Dear Parents and Carers,

I can’t quite believe we are near the end of this term. Only one more week to go. Where does the time go? Year 1 went to the zoo today and had a fabulous time. What an exciting trip for them and well done for being so great. 

This week our school WAMHS worker (well-being and mental health), Natalie, spoke to the children in year 1 to 6 about how we can look after our mental health using the 5 ways to Wellbeing - Be Active, Connect, Keep Learning, Give, Take Notice. The children thought of different ways they could keep their minds healthy. You can ask your child the ideas they came up with about how they can keep a healthy mind. We have been looking at World Mental Health Day and discussing how important it is to look after our mental health as well as our physical health. We have Mindful Mondays every week and we discuss questions that help support the children with taking care of their mental health.

On Tuesday, two of our reading ambassadors represented Betty Layward at the launch of the Hackney Schools Reading Champions Challenge. This was hosted by Hackney's Deputy Mayor, Anntoinette Bramble. This project strives to link Hackney schools together through the excitement of and love of reading. The children were introduced to a series of challenges which will help to further highlight and raise the profile of reading in our school. Please keep your eyes and ears open for future Betty Layward reading events.

Thank you for coming and supporting the clothes sale today. Thank you for the support and all the donations. It is impressive how supported Betty Layward is, so a massive thank you from all of us.

Please remember to come to the Betty Layward Black History Month Celebration next Friday after school. There will be music, storytelling, a fashion show and delicious food. Please join us for this event. On this day all the children will be having a drumming and storytelling assembly too.

Your child might come home letting you know they are going to present an assembly to the school. We have asked children if they would like to. They have to find an interesting topic to talk about and make a plan and then they can come and see me to make a time. We are really looking forward to these.

Please remember we cannot give children medicine unless it a prescribed medicine that your child needs to take four times a day. If your child does need to take this medicine please come to the office to get a medical form to fill in.

Please remember to fill in the school lunch survey. The link was sent out this week.

We cannot authorise time off in term time unless it is for an incredibly special reason. To ask for time off please come to the office and ask for a leave of absence form.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher