Jessica's Newsletters

Newsletter Friday 24th November 2023

Fri 24 Nov 2023 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for all your kind donations for the winter fair today. They are greatly appreciated and will really help. I hope we will see you next Saturday and if you are able to help at the event that would also be greatly appreciated. I am really looking forward to seeing you all there. Well done for raising over £6000 at the quiz night. That is a Betty Layward record amount and thank you to the organisers, quiz hosts and everyone who came. It was a fun evening.

As you know we are implementing Opal into our lunch playtimes. This is an opportunity for children to learn and play during their lunch play using a wide variety of resources. We would really appreciate some donations, so if you are able to donate any of the following please bring them in –

Tennis rackets and balls
Wellies
Waterproof jackets and trousers or all in ones
Small world – play mobile, small animals, cars, dinosaurs etc
Small lego
Large lego/mobilo
Building blocks
Chalk
Dressing up clothes in all sizes
Washing up bowls
Watering cans

I know this is a long list and I appreciate any of these items that you might not need at home anymore. Please bring them into school and thank you for the support. The children are going to really enjoy using them.

Team Betty, our wonderful PTFA, have designed some great new t shirts. These children’s t-shirts are going to become our PE t-shirts and we will be asking that children wear them on their PE days to school alongside long shorts or tracked suit bottoms. We have found that some of the items children are wearing on PE days are not suitable so introducing a special PE t-shirt will make this easier. These t-shirts will be on sale at the Winter Fair and we will be asking that children have to wear these as part of a PE kit from April so there is time to get hold of one. Thank you for supporting us with this.

Betty Layward Primary School has kindly been donated a Christmas tree by Pines and Needles and they would love to offer parents and carers a discount on Christmas trees in their pop-up stores! Our local pop up store is located in Clissold St Mary's at: St Mary's Church.

DISCOUNT CODE: BETTY10

Keep an eye out on Pines and Needles social channels @pinesandneedles for fun activities at our local stores. Please visit www.pinesandneedles.com for more details and other locations as they are all around London!

Matilde Bernocchi, Year 6 Ruby, has written about a competition that she and another Betty Layward child took part in. It is very impressive-

On Saturday 4th of November I competed in a martial arts championship, and although I won it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. There were many rules for children under the age of fourteen, some of which included: no strikes to the head, medium level strength and no sweeps. I wasn’t expecting it to be so big and with so many people! Nor the fact that it was NATIONAL, I knew mostly everything apart from something called an exit (when you push someone within one metre distance off the mat which makes you automatically win that round). There are 2 mats, one for girls and one for boys, I was the second person to fight on mat 2 (girls). On the first fight I was up against a girl called Jasmine but even though she took me down 3 times (which takes away six points) I still won a gold medal. Then on the second fight (13th fight on mat 2 for juniors) I was against a girl called Akia and she was very strong in my opinion but aside from that I still won. At the awarding ceremony I got to stand on a podium and was awarded by the president of BCCML, (British Council of Chinese Martial Arts) Bryan Andrew’s, the chairman. Thank you and I hope this will inspire others to follow the path of Martial Arts.

Well done Matilde and Tommi. What a great result.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 17th November 2023

Fri 17 Nov 2023 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, I would like to say a massive thank you for all your kind words, emails and support for our recent Ofsted report. We are really proud of it and are really pleased that it reflects the school and community. I have read it to the children to ensure they understand how much they contribute to the school and how proud we are of them. Thank you.

The children had Diwali Dance workshops this week and they thoroughly enjoyed them. Thank you for your contributions towards this. I am also so glad that you can now pay on Arbor as we are usually covering at least two-thirds of the cost of trips and workshops at the moment.

It was lovely to see you at the PTFA AGM this week. Thank you so much for all that you do for the school and for all your support. It is really appreciated and much needed with current budget issues. A massive thank you to Anne for being chair for the last two years and to Ali for her time as treasurer. Thank you for all your time and hard work. Welcome to Olivia who is our new chair and to our new trustees. I look forward to seeing everyone at the quiz night tonight.

Next Friday is a non-school uniform day. The children can wear their own clothes (practical clothes please) and in return we ask that they bring in a donation for the winter fair. This can be chocolates, a bottle of alcohol, new toiletries, or any other new gifts etc. We really appreciate your support with this. The winter fair is on 2nd December and we also need volunteers to cook for it. Please let me know if you are happy to do that. Thank you.

On Tuesday 14th November 2023, the Betty Layward football team went up against Gayhurst in the Hackney football league. The girls won their match 2-1 with Emilia scoring the decisive penalty to make it 2-1. Despite a plucky performance from the boys they lost to a really good football team. Well done everyone, we are all very proud of you all

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 10th November 2023

Fri 10 Nov 2023 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a great week. Fuchsia class performed a wonderful assembly on Wednesday all about the Romans. It was brilliant. Well done Fuchsia class.

Thank you for attending parent and carers meetings yesterday. It was great to see you and for us to share how well your child/ren are doing. We are really proud of them and thank you for all your support.

Please remember to look at our knowledge organisers on the website. We have created Knowledge Organisers for our curriculum outlining the vocabulary and crucial knowledge that the children will be taught in each subject at different points in the school year. The Knowledge Organisers have been designed to help support teachers, children, parents and carers to build their knowledge in each curriculum area year after year. This in turn helps the children to make a permanent change to their long-term memory, which is where learning takes place. Please take a look at them on our website -https://www.bettylayward.hackney.sch.uk/knowledge-organisers/

Buttercup class were lucky and won the draw last week to watch the training sessions for the Billie Jean King Tennis Cup at the Copper Box. They had a great time and this was a lovely opportunity for them all. One of our children drew out the name of the Great Britain player who will be in the play offs tomorrow.

It is Diwali on Sunday and all the children are having Diwali dance workshops next week. This class-by-class workshop introduces the topic of Diwali while creating a link between dance and storytelling. The children explore the story and characters of The Ramayana through movement, creating a 2 minute dance which they will perform to their teacher at the end of the session.

Please can I ask that you do not bring drinks into school and especially not into assemblies or performances. This is all drinks, including hot drinks with a lid. Thank you.

If your child has an appointment during the school day we cannot authorise this without proof of the appointment. This could be a letter or a screenshot of the text. Please email these to Max or myself.

You will have received the information about Christmas cards today. Please order by 20th November. The PTFA online AGM is on Wednesday 15th November at 5pm to 6pm. The link will be sent to you via text and we look forward to seeing you there.

Wishing you and your family a very happy and prosperous Diwali. Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 3rd November 2023

Fri 03 Nov 2023 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Week of Work has been a great success. Each year group has really enjoyed getting involved with their different themes and learning about different jobs. They have worked well in groups and have been really good at explaining all the activities they have been doing. It has been a great week for children to have the opportunity to learn about different careers and what life in work is like. I hope the children have been telling you all about it too. Please see the attached photos.

I look forward to seeing parents and carers of Fuchsia class at their assembly on Wednesday 8th November at 9:15am.

We hope you have signed up for a parent/carer meeting on Thursday. We look forward to seeing you there. The creche is only for children during your appointment time. It is not for the duration of the afternoon/evening. Junior Adventure Group will be here from 1pm-6pm. Please book on their website, as we cannot authorise children attending if you have not booked. Children are welcome to attend the appointment with you. School closes for all children at 1pm and clubs will be made up at another time.

On Tuesday 31st October the Betty Layward football team took part in the Hackney football league against Mossbourne Riverside. There were victories for both our girls and boys’ team. The girls won 2-0 with both goals coming from Bonnie and the goals were shared out between the boys as they triumphed with a 7-0 victory. Well done everyone, we are proud of you all.

The Billie Jean King Cup Play Off tie against Sweden is taking place at the Copper Box Arena on 11th and 12th November, which is local to us. There is a unique opportunity for us to be involved in this amazing event.

In collaboration with Hackney Tennis, this offer included:

An assembly (or equivalent) session that will give a brief history and background of (i) Billie Jean King (ii) the Billie Jean King Cup and the upcoming tie (iii) supporting female participation in sport/tennis
The opportunity for a class to watch a Billie Jean King Cup Team Practice session and attend the Official Draw at The Copper Box Arena on Friday 10th November ’23
A day of tennis taster sessions organised and delivered by your local venue

One class was allowed to attend the above so we made it fair and put all the names of the KS2 classes in a cup and asked a parent to pick one out this morning at assembly and Buttercup class was chosen. Well done Buttercup class. More information will follow.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher