Newsletters

George Spicer Newsletter - Friday 24th June 2022

• 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.
•  PE Days - Children are to wear PE kits into school on PE Days.  Please remember; NO JEWELLERY; earrings must be removed or taped (staff WILL NOT tape the earrings back).
• ParentPay accounts - Please make sure Breakfast & After School and School dinners accounts are topped up. All debts must be cleared by 18th July 2022.
• Summer club - Payment is due on Thursday 30th June to secure your child's place.
• Whole school reports - Reports will be going out via email w/c 4th July. 

Attendance week ending 24/06/2022

Overall school =   94.47% Lates = 55

Best attendance: 1st  Sioux 99.72%  2nd Elm 98.61%  3rd Apache 98.06%

Punctuality: Well done Heracles with 100% punctuality

School Streets Cameras  will be operational from Mon 4^th July. 

From Monday 4^th July the ANPR cameras on Sketty Road will be operational and you will be fined if you travel into the School Street between 8:30am-9:15am and 2:45pm-3:45pm during term time.  

Further information from Enfield Council can be found here

We advise anyone who travels by car to George Spicer Primary to park and stride from one of our convenient park and stride locations found here

Breakfast and After School Club Registration 

Please see below the link to request sessions for Breakfast & After School Club from September 2022. The registration form needs to be filled out whether your child is already in club. Deadline to submit the form is Friday 15^th July 2022.

BASC Form

Please note that ad hoc days cannot be requested and we ask that all payments are made at least 2 weeks in advance. The same applies with 2 weeks’ notice needed if you would like your child to attend or leave BASC Club.

If you currently have an outstanding balance, please ensure that this is cleared by 18^th July 2022 to ensure your child/children’s places is secured for September.

Email confirmation will be sent out week commencing 18^th July 2022.

Thank you for your cooperation.

BASC Team

PSHE - Changing Me Overview

Over the coming weeks, we will begin our learning about this half terms topic ‘Changing Me’.  It deals with changes of many types, from growing from young to old, becoming a teenager, assertiveness, puberty, self-respect and safeguarding. Each year group thinks about looking ahead, moving year groups or the transition to secondary school and how to cope positively with such changes. As usual, a detailed year group specific overview will be sent to your email.  Towards the end of the term, the children will also take part in lessons which focus on learning about basic first aid. More details to follow.    

Reception Class      

In Reception, we have had some very special visitors! Wild Fangs came to see us and taught us all about predatory and prey animals. We met a stick insect, a gecko called, 'ducky,' a hedgehog called, 'Rolo,' a boa constrictor called, 'Zebedee,' and a hissing cockroach. We talked about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores which Reception were able to explain very clearly as our current topic is dinosaurs-Mr Wild Fangs was impressed with their knowledge! The session provided the children with an interactive, educational and entertaining encounter about the natural world using live animals. The children were totally engaged and thoroughly enjoyed this first-hand experience where they were able to hold or touch every animal that we saw.  Their gasps and exclamations showed how engaged they were, it was a very enjoyable day!

Year 1

This week, we have been looking at riddles in Year 1. A riddle is a type of poem that is like a puzzle. Each Year 1 class was given a different British Reptile or Amphibian to write about. They researched the animal and wrote a riddle about them. On Friday, Year 1 will share their riddles with other classes and children will try to guess the animal using the clues provided. We are so excited to share our riddles.

Jakub “I am really excited to share my riddle and see if children guess my animal.”

Olivia “I liked writing riddles because it is fun to see people try to guess what you are writing about.”

We are enjoying our British Amphibians and Reptiles unit!

Year 2

This week Year 2 have continued with their Castles topic. In Writing, we wrote a first person narrative from the perspective of Princess Nest. She was a Welsh princess known for her beauty and kindness. We discussed what her daily life might of looked liked and her reaction to finding out her father had to go into battle.  We included rhetorical questions in our writing to share our inner thoughts. 

In History, we learnt about different attack methods and equipment used in Medieval times. In groups we used Lego to build a castle, thinking about the protective features we learnt about last week and different methods of attack. We discussed why we thought each would be successful when attacking castles. 

A castle with the open bailey in the middle. 

A battering ram attacking the portcullis and drawbridge. 

A ladder used to scale the tall, thick castle walls. Behind these, the pointy portcullis can lift up. 

Year 3 

Whipsnade Zoo

Year 3 had an amazing time at Whipsnade Zoo last week. It was a very hot day and lots of the animals were taking shelter however we still managed to see a whole host of amazing creatures. 

We also took part in a Giraffe Behaviour Workshop where we learnt about the four different giraffes living at Whipsnade Zoo. We completed an ethogram which is the scientific name given to the study of behaviour. It was a special day for one of the giraffes who was celebrating his tenth birthday and got to enjoy a special birthday 'cake'. 

Year 5 

Year 5 fieldwork: Bird watching in our local area

This week, Year 5 took part in their fieldwork study in the local area. We went to observe the local bird wildlife in four different locations: Bush Hill Park, Enfield Playing Fields, Enfield Town Park and Enfield Town, Our aim was to feedback to Mr Combe, informing and recommending to him the best local area to view an array of bird species for him to continue his hobby of bird watching. During the fieldwork, we used binoculars to locate different species for birds. We were careful to be quiet when observing, so as not to disturb the wildlife. We collated a tally of a range of bird species, using the RSPB website and classification key to support our classifying of different bird species. Using our maps of the local area, we were able to make suitable predictions of the types of birds we may find it each of the four areas, discussing the human population, whether it is considered a rural or urban area and whether there was a large body of water. We realised that we have a large local population of magpies and wood pigeons currently in our local area - blue tits and finches were harder to find! Next week, we will evaluate our data, as we are currently debating the best way to present our findings using either a pie chart, bar chart, stacked bar chart or grouped bar chart. Check back next week to find out which of the four local areas we would recommend for local bird watchers and the variety of bird species we observed! 

Year 6 

RE: Buddhism

This week, Year 6 have continued learning about the Buddhist religion. We looked at the Buddhist belief in the three jewels. We learn that the three jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha and they represent the three most precious things for Buddhists. We then discussed how the three are connected, making links and comparisons to previous religions studied. 

Our task was to explain what we had learned to someone new to the religion.

Our next lesson was to look at one of the important stories from the Buddhist faith: "The King's Elephant". We read the story together and thought about the moral behind it. This is a story about an Elephant whose behaviour changes quite drastically. Unsure of why this has happened, the King asks his chief advisor to learn why. He realised that bad men were meeting near the elephant and saying awful things. When they surrounded the elephant with good, kind and honest people they saw his behavior improve. From this, we discussed why this may have happened; realising that positive influences are needed in our lives. 

After thinking about how the elephant was influenced by negative influences, we considered how we can apply this story to our own lives. We discussed the importance of surrounding ourselves with good friends, who build us up, and avoiding those people who will not bring out the best in us. We then thought about the qualities of what makes a good friend/influence in our lives. 

Y6 Parents: Successful Secondary School Transitions Workshop

Tues 28^th June 

10am-12pm 

Online Microsoft TEAMs 

Please book your place here:  

https://forms.office.com/r/jL8in9AYEj  

GSPS Wellbeing Practitioners 

Clare & Victoria

Enfield Music Services - Autumn Term Booking

Music Lessons for Autumn 22 are available to book now! The closing date for bookings is 10^th July – please visit the Music Store: https://traded.enfield.gov.uk/musicstore