Jessica's Newsletters

Newsletter Friday 21st June 2024

Fri 21 Jun 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are so glad the sun is shining and summer could finally be here. It makes such a difference and we are hoping it stays nice for Sports Day next week (but not too hot).

We have had a lovely week. Violet class performed a wonderful assembly about oceans. It was fantastic. They were confident, shared a lot of facts and sang beautifully. Well done Violet class.

On Wednesday 19th June, a team of year 4 children participated in a year 4 Aquathlon competition at Clissold Leisure Centre. The children participated in many fun water activities like finding the treasure and hot potato. The activities also included using a float and noodles. Well done to all these wonderful Year 4 children.

Thank you to everyone who came to Family Friday this morning. I hope you enjoyed it. We really enjoy having you.

Our school Eid celebration was due to take place on Monday after school. We are going to postpone it and it will now be taking place after school on Wednesday 10th July. Thank you so much for all your lovely offers of donations and help so far. We are really looking forward to it.

OPAL is going very well in the playground and the children love it. We are about to put a mud kitchen into the woodlands so would really appreciate any donations of kitchen utensils, saucepans, frying pans, plastic plates, cups etc. We are also going to add some water play and would love donations of watering cans, plastic cups, jugs etc. Thank you for all your donations so far. They have really contributed to a happy lunch time. If you ever have any spare mugs our staffroom will always benefit from those too. Thank you for your support.

We are introducing yellow wristbands for accidents and injuries that are not head injuries (these will stay red). If your child has one they will have received first aid for another area of their body. We would always ring you if it is a serious injury. We will let the children know and encourage them not to fall over on purpose to get a wrist band.

Well done to Year 5 who organised their own cake sale today to raise money for their eco-projects and for our solar panels. It is great to see children caring about the environment and how they can help and contribute. Well done Year 5 and thank you for all your cake donations.

Back in February Poppy in Year 3 asked if she could plant a little garden around a tree that grows in the communal space outside her flat to attract butterflies and bees. She did a great job of choosing bee and butterfly friendly flowers and Poppy and her family have watched it thrive ever since. Last week Poppy invited her Woodcraft Folk group to come and see the flowers she’d planted. She then took them to plant some flowers and seeds around a London Plane tree at the top end of Albion Road. The Woodcraft Folk group, which includes children from several local schools as well as a handful from Betty Layward, worked hard preparing the soil and adding a layer of compost before adding a selection of lovely flowers and watering them. After planting the flowers, they went on a short walk around the back streets of Stoke Newington planting wild flower seeds. Poppy and some of her friends have been watering the trees every night and the seedlings are starting to grow. Well done to Poppy, Beth, Silas, Willow and Ivy for caring about the environment. It is great to see.

It is Sports Day next Friday and we are hoping for good weather. Please can the children wear their Team Betty t-shirts and shorts or leggings and trainers. We also ask the children to wear a hat, have sun cream applied in the morning before school and bring two bottles of water to school. We want to ensure the children keep hydrated as it could be a warm day.

Silent Disco tickets are still for sale from the school office. This is on Friday 5th July from 4:30-5:30pm. Parents and carers do not need to stay but if you would like to volunteer to help please let me know. This is for all children from Nursery to Year 6. The tickets are £4 per child and include a couple of treats. The children do not need to bring any money.

The Summer Fair is on Saturday 13th July and we will need volunteers. Please sign up if you would like to help. We doneed as much help as possible and this is a great event for our children as well as other families and people in the community. We will be having an Own Clothes Day for the children on Friday 12th June. The children can wear their own clothes and we ask in return that they bring in a donation of chocolates, alcohol, unused toiletries or unused toys. If you have any larger raffle prizes or work for or know a company who would like to donate one please can you bring them in. We are really grateful for any donations. It sounds like it is going to be a great day.

You should have received the parent’s meeting letter. Please ensure you sign up for your appointment on Monday. We close at 1pm and Junior Adventure Group will be here. The creche is only for children during your parent meeting appointment time.

Please remember we would love donations for our foodbank. Any tins, dried goods or toiletries are welcome. Thank you.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 14th June 2024

Fri 14 Jun 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a great busy week and this interchangeable weather has not got us down.

Buttercup class performed an excellent assembly all about Benin. Benin has a wonderful rich history. The children taught us about Benin; a powerful and wealthy kingdom in West Africa. Geographically it was perfectly situated for trading its high-quality goods with other African kingdoms. We learnt that Benin was well known for its impressive arts and crafts as well as the crops produced by its farmers. All the children worked well together to produce this assembly and were clear and confident with their lines. Well done Buttercup class.

Well done to some children in Year 4 who held a cake sale to collect 20ps for their class. Luna, Kitty and Beth did a marvellous job by raising £40.75 so their class already have a healthy contribution for 20p day. Well done to these children and I hope everyone else is collecting their 20ps too.

We held our new Reception meeting yesterday and it was lovely to see parents and carers who are already here and to welcome new families. Thank you to those of you who attended.

Today we start our foodbank for the local Stoke Newington community. This will run every Friday from 2:10 to 2:40 by the Daniel House gate during term time. We would also really appreciate any donations for this foodbank. They could be dried goods, pasta, tins, sanitary products, shampoo, toothpaste, soap, etc. There will be a bin at school for these donations to be placed in. Your child can bring them in too. Thank you for your support with this.

Congratulations on all the fundraising for our solar panels. We are nearly at the amount needed. This is fantastic as it should cut our electricity bills by about half and at the moment this bill is not cheap. It is also much better for the environment. The panels are due to be installed during the summer holidays which is really exciting.

Well done to Raja, Felix, Jaiden and Noah in Year 4 who presented a wonderful assembly on how to work well as a team in sports. They were brilliant and had worked hard in preparing a lot of information. Well done.

Well done to Morley in Year 2 who entered the 2024 Global Young Journalist Awards. Morley was shortlisted and advanced to the final stage of the evaluation process. This is truly a remarkable accomplishment, and we hope Morley takes pride in his exceptional work. It is amazing that Morley was among the top entries as this is a fantastic achievement, especially given the high number of submissions that were received this year. Morley wrote an article about a parent at the school who had run a marathon.

We will be running a workshop on online safety on Thursday 27th June at 3.30pm in the school hall. We will be discussing practical tips to make sure children stay safe online. Please put the date in your diary, we would really like to see you there as this is a really important topic and keeping children safe online is essential. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you to those of you who have already bought a silent disco ticket for your child. This is on Friday 5th July from 4:30-5:30pm. Parents and carers do not need to stay but if you would like to volunteer to help please let me know. This is for all children from Nursery to Year 6. I am really looking forward to it and tickets are still available from Max in the office. They are £4 per child and include a couple of treats. The children do not need to bring any money.

The Summer Fair is on Saturday 13th July and we will need volunteers. Please sign up if you would like to help. We do really need as much help as possible and this is a great event for our children as well as other families and people in the community. We will be having an Own Clothes Day for the children on Friday 12th June. The children can wear their own clothes and we ask in return that they bring in a donation of chocolates, alcohol, unused toiletries or unused toys. Thank you for these as these items are essential for the Fair. We are really looking forward to it.

May your feast be the best this Eid. Eid Mubarak. May this day bring love, happiness, harmony and joy in your life. Happy Eid to all of you.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 7th June 2024

Fri 07 Jun 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you had a lovely half term. I cannot believe it is the last week of term before the summer holidays. Where has the time gone? It is the last term for our Year 6 so we will ensure they have the best ending. The children are and have been amazing this year and are very ready for their next adventure to their new year group.

We have a new special event for the children. There will be a silent disco in the playground at 4:30pm -5:30pm on Friday 5^th July. Tickets are £4 per child and will be on sale before and after school on Monday. The children will need to bring a named water bottle and other snacks will be provided, which is included in the ticket price. They will not need to bring any money. We are really looking forward to seeing all the children dancing in the playground with their headphones on.

Nursery had a family morning this morning when parents and carers came in and it was really lovely to see parents and carers having a lovely time with their children. Thank you for coming and supporting the morning. It looked like everyone had a great time.

A new order of PE T-shirts has been made and I am hoping they will be here by the end of next week. Sorry for the delay.

Hopefully, the weather is improving. I have reminded the children to wear hats and to apply sunscreen before school.

We have a lot of children off school at the moment with an upset stomach. We really do not want this to spread further so we ask that you follow the school guidelines and that your child does not return to school until 48 hours after their LAST bout of sickness or diarrhoea. Thank you for your support with this.

We are really looking forward to this term and all the lovely events taking place. Please ensure that you have all the dates in your calendar.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 24th May 2024

Thu 23 May 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for all your support and kind words about Blastonbury. The children were amazing and you were a great audience. I am always so impressed with what the children can do. They shine all the time. Their singing was amazing and I believe that all the artists and bands whose songs they sang would have been very impressed. Well done to all the Betty Layward children. We would have sung Praise Me again but it had become too hot. We will do it another time. A massive thank you to Luke and all the adults who helped. Thank you for coming and for all your support.

I cannot believe that today is the last day of another term and we only have one term left before the end of the academic year. We have a lot to look forward to next term including Sports Day. Please check the school calendar on the website for the dates. We also have Parents and Carer’s week during the week beginning 8^th July and you will be given a date and time when you can come and join in with an activity, e.g. rounders with your child. This is really fun and we look forward to seeing you there.

The children had a brilliant day last Saturday running the final mile of the Hackney Half Marathon that all of the Betty Layward children have been doing at school this year.

Did any of your children manage to run their final mile last weekend or perhaps they will get a chance over half term? We will keep the GoFundMe page open over the next 10 days just in case anyone has not managed to send the link out to family and friends. Please continue to give paper sponsorship forms and cash to Max at Reception. The GoFundMe link is listed below.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/betty-layward-is-running-the-hackney-half-marathon-2024

We do have a lot of cases of nits at the moment and they seem to be jumping from head to head. Please can you check and treat your child on a regular basis and we would love to see less of them. Please click on the link below for some guidance about nits. Thank you for supporting us with this.

https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/wet-combing-conditioner-treating-head-lice

Have a really lovely bank holiday weekend and half term and we look forward to seeing you all for a great last term.

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 17th May 2024

Fri 17 May 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a very good week. Year 6 were absolutely brilliant with completing their SATs this week and were very calm and positive. They worked extremely hard and we are really proud of them. Well done Year 6. You are all wonderful children who are so much more than a SATs result. You should be very proud of yourself. We are very proud of you. The children had a great trip to the park today as a treat.

It is Mental Health Awareness Week this week and this year's theme is 'movement: moving more for our mental health'. Our well-being ambassadors led some movement to music outside for all the children and they learnt how movement can positively help our mental health.

Thank you to those of you supporting us by running the Hackney half marathon. We are really grateful. Good luck to you and I hope the weather is kind to you. A big thank you to those of you taking the children to run the mile this weekend too. It is a great thing to do and your support is really appreciated. It was lovely to see some of you after school today collecting the t-shirts and raising funds for the school.

We have Blastonbury at 2pm on Thursday (23rd May). This is in the playground. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather is dry. There will be a designated area for you to stand and we ask that you do not come out of that area or stand on chairs etc. You may not be able to see clearly but you will definitely be able to hear clearly. The children are amazing and you are in for a treat.

Thank you to the Reception parents who came to Family Friday today. It was lovely to see you there. It looked like everyone had a great time making puppets. I have attached some photos.

Some children from years 4 and 5 were selected to take part in the Hackney Aquathlon at Clissold Leisure Centre on Wednesday 15th May. The children took part in several water activities like a walking race across the swimming pool, front and back crawl using a noodle and float, picking up treasure and much more. Well done everyone, we are very proud of you. You were great.

We also had a lot of trips and workshops this week. Reception were visited by Zoo Lab and various creatures and loved it. Year 2 went to the Garden Classroom and had a great time. Year 3 went to the Centre for Circus Arts and really enjoyed it. It was lovely hearing all about these. Please ask your child about them too.

This week, year 4 participated in a science workshop hosted by School of Noise. The workshop contained a mix of an interactive presentation, hands-on play and experimentation. They conducted scientific experiments on how sound is made (vibration, frequency), how it travels (medium, longitudinal/pressure waves) and where it ends up (hearing, absorption). A lot of fun was had.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and good luck with the marathon,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 10th May 2024

Fri 10 May 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are so glad that the sun is shining. Long may it last. We have had a busy week. Elsie and Lizzie led a brilliant assembly on street art and they taught us all about different types of street art and different street artists. Well done Elsie and Lizzie. The assembly was absolutely marvellous.

Peach class performed a wonderful assembly about the Wright Brothers and flight. It was amazing. The children were confident and clear with their lines and worked brilliantly together. Well done Peach class, you should be proud of yourselves.

Thank you to those of you who attended the Maths workshop this week. We hope you found it useful.

Our Year 6 children have their SATs next week. They have worked incredibly hard and we are really proud of them. The children know they are more than just SATs results. They are wonderful, kind, responsible, creative and independent people. We are incredibly proud of them. Good luck Year 6 for next week. We think you are all amazing.

Quite a few children are arriving after the door and the gates shut. Can you please ensure they are here on time. Thank you for supporting with this.

The Summer Fair is on 13^th July and not 6^th July. Please ensure this date is in your diary.

Thank you for supporting us with the children collecting 20ps. We will be counting them on Monday 22^nd July. Please keep collecting as every 20p makes a difference.

I hope you enjoy the sunshine this weekend,

Jessica
Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 3rd May 2024

Fri 03 May 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a lovely week with a lot of great things happening. The children have more equipment in the playground and it is lovely seeing them dressing up and playing with new resources. You might have noticed our new sheds. These will hold all the new resources and we are really pleased with them.

Some of our children did some fabulous fundraising. Oli, Jake, Zach, Leo, Sam and Otty ran a 5k inflatable obstacle course and raised £3395 for Dravet Syndrome. This is an amazing achievement. Well done to these children.

Jade class performed a fabulous assembly this week and worked brilliantly together. They were confident and enthusiastic and spoke with clear and lovely voices. They also taught us all about the Olympics as well as some other very interesting facts. Well done Jade class.

Thank you to those of you who attended or helped at Betty Bingo last week. It was a great night and thank you once again for the brilliant fundraising you are doing.

Please remember the children are collecting 20p. Thank you for supporting them with this.

Please remember to check the school calendar on our website. It can also link to your personal calender so you can get notifications. All dates, assemblies, events etc are on there.

I hope you have a lovely bank holiday weekend and the sun shines,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 26th April 2024

Fri 26 Apr 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy World Earth Day from Monday. The children have had a great week celebrating World Earth Day as they had outdoor lessons and made a class junk model out of materials that could be recycled whilst thinking about how we could all help save our planet. Please see the attached photos. They presented these in their Star of the Week and Kindness Award assemblies. They were great and the children really enjoyed making them and learnt about looking after our planet at the same time.

Saffron class presented an amazing assembly this week on the rainforest and the different animals and creatures who live there. It was fabulous. The children were very confident, spoke clearly and taught us an amazing amount of facts. It was very impressive. Well done Saffron class.

We are practising for Blastonbury and are really looking forward to it. The theme this year is music acts who have headlined or played at Glastonbury. You are in for a treat. It is taking place at 2pm on Thursday 23rd May.

Well done to the PTFA for raising about £2500 at the Vintage Clothes Fair last night. That is amazing. Thank you for all your donations. Thank you to the organisers and those of you who helped and went. That is a great result. We have Disco Bingo tonight and are looking forward to seeing you there. We feel very lucky to have such kind and supportive parents and carers at Betty Layward and everything you do really does make a difference to the children and school. A massive thank you to all of you.

PE t-shirts will be on sale every Wednesday from the school office. You will be able to use card as payment.

Please ensure you look at the calendar on the website as the summer term dates are on there.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 19th April 2024

Fri 19 Apr 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back. It is so lovely to see you and your children back. I hope you had a lovely holiday. The children are back with big smiles which is lovely to see. I cannot believe we are already in the summer term. The academic year is flying by. We have lots of lovely things coming up so please look at the calendar on the website for dates. Blastonbury is on the afternoon of 23rd May.

Reception hosted Family Friday today and the parents and carers came into their child’s classroom and read together. It was so lovely to see and thank you to those of you who were able to make it. There are photos attached to this newsletter.

Thank you for attending your parent’s meeting before the holidays. I hope you found them helpful. We have given you your child’s report so we can work with you on their next steps this term.

This week we celebrated Autism Appreciation Week with a special assembly. We discussed what autism is, why differences are positive, and talked about some famous people who are neurodivergent. Martin in Year 4 presented confidently to the school, and showed us a brilliant lego animation video he had made. Classes have had discussions about appreciating each others' differences, and being kind, and have designed Kahoot quizzes about autism.

This is the last term for Year 6 and we will ensure that they have a really brilliant one. They deserve it as they have been and are absolutely amazing.

Year 5 Saffron are having their class assembly on Wednesday 24th April at 9:15am. We look forward to seeing the parents and carers of Saffron class then.

We have some great events coming up. There is a vintage and designer sale on Wednesday 24th April from 7:30-11pm at the Red Lion Pub (upstairs). Please help by donating one or two pieces of good condition pre-loved, vintage, designer, or high street clothing, shoes, and accessories including bags, jewellery and sunglasses. The focus is on women’s items but men’s and children’s clothes etc are welcome too. This could be anything you would sell on Vinted or eBay (washed & ironed on a hanger will help us). Thank you to the organisers, and those of you who donated, are helping or attending. It is great to have so much support.

Betty's Disco Bingo is on Friday 26th April 7.30pm at the school. Tickets are still available here: https://bit.ly/betty's-disco-bingo-2024 We look forward to seeing you there.

Please can I ask you to walk around the building to leave in the morning and after school. A lot of parents and carers are walking out of the main gates and it is becoming too congested. Thank you for your help with this and please can you tell anyone who does not receive these emails and comes to pick up or drop off to do the same. Thank you.

We are aware that a lot of children have smartphones or iPads and we are reminding them about how to keep safe on them. Establishing the rules on safety and wellbeing for using the phone or iPad is key. This means talking to your child about how and when they use them, why they shouldn’t answer unknown texts and calls, be aware of not giving out personal information online, and the importance of being kind online. Please encourage your child to always talk to you if they have a weird or bad experience online. We will continue to support this area too.

There is a meeting for Year 6 parents and carers about SATs and how it is managed on Wednesday 24th April at 3:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

I am sad to say nits are back. They never seem to go away. Please check your child’s hair regularly and treat them if you find anything. Thank you for doing this.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher

Newsletter Friday 22nd March 2024

Fri 22 Mar 2024 Jessica

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a brilliant week this week. We had a fabulous child led assembly about Spring. The children taught about Spring, Passover and Easter. They did an amazing job and we were all very impressed. Well done Juno, Manu, Livia and Bobbi. You are all fantastic.

The children have started leading our Star of the Week and Kindness Assemblies. A child in Year 6 will lead Key Stage 2 Assemblies and a child in Year 2 will lead Key Stage 1 assemblies. The children can volunteer if they would like to do it. We had two fantastic children do it this week. Well done.

As part of their ‘Living things and their Habitats’ topic, Year four went on a trip to Hampstead Heath this week to discover the secret life of invertebrates. They explored the Heath with a hands-on bug hunt and even went pond dipping to see how many creatures they could find. They learnt about how to classify these animals using scientific keys and got a chance to create their own eco-art. Lots of fun was had.

On Tuesday 19th March, the Betty Layward Girls football team represented Hackney at the London Youth Games. The Girls played teams from Haringey, Waltham Forest, Brent, Camden, Merton, Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge. The girls did very well and showed great team spirit. Well done everyone, we are very proud of you all.

On Thursday 21st March, a group of year 6 children took part in a Kayaking competition at Leaside. The day started with 5 heats, the top 2 children would go into the quarter-finals then into the semi-finals and final. Well done to Rocky and Wilf who were the overall winners with Pearse and Sam coming second. Well done to everyone who took part.

We had a lovely lunch today to celebrate Holi. The children had Vegetarian Baked Samosas with Rice & Sweetcorn and Mango Lassi for dessert.

Thank you for booking your parent meeting. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday. The school will close at 1pm. Please ensure you pick up then. Junior Adventure Group are taking bookings. This is also the last day of term and we return on Monday 15th April. I hope you have a fantastic holiday and the sun shines. Thank you for all your brilliant support and we look forward to the summer term.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessica

Headteacher