25th November 2019
Dear Grazebrook families,
It amazes me that this is the last week of November already and when this bulletin is next published we will already be in December. Of course the practice songs for our upcoming concert have been long underway and we are counting down the days until panto too (oh no we're not!). Other dates for your diaries that are coming up: Years 3 and 4 have 'Come Learn with Me' sessions next week on 4th and 5th December and we look forward to seeing you there and sharing our learning with you. As mentioned, there are lots of festive happenings too, the calendar below provides further details. Please also remember that our Christmas Concert tickets are now available from the front desk so collect them now to avoid disappointment.
Parents' evening is this week, thank you all in advance for your attendance and support, we relish the opportunity to share your child's work and progress with you. If you still need to make an appointment please do so via the school office.
I know some of you have already spotted our success as reported in The Sunday Times last week. We are delighted to have featured in the top 250 state schools in England; not only that but we are in 68th position. Something to be very proud of and thank you to all of you who have congratulated us, I will pass on your sentiments to our fabulous staff team who work so tirelessly to ensure a great educational experience for all.
We are also pleased to share with you that as part of our legacy for 'The World We Want' project we have entered a draw to 'win' trees for the school grounds. We have been successful and have won two saplings for our World Garden space. We have also had two further trees donated by a family who won them in the same scheme. A huge thank you to the Mayor of London's National Tree Week strategy which sees 55,000 trees being planted across the capital and also to our parent volunteers who are helping us to plant and take care of our new saplings - the legacy lives on!
Have a lovely week,
Jess Hutchison
Love of Reading
We can't wait to celebrate in true Grazebrook style at our Festival of Reading on Friday!
Children are invited to come to school dressed as a character from a book, this doesn't have to be an elaborate creation - it is all about celebrating stories!
We have story-tellers, assemblies, workshops and so much more. Our fabulous catering team are even putting on a special book-themed lunch. Last week we sent home some extra reading challenges for children to engage with and we'd love to see and hear about how you got on.
We were also delighted to host our Year Two reading breakfast last week, thank you so much for coming. Year Three's Reading Breakfast is Friday 6th December so please save the date.
Please take the opportunity to visit our Travelling Book Fair too, today is your last chance! There are some great books to be had, some bargains (they start at just £1) and also, for every penny spent the school gets free books too. A great result all round.
Where the Wild Things Are
Our Reception pupils had a wild time on Friday. As part of their topic, Animal Rescuers, they had the opportunity to meet some real wild animals. Look at how brave we are all being!
Children learnt lots about the different animals on show, including snakes, lizards and a (not so stinky) skunk. We learnt how they are different to each other and how we can take care of them as well as lots of new vocabulary related to the animals. It was a very, very exciting day!
We are delighted to be up on the walls of Tate Britain!
As part of our participation in the Steve McQueen Year 3 project we are one of over 3000 photographs lining the walls of Tate Britain.
From the exhibition website:
Explored through the vehicle of the traditional school class photograph, this vast new art work is one of the most ambitious portraits of children ever undertaken in the UK. It offers us a glimpse of the capital’s future, a hopeful portrait of a generation to come.
Steve McQueen invited every Year 3 pupil in London to have their photograph taken by a team of specially trained Tate photographers. They included children from state primaries, independent schools, faith schools, special schools, pupil referral units and home-educated pupils.
We can be found in Location 10 in row 5 - the current Year 4 children will be visiting with the school in the new year but please do feel free to pop along in the meantime. It is quite something to behold!
Extra Curricular Activities
There was lots to celebrate in the wider school too including two fantastic events last week where our teams excelled themselves. One was a superb performance by our High Five Netball team at the Young Hackney Schools Tournament on Wednesday where we just narrowly missed out on a place. Another was was Thursday's School Games Five a Side Football (first round) which was super exciting with our girls taking second place on the leader board. Do check back to see how we progress through the league. Well done Team GB!
We also had a great turn out at Dr Bike, our community cycling and bike maintenance initiative. Our Junior Road Safety Officers will be sharing more information about the benefits of cycling to school over the course of the next few weeks.
There are two remaining PSA events this half term: the Book Swap and Cake sale and the eagerly awaited Winter Fair.
Book Swap and Cake Sale - 29th November After School
Winter Fair - 7th December 12-3pm
It is the time to call upon our school community for help at the Winter Fair. If you can spare any time, however little, please do so for this very worthwhile event. You can speak to any member of the PSA or via the PSA website here: https://www.grazebrookpsa.com/wfvolunteers
We must also thank the PSA for their generous donations which support the school, for example, through subsiding the pantomime trips and for the enrichment donations that allow such exciting events such as the Animal Zoo visit for Reception.