Jessica's Newsletters

Newsletter Friday 10th January 2025

Fri 10 Jan 2025 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy New Year and welcome back. I hope you had a lovely break. it was lovely to see everyone back. Thank you for your kind words and lovely gifts last term. It was a joy to see the children smiling and keen to come back to school on Tuesday morning at the gate. They have settled back in really well and it has been a great start to 2025.

Thank you for your support and kind words about the hot water boiler. It is being replaced this weekend, so the hot water will hopefully be returning on Monday. The children have been great about it.

The term dates for 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 are now on the school website so you can put those in your diaries.

We have a new signing-in machine, so if your child is late to school, you will need to sign your child in on there, as it is part of our registration process and it allows us to know who is in school. If you are taking children out of school early for an appointment you will also need to sign them out in the same way. Please also sign your child in the same way if they come in after an appointment. Thank you for your support with this.

It has been great to see so many parents and carers being so positive about our new mobile phone signs. We ask that parents and carers are not on their mobile phones as they enter the school and pick their child up. Please can you also ask any other family members or childminders to do the same. We also ask that you do not wait for drop off by either of our gates at the main entrance of the school. It really makes it hard for Key Stage 2 children to enter the school. We ask that Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1 parents and carers wait across the road until it is their time to come in.

The deadline for reception class applications for September 2025 is fast approaching. Parents/carers with children in nursery class born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021 must submit their reception class application by Wednesday 15 January 2025. If parents and carers do not apply before the deadline, their child's application will be classed as late and will be considered after all the on time applications have been dealt with. Late applicants are also less likely to get a place at their preferred school. So, if you have a child who is due to join Reception in September 2025 please ensure you have applied. Thank you. If you have any questions, please pop in and ask.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 20th December 2024

Fri 20 Dec 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for a great 2024. You are so supportive, kind and we feel lucky to be part of such a lovely community. The children have been brilliant this year and we are so proud of them. This week we had the Year 2 to 6 concert and it was amazing. It was so great to see so many of you there. Thank you for supporting this event and we hope you enjoyed it. We were so impressed with the children’s singing. Well done to all of them.

Today we shared the staff Christmas video which the children really enjoyed. Thank you to Tommy, a parent, who filmed it and put it together. The staff really enjoyed making it and we loved seeing the children’s faces when they watched it. A great way to end the term and 2024.

Here is the video for you to enjoy

https://youtu.be/PPyojvKAUGw

Thank you for everything. Have a lovely Christmas, a Happy Hanukah and a brilliant New Year. Enjoy your holidays and we shall see back at the normal time on Tuesday 7th January.

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 13th December 2024

Fri 13 Dec 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a great week with many fun things going on.

Thank you to those of you who helped at or attended the winter fair. It was a great event, despite the weather. Thank you to the organisers. It’s a big job organising the event and everyone did a marvellous job. A big thank you to the parents who cleared up. This was only a few so we really do need more help with this next year.

Year 1 and Reception performed their nativity to the school and parents and carers this week. They were amazing even with a technical hitch during the afternoon performance. They sang beautifully without the music and it didn’t put them off at all. They are all stars. Well done Reception and Year 1 and to all the parents and carers for coming.

The Nursery also performed this week and sang some very lovely songs while playing instruments and having some great actions. Well done Nursery. It was amazing.

Christmas lunch was great fun today. We had a lot of fun. First, the children showed each other their Christmas hats in the hall. They were amazing. Then we all enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch with crackers. The hall was full of big smiles and laughter.

We are looking forward to seeing you next week at our Christmas concert for Year 2 to Year 6. Please remember it will start promptly at 1:30 on Tuesday 17th January at St Matthias church. Please use the south entrance via the double iron gate which is located next to St Matthias school. Please do not bring any food or drink into the church. Please collect your child from school and not the church.

I am sad to let you know that Emma (year 6 teacher) and Luke, our music teacher, are leaving us this term. Emma is moving to Glasgow, and Luke is returning to Australia. Both have been great assets to the school and will be dearly missed. We wish them well for their exciting futures and thank them both for their hard work, dedication, and care for the children.

Please remember we close at 1pm on Friday 20th December and return on Tuesday 7th January. There will be no clubs next week and no Premier on Friday 20th December. All children will need to be collected at 1pm.

Have a lovely weekend

Jessica

Newsletter Friday 6th December 2024

Fri 06 Dec 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a busy time we are having. There are some really lovely things going on and we cannot wait to see you at all our events. Please see the list below with the times and dates and any extra information for each event.

Tuesday 10th December

9:45am - Nativity show for Year 1 parents

2pm - Nativity show for Reception parents

For both these shows please remember to be a quiet audience and please do not bring any food or drinks. Please remember it is two tickets per child and we cannot admit any extra adults.

Wednesday 11th December

10:30am - Nursery Christmas songs in the Nursery

Please remember no food or drink is to be brought into the Nursery and only two adults per child please.

Friday 13th December

Christmas lunch for all children

Christmas Jumper Day – the children can wear their own clothes with a Christmas jumper

Tuesday 17th December

1:30pm the Year 2 – 6 Christmas Concert at St Matthias Church. Please use the south entrance via the double iron gate which is located next to St Matthias school. Please do not bring any food or drink into the church. Please also collect your child from school and not the church.

Friday 20th December

School closes at 1pm and there is no Premier or clubs. School reopens on Tuesday 7th January.

We look forward to seeing you at the above events.

Thank you for all your donations for the Winter Fair. We are always so impressed with your generosity. We are really looking forward to seeing you there tomorrow and thank you for donating your time and support to make it happen. It really does make a difference.

In Reception today we had Family Friday. Thank you to the parents and carers who were able to come. We made decorations for the holiday season and it was lovely to have so many parents and carers attend. Thank you for being so supportive.

On Wednesday, 9 children from Years 5 and 6 attended a Mathematics Challenge Day at Nightingale Primary School. The day was hosted by Pete Hall, a leading mathematics specialist. The children explored challenges from around the world, and looked at the history of mathematics and how they can link their known mathematical knowledge to solve trickier problems. We were very proud of the children that attended as they were confident to share ideas and strategies and they were great ambassadors for Betty Layward.

On Wednesday 3rd December a group of year 5 and 6 girls took part in the Hackney Football League semi-finals against Mossbourne, Riverside and Berger. We kicked off against Mossbourne Riverside and took the lead. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hang on and lost 2-1. The second game against Berger was a tight affair, however Betty Layward came out on top with a very impressive 4-0 victory with a hat trick from Clara. Well done to all the children and thank you to the parent volunteer who accompanied us.

The deadline for reception class applications for September 2025 is fast approaching. Parents/carers with children in nursery class born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021 must submit their reception class application by Wednesday 15 January 2025.

We have had a lot of cheeky elves visit school this week and the children cannot wait to see what they are going to do next. Please see the attached photos for some of the mischief that has been going on.

Yield N16 is a local wine shop and bar serving not only natural, organic, honest wine, but also local craft beers, E5Bakehouse bread, Monmouth coffee, Natoora and all your pantry needs. They will be raising funds for our school again this year starting now until 3rd January 2025. When you are shopping with Yield N16, customers simply need to mention their child’s school and Yield N16 will donate 10% of the total bill back to the school on January 20th.

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to seeing you at the Winter Fair tomorrow.

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 29th December 2024

Fri 29 Nov 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is good to see the sun shining after the wild weather we had at the weekend. I hope it did not impact you.

As you know, we have our Christmas events coming up. These are on our website's calendar, so please add all these events to your diaries. The Year 2-6 Christmas concert in the church will start at 1:30 p.m. Please remember that the children will need to be picked up from school, not the church. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you there.

On Friday 6th December we have a non-school uniform day for the children in return for them bringing in items for the Winter Fair. This can be chocolates, toiletries or alcohol. The planning for the Winter Fair is well underway and the main thing we need are volunteers. We would really appreciate it if you could sign up to help. At the moment we do not have enough help and if it does not improve we might have to cancel it. That would be a big shame as so much has already been done and it does raise a huge amount for school and with everything as it is at the moment we need as much financial help as possible. PLEASE sign up and help even if it is just for an hour. It is also a really lovely way to be part of our school community. A massive thank you to those of you who have already signed up. It really does make a difference.

We were very proud of our children this week as they attended the Panathlon Challenge. Here is what they wrote about it –

‘On Wednesday some children in KS2 went on a trip. We went to the Panathlon on the 141 bus. When we got there, we were super excited. When we entered the building, we started doing some activities like beanbag throwing. We did basketball, then we did curling, then we balanced a ball on a racquet and walked around cones. Finally, we threw four balls at a target. At the end, we had a medal and we took pictures as a group together.’By Ajahni, Diana and Taliayah (Fuchsia Class) Well done to these children. It sounded like you had a great time.

This week we launched a new handwriting scheme, Letter-join, for all year groups. Letter-join is an online platform that teaches handwriting in line with the National Curriculum. Handwriting is an integral part of children's writing, which allows them to share their ideas and structure their thoughts in a well-crafted manner. Letter-join has structured lesson plans that build the children's skills incrementally. The lessons will not only teach the children letter formation and joins but also how to develop their writing posture and correct pencil grip. In addition to this, we had an assembly on Wednesday where the children discussed what good handwriting looks like, how we can achieve it and why it is such an important part of their writing. We will be sharing handwriting for the children to complete at home too. To further encourage the children's handwriting development, we will be awarding handwriters of the week a special treat. The children chosen for this honour will be able to choose a pencil topper to put on their pen or pencil for the week as an extra incentive. We look forward to seeing the amazing efforts the children put into this, as well as the opportunity to celebrate their success.

We are now registering 3 and 4 year olds for our school nursery places in September 2025 – 2026. Rainbow Nursery in Betty Layward Primary School prides itself on providing caring and inspiring provision for our children. We are very popular so we advise you to secure your space now. You are very welcome to come and visit us and our school and have a look around our delightful nursery for yourself. We provide 15 hour part time morning places and 15 hour part time afternoon places. We also provide full time 30 hour places that can be fully funded or partially funded and then the other hours are privately paid for. Our nursery is aimed at preschool children aged three and four years old. Children can apply for one of these nursery places if they turn 4 between 1st September 2025 and August 31st 2026 or in the term after their third birthday. Any questions about admissions to nursery in 2025 – 2026 do not hesitate to drop an email to paularamsden@bettylayward.org. We look forward to receiving your applications and meeting you next year.

We finish for the holidays on Friday 20th December at 1pm. There is no Premier or clubs on that day so all children will need to be collected at 1pm.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and please sign up for the Winter Fair.

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 22nd November 2024

Fri 22 Nov 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a lovely week and we hope you have too. The weather has been interesting this week and we hope you have been keeping warm. It was lovely to see the children so excited by the snow.

Year 6 Ruby class attended the Hackney Junior Citizenship Scheme event on Thursday. Year 6 met with firefighters, Doctors, nurses, police officers and TFL workers who spoke to them about staying safe, being healthy and looking after their mental and physical health. This was a great day to support year 6's transition to secondary school next year.

Thank you for all your support with the children’s project homework. They are great and the children really enjoyed sharing them with their classes and in a special assembly. Well done to our children for working so hard at home as well as school.

A huge thank you from the PTFA, Quiz team, myself and the staff for your support with the annual quiz last Friday. It was an enjoyable night. The event is entirely dependent on your volunteering and support so a massive thank you to everyone. After expenses, we raised a whopping £4215. Thank you to those of you who came, helped, presented and created the quiz. This total is amazing and shows what a great community Betty Layward is.

Well done to Year 6 who held a bake sale to help them raise funds towards their French trip in the summer. They held it during parent’s meetings and raised an amazing £346.43. I appreciate your support with this. They have been challenged to raise £2000 towards the trip and are thinking of different ways to do it. We know they can and it is a lovely skill for them to learn. The London Fire Brigade also told the children that if you need a fire alarm they will fit one in your home for free or will come and check yours if you already have one. Please use this link to find out more-https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/protect

With this link you can book the fire brigade to come and check alarms and also they will install fire alarms for free if any properties do not have them

I had the lovely experience of going into every class to watch writing being taught this week. Seeing the children focussed, engaged, and enthused by their learning was a pleasure. I was incredibly proud of them all.

Well done to Charley in Year 2 who chose to bake cookies herself and raise money for the school by selling them. She raised an amazing £15.73. Well done Charley.

As you know we try very hard to keep parents regularly informed about first aid incidents at school. Sending paper notifications home can be rather ‘hit and miss’ with notifications often going astray along the way. We are also increasingly aware of the substantial cost, time and environmental impact associated with the amount of paper and photocopying involved with this.

we are changing our system of reporting first aid. We are now going to use a service called Medical Tracker. Medical Tracker not only allows us to inform parents/ carers of first aid incidents by email but it also allows us to analyse the data we record.

Medical Tracker will be beneficial to you because:
 We can record and track first aid incidents that involve your child
 We can record and track medication administration that involves your child
 You can be notified immediately after a first aid incident by email
 You can be notified immediately after medication has been administered by email

You will still always receive a phone call for head injuries and any concerns where we think a child needs extra attention. To use Medical Tracker effectively we need to collect the best email address to use to notify you of incidents. Please let us know if this is different to the one on Arbor. Please be assured that Medical Tracker is registered with the Data Protection Registrar and guarantees that all
information you provide will be kept private and will not be passed on to any other organisation.
Important – When we start using Medical Tracker, email messages will be sent from
donotreply@medicaltracker.co.uk. Please add this address to your email address books (or approved sender list) to prevent messages from being blocked by your SPAM/JUNK filters. We will need to rely on you to check your emails to ensure this system works effectively.

Please remember not to use your mobile phone as you enter the school, on the school grounds and in the school itself. Please do not bring any hot drinks into school either. Thank you for your support with this.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 15th November 2024

Fri 15 Nov 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you have had a good week. We have had a busy and great week. This week we celebrated Anti-bullying week by wearing our odd socks and choosing respect. We enjoyed an assembly where we learned the meaning of respect, and how to spot bullying if it happens. We also celebrated World Kindness Day on Wednesday. Each class wrote acts of kindness on leaves, and created a whole school kindness tree to show kindness grows kindness. The children enjoyed sharing positivity and happiness. I reminded the children that their kindness is evident all the time, not just on this special day. I am so impressed with how kind and thoughtful the children are at Betty Layward.

Thank you for attending your parent’s meeting yesterday. We are so proud of how well the children are doing and how focused they are on learning. It is also lovely to see them when they are proud of themselves.

This week, as part of their Mapping unit, year 5 visited Hampstead Heath for an orienteering session. They looked at maps and compasses in more detail, created their own islands and tested their map-reading and teamwork skills by exploring the Heath's orienteering course.

On Tuesday 12th November a group of year 5 and 6 children participated in the Hackney Football League at The Eastway Hub against Halley House. The boys kicked off first and despite displaying great teamwork skills with goals from Joe and Lorcan the boys were defeated. The Girls were up next and blew away their opponents with an 11-0 victory with goals from Livvie, Bonnie, Clara and Martha. Well done to all the children who took part and a special thank you to all the parent volunteers.

It was lovely to have our parents and carers visit us in Reception for Family Friday today. The children and families were thinking about Understanding the World and our local area. They drew maps of the local area that surrounds Betty Layward and thought about their journeys to school.

Our Winter Fair is on 7th December from 12:30-3:00pm. On Friday 6th December please can the children wear their own clothes and bring in a donation for the fair. This can be toiletries, chocolates or bottles of alcohol. If you also have a suitable raffle prize please let us or your PTFA rep know. We will also need help setting up the fair on the Friday and setting up, running a stall or clearing up on the Saturday. Any help is greatly appreciated and we can only run these events if we do have enough help. Thank you for your support with this.

We have a new venue for our Year 2 to 6 Christmas concert. It will be held at St Matthias Church, Wordworth Rd, N16 8DD on the afternoon of Tuesday 17th December. We are just confirming the times and will let you know soon. You will not be able to take your child home from the church. The children will go back to school first.

I look forward to seeing you at the quiz night tonight. Thank you to everyone for your excellent organisation skills, your help and for buying tickets. I look forward to seeing you there.

Have a lovely weekend

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 8th November 2024

Fri 08 Nov 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a lovely week back after the half-term break. We really hope you had a good week. It is lovely seeing everyone back. Year 5 started the week with a great trip to the Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green.

Thank you to those of you who attended the PTFA AGM on Monday. It was lovely to see you there. We really appreciate all the help, time, and support you provide to the school. Every little bit everyone does really makes a difference for the children, so a massive thank you from myself and everyone at Betty Layward. We look forward to seeing you at the quiz next Friday.

Thank you for signing up for your parent’s meeting. Please ensure you have done this. Your child can join the meeting if you would like them to, or they can attend the creche. The creche is only for the duration of your meeting and not for the whole afternoon. Premier is open from 1p.m. but has limited spaces as they need to ensure they have the right adult-to-child ratio. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday. Please remember we close at 1pm on Thursday and need all children to be picked up so we can start the meetings.

Our Christmas Concert for Years 2 – 6 is normally held in St Mary’s Church. Unfortunately, they have just let us know that their heating has broken down so we cannot perform there. We are currently finding a new location and will update you with the location and timings as soon as we know.

As you know, we are implementing OPAL in our playground. This encourages children to play in different ways. Next week, on Wednesday 13 November, OPAL are holding a short webinar for parents to talk about the power of play and to help them make play part of every day for their child. At the event, OPAL Director Michael Follett will explore some of the key benefits of play, look at how playwork theory can support parents, and share his top tips for play at home. This event is part of OPAL's commitment to making play part of every child's life and is fundraising to support Project Play, a wonderful organisation that provides safe spaces to play for displaced children in Northern France. This webinar is free to attend, but we encourage participants to make a suggested donation of £10 to Project Play's fundraiser, which is being match funded by OPAL CIC. Book your free place on https://bit.ly/4fgpQKK

As we ask the children not to be on their phones in school we are going to ask parents and carers to do the same. We are asking that you are not on your phone on the school premises, inside the building, coming into school and in the playground. We think this will be a better example for all the children. Please can you let anyone else collecting know this and signs will be going up soon. Thank you for your support with this.

If you are requesting a leave of absence for your child during term time please complete an absence request form. These can be obtained from the office. We cannot authorise any holidays or trips that could be taken out of term time.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 25th October 2024

Fri 25 Oct 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Free. Suitable for families and children ages 4+.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 18th October 2024

Wed 16 Oct 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher