13th January 2020
Dear Grazebrook families,
Happy New Year!
Welcome to the first bulletin of the new year; I hope you all had a pleasant and restful break and any new year's resolutions are going well. The term is off to a great start and even though we have been back just a few days, we have already taken great strides with our history topics; there are more details below of all we have achieved already - with such a great start it is sure to be a fantastic term of learning.
Today is the first day for our exciting After School Clubs offer with our Reception pupils joining clubs for the first time - there is bound to be much excitement and adventure over the course of the term. Please make sure you have made any outstanding payments on ParentPay as soon as possible. There may be spaces in some clubs if families are still interested, please contact the school office for more information.
Our Year Two and Five pupils had a visit from the London Fire Brigade last week, supporting them to recognise hazards and keep themselves safe at home. The London Fire Brigade offer free home checks to families - follow the link below to find out more.
Please note as well that Year Four start swimming this week (Year Five had their last session last term) and the sessions will continue weekly until the end of the calendar year.
Jess Hutchison
Safety first - a great source of support and guidance from the London Fire Brigade.
This service is booked directly with the fire brigade who will come to the home. The visit will be carried out either by firefighters from the closest fire station or by Community Safety Officers from London Fire Brigade. They will provide fire safety advice to the adults and children in the home and fit smoke alarms where needed.
The visits and smoke alarms are completely free of charge and are open to everyone.
Knowledge Organisers and Let's Talk Topic
Our curriculum leaflets and knowledge organisers all came home to families last week outlining the topics for this term. Across the school we are focusing on history in all year groups. We sent out our Let's Talk Topic at the end of last term but if (like me) your break was a busy one there is still plenty to be gained from our suggestions as the term progresses. We are so lucky to live in London - there's so much on our doorstep that is free - do make the most of it. I was also in Stoke Newington Library recently who have a wealth of history reference books and biographies and it is right on our doorstep.
We are also hosting curriculum workshops for parents this half term to share some of our curriculum developments - please see the calendar above for dates and times, we'd love to see you there.
We are Historians!
We have got off to a flying start with our history topics and even in a few days have so much to show for our learning.
We have been thinking about what makes a historian, the types of historical questions we might ask and how we might begin to seek the answers including by looking at historical sources.
We have been busy making timelines, looking at maps of the ancient world and exploring historical themes but there is so much more to learn - we can't wait!
If you have any historical items or artifacts at home you would be willing to donate to the school, we would love to receive them especially if they are linked to our topics or are items once in use and that the children may find hard to recognise now.
Many thanks in advance!
Museum of Hackney
Our first of many trips also took place last week with Year Two going to The Hackney Museum to learn about our local history with their topic - The History of Clissold Park.
They learned about the history of our borough and how it has changed over many years. We used our historical skills to find clues about people from the past and to discover how and why they may have traveled to Hackney and chosen to settle here.
We had a great time and can’t wait to use all the historical skills we learned in our lessons this half term!
Sporting Success
It may have been the first week back but we were still up for sporting success.
In the second round of the Hackney Schools Five a side Girls' football tournament, our Year 6 girls came a very respectable second place - we are waiting to find out if that means a place in the final. Fingers crossed!
Our Year 5 and 6s also participated in Static Roller Bike Racing challenge, racing each other on static bikes. It was round four of the Hackney Schools Cycling League and Roller Racing and our team cycled 500m which is the equivalent of two laps of the Velodrome against the clock.
A huge well done to our teams and also to Bev and the sports coaches for facilitating so many opportunities for our pupils, this is just the first of many.
PSA events this half term include Bake Sale's for both Year 3 and 4 - the money raised goes to supporting the year groups with trips and visits so please do get baking or buying and of course drop by for an end of week treat!
Year 3 Bake Sale - 17th Jan
Year 4 Bake Sale - 7th Feb
Please help keep our school safe, no nuts or seeds in home baked items please.