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 8th December

  Fri 08 Dec 2023 Jessica

  Dear Parents and Carers,

  Thank you for an amazing Winter Fair. It was so lovely to see you there and for helping or supporting this event. It was really enjoyable and thank you to the organisers and for all your hard work. I know the children had a lovely time too.

   

  We have a very busy week next week. On Wednesday 13^th December we have the Nativity. Tickets for Year 1 and Reception have gone home and please remember is it only two adults per child as we can’t fit anyone else in. The performance for Year 1 parents and carers is at 9:45am and the performance for Reception parents and carers is at 2pm. The children will get to see the dress rehearsal this Monday. Year 6 are going to see a production of Annie at Stoke Newington on Tuesday afternoon. It is Christmas jumper day next Friday (15^th December) and the children will be enjoying a delicious Christmas lunch on that day too. On Tuesday 19^th December we have our Christmas concert in the church at 2:00pm and this is all the children from Year 2 to 6 and we look forward to seeing you there. This is in St Mary’s church on Church Street. You cannot pick your child up from there. We ask that you pick them up from school as normal at their regular time. The Nursery performance is at 10:30am on Thursday 14^th December and they will be singing a variety of winter songs. We look forward to seeing Nursery parents and carers then. We have our family carol concert on Wednesday 13^th December at 5pm. Thank you to those of you who have already bought tickets. These are for sale in the school office and are £5 per adult and children are free. This includes refreshments. We look forward to seeing you there.

   

  Laura Green is returning from maternity leave on Wednesday and will be the teacher of Emerald class with Aja. Thank you to Emma for covering her maternity leave. Emma will continue to be the teacher of Jade class with Asifa. 

   

  Amirah in Year 6 was incredibly proud this week about the Hackney District Football and wrote this about it –

  “Hackney District Girls Football Team won the Inner London South County Cup last Saturday at Douglas Eyre football ground in Walthamstow. We had to play against four different teams and I managed to save all the goals in every match, meaning four clean sheets! This was also the first time Hackney District Girls and Boys have won the tournament together.”

   

  Well done Amirah and everyone in the Hackney District teams.

   

  Please remember we finish at 1pm on Thursday 21^st December and there is no Junior Adventure Group or clubs so all children need to be picked up then.

   

  Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you at all our events next week.

  Jessica

  Headteacher  

   

   

  

• Newsletter Friday 1st December 2023

  Fri 01 Dec 2023 Jessica

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  The Christmas tree is up (thanks to Olivia, a parent, for decorating it so beautifully) and we are getting ready for the Winter Fair tomorrow. Thank you to those of you who have offered to help. We really need the help. I am really looking forward to seeing you there so please come and help raise funds for the school. Thank you for all your donations. They are also greatly appreciated.

   

  Year 6 attended the Hackney Junior Citizenship workshop on Thursday. The children participated in talks from representatives of the police service, fire brigade, TFL (underground services and bus services) and health professions. The year 6 children learnt valuable life skills to make them more aware of what they can do to help themselves, and others, make responsible decisions for a healthier, safer lifestyle. 

  On Wednesday, 8 children from KS2 attended the Hackney Panathlon at the Britannia Leisure Centre. They played a variety of games including bowling, the bean bag throw and curling. The children had a lot of fun and each came away with a medal and a certificate for taking part. Well done to these children. Great work.

   

  All our Christmas activities are about to begin. Please ensure you have the dates for all the performances in your diary. For the nativity each parent will be given two tickets for the performance. Year 1 in the morning and reception in the afternoon of Wednesday 13th December. We can only give two tickets per child due to the size of the hall. A letter will be coming home soon. Year 2 – 6 will be performing in the church on 19th December. We are having a Carol evening for families to attend on Wednesday 13th December from 5-6pm. Tickets are for sale in the office and are £5 for adults and children are free. Refreshments will also be provided. Please come and get your tickets from the office on Monday onwards.

   

  Please can you make sure your child is wearing a jumper or cardigan and a coat. It is getting colder and we need to keep them warm.

   

  I hope you have seen the sail shades in the playground. They look great and will really help protect the children from the sun. Thank you for fundraising for these.

  Thank you for your OPAL donations. We still need more. We would love –

  • 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

  Please bring any donations into school. Thank you. The children are really going to enjoy using these.

   

  I hope you have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you at the Winter Fair tomorrow.

  Jessica

  Headteacher  

   

  

• 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

   

   

   

  

• Newsletter - Friday 20th October 2023

  Fri 20 Oct 2023 Jessica

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  We come to the end of our first term of this academic year and I thank you for all your kindness and support. It has been a great and busy term and the children have been amazing, as always. They have worked hard and have demonstrated excellent behaviour. We are so proud of them and it is a pleasure being their headteacher.

   

  Thank you for supporting our Black History event today. It was great fun and thank you to the parents who organised it. The children also received an assembly about Hidden Figures today and Key Stage 2 had workshops. Our Black History Month menu this week was also very delicious. The children really enjoyed it.

   

  Thank you for your support with Grandparent Week this week. It was lovely having Grandparents visit the school. The children really enjoyed listening to them.  

  On Wednesday, Eloy, Felix, Gene and Finlay attended the Hackney Tennis Primary School Championships. All four played a number of matches against children from Jubilee and Sir Thomas Fairchild schools. They came out victorious and won the competition, bringing home the trophy. Well done to our amazing tennis players.

   

  On Wednesday afternoon, two children from KS2 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 the 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 children as possible love to read. 

   

  At the event, we were lucky enough to meet Sav Akyuz who is a children's author/illustrator. He showed us how he came up with his characters and even drew an illustration of a cool alien. Sav is going to be the patron of the Hackney Reading Champions for this year and we look forward to showing him all the amazing things we achieve. 

  Silas and Emmett Hussey held a toy, cake and lemonade sale on their road last week (in the last of the warm weather). They bought two bags of donations for Betty Layward’s Harvest appeal for the Hackney Foodbank with the proceeds. Well done Silas and Emmett.

   

  Dates for your diary – Quiz night is Friday 17th November at 7pm and the winter fair is Saturday 2nd December. We look forward to seeing you there and thank you for supporting our events.

   

  The details for parents’ meetings went out today. Please ensure you sign up. We look forward to seeing you there. Please could you ensure that you are signed up for Arbor as we are going to be using it more and more. Without it, you might miss out.

   

  Thank you for a great term, all your support and I hope you have a lovely week,

  Jessica

  Headteacher

  

• Newsletter Friday 13th October 2023

  Fri 13 Oct 2023 Jessica

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  We have had a great week. Ruby class performed an amazing assembly. It was a quiz show about the Mayans and they definitely knew a lot and taught us a lot too. Well done Ruby class.

   

  It is our Black History Month celebration next Friday (20th October) at 3:30pm in the hall. Please buy tickets for this as it is going to be a lot of fun. It is £6 for an adult and £4 for a child and a delicious plate of food is included. The children are having a special Black History Month assembly on that day and KS2 will be having workshops. KS1 will be having lessons too. There will be a special Black History Month menu on Thursday and Friday-

  Thursday

  Jamaican Oxtail Stew or 

  Jamaican Vegetarian Stew 

  Grilled Plantain, Rice & Peas

  Traditional Breadfruit Pudding

   

  Friday

  Jamaican Patties (Beef or Vegetarian)

  Corn on the Cob, Mango & Cucumber Salsa 

  Ginger Loaf

   

  We are also asking children to wear red on Friday 20th October in support of showing Racism the Red Card. We need to challenge misconceptions, stereotypes and negative attitudes in society. We will be talking to children about this next week and asking them to wear red to school on Friday in support of this. They do not need to wear school uniform on this day.

   

  On Tuesday 10th October, Betty Layward played their first football fixture of the Hackney football league against Halley House at the Young Hackney Eastway Hub. Despite a terrific team performance by the boys, Halley House won 2-0. 

  The girls kicked off their first game of the season with a very hard fought 3-3 draw with goals from Zhara, Martha and an own goal to get our first points of the season. Well done everyone.

   

  On Wednesday 11th October, the Betty Layward boy's football team took part in a year 5 and 6 boy’s football competition at Mabley Green. There were victories over Parkwood and William Pattern and a draw against Baden Powell which meant that Betty Layward qualified for the next round against Mandeville. The boys put in a lot of effort during the match however were unable to get the victory as Mandeville won 2-0. Well done to all the boys who took part, we are very proud of you all.

   

  We are looking forward to seeing Grandparents next week. If you haven’t booked your child’s Grandparent in please see your child’s class teacher. Thank you for your harvest donations. We were delighted to see so many. Thank you for supporting our fancy dress, second-hand uniform and coat sale today.

   

  The children are having a week of work the week after half term. This will involve them learning about different careers. Nursery are learning about everyday jobs, Reception are learning about jobs in nature, Year 1 are learning about Engineering and robots and machines, Year 2 are learning about community jobs, Year 3 are learning about building futures and architecture, Year 4 are learning about arts and the theatre, Year 5 are learning about ethical business and Year 6 are learning about developing an app. There will be a trip or workshop linked to the theme for each year group. We are really looking forward to it.  If you work in any of these businesses or can come on a trip (letters will be out next week) please let us know. 

   

  While thinking about what is going on in the world it would be lovely if hatred could turn into shaking hands and weapons could turn into welcoming arms. Kindness should be at the heart of all that we do and it definitely is at Betty Layward.

  Have a lovely weekend,

  Jessica

  Headteacher

  

• Friday 6th October 2023

  Fri 06 Oct 2023 Jessica

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  Thank you for all your support with Ofsted this week. Your support and kind words were overwhelming and very special. I was not allowed to see your comments from the questionnaires but the inspector told us how positive they were and how supportive you are as a group of parents and carers. I thank you for this, as this is the reason why Betty Layward is such a lovely place to work. Thank you to those of you who did send me the comments you wrote as they were very lovely to read. We had an amazing result of 100% of families recommending the school.  This is fabulous and this is what really counts. The children were amazing and a credit to you and us. I was so proud of them. I have organised a thank you treat for them the week after next. The report will be out in around 30 days.

   

  On Wednesday, four children in year 6 talked to the school about dyslexia in assembly to celebrate Dyslexia Awareness Week. They did a fabulous job at explaining what dyslexia is, and shared some of the difficulties that people might typically face. Did you know that these famous people are dyslexic: John Lennon, Jamie Oliver, Daniel Radcliffe and Whoopie Goldberg?

   

  On Wednesday 4th October a group of year 4, 5 and 6 girls took part in a football competition at Mabley Green. The first round of matches were in a group stage format where the top 2 teams qualified for the quarter-finals.  Both of the Betty Layward teams were successful in qualifying.  Unfortunately, after a hard-fought match against Mossbourne Parkside our year 4's journey ended at the quarter-finals. Our year 5 and 6 girls however made it all the way to the finals and after a dramatic and nerve-racking penalty shootout against Woodberry Down school, Iris scored the winning penalty to win the competition for Betty Layward and sparked wild celebrations. Thank you to the parent volunteers and well done to all the girls who took part. We are very proud of you all.

   

  Stanley, Frankie and Dylan made cakes and planes last weekend and sold them to raise money for the school. Well done – they raised £30.17. I am so impressed with the children’s attitudes about helping the school. Congratulations to Stanley, Frankie and Dylan.

  Our sail shades are being installed very soon, which is really exciting.

  Please remember Ruby class assembly on Tuesday at 9:15am. We look forward to seeing you there. Thanks again for all your support this week.

   

  Have a lovely weekend,

  Jessica

  

• Friday 29th September 2023

  Fri 29 Sep 2023 Jessica

  Dear Parents and Carers,

  We have had a great and busy week. The children are enjoying their topics. They are working hard and we are very proud of them. It was lovely seeing you at our Meet the Teacher meetings this week. We have a couple more next week.

   

  The International Welcome Food Event was great last Friday, despite the weather, which did get the better of us in the end. We raised £1150 and I would like to thank you for your support, kindness and donations of food. It was lovely to see so many of you there.

   

  Please remember the AGM on Thursday 5th October at 5pm. This will be online and a link will be sent out soon. Please look at the information that was emailed to you from them. We look forward to seeing you then.

   

  On Wednesday 26th September, 8 children from Betty Layward took part in a Cricket Festival at the Young Hackney Hub. The children started with some throwing, catching and batting drills followed by a cricket game at the end which was so much fun. Well done everyone and thank you to the parent volunteer for your help on the day.

   

  Last weekend Emma and Mara ( Apricot class) decided they wanted to raise some money for our school by putting on a cakes and lemonade sale outside Emma's house. Maddie (rainbow nursery) also helped bake! Their vanilla cupcakes, brownie cakes, chocolate chip cookies and homemade lemonade were very popular and they were all very chuffed to have raised £46.20 for the school. A massive well done to Emma, Mara and Maddie. 

   

  Grandparent week is coming soon and will be happening the week beginning 16th October. Grandparents can be a big part of children’s lives. It is an opportunity for the children’s grandparents to come in and read a story, tell the children about their school experience or tell them about an interest or a hobby. The sessions will take place on most afternoons of that week so if you would like your child’s grandparent to attend please contact your child’s teacher to arrange a time. The sessions are about 10-20 minutes each. We really enjoy meeting grandparents and look forward to seeing them then.

  Matilda wrote about the eco trip last week –

  The Eco Trip

  Where?

  We went to a shop on church street called Know & Love run by a lady called Karen.

                

  Who went?

  The year fives and year sixes of the eco committee. We went to the shop that’s stock is very locally sourced and good for the environment. We had a look at their products and asked questions about how they were made and how they were imported.

   

  What?

  We went to a little room at the back of the shop, there was the owner there and other people there. A lady from Hackney Herbal, a social enterprise. Two other business women who ran a business called Kind Bag, where they make bags made of recycled plastic bottles, were there. There was also a woman who made wooden birds and a Hackney councillor.

   

  After

  When I got home I took the Verbena leaf the lady from Hackney Herbal gave me, she told me that if I put it in a cup of boiling water it would turn into tea so I put it in and it turned bright green! It was tea-licious!

   

  Thank you for a great recount of the trip Matilda.

   

  Covid is back and is on the increase. If your child does have Covid please can they not come into school for 3 days and this is for the 3 days after they take the test. Any questions please let me know and we are encouraging the children to wash their hands.

   

  Have a lovely weekend,

  Jessica

  Headteacher