7th October

Update from Mr. McGrath

Dear all,

I hope you all had a great weekend. I was able to pause and catch up on some reading and I am particularly engrossed in the 'The Last Wild' by Piers Torday, an adventure recommended by the Year 6 team. I hope you too had an opportunity to share some stories with your children or were able to enjoy a quiet moment reading yourself.

Over the past month or so I have written extensively about our half term priorities - developing the children's passion for reading, helping them understanding new historical facts and creating opportunities for them to make links between their learning. This week I think it is right to shine a light on some of the other fabulous things going on at school.

Did you know that Shacklewell now has two choirs and two instrumental ensembles? We are very lucky to be able work with Ms Marshall and Mr. Cryan to provide these great opportunities for children across the school. You may have noticed that the allotment at the back of school has been blooming. As a result the children have been able to harvest a range of vegetables which have been incorporated into the school menu.

Another great achievement here at Shacklewell is that we have been accredited gold by TfL for our commitment to active travel. A huge well done to Bev for spearheading this campaign for us. Our work to promote healthy and active lifestyles is crucial for our pupils well-being and this commitment will be on show during Federation Sports Day on Thursday 17th October.

On a personal note, I would like to say a huge thank you to Naomi, our outgoing Chair of Shacklewell Families. Naomi has been very determined in raising the profile Shacklewell Families, coming up with new ways to raise funds and to support the school as much as possible. Thankfully Naomi will be staying within the community, but I wanted to take a moment to recognise your fantastic contribution to our school.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that we are again partnering with Hackney Foodbank this harvest season. If you are able to spare some non-perishable food items then please leave them at the main office. Here is the list for suggested items. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Have an enjoyable week,

Rory

Key Dates

Monday 7th October- Libraries Week begins

Monday 7th October- 2W visit Dalston Library

Friday 11th October - 2S Sharing Assembly

Friday 11th October - Year 1 Reading Breakfast

Friday 11th October - Reception,Year 1 & 2 performance workshops

Monday 14th October - METs parent/carer drop in

Monday 14th October - 6S visit Dalston Library

Thursday 17th October - Years 3 & 4 Maths Mastery parent session

Thursday 17th October- Year 3 & 4 trip to Southbank Centre

Thursday 17th October - Federation Sports Day

Thursday 17th October - Year 6 trip to London Mosque

Friday 18th October - 6W Sharing Assembly at 10am

Friday 18th October - NSPCC assembly and Yr 5 & 6 workshop

Friday 18th October - Year 2 Reading breakfast

Friday 18th October - Year 1 trip to Science Museum

Friday 18th October- End of term- School closes at 3.30pm

Hackney Half Term Activities

This half term there are a host of fun activities for you and your family to enjoy across the borough. Click the link to see the whole range.

Our Curriculum

Here at Shacklewell we are proud of the enrichment opportunities we offer our children. Our after school clubs cater to a wide range of interests. It is great to see so many children participating in after school learning. Cooking club had an extra special job this week to use the vegetables grown in our very own allotment to make a healthy dish. The children thought they tasted absolutely delicious!

Year 5 have taken part in some very exciting opportunities this week. They have been learning to hone their debating techniques and have been developing their cycling skills through Bikeability. They also celebrated National Poetry Day by writing poems linked to their curriculum topic, Ancient Greece.

Year 3 have created some stunning artwork this week. They used markers and water colour paints to create landscapes to represent UK cities. The children were so proud of their efforts and we cannot wait to see them on display.

On Friday, our reception and key stage one children will be taking part in an exciting workshop where they will develop their singing, dancing and performance skills to bring a story to life, what a fun way to end the week!

Reading

This week schools and libraries across the country are celebrating 'Libraries Week' and we have a brilliant schedule planned to mark the occasion. Our classes continue to attend weekly visits to Dalston Library. The staff are brilliant at recommending books and the children are really valuing the time to go explore what books they have to offer. In our own library we will be listening to adults from around the school as they share some of their favourite stories with us.

The focus of Libraries Week is the role of libraries in a digital world. We are using the technolgy we have in school to help our children better engage with the library through 'advertising' the great books we have on our digital signage around the school. The school librarians have begun to create digital 'recommended reads' that we are able to share throughout the school and on our Twitter pages. We hope these will be another way to encourage and promote the discussions we want our children to have. In addtion to this, we are using digital surveys to find out about the books our children enjoy and what their attitudes towards reading are.

Last week, our first reading breakfast was a briliant success. Thank you so much to all the families that attended. This Friday we are welcoming Year 1 families to come and share a breakfast snack and a story in the main hall. For the final week of term we will be inviting Year 2 families. We will provide a range of stories for you to read with your children but please feel free to bring any favourites from home that you would like to share too.

Shacklewell Families

Congratulations!

I’m happy to announce that our candidates Emily Smerdon Aubin and Anna Pilch were voted in as Co-Chair’s at Friday’s meeting. Both Year 1 parents have been actively involved for the past year and will bring great enthusiasm and energy, moving us from strength to strength. They will do a great job in continuing to lead our Parents Association so please lend them your support whenever you are able. Remember, this is a voluntary role! We will have a 2 week handover period and both Emily and Anna will officially take over the role on Friday the 18th of October.

Key Dates

  • Friday 11 October - planning

  • Friday 1 November - Fright Night 5-7pm

  • Friday 6 December- Christmas Fair 3.45 - 5.45pm

  • Friday 27 March - Easter/Spring Fair 3.45 - 5.30pm

  • 17 May - Hackney Half. Launch Go Fund Me Campaign on 26 April

  • 27 June - Summer Fair

Farewell

I’ve been very proud to Chair the parents/carers association for the past almost 2 years. I’ve loved organising and planning all our events with such lovely people who constantly dedicate lots of their free time in order to benefit the school and its children.

We have tried to remain as inclusive as possible and this was something of great importance to me and is an ongoing challenge. It’s been great to see many of our different communities become more involved through events such as Shacklewell Day and the Summer Fair. My daughter is now in Year 5 and I also have more work commitments. It’s definitely time to hand over to people who are able to commit the time and energy that the role requires.

I will miss it! You might still find me in the kitchen, however, serving up our famous mac'n'cheese! Thanks again for all your fantastic help and support whilst I’ve been Chairing the association.