Jessica's Newsletters

Newsletter Friday 11th September 2026

Fri 11 Sep 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have really enjoyed our first full week back. The children are very well settled, and it is lovely to see them around the school.

We do have spaces in our Nursery, so if you know any families who might be interested, please send them our way.

We are delighted to announce that Betty Layward has been awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award with Distinction in recognition of our commitment to sustainability and environmental protection. To earn the award, we used the Eco-Schools programme to identify environmental priorities, take action, and involve pupils and the wider school community in making positive changes. One key project involved working with the North London Waste Authority to improve our waste management and reduce waste. As a result, we reduced our waste by 36% last academic year, and 85% of waste was correctly sorted into the appropriate bins. Members of our Eco Committee were also invited to an award ceremony at Eco Park House in Edmonton, where they received a North London Waste Authority award for their commitment to reducing waste. They enjoyed a tour of the recycling facility and took part in fun activities, including making bookmarks from waste materials and designing their own recycling facilities using LEGO.

Thank you for your patience with Arbor this week. I know there have been a few teething problems. Please ensure you have added the names and details of the people authorised to collect your child, and that you have agreed to any documents we have asked for, such as the home school agreement. These should be under Notices in Arbor. Thanks for your support with this.

Please can I remind you not to use mobile phones on the school site, except when taking photos in assemblies, if agreed. Please can you let other people who collect your child know this, so we do not need to ask them not to use their phones as they enter school. Please can I remind you to wait to cross the road before you come into school in the mornings. Key Stage 2 enters at 8:50, and Key Stage 1, Reception and Nursery open at 8:55. Please do not wait by the entrance or the gates. We have children monitoring and helping with how parents, carers, and children enter. Thank you for listening to them and for being understanding, as they are also trying to keep everyone safe. Please also remind the children not to scoot or ride their bikes anywhere on the school grounds.

Parents and Carers can pay for extended school care (including breakfast club and after-school clubs) using Tax-Free Childcare or childcare vouchers via the HMRC platform or their childcare voucher provider. Once your payment reaches the school’s bank account, we will manually allocate it to your child’s Arbor account. Please note that Tax-Free Childcare and childcare vouchers can only be used for extended school care and cannot be used to pay for school lunches, school trips, uniforms or instrumental tuition. Please book your clubs as normal, then make the payment after you receive confirmation of your bookings.

With Harvest around the corner, we will be supporting Hackney Foodbank with a food collection this year. They are currently providing emergency food and support to around 420 people every week, many of them families with children. Harvest is a really important time for them, as the donations they receive help keep their food supplies stocked and ensure they can continue providing emergency food to local people facing hardship. Boxes will be outside the School Reception areas from Monday, and we are asking for donations of dried food, tins, toiletries, nappies, cereals, and other long-lasting items.

Head along to Hackney Foodbank’s Open Day

Ever wondered about the logistics of feeding hundreds of people every week?

For the first time, Hackney Foodbank is opening its doors at its Homerton HQ with warehouse tours, a chance to meet the team, games, a bouncy castle, crafts and a cake sale. The Open Day (on Saturday, September 26th between 10am and 3pm) is free, with any donations of long-life food gratefully received. Guests can also book to take part in the food bank’s legendary Supermarket Sweep Challenge, which sets off at 10 am.

Jenna Fansa, Head of Fundraising at Hackney Foodbank, said: “Feeding hundreds of people every week takes a lot of organising, and we’d love the chance to show people around. Our caseworkers will be there to talk about the work they do and the difference it makes, and we’ll have some lovely activities for children. The Open Day is free, but we’d welcome any donations of long-life food. We’re also inviting guests to sign up for our Supermarket Sweep Challenge. Working in teams of up to six, they’ll head to the supermarket with trollies and shopping lists and compete to bring back the most food within a £100 budget. Other challenges await along the way, plus bonus points for our fun inflatables at the end. The winner will walk away with our coveted supermarket trolley trophy.”

Places for the Sweep are limited and can be booked by visiting this website: https://donorbox.org/events/943950/steps/choose_tickets

The Open Day takes place at the Wally Foster Community Centre, Homerton Road, Hackney, E9 5QB.

SNCC currently has around 320 junior members (both boys and girls), and they would love to welcome more young cricketers to the club, particularly in their thriving girls' section. Indoor training for juniors this Autumn starts on the weekend of 18/19/20 September at four venues in Hackney: Bridge Academy, Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy, Britannia Leisure Centre and COLA Shoreditch Park. Here are links to all the timings (as well as details of subs):

https://www.stokenewingtoncricketclub.com/training

https://www.stokenewingtoncricketclub.com/membership

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter- Friday 4th September 2026

Fri 04 Sep 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to your first newsletter of the new academic year. I hope you had a lovely summer, and it is lovely to welcome you and all the children back. It is so great to see them. They are full of chat and smiles. They have all settled into their new classes really well and we are very proud of how they have started back. I am really looking forward to another brilliant year.

Welcome to our new Nursery and Reception families, and to any families who have joined another year group. I went into Reception this morning and was so impressed with how settled they are. They were very excited about staying for lunch. It is a pleasure having them, and please let us know if there is anything you need or would like to ask. Our door is always open.

Thank you to the parents and carers who have downloaded the Arbor App. It is essential that you do so, as we are going to move all communication to this app, including texts and emails, over the next few months.

Please link your personal calendar to the website calendar. This means dates are automatically added to your calendar.

Thank you for reading the information and policies sent out yesterday and please remember to agree to them in Arbor. This will be under notices.

Thanks for a great start to the term, and have a very lovely weekend. I am really looking forward to a great year.

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 17th July 2026

Fri 17 Jul 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Wow, the academic year has come to an end. I can hardly believe it's already here. I want to express my gratitude for a fantastic year and for all your kindness and support. It is truly an amazing community to be a part of and I feel very fortunate. Thank you for trusting us with your children; it is a pleasure and a joy to work with them and you.

Congratulations to Year 6 for their outstanding SATs results. They did an amazing job and should feel very proud of their achievements. These results reflect their hard work and determination. However, they are so much more than just their SATs scores; they are kind, thoughtful, fun and possess many other wonderful qualities. Their performance of "Oliver" this week was incredible, and the children truly shone on stage. Well done, Year 6. We will really miss you and believe you will excel in your new schools. They are very lucky to have you.

We collected the 20p coins along with the children's fundraising efforts and the results were incredible. The class that raised the most money was Cerise, with an impressive total of £569.16. Overall, we raised £3,061, the highest amount we've ever raised. Thank you to the children and everyone for your support.

Thank you for your kindness and support. Have a wonderful summer and we look forward to seeing you in September.

Jessica
Headteacher

Newsletter - Friday 10th July 2026

Fri 10 Jul 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

It was so lovely to see you all yesterday at the sharing afternoon. It was great to see your children’s progress and all their hard work. We are so proud of all they have achieved this year. They should be very proud of themselves, too. Our School Improvement Partner came to school yesterday to observe the children’s learning and was very impressed. She commented on how engaged and enthusiastic the children are about learning, and how they approach tasks with determination and positivity. It was so lovely to hear that. We know your children are amazing, but it is also lovely to hear it from someone else.

The children visited their new classes this week, and they seemed very happy. Change can be hard, and we will support all children with the transition. The teachers are also very excited about their new classes.

I can’t believe we only have one week left. Please remember to bring 20ps and any other fundraising, as we will be counting the money next Friday.

We look forward to seeing our Year 6 parents and carers on Tuesday for the leavers’ show and garden party. You are in for a treat.

Please ensure all reading and library books are returned. We will have to charge for any unreturned books.

Thanks for your support during these last few hot days. The children have been brilliant and we have ensured they have stayed as cool as possible.

Please come and check the lost property before the end of term, as we will be disposing of any unwanted items.

Please ensure your Arbor account is paid so we can renew it for the new academic year.

Please remember that we only have clubs next week on Wednesday and Thursday, in place of the days we closed early due to the heat. There are no clubs on Monday, Tuesday, or Friday. We close at 1pm on Friday, and there is no Premier, so we ask that all children be collected on time.

I cannot believe next week is the last week of term. Where has the time gone? We will ensure that all the children have the best week.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter - Friday 3rd July 2026

Fri 03 Jul 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope you had a good week. We have been busy with our STEM
activities during Parents and Carers Week. It was lovely to see you
there, and thank you for supporting the event. The STEM activities
made our Parents and Carers Week a real highlight. It was lovely to
see everyone thoroughly enjoying creative challenges that brought
science and engineering to life. It was lovely to see you working side
by side to build harmonicas with rubber bands and ice lollies,
construct wind‑powered vehicles from plastic bottles and balloons, and
create bubbling lava lamps using oil, water and Alka‑Seltzer. The
playground was buzzing with curiosity, teamwork and plenty of smiles.
Thank you to all the parents and carers who were able to join us and
help make the week such a success. We look forward to welcoming you
all again next year.

Thank you for all your support at the Summer Fair last Saturday. It
was a lovely day with a great atmosphere and lots going on. Thank you
to all the organisers, volunteers, helpers, and those of you who
attended. We really appreciate all the hard work.

As part of our Hispanic Week celebrations, the children at Betty
Layward enjoyed a delicious Latin-inspired lunch, giving them the
chance to explore the vibrant flavours and rich culinary traditions of
Latin America. Our talented catering team served a tasty, colourful
black bean and beef chilli with garlic rice, accompanied by a
selection of fresh salads. The meal was a huge success, with the
children sharing wonderful feedback, including "delicious!" and "lots
of flavours!" It was an enjoyable dining experience that perfectly
complemented our Hispanic Week celebrations.

We had a new headteacher this week, Leilahni from Year 6. She was
amazing. She led an assembly, observed learning and provided excellent
feedback on what she saw. She noticed good behaviour around the
school. She took on playground duty, helped at lunchtime, and
completed some very important paperwork. I was incredibly impressed
with her and now know who to contact if I need help. Well done,
Leilahni.

We will be counting the 20ps the children have been collecting and
their fundraising contributions on the last day of term. I have been
so impressed by the fundraising the children have done and their
enthusiasm for it. Please can you ensure that the children bring in
their 20ps or any fundraising amounts to school by Thursday 16th July?
I know they are going to be very excited about how much they have
raised, as are we.

I wanted to comment on how kind the children at Betty Layward are and
how lucky we are. I often see them being kind to one another in the
playground and around school, and it really makes me smile. Kindness
is so important, and your children are amazing. I am so proud of them.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the Parent and Carer Sharing
Afternoon on Thursday 9th July. You can come in anytime between 14:00
and 15:00, or between 15:30 and 17:00 (with your child). They will
share the work they are proud of from this year and I am sure they
will have a lot to show you.

Please can I remind you to settle all outstanding balances on your
Arbor account by the end of this academic year. As a school, we cannot
afford to cover these costs, so PLEASE ensure all your accounts are
settled. Year 6 parents and carers, please ensure this happens as soon
as possible, as we do not want to be chasing them after your child has
left. Thanks for your support with this.

Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 26th June 2026

Fri 26 Jun 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a week. The children have been amazing in the heat and we are exceptionally proud of them. They have enjoyed the paddling pools, sprinklers, and the chance to dip their feet in cold water to keep cool. They have managed brilliantly. Thank you for all your support with the early closings this week. We also really appreciate your kind words about this week. We are looking forward to returning to normal on Monday. There will be no class newsletters this week due to the unusual circumstances.

Thank you for all your donations for the Summer Fair and for signing up to help. We are really looking forward to it. Thanks to everyone who is helping to set up, run a stall and then help tidy up. All help really makes a difference and we look forward to seeing you there.

Betty Layward enjoyed a special Windrush Lunch on Monday as part of our celebrations of the Windrush generation and their lasting contribution to Britain. The menu featured delicious Caribbean-inspired dishes, including patties from Brixton, giving children the chance to taste wonderful flavours.

This week we had the pleasure of hearing singing performances from Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3. The children had been working extremely hard to perform at the Hackney Music Festival, but due to the weather, we held the performances at school. It was a delight to hear the children's incredible voices and a variety of songs. Well done to all the children involved, and thank you to the parents and carers who came to support the events.

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you at the Summer Fair tomorrow,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter - Friday 19th June 2026

Fri 19 Jun 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for your wonderful support at Sports Day today. It was great fun and the children really enjoyed it. I always enjoy seeing the children join in and have a go at all the different activities. Thank you to those of you who also joined in. It was a hot one, but lovely as always.

Reception Ocean delivered an amazing class assembly this week. They retold the story of Oliver's vegetables and were brilliant. They spoke with confidence and sang beautifully. They were also the best advert for eating vegetables I have ever seen. Well done, Ocean class.

Year 1 enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Estorick Art Museum this week. The children were exceptionally well-behaved. They enjoyed seeing various styles and eras of Italian artwork before being given the task of being curators. They then created their own gallery. On our return, we recreated some of our favourite Futurist pieces.

This week, our Year 3 and Year 4 tennis team represented the school brilliantly at the Hackney Schools Tennis Competition. Demonstrating excellent teamwork, determination, and sportsmanship throughout the event, the children competed against several other schools from across Hackney and emerged as overall champions. Their outstanding performance and commitment secured a well-deserved victory, making the whole school proud.

We have our Windrush lunch on Monday. We will be providing Jamaican Patties made by Bickles Patties. They started as a Caribbean takeaway in Brixton in 2011, serving patties to the local community. Since then, Bickles has grown into a successful West Indian catering and wholesale business. They still make their patties by hand, and they are absolutely delicious.

Next week is Hispanic Week, and there are some lovely activities planned for the children. We look forward to telling you all about them.

The Summer Fair is on Saturday, 27th June, and we would love you to sign up to help. This event is really important for our children. They love it and it is not easy to organise. It is also an amazing fundraiser and any extra funds really make a difference for the children. We would appreciate as much help as possible. We are asking the children to wear their own clothes on Friday, 26th June and to bring a donation for the Summer Fair. This can be a bottle of alcohol, chocolates, new toys, or new toiletries. Any donations are very welcome. Thank you for all your support with this.

We have Parents/Carers week during the week starting 29th June. The focus this year is STEM activities. You will receive an email with more information soon, including the date for your child’s class. We hope you can attend.

We also have an afternoon on 9th July. During this time, you can come into school to be with your child/ren so they can share their work from this year with you.

Have a lovely weekend. Please sign up to help at the Summer Fair. We need you.

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 12th June 2026

Fri 12 Jun 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We hope you have had a lovely week. We have, especially Year 6, who had an amazing week away in France, visiting a goat farm and a chocolate factory, as well as taking part in many other exciting activities. It is lovely to see them back and to hear how much fun they had. They behaved brilliantly and were a credit to the school. Well done to Year 6 and all the staff who accompanied them.

Thank you to those of you who attended our Eid Celebration on Monday. It was a wonderful success, bringing our school community together for a happy afternoon of celebration, friendship, and delicious food. Everyone had a fantastic time. Thank you for all the hard work that went into planning and preparing the delicious food, and for the kind donations.

Year 5 went on an exciting trip to the Natural History Museum this week. They used their creativity to design, build, evaluate, and share a solution to a real-world sustainability challenge using LEGO® bricks in a hands-on workshop.

On Monday, Year 2 went on a trip to the Estorick Collection of Italian Art. First, they looked at one of the exhibitions and discussed why certain pieces of art had been displayed together. Then the children explored the gallery and discussed which artworks featured geometric or organic shapes, warm or cool colours, and whether they were abstract or realistic. Finally, they had a go at being mini curators and decided which pieces of art they wanted to group together, creating their own class art exhibition.

We look forward to seeing you at Sports Day on Friday in Clissold Park. I hope the weather will be kind to us. Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will be there in the morning, and KS2 will be there in the afternoon. We ask that you stand behind the barriers provided. Children will walk back to school afterwards and will be picked up from school as normal. We look forward to the parents/carers race, too. A letter with all the information has been emailed, and we ask that the children wear their Team Betty t-shirts.

Please check the school calendar for any upcoming events. We have Parents and Carers Week coming up, during which the children will be doing STEM activities with you. Parents and carers will be invited in the afternoons, and your child can share their work from the year with you.

The school has recently partnered with an exciting new local food business in a fundraising initiative. Based in N16, Larder, makes delicious frozen ready meals using great British ingredients with no additives, and delivers to your door. Input the code BETTY at checkout and 5% of your purchase will go back to the school. In addition, you can sign up with the following link to get 15% off your first order here.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 5th June 2026

Thu 04 Jun 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you had a lovely half-term break. It is lovely to see everyone back. Thank you for coming to Blastonbury yesterday and coping with the change in the weather. The children were amazing, and thank you for being such a good audience. It was a wonderful celebration of country music.

On Monday, Year 6 visited the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art for an Art in Motion workshop. They explored a range of artworks, focusing on how different artists captured movement in their pieces. Inspired by what they saw, the pupils practised sketching motion using several techniques observed in the galleries. To finish, they combined their new skills to create their very own flipbooks. A lot of our classes have had a trip to this gallery, as it is local, and we love an art trip where specialists support the children and their learning in Art.

Year 4 Fuchsia have had the wonderful experience of working with the London Symphony Orchestra, and on Thursday, they attended the LSO St. Luke's. They performed their own composition inspired by Holst's The Planets with musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra. All the children were incredible and really showed their musical abilities. Well done to Fuchsia class and Zoe.

On Saturday, 16th May 2026, 116 children from Betty Layward School took part in the Hackney Schools Challenge at Hackney Marshes. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather, and the children enjoyed a fun, energetic day, demonstrating great teamwork, enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout. Thank you to Richard Babington for organising such a well-run and enjoyable event and for helping to create a memorable experience for all the children involved. Well done to Stanley in Year 4, who came first.

The week before half term, Y1 Lavender delivered an exciting assembly all about the Great Fire of London. The children confidently shared facts, sang songs, and acted out key moments from the famous event. They worked incredibly hard to learn their lines and performed with great enthusiasm and confidence. It was great to see all the hard work that had gone into the homework projects, which looked fantastic. Well done, Lavender class.

A group of children from our cricket club participated in a school cricket festival. It was an exciting sporting event where children from different local schools came together to compete in friendly cricket matches. The festival provided young players with the opportunity to develop their cricket skills, teamwork, sportsmanship, and confidence in a fun and supportive environment. The children really enjoyed the event.

Before half term, Year 6 were delighted to welcome back Eric Huang, our Writer-in-Residence, for an inspiring writing workshop. Eric spoke to the children about his journey to becoming a writer, explaining that many of his ideas stem from his own life experiences, and encouraged them to see that they, too, can draw inspiration from the world around them. He then challenged the pupils to write a fantasy or science fiction story based on a newspaper report about a dog called Hades who survived after being lost in the desert for three months. The workshop sparked creativity and enthusiasm, and the children produced some fantastic ideas. We would like to thank Eric for such an engaging session, and we look forward to welcoming him back to work with the rest of the school in the future.

We are proud to share that the children from Betty Layward came second out of 11 schools in the Hackney chess league competition. Their focus, teamwork and determination were outstanding throughout the competition. Well done to Gene, Sacha, Jacob, Lucas, Henry, Al and Acer.

In May, Hackney District Girls made history by reaching the semi-finals of the Southern Counties Cup for the first time ever. It’s one of the most prestigious cups you can win. After successfully beating Newbury in the semi-final, they went straight to the final to play Chiltern and Bucks and won. This is such a huge achievement for the team and we are immensely proud of them. Both Clara and Livvie are representing Hackney District for the second year, after playing a year up last year. They are both very proud to be representing Betty Layward and we thought you’d be pleased to hear of their success. I’m not sure if you are aware of this stat- Betty Layward has provided the largest number of girls for Hackney District teams since it started.

On bank holiday Monday, Luiza and Georgie set up a stall outside The Spence bakery on Stoke Newington Church Street to fundraise for our school. They sold rolls, watermelon, cookies, ice lollies and lemonade. They raised a total of £292.75 for the school, with £141.25 in cash and £151.50 by card. The day before the fundraiser, they made flyers and put them around Stoke Newington. On the day of our fundraiser, Chloe, Sunday and Raisa came to help us at the stall. Louisa sang some songs. A huge thank you to everyone who supported them, to their mums, Joanna and Aida, who helped with the set-up and items sold on the day, and to The Spence bakery for being closed on a Monday. They had a great location. Well done Luiza and Georgie. We are very impressed by all your efforts.

The silent disco was really fun this afternoon and we loved watching the children dancing around the playground.

We are holding an Eid event on Monday, 8th June, in the playground after school. I hope you can join us. Any food donations would be greatly appreciated. We look forward to seeing you there.

Year 6 are off to France on Monday for a week, and we hope they have the most wonderful, well-deserved time.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 15th May 2026

Fri 15 May 2026 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week, we celebrated Mental Health Awareness Week with the theme “Action,” and the children truly embraced it. To show our support and raise awareness, children and staff wore green on Monday. Pupils also took part in outdoor movement activities, promoting real-life connections and the positive impact of movement on mental well-being. They created supportive postcards for one another, spreading kindness and encouragement across the school. This has been particularly helpful for our Year 6 pupils during SATs week, as they supported each other with encouragement. The feedback has been wonderful, with many children feeling more supported by their peers. We have noticed a very cheerful and positive atmosphere around school this week.

Year 6 sat their SATs this week, and they did an amazing job. We are so proud of them. They approached the tests with confidence and positivity and they worked incredibly hard. Well done, Year 6. We made sure they also know that they are so much more than an SAT’s result. I am really excited to see Year 6 enjoying their last weeks at Betty Layward. We will ensure they have the best time.

This week in Opal, the children thoroughly enjoyed den-building and construction on the playground, working together to create imaginative structures from a variety of materials. They demonstrated excellent teamwork and problem-solving skills as they planned, built, and adapted their dens. The children also enjoyed recreating Curling, a winter Olympic sport.

On Wednesday, Year 2 went on a wonderful trip to the Garden Classroom. They discussed how plants grow and what they need to stay healthy, then explored the gardens by observing, smelling and tasting different plants, and by drawing pictures of them. After this, they dug up some weeds to examine the roots under a magnifying glass and they created an oversized plant using different vegetables as the roots, stem, leaves and flowers. Lastly, they planted their own peas to take home. Despite the weather, the children took part in the activities with enthusiasm and were commended by the Garden Classroom staff for their scientific knowledge and great behaviour.

Year 4 had a fantastic time taking part in a science workshop all about sound and how it travels. Throughout the session, the children explored a variety of hands-on activities to help them understand how sounds are made, how vibrations work and how sound waves travel through different materials. The children showed great enthusiasm, curiosity and teamwork throughout the workshop. We are very proud of their participation and scientific thinking.

Thanks to those of you who are running the Hackney Half this weekend, and to those taking their children along to run too. We are very grateful for your support and for helping raise money for the school. Good luck. We know you will be amazing.

We look forward to seeing you at Blastonbury on Tuesday at 2pm. We hope the weather is kind to us. I know it is not always easy to see, but I know the children’s singing will make up for it.

We were lucky to have 3 new additions to Betty Layward this week, as the Nursery children watched 3 ducklings hatch from their eggs. They are very lovely.

There is no school next Friday, as it is an Inset Day. This will be the last newsletter of this term. We are really looking forward to next term, and hopefully the sun will shine.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher