loneliness with your children:

A Guide to Understanding & Managing feelings of Loneliness

Loneliness: A guide for Parents & Carers to support your children

Other Useful Mental Health Information:

• Young Mind’s Parent Helpline and Webchat provides advice and support for parents and caregivers who are worried about a child or young person.
• Urgent Mental Health Support Information

Reception Class

Reception have been learning all about gymnastics this week and have been focusing on rolling. We learnt that it is important to point our toes, stretch our bodies and how to keep ourselves safe during gymnastics. We watched Olympic athletes to inspire us and spotted different types of rolling. We went into the hall and practised teddy bear rolls, pencil rolls and egg rolls! 

Year 1

On Tuesday 3^rd May, children were very lucky to have John, our Reading volunteer and our very own Mrs Tilling answer some questions about how Enfield has changed over time. This was part of our History topic. It was very interesting. Children asked questions such as:

How has Enfield changed over time?

What was Bush Hill Park like many years ago?

Was there a cinema where Tesco currently is?

What happened before cash machines were invented?

What was on the Kimberley Gardens site before the school was built?

We thank Mrs Tilling and John who gave us detailed answers about what Enfield was like in the past. John also showed us pictures of the golden post box and cash machine. He also showed us pictures of Enfield many years ago.

Year 2

Geography – Australia

This week in Year 2 we have been using atlases to locate different cities and rivers in Australia. We looked at the key and made sure we understood the symbols to help us find different human and physical features on the map. We then plotted the cities on our own maps.

For our greater depth challenge we thought about why Australian cities might be located on the coast.

Year 3 

Year 3 have been learning about primary, secondary and tertiary colours in Art. We learnt that a primary colour cannot be mixed, a secondary colour is two primary colours mixed together and a tertiary colour is a primary and secondary colour mixed together. We looked at this piece of artwork by Monet - discussed what colours we could see, classified them as primary, secondary or tertiary and spoke about how we would mix them. We then used paint to create samples of each of the colours we had labelled. We discussed how we could make our colours lighter or darker and will experiment with tints and shades next week.

Year 5 

Year 5: Isis and the Cobra

This week, Year 5 began to write a transcript between an interviewer and Amen-Ra, based on the story of Isis and the Cobra.

We began the week by researching the Egyptian God family tree, discussing our prior knowledge on the gods Ra, Anubis, Osiris and Thoth whilst sharing fantastic research we have completed at home! We then read the story of Isis and the Cobra, a story whereby in order to help her husband (Osiris) become Pharoah, Isis used a cobra to be a magical serpent that poisoned Ra into revealing his secret name, causing his transition to the underworld. This act enabled to Osiris to become Pharoah and Isis to become Queen of Egypt! In small groups, we focused on different aspects of the story and using the skills we learnt in the Egyptian drama workshop we took part in at the start of the term, we created, 'tableaus,' (freeze frames) of key moments within the story. We considered which characters we needed for each scene, how we could portray our emotions and the dynamics between the characters using expression and body language to convey emotion. 

We then further discussed the story and 'hot-seated' the character of Ra at different points within the story, asking questions such as: How did you feel knowing you were tricked by Isis?, If you had your time again, would you have revealed your secret name and given up your time on Earth? and What is your opinion of Osiris and Isis' rule of Earth once you made it to the heavens?

Check back next week to read some of our finished transcripts between the Interviewer and the chief of the Egyptian Gods, Amen-Ra. 

Year 6 

Next week marks a huge week in Year 6... SATs week is finally here!!

The children have worked incredibly hard throughout Year 6 and are looking forward to the week ahead! The progress that the children have made is incredible and we could not be prouder of the hard work,  determination and resilience that they have shown.

The Year 6 teachers will be close by all week to offer support, encouragement and ensure a calm and collected environment.

For parents of Year 6 children, please remember the following to ensure your child is the best that they can be next week:

Early nights

Wake up in plenty of time for school

A nutritious, healthy breakfast

Be on time for school

Bring a water bottle

No last minute cramming

Lots of praise and encouragement

Year 6, we wish you all the luck in the world! No matter how you feel that you do in the tests, just know that we could not be prouder of you and the commitment that you have shown to ensuring that you progress as far as you can.