Grazebrook Primary School Bulletin
13th March 2023
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Message from Mrs Beecroft
Message from Mrs Beecroft
Dear Families
This week sees us celebrating British Science Week at Grazebrook. Throughout the week, the children will be taking part in a range of workshops to explore the worlds of science, maths, engineering and technology. We are very grateful to our scientist families who have offered to host workshops and share their expertise to enrich our curriculum and help the children understand the careers available to them when they finish school. Today saw Year 1 making rainbows and slime and Year 2 learning about the science behind medicines such as Calpol. Later this month, Year 5 will get the chance to extract DNA from strawberries!
If you are not a scientist, but would like to host a workshop with a year group related to your career or passion, please talk to your child's class teacher to organise this. In the past, families have supported us with baking, storytelling, printing, photography, film-making, poetry and music making.
We would like to extend our thanks to the families who donated to and bought baked treats at our Year 1 Bake Sale. The sale raised £380, bringing the total donated to the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal by the Grazebrook Community to £1600. A further thank you to those of you who were able to visit the Travelling Book Fair. We took close to £1000 which has provided the school with £492 worth of books for our classrooms. Our reading ambassadors will be carrying out surveys with children in each class to identify the books the children would like for their reading corners.
Key Dates
Key Dates
13/03-17/03 British Science Week
13/03 Year 1 and 2 Science Workshops
13/03 Year 5 Hello Moon! Virtual Workshop
15/03-16/03 School Closed to Pupils
17/03 Year 3, 4 and 5 Sphere Science Workshops
20/03 Year 4 Anglo Saxon Workshops
22/03 3G British Museum: Ancient Egypt Trip
22/03 Junior Road Safety Officer Event
23/03 Nursery Come Dine With Me
23/03 Science Fair
24/03 Year 6 Reading Breakfast
24/03 Nursery Family Friday
24/03 Reception & Year 1 Fluoride Varnish
24/03 3B British Museum: Ancient Egypt Trip
24/03 Year 5 DNA Science Workshop
24/03 Year 2 PSA Family Bake Sale & Uniform Swap
30/03 Parent Consultation Evening
31/03 End of Spring 2: School Closes at 2pm
17/04 Start of Summer 1: Gates open at 8.45am
19/04 Year 5 and 6 Karl Nova Poetry Workshops
20/04 Reception Come Dine With Me
21/04 Year 5 Learning Celebration Assembly
26/04 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
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
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
World Book Day
World Book Day
Reading is at the heart of all we do at Grazebrook and as such World Book Day is a very special day on our calendar. This year, we absolutely loved hearing the children talk about their favourite authors and books and share recommended reads with each other. Highlights of the day included Year 2's virtual illustrator workshops and Year 3's interpretation of The Street Beneath My Feet by Charlotte Guillian and Yuval Zommer. The children also enjoyed their teacher swap and having a story read to them by a different teacher at the end of the day.
Healthy Bodies!
Healthy Bodies!
As part of our Personal, Social, Health and Economic learning this term, the children have been identifying how to keep their bodies healthy. For our youngest children, this has included understanding what a healthy diet is and for our oldest pupils, knowing the impact of substances such as caffeine and alcohol on the body and the precautions that should be taken if using them. All year groups have learnt about and discussed the physical and mental benefits of exercise and the different ways we can keep fit. Last week, we invited the company Skipping Workshops into school to help the children learn to skip in different ways including with elastics. The children learnt that skipping is a great activity for improving overall fitness, coordination, cooperation and focus. Coach Ansell and Hassan will continue to support pupils to take part in skipping activities at play and lunch times and train the Playground Friends to lead skipping games in both the KS1 and KS2 playground.
Eco Leaders Updates
Eco Leaders Updates
The Grazebrook EcoTeam have been working hard this term taking action to protect the environment. Grazebrook is taking part in the Eco-School programme which is an internationally recognised environmental programme which raises awareness about local and global issues through pupil-led activities.
Last week, they delivered an assembly with the help of Hackney Council’s Environmental Education Officer to discuss the negative impact food waste has on the environment and the actions we can take at home and at school to recycle.
The EcoTeam took action by introducing new food waste recycling bins in both the KS1 playground for fruit peelings and the lunch hall for plate scrapings - this will see about 4000 kg a year of food waste recycled into energy and compost instead of going into the waste bin. The EcoTeam have also been protecting nature on the school grounds by collecting litter and putting up signs with messages about protecting the newly planted trees. For more info on recycling at home click here.
Why don't you help us encourage staff, pupils and visitors to Grazebrook to make positive choices about protecting the planet by designing a poster to be displayed around the school? See the poster at the bottom of the this bulletin for further details of how to enter.
Learning across the curriculum
Learning across the curriculum
To celebrate International Women's Day last Wednesday, Ms Khan led an assembly introducing the children to a selection of significant women. The children were invited to talk about the influential women at home, at school and in the wider world that they would like to celebrate. Ideas included, Mary Seacole, Simone Biles, Malala Yousafzai, Frida Kahlo and our very own Mrs Hooper.
To launch British Science Week, Year 5 attended a virtual workshop to learn about a range of historic and contemporary influential women working in the fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
Year 2 explored Clissold Park to identify and name local plants as part of their Growing Plants science unit. They were able to recall and expand their learning about different plants and their parts from Year 1 in preparation for carrying out research in the classroom. Children will be investigating which plants they can grow both indoors and outdoors during March.
Why don't you grow a plant from a seed or bulb at home and keep a photo, video or written diary of what you observe over time to share with your class?
If any families have any house plants they would like to donate for children to look after at school, please leave them with Pam or Amina at the school reception.
At the start of the half term, Year 5 had the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament. The children had a tour of both houses and took part in Laws and Debating workshops. The children were able to take an idea for a law through the House of Commons and the House of Lords in order to gain an understanding of the democratic process of law making and enhance their debating skills. The trip provided an excellent foundation for learning about the city states of Athens, Sparta and Corinth which the children have been exploring in their history lessons. Why don't you ask them to explain the similarities and differences between different city states in Ancient Greece and which they would have preferred to have been born into?
Reception and Year 1 have begun exploring the world of stringed instruments through their first lessons exploring the ukuele. We were very impressed by their focus and collaboration.
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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