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Dear Parents,
The erratic weather is causing quite a stir here at the Upper School as I write this, feeling bemused that on the one hand the Easter holidays with its bunnies and daffodils are fast creeping, jumping and sprouting up on us, yet outside there are snow showers. Having lived in the UK all my life, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still feel kept on my toes by the weather. And any suggestion of snow, as we all know, creates great excitement in children. I’m sure we would all enjoy another opportunity for snowball fights in the playground, before spring and summer ripen, so let’s see what the next few weeks bring.
The arts have been top of the agenda these past few weeks, complimenting well the efforts and the focus required for the end of term assessments which every class have been sitting. In Reception, teachers have assessed pupils’ phonic knowledge and made observations of progress in Maths. In the other year groups, the children have sat our termly NFER reading and Maths assessments. These tests have been standardised with over 60,000 pupils nationwide, ensuring accurate benchmarking data against the national average. These tests are similar to the SATs (standard assessment tests), sat by state school pupils. As we don’t do SATS, these tests, devised with over 75 years of assessment research, keep us up to date with developments, trends and expectations in the maintained sector and give us valuable information on each pupil.
Next week, these results will form the basis of whole staff discussions at the Upper School termly Pupil Progress meeting. All the teachers and teaching assistants contribute to this, sharing notes and observations from lessons, playtimes and lunchtimes. This holistic approach enables us to build an overall picture of each child’s progress and areas of improvement. Whilst we value assessment results, we know that they are only a snapshot of what a child can do, and our target setting and teaching takes into account the whole term’s performance, not just the data.
As far as the arts go, the next few weeks are looking golden, with shiny preparations for Auction night displays. Expect to be dazzled by Receptions’ interpretations of Klimt, a golden arch (no burgers involved) Daffodils, and Roman coins. The children have also been working on portraits, which have turned out excellent. Following step by step sessions led by Rose, they have produced some wonderful well-proportioned portraits of their teachers, using their choice of media. A small selection of these will be entered into the Sky Arts Portrait Competition. We are also collating work to enter into the Royal Academy Young Artist Competition; more to come on that soon.
World Book Day was delightful, though I might have been the easiest to find Wally of all time! In assembly, we all enjoyed guessing which characters the children had dressed up as, and hearing excerpts from teacher’s books of choice. I hope your children came home even more enthused by books!
We are looking forward to sharing all the great progress your children have been making at Parents’ evenings next week, which are being offered both online and in person in response to parental feedback.
Happy weekend!
Ellie
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Some upcoming dates -
Please note the school calendar can be found here (no login required)
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Nursery Dates
* W/C Monday 13th March
Recycling Week - Bring in materials for junk modelling
* Friday 17th March
Red Nose Day - wear something red for a donation
*Tuesday 21st March - Thursday 23rd March Nursery Parents' Eve, Details TBC
*Friday 24th March AGM/Auction at 7.30pm at the Nursery, 77 Elmore Street, London, N1 3AQ
*Wednesday 29th March Last day of School Dismissal: 11.30 - 11.45am Early pickup for those with siblings at the US
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Upper School Dates
* W/C 13th March
Recycling Week - Bring in materials for junk modelling
* Friday 17th March
Red Nose Day- wear something red for a donation
*Monday 20th March - Friday 24th March US Parents' Eve, Details TBC
*Friday 24th March AGM/Auction at 7.30pm at the Nursery, 77 Elmore Street, London, N1 3AQ
*Wednesday 29th March
Last day of School 11.45am Easter Hat Songs and Poems followed by dismissal
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AGM/Auction - Friday 24th March at 7.30pm at the Nursery, 77 Elmore Street, London, N1 3AQ
The school's fundraising event is fast approaching and we are thrilled to be celebrating the School's 50th Anniversary! We are looking for a few more pledges for the auction. If you have any items you would like to donate for the lots, please email parentcomittee@childrenshouseschool.co.uk Don't forget to RSVP if you haven't already done so to either the Parent Committe email or https://forms.office.com/e/W8kQULuebw
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Eco Committee and School Council News
Our latest meeting of the School Council has raised some new ideas for things we can do around the school. These will be discussed with senior leaders and feedback given to the council and the whole school. One thing that has not been forgotten is setting up a nature table. As Spring approaches we will be working on finding a suitable location that is accessible for all, and defining how the children could make the most effective use of it.
The Eco Committee have been litter picking! This was a huge success, and the churchyard looked a lot tidier as a result! It was shocking how much rubbish was collected in just half an hour. The children were very sensible, working safely at all times. They were (quite rightly) very proud of their achievement!
We will be doing more litter picking soon, helping to keep our community tidy and protecting the environment.
Next week is Recycling Week, and there will be a host of activities taking place to bring recycling and general eco-friendliness into focus. On Wednesday morning our bike workshop coffee morning is making a comeback, with Daniel from local bike shop About The Bike providing free check-ups for the children’s bikes. We look forward to seeing you there for coffee and croissants!
Also on Wednesday we have the return of Saul and his junk orchestra which is always a huge hit with the children. Throughout the week there will be lots of discussions about recycling and looking after the environment, and teachers will be initiating their own associated activities in class.
Don’t forget to keep bringing your used printer cartridges/toner, and of course batteries – all of which we will gladly recycle!
Have a lovely weekend.
Rick
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Online Safety News
We had a fantastic session on online safety and technology in schools with Katy Potts from Islington Council on February 23rd. Katy is passionate about supporting children and families with online safety and she even sits on the advisory board for the Safer Internet Centre and London schools education and policy for online safety with the London Grid for Learning.
Online safety is so important, which is why our school has an open-door policy for any concerns or support needed around online safety. We follow the DFE guidance for Keeping Children Safe in Education and we categorize online safety risks under Content Contact Conduct.
Did you know that there is currently an Online Harms bill going through parliament? There are urgent calls for the internet to be made safer for children because it can be like the Wild West out there! It's especially challenging to manage screen time on platforms like YouTube and TikTok because of their addictive design features and the availability of extreme and dangerous content. Even violent and scary videos can be masked by Early Years friendly titles such as Huggy Wuggy or Thomas the Swear Engine.
Katy introduced us to the idea of a "Digital Diet," which means not banning technology altogether but being mindful of how much we use it and what we use it for. She likened platforms like YouTube to junk food and emphasized how important it is to form healthy habits, especially during Early Years and KS1 when children's physical, social, emotional, communication, and language development are critical.
While we wait for the Online Harms bill to pass, parents need to stay actively involved in their child's online life just as they do with young children learning to swim or cross the road. Along with parental controls, parents and carers can help choose safe apps and websites for their children, play online games with them, have regular conversations, set firm boundaries, and physically check devices regularly.
During the session, we shared some common boundaries that families use for both children and adults, such as gaming only on weekends and educational games during the week, screen-free mealtimes and bedtimes (other times like "before school" can be considered), and no tech in bedrooms. We also talked about choosing quality programs and films to watch together like those on CbbC and enjoying TV on a large screen rather than on a phone or iPad.
To help with parental control and monitoring, there are some great tools available like Google Family Link, Apple ScreenTime, and Microsoft Family Safety. You can find more information at https://parentsafe.lgfl.net and https://www.internetmatters.org. There is even a free phone helpline available for families from 7-9 pm on school nights at https://thesleepcharity.org.uk.
If you want to learn more about the risks of Content Contact Conduct, check out this presentation: https://www.internetmatters.org/schools-esafety/parent-online-support-pack-teachers.
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Year 3 News
What an action packed two weeks! I am always proud of the class, but over the last few days Year 3 have really outdone themselves. This week they have demonstrated impressive resilience and perseverance when completing their exams and I couldn’t be happier with their collective effort.
In the week prior, the children took inspiration from the class text ‘The Firework Makers Daughter’ and began producing some beautiful firework themed art, followed by their own instructions, after a quick stop to practise their imperative verbs (via the very catchy imperative verbs song).
The Maths focus has been on measure, looking at centimetres, metres and millimetres and the relationship between the three. Year 3 enjoyed deciding what the best tools for measuring different items were and were able to understand why it’s important to use the most precise units even on big things such as buildings and windows.
After being asked daily, the time finally came to put on our archaeologist hats and excavate the Roman coprolites created in an earlier humanities lesson. The class loved dissecting the ‘ancients’ faeces to try to find out what their Roman used to eat; some children even found evidence of the consumption of live parrots. It’s safe to say that the class had fun dipping their toes into the world of archaeology. Additionally, the children have begun producing two enormous Roman coins using a mixture of different mediums and the previously practised mosaic technique. Whilst this will certainly be a labour of love, I think the end products will be well worth it.
Sticking with the art theme. It was an absolute delight to welcome Rose to our classroom, to give the children the opportunity to practise their portrait skills. It was superb to see many of the class being adventurous, choosing different colours of chalk and pastel to work with.
Kate
RE
In R.E. recently we have been focussing on Islam, including main beliefs, special places, special festivals, the Quran, and symbols. I am always impressed with Year 3's inquisitive discussions and insights which make the lessons so lively. As we approach the end of term our focus is changing to the Easter story and the festivities surrounding this time of year.
Excitingly, a trip has been organised to visit the London Central Mosque in Regent's Park - a spectacular building with rich cultural significance. This is on the 26th April, and more details will be provided in due course. I am sure the children will have a fantastic time.
Please note that as a secular school all R.E. lessons are sensitively approached with ongoing reminders that there are many different beliefs and viewpoints in the world - including no religious preference - and that no belief is more or less valid than another. R.E. is taught from the perspective of stories that some people believe, looking at the associated rituals, traditions and festivities, as well as the shared values and differences between different religions. The key values we try to impart within this approach are mutual respect and kindness to others.
Rick
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Year 2 News
Year 2 have been so incredibly focused since returning from half term and have been so busy! It has a been a wonderful couple of weeks and we are all proud of how you have been working and learning together.
The 2nd half of our Spring term started with an excellent trip to the RAF Museum in NW London. Despite it being just after the holiday, all the children were incredibly well behaved and so mature. We got to see some amazing aircraft including some Spitfires, a super cool Kittyhawk and lots of other aircraft used over the years. We also had an interesting workshop all about the different materials used to build aircraft from World War 1. Who knew that Irish linen would be such an influential material? We also learnt about lots of amazing facts of the importance of the site of the museum and how it played a huge part in British aviation over the years.
In Literacy we have been enjoying reading all about the adventures of Traction Man. Every time we read the book, we all seem to belly laugh at the different characters and what they do to try to stop Traction Man and scrubbing brush! Furthermore, we have been analysing the characters in the story, writing character profiles using wonderful adjectives to describe the scenes and using adverbs to add more depth to our writing.
Multiplication and Division have been the main feature in Numeracy and I couldn’t be prouder of the perseverance and effort the children have put into this rather tricky topic. We have been sharing into equal groups in pairs and individually and working out how to check our answers for division by using multiplication.
In Geography we have been reminding ourselves of the continents on our planet and trying to remember some capital cities! We did a big class jigsaw and have made small planet Earth’s to show exactly where we are (and remembering the counties that make up the United Kingdom). The children have continued to enjoy their guided reading sessions and participated in a P4C (Philosophy for Children) lesson. They led their own lesson after reading the wonderful book by David Litchfield; The Bear and the Piano. The children came up with some wonderful questions to discuss and debate about.
In R.E.* recently we have been thinking about Rules and Routines and how our daily rituals apply to those in different religions. We have covered The 5 Pillars of Islam, Shabbat, The Ten Commandments, The 5 Ks of Sikhism, and even some Humanism! Every week Rick has been impressed by how Year 2 thoughtfully share their ideas and insights. As we approach Easter our theme will move to Beginnings and Endings and what this means in various religions.
For World Book day we welcomed Year 3 into our classroom and did a book quiz. The children came up with their own group names and competed against each other. It was brilliant to have the two classes together as it brough back fond memories from the Christmas show.
James
*Please note that as a secular school all R.E. lessons are sensitively approached with ongoing reminders that there are many different beliefs and viewpoints in the world - including no religious preference - and that no belief is more or less valid than another. R.E. is taught from the perspective of stories that some people believe, looking at the associated rituals, traditions and festivities, as well as the shared values and differences between different religions. The key values we try to impart within this approach are mutual respect and kindness to others.
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Year 1 News
The past two weeks have whizzed by in a whirlwind of trips, events and non-stop learning! The children have been busy bees getting stuck into their recent History topic. They began with a collaborative enquiry activity, working together to suggest uses and ask questions about mystery objects found in an envelope. The children used their detective work to discover that the common theme that linked each image was the Great Fire of London! They then listened intently to the events that unfolded that fateful day in 1666, before creating a timeline of events through drawing and painting. The children then visited St Paul’s Cathedral to learn about the history of the building, it’s role within the Great Fire and went on a challenging mission to discover the shapes and materials found within the vast, towering walls designed by Sir Christopher Wren after it was burned down. Both children and grown-ups learned a lot that day. Back in the classroom the children created arches inspired by the interior of the cathedral and added images linked to nature, the sky, the sun and many other natural elements. The children got to be Scientists and built an arch using blocks, and thought about how vital the keystone block is in supporting the arch through distributing its weight.
They then visited the Tower of London to take part in a workshop acting out scenes from the Great Fire. Emily, our guide, was actually the great granddaughter of the first recorded Chinese person in the UK. What a great fact to learn on International Women’s Day! Although we weren’t quite expecting the flurries of snow, Year 1 braved the cold weather and had a lovely time travelling back to 1666, exploring the old Norman castle built around 1066. .Thank you so much to our parents who came along on the trip. We even had our very own parent tour guide with special historical knowledge and stories all about the Tower. What luck!
Spring term wouldn’t be complete without World Book Day. Year 1 paraded their fantastic outfits and we were transported into many a world of wonder, from schools of witchcraft and wizardry to sports pitches, and many more. The children shared their favourite characters and stories, and listened to the teachers’ too. They embarked on a book day scavenger hunt to crack a code and unscramble a sentence hidden behind book titles. They did a wonderful job at persevering at this!
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Reception News
Reception have continued their exploration of traditional tales these past weeks. During our first week back we discussed what it means to be brave, we explored the texts ‘Oona The Brave Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight’. The children developed their questioning, theorising and evaluating skills through Philosophy for Children, the class contemplated whether a character who felt no fear could truly be brave, or whether it was the act of overcoming a fear and persevering that exhibited true bravery. The class used their phonics to write about a time they felt they had been brave. Reception explored the textures, colours and patterns within the illustrations of ‘Oona The Brave Little Mermaid’ and created their own recreation of an illustration from the story. Reception also looked closely at the mythical creatures within ‘The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight’ and then created their own. In maths the children explored capacity and measure, the children estimated and checked the capacity of different containers. Throughout discussions the children used the terms a quarter full, half full and three quarters full.
Last week we were gearing up for World Book Day! The class were looking at texts that deviate from their source material. We looked closely at an adaptation of ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ by Mac Barnett. Reception then discussed storytelling and the features of a narrative as well as the structure of a story, the children planned their own story at the beginning of the week, and then used their plans to support the writing of their story. It was wonderful to see the children’s imaginations flowing! We also created our own books, illustrations and drawings of our favourite characters. Reception relished the opportunity to transform themselves into a storybook character that they cherish, The week left me with no doubt that Reception has 26 authors in the making! In maths we were looking at tens and ones. The children used concrete manipulatives, as well as pictorial representation to identify and represent numbers.
This week reception culminated their exploration of traditional tales in an independent story writing task. The children were given a picture as a prompt, they reflected on the features of a narrative and then let their imaginations soar, the results were wonderful. This week we have also looked closely at the artist Gustav Klimt and his ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer’. The children used mixed media to recreate the painting. As well as this the children explored the book ‘Gender Swapped Fairy tales’, the children were tasked with choosing a familiar traditional tale and retelling the story with the genders swapped. We discussed whether this changed the story significantly or in any way changed the capabilities of the characters.
Reception have continued their exploration of R.E. Below Rick has written a paragraph shedding some light on what the children have been learning with him this term.
This term in R.E.* we have been considering places and times that are special to people, with the children thinking of what this means to them as well as to others. For example, we had a lovely session where the children thought about a particular place that was special to them, and they spoke very sensibly about why it was special and how they feel when they are there. We have also spoken about pancake day and its significance to Christians, and the children designed their own pancakes! We will continue to explore similar themes and ideas as we approach Easter and discuss some of the festivities surrounding this time of year, as well as talking about festivals in other religious, such as Ramadan in Islam.
Reception team.
*Please note that as a secular school all R.E. lessons are sensitively approached with ongoing reminders that there are many different beliefs and viewpoints in the world - including no religious preference - and that no belief is more or less valid than another. R.E. is taught from the perspective of stories that some people believe, looking at the associated rituals, traditions and festivities, as well as the shared values and differences between various religions. The key values we try to impart within this approach are mutual respect and kindness to others.
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Nursery
I am pleased to report that Book Week was a huge success. The children had a wonderful time celebrating their all-time favourite books. It was heart-warming to see the group downstairs show great enthusiasm for Book Week, particularly during a small world storytelling session where they used puppets and toys to bring the classic story of 'The Three Little Pigs' to life. It was also great to hear the children upstairs immersing themselves in traditional tales and develop alternative endings, demonstrating their creativity and imagination. They even managed to come up with their class stories, one of which was shared on our school Instagram account, so if you still have not seen it, please take a look! The pre-reception groups thoroughly enjoyed feeling grown up as they joined our assembly at the upper school, where they proudly showed off their book-inspired costumes.
The baking activities were a hit with staff and children alike, and it was lovely to see the children develop their baking skills while reinforcing their love for popular children's books such as "The Gruffalo." The smell of freshly baked bread rolls and Gruffalo paw biscuits wafting through the nursery was an absolute delight for everyone.
Thank you all for your support in making Book Week a memorable event for the children. I would also like to thank the team for doing an incredible job holding the fort while I serve on jury duty this week. It has been an interesting and rewarding experience, and I have been checking in regularly and responding to emails that require my attention. I look forward to being back at school soon. Enjoy the insights below into the children's learning over the last few weeks.
Taiba.
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Upstairs Nursery News
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr Seuss’ words have resonated loud and clear in the Upstairs Nursery for the past two weeks as we delved into the magical world of stories. The small world scenes based on favourite books have sparked children’s imagination and have prompted them to create their own narratives, carefully considering the setting, characters, problem and solution. They then assumed the role of an author and illustrator as the children worked collaboratively to make our class story. The plot took many twists and turns, keeping us on our toes until the end, and the illustrations and writing demonstrated how much progress the children made. They have proudly enjoyed sharing it with friends and parents throughout the week.
The children took charge of the Home Corner’s transformation by voting, planning, resourcing, and making their very own Train Station. We used The Magic Train Ride story as a stimulus to encourage the children to create maps, make tickets and pack suitcases. It has been wonderful to witness the children enthusiastically applying their knowledge of the world, numbers, phonics and problem-solving skills within their role-play.
We had a great time joining the whole school Assembly at the Upper School on Thursday to celebrate World Book Day. The children relished showing their character costumes and demonstrated good active listening throughout the assembly.
We ended our week with a cooking session based on one of the children’s favourite stories, The Gruffalo. The children independently followed a recipe to make Gruffalo paw biscuits, count spoonfuls, mix ingredients and shape the dough. A very well done!
On Friday, we also welcomed Ellie to read us a story that followed the adventure of a bear. What a lovely way to end our week!
The Upstairs Team
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Downstairs Nursery News
The Downstairs children were very interested to learn about jungle animals. We read a variety of fiction and non-fiction books about animals that live in the jungle, crafted jungle animals to make a lovely display at the Nursery and made spiral snakes. The children particularly enjoyed exploring the torches and looking at books.
During the past week, we also celebrated World Book Day. The children loved listening to classic stories, such as Goldilocks and The Little Red Riding Hood, as well as to stories with a twist, for example, The 3 Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. They also created their own story books, role-played with stick puppets from story characters and made junk modelling houses for the 3 Little Wolves. Everyone's costumes were truly impressive and added so much fun and excitement to our celebration of books and reading.
The Downstairs Team
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PE & Games News
Children have started Spring 2 on fire!
In Nursery, the children have been all hands and teamwork. They have become pirates to bring the treasure to their boat, they have been trading materials between them to complete patterns of different shapes and colours, and have had a go at passing a range of materials between themselves in different cooperative challenges.
Reception have become Robin Hood by aiming, throwing and hitting targets! Also, they have started to develop their hand-eye coordination by passing and catching balls to each other in diverse ways. Finally, in games, Reception is working in groups rotating among 4 different layout games working towards being more independent.
In Year 1, we have a show beginning to take off. Children have been learning and improving basic and more advanced gymnastics shapes, and they even had a go at creating their own. Working in pairs, children put together all their learning to create a short sequence and performed it for the whole class. But this is just the beginning, the show must go ON!
Last but not least, Y2 and Y3 have been learning the basics fundaments of basketball to have a solid base where they can build more advanced skills.
In diverse games, they have shown excellent ball control by moving basketballs around their hips, neck, and legs. Bouncing the ball has also been one of our learning objectives, practicing it in isolation and in combination with movement and even introducing it into games.
Thumbs up for the behaviour of the children and happy attitude towards learning.
Have a great weekend.
Pablo
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