Jessica's Newsletters

Newsletter Friday 19th July 2024

Fri 19 Jul 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Wow; this is the last newsletter of this academic year and what a great year it has been. We have happy children who work extremely hard, a successful Ofsted, many wonderful events and so much more. Thank you for all your support; contributions, time and kind words. It means a lot. We love having your children and I feel so lucky to be the headteacher of such a fabulous school. The staff are amazing and really care about each individual child. Thank you to them for all their hard work and dedication.

We say goodbye to Year 6. They have been and are fantastic. They went to Norfolk this week and had a great time even though there was a lot of rain one day. They were extremely well behaved and brilliantly supported each other in every challenge. It demonstrated how great these children are - independent, kind, supportive, hard-working and so much more. We are so proof of you, Year 6 and wish you happiness for your next journey. Well done. Your secondary school is so lucky to have you.

We have a new after school care provider starting in September called Premier Education. We have sent you a flyer with details and information on how to register. Any questions please contact them.

Thank you for supporting and attending all our events - the events during school time and the events during weekends and evenings. We really appreciate all of the PTFA’s hard work and the fabulous amount of money they have raised. The summer fair was fabulous and raised £8000. That’s incredible. Well done everyone. Thank you for all your time and support with this.

Please could your child bring in their 20ps on Monday. Thank you for supporting us with this.

We hope you have the best holiday and summer. I hope the sun shines and we look forward to seeing you in September and welcoming new families.

Years 1-6 start on Wednesday 4th September at normal school time. Children new to Reception start at 9:15am on Monday 9th September and children joining Reception from our Nursery start at 9:15 on Tuesday 10th September. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are until 12pm and Thursday is 9am - 1pm including lunch. From Friday 13th September the Reception children will be staying full time.

We have home visits for new Nursery children on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th September. Nursery children start on Monday 9th September. Please see the dates sent out for start and finish times.

We close on Tuesday at 1pm for the summer holidays and there are no clubs or Junior Adventure Group on that day.

Have a great summer and see you in September,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 12th July 2024

Fri 12 Jul 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a week we have had. It has been fantastic; full of fun and celebrations. We had a fantastic Eid celebration this week and the food was delicious. Thank you to those of you who cooked, donated, helped and came along to support the event. It was fabulous and a lovely event to spend time together.

We had the Year 6 show this week. They performed Mary Poppins. It was incredible. The children were confident and amazing performers which included singing, dancing, acrobatics as well as acting. They showed us how they have grown and matured during their time at Betty Layward. We are so proud of them and their secondary school is lucky to have them. We have enjoyed every minute of them being here. They finished the performance with a wonderful song about being at Betty Layward and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. The parents and carers were very emotional and also very proud of who their children have become. The Year 6 also had great SATs results this year and we are so proud of who they are as well as what they have learnt and can do. They are off on a residential on Sunday to Norfolk and I hope they have a well-deserved marvellous time.

The children visited their new classes this week. They were a little nervous but also really excited. Going into a new class can be daunting especially if they have been mixed. This feeling will quickly disappear when September comes and it will be as if they have always been together. It is great that the children get to know all the children in their year group and this was evident with Year 6 this year as they are incredibly supportive of each other.

Thank you for attending the Parents and Carers events this week. It has been so lovely seeing you in school having fun with your children. The children also really enjoy having you here. Thank you for supporting this.

Despite the really bad weather last weekend, Acer, Tabitha and Georgie raised a whopping £460 by hosting a bake sale. This truly exceeded their expectations and are really thankful to all the Betty Layward families, their neighbours and people who stopped by for cake and a nice cup of tea. What a fantastic community. The solar panel initiative really resonated with people and they were genuinely interested to hear about how the school will benefit from the installation and they dug deep in support. The children hosted the stall on the corner of Hawksley & Woodlea roads just down from the Spence Bakery. The kids took cash and also directed people to the GoFundMe solar page if they didn’t have any on them. Well done Acer, Tabitha and Georgie. This is really incredible work.

On Wednesday the Online Safety Committee, made up of children from Years 3 to Year 6, ran an assembly. They discussed social media and gaming, and talked about why age ratings on games and social media are important. We also had a musical introduction from Ted on the piano and Edith on clarinet, playing game theme tunes. The Committee did a fabulous job at presenting on such an important topic.

Year 1 and 2 had a great time at the soft play in Clissold Leisure Centre yesterday. It was lots of fun and well deserved as they have all worked incredibly hard this year.

We look forward to seeing you at the Summer Fair tomorrow. We still need a lot of helpers so please sign up if you can. It is going to be a great day and helps raises money for the school which is much needed. Thank you for your support.

If you owe any money to school please could you pay by the end of term. Could you also please have a look to see if you have any books that belong to us at home. Thank. This is all much appreciated.

Please remember we finish school for the academic year at 1pm on Tuesday 23rd July.

Have a lovely weekend and see you at the Summer Fair,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 5th July 2024

Fri 05 Jul 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

It might be raining outside but there is plenty of sunshine in Betty Layward. Lavender class performed an amazing assembly about seasons this week. They had clear voices and also sang beautifully. Well done Lavender class. It was excellent.

Nursery were visited by a variety of animals this week and had a lovely time learning all about them.

The children loved the silent disco and it was great to see them having so much fun. They danced the afternoon away and smiled all the way through.

Thank you for attending your parents and carers meeting yesterday. It was lovely to see you there and for you to get the chance to hear how great your children are. We are so proud of them.

We are constantly talking to the children about kindness and mutual respect and as part of this we are always looking for ways that we can contribute to building an anti-racist community. Understanding racism is a learning journey for adults and children alike. No one is expected to know all the answers. Reflection and eagerness to learn are key to examining preconceptions. We know it is important to speak openly and positively about race, have regular discussions about racism and to acknowledge how race and racism impact different people’s experiences of life. It is important to recognise that systemic racism exists. Racism is more than name calling. It can be seen all around us, from beauty standards to the visibility and depiction of people in everyday society. It also affects the way people live, from the jobs they can get to their personal well-being and sense of safety.

Increasing equity helps us create and children to become the leaders of tomorrow. For example, studies show that pupils who attended more diverse learning environments exhibited greater improvements in their leadership skills.

Increased equity is linked to superior learning outcomes and performance on exams. For example, research shows that when racial segregation in school decreases, so do performance gaps on SATs, which shrank by as much as a quarter in one study.

It has also been noted that students who interact with a more diverse peer group and learn in a more inclusive environment are less likely to hold biased or prejudicial views later in life, contributing to a fairer and more tolerant society.

We ensure that children feel heard, supported, and included, as this enables them to be more engaged in the learning process.

We talk to children about racism and are empowering children to take actions in their everyday life to be ant-racist –

Children can practice anti-racism by:

Naming any experiences they have had and voicing their concerns and feelings to others. We encourage all children to have a voice.
Telling a teacher or adult when they experience or witness racism
Supporting their friends who say they have experienced racism or bullying
Actively listening to their experiences
Accepting that they might not understand what it feels like, but can try to imagine and build empathy
Using their own voice to express their own feelings and to make other people listen to their friends
Not speaking for them or making the situation about themselves
Think about how their friend might feel and supporting their wellbeing

We positively acknowledge questions about race and racism. Even if the question is a difficult one to address, encouraging the children to be confident enough to ask questions is important. We listen and encourage an environment of active listening where people can share safely, and our children listen and reflect on what others say. Betty Layward is a place where we want children to develop a love of learning and are prepared for life, where they make friends and learn life skills, where they feel safe and happy, and where there is zero tolerance for racism. I am proud of the children at Betty Layward as the majority do let us know how they feel when something is not okay and they do tell other children how incidents make them feel. We will continue to allow our children to speak out, have a voice and be celebrated.

We have our Eid celebration after school on Wednesday 10th June. Thank you to those of you who have already offered donations or help. Any donations and help are welcome. This is a lovely event which the whole community really enjoys and the food is incredibly delicious.

The Summer Fair is very soon and it taking place on Saturday 13th July. We still need volunteers. Please sign up if you would like to help. You can sign up online. We do really need 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 July. 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. Fingers cross the sun shines as I know it is going to be a great day.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher