Grazebrook Primary School Bulletin
25th March 2024
Message from Mrs Beecroft
Dear Grazebrook Families
We have been very busy over the last few weeks, with a range of trips, workshops, performances and family events taking place to enrich the children's wider curriculum learning. It has been an absolute pleasure to see so many of you in attendance. We know how much it means to the children to learn alongside their families in school and want to thank you for your support.
This term, we have also had a number of visits from school leaders and teachers outside of New Wave Federation who have come to learn about our approach to language development, reading, writing and our wider curriculum. Our visitors have been full of praise for our curriculum, approach to teaching and learning and particularly the confidence and enthusiasm of our pupils.
A reminder that our parent consultation evening for Reception to Year 6 is taking place on Wednesday 27th March. If you have not already done so, you can book a meeting with your child's class teacher via your MCAS account or by phoning the school. If you are unable to make this date, please contact the school office to book an appointment at another time. Appointments can be face-to-face, virtual or a phone call.
We have been very impressed by the number of projects that have arrived in school for the science fair tomorrow (Tuesday 26th March). The children have clearly been working very hard at home showing incredible dedication to their science learning. The science fair will be open to children and families on a class-by-class basis on Tuesday and will remain open to visit during parent consultation evening on Wednesday. Timings on Tuesday are as follows: 9.15am 1G, 9.40am 1B, 10.05am 2G, 10.45am 2B, 11.10am 3B, 11.35am 3G, 11.50am 4G, 12.10pm 4B, 1.40pm 5G, 2.05pm 5B, 2.30pm 6G and 2.55pm 6B.
School closes for the holiday at 2pm this Thursday, 28th March. Due to parent consultations, the last day of clubs this term will be Tuesday 26th March, with Our Space and EYFS Wraparound Care finishing on Wednesday 27th. The summer term begins for children on Tuesday 16th April. Gates will be open from 8:45am with Reception to Year 6 children expected to be in their lines by 8.55am.
Don’t forget British Summer Time begins at 1am on Sunday 31st of March with clocks going forward one hour. We would like to wish all our families a safe and relaxing break and for those of you who are celebrating, Happy Holi, Purim, Eid, Easter, Songkran and Vaisakhi!
Key Dates
26/03 and 27/03 Science Fair open
26/03 Last day of After School Clubs
27/03 Parent Consultation Evening 3.40pm-8.20pm
27/03 Last day of Our Space and Wraparound Care
28/03 Term Finishes at 2.00pm
15/04 INSET Day - school closed to pupils
16/04 Start of Summer Term at 8.55am
18/04 Neurodiversity Part 2 family information session
18/04 6G STA reading assessment trial
18/04 & 19/04 Year 1 Canal River Trust trips
22/04 Rescheduled Reception scooter training
22/04 Start of swimming lessons for 4G
22/04 Year 4 Families MTC Information Session at 9am
24/04 Year 5 Humanist speaker visits
24/04 Year 6 Families SATs information session at 9am
25/04 5G Wild City Celebration trip
25/04 Start of swimming lessons for 4B
26/04 Non-uniform fundraiser day
26/04 EYFS Family Friday: 8.50am Nursery, 3.00pm Reception
26/04 Year 1 Learning Celebration Assembly at 10am
03/05 Class Photos
06/05 Bank Holiday - school closed to pupils
10/05 Year 5 Learning Celebration Assembly at 10am
10/05 Year 3 Buddhist Temple trip
10/05 Wellbeing Garden bake and plant sale at 3.30pm
13/05-16/05 Year 6 SATs Week
17/05 EYFS Family Friday: 8.50am Nursery, 3.00pm Reception
18/05 Hackney Schools Challenge
23/05 End of Summer Term 1 at 3.30pm
24/05 Inset Day - school closed to pupils
27/05-31/05 Half Term - school closed to pupils
03/06-07/06 Year 5 Cycling Training
03/06 Year 4 Multiplication Times Table Check opens
07/06 Year 6 Learning Celebration Assembly at 10am
10/06 Year 1 Phonics Screening Check Week
14/06 Year 1 to Year 6 Sports Day at Finsbury Park
Understanding the World in Early Years
Nursery has been exploring animal life cycles, focusing on caterpillars and butterflies. They have created some beautiful artwork and models. Reception has been doing a lot of planting over the last week and learning about how plants grow. We have loved seeing the children's kindness, responsibility and collaboration looking after their seedlings.
All About Plants in Year 1 and 2
In their Come Learn With Me, Year 1 children shared their science knowledge of the parts of a plant by creating labelled diagrams. Year 2 created posters showing how a plant grows starting from a seed or bulb. Thank you to the families who were able to join us for these events.
Year 4 Science Celebrations
Year 4 really enjoyed celebrating British Science Week in class. As part of the theme of 'Time', they made and tested their own pendulums. They also created a class book for the Science Fair all about States of Matter where they demonstrated brilliant collaboration to share their collective knowledge.
Earth and Space in Year 5
Over the past few weeks, the Year 5 children have been learning about the sun, earth and moon. They have made models and written explanations to explain their movement, why we have day and night and what time zones are. Thank you to the children and their families for showcasing their creativity producing some stunning sun catchers at their Come Learn With Me.
Circuits and Evolution in Year 6
Year 6 and their families combined their knowledge of electricity and coding to design and create circuits using a Crumble kit - an easy-to-use programmable controller. The children also attended a workshop run by one of our families where they learnt about Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection and his study of the finches of the Galapagos Islands. The children worked in teams to design and make a beak suited to eating a selection of different foods. They then tested out their models to see how successful they were. Many thanks to Freya S's family for running the sessions.
Testing Materials in Year 2
Year 2 absolutely loved their parent scientist workshops where they used UV-reactive materials to investigate which fabrics and sunscreens would best protect them from the sun. They also conducted a test to find out which materials are the most waterproof and would keep them dry on rainy days. A big thank you to Neriah, Esme and Maya's families for organising and running the sessions.
Year 3 Ancient Egypt and Food Technology
Year 3 used their Come Learn with Me to focus on their history topic of Ancient Egypt. They created colourful nemes (headpieces) like those the pharaohs would have worn.
In Design and Technology lessons, the children have been making healthy snacks. They learnt how to use the claw and bridge techniques to chop fruit and vegetables before designing and making salads and sandwiches.
Musical Showcases
This term, Years 3, 4 and 5 have been playing djembe drums as part of their music curriculum. The children have been learning all about call and response music and have loved preparing to perform to each other and their families. Thank you to the parents and carers who performed alongside the children last week. Our Year 5 and 6 flautists also performed to their classmates demonstrating amazing focus and confidence.
Fire Station Visit
This term, our Year 1 children have been studying the Great Fire of London in their history lessons. They have learnt about life in London in 1666, how the fire started, why it spread so quickly and why it caused so much damage. To learn about fire safety in modern London, the children visited Stoke Newington Fire Station. They were shown around the station, learnt about the parts of the fire engine and even got to use a hose!
Fundraisers
Thank you to all our children and families who volunteered, baked and bought treats or plants to help raise an incredible £480 for our wellbeing garden project. There will be a second fundraising event for this project on the 10th of May as well as a clothes recycling drive later in the summer term.
On Friday 26th of April, the PSA will be organising a non-uniform day where children will be able to make a donation to raise funds for graphic novels for their classroom libraries and outdoor games for their playgrounds. Please look out for further information from the PSA about their fundraising plans and events for the year and how you can help.
Home Learning
Yet again, we have absolutely blown away by the amazing history home learning projects this term. Well done and thank you to all our children and families for sharing their creativity and collaboration with us.
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. 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 Kelly O'Callaghan (EYFS Leader)
Year 1, Year 2, Year 3: Ms Caireann Conlon or Ms Joanna Ichim (Assistant Headteachers)
Year 4, Year 5, Year 6: Ms Simone Bunbury (Assistant Headteacher)
SEND: Ms Caireann Conlon (Assistant Headteacher)
All email queries, including those for the attention of a class teacher or school leader, 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.