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Dear Parents,
I can barely believe we’re approaching our final half term of the year! The children are certainly maturing and as we move towards the summer, class teachers will be gently preparing their classes for the transition to their new year groups. Children will meet their new teachers at Step Up Day on Friday 16th June, and Zoe will be visiting feeder nurseries to get to know the new Reception cohort as well.
Both the Parent Forum and the Parent Committee have met this past fortnight and, as always, our thanks go to those parents who give of their time to attend these meetings. Forum feedback has been sent out and is also on the website for you to look at. Please do continue to share questions and comments either with us directly or with your Parent Reps. Thank you also for the support in advance for this year’s Summer Fair; we are all very much looking forward to it. We are hoping to raise money towards a class set of iPads so we have put prices up and in line with our 50 years theme, stalls will be charging 50p and up. Still a bargain for a fun filled afternoon!
As many of you saw yesterday at Open Morning, this half term has been jam packed. The children have created some wonderful work and I know that you will agree that the classrooms are stimulating inspirational spaces! I’ve been particularly enjoying all of the nature, bringing the spring inside! Leaf rubbings in Year 1, tree poems in Year 3, watching those beans and sunflowers, tadpoles and caterpillars metamorphosising; vibrant science woven through the curriculum.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first Wheelies and was amazed to see all of the children, from our very youngest, whizzing confidently around the circuit. We have raised a whopping £800 for The Hackney Pirates, a very worthwhile charity bringing the joys of reading to children in our locality. Amazing! I hope you enjoyed the picnic afterwards, in the sunshine that we ordered specially for the event!
Trips this half term have included visits to Kew Gardens and the Florence Nightingale Museum, with the older classes travelling on public transport which has proven efficient and more environmentally friendly, in line with our commitments to being an eco-school. All of the classes have behaved impeccably on these trips, making the adults proud. We are fortunate to be in such a central location, with many transport options enabling teachers to take advantage of enrichment opportunities, on our doorstep. I know that the parents who have accompanied us have had an enjoyable day out as well.
Enjoy this edition of the newsletter and have a fantastic half term!
Very best
Ellie
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A message from Taiba:
Throughout the past weeks, it has been an absolute delight to see the children's curiosity and enthusiasm in action. Their eyes lit up as they closely observed the wriggling caterpillars, marvelling at the remarkable transformations taking place during each stage of their life cycle. Their genuine interest and care in handling the caterpillars was noted by every member of staff who went on to share their anecdotes in the staff room. And if the excitement surrounding the caterpillars is any indication, I can only imagine the buzz that will fill the classroom when duck eggs arrive after the half-term break! I am eager to see the children's reactions as they witness ducklings hatch and swim for the first time.
As we reach this point in the term, it has become abundantly clear just how much the children have blossomed, demonstrating maturity and independence. Their eagerness to take on responsibilities, such as crafting cosy leaf beds for the caterpillars, taking turns using timers and comforting friends when needed is a testament to their growing sense of responsibility. What stands out is their developing self-regulation skills, navigating their emotions with greater finesse, and their unwavering willingness to lend a helping hand to one another. This term really is a journey of growth, with each child embracing new challenges and displaying a genuine spirit of empathy.
I must also commend the exceptional quality of teaching that has been taking place at the nursery, as evidenced by the tremendous success of this week's open classrooms. The dedication and creativity of the staff have truly shone through, providing engaging and enriching learning experiences for the children. It has been a joy to see the happy faces during open classrooms, with the children sharing everything they love about learning at the nursery. The staff's commitment to continually improving the sessions is commendable, as they strive to provide the best educational opportunities for the children. With a successful few weeks coming to a close, I extend my heartfelt wishes to all for a lovely and well-deserved half-term break.
Taiba
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Upcoming dates - Nursery
Mon 5th June - school starts. Clubs as normal.
Fri 16th June - New Reception step-up day/meet the teacher 2:15pm. More details to follow
Tues 20th June - Aatika's class Parents' Evening. Slots to be arranged.
Weds 21st June - Upstairs Parents' Evening. Slots to be arranged.
Thur 22nd June - Maddy's class Parent's Evening. Slots to be arranged.
Sat 24th June - Summer Fair at Upper School 2-4pm.
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Upcoming Dates - Upper School
Mon 5th June - school starts. Clubs as normal.
Fri 9th June - Sports day. Normal drop off, parents welcome to come to Highbury Fields to watch and have a picnic from 10-1pm. Bring a picnic lunch. Normal collection at 3:30pm.
Weds 14th June - Y2 Multi-Sport Activity Day. Drop off by 8:15am, collection normal time.
Fri 16th June - Y3 LSO Concert, during school day.
Mon 19th - Wed 21st June - Parents evenings. Slots to be arranged.
Sat 24th June - Summer Fair at Upper School 2-4pm.
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Donations for the Summer Fair
If you are having a clear out over the half term holiday, please bear in mind we would be delighted to have any good condition pre loved toys and books for Summer Fair stalls. Thank you!
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Year 3
Year 3 have had a sensational final two weeks of term, filled with a real variety of activities. It has been a delight to see the children out and enjoying the weather; hopefully next term it will continue and we’ll be able to get out and enjoy some outdoor learning.
During our Maths lessons, the children have finished their work on fractions, and have spent the last two weeks studying mass, capacity and time (which will continue after half term). The class have shown a fantastic ability to measure mass in both kilograms and grams, and can explain the difference between capacity and volume when working in millilitres and litres. Whilst time is certainly tricky, Year 3 have shown that they only need 2 hands to master it! The class have worked incredibly hard at identifying the 5 and 1 minute intervals on an analogue clock, as well as learning the point at which ‘past’ becomes ‘to’. Alongside this, the children have demonstrated their understanding of different time intervals, including years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds.
In English, Year 3 have been equally as busy. Last week, the class put their poet hats on to celebrate Urban Tree week. Each child created a poem using trees as the central theme, however, the poems all varied in style with some creating Haikus and Acrostics, whilst others focused on including rhyming couplets. I’m sure those of you attending our open morning will agree that they’re tree-mendous! Additionally, Year 3 have worked hard on their descriptive writing, creating a setting description, as well as a character description for our ageing Viking ‘Bjorn’. I thoroughly enjoyed reading that Bjorn was as wide as a refrigerator and as strong as a rhino!
One of the lessons I’ve been most impressed in over the last couple of weeks has been PSHE. In the last 3 sessions the class and I have discussed friendship, relationships and roles in our households and how those around the globe help us. During the lessons, Year 3 were channeling their inner Year 6s sharing insightful and mature advice for tackling difficult friendship situations and listening attentively to the views of each other, voicing their opinions on roles and responsibilities.
This half term has flown by and I hope the class all enjoy a well deserved rest after an action packed half term. I’m looking forward to our return already!
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Year 2
Year 2 have been super busy over the last few weeks and I am sure that everyone is really looking forward to a week of rest. Year 2 have made me so proud, as we have taken on some rather tricky things in class. Everyone has emulated Florence Nightingale, showing courage and determination to succeed.
On Tuesday 16th May, we visited The Florence Nightingale Museum on the Southbank. We were greeted at the door by Florence herself (well an incredibly talented impersonator) and we were all given some rules and guidelines for how to act in the museum. Then we listened to the life of Florence and some of the children were asked to participate in some drama activities. We also had a scavenger hunt and got to smell some of the herbs used by Mary Seacole (and other nurses) during the Crimean war. We also saw a real ‘Fanoos’ and some artifacts from the Victorian times. We all learnt so much about that time and all left very grateful for what Florence and her team of 38 nurses did to improve nursing and hospitals. The children were so well behaved and attentive and I actually received an email from the manager at the museum to commend how enthusiastic and mature the children were. A special thanks to Amara’s mum for supporting and joining us on the trip.
In history we have been learning about timelines and how we can use them to plot main events from someone’s life. We worked in pairs to create a timeline for Florence Nightingale. It was quite tricky because we didn’t know everything about her life and had to use inference (and common sense) to complete the task. We also acted out some of the main events from Florence’s life. In Art, we created portraits of Florence Nightingale. The children were given freedom to do it however they liked, but we reminded to take it slowly and look for specific details from the pictures given as guides.
We have also been pretending to be Florence Nightingale and writing letters home to her parents. To help us to write super impressive letters we have been looking at paragraphs, past progressive tense and formal and informal conventions of letter writing.
In Numeracy we have been looking at measurement and what instruments we can use to measure and for Science we have welcomed a mini army of caterpillars into our classroom. They have not stopped eating and we hope that we will get to see the process of metamorphosis twice (alongside the tadpoles).
James
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Year 1
This term has really flown by! I cannot believe we are almost halfway through our final term together. Our green fingered Year 1s have been tending to their bean plants, which have now been repotted, and are ready to continue their journey towards becoming flowering plants. Hopefully they will produce some beans by the end of next term!
In Literacy, the children have been busy immersing themselves in stories by Beatrix Potter. They have written character descriptions, apology letters from Squirrel Nutkin and filmed themselves retelling the story of Peter Rabbit. They have planned and written their very own stories based on characters from those stories, and used their trip to Kew Gardens to inspire a five part story set in the grounds, as well as on public transport!
Last week the sun came out for us, and the children spent the day as plant hunters among the lush green grounds of Kew. They made their own mini trees and learned more about the structure of plants. Although the heights of the Treetop walkway were rather dizzying, the children made the loop all the way around and walked through the tops of the trees surrounded by magnificent views of Kew and London. They spotted enormous banana leaves in the Palm House and were amazed when they discovered how quickly giant bamboo grows.
Back in the classroom the children extended their learning all about plants with an artist study on Georgia O’Keeffe, also known as the ‘Mother of American Modernism.’ The children listened to Georgia’s story of wanting to create abstract art that made even the smallest things big and beautiful. The children began by photographing flowers and cropping their images to frame just a small portion of their chosen flower. They then created pencil drawings on A2 paper. Some decided to create multiple drafts until they were happy! They then added oil pastel and watercolour to bring their paintings to life, before choosing a complementary background colour to make their flowers pop! They look wonderful on display in the classroom.
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Reception
It has been a busy few weeks for Reception but were overjoyed to begin their week with some wonderful news, a few months ago we entered ‘ISA’s Young Storytellers Competition’, the theme was ‘The Adventure’ and the children were tasked with working collaboratively to create a story that was no more than ten lines in length. We were informed that out of 100s of schools that entered, Reception had been chosen as one of the winners and that their wonderful story would be published and illustrated within a book. The children were rightly over the moon and incredibly proud of their achievement. The story is available to read online at: https://www.isaschools.org.uk/static/225d90b3-6e69-46db-b70aa2e20edd3a84/f3ac6f98-68b7-4dc8-ba4d285cb633d9c8/Young-Storytellers-Winning-Stories.pdf
The class then continued their exploration of our topic ‘Growth’ by looking closely at minibeasts. We read ‘The Ugly Bug Club’ and discovered the amazing skills these tiny creatures possess. The children used their phonics to write which minibeasts they would want to be and why. The class explored 3D shapes and their properties, they then created their own minibeast using junk modelling. The children commented on the fact that most mini-beasts are symmetrical. The class then looked at the story ‘The Butterfly Dance’ and used the features of a narrative to retell the story. We looked at real life examples of butterflies, and the children then drew their own, noting their patterns and colours. To round off our week Reception visited Kew Gardens. It was a lovely day where the children had the opportunity to create stories using natural materials as props, collect leaves and flowers to create bracelets and explore tropical plants. Although our coach was delayed on the way home, the children stayed in bright spirits and made us all proud.
Reception have been exploring and discussing the significance bees play within our ecosystem. They created their own beehives using paper cups and explored the story ‘Honeybee’. The class created their own stories describing the process honeybees go through to create honey. Reception were tasked with creating a collaborative beehive by forming hexagons using paper or clay and sticks. The children discussed why certain shapes would not be as efficient as a hexagon. Reception also created posters urging people to save our bees! The children explored the artist Lisa Morales and discussed her abstract paintings that incorporate flowers and wildlife. Children created their own bee inspired by her artwork. Reception completed the week by exploring measure and baking delicious honey biscuits.
This week we have been looking closely at trees and birds. We have looked closely at the stories ‘Pip and Egg’ and ‘Be a Tree’, exploring similes and metaphors through these books. The class used papier Mache and natural materials to form birds and their perches and then mixed media to create a picture of a woodland.
It was a joy to finish our week and half term by welcoming you all into the classroom. The children were beyond excited to share all their hard work with you. I hope they have a joyful and restful half term, they have certainly earned it.
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Upstairs Nursery
Dear Parents,
Our classroom has been full of Science investigations! The arrival of 10 very wriggly caterpillars has sparked lots of inquiries into their life cycle, as the children were keen to learn about the transformations that take place during each stage. They have been very excited to closely observe the caterpillars and handled them with great care to inspect their features and movement. “It’s so tickly on my hand!”, “It’s back is fuzzy.”, “They are green so they can camouflage between the leaves, so they don’t get eaten by birds.” These are just a few of the wonderfully observant remarks! The children took great responsibility to make sure they truly enjoy their time with us. They made cosy leaf beds for them, read stories to them, and used their imagination to prepare yummy meals.
This is one of a plethora of scientific experiments that we set up throughout the Science and Healthy Living Week, aimed to tap into the children’s curiosity and develop their desire to explore and question how things work. These hands-on investigations strengthened their problem- solving and analytical skills. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about changes in texture and consistency whilst making a deliciously yummy fruit milkshake for snack time. They have also explored chemical reactions that take place when mixing substances whilst creating milk rainbows and tested various tools and techniques to break/melt the ice to free bugs. We have seen great perseverance and creative thinking skills!
We continue to have a focus on emotions and strategies to help us self-regulate, and it is wonderful to see the children taking the lead in recognising a variety of emotions in themselves and others too. They are developing strong empathy skills and it has been heart-warming to see them comfort their friends by reading a story, reminding each other to breathe up and down the mountain, giving hugs or making presents.
This week it has been all about bugs! The children loved the mini beasts hunts in the garden, absorbed key facts about them and stretched their maths skills when exploring growing patterns. Artists such as Emile-Alain Seguy inspired the children to have a go at creating large 3D creepy crawlies. They carefully drew body parts, then assembled them to depict a representational image, and enhanced them with detailed patterns and mixed media. All the models are wonderfully unique, and their rhyming names live up to this originality!
We wish you all a sunny half-term break, full of explorations!
Mihaela and Jess
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Downstairs Nursery
These past couple of weeks have been very busy at the Downstairs Nursery!
Two weeks ago, we explored the topic Science and Healthy Living. We read books about fruit and vegetables and discussed different ways of keeping ourselves healthy. The children made delicious and healthy ice lollies for their snack. We also did our own science experiments! The children predicted what might happen if we put white flowers in food colouring, brainstormed ideas to take toys out of ice, and explored friction with jelly cubes and oil. We also made our own gloop, observing changes in textures, and experimented with shaving foam and food colouring. Finally, we had an explosive time with our volcano experiment which we then recorded through paintings which you can see in the Nursery entrance hall!
Last week, the children got the chance to observe real caterpillars grow. They have been eating very well and we can’t wait to see them make their chrysalises! We read the Very Hungry Caterpillar and created our own pom-pom caterpillars and painted egg carton caterpillars too!
This week, we have been learning about slugs and snails. We had the chance to observe snails at school, and we read books about them, such as Norman the Slug with the Silly Shell and A Worm Called Wallace. The children made worms and slugs out of playdough and found silly shells for Norman the slug. We also focused on the spiral shape of the snail’s shell; we practiced drawing spiral shapes on paper, and coiled pipe cleaners around our fingers and hands to make them spiral. The children also created spiral shapes with PVA glue and glitter, and they made their own snails out of clay.
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