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Update from Mr. McGrath
Update from Mr. McGrath
Dear families,
Autumn had truly arrived this week and I know I haven't been the only one find the cold air in the morning a refreshing change. Whilst the temperature might be dropping the attitudes to learning and focus in our classrooms has stayed steady. Classrooms have been alive with learning this week. On Thursday Mr. Hewie, headteacher at Woodberry Down and Ms. Hutchinson, headteacher at Grazebrook visited Shacklewell and they were very impressed with the learning going on throughout the school. I was very proud to show them how we do things at the Shacks!
Next week we will have further opportunities to impress with our learning because we are hosting ten children from Spain as part of an Erasmus exchange project. Several of our children visited Italy in summer term and now it is our turn to host. The children will be in Shacklewell most mornings, working across different classrooms. The focus of the visit is on how we use technology to enhance learning. It will also provide our children an excellent opportunity to practice their Spanish language skills!
Next Thursday sees the return of the Federation Sports Day. This annual sporting competition provides an opportunity for a bit of friendly rivalry between the three schools but most importantly provides an arena for our sports stars to shine! A group of pupils from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will head to Finsbury Park and compete in a range of athletic events. If your child has been selected then please come along and cheer us on. Woodberry Down won the last Federation Sports Day but having seen the children training in PE I have a very good feeling about this year!
Next Wednesday is World Mental Health Day and as a school we are recognising it with two big events. The first event is aimed at parents. From 9.00am on 10th October we will holding a workshop for families to come and find out more about our work with CAMHS and how we are promoting wellbeing throughout the school. Following that all the children will learn about ways to look after their own and their friends mental health in a whole school assembly.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Rory
Wellbeing Ambassadors
Wellbeing Ambassadors
This week the children in Year 4, 5 & 6 have had the opportunity to apply for a new position of responsibility in the school, a Wellbeing Ambassador.
This role is based on our work this year to promote mental health as a school priority. The children had to outline how they look after their own mental health and how they could share good ideas to help their peers.
We had over 50 applications and the team have whittled it down to 12 children. The ideas and suggestions from all our children were delightful and I know that our link worker for our the wellbeing project was stunned at their work in their first meeting. Look out for some exciting changes in the coming weeks!
Sustainable Schools
Sustainable Schools
Each year we promote and provide a range of opportunities for our children to know the benefits of green, sustainable travel. As a result of this drive, spearheaded by Bev Dickinson, I am pleased to announce that Shacklewell as been accredited as a Gold level school.
We are officially Gold STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation and Recognition for Schools) and this is a major achievement for us. Thank you all of you who come along to Dr. Bike, walk to school and to those of you who 'Beat the Street', it all counts towards this prestigious award.
As part of our commitment to sustainable travel we have had our first week of Bikeability for Year 5. The children had the chance to practise on road skills, develop their confidence with traffic signals and have learnt how to to be responsible road users.
Our Junior Road Safety Officers have also had a busy week training with the Lord Mayor of Hackney. The JRSO event helps raise awareness of the boroughs plans to reduce risk and harm on and around our roads. Our team were straight to work, singing with the children in Reception to teach them to 'Stop, Look and listen'.
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