Dear Parents and Carers,

We are so glad the sun is shining and summer could finally be here. It makes such a difference and we are hoping it stays nice for Sports Day next week (but not too hot).

We have had a lovely week. Violet class performed a wonderful assembly about oceans. It was fantastic. They were confident, shared a lot of facts and sang beautifully. Well done Violet class.

On Wednesday 19th June, a team of year 4 children participated in a year 4 Aquathlon competition at Clissold Leisure Centre. The children participated in many fun water activities like finding the treasure and hot potato. The activities also included using a float and noodles. Well done to all these wonderful Year 4 children.

Thank you to everyone who came to Family Friday this morning. I hope you enjoyed it. We really enjoy having you.

Our school Eid celebration was due to take place on Monday after school. We are going to postpone it and it will now be taking place after school on Wednesday 10th July. Thank you so much for all your lovely offers of donations and help so far. We are really looking forward to it.

OPAL is going very well in the playground and the children love it. We are about to put a mud kitchen into the woodlands so would really appreciate any donations of kitchen utensils, saucepans, frying pans, plastic plates, cups etc. We are also going to add some water play and would love donations of watering cans, plastic cups, jugs etc. Thank you for all your donations so far. They have really contributed to a happy lunch time. If you ever have any spare mugs our staffroom will always benefit from those too. Thank you for your support.

We are introducing yellow wristbands for accidents and injuries that are not head injuries (these will stay red). If your child has one they will have received first aid for another area of their body. We would always ring you if it is a serious injury. We will let the children know and encourage them not to fall over on purpose to get a wrist band.

Well done to Year 5 who organised their own cake sale today to raise money for their eco-projects and for our solar panels. It is great to see children caring about the environment and how they can help and contribute. Well done Year 5 and thank you for all your cake donations. 

Back in February Poppy in Year 3 asked if she could plant a little garden around a tree that grows in the communal space outside her flat to attract butterflies and bees. She did a great job of choosing bee and butterfly friendly flowers and Poppy and her family have watched it thrive ever since. Last week Poppy invited her Woodcraft Folk group to come and see the flowers she’d planted. She then took them to plant some flowers and seeds around a London Plane tree at the top end of Albion Road. The Woodcraft Folk group, which includes children from several local schools as well as a handful from Betty Layward, worked hard preparing the soil and adding a layer of compost before adding a selection of lovely flowers and watering them. After planting the flowers, they went on a short walk around the back streets of Stoke Newington planting wild flower seeds. Poppy and some of her friends have been watering the trees every night and the seedlings are starting to grow. Well done to Poppy, Beth, Silas, Willow and Ivy for caring about the environment. It is great to see.

It is Sports Day next Friday and we are hoping for good weather. Please can the children wear their Team Betty t-shirts and shorts or leggings and trainers. We also ask the children to wear a hat, have sun cream applied in the morning before school and bring two bottles of water to school. We want to ensure the children keep hydrated as it could be a warm day.

Silent Disco tickets are still for sale from the school office. This is on Friday 5th July from 4:30-5:30pm. Parents and carers do not need to stay but if you would like to volunteer to help please let me know. This is for all children from Nursery to Year 6. The tickets are £4 per child and include a couple of treats. The children do not need to bring any money.

The Summer Fair is on Saturday 13th July and we will need volunteers. Please sign up if you would like to help. We doneed as much help as possible and this is a great event for our children as well as other families and people in the community. We will be having an Own Clothes Day for the children on Friday 12th June. The children can wear their own clothes and we ask in return that they bring in a donation of chocolates, alcohol, unused toiletries or unused toys. If you have any larger raffle prizes or work for or know a company who would like to donate one please can you bring them in. We are really grateful for any donations. It sounds like it is going to be a great day.

You should have received the parent’s meeting letter. Please ensure you sign up for your appointment on Monday. We close at 1pm and Junior Adventure Group will be here. The creche is only for children during your parent meeting appointment time.

Please remember we would love donations for our foodbank. Any tins, dried goods or toiletries are welcome. Thank you.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine,

Jessica

Headteacher