Years 1 to 6 had a glorious Sports Day in the sunshine where they took part in a range of running and throwing events at the Finsbury Park Athletics Track. The children were excellent role models of our school values of focus, responsibility, kindness and collaboration and we are very proud of them all! It was a closely fought competition. Our green team, Clissold, scored a huge 2, 289 points; Abney, our blue team, finished with a score of 2, 378; Yoakley, our yellow team, came a close second with 2, 420 points but it was our red team, Lordship, who took the trophy with a final score of 2, 477 points. Congratulations Lordship!

This half term, Reception went on a minibeast drama adventure using our Now Press Play headphones. The children virtually met different minibeasts: a ladybird, snail, frog, spider, worm and bee and learnt about their natural habitats (a shell, an earth hole, web, bee’s nest), how they move and behave and how to look after them. 

Year 2 have been learning how to create simple code using Scratch Junior on their iPads. They have been creating quizzes by putting sets of instructions together to create blocks. Year 5 have been learning how conditions are used to control the flow of actions in their program, creating quizzes that have a binary question and using algorithms with a branching structure to represent the answers to a quiz. In all year groups, children have been learning to think critically, spot errors and debug in order for the code to flow without error.  

Last week, the Nursery children were lucky enough to be visited by a mini farm! They met chickens, a goat, a pig, a cow, a donkey, ducks, geese and turkeys. Thank you to the donations from families that supported us to provide the children with this amazing experience. The children have also loved being able to watch the eggs in the Nursery hatch into chicks. We can't wait to see the chicks grow into chickens before they take up residency at a local free range farm. 

The children in Reception also had some exciting visitors earlier this term. They were able to spend time with a group of caterpillars, which they learnt to look after and watched grow and develop into butterflies which they set free into their learning garden. 

Year 2 have been learning about how to look after animals including pets in their science lessons. They were visited by Mr Middleton and his dog, Winston. The children asked some excellent questions to help them understand what dogs need to be happy and healthy. 

We have been so impressed by the Key Stage 1 Learning Celebration Assemblies this half term.  Both assemblies had a science theme. Year 1 showcased their knowledge of seasonal changes and Year 2 shared their knowledge of animal life cycles. The children were all very professional and confident and entertained us brilliantly with their scientific songs. 

As part of our RE and Personal Development Pathway, the Year 1 children visited St Mary's Church. The children met Lizzie the local priest who explained about the importance of the different parts of the church and how they are used. The children asked some really interesting questions and built upon the work that they have done in school. They found out these interesting facts.

• Did you know that St Mary's Church was built in 1858 because the vicar Thomas Jackson was so popular and the old church was too small to hold all the people who wanted to come to his services?

• An important architect George Gilbert Scott designed the church and it took 5 years to build. Unfortunately there was not enough money to build the spire so the church looked a bit odd and this rhyme was made up about it. " Stoke Newington is a funny place with lots of funny people. Thomas Jackson built a church but could not build a steeple."

This week, Year 5 are visiting the New West Synagogue. Today, it was 5B's turn. They saw the synagogue's Torah (holy book). The children learnt that the Torah comprises scrolls made of parchment which contain the first five books of the Hebrew bible. They also learnt that the Torah is read with a special pointing stick called a Yad and that each of the Torah scrolls they saw took over a year to make! 

As part of Child Safety week, we have been talking to the children about how to keep safe and prevent accidents. We have talked about sun safety, online safety, road safety and how to keep safe if you get lost. The children now know ways that they can be responsible for keeping healthy and away from harm. The Child Accident Prevention Trust have produced lots of free resources for 2023 around the theme of 'Safety is Simple' which offers simple changes for parents and carers that can fit into busy routines. You can find the parent pack here.

As part of our kindness project last summer, many of our children visited local charities which serve our community. One of these was Hackney Foodbank. They are currently looking for volunteers and have asked the school to share this message with our families. 

Could you spare a few hours each week to volunteer with Hackney Foodbank?

The charity urgently needs more helpers to help distribute emergency food parcels – they’re looking for people to help in its warehouse and food distribution centres.

Volunteers must be strong (able to lift 24-kilos), kind and passionate about helping people.

Pat Fitzsimons, CEO of Hackney Foodbank, said: “Volunteering for us is good for the soul – it’s a great way to meet new people, while making a tremendous difference to people experiencing food poverty. Lovely friendships form amongst our volunteers. 

“We had an influx of volunteers during the pandemic but many have now returned to work and are unable to commit”

Hackney Foodbank which recently marked it’s 10th anniversary, is currently reaching around 650 people per week and is committed to creating a hunger-free Hackney. They’re based in Hoxton. 

Warehouse volunteers are needed Monday to Friday, 8.30am-11.30am or 12pm-3pm. 

Food distribution centres are open in Hoxton (Mondays 11am-1pm), Dalston (Tuesdays 11am-1pm), Clapton (Wednesdays 5pm-6.45pm), Stoke Newington (Thursdays 12pm-2.30pm) Pembury (Fridays 6pm-8pm) and Haggerston (Saturdays 10am-12pm).  

Drivers are needed Monday to Saturday -  daytime and evenings.

To volunteer, please visit https://www.hackney.foodbank.org.uk/volunteer and fill in the application form.

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.