Jessica's Newsletters

Newsletter Friday 25th October 2024

Fri 25 Oct 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

I cannot believe we are at the end of the first term. It has been a busy and brilliant week with lots going on.

As part of Black History Month Maggy visited us in assembly this week to share her experiences in education and career as part of Black History Month. Maggy has worked in different locations and in many other positions including various responsibilities such as offering medical care to patients, being involved in humanitarian relief work and diverse projects in a Public Health capacity. She is currently part of a team delivering products and services for NHS Digital which for example played a vital role in improving our NHS online services during the Covid pandemic. It was inspiring to hear about how much Maggy has done in her career, to think about how career paths change direction and most importantly to think about being whoever you want to be. On Thursday we had more inspirational talks from Alicia, a parent, and her brother Jonathan to celebrate Black History Month and continue the theme, Reclaiming the Narrative. Alicia shared her passion for learning from a young age, her interest in the arts, and her incredible achievements in life so far. Her message was to continue to believe and learn. Jonathan shared how his interest in fashion and design brought him to have a creative job he is passionate about in the graphic arts. He shared some of his designs and artwork he has created that inspired us all. Thank you, Maggy, Alicia and Jonathan.

Hackney Black History 365 is still taking place over the half term. There are some fantastic events for families and children especially the following:

26th October - Dr Ronx - Welcome to an event like no other! Join us at Homerton Library for an informative session with Dr Ronx on How to Save a Life.

Learn essential first aid skills, CPR techniques, and how to handle emergencies like a pro. This in-person event is your chance to empower yourself and make a real difference in critical situations. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain life-saving knowledge!
https://www.lovehackney.uk/black-history-season-events-2024/dr-ronx-presents-how-to-save-a-life

28th, 29th, 30th and 31st October - Art and Craft events: Join us for a family craft session celebrating Black History Season! We'll be learning all about adinkra symbols and making our own bookmarks! No booking required. It is taking place at Woodberry Down, Clapton, Dalston CLR James, Hackney Central and Homerton libraries.

Free. Suitable for families and children ages 4+.

https://www.lovehackney.uk/black-history-season-events-2024/family-craft-session

This week in preparation for the Hindu celebration of Diwali, the children were given the opportunity to take part in a dance workshop. The children learnt the story of the Ramayana. This is a great Hindu epic story about Prince Rama and his wife Sita, which has been shared orally and through dance for centuries. The children used their imaginations to physically retell the epic tale, from making the sounds and shapes of the forest to lighting the lamps that guide Rama and Sita home. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Last week the children were all excited to participate in Science Week. This year's theme was Change and Transformation. To celebrate all the year groups took part in a science workshop that explored chemical and physical changes. The children were able to witness how different chemicals change and react when mixed together. They were especially excited to witness how adding Mentos candies to a carbonated beverage provides enormous numbers of pre-existing bubbles into which dissolved carbon dioxide can escape i.e. a Sprite Explosion. We would like to give a huge thank you to our teachers Laura and Helen for arranging the workshop as well as planning additional in class activities about Change and Transformation.

Betty Layward took part in a football competition on Wednesday 16th October at Mabley Green. There were victories over the Olive School, Parkwood and Queensbridge in the league format which meant we qualified for the quarter-finals against Grazebrook. It was a hard-fought game with Betty Layward coming out on top, to claim the victory with a 2-0 win which then took us to the semi-finals against Gayhurst. Gayhurst beat us in the first league game. It went to penalties after a 1-1 draw and our goalkeeper Ollie pulled off a great save to take us to the finals against Millfields. The final was a very close contest with Millfields winning 2-0. The children put in a huge amount of effort and we are so proud of them. Well done.

On Wednesday 16th October, three children from Year 6 visited Hackney Town Hall to attend the launch of the Hackney Reading Champions. This event marks the kick-off of our Reading Ambassadors challenge. Over this coming year, the Reading Ambassadors will help to raise the profile of reading in our school by completing a series of challenges. These ideas will come from the children with the intent of making our school a place where as many people as possible love to read. We look forward to sharing with you all the amazing achievements the Reading Ambassadors will be taking part in over the year.

Well done to Didem and Deniz for raising over £1000 for doing something incredibly special and selfless—they’re donating their beautiful hair to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides free wigs to children and young people who have lost their hair due to cancer or other illnesses. They are doing this as they know hair loss can be devastating for children, and having a wig that looks and feels like real hair can make an enormous difference in their confidence and well-being. Wigs provided by the Little Princess Trust are made from real hair and are completely free of charge to the families who need them. They wanted to do something to help. They’ve been growing their hair for months in preparation, and now they’re ready to make the big chop. This will take place in half term and we look forward to seeing them with their new hairstyles. Well done to them for being so kind and thoughtful.

Well done to the Betty Layward Dad’s football team who raised £750 for the school. They drew 0-0 with the Grazebrook Dads and were impressed with how many people turned up to support them. Thank you to all the Dads for doing this and I think there are more football matches to come.

I hope you have signed up for your parents' meeting. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

We also look forward to seeing you at the PTFA AGM on Monday 4th November at 5pm. Any help and support is really welcome and very much appreciated. It really does make a difference for the school.

I really hope you have a lovely half term break and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 4th November. Thank you for all your help, support and kindness this term.

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 18th October 2024

Wed 16 Oct 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a busy and great week. Year went to Woodberry Wetlands which tied into their science topic of habitats. The children looked at a variety of habitats and microhabitats, including grass, under logs, trees and ponds, and did some pond dipping. They found woodlice, worms, beetles, newt lava, newts, water hog louse, leopard slugs, centipedes and spiders. They had a great time and were really well behaved. Well done Year 2.

As part of our Black History Month celebrations, we have had some visitors in this week to talk to the children. Diane Abbott visited on Monday and told the children about her journey to becoming the first black female Member of Parliament in 1987. She was clear about her message of being whoever you want to be and not giving up. The children also asked some great questions. We had two Police Community Support Officers visit on Tuesday and they shared their stories in the assembly and discussed the theme for Black History Month, Reclaiming the Narrative with the children and what it means to them. Moses and Beverly (the PCSOs) shared their stories from growing up in Nigeria and Jamaica and how they continued to learn in Britain to land their dream jobs of working for the MET police. They both passed on the important message of how we can all work together to continue to learn about Black History.

Thank you for attending our Black History Month event today. It was great. Well done to Eva and her Grandad for singing before school as everyone walked in and for singing at the event too. Well done to the parents who organised it and thank you for your support. It was really good fun and the food was delicious.

Thank you to the Grandparents who came in this week. It was great to see you and the children love having you visit. I know we have some more coming in next week, which is great.

To raise funds for both primary schools, a group of Betty Layward dads will be playing against a Grazebrook veterans’ team on Saturday, 19th October (Stoke Newington School pitch), at 4.30 pm. You can support them by donating on this page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/school-football-charity-match. Please come along to applaud their incredible slow-motion skills and efforts to run. Thank you for your support and thank you to the Betty Layward Dads for doing this.

Please remember to sign up for your parents and carers meeting. We look forward to seeing you there.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Friday 11th October 2024

Fri 11 Oct 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a great week at Betty Layward. Year 6, Ruby class presented a wonderful assembly on the Grimm’s Fairy Tales. They were amazing with their acting and singing. Well done Ruby class.

Thank you for those of you who attended Family Friday in Reception today. It was lovely to see you there.

Please remember it is Grandparent’s week next week and we are looking forward to seeing the Grandparents here at school.

On Wednesday 16^th October we havei our Black History event in school from 3:30pm. Please purchase a ticket. We look forward to seeing you there and thank you to the parents who are organising this.

Thank you for your donations for the Harvest Festival. We will be donating these to our food bank. We would still really appreciate more donations.

Last Thursday, 3rd October, the children celebrated National Poetry Day. This was a chance for all children to share in the pleasures of poetry. From schools to libraries, over 1.5 million people participated in this national celebration. This year the theme was COUNTING. The children explored different poetic forms and structures. The children enjoyed creating their own prose using rhyme, free verse, paean, and alliteration. I have attached some of the amazing poems that the children have created. Well done to Ajanhi (Year 4), Sylvie (Year 4), Zahra (Year 4), Salome (Year 3), Skylar (Year 3) and Stanley (Year 3)

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 4th October 2024

Fri 04 Oct 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a busy week. Today we had a visitor, Paul, who talked about becoming a judge. This is part of our Black History Month theme of reclaiming narratives. This theme encourages us to shine a spotlight on the untold stories, the unsung heroes, and the everyday individuals who have made an indelible impact on our communities. Paul talked about his journey of becoming a judge with the children and answered their very insightful questions. Paul was a parent and a governor at the school and we thank him for coming in and sharing his journey. Please remember we have our Black History Month event on Wednesday 16th October at 3:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

Today we enjoyed a delicious lunch to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The children and staff really enjoyed it.

The children in Year 1 went on a great bus ride this week which linked with their Literacy text. They loved it and were incredibly well behaved, well done Year 1.

The children really enjoyed a drumming workshop this week with One-Drum. One-Drum is a troupe of professional Ghanaian performers, made up of African drummers, musicians, dancers and acrobats with over 30 years of experience providing an authentic African performance. Two drummers from the troupe came to visit the children class by class and each child had a drum and they all drummed together. It was fantastic and they loved it. It sounded amazing. Here is the link to the company so you can take a look.

https://www.one-drum.org/performances

Bobbie in Year 6 wrote about the workshop –

‘Over this week, each class has had a workshop on djembe drums. Djembe drums are from Africa, and the ones we used were handmade there. The instructor who was from Ghana, Africa, told lots of jokes and made us all laugh. We learnt many rhythms and by the end, he was inviting people to dance in the circle. All in all, everyone loved it.’

It is Mental Health Day on Thursday 10th October and we would like the children to wear yellow to school. people are encouraged to wear yellow to show support for young people's mental health. This is part of the #HelloYellow campaign by the mental health charity YoungMinds. The campaign encourages people to wear yellow clothing, such as t-shirts, socks, or headbands. The goal is to show young people that they are not alone if things feel hard and that things can get better. Thank you for your support for this. We encourage the children to talk about how they feel and that mental health is as important as physical health.

We have Grandparent week coming up. If your child has a Grandparent who would like to come into school and read a story or talk to the children about something of interest please book in with your child’s teacher. This starts on Tuesday 22nd October to Thursday 24th October. Availability for each class is in the table below. Please see your child’s teacher or email them to book a time. Thank you. We love seeing Grandparents in school and we look forward to their visits.

Date and time Classes Available

Tuesday, 22nd October – Morning Nursery, Reception, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6

Tuesday, 22nd October – Afternoon Nursery, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Wednesday, 23rd October – Morning Nursery, Reception Aqua, 1, 2 and 3

Wednesday, 23rd October – Afternoon Nursery, Reception Ocean, 1 Violet, 2 Peach, 5 and 6

Thursday, 24th October – Morning Nursery, Reception Aqua, 1, 2, 3 Emerald, 4 Cerise

Thursday, 24th October – Afternoon 1, 4, 5 and 6

We have Science Week coming up soon on October 14th and there are workshops for the children. More information will follow.

We have a table outside for Harvest donations. Any donations would be very welcome and would be much appreciated for our Food Bank.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica