Grazebrook Primary School Bulletin
31st March 2023
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Message from Mrs Beecroft
Message from Mrs Beecroft
Dear Families
As we come to the end of the Spring term, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all for your continued support. All our family events and workshops have been really well attended. We hope you have enjoyed spending time with your child whether it be at a reading breakfast, Come Dine With Me, or an open house event like our science fair. For those who joined us for the SEND or Early Years workshops, we hope you have found them useful. We will be running further curriculum workshops next term and are busy planning another summer project to sit beside our Kindness, Untold Stories and World We Want projects of recent years.
It was fantastic to see so many of you at the parent consultation evening last night. If you were unable to attend, please get in touch with the office after the break and they will arrange for you to meet your child's class teacher.
The Summer 1 Knowledge Organisers and Home Learning Projects have now been uploaded to the classes section of the website. You will notice that we have added links to useful resources to support your child's learning in religious education, science, art and design or design technology.
The summer term is always very busy with lots of events and the opportunity to take learning outside and hopefully enjoy the sunshine. Please take a moment to check the key dates below. As trips and visitors are finalised, we will write to you with further information.
A reminder that the summer term begins at 8.55am on Monday 17th April. The Grazebrook Team would like to wish everyone a restful break with family and friends.
Key Dates
Key Dates
17/04 Start of Summer 1: Gates open at 8.45am
17/04 Year 4 Swimming Begins
18/04 Year 5 Trip to Clissold Park
19/04 Year 5 and 6 Karl Nova Poetry Workshops
20/04 Reception Come Dine With Me
21/04 EYFS Family Friday
21/04 Year 3 Reading Breakfast
21/04 Year 5 Learning Celebration Assembly
21/04 PSA Movie Night
25/04 Guitar lessons for Key Stage 2 Begin
25/04 Reception Trip to the Mosque
28/04 Inset Day - School Closed to Pupils
01/05 Bank Holiday - School Closed
02/05-25/05 Key Stage 1 SATs Window
03/05 Reception Parent/Carer Writing Workshop
05/05 Year 4 Reading Breakfast
05/05 Year 3 Learning Celebration Assembly
05/05 EYFS Come Learn With Me
05/05 School Photos
08/05 Coronation Bank Holiday - School Closed
09/05-12/05 Key Stage 2 SATs
10/05 Nursery Parent/Carer Physical Development Workshop
19/05 Nursery Family Friday
19/05 Year 4 Learning Celebration Assembly
25/05 Year 6 My Money Workshops
26/05 Inset Day - School Closed to Pupils
29/05- 02/06 Half Term
05/06 Start of Summer 2: Gates open at 8.45am
05/06-16/06 Year 4 Multiplication Tables Checks
12/06-16/06 Year 1 Phonics Screening Checks
09/06 Year 2 Learning Celebration Assembly
16/06 Year 1 Learning Celebration Assembly
British Science Week and Science Fair
British Science Week and Science Fair
We were so impressed by all the entries to our Grazebrook Science Fair. Over 100 children created and shared their projects and all children from Year 1 to Year 6 showcased excellent knowledge of the science learnt so far this year at their investigation stations. The children showed real expertise in being able to generate questions to test and research about the world around them demonstrating their ability to connect knowledge within science and between science and other subjects such as geography and maths. We would like to thank Dr Simon Brawley for judging the entries – an incredibly tough job! Also, thanks to Mrs Cabey for organising the event.
Huge congratulations go to all the children who took part in the event. A special mention to the three runners up for their incredible effort: Maksim in 5G for his 'Circuit of Flags' project; Mina in 1G for her 'Why Only Toilet Paper in the Loo?' project and Sophia in 4G for her project entitled, 'The Triangle - The Strongest Connection'.
Well done to our winners: in third place, Otis in 3B for his 'Bacteria' project; in second place, Eva in 5G for her 'What is an Earthquake?' project and in first place, Lara in 4B for her hydraulic 'Tower Bridge' project.
We would also like to say a big thank you to all our scientist parents and carers who shared their expertise through their science workshops. A special mention goes to: Elena Mezzogori, Fahd Choudhry, Julia Harris, Nadine Cowan, Sara Young, Ayse Tekagac and Cristina Nunes-Fonseca.
Early Language Development
Early Language Development
Last week, our English Hub held a showcase for teachers from other schools to visit Grazebrook and experience our fantastic Reception and Nursery classes. They learnt about how we use interaction techniques to develop children's vocabulary and were able to see how we support our children to develop their early language. Our visitors were absolutely blown away by how confidently and articulately our children spoke to each other and to them and by their amazing learning.
Learning across the curriculum
Learning across the curriculum
As part of their history learning, Year 4 spent a day with an Anglo Saxon! They explored a range of artefacts, played games, learnt battle skills and were told traditional stories.
Across the school, the children have been growing plants and learning about the seasons and the weather. Reception created weather dials and Year 2 researched the best plants to grow inside and outside in March. We can't wait to harvest our produce.
Year 3 went on a trip to the British Museum to explore the Ancient Egyptian artefacts. The children especially loved the mummies and sarcophagi. This week they even had a go at mummifying each other!
A selection of children in Years 5 and 6 celebrated Shakespeare Week with Ms Nandhra by exploring powerful themes in some of the speeches from Henry V. A selection of children from Reception to Year 6 visited Stoke Newington Book Shop to collect their free World Book Day books and members of Year 4 and 5 collaborated with pupils from Woodberry Down Primary School to rehearse and perform a song from Matilda the Musical.
Parent Survey and Personal Development
Parent Survey and Personal Development
Thank you to all those who completed the parent survey earlier this month. The questions were ones that Ofsted uses to evaluate all schools via their Parent View website. Receiving your feedback helps us to build a picture of our families' views of the school's strengths and areas for development. 95% of respondents said their child is happy and feels safe at Grazebrook; that concerns are dealt with effectively; that they know what their child is learning; that the school has high expectations for their child; that there is a good range of subjects available, and that their child is able to take part in clubs and enrichment activities.
Some respondents felt that the school could do more to support the wider personal development of their child. We have therefore been working with the staff and children to map out how we currently do this through our Personal, Social, Health, Economic (PSHE) and RE lessons, wider curriculum and enrichment opportunities. Children were asked to identify what they felt was missing and what else they would like to see on their curriculum. As a result, we have created The Grazebrook Passport which provides children with five personal development pathways: community, kindness, life skills, safety and communication.
Earlier this week, some of our children were asked to share their PSHE and RE learning with the Governing Board. The Board members were really impressed by how much the children knew and the connections they were able to make.
Polite Reminders
Polite Reminders
Thank you to those families who have contacted Hackney Council to express their concerns about the provision of cameras to enforce our School Street. The school has also contacted the council regarding this matter to try to reduce the number of cars driving into the School Street at drop off and pick up. Drivers with permits are allowed to use the street during School Street hours; therefore, we will continue to remind children to follow the rules of the green cross code to keep safe.
Hackney Council has recently reminded schools that dogs are prohibited from being on all school grounds which includes dogs being carried and tied up within the school boundaries. From the start of the summer term, please could you support us to ensure we adhere to this rule and avoid bringing dogs onto the grounds – thank you!
Key Contacts
Key Contacts
If you have any queries regarding you child's learning, the first point of contact is your child's class teacher. You can speak to them at the end of the day or contact our school office to arrange a phone call or face-to-face meeting with them. At times, you may wish to contact the member of staff in charge of your child's year group. At Grazebrook, these are:
Nursery and Reception: Ms Hasina Khan (Deputy Headteacher)
Year 1 and Year 2: Ms Niamh McLaughlin (Lead Teacher)
Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6: Mr Joshua Middleton (Assistant Headteacher)
SEND: Ms Hasina Khan (Deputy Headteacher)
All email queries including those for the attention of Mrs Beecroft or Mrs Reid should be sent to gboffice@newwavefederation.co.uk in the first instance with the addressee and/or topic in the subject line. These will be forwarded to the relevant member of staff.
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