Dear Parents and Carers,

We have really enjoyed the sunshine this week. It has been a lovely change and it is great to see the children enjoying OPAL at lunchtime. The children have had a wonderful time playing in the sunshine. The warm weather has created the perfect opportunity for them to explore, be active and engage their imaginations outdoors. They have especially loved building, creating and role-playing with the Opal resources, using open-ended materials to invent their own games and stories. The children delighted in making fairy creations, using natural materials and their imaginations to create worlds full of tiny details and wonder. The children also had great fun getting the water out to clean the saucepans and pots in the mud kitchen, especially while enjoying the warm sunshine. 

On Friday, 17th April, Betty Layward's children competed in the Hackney League chess tournament and finished first, outperforming six other schools. Well done to Sacha, Henry, Al, Gene, Luca, Acer and Cyrus. Their hard work and preparation paid off as they secured first place, an impressive achievement that reflects both their individual talent and their strong spirit.

On Tuesday and Friday, as part of their science topic, Living Things and Their Habitats, Year 4 visited Hampstead Heath to take part in the Heath Beasts Exploration session. During the trip, the children discovered the secret lives of invertebrates. They explored Hampstead Heath through a hands-on bug hunt and pond dipping, trying to find as many creatures as possible. They then tested their knowledge by challenging themselves to identify and classify each creature they found. These activities encouraged curiosity, close observation, and a deeper understanding of the diversity of living things in the local ecosystem. They really enjoyed it and were great ambassadors for the school.

We are really pleased to have been asked to work with Barnardo’s on its SEEN's Safeguarding Children from Racial Harm Programme. Barnardo’s SEEN is developing a national resource and safeguarding toolkit to help schools better safeguard children from racial harm and to better protect children of different ethnicities, faiths and beliefs from harm. To ensure it reflects the lived experiences, needs and realities of school communities, they will be working with 5 schools to understand the relevant social and structural context of school communities, collaborating through co-creation with children, staff, governors, parents/carers and mental health/wellbeing teams. They have selected schools to work with by targeting schools across England from a range of different contexts (different age groups, SEND schools, independent) that advocate for improved anti-racist practice in education. We are delighted to have been invited to participate in this exciting new project. We will be working with the charity Barnardo’s to continue our work on diversity, particularly understanding racism. Barnardo’s will use this work to support schools in safeguarding children and in teaching them to understand racism. On Thursday, Year 3 and Year 5 took part in workshops run by Barnardo’s as part of this SEEN project. What the children said will help Barnardo’s develop a national resource and safeguarding toolkit to better protect children of different ethnicities, faiths and beliefs from harm. During the workshop, the children were given a safe space to share and discuss their experiences and feelings about racist incidents and how they should be addressed at school. The children were incredibly honest, respectful and open about their feelings, and we are very proud of the contributions they made to support this extremely important project. The staff were also involved and asked about how they felt dealing with racist incidents. The information Barnardo’s has collated from us will be used to help create this project for use in schools. Barnardo’s will be returning to trial workshops and would also like to work with parents and carers. We are pleased to be part of this very important work.

We are looking forward to seeing you at Blastonbury at 2pm on Tuesday, 19th May, in the school playground. The theme this year is Country Music and we are really looking forward to performing these songs for you. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Please can I remind you that we no longer provide cakes for children's birthdays. We provide the children with a small treat. We felt that, with allergies in schools becoming more difficult, it was better to do this for the children instead. Thank you for your support with this. 

It is 20p time again. This is when children fundraise for the school. This year, we have added a new aspect, allowing children to fundraise themselves in any way they want, which does not have to be collecting 20ps. They could organise a cake or a toy sale. Any ideas are welcome. The winning class will win £40 to spend as they choose. Thank you for your support with this, as it raises a lot of money for school and encourages children to understand the importance of fundraising.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine,
Jessica
Headteacher

Jessica Bailey
Headteacher
The Betty Layward Primary School