Dear parents

As we embark on a new and bustling term at Grange Park, the enthusiasm and energy radiating from our children have set the tone for an exciting and productive period of learning. 

Our youngest learners in Nursery, engaged in hands-on exploration of nature by harvesting vegetables from the allotments and examining them closely.  Meanwhile, our Reception learners delved into the life of the historical figure Mary Anning and a thrilling workshop on fossil exploration. Year 1 scientists planted and investigated bean seeds, uncovering the essentials for plant survival. Year 2 embarked on a historical journey with Florence Nightingale, complete with a visit from the iconic figure herself. Year 3 delved into the fascinating world of bones learning interesting facts about the skeletal system.  Our Year 4 children embraced technology through an 'Electrifying Makey Makey' workshop, creating digital musical instruments.  Year 5 ventured to the Tower of London to explore the Tudor period, delving into history.  Lastly Year 6 engaging in a heart dissection workshop to comprehend the intricacies of the circulatory system. The term is off to an exciting start, with each year group actively immersed in diverse and enriching learning experiences!

Congratulations to our Year 5/6 girls' football team for winning the Premier League against other Enfield Primary Schools – a big well done!

This term, our character trait focus is kindness, and it's truly heartening to see children of all ages embodying this value in their interactions and actions. The power of kindness enriches our school community and sets a positive tone for all our endeavors.

I am thrilled to share that our school is actively engaged in a road safety campaign in collaboration with our local schools. As part of our commitment to the safety of our children and the community, we are working together to raise awareness about road safety. Please stay tuned for updates on our collaborative efforts and join us in promoting a safer environment for everyone.

Extend Holiday Club still have some spaces this half term with the theme "Once Upon a Time!" where enchanting stories, creative activities, and imaginative adventures awaits! 

A reminder to all parents about our upcoming Learning Conversations on Thursday 8 February. This is a wonderful opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions about your child's progress and learning journey. Please remember to book your slot and note that Thursday 8 February, is an inset day, and the school will be closed for children.  We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Friday 9 February.

We have an array of exciting events lined up, including concerts showcasing the talents of our children and workshops for parents to actively participate in their child's education. Please mark your calendars and join us for these enriching experiences.

Your continued support and active involvement contribute immensely to the vibrant and nurturing community we have at our school. I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming events and working together to foster an environment where kindness flourishes, and every child thrives.

With my very best wishes to you and your families

Tijen Hassan

Headteacher 

Please click to view term dates for 2023 - 2024 

Please click here to view term dates for 2024 - 2025

Last week the whole school participated in virtual assemblies hosted by  NSPCC. The theme was Speak out. Stay safe. This is a safeguarding programme available to all primary schools in the UK and Channel Islands. It aims to help children understand abuse in all its forms and to recognise the signs of abuse in a child friendly way. The children were taught to speak out if they are worried, either to a trusted adult or Childline - a phone line that children can call confidentially if they are worried about something and need someone to talk to.

In the online assembly, the Speak out Stay safe messages were delivered in a fun and interactive way with the help of their mascot Buddy as well as special guest appearances from Ant and Dec. The children learnt a mnemonic for remembering the Childline phone number and used their hands to show 0800 1111. See if they can show you.

Additional NSPCC resources for families to help keep children safe

The NSPCC have shared some important information below on wider NSPCC resources and support to help keep children safe.

CHILDLINE NUMBER: 0800 1111           (Remember, in an emergency, always call 999)

At the end of last half term we  celebrated our ‘Always Stars’. ‘Always Star’ children are children who ALWAYS show that they follow the Big 3, they are ALWAYS respectful, resilient and show responsibility and they ALWAYS try their very best, taking on challenges with a growth mindset and never giving  up. Here are the 'Always Stars’ for the first half of the Autumn term.

Grange Park’s Road Safety Campaign

We're excited to share some fantastic news about the incredible teamwork happening at Grange Park! Our School Parliament and Junior Travel Ambassadors have been hard at work, combining their efforts to begin their campaign for safer streets outside our school. Early on, we recognised the importance of working with our wider community, including our neighbouring schools. Due to this we have joined forces with Highlands and Merryhills to work together, strategise and pull resources to ensure that our campaign is the huge success that we want it to be. Highlands very kindly hosted a meeting back in November where we discussed our initial ideas and planned what we would do first.

To kick off our campaign, School Parliament and Junior Travel Ambassadors supported the planning and delivery of Road Safety Week, by delivering a compelling assembly to the entire school. They shared valuable insights on safe ways to arrive at school and the significance of following road safety rules. Their engaging presentation highlighted the responsibility we all have in ensuring a secure journey to and from school. We were also able to share this insight with our families during the autumn term’s Come Learn with Me. The sessions included discussions about travelling to school safely, alternative ways to travel to school such as park and stride and cycling and safe places to drop off if you do travel by car. Did you know that parents can use the car park at the Old Grammarians? 

In our past school assembly, children at Grange Park celebrated their diverse talents, interests, and achievements. The theme was Martial Arts and we discovered that many children practise this ancient art, from kickboxing to jujitsu. The cloud below lists the many children who express an interest in Martial Arts at our school.

Although the main topic was Martial Arts, lots of children shared their talents and achievements too. The wordcloud below is full of talents and interests that we have at our school.

Enrichment clubs are well under way for the spring term. With 31 clubs to choose from, there is something for everyone to get involved in outside of the classroom. We offer  a range of enrichment clubs to children that extend our curriculum and provide our children with rich experiences in order to support their personal development. We have an array of different Enrichment Clubs running each week ranging from Spanish arts and crafts, drumming club, coding for KS1 and KS2 and even forestry.

We hope you enjoyed our Winter Showcases during the last couple of weeks of term, where you have the opportunity to see all of the amazing things that your child/children had been up to whilst attending. We will of course be having our next show case for the Spring term during the week beginning 18 March 2024. This is an ideal opportunity to find out more about our clubs even if your child doesn’t attend. 

Battle Results

Well done to Year 5, Mercury and Broomfield family for winning their respective battles on TTRS. New battles are in progress already, so work hard to help your class, year group and family to victory.

Please click here to find the list of parent workshops taking place this term, along with the date, time, location and a brief description.

Measles cases are rising across the country, with over 102,000 children starting primary school in England being at risk of catching the disease. We have been asked to share key messages from the NHS about measles / MMR and how to get vaccinated.  Please see guidance below

National measles guidelines - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Measles is highly infectious and if left unvaccinated nine out of ten children in an early years setting can catch the disease if just one child is infectious. 

Happy New Year!!  We are excited about al the events we have planned for this spring term!  We have a readathon, an Easter Cookie sale and mad hair day to name a few!

We have raised approximately £10,000 so far including our festive Christmas Fayre.  All funds are going  towards the school farm, playground equipment and the internal/external PA system.  We will share some pictures as soon as possible!

If you missed the fayre but would still like to make a donation towards our fundraising efforts please do so here - https://platform.nationalfundingscheme.org/grange-park-primary-school-association

Thank you again for your continued support!

Please do not hesitate to contact us via email on gppsa@hotmail.co.uk if you have any questions, want more information about vacancies on the GPPSA or how you can help us.  

Thanks in advance for your support.

GPPSA

Please also bare in mind the initiatives that are available year round:

• Amazon Smile - we would like to encourage parents to use Amazon smile when making online purchase through Amazon (where Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the GPPSA) search = Grange Park Primary School Association 

• School lotto:  www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/grange-park-primary-school-association 

• Donate page - http://easydonate.org/HTDT007

The children in Acorn class had a great time pulling up leftover vegetables from the allotments. The children washed the vegetables and used magnifying glasses to look closely at each vegetable talking about the colours and shapes that they could see.

During the cold weather we had lots of ice in our outdoor area. The nursery children were amazed to see how the ice changed from water to ice. They experimented in lots of different ways to break the solid ice and looked at patterns and shapes that had formed within the ice.

Reception have started their new topic for this year, ‘People who changed History’. They have been learning about the life of Mary Anning and her contributions to palaeontology. The children were so excited when they had a workshop which provided real life experiences of searching for fossils and matching them to the animal or plant that they belong to.   “I couldn’t believe I saw a real t-rex skull. I know lots of facts, some dinosaurs are meat eaters and some eat plants.” - Remy Tulip

Year 1 has started their science topic investigating plants. We know that most plants start life as a seed. This week we have been planting beans seeds. Through an investigation,  we discovered  what plants need to survive. Plants require soil, water, light and air to survive.   ‘A bean needs sunlight, soil and water to grow’ - Lara - Grasshopper 

In Year 2, we have been learning about the remarkable nursing journey of Florence Nightingale. Our excitement reached its peak when Florence herself paid a visit to Grange Park! During her visit, she shared the inspiring story of how she persuaded her family to support her dream of becoming a nurse, allowing her to care for wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. As part of her nursing team, we journeyed to Scutari to improve the terrible condition of the hospital. Florence also showcased the pioneering nursing uniform she had designed for her team, and the one that our nurses use today!

Year 3 had an exciting opportunity to explore bones. During the science workshop, we learnt how many bones there are in the body, feet and hands, which bone is the longest in the human body and which bones are connected. We learnt facts about bones and discovered  how they’re connected. Later we had the chance to put together a human paper skeleton using paper fasteners. 

The children in Year 4 participated in an ‘Electrifying Makey Makey’ workshop, which linked well to our Science topic ‘Electricity,’ as well as music and computing.  The children used controllers and wires to create their own digital musical instruments through circuit making. They were amazed to see that they could create a unique musical performance without traditional instruments, but through technology, it had them singing and dancing! 

The devices used by the children were created by ‘conductive music,’ a company who based their idea around the Nintendo Switch. In doing this workshop, the children developed a whole range of skills including responsibility, creativity, cooperative working, listening, sharing and their development of their understanding of circuits.   The children showed great enthusiasm when creating their ruler piano, where they connected crocodile clips to a ruler with conductors of electricity to create songs. We heard the songs ‘Mary had a little lamb’, ‘hot cross buns’ and ‘three blind mice’ being played. The room was bursting with creativity!  

Year 5 went to the Tower of London to learn about the wives of King Henry VIII and the nature of marriage in the Tudor period. Children were given an insight to each of Henry VIII wives and learnt about how some events that happen today are resulted from his actions. Children also got to see the weaponry and armour that were used throughout various battles throughout history. Additionally, the children also got to visit the crown jewels and see various artefacts throughout the years that were worn by previous monarchs. 

In our science topic we have been learning about the circulatory system. We had a heart dissection workshop where we explored different parts of the heart and the functions.