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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 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
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Newsletter Friday 16th June 2023
Fri 16 Jun 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
What a great week we have had. Year 6 Ruby presented a lovely assembly about their time at Betty Layward and it was a lovely opportunity to see how they have grown over their time at school. Well done Ruby.
Thank you for coming to sports day today. What a lovely day. The children were brilliant and I was very impressed by your participation too. Thank you for all your support. I hope you enjoyed it too.
We have Parents and Carers week coming up soon. Below is your classes time slot. This is an opportunity for you to come and join in with an activity with your child’s class. It’s a fun and a lovely time for you to share and have some fun with your child and their class. I hope you can make it.
Monday 26th June -
9:45- 10:30 -Saffron
1:30- 2:15pm - Ocean
2:15pm-3:00pm- Aqua
Tuesday 27th June -
9:00-9:45 - Jade
9:45- 10:30 -Emerald
1:30- 2:15pm - Lavender
2:15pm-3:00pm- Violet
Wednesday 28th June -
9:00-9:45 - Fuchsia
9:45- 10:30 -Cerise
1:30- 2:15pm - Ruby
2:15pm-3:00pm- Chilli
Thursday 29th June -
9:45- 10:30 -Nursery
1:30- 2:15pm - Apricot
2:15pm-3:00pm- Peach
Monday 3rd July-
9:45- 10:30 -Buttercup
Well done to some of our girls in Year 6 who won the London John Larter Cup. I am really impressed. You are also great ambassadors for girl’s football.
The girls wrote-
Last Saturday, we played against Islington in a representative game for Hackney. This was the final in the Inner London John Larter Cup. It was a tight battle, but Hackney ended up pulling it off with a goal in the second half - making the final score 1-0. After the final whistle blew, we all ran to our parents and took several victory photos with the cup. This was definitely a memorable experience, and we can't wait to play our next game as a team.
By Kenza, Eliza, Joan and Liliana
I have been really impressed this week that the children have remembered sun hats and had sun cream applied. We are also ensuring they drink lots of water.
I hope you got the questionnaire about our lunch play and have completed it. We are really looking forward to developing our lunch provision.
I hope you have a lovely weekend,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Newsletter Friday 9th June 2023
Fri 09 Jun 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back after half term. I hope you had a good week. The sun is beginning to shine which is lovely to see. It was also lovely to see all the children back and coming into school with big smiles on their faces.
We are thrilled we have a new counsellor and her name is Arti. She will be working with us on Tuesdays and Fridays. Artie will be helping children with friendships, worries and also working 1:1 with children. She is really looking forward to meeting you all. We have introduced her to the children.
Class assemblies for this term are -
Ruby – Wednesday 14th June at 9:10am
Apricot – Wednesday 21st June at 9:10am
Cerise – Wednesday 28th June at 9:10am
We have our Sports Day next Friday and we are really looking forward to seeing you there. Please remember to put suntan cream on your child before school. It looks like it will be a warm day but luckily not as hot as last year. Your child will also need to bring a bottle of water labelled with their name. We ask that you stay behind the barriers to allow the children to participate in the activities. There will be a toddlers and parents and carer’s race at the end of each session.
I ask that you do attend our workshop on Internet Safety on Wednesday 21st June at 3:30pm. It is really important that you know and understand the risks of your children being online and how you can help and support them in being safe.
Well done to Iris and Willow, who raised £79.50 for Project Renovate by baking cookies and cakes in the half term and selling them. This was greatly received and the cakes and cookies looked delicious. Well done Iris and Willow.
On Wednesday 7th June, children from year 5 and 6 took part in a football competition at Mabley Green. Well done to the boys and girls’ team and thank you to the parent volunteer for their help and support.
Eliza received an award for being the top goal scorer for the girl’s league with 20 plus goals. Well done Eliza, that is impressive.
Simon won Coach of the Year. We were not surprised as he does such an amazing job. Well done Simon and thank you for all your hard work with running all the competitions.
Please remember to keep saving those 20ps. We will be collecting them towards the end of this term. We really appreciate your support with this.
Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Newsletter Thursday 25th May
Thu 25 May 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for a brilliant half term. Thank you for your kindness and support. We hope you enjoyed BLastonbury. We really did. Thank you for coming and supporting too.
Just a few dates for your diary - Friday 16th June is Sports Day and Nursery, Reception and KS1 will be in the morning and KS2 will be in the afternoon. It will be in Clissold Park and we look forward to seeing you there.
We have Parents and Carers Week the week beginning 26th June and we will send you more details nearer the time. This is a lovely afternoon when you can come and enjoy some outdoor activities with your child’s class.
Our last parents’ meetings will be on Thursday 13th July and we will close at 1pm that day.
Thank you to all the parents, carers, family members and children who ran the Hackney Half and the final mile. I was so impressed with the amount of people who ran and supported the event. Thank you. It has raised over £6000 so far and we know there is more sponsorship money to come. Very impressive. A big thank you to the organisers too.
I hope you have a lovely bank holiday and half term and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 5th June,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Friday 19th May 2023
Fri 19 May 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
We have had a busy week. The Year 6 children had a wonderful week away in Norfolk and were absolutely brilliant. They had a camp fire, an amazing amount of activities and a lot of fun. They had the best time and they so deserved it. We are incredibly proud of them.
Jade class performed an amazing assembly on Wednesday and demonstrated excellent historical knowledge, performing skills and timing. We were all very impressed. Well done Jade class.
Blastonbury is on Thursday 25th May at 2pm in the playground. The children will be singing songs from around the world. Please stay behind the tape and enjoy. You will pick your child up from school as normal. We look forward to seeing you there.
Well done to Kenza in Year 6 who won their category, Ages 10 and under for Science Journalist of the Year, in the Global Young Journalist Awards 2023. They received many outstanding entries this year, and we want to say a big congratulations for this incredible achievement. Kenza’s entry truly impressed the judges, and they were proud to recognise her talent and hard work. This is an incredible and amazing achievement. Well done Kenza. I have attached the entry.
The Hackney Children’ Mile for the Hackney Half takes place tomorrow. I am really grateful to everyone who is participating and raising money for the school. If you are taking part please arrive at the marshes for 8:45am so you have time to find everyone. If you are late there won't be anyone at the meeting point anymore as everyone will have moved to the starting line. We have 106 people to register and there are 1500 children taking part from across the borough, all wearing the same t-shirt, so please be prompt and patient until you find the Betty Layward children and families. This have raised at least £6,100 so far!! (this includes GIFTAID) and here is the page if you or anyone else would like to sponsor us
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bettylaywardprojectrenovate
Thank you for supporting the school with this; the organisers, runners and anyone who has sponsored us. It is greatly appreciated.
On Tuesday 16th May, girls and boys from year 4 and 5 played in a football match against Kingsmead and Mandeville primary schools. We played some very good football. The boys lost both games and the girls drew 1-1 against Kingsmead and then recorded a victory over Mandeville, 1-0 with a goal from Zoe. Thank you to the children who took part. We are very proud of you. Thank you to the parent volunteers for coming to help.
On Wednesday 17th May, children from year 4 took part in an Aquathlon festival at Clissold Leisure Centre. There were many different events like picking up glow sticks from the bottom of the pool, a relay race using noodles and floats, and many more activities. Thank you to the children who took part and the parent volunteer who came to help.
Thank you for all your support with the bingo last week. It was a great evening and a great success. Thank you to everyone who came and a massive thank you to the organisers, host and performers. We are happy to say the final amount raised from Betty's Disco Bingo was £4140 and an amazing £975 was raised in REWIND donations alone. Well done everyone.
Thank you for all your support and kindness. I hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy the Hackney Half Marathon.
Jessica
Headteacher
Massive Hole on the Sun’s Surface – How does this affect our planet?
Have you ever pondered about the mysteries of the Sun? Or why we need to study the Sun’s activities?
A new phenomenon has left scientists stunned. NASA have detected a coronal hole on the Sun’s surface that can disrupt radio transmissions and cause damage to satellites and electrical transmission line facilities, resulting in massive and long-lasting power outages. With the coronal hole being approximately 20 times larger than Earth, this has prompted US federal agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to send out a high alert as
geomagnetic storms are unleashing 1.8 million mile-per-hour solar winds towards Earth, predicted to hit us on 25 th March at a G1 level.
Coronal holes appear as dark areas in the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere (solar corona), as Extrema Ultra-Violet (EUV) and soft x-ray solar images. The open configuration of the magnetic field in coronal holes allows particles to escape, and it is found that these holes are sources of high-speed
solar wind streams.
“Events like these are of great interest to us scientifically to further understand our Sun’s 11-year solar cycle, but are also important for us to evaluate how these winds might affect technology in orbit, like GPS (Global Positioning System)” said Machine Learning researcher at Swinburne University of Technology, Dr. Sara Webb.
The coronal hole produced auroras far further south than usual, with the skies in Arizona turning an electric purple and green, but why?
A coronal hole will cause solar wind to travel faster and carry a higher density of particles, therefore bringing more to the Earth’s magnetosphere. A higher density of these particles creates the bigger aurora storms that we all love to hunt. This leads to rare occurrences of the auroras as south as New York and Idaho. With this information, scientists hope to develop our understanding of coronal holes and possibly share their knowledge with future generations to protect our home.
Only time will tell what other mysteries we can learn from the Sun.
By Kenza Al-Yassin, Betty Layward Primary School
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Friday 12th May 2023
Fri 12 May 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for all your support this week with the kitchen having to close. It was due to unforeseen circumstances and I really appreciated your support.
The Year 6 children completed their national assessments this week. You may have read in the news that they were particularly hard this year. Our children approached them with positivity and really tried their hardest. We could not have asked for more. Well done Year 6. We are really proud of you. Year 6 are off to Kingswood in Norfolk on Sunday for a few days. I really hope they have the best time. They deserve it.
Your child will be bringing home some song lyrics today. These are the songs they are singing at Blastonbury. Please could you ensure that they practice them. I hope you can join us to watch their performances. It is on Thursday 25th May. We look forward to seeing you there.
Thank you to everyone who has helped organise the bingo evening taking place tonight at school. I am looking forward to seeing you there.
Please remember that if your child has a tummy bug your child needs to be off school for 48 hours since the LAST bought. This is school policy so we do not spread tummy bugs around the school. Thank you for supporting us with this.
Nits are marching around school again and we would really appreciate it if you checked your child's head often and treated them if necessary. Thanks.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and the sun shines,
Jessica
Headteacher
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Friday 5th May Newsletter
Fri 05 May 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you had a lovely bank holiday weekend and enjoy another one this weekend. Lavender class performed the most amazing assembly today on the Great Fire of London. They gave us the most amazing news report and they remembered a lot of facts. Well done Lavender class. It was amazing.
Year 6 will be completing their National Assessments next week and we wish them all well. A child is more than a SATs result and we are so proud of how hard they have worked, not only this year, but every year they have been here. Good luck Year 6. It is really important that Year 6 children are here every day and are on time. Thank you for supporting us with this.
On Tuesday there is a Coronation picnic for the children (weather permitting). We will be eating outside if we can, fingers crossed.
We have been successful with the first stage of a solar panel bid for the school. We have been given the money for a feasibility study from Stokey Energy. This is such good news and something we have wanted to implement for a while. We will need more fundraising to match grants, but don’t worry, that won’t be until after the decorating. I am also going to ask the children’s eco-committee to be involved.
Please look at the photos with the newsletter. These are the proofs of the tea towels to order soon. They look great and thank you to Sophie, a parent, who organised this.
We resent the information for the Hackney Half Marathon. Thank you for supporting your child getting sponsorship for this and helping raise money for Project Renovate.
Have a lovely long weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.
Jessica
Headteacher
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Newsletter - Friday 28th April 2023
Fri 28 Apr 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you have had a good week. We have. I am so impressed with the projects the children have brought in. I love seeing their faces and how proud they are of them. Thank you for supporting them with this.
Thank you for your understanding and support regarding the NEU strikes. Year 6 are in school on these days as they are very near the date of their national assessments. There is another NEU strike on Tuesday and only year 6 will be in then too. I am sorry for any inconvenience.
You will be receiving information about your child’s attendance soon. This will be the percentages of attendance, authorised and unauthorised and how many minutes late they are in total. Please know that any time missed at school does make a big difference and we cannot authorise holidays or trips in term time. Our attendance is 93% as a school and should be 96% at the lowest. We do need to improve and I need your help to do this. Please ensure you do not take days off in term time. It is also really important your child is here on time and picked up on time. Thank you for your support with this. It is an area that is monitored by Hackney and Ofsted.
We have nits in school and they just seem to keep coming back, especially in Year 1. Please can you check your child's hair this weekend and treat it if needed. Please can you check your child's hair on a regular basis so we can get rid of them. Thank you.
Some of our Year 6 girls attended a football tournament in Swansea. Liliana has written this about their trip -
Swansea festival of football
In the middle of April, four Year 6 Betty Layward girls took a train to Swansea to represent the district in a football tournament. We travelled with our team mates who come from different primary school across Hackney. We were all excited to represent Hackney in the Swansea festival of football.
We had a brilliant start, winning 3 out of 4 of the group stage matches and drawing one game 0-0. We were the top team in the group stage and moved into the quarter finals. So far, we had not conceded a single goal and we were playing brilliantly as a team.
In the last minutes of the quarter final we scored from a penalty and won the match. Now in the semis, it was 0-0 on the final whistle and it was time for penalties. After a tense penalty shoot out, we beat Cardiff 4-2 to reach the final. We were all very excited and raring to go!
The final
We had made it this far when during the match a player from the opposition punched the ball from out of the box. The referee said continue play even though it was an obvious hand ball! In the final moments in our box there was a ‘ball to hand’ counted as a handball and the opposition got a penalty. They scored. This was the only goal we had conceded in the entire field of play and it lost us the final.
We were devastated and believed we should have won, but we made it to the finals, had a brilliant weekend away and we did Hackney proud!
Aside from the football we played laser tag and bowling and had a generally great trip!
Liliana Bracken, year 6 Chilli
Well done to all the children that took part. You did really well. Thank you, Liliana, for writing about it.
I hope you received the flyer about the Coronation picnic. Weather permitting, we will have a picnic outside that day.
I really hope you all have a lovely long bank holiday weekend and we look forward to seeing Year 6 on Tuesday and everyone else on Wednesday.
Jessica
Headteacher
