Dear parents

This half term has passed so quickly and the holidays is upon us already. Although things aren't quite back to normal, school has been very busy and the children have really been enjoying their learning. It was lovely seeing the children walking in this morning in their spooky outfits! We have tweeted photos of some of the children in their outfits and uploaded some photos on our website- do have a look!

Thank you to those parents who are wearing masks at drop off and pick up. It is very important we all do our bit to ensure we are socially distancing at drop off and pick up and that children do not mix with different classes. We are doing everything we can to reduce the risk of COVID 19 transmission in our school and appreciate your support.

We currently have one vacancy for a LEC parent member at the school. This is a great opportunity to join the Local Education Committee and make a difference. Please click here for more information.

It's been great that so many parents were able to attend the virtual GPPSA AGM and there were so many new volunteers wanting to join the committee. I'm pleased to say the GPPSA were able to fill the vacancies required, thank you to everyone who has volunteered.

We announced our exciting new project 'Be Connected' last week where all pupils from year one upwards across the trust will receive their very own Chromebook to use at home as well as at school. We are currently waiting on the delivery of our Chromebooks from LGFL and hoping that they will be delivered to our school by the end of the autumn term. More information will be sent out to parents next half term. Watch this space!

Hope you all have a restful half term and stay safe. Look forward to seeing you all again on Monday 2 November.

Tijen Hassan

Headteacher

All parents want the best for their children and for them to get on well in life. Having a good education is important to ensure that they have the best opportunities in their adult life. In the current climate it is understandable that you may have some concerns with sending your child to school at times, but please be reminded of the following:

1. Children only get one chance at school, and your child’s future may be affected by not attending school regularly. If children do not attend school regularly they may:

• Struggle to keep up with school work.

• Miss out on the social side of school life. Poor attendance can affect children’s ability to make and keep friendships; a vital part of growing up.

2. Setting good attendance patterns from an early age will also help your child later on in their life. Children who have a poor school attendance record may have less chance of securing a job when they are adults. Being on time is also vital. Arriving late at school can be very disruptive for your child, their teacher and the other children in the class.

Please click here to view 'COVID-19 related absences from school- a quick guide for parents' for more information on what should you do if your child is feeling unwell. Please contact the school if you have any questions regarding attendance.

It is illegal to park your car on the white zig zags/school keep clear markings outside the school to drop off or pick up your child. It has been witnessed that parents have stopped along the road or on the 'keep clear' markings and children have come out of cars on their own. This could result in a fatal accident. Please help us to keep each other safe.

Over the next two weeks all Grange Park Primary children from Reception to Year 6 will be taking part in the Enfield borough Virtual Netball skills challenge organised by the Enfield PE Team. This is the second virtual inter school competition.

Children will participate in the activities during PE lessons with their PE coach. Each child will attempt the various skills based challenges. Although this is a virtual competition, the emphasis will be on having fun and trying your best. The challenges include: bounce pass, run and pivot, shooting and a shuttle run.

All the challenges will be timed by the coaches and they will submit the results to a master scoresheet which will include results from other Enfield schools. Watch this space!

3,200 Chromebooks secure trust-wide roll out!

As one of the largest academy trusts in Enfield which prides itself on its inclusive ethos, the Enfield Learning Trust has taken the decision to invest approximately £750,000 to purchase over 3,200 additional Chromebooks so that every child in the trust from Year 1 and upwards is able to access our programme of digital learning, regardless of whether they are learning in school or remotely from home. Visit our website to find out more.

The Education service is required to carry out an annual Childcare Sufficiency Assessment to collate and analyse data regarding access to Early Years Childcare. A short survey has been published that will take between 5-10 minutes to complete. It is aimed at residents of Enfield who are parents and carers of children between the ages of 0-19 years. Please complete the survey before 23 October 2020 https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/K9PFD8L. The survey is a great opportunity for parents to “have their say”.

The online application system is open at www.eadmissions.org.uk/. For more information and to process your application, click on: Enfield Admissions Applications. Please call the Enfield Admissions team on 020 8379 5501 for any queries or guidance. The deadline for applications is 31 October 2020. Don't forget to also visit our school website for more secondary transfer information. Please speak to the school office if you require help with the application.

What a whirlwind start to Extend it has been! After a lot of planning and preparation we were able to welcome children back to breakfast and after school club again and it has been a delight. Although things may be a little different at the moment, the children have settled in and adapted to the changes at the club exceptionally well. They have been able to take part in fun activities and socialise with their bubble whilst playing, both indoors and outdoors. Click here for more information about Extend. If you would like to book a place email Extend directly on extend@grangeparkprimaryelt.org

Before breaking up for the summer, we established a relationship with this local care home and collated a variety of work from the children across the school to send to the residents. The children submitted wonderful pieces of art, letters and cards which we put together in a lovely scrapbook.

A representative from Elizabeth Lodge contacted the school last week and shared how much they loved the children's work and how it was so uplifting for all of the residents to see. In return they have given us a collection of their own pieces of art and photographs which was really heartwarming and we are looking forward to developing our relationship with the care home this year. Thank you all so much again for your contributions. It is so lovely to know that so much happiness and appreciation is felt when such a small gesture is made.

Thanks again to all those parents who dialled into the Zoom AGM on 14 October. It was a great night and we were so glad to see so many new volunteers wanting to join the committee. For those that weren’t able to join, the presentation and minutes can be seen here. Nicola Cable, Sarah Revell and Alison Simon are all stepping down from their roles as co-chairs and treasurer. Nicola will however stay on as secretary and Sarah will stay on the committee along with all other committee members who are happy to stay on in their current roles

After the vote we are pleased to announce the following new members:

Chair/Co-Chairs – Chris Christofi and Alexia Edwards

Secretary – Nicola Cable

Treasurer – Miguel Oliveria and Tanja Muenchrath

General Committee members – Elena Pishiris (Social Events), Ziba Akarcay, Lan Tu and Yulia Davidenko (Main events) Yasmin Christofi, Angela Rawstorne, Natasha Mensah and Sophie Hall (Communications) Layla Hall and Vanessa Anthony (new fundraiser ideas) and Tracy Murray (School link).

The next GPPSA meeting will be held on Thursday 12 November at 8pm and everyone is welcome to join. Please get in touch with us for the Zoom details.

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.

Please also follow up on Facebook and Instagram @Grangeparkprimaryassociation

In Reception we have been very busy! The children have started learning their phonics sounds, exploring measuring things, counting and recognising numbers and retelling the story ‘Owl Babies.’ We are following the class rules, looking after the class resources and being kind to each other.

In Year 2 for Maths we have been learning our number bonds to 20. We challenged ourselves to use the inverse operation to check our answers. We made excellent progress and presented our number sentences using bar models.

In celebration of National Poetry Day, we shared some of our favourite poems and then followed this up by researching facts about our class planets. We used our research to create our own acrostic poems. Have a look at the lovely poetry from Year 5, we hope you like and learn something new from them!