Grazebrook Primary School Bulletin
25th November 2024
Message from Mrs Beecroft
This half term, it has been wonderful to see all the children engaging with their learning with such enthusiasm. Whether they have been discovering new topics in the classroom, exploring Hackney and further afield on trips, taking part in fundraising activities, or showcasing their knowledge through performances and assemblies, the children have been incredible ambassadors of our Grazebrook values.
During Anti-Bullying Week the children all engaged positively with the Choose Respect message, taking part in workshops and lessons around respecting others, challenging stereotypes and staying safe online. We raised a fantastic £365 for Children in Need by dressing up in yellow, spots, dots and all things Pudsey – thank you to everyone who was able to make a donation.
We would also like to say a huge thank you for the generosity of all our families and the hard work of the PSA, who raised a spectacular £1,300 through our spooky dress-up day and treat sale. The funds paid for our Anti-Bullying Week activities and sports equipment, including a new basketball net. We would also like to thank all the families who visited and purchased books at our book fair. By buying from the fair, the school now has £260 to spend on new books for our classroom libraries.
On Thursday 5th December, we will be hosting our Autumn parent/carer consultation evening for Reception to Year 6 families. These meetings provide an invaluable opportunity for you to connect with your child's class teacher, celebrate your child's successes, and address any questions or concerns you may have. The booking system will go live on MCAS (My Child At School) at 5pm today, Monday 25th November. If you do not yet have an MCAS account or have any difficulties booking an appointment, please contact the school office team who will be happy to help. If you are a Nursery or 1G parent and have not yet had or booked a meeting, please get in touch with the school office to arrange this.
As the festive season is fast approaching, we are looking forward to celebrating by: watching pantomimes, Dick Whittington at Hackney Empire or The Greediest Elf here at Grazebrook; sharing a Christmas lunch in our Christmas jumpers or celebration clothes; holding a range of musical showcases; coming together as a community at the PSA Christmas Fair. Please see the Key Dates and PSA sections of the bulletin or the Parent Letters tab of our website for further information about these events.
Autumn 2 Key Dates
27/11 Reception Fledglings Music Workshops
28/11 Year 4 Primary History Roman Workshops
29/11 EYFS Family Friday: Nursery, 8.50am, Reception, 3.10pm
29/11 Parent Council Meeting @ 9am
29/11 Year 4 Learning Celebration Assembly @ 10am
04/12 KS1 Staying Safe Around Roads Workshops
05/12 Parent Consultation Evening from 3.40pm (book via MCAS or call the school office)
06/12 Year 5 Learning Celebration Assembly @ 10am
06/12 Eco-Council Energy Sparks Workshop
07/12 Grazebrook PSA Winter Fair 12-3pm
10/12 Year 1 to 6 Hackney Empire Pantomime Trip: Dick Whittington
10/12 EYFS Pantomime: The Greediest Elf at Grazebrook
11/12 Year 5 Portals to the Past Viking Workshops
12/12 Nursery Festive Musical Showcase @ 10am
12/12 Last Day of Autumn After School Clubs
13/12 Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper/Festive Clothing Day
13/12 Nursery Family Friday @ 8.50am
13/12 Reception Family Friday Festive Musical Showcase @ 2.45pm
18/12 KS1 and KS2 Festive Musical Showcases: Year 1 @ 9.30am; Year 2 @ 10am; Year 3 @ 11am; Year 4 @ 11.50am; Year 5 @ 1.45pm; Year 6 @ 2.30pm
19/12 Last Day of Our Space and Early Years After School Care
20/12 Last Day of Breakfast Club
20/12 Last Day of Autumn Term – children finish at 2pm
06/01 First Day of Spring Term – children back to school
Learning Showcases
One of the highlights of Autumn 2 are our year group assemblies, which showcase the children's new knowledge across the curriculum. We have been so impressed by the children's confidence in presenting to their families, and have especially enjoyed seeing the children sing and act together.
Year 6 kicked us off with a fantastic showcase of their design and technology knowledge of levers and pulleys. They were followed by Year 1, who were scientists and taught us about everyday materials and their properties. Year 2 shared their geography knowledge of the continents, oceans and seas. Finally, Year 3 demonstrated their historical understanding of the Stone Age, which included artwork inspired by the cave paintings at Lascaux, France.
Trips and Visitors
Year 4 visited Alexandra Palace as part of their geography topic, 'Map It'. They compared the topography of the area with that of Stoke Newington and conducted a range of fieldwork activities, exploring land use and noise pollution. They also took part in a virtual workshop with the BBC journalist, Georgina Morris. They found out what it's like to be a journalist and were able to ask questions to learn more about Georgina's work and how they might become a journalist in the future.
Year 3 worked alongside their families in their Come Learn With Me to bring to life their geographical knowledge of lines of latitude and climate zones.
All the Key Stage 2 classes visited the Making Carnival exhibition at Hackney Museum. They learnt that Hackney has been the home of carnival groups since the 1970s, after Caribbean communities had settled in the borough. At the exhibition, the children heard the stories of these groups, explored carnival costumes, photographs and videos, and participated in carnival dances and a mini parade.
As part of their history learning about the Kingdom of Benin, 6B visited the British Museum to view the bronze artefacts. The children used the bronzes to explore what life was like for Obas and identified some of the features of the Benin civilisation. They also learnt about how the bronzes came to be in the museum and whether they should be returned. 6G will also visit the museum later this half term.
We Are Scientists
For their Come Learn With Me, Year 2 used their knowledge of animals to create a range of habitats. Year 4 conducted investigations to explore states of matter and how these change through the processes of freezing and melting. Year 5 developed their own scientific enquiries to explore substances that either do and do not dissolve, and factors which affect the rate of dissolving. Year 6 combined their scientific knowledge of electricity and circuits with their design and technology knowledge of pulleys and levers to create moving vehicles with motors and lights.
Anti-bullying Ambassadors
As part of Anti-Bullying Week, a group of Grazebrook Pupil Ambassadors worked with Konflux Theatre to create a 'Play in a Day'. The children developed a storyline that demonstrated and explained different types of unkind behaviour and bullying, including direct, physical, verbal and cyber. They shared scenarios to highlight when a joke is not a joke and how not thinking about your actions can have an impact on others. The ambassadors taught us:
To speak up and tell someone if something doesn't feel right
If you see someone looking worried or upset, ask them if they want to talk about it
If you see someone who looks left out, ask them to play with you
To tell a trusted adult if you feel unsafe or worried about something
To visit the Childline website at https://www.childline.org.uk/ or call them on 0800 1111 for information and advice.
PE Focus
This term, the children in Nursery have been using their directional language to move in different ways, including travelling under and over different obstacles.
Children in Key Stage 1 have been developing their attacking, defending and shooting skills by playing games using equipment such as hockey sticks in preparation for learning and playing hockey when they are in Key Stage 2.
Key Stage 2 have focused on developing their teamwork as well as their passing, striking, defending and attacking skills by playing netball and hockey.
Festive Fundraising and PSA News
We can't wait to celebrate the festive season with the children and our wider Grazebrook community this year. We hope you can join us on Saturday 7th of December from 12-3pm at our Winter Fair. Please see the flyers below for details of how you can get involved.
This season, the PSA is also organising a Christmas tree sale, where every purchase directly supports our school. Trees are grown in a sustainable way and are well-priced.
The PSA are open for orders between now and noon on Friday. Trees must be picked up from the school after 3.30pm on Thursday 5th December. Orders can be placed via the PSA website: https://www.grazebrookpsa.com/psa-store/christmas-tree
Hackney Foodbank Reverse Advent Calendar Appeal
Thank you to those families who have already donated items to our Hackney Foodbank Advent Calendar Appeal. If you have not yet done so, but would like to support this cause, there's still plenty of time to do so.
We are asking families to donate one item of non-perishable food, which children can give to their class teacher or drop off at the school office. Ideally, we would love to receive donations by Wednesday 4th December to give us time to deliver them to the Foodbank so that they can be included in their winter emergency food parcels. As ever, thank you in advance for your Grazebrook kindness by supporting this charity.
The most needed items currently are: teabags, baby wipes, tinned meat, tinned fish, biscuits.
Key Contacts
If you have any queries regarding your 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 and Year 2: Ms Caireann Conlon (Assistant Headteacher)
Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6: Ms Simone Bunbury (Deputy Headteacher)
SENCo: Ms Caireann Conlon
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.
