Interactive Bar
Instagram
Instagram
Jessica's Newsletters
This is the place where you will be able to read my weekly newsletters. Thanks for taking the time to read them, Jessica
-
Newsletter Friday 7th June 2024
Fri 07 Jun 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you had a lovely half term. I cannot believe it is the last week of term before the summer holidays. Where has the time gone? It is the last term for our Year 6 so we will ensure they have the best ending. The children are and have been amazing this year and are very ready for their next adventure to their new year group.
We have a new special event for the children. There will be a silent disco in the playground at 4:30pm -5:30pm on Friday 5th July. Tickets are £4 per child and will be on sale before and after school on Monday. The children will need to bring a named water bottle and other snacks will be provided, which is included in the ticket price. They will not need to bring any money. We are really looking forward to seeing all the children dancing in the playground with their headphones on.
Nursery had a family morning this morning when parents and carers came in and it was really lovely to see parents and carers having a lovely time with their children. Thank you for coming and supporting the morning. It looked like everyone had a great time.
A new order of PE T-shirts has been made and I am hoping they will be here by the end of next week. Sorry for the delay.
Hopefully, the weather is improving. I have reminded the children to wear hats and to apply sunscreen before school.
We have a lot of children off school at the moment with an upset stomach. We really do not want this to spread further so we ask that you follow the school guidelines and that your child does not return to school until 48 hours after their LAST bout of sickness or diarrhoea. Thank you for your support with this.
We are really looking forward to this term and all the lovely events taking place. Please ensure that you have all the dates in your calendar.
Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 24th May 2024
Thu 23 May 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for all your support and kind words about Blastonbury. The children were amazing and you were a great audience. I am always so impressed with what the children can do. They shine all the time. Their singing was amazing and I believe that all the artists and bands whose songs they sang would have been very impressed. Well done to all the Betty Layward children. We would have sung Praise Me again but it had become too hot. We will do it another time. A massive thank you to Luke and all the adults who helped. Thank you for coming and for all your support.
I cannot believe that today is the last day of another term and we only have one term left before the end of the academic year. We have a lot to look forward to next term including Sports Day. Please check the school calendar on the website for the dates. We also have Parents and Carer’s week during the week beginning 8th July and you will be given a date and time when you can come and join in with an activity, e.g. rounders with your child. This is really fun and we look forward to seeing you there.
The children had a brilliant day last Saturday running the final mile of the Hackney Half Marathon that all of the Betty Layward children have been doing at school this year.
Did any of your children manage to run their final mile last weekend or perhaps they will get a chance over half term? We will keep the GoFundMe page open over the next 10 days just in case anyone has not managed to send the link out to family and friends. Please continue to give paper sponsorship forms and cash to Max at Reception. The GoFundMe link is listed below.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/betty-layward-is-running-the-hackney-half-marathon-2024
We do have a lot of cases of nits at the moment and they seem to be jumping from head to head. Please can you check and treat your child on a regular basis and we would love to see less of them. Please click on the link below for some guidance about nits. Thank you for supporting us with this.
https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/wet-combing-conditioner-treating-head-lice
Have a really lovely bank holiday weekend and half term and we look forward to seeing you all for a great last term.
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 17th May 2024
Fri 17 May 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been a very good week. Year 6 were absolutely brilliant with completing their SATs this week and were very calm and positive. They worked extremely hard and we are really proud of them. Well done Year 6. You are all wonderful children who are so much more than a SATs result. You should be very proud of yourself. We are very proud of you. The children had a great trip to the park today as a treat.
It is Mental Health Awareness Week this week and this year's theme is 'movement: moving more for our mental health'. Our well-being ambassadors led some movement to music outside for all the children and they learnt how movement can positively help our mental health.
Thank you to those of you supporting us by running the Hackney half marathon. We are really grateful. Good luck to you and I hope the weather is kind to you. A big thank you to those of you taking the children to run the mile this weekend too. It is a great thing to do and your support is really appreciated. It was lovely to see some of you after school today collecting the t-shirts and raising funds for the school.
We have Blastonbury at 2pm on Thursday (23rd May). This is in the playground. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather is dry. There will be a designated area for you to stand and we ask that you do not come out of that area or stand on chairs etc. You may not be able to see clearly but you will definitely be able to hear clearly. The children are amazing and you are in for a treat.
Thank you to the Reception parents who came to Family Friday today. It was lovely to see you there. It looked like everyone had a great time making puppets. I have attached some photos.
Some children from years 4 and 5 were selected to take part in the Hackney Aquathlon at Clissold Leisure Centre on Wednesday 15th May. The children took part in several water activities like a walking race across the swimming pool, front and back crawl using a noodle and float, picking up treasure and much more. Well done everyone, we are very proud of you. You were great.
We also had a lot of trips and workshops this week. Reception were visited by Zoo Lab and various creatures and loved it. Year 2 went to the Garden Classroom and had a great time. Year 3 went to the Centre for Circus Arts and really enjoyed it. It was lovely hearing all about these. Please ask your child about them too.
This week, year 4 participated in a science workshop hosted by School of Noise. The workshop contained a mix of an interactive presentation, hands-on play and experimentation. They conducted scientific experiments on how sound is made (vibration, frequency), how it travels (medium, longitudinal/pressure waves) and where it ends up (hearing, absorption). A lot of fun was had.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and good luck with the marathon,
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 10th May 2024
Fri 10 May 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
We are so glad that the sun is shining. Long may it last. We have had a busy week. Elsie and Lizzie led a brilliant assembly on street art and they taught us all about different types of street art and different street artists. Well done Elsie and Lizzie. The assembly was absolutely marvellous.
Peach class performed a wonderful assembly about the Wright Brothers and flight. It was amazing. The children were confident and clear with their lines and worked brilliantly together. Well done Peach class, you should be proud of yourselves.
Thank you to those of you who attended the Maths workshop this week. We hope you found it useful.
Our Year 6 children have their SATs next week. They have worked incredibly hard and we are really proud of them. The children know they are more than just SATs results. They are wonderful, kind, responsible, creative and independent people. We are incredibly proud of them. Good luck Year 6 for next week. We think you are all amazing.
Quite a few children are arriving after the door and the gates shut. Can you please ensure they are here on time. Thank you for supporting with this.
The Summer Fair is on 13th July and not 6th July. Please ensure this date is in your diary.
Thank you for supporting us with the children collecting 20ps. We will be counting them on Monday 22nd July. Please keep collecting as every 20p makes a difference.
I hope you enjoy the sunshine this weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher -
Newsletter Friday 3rd May 2024
Fri 03 May 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
We have had a lovely week with a lot of great things happening. The children have more equipment in the playground and it is lovely seeing them dressing up and playing with new resources. You might have noticed our new sheds. These will hold all the new resources and we are really pleased with them.
Some of our children did some fabulous fundraising. Oli, Jake, Zach, Leo, Sam and Otty ran a 5k inflatable obstacle course and raised £3395 for Dravet Syndrome. This is an amazing achievement. Well done to these children.
Jade class performed a fabulous assembly this week and worked brilliantly together. They were confident and enthusiastic and spoke with clear and lovely voices. They also taught us all about the Olympics as well as some other very interesting facts. Well done Jade class.
Thank you to those of you who attended or helped at Betty Bingo last week. It was a great night and thank you once again for the brilliant fundraising you are doing.
Please remember the children are collecting 20p. Thank you for supporting them with this.
Please remember to check the school calendar on our website. It can also link to your personal calender so you can get notifications. All dates, assemblies, events etc are on there.
I hope you have a lovely bank holiday weekend and the sun shines,
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 26th April 2024
Fri 26 Apr 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
Happy World Earth Day from Monday. The children have had a great week celebrating World Earth Day as they had outdoor lessons and made a class junk model out of materials that could be recycled whilst thinking about how we could all help save our planet. Please see the attached photos. They presented these in their Star of the Week and Kindness Award assemblies. They were great and the children really enjoyed making them and learnt about looking after our planet at the same time.
Saffron class presented an amazing assembly this week on the rainforest and the different animals and creatures who live there. It was fabulous. The children were very confident, spoke clearly and taught us an amazing amount of facts. It was very impressive. Well done Saffron class.
We are practising for Blastonbury and are really looking forward to it. The theme this year is music acts who have headlined or played at Glastonbury. You are in for a treat. It is taking place at 2pm on Thursday 23rd May.
Well done to the PTFA for raising about £2500 at the Vintage Clothes Fair last night. That is amazing. Thank you for all your donations. Thank you to the organisers and those of you who helped and went. That is a great result. We have Disco Bingo tonight and are looking forward to seeing you there. We feel very lucky to have such kind and supportive parents and carers at Betty Layward and everything you do really does make a difference to the children and school. A massive thank you to all of you.
PE t-shirts will be on sale every Wednesday from the school office. You will be able to use card as payment.
Please ensure you look at the calendar on the website as the summer term dates are on there.
Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 19th April 2024
Fri 19 Apr 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back. It is so lovely to see you and your children back. I hope you had a lovely holiday. The children are back with big smiles which is lovely to see. I cannot believe we are already in the summer term. The academic year is flying by. We have lots of lovely things coming up so please look at the calendar on the website for dates. Blastonbury is on the afternoon of 23rd May.
Reception hosted Family Friday today and the parents and carers came into their child’s classroom and read together. It was so lovely to see and thank you to those of you who were able to make it. There are photos attached to this newsletter.
Thank you for attending your parent’s meeting before the holidays. I hope you found them helpful. We have given you your child’s report so we can work with you on their next steps this term.
This week we celebrated Autism Appreciation Week with a special assembly. We discussed what autism is, why differences are positive, and talked about some famous people who are neurodivergent. Martin in Year 4 presented confidently to the school, and showed us a brilliant lego animation video he had made. Classes have had discussions about appreciating each others' differences, and being kind, and have designed Kahoot quizzes about autism.
This is the last term for Year 6 and we will ensure that they have a really brilliant one. They deserve it as they have been and are absolutely amazing.
Year 5 Saffron are having their class assembly on Wednesday 24th April at 9:15am. We look forward to seeing the parents and carers of Saffron class then.
We have some great events coming up. There is a vintage and designer sale on Wednesday 24th April from 7:30-11pm at the Red Lion Pub (upstairs). Please help by donating one or two pieces of good condition pre-loved, vintage, designer, or high street clothing, shoes, and accessories including bags, jewellery and sunglasses. The focus is on women’s items but men’s and children’s clothes etc are welcome too. This could be anything you would sell on Vinted or eBay (washed & ironed on a hanger will help us). Thank you to the organisers, and those of you who donated, are helping or attending. It is great to have so much support.
Betty's Disco Bingo is on Friday 26th April 7.30pm at the school. Tickets are still available here: https://bit.ly/betty's-disco-bingo-2024 We look forward to seeing you there.
Please can I ask you to walk around the building to leave in the morning and after school. A lot of parents and carers are walking out of the main gates and it is becoming too congested. Thank you for your help with this and please can you tell anyone who does not receive these emails and comes to pick up or drop off to do the same. Thank you.
We are aware that a lot of children have smartphones or iPads and we are reminding them about how to keep safe on them. Establishing the rules on safety and wellbeing for using the phone or iPad is key. This means talking to your child about how and when they use them, why they shouldn’t answer unknown texts and calls, be aware of not giving out personal information online, and the importance of being kind online. Please encourage your child to always talk to you if they have a weird or bad experience online. We will continue to support this area too.
There is a meeting for Year 6 parents and carers about SATs and how it is managed on Wednesday 24th April at 3:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there.
I am sad to say nits are back. They never seem to go away. Please check your child’s hair regularly and treat them if you find anything. Thank you for doing this.
I hope you have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 22nd March 2024
Fri 22 Mar 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
We have had a brilliant week this week. We had a fabulous child led assembly about Spring. The children taught about Spring, Passover and Easter. They did an amazing job and we were all very impressed. Well done Juno, Manu, Livia and Bobbi. You are all fantastic.
The children have started leading our Star of the Week and Kindness Assemblies. A child in Year 6 will lead Key Stage 2 Assemblies and a child in Year 2 will lead Key Stage 1 assemblies. The children can volunteer if they would like to do it. We had two fantastic children do it this week. Well done.
As part of their ‘Living things and their Habitats’ topic, Year four went on a trip to Hampstead Heath this week to discover the secret life of invertebrates. They explored the Heath with a hands-on bug hunt and even went pond dipping to see how many creatures they could find. They learnt about how to classify these animals using scientific keys and got a chance to create their own eco-art. Lots of fun was had.
On Tuesday 19th March, the Betty Layward Girls football team represented Hackney at the London Youth Games. The Girls played teams from Haringey, Waltham Forest, Brent, Camden, Merton, Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge. The girls did very well and showed great team spirit. Well done everyone, we are very proud of you all.
On Thursday 21st March, a group of year 6 children took part in a Kayaking competition at Leaside. The day started with 5 heats, the top 2 children would go into the quarter-finals then into the semi-finals and final. Well done to Rocky and Wilf who were the overall winners with Pearse and Sam coming second. Well done to everyone who took part.
We had a lovely lunch today to celebrate Holi. The children had Vegetarian Baked Samosas with Rice & Sweetcorn and Mango Lassi for dessert.
Thank you for booking your parent meeting. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday. The school will close at 1pm. Please ensure you pick up then. Junior Adventure Group are taking bookings. This is also the last day of term and we return on Monday 15th April. I hope you have a fantastic holiday and the sun shines. Thank you for all your brilliant support and we look forward to the summer term.
Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 15th March 2024
Fri 15 Mar 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for all your support with the jumble sale. We raised an amazing £3900. Thank you for all your donations, support and time. I am so impressed with how well the PTFA are doing and thank you so much for all the amazing fundraising. It means a lot to us and to the children. It makes a real difference. Dining with Damian has been postponed to the summer so we will have it outside and it is something to look forward to. The Team Betty t-shirts have currently sold out and they will be available. Please also follow Team Betty (PTFA) on Instagram – TeambettyPTFA.
Chilli class performed an amazing class assembly on William Shakespeare this week. They were brilliant. They shared a lot of facts about him and his work. They were confident, clear and just amazing. Well done Chilli class.
Thank you for signing up for your Parent’s meeting. The school will close at 1pm on Thursday 28th March and the meetings will start shortly after. This is also the last day of term.
There is a creche for children if you need it during your appointment time. This is not for the whole afternoon. JAGS will be here from 1pm so you can book a spot with them if you need it.
Jojo, a year 4 child, won Headteacher of the Day at the auction and carried out his duties yesterday. He was amazing. He led assembly, gave out gold certificates and was on playground duty. Well done Jojo. What an excellent Headteacher you are. I have attached a photo.
20p day will happen in July. This is when we ask the children to fundraise. We ask the children to find as many ways as they can to collect 20ps and then bring them into school in July. The class that raises the most wins £20 to spend as they choose. We have also said there will be a surprise treat for that class too. Thank you for supporting this.
Our Eco-committee received a grant of £250 for plants and had a lovely time buying plants this week. These will be put in classrooms and around school as we all benefit from having plants around us. Well done to the Eco- committee. You can see them with their plants in the photo attached.
A neighbour has come in and complained about children dropping litter in the gardens next to the school. Please can you ensure that they do not do this. Please can I also ask you to not stand at the main entrance and block it when children are still trying to enter. We have also started walking around the school so please come in through the main entrance and out through the car park entrance. Thank you for supporting us with this.
Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
-
Newsletter Friday 8th March 2024
Fri 08 Mar 2024Dear Parents and Carers,
We are very glad the sun is shining and hopefully it continues. We have our Jumble Sale tomorrow and we look forward to seeing you there. Thank you for all your donations and to those of you who are helping on the day.
We are also looking forward to Dining with Damian on Friday 22nd March. It should be a lovely evening and we look forward to seeing you there. A massive thank you to the PTFA for all your support and time with all these events. I was so impressed with the auction raising £6,981.00 . A massive well done and thank you to all parents and carers who donated and those of you who also bought an item. I am looking forward to one of the children being headteacher for the day this month. I know they will be brilliant.
We had an amazing World Book day yesterday. The children looked amazing and made some excellent story characters out of a range of items. Thank you for supporting us with this. It was a really great day. Please see attached photos.
On Wednesday 6th March 2024 the year 4 and 5 girls football team took part in the Young Hackney Biggest Girls Football competition at Mabley Green, to celebrate International Women's Day. The girls took part in several carousel activities in the morning as a warm up followed by a football tournament with victories over St Dominic's, William Pattern and Millfields which meant we qualified for the finals. Unfortunately, we lost in the finals 1-0 to Queensbridge. Well done to all the girls that took part and Bonnie who won player of the tournament! We are all very proud of you.
Reception visited the farm today and were so well behaved. They loved seeing all the different animals. This was their first trip and they were brilliant. Well done Reception.
On Thursday 21st March we will be celebrating World Down Syndrome Day, and the theme this year is 'End the Stereotypes'. We are asking children to wear interesting, fun, or mismatched socks to school. The aim is to create a single global voice advocating for the rights, inclusion and well-being of people with Down syndrome. Your voice (and your socks) can help us to be heard.
Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. We are all proud of who we are at Betty Layward. Happy International Women's Day.
Have a lovely weekend and see you at the jumble sale tomorrow,
Jessica
Headteacher
