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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
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Friday 6th October 2023
Fri 06 Oct 2023Dear 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
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Friday 29th September 2023
Fri 29 Sep 2023Dear 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
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Friday 22nd September 2023
Fri 22 Sep 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you have had a good week. Thank you to those of you who helped and donated food for the Welcome Event this afternoon. It was all delicious. It was lovely to see so many of you there and I thank you for all your support. It is a really lovely event and an opportunity to all meet up after the holidays.
We were all really pleased to receive a letter this week about our Year 6 SATs results and how well our children did. Please see the attached photo. Well done to our children and our staff for the excellent outcomes.
We have started working with Opal to develop our lunchtime provision and I have resent the questionnaire. Please complete it if you haven’t already. It is really exciting and the changes will be happening soon.
Thank you to those of you who attended the Meet the Teacher’s meetings. There are more next week and the week after. We hope you were able to see some of the newly decorated classrooms upstairs.
On the 19th September, during London Design Festival Week (16 - 24th September), our Eco Warriors went to a local shop, Know and Love, on Church Street to look at designers and artists who are leading the way on sustainability. They really enjoyed the trip and a big thank you to Know and Love for providing the workshop.
A big well done to Charlie and Lily who raised £21 for Project Renovate by selling cakes. Fantastic work and well done.
Please can you ensure your child is not scooting on the road on the way to school and on the way home, especially if they are not wearing a helmet. I know it is a school road but cars can appear unexpectedly. The cameras are now up so please do not drive down between the hours of 8:30-9:30am and 3-4pm. You will get a fine if you do.
We are putting the dates of events on the school website calendar. You can subscribe to it and then it will put the events in your diary.
We are organising more trips for the children this year. From Year 1 to Year 6 there will two art trips or workshops and two religious education trips as well as three or four trips or workshops per class per year. We are really looking forward to these and you will receive more information soon.
Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Newsletter Friday 15th September
Fri 15 Sep 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
What a great week we have had. Our new children in Reception and Nursery have settled in really well. I am so impressed with how well they are doing and I really enjoy seeing their happy faces when I go to visit. They are also doing really well eating their lunches and being out in the playground. I am sure they will be tired today after their first full day. We are so pleased they are all here and we are really enjoying getting to know them.
I have put all the dates for the Meet the Teacher meetings on the calendar on our website. Please view the calendar in grid format as the list format is not very clear to see. We are going to get this changed. Please take a look and put these dates in your diary. It is an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and find out what they will be learning this year. If you have a KS2 child it will also give you an opportunity to see the newly decorated classrooms. The Year 6 meeting will also include information about applying for secondary school. The admissions process is for children in Year 6 who will start secondary school in September 2024. You need to apply by 31 October 2023.
Next Friday (22nd September) at 3:30pm we will be hosting our Welcome International Food Event in the playground. I would really appreciate some help with this and some donations of dishes. This is a great opportunity for everyone to meet up after the summer holidays and for new families to meet other members of our school community. Please let me know if you can help or donate food as it would be a great shame to have to cancel our first event. I am really looking forward to it.
The children are loving the new school lunches. It is a pleasure to sit and eat with them. I am seeing a lot of empty plates and hearing some lovely compliments about the food. Today the children had a special lunch for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year and it was delicious.
I hope you got the flyer for our working week in October. We are really looking forward to this.
Thank you for returning the letters of interest in learning a new instrument. The available instrument lessons we have remaining are trumpet, violin, flute, clarinet and saxophone.
Please email Briony at Brionyblow@bettylayward.org if you would like to book your child into lessons for the year or would like more information.
School starts at 8:50am for Key Stage 2 and 8:55 for Reception, Nursery and Key Stage 1. Your child will be marked as late if they arrive after these times. If your child arrives 10 minutes late every day, that adds up to almost an hour of school lost every single week. Please ensure your child is on time.
Have a lovely weekend and I wish all of you celebrating Rosh Hashana a very Happy New Year this weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Newsletter Friday 8th September 2023
Fri 08 Sep 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
It is so lovely to be back. I hope you have had a great summer. Welcome to our new academic year. We have an exciting year ahead. Summer still seems to be here which is great for the beginning of term. The children have come back with huge smiles and have settled into their new classes really well. It is fabulous to see them. Welcome to all our new children and their families. I hope you will be really happy here. We are really thrilled you are part of the Betty Layward community.
The upstairs has been decorated and most classrooms have been refloored. It looks amazing. It had not been done for years and the flooring was over 20 years old. It is astounding how much difference bright new white paint and fresh new floors can make. The company did not order enough flooring so two classrooms and the ICT suite will have their floors fitted in the half term holidays. A nice environment for the children is crucial for effective learning as they are in the classrooms all day and I am so pleased they now all have it. We do still need to raise the rest of the money to pay for this so thank you for your support.
The sail shades were also due to be put up in the holidays but have been delayed due to the company being busy over the summer and the weather delaying some of the jobs before us. They should be put up this term though. Thank you for raising the money for this too.
The children are really enjoying their new school lunches and I am so pleased that all children have access to school lunches at no cost to you this year. They are really delicious and the new company work well with our school ethos; putting the children first and ensuring that we are using good quality ingredients and minimising food waste. Please look at their website – Fuel for learning and see how they work. We are really thrilled they are here and Damian, the chef, is serving and talking to the children every day which is really lovely to see. They are often complimenting the chef. It is so lovely to see them happy while they are eating.
We have our International Welcome event in the playground on Friday 22nd September at 3:30 pm. This was really lovely last year and it is a great opportunity for families to meet each other, especially new families. We will be selling dishes from around the world but to do this I would really appreciate donations of a dish from you. There will also be a BBQ and refreshments. We will be selling food by the plate and there will also be drinks. If you would like to help me set up and help at the event I would also really appreciate it. Please let me know. Any money raised will go towards the decorating of the upstairs classrooms. Thank you for wanting to support this.
Please remember to put your child’s name in their uniform and any other clothing they wear to school. It would be great to see less lost property this year. We do not allow crocs or backless shoes as footwear so please remember this.
Thank you for being such a great community and I am really looking forward to this school year. If you need anything please ask. Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine.
Jessica
Headteacher
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Friday 21st July 2023
Fri 21 Jul 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
I cannot believe this year is finishing today. What a great year it has been, and much of that has been down to you. We say goodbye to our Year 6 children. They have been fantastic and are a credit to you as well as themselves. They were my first Reception class so I have seen them all the way through their time at Betty Layward and what a privilege that has been. Their performance of the Wizard of Oz was amazing and such a lovely way to say goodbye to them. I wish them all well for their next journey at Secondary school. Each school is lucky to have them. Well done Year 6. Keep shining.
Thank you for all your support. I am so lucky to be the headteacher of such a lovely school with such a great community. You run and help at events, you donate via direct debit as well as many other great ways of supporting us. Thank you. It means a lot.
We have a new catering company in September. We are really looking forward to working with them. They are called Fuel for Learning and their food is delicious and sourced locally. All lunches (apart from nursery) are free next year so I do hope you will encourage the children to have school lunches and take up this offer.
Well done to the PTFA and Project Renovate. The good news is we are halfway to the amount needed for the decoration. As it’s hard to find time to get all those classrooms decorated and re-floored we are having the work done this summer. We need to definitely raise the other half now. We are also having the sail shades installed in the holidays. This is exciting as it will offer more shade to our children while they play.
Thank you for the 20ps today. We raised £908.50. This will go towards Project Renovate. Year 4 raised the moved the most money by raising £409 as a year group. Both classes received £20 to spend as they wish in Year 5.
We have so much to look forward to next year. The Opal playground project starts in September and we will be providing the children with different opportunities at lunchtime. The new curriculum is in place and going well. It is a joy listening to the children talk about their learning and using the vocabulary linked to the subject areas.
I am sure you will join me in saying a huge thank you to all the staff. They are caring, hardworking and dedicated and a pleasure to work with. We are lucky to have such a great team at Betty Layward.
Your children are amazing. They make me smile every day. Their behaviour, including their learning behaviour, is exemplary. They are wonderful to spend time with. Thank you for giving us the privilege of sending your child to Betty Layward. We really love having them. I hope you have a really lovely summer.
Jessica
Headteacher
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Friday 14th July 2023
Fri 14 Jul 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
One week to go! Time has flown by. A massive well done to Year 6 for their SATs results. The reading paper was exceptionally hard this year and there was an enormous amount to read in a very short time. The children did amazingly well and we are really proud of them. Every child in Year 6 was Star of the Week today. Well done Year 6.
The children visited their new classes yesterday and really enjoyed their time in their new year group. They will be doing the same on Monday so that they are really familiar with their new adults and classrooms.
We have a busy last week next week with the Year 6 show and presentation on Tuesday followed by the garden party. We look forward to seeing the Year 6 parents and carers there (only 2 guests per child please).
We finish at 2pm on Friday and there is no after school provision so please ensure your child is picked up on time.
Thank you to the organisers of our Eid event today. Such delicious food and treats. It was a great success. Thank you to those of you who supported the event and donated too.
Thank you to the organisers of the auction and even though it was a shame we had to postpone it I know it will be great in the Autumn Term.
I am so proud of Juno in Year 4 who decided to make and sell loom bands to raise money for the school. She made £20. Well done Juno. Please see the attached photo.
It is 20p day on the last day of term so please make sure your child brings their 20ps in next week. Thank you for supporting us with this. It is much appreciated.
Here is an easy way to earn money for the PTFA! Order name tags for your children's uniform and never lose an item again. Please go to www.MyNametags.com and use the School ID 65659 (please insert your school id at the checkout page/delivery address) they will give 24% back to the school, it is as simple as that.
There is a picnic in Clissold Park after school closes on Friday next week. This is not a PTFA event. This is just an opportunity for all families to come together. Everyone is welcome.
Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Friday 7th July 2023
Fri 07 Jul 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
Well done Cerise class on a wonderful assembly about electricity. You taught us a lot and also reminded us about how to keep safe. Well done Cerise class, you were marvellous.
Thank you for your support with the NEU strikes this week. I appreciate it is difficult and disruptive. Let’s hope a decision is made soon.
What a fantastic Summer Fair. I heard so many wonderful comments about how great it was, so well done to everyone who organised, helped, donated, cooked and tidied up. It was a really successful community event. So successful it has raised about £7800, which is amazing. Well done to the Betty Layward community. What a wonderful group you are.
We are having an Eid event after school on Friday 14th July. Please join us. There will be delicious food and some activities. Thank you to the parents who are organising this. We are very grateful.
Please remember to buy your tickets for the Auction which is on 14th July in the evening. Thank you for any donations. This is to help raise funds to decorate the upstairs classrooms.
A parent of the school has created a really interesting film about online safety. Please watch. Thank you to those of you who came to our meeting on online safety. Please attend the virtual workshop if you could not make the one at school, as this area is really important and there is more to understand and to be aware of. The link to the film is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UY2HOpuTlk
Have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Friday 30th June 2023
Fri 30 Jun 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you so much for attending our Parent/Carer events. The children really loved having you there and it was lovely seeing everyone having so much fun.
We celebrated Hispanic week this week and the children learnt some flamenco dancing. They were very impressive and it was lovely to watch.
I really hope you can come and support the summer fair tomorrow. This could be helping on a stall, setting up or clearing up. Every bit of help makes a difference. Thank you to the organisers, helpers and parents and carers who are cooking. It is very impressive how you all come together to create a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who is supporting as these events raise a lot of money and make a huge difference for the children.
I hope everyone had a Happy Eid this week. We have an Eid event after school on Friday 14th July. There will be delicious food. Please come and support us.
Last Thursday, 22nd June, Hackney Education held its second Reading Ambassadors Summer Celebration. Two students represented our school and we were fortunate to receive a Gold certificate for all of our efforts to raise the profile of reading at Betty Layward. All of the Reading Ambassadors have put a huge effort into running lunchtime book clubs, presenting assemblies and writing book reviews for our school library. We look forward to building on our successes next year.
We had our new Reception parents meeting this week and I would like to welcome all out new parents. You are very lucky to be part of such a wonderful and supportive community.
Please make sure you have signed up for your parent/carer’s meeting on Arbor. Any issues with doing this please let us know as we are all very happy to help.
Please remember we are closed on Wednesday and Friday due to the NEU strike. Thank you for your support with this.
Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you at the fair tomorrow.
Jessica
Headteacher
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Newsletter Friday 23rd June 2023
Fri 23 Jun 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
Well done to Apricot class, who performed a fantastic assembly this week. They remembered all their lines and told us great facts about travel. Well done Apricot class. You were impressive.
Thank you for all your donations today. They are greatly appreciated. We are looking forward to the summer fair and thank you to those of you who have volunteered to help. We cannot run these events without you. Please sign up on the board by the school main entrance if you haven’t already done so.
There are NEU teacher’s strikes on Wednesday 5th July and Friday 7th July and the school will be closed on these dates. I am sorry about the inconvenience. Teachers would not be doing this if they did not believe in providing an excellent education for your child. Thank you for your support with this.
Thank you to those of you who attended the online safety workshop. We will also be having a virtual one for those of you who could not attend. We will be sending the time and date soon.
Thank you to those of you who have completed the survey about lunchtime provision. If you haven’t done this please can you. Here is a link to the survey in case you cannot use the QR code.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YLLS7DX
On Tuesday 13th June some children from year 4 and 5 took part in a football competition at Mabley Green. The boys made it all the way to the semi-finals, Well done everyone and thank you to the parent volunteer who came with us.
On Wednesday 14th June, children from year 5 and 6 went to Clissold Leisure Centre to compete in the annual Hackney swimming gala. It was so much fun and we came back with bronze, silver and gold medals. Well done everyone and thank you to the parent volunteer who accompanied us.
Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine,
Jessica
Headteacher
