Embedded Files
Week beginning 9.2.26
Headteacher's Welcome
Dear Families,
It has been a lovely week to end the half term.
Tuesday was Safer Internet Day. This was marked by a special assembly led by Mr Ellington and the Code Club. The assembly contained excellent information about internet safety with a specific focus on AI. The Code Club presented a range of different examples of the use of AI and the rest of the children had to say whether it was a good use of it or if it was unsafe. It was really encouraging to see that, for every question, virtually all of the children gave the correct answer, meaning that they have been listening to the advice given in Mr Ellington's computing lessons about internet safety. Thank you to Mr Ellington, and to Code Club, for delivering really important advice in this assembly. There is more information about internet safety in the News section below.
Yesterday there were poetry assemblies, where children from every class across the school performed poems, which centred around the theme of 'Remembering' inline with one of the important FRAMER elements. The children performed their poems brilliantly with some classes incorporating actions and others using dynamics to emphasise important words and phrases in their recitals. The themes included Reception remembering how to write and count numbers up to 5, Year 1 remembering the order of the days of the week and Year 2 remembering the property of shapes. In Key Stage 2 Year 3's poem was about remembering to brush your teeth, Year 4's poem was about how, when you read a book, it stays in your memory and Year 5 performed a poem written by one of their own children (Janice) about knowing it's ok to make mistakes! Many thanks to Mrs Connolly, our Reading Lead, for organising the assembly.
Next week, the 18th February, is Ash Wednesday, marking the start of Lent, which holds significant importance in our faith as a period of spiritual preparation, reflection, and repentance leading up to Easter. Spanning 40 days, it symbolises the biblical journey Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness. I wanted to remind you that it is a Holy Day of Obligation meaning all practising Catholics must attend church. Please check the parish newsletter to find out the mass times.
During Lent, we should all engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Fasting, often involving abstaining from certain foods or practices, is a way to identify with Christ's sacrifice and redirect focus from worldly concerns to spiritual matters. Prayer deepens our connection with God, fostering a sense of humility and dependence. Almsgiving, or acts of charity, shows the commitment to helping others and promoting social justice. Look out for the Cafod Lenten boxes, which are part of our school's almsgiving and links into our whole school focus for next half term, which is 'Care for Others' and our new Catholic Social Teaching theme 'Community and Participation'.
Today the children all came to school dressed in their pyjamas to mark Children's Mental Health Week and Valentine's Day with the idea that we show love and care to ourselves and our own wellbeing. This was organised by the Student Council and the whole school (including teachers!) made a great effort and looked extremely cosy in class.
As it is St Valentine's Day, the prayer this week is focused on love.
Have a wonderful half term break everyone - get plenty of rest and make sure you have some fun too!
Mr Abrahams
Headteacher
News
Parent Governors - Ballot Results:
I am pleased to announce that, as a result of the ballot, the three chosen parent governors are Akudo Okereafor and Nneoma Efedua who continue in post from their previous term and Karen Barrett who is newly appointed to the governing body. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate them and wish them luck in their mission to ensure that our school continues to run safely and successfully.
I would also like to take the time to thank our outgoing parent governor, Shivanee Mahadeo (who will remain in post until March) for all of her time and commitment to the role over the last few years. Shivanee has been a fantastic asset to the governing body and has provided excellent support in helping to drive the school forward.
Lent Reflections:
After the success of our Rosary and Advent reflections, during the season of Lent, we would like to encourage you to come and pray with your children at our Lenten reflections. These will take place every Tuesday next half term strating on Tuesday 24th February. You will be able to enter the hall with your children from 8.40 and the reflections will start promptly at 8.50 and finish by 9.00am at the latest.
Date for Your Diaries - Parent Consultations:
The next set of Parents' Consultation Evenings will take place in March. On Tuesday 17th and Tuesday 24th March, school will close early at 2.30pm to allow for the consultations to take place that afternoon. On both evenings, appointments will be available from 3.00pm up to 6.00pm. All consultations will be face-to-face and there will also be the opportunity to look through your children's books.
Details on how to book appointments will be communicated soon.
World Book Day:
We are celebrating World Book day at St Edmund’s on Thursday 5th March and we ask that all of the children come to school dressed as a WORD, eg a colour (yellow clothes), an emotion (a smiley emoji for happy), sports clothes for the word “Athlete”, a fashion word like “chic” or “hippy” or “sporty”.
We invite you to our school book fair, which will take place the week before, in our hall on Tuesday 24th February and Wednesday 25th February 3.15-3.45pm. Here, you can buy an exciting array of books and use a £1 World Book day token to give you a £1 reduction on the cost of one book. The books that are sold, raise a commission fee, allowing the school to buy books for our school library. Thank you in advance for supporting us and fostering a love of books for your child/children.
Internet Satefty Day:
Tuesday was Internet Safety Day; please see information below:
Roblox: We are all aware that Roblox is an extremely popular game amongst children and, when used safely, it is great fun. Please see the links below advising you how children can play Roblox safely:
https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/apps-and-platforms/online-gaming/roblox/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWzhE8fUi7E
https://parentzone.org.uk/article/roblox
Resources: Please download the PDF 's below, which have activities from the UK internet safety centre that you can use with your children.
1 - Activities for 3 to 7s.pdf1 - Activities for 7 to 11s (1).pdf#WakeUpWednesday
Each week, we will share a guide from the National College, which will give you advice about how you can keep your children healthy and safe at home including online.
As it was Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, and our Code Club taught us all about the safe use of AI, this week, we are sharing a practical guide helping parents to support their children to use AI safely, thoughtfully and responsibly in everyday life.
Exciting event for LEGO lovers:
If your child loves LEGO, please see flyer and letter below regarding the upcoming London Brick Festival.
LondonBF Press Release.pdf
Exciting Opportunity for any Budding Bakers:
We have been contacted by the Series Producer at Love Productions; the production company behind The Great British Bake Off, The Great British Sewing Bee and The Great Pottery Throw Down.
She wanted me to let you know that they have recently opened applications for the 12th series of Junior Bake off, a Channel 4 competition series celebrating Britain’s young baking talent! They are looking for young budding bakers between 9-15 years old and interested
You can apply online at - www.applyforjuniorbakeoff.co.uk
Filming would take place from July 2026, but applications close on Sunday 15th March 2026.
Attendance
Whole School Target: 96%
This week, we switched to a different register system in school and so I am unable to share with you the attendance in each class. I hope to have this back up and running next week.
Missing school impacts on your child's education. It is vitally important that, if it is at all possible, children are in school. The curriculum is built with step-by-step bricks where one lesson builds on another and even missing a single day can have a detrimental effect on your child's learning and progress.
If you have any concerns at all about whether your child is well enough to be in school, please read the documents below.
nhs should i keep my child off of school (1).pdf
Students of the Week
Class R1: Kamsi - For showing improved recall in phonics and increased confidence in sharing his knowledge and ideas-we are so happy to hear you, Kamsi!
Class R.2: Shaydon - For taking a step forward in his reading and playing creatively.
Class 1.1: Zoya - For making good progress in all areas of her learning. Well done Zoya, we are super proud of you!
Class 1.2: Jayvie - For working so hard to learn our class poem.
Class 2.1: Ahmad - For having a positive attitude every day and working hard in class.
Class 2.2: Amella - For planning and writing a fun story.
Class 3.1: Zion - For successfully attempting a challnging reasoning question in maths related to measure. Well done!
Class 3.2: Eyoabe- For great progress in Maths this week, developing an understanding of one more and one less. Ms Evans and Miss Hunte are proud of your hardwork.
Class 4.1: Nahom - For excellent work on your understanding of length and perimeter. You are truly developing into a skilled mathematician!
Class 4.2: Filip - For working so hard to improve his handwriting and his arithmetic skills. You have proven that being resilient pays off.
Class 5.1: Rafael - You have been working incredibly hard in English and it is shining through your work! You are always kind and polite to all adults and children, well done you are making us all very proud!
Class 5.2: Joseph - For putting exceptional effort and commitment in retaining information needed to progress. Your improvements in all areas have not gone unnoticed. I am beyond proud of you Joseph!
Class 6.1: Aniyah - For consistently putting effort into her work and showing resilience when learning becomes challenging. You take the time to understand new ideas, and your hard work has not gone unnoticed. Keep it up—you are making great progress.
Class 6.2: Aaliyah - For always completing work to a high standard and for being a good role model for the class.
St Edmund's Way Certificate
The St Edmund's Way Certificate is an award that can be presented to anyone in the school community who embodies the school motto of Love, Care, Share or has done something well above the call of duty to help others.
This week, there were no winners.
Wednesday Word:
Here is a copy of the bumper holiday edition of the Wednesday Word, which covers the next 3 weeks. Ash Wednesday takes place during half term, which marks the start of Lent. The Wednesday Words are #TEACHER #LENT AND #SACRED
Please share the Gospel with your child each Sunday and, if possible, please print off and share with your children so that they can complete the wordsearch and colouring activities.
Half-Term-Holiday-Special.pdfThought of the Week:
NO NUTS OR SEEDS
Please remember we are a NO NUT SCHOOL. This is also extended to seeds. Some members of our school community have severe allergies to nuts and seeds, and food products containing them.
Your child must not bring in any products containing nuts and seeds as a snack or as part of their packed lunch. This includes seeded bread, hummus (which contains sesame), pesto (which contains pine nuts), peanut butter and chocolate spread (which often contains nuts).
PACKED LUNCH
Please be reminded that packed lunches and after school club snacks MUST be healthy as we are a healthy eating school. Some ideas of snacks children could bring to school are below:
fruit vegetables bread sticks
cereal bars & rice cakes (make sure these don't contain nuts)
yoghurt tubes
There should be no chocolate, crisps or sweets)
DINNER MENU
We are delighted to reveal the new dinner menu for after half term. This menu will last until February 2026.
St Edmunds Stir Primary AW 25 - 26 Menu CORE.pptx (2).pdfFamily Support
Enfield offer a range of parenting and family support in a range of different areas. Please see the range of flyers below if there is anything that may help you. You can also see everything Enfield has to offer on the following link: https://enfielddirectory4all.co.uk/
Please see the 2 flyers below specifically for local dads giving you the chance to meet up with other dads every week to discuss all things fatherhood and to engage with family support professionals.
Dad's Hub Poster-2.pdfStronger Relationships Enfield Fathers 18 February 26.pptx.pdfParenting Directory Leaflet.Hub.pdf1-Enfield-General-PRINT.pdf8-Enfield-Relationships-PRINT.pdf
Please see the following link from the NSPCC about family conflict and advice for managing family tension and children's anger at home.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/arguments-conflict-family-tension
Therapy for Under-5s
Please see the flyer below if you have children below 5 years old. This is a local service that provides therapy including occupational, physio and speech and language. Scan the link in the flyer below for more information.
Universal Poster With Clickable Link.pdfFamily First Aid
Reminder - We are now a SmartPhone Free School:
Back in May, we sent out a letter explaining that St Edmund's has joined many of the other schools in Enfield to become a Smartphone free school.
I know that some of you are concerned about your child travelling to and from school but holding a phone only makes them more of a target. Alternative options to smartphones are provided in the attached letter, as are links to research explaining why this decision has been made.
Please support us in our decision by adhering to the rule and use it as an opportunity to educate your child on the pros and cons of smartphones.
Mental Health Support
111 Mental Health Support Poster.pdfDyslexia - Information
Dyslexia (3).pdfEnfield's Parenting Directory:
Enfield’s Parenting Directory is now LIVE!!
In response to the council's review of parenting support in the borough, Enfield have developed a well needed digital Parenting Directory which is now live and ready for you to explore.
This Parenting Directory focuses only on parenting and is a central place to look for parenting groups/programmes. It will save you time and effort when searching for the right programme for parents and carers in Enfield.
Now, you can explore the directory together with parents and carers and together choose the right provision at the right time.
Click this link https://enfieldparentingdirectory.co.uk to open up the directory and explore!
Directory of Services:
Enfield Council have launched an Early Help Directory for all. They have put together a directory of community services and organisations for children, families, community members and professionals to enable you to access information you need in one place, at your fingertips. The directory is categorised under simple headings to help you find what you're looking for. The directory can be accessed in a variety of languages. You can access the directory here: https://enfielddirectory4all.co.uk/
Housing Support:
Shelter is a UK charity dedicated to supporting people who are struggling with housing issues or are at risk of homelessness. They can offer one to one, personalised advice online and by telephone and free legal advice and support with court attendances should it be required.
"We (Shelter) exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything"
The link to there website is here: https://www.shelter.org.uk/
If you need advice relating to benefits, housing or debt issues Citizens Advice may be able to help. You can find them here:
https://www.citizensadviceenfield.org.uk/
If you need a translator to access the advice that these services offer, just ask the person who answers the phone. Or use Google Translate to make an initial contact online, explaining that you require translation services.
Ponders End Youth & Family Hub:
Ponders End Youth and Family Hub Flyer.pdfPage updated
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