Do you want to be a lawyer?

On Friday 29 March, Grange Park hosted our first ever ‘Widening Horizons’ event. This event was based on the world of work and it gave children from Year 1 - Year 5 an insight into some of the different careers possible. 

During the morning children were able to listen to four different talks from local people, including parents, from a range of different sectors which aimed to raise their aspirations. Prior to the event, children were able to choose the talks they wanted to attend so that they could find out more about jobs that they were interested in.

Do you want to be a TV producer?

Here were the choices - Choice 1: a TV producer; a car designer; a finance business partner and a human resources coordinator. Choice 2: a caterer; a speech and language therapist; a financial advisor and a virtual assistant and choice 3: a computer programmer; a British Library curator; a lawyer and a children’s author.

Each talk lasted approx 25 minutes and included a short presentation about the job, what a typical day looks like, what skills are important for this role and how you get into it. There was also an opportunity for the audience to take part in a Q and A at the end.

A child dressed as an electrician

Following on from the talk the children were taken by their ‘Widening Horizons’ teacher to engage in a workshop that was based on one of the presentations they had attended. The children were mixed up across the year groups and had opportunities to work with children that they hadn’t worked with before. The workshops included children designing a car for the future, drawing an illustration based on a description and inventing a menu for an imagined restaurant.

Before the day was out, the children returned to their own classrooms to discuss what they had found out and to think about their dreams and aspirations for the future and what they will need to do to get there. One thing that everyone agreed on was to work hard, have a growth mindset and show resilience. 

A child dressed as a scientist

Widening Horizons at Grange Park is part of our personal development programme and aims to give children the opportunity to explore and  celebrate a range of talents and interests, be inspired to try new things and raise their aspirations for the future. 

We’d like to thank all of our volunteers on the day, not only for giving up their time on the 29 March but for dedicating time prior to this to create inspirational slides and for being so amenable and supportive with the change in dates. Without your support this event would never have happened and would not have been the success it was. 

A huge thank you to Alexia Edwards, Earl Beckles, Jayesh Bhatt, Alison Crowley, Ziba Akarcay, Anne John-Ligali, Nicole Rachelle Moore, Shoma Gukkar, Liz Cullen, Anthony at The Pantry, Janet Oram and Andrea Georgiou.

At Grange Park Primary School we are committed to developing an anti-bullying culture where the act of bullying is taken very seriously and not tolerated. Children and parents should be assured that they will be supported if and when bullying is reported to a member of staff.

What is bullying?

Bullying is 'Behaviour by an individual or a group, usually repeated over time that intentionally hurts another individual either physically or emotionally'. 

Often it is difficult for the person being bullied to defend himself or herself. Bullying results in pain and distress to the victim.

Bullying and bullying behaviours can include: name calling, taunting, mocking, making offensive comments, kicking, hitting, taking belongings, inappropriate text messaging and electronic messaging (including through web-sites, social networking sites and instant messenger), sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet, producing offensive graffiti, gossiping, excluding people from groups and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours.

Not all unpleasantness between children is bullying, some can be regarded as random acts of unkindness, the odd occasion of falling out with others, name calling, arguments or when the occasional trick or joke is played on someone. It is bullying if this is done over a period of time on purpose. 

Children sometimes fall out or say things because they are upset with someone else or a situation. When occasional problems of this kind occur, it cannot be classed as bullying. It is an important part of all children’s development to learn how to deal with conflict and friendship breakdowns, the odd name calling or prank.

We all have to learn how to deal with these situations and develop the appropriate social skills to deal with or repair relationships. It is also important for children to understand that if they themselves upset or hurt someone, and that person retaliates, this is not bullying on behalf of the other person (retaliation is not acceptable according, but it is not bullying).

How do we educate the children about bullying?

Each year, we as a school take part in Anti-Bullying Week (held in the month of November). Anti-Bullying Week shines a spotlight on bullying and encourages all children, teachers and parents to take action against bullying.

Over the course of Anti-Bullying Week, we hold a school assembly and each class completes activities designed at educating the children about what bullying is and how to deal with its different forms effectively.

The school also addresses bullying throughout the curriculum and more specifically, through the ‘Jigsaw PSHE’ scheme.

Signs and symptoms of bullying:

A child may indicate that they are being bullied by changes in their behaviour. All members of staff and parents have a responsibility to be aware of these possible signs for example:  is frightened of walking to or from school; is unwilling to go to school; becomes withdrawn, anxious, or lacking in confidence; becomes clingy; cries him/herself to sleep at night or wets the bed; feigns illness in the morning; begins to underachieve in school work; arrives home with clothes torn or belongings damaged; has possessions that ‘go missing’;  has unexplained cuts or bruises; arrives home hungry (lunch has been stolen); becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable; is bullying other children or siblings; stops eating; is frightened to say what’s wrong.

The school will respond accordingly. These signs and behaviours may indicate other problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility and, therefore, the cause of the above investigated. If bullying does occur, all children will be able to report it and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. 

Children have a responsibility as well as staff to help eradicate bullying and therefore anyone who knows that bullying and/or racism is happening is expected to tell a member of staff.

Ways of reporting bullying:

If children witness bullying or feel they are being bullied they can tell any member of staff who will then deal with the situation as a matter of urgency. They will also pass the information on to the victim's and alleged bully's class teachers.

Children may also write down any worries they have about bullying and put these into the class trust box or the virtual trust box via the school website or their Google Classroom. Children must be aware that for incidents to be dealt with they must not report anonymously.

What should parents/ members of the public do?

Parents can report bullying by:

• Speaking to their child's class teacher

• Phoning the school: 0208 360 1001 and requesting a call back/meeting with your child's class teacher.  

• Emailing the school office addressing your concerns FAO your child’s class teacher

You can read more about the procedures here.

In this Platinum Jubilee year of our Sovereign, Her Majesty The Queen, we would like to draw your attention to The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC).

This competition is now open for entries and will close for submissions on the 30 June 2022. We would like to encourage any children who would like to engage in this wonderful opportunity to have their voices heard. For more information on how to enter the competition please visit www.royalcwsociety.org.

This term, the Year 2 children are learning about the amazing work of Henri Rousseau. Their art will be influenced by Rousseau’s painting, ‘Surprised!’ 

In order to immerse them in the work of this artist as well as other famous landscape artists, the children visited the National Gallery on 21 and 22 April.