23 September 2022

Creating foundations for bright futures

Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II

It is with deep sadness that we commemorate the passing of our late sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II. We remember with gratitude and affection The Queen's lifetime of dedicated service and extraordinary and unfailing commitment to duty throughout her reign.

Over the last couple of weeks, each class has spent time talking about the news and Her Majesty's time as Queen. The children reflected on the Queen's achievements in assembly, how might the Queen be remembered and how the Queen has demonstrated our values of respect, resilience and responsibility. We were fortunate enough last academic year to mark The Queen's incredible reign as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations which I'm sure the children will remember in years to come.

Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents

Welcome to our very first edition of the News Roundup for this academic year! We have had a wonderful start to the term. Grange Park has such a positive feel and we are looking forward to another exciting year ahead. A warm welcome to our new nursery and reception cohort, we are delighted to have you join our Grange Park family.

Children's attitudes have been fantastic and the children have been proud to demonstrate our values respect, responsibility and resilience. Learning is in full swing- it's been great to see the children in year 2 and 4 enjoying their science workshops. The year 5 children had great fun (and learnt a thing or two) in their vikings workshop as well!

A huge thank you to families for attending our Meet the Teacher event. Slides from the presentation are available on the website. You will receive a letter next week inviting you in for Learning Conversations which is on Thursday 20 October. This is an opportunity for you to discuss with your child's class teacher how your child has settled into school and how they've engaged with learning so far, so please do book your slot!

As you know, the GPPSA plays a vital role in not only helping to raise much needed funds for the school but also bringing our community together socially with events such as the Christmas and Summer fayre, discos and quiz nights for the parents. It is Make or Break and unfortunately the GPPSA will no longer be able to continue if crucial roles are not filled and more parents don't volunteer to join the committee to help organise events across the school. Please contact the GPPSA if you would like to be a member of the committee or you are able to volunteer at any events. There will be a GPPSA AGM (Annual General Meeting) on Monday 3 October at 7:00pm in the round hall. I hope to see many of you then.

I'm looking forward to seeing our nursery, reception and year 1 families (siblings are also welcome!) at the picnic tomorrow on the school grounds between 11am-2pm. This will be a great opportunity to meet other families and also find out more about the GPPSA!

With my very best wishes to you and your families

Tijen Hassan

Headteacher

Term Dates, Holidays and School Closures

Please click to view term dates for 2022 - 2023

Dates for Diary

Class Assemblies & Concerts

Come Learn With Me Dates

See below dates for our Autumn Term Come Learn With Me dates. This is an exciting opportunity to come into your child's classroom and learn alongside your child!

Keeping Children Safe

Online Safety

Roblox is one of the most popular video games on the market. By 2020, the game’s makers were claiming that more than half of children in the UK & USA play it. As a ‘sandbox’ title, Roblox offers a huge amount of creative freedom: it lets players create their own gaming experiences with the Roblox Studio to build custom levels and games, which can then be shared with other players online. Roblox fosters creative thinking and enjoys a robust online community of fans.

In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as online daters, in-app purchases and contact with strangers.

Online safety video for parents

Thank you to those parents who have accessed the Education Child Protection online safety video for parents. We hope you have found it informative in keeping your children safe online. Here are some key messages from the video:

Age restrictions are extremely important and we should adhere to them. The content of these games are not suitable for certain age groups.

Curriculum News

Gold for Travel!

We are delighted to announce that our school has been awarded GOLD for our travel plan. We have been working extremely hard over the last few years promoting road safety and active travel through various different activities, themed weeks and assemblies. We are delighted that the majority of children now use active travel to travel to school and our school has been accredited for it. We are so proud of all the children for their hard work!

Character Education

At our school, we believe that personal development is a key building block for success and a fundamental part in a child’s learning and development. We want children that are responsible, respectful and above all else are active citizens in the diverse communities that they live in. Through a growth mindset and character education, our aim is that children are able to recognise, understand and develop the character traits that are needed to be able to live meaningful lives, reach their full potential and live alongside others in harmony. We acknowledge that the experiences provided for children in their primary years has a major impact on their future wellbeing and success. It is for this reason that this year we are making a whole school commitment to the teaching and development of character traits, attributes and behaviour.

What is Character Education? Put simply it is recognising, understanding and developing character traits that make us unique and then using these character traits to allow us to be the best version of ourselves. At the heart of character education is creating a culture in and out of school where pupils are given every opportunity to rehearse and strengthen their sense of themselves.

Why is it important for my child? Children starting school in 2022 will not reach retirement age until 2086 at the earliest! Just think how much the world has changed since 1972, children starting school that year are only just reaching retirement age now. We need to equip children with life skills that will prepare them for the changing world of employment and support them to become happy and healthy adults.

As well as this, character education has been shown to have an impact on attainment, behaviour in and out of the classroom, attitudes and relationships, developing a safe and secure learning environment, student wellbeing and attendance and a students’ sense of meaning and purpose.

What are we doing to improve children's knowledge and understanding of character traits? As well as working together to uphold our school values, the 3Rs - Respect, Resilience and Responsibility, we will be introducing a half termly character focus throughout the school. This will be done through an assembly programme, where the character traits will be introduced through a story and followed up in subsequent assemblies by exploring moral dilemmas and real life experiences. Teachers will refer to the character traits needed to be successful in lessons and will celebrate when children show specific behaviours and character traits through praise and recognition - ‘If they display it, say it’.

This half term’s character focus - Honesty - I tell the whole truth and I don’t leave out parts in order to hide something that I know is wrong.

At the beginning of term, the children were introduced to our first character trait focus ‘honesty’. During the assembly, Tijen shared the book ‘The Empty Pot’. You can watch a retelling of the story here.

During the assembly, we discussed that honesty is about telling the truth. It is admitting mistakes even when you know someone might be angry or disappointed, and even when you really wish you hadn’t done it. Honesty isn’t about “not getting caught” because honest people do the right thing even when no one is looking.

It is important that children understand that knowing that somebody is honest helps us to believe what they say. Honesty builds trust which is important for being good friends.

Supporting at home -

Model it - Whether we like it or not, our child’s eyes are always open and are always watching us. Your child looks to you to see how they should act. Be sure that you yourself are being honest in front of your child.

Discuss consequences - The natural consequence of lying is that people no longer view us as trustworthy. It only takes one lie to break a person’s trust in us, and trust is very difficult to rebuild. Talk about people whose word can always be trusted. Discuss what we can learn from this.

Reward Honesty - It can be easy to deliver consequences for lies, but we don’t always give praise for honest behaviour. Reward your child’s honesty with lots of praise. Emphasis how courageous they are for telling the truth! Remember ‘if they display it, say it’.

Here is a link to a list of books you can share with your child at home.

Times Tables Rockstars

The importance of learning times tables

Knowing the times tables (and their associated division facts) supports mathematical learning and understanding and those children who have a strong grasp of them tend to be more self-assured when learning new concepts. Therefore, it is crucial for children’s development in mathematics to be confident with the tables taught in their year group. See above what children should know by the end of each year group. Please support your child at home to learn the relevant tables for their year group.

Parents of children in year 4: the children will be sitting a multiplication check towards the end of the year. If you would like some more information about this check please click this link or for another method of practising times tables (mathsframe).

In the next news round up, we will be sharing top performers across the school and show you the results of the battles that have just started.

Please click the link for Times Tables Rockstars

Information for Parents

Pre-Loved Uniform Smiths Schoolwear

Please see the poster regarding Smiths Schoolwear Pre-Loved Scheme. Parents can shop Pre-Loved items online at www.smithsschoolwear.co.uk at a fraction of the original cost. This scheme has been incredibly successful in the last two years since we launched it and we thought your parents would benefit from knowing about it! Parents are welcome to buy or donate where we have the space.

Birthday Books

Just a reminder that you are welcome to donate a book to the class rather than sending sweets on your child’s birthday. The children across the school really enjoy reading these books. Teachers also put a sticker in the book to show who it's from.

Thank you!

Healthy Snack

All children are encouraged to bring in fruit and vegetable each day to have as a snack. Children in reception, year 1 and year 2 are provided with a fruit or vegetable under the government scheme, they can of course bring in an additional snack (fruit or vegetable) if they wish. If your child attends an enrichment club, your child can also bring in a fruit and vegetable to have after school. Please ensure children only bring in a piece of fruit or vegetable, which has been washed beforehand (no biscuits, cereal bars, cheeses or crisps).

Driving Safely

As the new year begins, may I remind all families to take care when driving around the school and to only park in designated spaces. We must avoid parking on pathways and residents driveways to ensure our children are safe.

Parents can use Old Grammarian's RFC and Sainsbury's car park and walk. Please help us keep our children safe.

TCS Mini Marathon

We are taking part in the TCS Mini Marathon this year and all monies raised will go towards further improving the zones at lunchtime, purchasing much needed equipment and incorporating imaginative and creative play by introducing loose parts. In the week commencing 26 September children will be asked to run, jog or walk 2.6 miles across three lunchtimes and can wear trainers. Please support our sponsored mini marathon so that your child’s lunchtime experiences can be further improved.

Please can all sponsor money be returned to the class teacher in a named envelope, or alternatively, you can donate via our just giving page

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/grangepark-primaryschool?utm_term=3vbN9ywGz. by Wednesday 19 October.

CHILDREN: ONLY ASK PEOPLE YOU KNOW TO BE SPONSORS-

DO NOT GO ‘KNOCKING ON DOORS’

For those of you who have expressed an interest in the Mini London Marathon a confirmation letter with further details will be sent in a separately over the next few days.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Vancols School Photographers - Friday 14 October

Vancols, our photographers are coming into school on Friday 14 October to take individual and sibling photographs. Please ensure that your child comes to school wearing the correct school uniform. If it is your child's PE day your child should come dressed in their school uniform and bring their PE kits into school to change into.

Your child will come home on the day with a proof card with a unique number on it and this should used if you wish to order the photo online. ALL orders are to be placed online and not through the school.

English Conversation Classes

Parent Tours for Prospective Nursery & Reception Parents

It's that time of the year again when prospective parents can book a space on a school tour every Thursday at 9:15am. Please pass this message onto any prospective parents!

Click here to view our Virtual Parent Tours

Click here to view our video for prospective parents

Lost Property

Please note that lost property items are held in the Round Hall. Any clothing that is named will be returned to the child's classroom - this also applies to PE kits and water bottles. Please ensure that you name all your child's belongings. Thank you for keeping our school clean, tidy and safe!

Extend Holiday Club

Secondary School Transfer 2023

Thank you to the Year 6 parents who attended the Secondary School Transfer Meeting last week. We hope you found the meeting useful. Click here for the presentation. There is also lots of information available about the admission process as well as details of any secondary school open evenings on our website. If you would like support with the application, please come along to the Round Hall after school on Friday 23 September.

Volunteers

We appreciate the time and commitment that volunteers give to our school and the children really enjoy having volunteers in. We are asking if anyone in our community would be able to offer a bit of their time each week to help us grow and nurture the pupils at our school. There are a range of different roles, including; classroom support, reading hub volunteer and listening to children read 1:1 or in groups.

If you interested please contact the office for an application form or if you would like to find out more here is a link to the slides that were shared during the volunteers coffee morning yesterday.

Twitter

@grangeparkelt

Don't forget to follow us on twitter to keep up to date with all the news and events happening at Grange Park Primary!

GPPSA- News and Updates

We are the official fundraising arm of Grange Park Primary and look to bring parents, families, friends, staff and local communities together socially to support our school.

Looking to Help?

Click to go to our Facebook page.

Go to instagram and follow us @Grangeparkprimaryassociation

Here is a fund page for anyone that would like to donate, any donation of any size will be gratefully received and help fund the items for the children that the school has prioritised for this year.

Signing up to easyfundraising which turns your everyday online shopping into FREE donations.

Please click on the image.

Using the Amazon Smile link when buying items by pressing the logo and search for Grange Park Primary School Association. If you are buying anything from AMAZON please use the AMAZON SMILE app on your phone. Just go into your settings and convert your original app to the smile version and pick Grange Park Primary School as your charity.

Entering our school lottery - tickets are only £1 per week. There is a guaranteed winner each week and a chance to win £25,000! Click on the image to find out more.

Looking to get some new name stickers to personalise all your child’s uniform, shoes, books etc? Simply log onto the website as normal, shop and at the end add in our unique code 65741 before you check out. 24% from each order will be donated to our school. See the flyer on our website page for more information. Click on the image to find out more.

Stamptastic is the fastest way to name all your belongings. A personalised stamp made in the UK, usable on fabric, metal, wood and some plastics. No more sewing or ironing in labels! Please note that 20% commission from each order will be donated to our school. Click on the image to place your order.

One of the easiest ways for us to make money on our two Fayre/Festival days is through stall matching. If you work for any of these corporates or another company, please ask your HR department about Stall Matching and let the committee know.

Looking for a fun and crafty activity your kids will love? Try a Free ToucanBox (Click this link), P&P only and our school will receive £5. You can cancel the subscription at any time.

The GPPSA would like to remind all that without your support none of the fundraising is possible. If you would like to get more involved in anyway please let us know at gppsa@hotmail.co.uk or speak to any of the committee directly. We have a WhatsApp helpers group where information is shared and everyone is welcome to join! Please contact us to find out more.

Year Group News

Nursery

The children have made a fantastic start in nursery! They are beginning to follow the daily routines, learn with their peers and take turns and share.

Reception

What a brilliant start to the year Reception have had! It has been a real pleasure to welcome the children into school and to see them so eager and excited for each new day. We have been reading stories about making friends and used circle time to discuss how to be a good friend as well as playing circle games to get to know each other. The children have been busy exploring their new classrooms and our fantastic outdoor area!

The children enjoyed sharing their summer diaries with each other on their cosy book corner.

Creating a car using different shapes, pins, a hammer and a cork board.

Drawing pictures and mark making on our outdoor chalkboard.

Using beads and pipe cleaners to create a pattern and used his knowledge of numbers to count, “Look it’s like a rainbow, I have 7 beads.”

Tulip class worked together in the outdoor area to build a house and car. The children talked about which blocks they needed and used great team work to produce a structure that they were all

happy with.

Climbing and jumping on the equipment outside!
Well done to all of the children, we can't wait to see what a wonderful year you have!

Year 1

Year 1 have enjoyed listening to their story of the month. They have been reading the 3 Billy goats Gruff. They drew the setting and made puppets of the characters. Over the last week we have been acting out the story using both our puppets and becoming the characters ourselves.

Year 2

Year 2s have been busy learning and following new routines. We’ve enjoyed going bird watching in school and even found a Robin! Also, we have learnt to sketch our class birds looking at simple shapes which we then added detail to. We had the choice of pastels and colour pencils to add texture and shading. On Monday, we showed resilience when crafting our London acrostic poems. We utilised our knowledge of nouns and adjectives to generate our ideas.

Year 3

A great start to the new year for our year 3’s! The children have been learning new routines and meeting new expectations in the busy learning we have done over the first few weeks. We have begun the new year exploring each of the trees that represent our classes, finding facts and information about them, writing poems about their shapes and colours, before exploring how each tree changes through the seasons to create some effective art pieces. The art has continued as we have begun to look at our focus artist for this term; Stephanie Peters. Analysing her work at blending colours before having a go ourselves and creating different tones related to fire.

We have also begun to focus on developing our understanding of place value in maths, using base tens and place value counters to represent and partition numbers up to 1000.

Year 4

In Year 4, during RE we have been learning about Judaism and the Jewish festival Sukkot. We found out that the festival is celebrated for seven days in Israel. We also learnt that it is part of Jewish tradition to build a Sukkah and looked at the different types of materials that are used when building one. Some of the materials are wood, brick, stone and plants and branches for the roof.

This week, the children took part in a wonderful science workshop which looked at the effects of temperature on a water and salt mixture. They worked together on working scientifically skills such as prediction, testing and observations.

Year 5

The children have made an incredible start to life in year 5! We started the new year exploring our class planets. Using search engines, we researched our class planet and created Google Slides to present our findings. We then represented the solar system and our class planet using chalk pastels in art, considering what makes our planet unique. Continuing our learning about the solar system, we wrote a ‘Six Ways to Look at the Moon’ poem, using a range of poetic devices.

Year 6

In the first few days back, the children have spent their time discussing their experiences during their holiday, thinking about their goals and aspirations for the year ahead and settling into their new classes. Everybody has adapted very well to the new routines and expectations. The focus of this week has been around the children’s class artists, where they have begun writing biographies in English and imitating their style of work during art lessons. We’re looking forward to seeing the Year 6 children excel this year!

Sophie K, Kandinsky

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