Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - Friday 23rd September 

• Communication with school - a reminder that the main contact with the school is via the Offices: email:  office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk Telephone: 020 8363 1406
• 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'.  
• Appointments - You must provide an appointment card / letter for your child’s absence to be classed as medical, otherwise it will be marked as an unauthorised absence.  Please note we expect your child to attend school either side of their appointment where possible.
• ParentPay – ‘we are a cashless school’ - every child at the school 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.  
• Dogs in playground - dogs are not allowed to be brought into the playground.
• Residential trips - Y6 residential trip 3^rd instalment due 30^th September 2022 amount £95.00. 4^th instalment due 30^th November 2022 £95.00 final payment due 10^th February 2023 £95.00.  Y4 residential trip £50.00 deposit due 3^rd October 2022.

Reception Class

The Reception classes stayed for lunch this week and it was a resounding success. We all sat down together and enjoyed eating our first school lunch in the hall. We met the lunch ladies who cook for us and then we met the playleaders who will be helping us when we are in the playground at lunchtime. As you can see from the photographs we ate up most of our lunch and there were lots of empty plates. The children all gave a big thumbs up to say thank you when they had finished.

Year 1

Year 1 have loved completing their Essential Letters and Sounds activity books at the end of every phonics lesson. As part of this booklet, we practise writing our new sound and our harder to read and spell words. Then, we practise applying these in our reading and writing. 

In Science, we have been exploring different types of materials and their properties. We looked at different types of plastic and explained their similarities and differences. For example, some plastic items are transparent and some are not.  We learnt that acrylic is a type of plastic and it can be found in clothing. We were shocked to find out that some of our clothes have plastic in them. We spoke about how we could help to reduce plastic waste. 

Aurelia-Hope said, "Instead of throwing our clothes away, we could give them to someone else so that they can use them too!" 

Kaleem said, "Once I grow out of my clothes, I can give them to my little brother".

Year 2

This week Year 2 have set up their butterfly farms as part of our ‘Habitat’ projects. We will study their lifecycle and release them once they are fully grown - the caterpillars are already growing and moving at a quick pace! We have also been learning all about 2 digit numbers and comparing them in Maths using the symbols and language greater than and less than.

Year 3 

This term in RE we are learning about Alevism, specifically focussing on the importance of the Cemevi to Alevis. This is the special place where Alevis gather to worship together. In our lesson this week,  we thought about a place that is special to us and thought about some of the similarities it shared with the Cemevi.

“The park is a special place to me because I feel free to play and have fun.” - Bounteous

“My room is a place I feel safe and can relax. Sometimes I like to read and learn new things.” – Dassine

“When I go to the forest I get to kick leaves and get away from everything else.” – Sienna

What are the similarities between the Cemevi and your special place?

“My special place is my house because it is where I feel safe and my family are. It is similar to the Cemevi because Alevis feel safe there and they gather with their families too to worship and celebrate.” - Georgia C

Year 5 

Trip to Abney Park

On Wednesday afternoon, Year 5 travelled via train to Abney Park in Stoke Newington. Abney Park is known as one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ garden cemeteries of London. Within Abney Park stands Abney Park chapel, a chapel built in the Gothic architecture style. As part of their Gothic Architecture topic, the children sketched sections of the building using a range of sketching techniques, such as stippling, blending, contouring, cross hatching and circulism. The children focused on particular aspects of the chapel, such as pointed arched windows and the battlements at the height of the building. The children also observed and sketched gothic-style tombstones, using the same sketching techniques. 

The children thoroughly enjoyed the trip and were excellent role models for our school. A huge thank you to the volunteers who accompanied us on the trip and to those of you who volunteered your time. 

Art

As part of our topic on Gothic Architecture topic, this week we have been experimenting with clay to create gargoyles, which were used to ward off evil spirits from religious buildings. In our first practise session, we used the slip, score and blend technique to join two pieces of clay. In our second session, we practised adding features to gargoyles using different techniques. We learnt that if you do not score both sides of the clay, they won’t interlock like a jigsaw puzzle which will mean they won’t join together as well. The blending is also very important.  When the clay dries and it isn’t blended properly, then the two pieces will come apart.  Check back in a few weeks for our final designs!

Year 6 

In RE, this half term, we are looking at the Jewish faith. We already learnt about Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) last week and this week we looked at the festival of Yom Kippur. 

This festival takes place 10 days after Rosh Hashana and focusses on forgiveness. We began by learning about the rituals associated with this holy day and then watched a story that is often shared at this time. The story we looked at tells us about Jonah. He did not listen to God's command and so was punished. Later, he saw that God was merciful and forgiving. 

We then thought about things we have done wrong, how we could ask for forgiveness and what we can do in the future to learn from these errors.