20 January 2023

Creating foundations for bright futures

Message from the Headteacher

Dear parents

Welcome to our first news roundup edition of 2023! The children have been engaged with a range of exciting events since the start of the term including a dino workshop for reception and a trip to the Tower of London which the Year 5 children thoroughly enjoyed! A big WELL DONE to our Athletics team who beat all competing Enfield Primary Schools and are now the champions of Enfield! Grange Park with represent Enfield at the London Youth Games next month.

The Character Trait we are focusing on this half term is 'fairness'. During the assembly, we discussed the meaning of fairness. We agreed that fairness was treating everyone in a way that is considered right or reasonable, recognising that what is fair to one person might not be fair for another, treating everyone with dignity and respect and listening to others’ point of view.

The teachers are very much looking forward to sharing your child's progress during the learning conversations which are on Thursday 9 February. This day is also an inset day, so the children are not in school. The children are back in school on Friday 10 February which is the last day of this half term.

Enjoy reading our jammed packed edition of the News Roundup!

With my very best wishes

Tijen Hassan

Headteacher

Term Dates, Holidays and School Closures

Please click to view term dates for 2022 - 2023

Please click to view term dates for 2023 - 2024

Dates for Diary

Class Assemblies and Concerts

Keeping Children Safe

Online Safety

NSPCC: Speak Out. Stay Safe.

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.

If you would like to know more about the Speak out Stay safe programme you can find information on the NSPCC website.

Adapted assembly for home use- The NSPCC has also developed an adapted version of their assembly for parents/carers to use at home with their children. This can be found here.

With the help of celebrities, the film focuses on how a child can get support if they have any worries or concerns. To complement the assembly, there are some resources that can be used to enable further discussion whilst doing activities with your children. These are hosted on the NSPCC website here.

Childline Under 12’s website - Childline also has a website with age appropriate advice for primary school children on topics such as bullying. It also has games and other interactive tools. Your child can visit it here.

If you’d like to know more about the NSPCC’s work, or take a look at the wide range of information and advice which is available for parents and carers, please visit their website here.

Talking PANTS with your children- Talk PANTS is a simple conversation to help keep your child safe from sexual abuse. From P through to S, each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule that can help keep your child safe. You can find out more and download the free resources here.

Curriculum News

Rosenshine's Principles

The most effective teachers ensure children acquire, rehearse and connect knowledge to embed it in long-term memory. Over the course of the Autumn term, teachers looked at Rosenshine’s Principles in order to further develop their understanding of effective teaching and learning. Barak Rosenshine, a distinguished researcher, has spent much of the past four decades identifying the hallmarks of effective teaching culminating in ten research-based principles of instruction. This is how we apply those principles across the curriculum at Grange Park:

Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning

When you hear your child talk about ‘flashbacks’, this is exactly what their teacher is doing. When planning for review, teachers consider which words, facts, procedures and concepts need to become automatic, and which words, vocabulary, or ideas need to be reviewed before the lesson begins. Review helps children become fluent with key knowledge and skills.

Present new learning in small steps

Working memory, the place where information is processed, is small. It can only handle a few bits of information at once. This is why teachers use ‘I, We, You’ to breakdown concepts and procedures with practice at each stage.

Ask questions and check responses

Questioning enables teachers to check for understanding, identify misconceptions and ensure they have been tackled.

4. Provide models

You may have heard your child talk about ‘story maps’ and WAGOLLs (what a good one looks like). These are both examples of how teachers show children what the best learning looks like – what they are aiming for.

5. Guide pupils’ practice

Teachers work closely with individuals and groups of children, giving constant feedback to build confidence and prevent too many errors. Once skills have become embedded and automatic, children move on to independent practice.

6. Check for understanding

This often involves teachers asking process questions – How do you know? How did you work it out?

Achieve a high success rate

Teachers ensure that children master the current learning before they move

on to new learning.

Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks

Teachers think carefully about what will support children to be successful

and, ultimately, to work independently. This can be anything from sentence

starters, word banks and online dictionaries, Numicon or 10s frames, to a

knowledge organiser or using text to speech tools on Chromebooks.

Scaffolding can be thought of like the stabilisers on a bike when a child first

learns to ride it. Once the skill has been mastered, the stabilisers are taken

away.

Successful independent practice

Children need plenty of opportunities to practice in order for skills and

knowledge to become fluent. Teachers build time into every teaching session

for children to work independently.

Weekly and monthly review

The more children rehearse and review learning the stronger the connections made in long-term memory. Teachers regularly review past learning to help children acquire the ability to recall past learning automatically.

The more we know about how children learn and how this informs teaching practice, the better we can be at achieving the best outcomes for all pupils.

Update from our School Parliament

Each half term, School Parliament MPs lead family assemblies which introduce children to ‘Inspirational People’. One of our focuses in PSHE and of course our school value ‘Respect’ is to ‘Celebrate Differences’.

We want to celebrate people from all over the world who make or have made a difference. We want to reflect the realities of all children at Grange Park and learn about people from all different backgrounds. Those who been inspirational and who will hopefully inspire us too Click the link for Inspirational People Slides

Update from our Eco Ambassadors

Grange Park Primary takes its environmental responsibility seriously and has set up a pupil team of Eco Ambassadors from Years Three to Six. The children have already carried out an environmental impact survey of the school and are now hard at work putting together an action plan, centred around the issues of Energy, Biodiversity and Litter. Please keep your eyes peeled for further news soon and feel free to get in touch if you can help in any way with this important project.

Sports Updates

A massive well done to our girls and boys Athletics team who became CHAMPIONS of Enfield on Tuesday. They competed in track and field events. Grange Park will now represent Enfield at the London Youth Games.

Times Tables Rockstars

At the end of the month-long battles, the results are in: Oakwood won the family battle, and year 4 made it a clean sweep in the year group and class contests.

Who will knock them off the top spot? The next battles have already begun so keep playing regularly to help your family, class or year group to victory.

Here are the top performers over the last 28 days:

Most coins earned:

Shaun-Joshua - 4 Jaguar
Ayaan - 4 Jaguar
Grace - 4 Tiger

Most correct answers:

Ayaan - 4 Jaguar
Shaun-Joshua - 4 Jaguar
Kharaman - 3 Oak

Most improved studio speed:

Fay - 3 Cedar
Dylan - 6 Picasso
Holly - 3 Ash

Information for Parents

Birthday Book

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!

Pupil Premium Funding for the School

The Pupil Premium and Service Premium give schools extra funding to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils from reception to year 6. In order to receive this additional funding we are required to provide information to the Department for Education confirming which children meet the government criteria.

If your child is eligible for free school meals or has been in the last 6 years this will generate pupil premium funding for our school. To be eligible for free school meals you must be in receipt of the appropriate benefits and have submitted an application for free school meals to the Local Authority Benefits Team.

If you qualify for the appropriate benefits but have chosen not to apply for free school meals please consider applying. You do not have to take up the free school meal to attract the funding for our school.

Forms can be obtained from the school office.

Extend Holiday Club - February Half Term

We are planning on providing a holiday club during the February half term from Monday 13 February to Friday 17th February 2022. The cost of the holiday club will be £25 per day and the timings are 8:30am-5:50pm (drop off and collect any time). The theme for this week is STEM where children can participate in fun activities that will engage their imagination, curiosity and creativity. Please contact us as soon as possible should you have any enquiries at: extend@grangeparkprimary.org

Performing Arts Camp - February Half Term

English Conversation Classes

Mental Health Week

Great Mental Health Day is on the 27 January and to mark this day, the NHS are holding a free 'Kindness Fair' for parents and carers at the Tottenham Community Sports Centre.

There will be an exciting choice for you to choose from, including: health and wellbeing stalls, *FREE* fitness sessions, a kids craft corner, music and entertainment and a free goody bag!

Enfield Music Service

Other News

Character Education - Fairness

At the beginning of Spring 1, the children were introduced to our third character trait ‘fairness’. The children listened to the story 'Amazing Grace' by Mary Hoffman. A story about one girl’s determination to reach for her dreams, no matter what anyone else may say to stop her.

During the assembly, we discussed the meaning of fairness, treating people the way we like to be treated. We agreed that it was treating everyone in a way that is considered right or reasonable, giving everyone an equal chance, recognising that what is fair to one person might not be fair for another, treating everyone with dignity and respect and listening to others’ point of view.

Together, we recognised that being treated fairly is not always the same as being treated equally. Fairness is about treating someone in a way that helps give them what they need. Equality is about treating two or more people in exactly the same way, regardless of what they need as individuals. In class, the children discussed moral dilemmas to help them to consider fairness and equality and to ensure that they act responsibly, even when no one is watching.

Supporting at home

Model it - Children pay close attention to how adults follow the rules and treat people. Children will notice inconsistencies and will point them out to you. Be sure to demonstrate the types of behaviour you’d like to see in your children.

Listen to their side - Listen to your children. Validate their feelings. Find out what happened and become the mediator when there is a conflict. Don’t simply blame and give out a consequence in a reactive way. If a child breaks a rule, the consequence has to be clear and logical and the children need to know what will happen in advance. That’s fair! Listen to what your child has to say before deciding what to do.

Empower them - Talk to your children about what is fair and not fair. Teach them what is right and wrong, read books with morale in it. Discuss main points of interest. Talk about how they would feel if unfairness would happen. Ask them if it was fair, and ask them to give reasons why. As children get older and their brains develop, share more sophisticated examples of injustice from articles, newspapers, books and websites. Ask them about their opinions.

Praise it - If you see your child showing fairness, praise their efforts.

Fair, but not equal - “She got more than I did!” “You just bought him shoes, I want some too!” While it’s easier to simply equalise things to keep the peace, this is not the best strategy. Treating siblings “fairly” really means that everyone gets what he or she needs, not what she or he wants because he throws a tantrum! A good way to think of it is, “fair, but not equal.”

See below books which explore 'fariness'.

Volunteering Could You Help?

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.

Lettings at Grange Park!

Round Hall

Main Hall

Did you know you could hire the school for clubs or for a one off event? We have classrooms of varying sizes and halls within the school that can be used in the evenings after 4.30pm and on a Saturday until 2pm for clubs or children's parties.

If you are interested in hiring a space please contact lettings@grangeparkprimary.org with details of your proposed club or event. We will then confirm cost and availability.

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.

Please also bear 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/HTDT006

Click to go to our GPPSA page

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.

GPPSA - Looking to Help?

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 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.

Please also follow us on Facebook and Instagram @Grangeparkprimaryassociation.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT FROM ALL ON THE GPPSA COMMITTEE!

Year Group News

Nursery

Our little Acorns have been very busy working on numbers 1, 2 and 3. The children found different ways of making numbers 1,2,3 using numicon, numerals, counting objects and their fingers. They also enjoyed using paint to print and represent the numbers matching the correct number of dots to the numbers 1,2,3 by subitizing and then using 1:1 correspondence to count.

We have been getting creative with junk modelling letting our imaginations run wild. Cutting and sticking, selecting our own resources to make all kinds of models from cars and buses to a bridge for the toy people to cross.

We have been busy learning to identify our name cards. Developing fine motor skills and pencil control and making marks to represent letter sounds in our names.

We had great fun working on our fine motor and cutting skills using the scissors to cut up pieces of spaghetti.

Reception

Wow what a start to the Spring term reception have had! The children have been introduced to our new topic for this half term: People who Changed History. We have been learning about Mary Anning, a fossil hunter whose life, scientific work and discoveries are now celebrated worldwide. To start the topic and get the children excited we met Johnathan, a dinosaur expert. He spoke about the different types of dinosaurs - carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. We learned an important word - ‘extinct’. This means that the life cycle has stopped. Dinosaurs are extinct that’s why we don’t see them anymore.

The children were given the chance to become fossil hunters, also known as Palaeontologist. They used a brush to gently remove the sand from the fossil, we then used an information booklet and posters to discover what animal or dinosaur the fossil belonged to. Some of the fossils we explored were; a stegosaurus tail, a camarasaurus skull, an allosaurus skull and an iguanodon tooth.

One of the best parts of the day was when the children were able to meet some very friendly dinosaurs! They met a baby Triceratops, a Velociraptor and a very friendly Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The children have used their experience to inspire some very creative writing too, using their phonic knowledge to write about this exciting topic!

Year 1

Dragonfly class visited the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. We have been learning about Transport in our History topic. We met a character called ‘Daisy’ who helped us explore the museum. She talked to us about different modes of transport from Victorian days to the present day. We learned about Joe Clough and the first woman London bus driver called Jill Viner. We had a fantastic time. The other year 1 classes will visit later at the end of the month.

Year 2

This month we visited Enfield Baptist Church. We learned about why Christians believe that baptism is important and how it helps them to show that they belong to their faith. Reverend Mandy taught us what denominations were, showed us the history of her church and we even got to watch her perform a baptism.

Year 3

A busy start to the new year has seen Year 3 continuing our focus on the ages, now focussing on the bronze and iron age.

As part of this we have been looking at the use of materials and how they developed with the introduction of metal, string and gems. This helped people in history develop clothing, jewellery and bags. This term Year 3 are developing their sewing skills to create their very own pouches and wallets, that were used in history for hunting and gathering.

Of course sewing is a tricky skill so we have been slowly learning how to thread a needle, tie knots and tie off. We have been practising the running and overstitches that we will be applying to our finished products at the end of the term. As you can see it is going to take us a lot of focus, patience and care to achieve a great result.

Year 4

In science, Year 4 has been learning about the different components that make up an electrical circuit. They explored what they needed to make a lightbulb and a motor work effectively.

After exploring the different components, the children then drew a labelled diagram of an electrical circuit and explained their understanding of what they had explored.

Year 5

As part of our History unit for Spring 1 called ‘Monarchy Mayhem’, the year 5 classes all visited the Tower of London.

We learnt about what life was really like for the six wives of King Henry VIII. Strong, intelligent and brave women in their own right, there is more to all of them than first meets the eye. Also about the real women behind the infamous ‘divorced, beheaded...’ rhyme.

We also discovered more about the nature of marriage and the truth about royal marriage in the Tudor period. We were taught how to better understand the importance of the role of court in Tudor times. All the classes enjoyed the trip and had a fantastic time.

Year 6

In the first week of the new year, the children in Year 6 took part in a special poetry unit created by Pie Corbett, a famous English educator. We looked at a poem called ' ‘I’ve never… but I have…’’ which focuses on extraordinary events that a person has never experienced in their life and those that they have. The children analysed the literary features of the poem particularly focusing on the repetitive structure as well as the figurative language that has been used. They then planned their own poem following the same structure for their stanzas but based on their own lives. Have a look at these wonderful examples below!

Poem by Sava Ioannou

I have never caught sight of the pyramidal Eiffel Tower with its terribly outstanding looks

But I have observed the colosseum glimmer, glow and glisten in its night glory.

I have never touched fire-resistable Italian leather

But I have scratched my knee on the shore at Bayford.

I have never consumed caviar at a glorious German palace

But I have tasted salted chips while watching a movie.

I have never observed people walking by a bewildering glorious and stunning looking fountain

But I have watched children ride their berry-blue coloured bikes around the pond.

I have never stolen the Kings crown, that looked like a breathtaking bodacious wonder

But I have taken berries from my neighbour's beautiful berry bush.

I have never discovered an ancient fossil from an unknown species in the wild

But I have located a rough rock in my back garden.

I have never overheard a famous singer at an enormous sized concert

But I have listened to my sister screech her own song, out of tune

I have never glimpsed a fish swimming along the sea water

But I have experienced a blind man surfing the dangerous criminal waters.

Poem by Lauren Pang

I have never burst up into heaven from an active, erupting volcano that sends showers of pumice stones in the air.

But I have taken flight from the runways on an aerodynamic aeroplane.

I have never caught a glimpse of a helicopter speeding along the ocean floor.

But I have spotted dolphins and flying fish leap from the cool, pristine waters high into the breezy air.

I have never befriended a majestic okapi in Mexico

But I have tamed cats and dogs in a game.

I have never sewn a pair of butterfly-patterned leggings whilst balancing on the Shard.

But I have stitched a fabulous cushion during class.

I have never heard a beautiful wolf howling on a full moon

But I have made out the sound of owls occasionally hooting in the deadest of night.

I have never touched the king’s glamorous robes in huge Buckingham Palace. But I have felt the soft, comforting material of my mother’s scarf.

I have never scaled a tightrope over the Amazon river.

But I have stood on a balancing beam in the school hall like a professional.

I have never tasted expensive beluga caviar in a fancy restaurant.

But I have eaten a chicken egg, savouring all the flavours and textures

I have never caught a whiff of the burning fumes caused by the sizzling wreckage of a vehicle

But I have smelt the grey smoke of a barque

Poem by Shivani Vallabh

I have never sipped pure poison from a golden goblet that shines with pride and is so immense that even if it were raining cats and dogs, it wouldn't fill to the brim,

But I drank from an aquamarine glass that looked as if it reflected all the colours of the ocean.

I have never felt the smooth surface of Saturn and leaped, skipped and danced on it’s rocky rings,

But I have gazed at Mars and Uranus’ gelid atmosphere through the loft room window where their shapes looked like a distant celestial world of stars.

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!

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