Newsletters

George Spicer newsletter - 4th November 2022

Welcome back to Autumn 2! We hope you've had a restful half-term week.  It's been lovely seeing the children back in school, refreshed and ready to learn.

Punctuality - The school gates open at 8.45am for a soft start to support a calm arrival to school. All our pupils are expected to be in class for registration by 09:00 am. The school gates are then locked at this point.  Pupils need to be in school by 09:00 am for registration. If your child arrives after 09:00 am, they will receive a late mark (L). If your child arrives after 09:10 am, they will receive a 'U' code (missed session) on their registration certificate which will impact on their overall attendance percentage.

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.

Parents’ Consultation evening meetings - Parents' Consultation evening meetings are on Monday 21st and Wednesday 23rd November, if you haven't booked your appointment or are experiencing any issues please contact the school office via email office@georgespicer.enfield.sch.uk to book.  

Reception School Admissions - If you have a child born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019, you will need to apply for a primary school place by 15 January 2023.

You can register and apply online at www.eadmissions.org.uk .  Further information can be found at https://www.enfield.gov.uk/services/children-and-education/school-admissions-and-applications/admission-to-primary-school-in-september-2023

Enfield Catering newsletter/menu - you will find the Enfield Catering newsletter and new menus on our website or click the following link Menu

New Reception Tours (2023-2024) at Kimberley Gardens

Wednesday 30th November at 9.15am

Tuesday 10th January at 9.15am

One of the best ways to get to know a school is to request a visit.  Please call or click below to register your interest and for any further information.        RECEPTION TOURS REGISTRATION

Relief Lunchtime Playleader - We are looking for relief Lunchtime Playleaders to join our team. To find out more about the role please visit LunchtimePlayleader. 

Help for Households - Get government cost of living support visit https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/

ParentPay - Please ensure that your parentpay account is topped up for lunch, breakfast and after school club payments.

Donations - Please may we have donations of tissues and baby wipes for our welfare.  Thank you 

Scholastic Book Club is up and running! Go to scholastic book club to browse the latest books and order online. For every £1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20p in Scholastic Rewards.  Please place your order online by November 30th, 2022.  

Road safety Week 7th - 11th November - We take road safety very seriously at George Spicer and have an active Community Council consisting of children from each KS2 class. The Ambassadors are passionate about the safety around our school and want to protect the school community.  Road Safety Week is an opportunity for them to remind the school community to drive responsibly and park in one of our park and stride locations (please attach map).  

This year the Ambassadors would like to promote "Be Bright Be seen" and encourage everyone to make sure they are visible on the darker winter days when travelling to and from school. When purchasing a warm waterproof school coat look for brighter colours and those coats with reflective patches and panels. 

Bright Bags competition - Decorate your school bag so it can be more visible on your way to and from school.  Add brightly coloured ribbon, reflective stickers and other accessories to really help your bag glow on the darker days.

We ask that the bag is still functional and practical as a school bag - please minimise  dangly accessories that may be a trip hazard in the cloak room or when walking, as well as anything that takes up too much space.

Once decorated your bag should be able to continue to be used once Road Safety Week is over.

There will be a winner in EACH year group. 

Judging will take place throughout Road Safety Week so make sure your bag is in school every day to be in with a chance of winning!

Golden Padlock - For one week only a limited number of Golden Padlocks will be distributed at both school sites.  Wear a helmet when you cycle or scooter to school to be in with a chance of winning a prize.  If you see a Golden Padlock attached to your helmet take it to a school office to exchange it for a prize.  Good luck!

Flu Nasal Immunisation - you should all have received a letter with regards the flu immunisation at George Spicer and to give consent.  The immunisation team will be in school the following dates:

Thursday 10^th November - KS2 Years 3-6

Friday 9^th December - KS1 Years R-2 

Important dates for your diary

Road safety Week 7th - 11th November see information above

Friday 4th November - Years 3 & 5 FoGs discos 

Tuesday 8th November - FoGS meeting  - 8pm 

Wednesday 9^th November - 9.15am Reading and Phonics Workshops - Year 2 Mrs Kyriacou’s.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Wednesday 9th November - Osiris class assembly - 2.30pm

Thursday 10^th November ~ KS2 Years 3-6 - Flu Nasal Immunisation 

Wednesday 16th November - Anubis Assembly - 2.30pm

Monday 21st November - Parent Consultation evening meeting 3.40pm - 6pm

Wednesday 23rd November - Parent Consultation evening meeting 3.40pm - 7.30pm 

Thursday 1st December - Thoth Assembly - 2.30pm

Friday 2^nd December - Y4&5 Carol Service at Enfield Baptist Church

Friday 9^th December - Y3&6 Carol Service at St Andrews Church

Friday 9^th December ~ KS1 Years R-2 - Flu Nasal Immunisation

Attendance week ending 04/11/2022

Overall school = 94.20% Lates = 90

Best attendance: 1st Ash/Def100%, 2nd Bluebell 99.05% 3rd Cheyenne 98.1%

Punctuality: Well done Sioux and Bluebell with 99.52% for punctuality

Value this half-term - Equality

Our half-termly value is now Equality, we have begun by framing this as fairness to give the children a better understanding of what this term means.

Based on the number of times children declare something isn’t fair, one would think they are the experts on fairness. But their knowledge is simply based at noticing when someone has something they want or has received more of something; but everyone having equal amounts of the same thing at all times is not what constitutes true fairness. Whether they like it or not, they often receive different treatment and different support because the goal in the school is equity and not simply equality.

Some people think everyone should be given the same resources, and be expected to achieve the same outcomes, and have access to the same opportunities. The problem with this way of thinking is that it does not take into account that people have different needs and require a variety of adaptations to make sure they have the same opportunity to achieve success. This is the difference between equality and equity, and our goal should be to create equitable situations and not only equal ones.

Fairness, or equity, is making sure everyone has what they need vs. making sure everyone has the same thing. If we are to create equitable situations and work toward an equitable society, we can achieve true equality and fairness.

Teaching our children equity will build empathy and compassion for others. It will help them become less self-centred and look to help others in need. The goal in life is to be on equitable playing fields so that everyone can reach their full potential; in order to do that, some people may get more help or differential treatment.

Over the coming weeks we will be exploring fairness(equity) and equality through a range of topics.

Reception 

This week Reception have been learning all about Diwali! We have had a wonderful time exploring different sensory materials in the classroom. This helps us to build up our fine motor skills and to develop language around our learning. We discussed the story of Rama and Sita, where Diya lamp originated from and how Diwali is celebrated across the globe. Ollie said 'I like Rama and the Monkey King because they took Sita back from the bad guy'. Zoey said 'I love the rice because its so colourful, look I can make a pattern.' 

 

Year 1

This week in Maths, Year 1 have been learning about addition fact families. We looked carefully at different representations such as part part wholes, bar models and tens frames and used these to write 4 number sentences. 

This week we have been doing some creative writing. Each class created their own story with a main character, setting, villain, dilemma, and a special item. We are in the process of writing our stories, remembering to use some exciting sentence starters such as 'One day' 'Suddenly' 'Out of nowhere'. Ask your child to see if they can tell you their class story! 

Next Monday (7th) we have a poet named Cheryl Moskowitz visiting to kick off our 'Winter is coming' topic. We are really looking forward to writing some poems! 

Year 2

Year 2 have started our ‘Remembrance’ topic. We have already taken a journey through the trenches, smelling spam and hearing loud gunfire. The pupils then completed a diary as someone who has just received a conscription letter. Thanks the teachers were so impressed by the high quality work they produced - well done year 2!

Year 3 

This week in Art, Year 3 have been learning about The First Nations and designed Totem Pole animals. They have showed cultural appreciation by respecting the Native American culture. The children first chose an animal used by different Native American tribes, before using coloured card to draw the facial features of their animal, focusing on using large simple shapes. They then cut out the individual pieces and arranged them on a separate piece of card to form a collage of their animal. Creativity was flowing! Examples of their work are shown in the pictures. 

Year 5 

Year 5 new Science unit, Forces! 

This week, Year 5 began their new Science unit, Forces! During the lesson, we began by recapping what we had learnt about forces and how we define, force.' We then discussed different forces and chose to focus on gravity. We designed an experiment to help us understand how gravity impacts unsupported objects. 

We learnt about Galileo Galilei and how he developed a theory called the Law of Falling Objects. His law proved that all things fall at the same speed, regardless of their weight. He tested this theory by dropping objects off of the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We also looked at Sir Isaac Newton and his theory on gravity, inspired by an apple falling from a tree above him!

We discussed the difference between mass and weight as mass is how much matter (or 'stuff') is inside an object and is measured in grams (g) or kilograms (kg). However, weight is how hard gravity is pulling an object down and is measured in Newtons (N)

In small groups, we used the Newton meters (force meters) and measured the gravity (in Newtons) that were acting on a range of different objects. We learnt that the greater the mass of the object the greater the gravitational force acting on the object. 

 

Year 6 

This week, Year 6 have been completing their Creative Writing Week. They have created their own first person narratives based on the title: The Noise in the Attic. 

Firstly, we completed a question harvest based on the title. We began by asking questions that would help build the foundations for our story. We focused on plot, setting and character development to help us create these questions. Once we had created our questions, we then had time to answer the questions, helping us to gain an idea of how our story will develop.

From this, we created our plan. We thought about how we could drive our story forward and what plot devices we could use to best engage our readers. We looked at the very basics of how a story develops and that it would need a beginning, a middle and an end. We also tried to think of any key words we would want to include in our writing; knowing that using certain words can help create atmosphere and establish the genre in which we are writing. 

Once we had created our plan, we moved on to actually writing our stories. As we had completed the first two steps, we were fairly confident on creating them. We thought carefully about not only our setting but also our choice of character and how they can develop. We look forward to finishing these tomorrow.