SPRING 1 2023

grafton NEWSLETTER

Dear Parents/Carers,

We have come to the end of another busy half term in school. There have been many moments that we enjoyed and celebrated last half term.

We have had the KS2 choir sing at Young Voices and despite some initial nerves, they put in a great performance, it really will be a cherished memory.
Thank you to Reza who came in from Bow Arts and worked with our Year 5s. All the children had the opportunity to take part, they used clay and other materials to create scenes and puppets and also used stop animation. The children really enjoyed the opportunity to spend a longer time on art-based learning and exploration. We look forward to seeing the end animation next half term.
When our children go on visits or trips we are always complimented on their excellent behaviour. This was certainly the case when some of our Year 3s took part in the recent Maths challenge day 'Aim High'. This was also the case when some of our Year 6s took part in the same event or also when our Year 4s were part of the Bikeability training. Well done to all children at Grafton Primary School and thank you for being respectful, polite and kind.

As I think about the importance of kindness and also how, more than ever, the importance of trying to be positive, I think of the current key challenges that we face as a school. This week has been Children's Mental Health Week and also Safer Internet day. Both events focus on the importance of having meaningful and safe connections with others. People thrive in communities and connections are fundamental to our well-being. In an ever increasing age where children have access to devices and therefore access to online media and content, it is crucial that we as parents/carers and schools make sure that the connections children are making online and in person are safe, that we monitor children's access to such things as YouTube and know the legal age limits around the use of such programmes as TikTok. Children need to be taught to know what is safe and unsafe and 'call it out' - tell someone if they do come across something that is not safe.

As a Rights Respecting school, this week we focused on Article 19 which is very clear in saying that 'Children have the right to be protected from being hurt or mistreated by anyone.' I feel as a community we also need to apply this Right as we bring our children to school in the morning or collect them at the end of the day. As a community, can we all ensure that we keep our children safe and try our best to be polite and courteous to each other on our journeys to school, be mindful of pedestrians as we park our cars and also use appropriate language & tone with each other. A couple of the children have, unfortunately, heard some inappropriate language from a minority of parents this half term, over disagreements about parking. As a school we have made a pledge to make the streets around our school safer for our children and the community, this is why we signed up to the Street Space Programme and the Walk to School programme, which also reinforces children's right to be healthy (article 24). I hope that after the holidays we can all work together to make sure that all children can come to and from school in a very safe manner.

I want to say thank you to all the families who have been able to attend our parent workshops and the feedback has been very positive. Parent workshops usually take place on a Thursday morning at 9am in the KS1 hall. If you look on the school website on the Events page you will be able to see which workshops are planned for after the holidays.

Finally,I want to wish everyone a good break, we look forward to welcoming you all back on the 20th February.

Best wishes

Mrs Gray

r blue class

In Literacy, we have been learning about traditional tales such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We have retold the stories in our own words and acted out the story with others, in character. Children have been learning to use descriptive words to describe a character and write a basic sentence, using our phonics to write initial and dominant sounds in words.

Article 27 – I have the right to have a proper house, food and clothing.

For Physical Education, children have used equipment to build bridges to cross while acting out The Three Billy Goats Gruff tale, working on their balance and problem solving to get to the opposite side. They have been giving instructions to other children to follow, building on their communication skills.

In Maths, we have been learning to subitise (to be able to recognise the number of objects in a small group without the need to count them) as well as recognising numerals to 10. We have been learning about how a number is made up and the different ways that we can make a number e.g. 2+2=4/ 1+3=4/ 0+4=4 etc.

In Art, we have been designing portraits of Goldilocks in the style of the artist Arcimboldo using a variety of fruit/food for children to arrange to make a portrait. This term we have enjoyed learning about different religions and cultures by way of celebrations such as Chinese New Year and World Religion Day.

Year 1 squirrel CLASS

In Literacy, we have been reading the book Beegu. We discovered a surprise in our yard area and found out that a little alien called Beegu had crash landed in our school. We read the book and have written postcards, speech bubbles and character descriptions. We really enjoyed making a friend for Beegu to play with out of playdough.

In Science, we have carried out investigations on which materials would make a good umbrella for Beegu (waterproof) and how to help Beegu find all the parts of her ship using magnets. We discovered which materials were magnetic.

In Maths, we started the term by revising at place value, how many tens and ones are in given numbers. We then moved on to adding and subtracting one and two digit numbers using counters, number lines, tens frames and part-whole models.

Tazeem - '22 is 2 tens and 2 ones'

Dea - '12 is 1 ten and 2 ones'

In Geography, we have been learning about the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. We looked at one of the countries each week. We tasted food that was special to that country, made flags and learnt songs or dances from that country.

Mason- 'I liked tasting the Scones.'

Callie - 'I loved making a lion mask.'

In Religious Education, we have enjoyed learning about what it means to belong to a family, group or club. We looked at what is special about belonging, how people show that they belong and how children in the Sikh religion are given a sense of belonging.

Adora- 'I wear a uniform to show that I belong to Grafton Primary School.'

Namiyah - 'Sikhs wear five things that start with the letter K to show they belong to their religion.'

Year 2 circle CLASS

After a fantastic Autumn term, we started the new year with lots of hopes and wishes for 2023. One morning after playtime we came back to find our classroom had been covered in special magic fairy dust. The clues led us to discover a magic wand and a special note left by Greta the Grafton Fairy Godmother. She granted us three wishes and we had a lot of fun deciding what we wanted. We’re hoping to hear back from her soon so if you spot any fairy dust or glitter let us know!

We read Cinderella and compared it to our new text, Prince Cinders by Babette Cole. We learnt about stereotypes in traditional fairy tales. We discussed what characteristics/features all the Princes shared and whether stereotypes were accurate or not. After reading Prince Cinders, we understood that not all fairies are great at granting wishes and not all Princes or Princesses have to be handsome, strong or glamorous in order to make a difference. Later on, we created our own Princes and wrote about them. Then we came up with our own ending to Prince Cinders.

In Maths, we have been learning to recognise and use symbols for pounds (£) and pence (p). We roleplayed as shopkeepers and customers ensuring we used the correct coins and notes to buy toys and books. We then worked on combining amounts to make a particular value. Then we compared amounts using our greater than, less than and equal to symbols and solved money word problems.

During our History lessons we have been learning about what makes a good monarch. We created a timeline from King Richard III to present day King Charles III. We then researched and found out more about the lives of significant individuals such as King Richard III, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth II. After learning about our previous monarchs we came up with our own opinions on what made a good monarch.

Here are some of our ideas:

Alfie - ‘A good monarch should be kind and helpful. They should not be mean or unkind. They need to tell the government to make sure everyone is kind.’

Victoria - ‘You can’t be rude, you should be kind.’

Clark - ‘A King or Queen should always tell the truth and always be brave.’

YEAR 3 birch class

It has been a very short but busy half term in Birch class, and boy have we managed to cover a lot in just a few weeks - I think we are all ready for a short break.

In Literacy, we have been reading The Egyptian Cinderella, a retelling and adaptation of the traditional Cinderella story. During the unit we have been looking at using conjunctions - but, because, although, so, when, or, and, if and also correctly punctuating direct speech using inverted commas and synonyms for said. We are in the process of writing our own versions of the story and hope to share these during a storytelling session with year 2.

We enjoyed taking part in World Religion Day and many children shared their faith, beliefs and artefacts with each other demonstrating that Article 14 - Every child has the right to choose their own religion and beliefs, is respected in Birch class, as it is across the school.

In Maths, our focus has been on the operations of multiplication and division. We are now working hard to ensure that we know all the facts for the 2, 5, 10, 3, 4 and 8 times tables. Being secure in these facts has helped up to solve related facts such as 40 X 5 and also to multiply 2-dgit by 1-digit numbers using the formal written expanded written strategy.

We have time travelled in History back to the Ancient Egyptian period, creating timelines to place this era in history as well as considering some of the key events that happened during this era. In Art, we have drawn and painted Egyptian Gods, annotated with hieroglyphics and have designed and painted death masks. Back in the present day, we have been creating our own desktop templates, using place holders, to create fact sheets about Ancient Egypt.

The highlight of our term has to have been presenting our learning to our parents in assembly - we used our loudest voices and I think it is safe to say we made our parents laugh!

year 4 rights ambassadors

The Year 4 Ambassadors had a very busy term. They have been working very hard and encouraged their classes to respect our Class Charter. Our Ambassadors can talk confidently about Articles of the week and why it is important to respect them. All our Ambassadors have been participating in many exciting activities. On the 10th of November, the children took part in the cooking workshop called Roots to Food. They demonstrated their terrific practical cooking skills, food techniques and knowledge of nutritional value. We were extremely proud of all our Ambassadors for their achievement in performing and developing a great tasting dish.

Earlier this year, the Ambassadors attended the meeting with the Young Mayor of London - Zubin Burley who visited our school. They all agreed that it was a very inspirational meeting and they all had a chance to ask Zubin interesting questions about his role and plans for the future. We are very lucky to have such fantastic Ambassadors and they make Grafton proud!

5 alder class

Although this has been a short half term, it's also been a busy one! In Literacy, we have been studying Romeo and Juliet. We started off the unit by exploring Elizabethan society to get a better idea of what society was like when the original play was written. Whilst reading a narrative form of the play, we explored the characters and key events in the plot. The ending was very sad so we decided to write an alternative one as our end outcome.

On Friday 13th January we celebrated World Religion Day. It was lovely seeing so many children dressed in traditional clothing or wearing bright colours. Some pupils brought in religious objects to talk about and it was lovely to hear about their religion.

One of the main highlights for the children, this half term, has been the weekly swimming lesson at Becontree Health Leisure Centre! It has been great to see the pupils developing their swimming skills and enjoying the pool.

YEAR 6 willow Class

We have all been very busy in 6 Willow this Half Term! The children have been working incredibly hard as they have begun to prepare for the upcoming SATS exams in May. We have completed a number of grammar quizzes and it is nice to see the competitive nature of the children shine through.

As a class, we have started reading a new text called ‘The Viewer’ and have found it really interesting using the pictures to make inferences about the characters. The children have shared some excellent predictions during class discussions and are excited to see if they are correct!

We have also been reading a selection of short stories from the 1960’s and the children were able to write their own ending. I thoroughly enjoyed reading each of their story endings as they used their imaginations to create some fantastic ideas. I was impressed with the way the children put themselves in the characters' shoes and used excellent vocabulary from the era.

In Maths, the children have been revising their knowledge of decimals and percentages. I know all of the teachers are really proud of the effort and progress the children have made in Maths so far this year and would like them to keep practicing as much as possible at home in the build-up to SATS. I was lucky enough to take some children on an ‘Aim high Maths Day’ and they were a real credit to the school.

One of the highlights of this Half Term has been Religion Day celebrated on 13th January. It was fantastic to see the children dressed in the clothes of their culture and we had an enjoyable day learning about religions from all over the world.

Finally, I would like to say well done to the children and adults for all their hard work this half term. The attendance in 6 Willow has been exceptional and it would be great to keep it up for the whole year!

Mr Robertson

history

This term the children at Grafton have continued to develop their understanding of the past and the world around them through a rich, thoughtfully planned history curriculum. At Grafton, we believe in enquiry led learning, inspiring children’s curiosity so that they leave year six with, not only an understanding of how past events and significant individuals have shaped our modern world, but also having the skills and confidence to think critically about it.

Children in EYFS continue to talk about past and present events in their own lives and their family members, already beginning to use specific history related vocabulary which is needed to be a good historian. Year 2 have been looking at the British monarchy and were able to compare Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. It is important for the children, as historians, to not only state similarities and differences, but to think about the significance of these. Year three have started their depth study of Ancient Egypt which began with developing their chronological awareness and creating a timeline. Chronology is an important skill which, like others, is revisited in every topic the children learn about. After starting this term’s history topic with an archaeological dig, year four have been developing their historical skills of cause and consequence, looking in depth at what the Anglo Saxons did, why they did it and what the results were of their actions. This has been linked to their Geography learning about settlements.

All history topics promote children’s development of their skills as historians in a fun, engaging way, allowing children to understand the significance of different sources and how they shape our knowledge and understanding of the past. Educational visits to places such as Valence House museum have supported this greatly.

EAL (English as an Additional Language)

As a school, we are very proud of the huge cultural capital brought by our pupils, parents and staff. We recognise the different languages represented in our school and we promote it through learning some basic greetings in the language chosen as the language of the term, as represented in our school.

We started the year 2022/23 with the Welsh language, which was the language of the Autumn Term. Our Welsh speaking members of staff were very supportive and helpful in bringing the language alive. One of our Welsh speaking teachers created a video of how to make Bara Brith, a traditional Welsh cake and another member of staff created an audio recording of how to say some of the basic greetings in Welsh. We are creating a bank of cooking videos/recipes from around the world through this initiative.

Our language of the term this Spring Term is Twi (Tree). The language is one of the dialects spoken in Ghana. We have 15 children in our school who are from families that speak the language. We had an assembly to introduce the language and the children that speak the language showed confidence and enthusiasm in teaching the whole school how to say the basic greetings in the Twi language. We had one of our parents giving us lots of artifacts to show the children.

Reading Buddies

Well done to our year 3 Reading Buddies who have been supporting each other in reading out loud by listening to each other read and developing each other's confidence in reading aloud with expression. Furthermore, they have been helping each other develop skills in asking and answering comprehension questions.

Science Club

Over the last four weeks, the Science Club has been choosing experiments to prove a theory of their choice which they will present to the other pupils as well as parents and carers in the second half of Spring term. Some of the experiments chosen are: an egg experiment to prove what liquids cause tooth decay, elephant toothpaste which causes a chemical reaction and a lava lamp based on the different densities of liquids.

In addition to our Science experiments, we have secured funding from the Primary Engineer Rail Project in Partnership with Network Rail. This will allow the children a chance to enter a National Engineering Competition to make a model electric car, pictured above. The children will present their work in the summer term to carers and parents. That is all the news for now but we will keep you updated.

If you have a Science or Engineering background, please contact the school as we would love for some of our parents/carers to share their experiences with our pupils.

Thank you,

Mr Geary.

https://www.primaryengineer.com/

Music

Across the school, we have been very busy since September creating Music throughout the school.

In Nursery, the children settled well into their new year groups and can often be found singing routines of their day. They learnt a large repertoire of songs for their Christmas performance, including new words to familiar Nursery Rhymes and some more modern songs including ‘The Christmas Conga’ It was great to see the children expressing themselves and moving to the music.

Reception have participated in regular singing assemblies and explored how sounds can be changed with their voices. E.g. high, low, loud, quiet, spiky and smooth. They also did amazingly well learning lines and the songs for their Christmas Performance of Baa Baa Boogie.

In years 1 and 2 the children have been learning to play their Ocarinas and both produced some amazing Christmas performances.

In year 3, just before Christmas, the children participated in workshops run by Conductive Music as part of their ‘Inspire: Reboot project’. As many children are interested in gaming, the workshops provided a STEM approach to learning and were based around making music by using both a Chromebook and a controller called a Makey Makey. Touching it alone created a sound, by high fiving someone and putting crocodile clips on the Makey Makey it into an instrument. The highlight was using tin foil and a ruler to create a piano and explore music making. It was great to see the children so engaged and have a fan making their own compositions.

Year 4 worked hard in the run up to Christmas to learn to sing a range of carols when they went to St Mary’s Church to perform for parents and participate in the Carol Service. All classes sang with passion and those who were sharing readings, spoke well. They have also explored playing the glockenspiel together as a class.

The year 5, the children have taken up learning a new instrument within their classes with Community Music Service and using Charanga. We hope you have enjoyed hearing them practise at home.

In the Autumn Term, Miss Sneade has spent time working with year 6. They explored the song ‘Happy’ defining the features of the music, singing along in two parts and improvising and composing with the glockenspiels. They also used the claves to work on keeping the beat and creating new rhythms in time to the beat.

Since September, the junior choir has been working hard to learn words and choreography to participate in the Young Voices Choir. At the end of January, they performed at the O2 Arena, as part of a 9,009 child massed choir. For some children, this was their first concert experience and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. As well as performing, the children also had the opportunity to watch and perform with The Beatbox Collective, Heather Small and Anna Phoebe. It was a long day, but the children still managed to dance their socks off and sing their hearts out. Now we are beginning to start work on material for our performance at the local Music Festival.

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