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NEWSLETTER Headteacher’s message

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2020! The term is already proving to be action packed and the children are coming to school with great energy and enthusiasm. We have introduced a new behaviour system across the school this month which encourages every class to Go for Gold! Please ask your child how many gold stars they have on their classroom chart!

Reading continues to be a high priority this term and we were pleased to see parents and carers in school for our 'Drop in reading' session. If you were unable to attend this session, please come along to the next one which will be held in March. You are welcome to bring a suitable book or magazine from home to read with your child. Classroom books will also be available.

We also hope that you will be able to attend our 'Learn with me' lessons next week. The aim of these sessions is to provide you with an opportunity to work with your child in a maths lesson and to see learning in action.

We have planned a number of opportunities for you to be involved in the life of the school this term and look forward to seeing you in school over the coming weeks.

Natasha Rezai (Headteacher)

Attendance We are determined to improve our whole school attendance figures and the children must attend school every day in order to achieve this. It was wonderful to see so many children receive an attendance award in our special assembly. The children enjoy coming to school (see their quotes on the next page of this newsletter) and we enjoy teaching them!

Every minute of learning really does count! We believe that the most important factor in promoting good attendance is development of positive attitudes towards school and learning. We closely monitor the attendance patterns of our children and take action where required. This month 12 fixed penalty notices have been issued to families. This is extremely disappointing! All children have a right to education and we have put in place important measures to support this. If you child is unwell and genuinely unable to attend school, please notify the school office at the earliest opportunity. This will help to reduce the number of calls they have to make every day to enquire about absences.

Spring Term Edition 1

Pupil voice

Here’s what our children say about our school

Onyx Class Mahdi: “In phonics you can do writing and your teachers are proud.” Alexandros: “When people fall down, my friends will always help me.” Tourmaline Class Damian: “Healthy food at lunchtime and delicious fruit every day.” Mikolaj: “We get rewards and certificates for good behaviour.” Lapis Lazuli Class Vanessa: “We have nice, kind and helpful adults who help us and work with us. They help us to learn new things by using the whiteboard, internet and books.” Colin: “We get to learn new songs and languages. We have many different clubs to help us. These include dodgeball, writing booster club, art, homework, gymnastics, football, cooking and Science. We also have breakfast club where we get to have a healthy breakfast.” Nicholas and Kristian: “Children are kind to each other, we are respectful of each other’s reli-gions, cultures and beliefs.”

Quartz Class Aya: “I like computing lessons.” Ivan: “I like the uniform.” Rose Class Akdeniz: ““The teachers keep us safe- they make sure we don’t speak to strangers on trips.” Khadidja: “The school is so special to me because we have a fantastic new sports playground.”

Ruby Class Deandra: “I like how you get to play instruments in Y4.” Zara P: “We get to go on fun trips - for example the cinema.”

Emerald Class Megan: “This is a sociable school. You can be yourself. You don’t have to be shy and you can ex-press yourself how you want!” David: “What I love most about Earlham is how the different subjects are taught. We learn new vocabulary and different ways to solve problems in Maths.” Jade Class Kayla: “My favourite thing about the school is the football coaches because they take us to tour-naments and they make sure we are having fun in the playground.” Maja: “When you are in Year 4 you get to play violin or clarinet or trumpet.” Selver: “We learn fun songs with our Spanish teacher.”

Opal Class

Aliyah: “ The lessons in school are fun and educational.”

Najah: “Everybody has friends.”

Pearl Class

Maryam: “I think Earlham is a great school because it has such a welcoming community, which helps influence children for the future. The school is very fun which makes children have a posi-tive attitude for learning and for coming to school every day in general.”

Nicola: “I think Earlham Primary School is a fabulous school because it has skilled teachers who are very welcoming and supportive.”

Our new curriculum

We are working hard on creating a brand new curriculum which will excite and enthuse the children

to be the best they can be. The curriculum is rooted in high level vocabulary and ensuring that all our

children can access a bank of rich knowledge about the world they live in; including their immediate

surroundings, the country in which they live and the wider world.

Each year group will have a clear focus for their learning every half term and, as parents and carers, you

will be informed of this at the beginning of each topic. We hope you will be as excited as us and that the

information you receive will encourage you to work with the children on embedding the knowledge

together.

The topics will be led by humanities and science and will link to art, music, religion and other subjects.

Children will learn about genres of art and music as well as studying a range of artists, musicians and

religions.

Our home learning will also link with the humanities and/or science topics for the half term. As well as

the weekly English and Maths homework, there will be a variety of projects for you to work with over

the half term and we hope you will enjoy spending this time learning together with your child.

Although this curriculum is still in development stages, we are trialling and implementing the changes

in stages. Year 3 are beginning with this knowledge this term and children will be bringing home the

‘knowledge mats’ for you to see at home. Below is an example of one of these for the ‘Ancient Egypt’

topic.

We will of course inform you of when your child will begin experiencing the new curriculum.

This curriculum will be fully integrated across the school by September 2020.

Interested in finding out more? We will be presenting some of our learning materials at some of our Spring Term coffee mornings.

Please keep an eye out for further information in the near future. In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me for more information.

The London Fire Brigade

Our reception, Year 2 and Year 5 classes have received excellent visits from the London Fire Brigade. Each of the workshops delivered important fire safety messages to the children.

Year 2

In year 2 the Fire Officers explained the different ways in which they help people and the protective clothing they wear to keep them safe. We also learnt about the things we should do (or not do!) at home to help prevent fires and what we should do if there is a fire. We know that it is very important to have an escape plan just in case and to have working smoke detectors - which you must test regularly! Some of us think that we might like to be firefighters in the future because we would like to help other people.

Year 5 visit the Royal Observatory

Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the Planetarium at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich We were able to see the Earth, the dark side of the moon, all of the planets and a diagram of the known universe.

Reading Update

This term we introduced Daily

Supported Reading (DSR)

sessions in years one and two

and the results so far have been

very positive.

DSR is a quality first teaching

programme that ensures each

child enjoys a daily reading

session within a small group

which is led by a trained adult.

Children learn to solve

problems independently and

are given the opportunity to

engage with a much wider

range of texts.

This term we will continue to

learn about different authors,

explore new texts and promote

a love of reading in our pupils

at Earlham. We have purchased

new books to support DSR and

will be providing the children

with age appropriate books to

read with you at home home.

Mrs Siekkeris will be leading a

reading workshop for KS1

parents and carers after the

half term break but in the

meantime, please speak to her

if you have any questions.

.

Key Stage 2 Athletics event

Well done to all the KS2 chil-dren who took part in the ath-letics champion competition at St Thomas More Secondary School last week. Coach Jordan and Ms Bucholtz were very

Friends of Earlham (Parent and Teacher Association)

We are looking for parents/carers to join our new parent and teacher association 'Friends of Earlham'. If this is something you are interested in, please contact the school office.

Our first event will be our movie night which will be held on Tuesday 11th February. We also plan to hold an international event for our school community in March and will definitely need help to do this! Please do let us know if you are willing and able to support with these events.

Fundraising

We raised an impressive amount of money for a number of

important causes last term. Our next fundraiser will be a cake

sale to support Great Ormond Street Hospital. As you may be

aware, one of our pupils is currently receiving treatment there.

Please come along to offer your support and enjoy a cup of

tea /coffee and a slice of cake in our school dining hall on

Thursday 5th March at 2.30pm.—4 pm

The difference you'll make

Every day, over 600 children and young people from across the UK arrive at GOSH. Every day, doctors and nurses battle the most complex illnesses, and the brightest minds come to-gether to achieve pioneering medical breakthroughs. Every day is a chance for you to make a difference!

All cake/ cupcakes/ biscuits contributions and monetary

donations are highly appreciated. The funds raised will all be

sent to Great Ormond Street

If you are unable to attend the event but would still like to

donate, please send in your donation in a sealed envelope.

Please label the envelope 'GOSH donation'

We would appreciate any donations of cakes to be brought

to the school office on Wednesday 4th March or on the

morning of Thursday 5th March.

Please remember that we are a nut free school.

Many thanks in advance for your support!

Year 4

You may recall that last year, Year 4 took part in an exciting art project along with many other schools in London. Turner Prize-winning artist and Oscar –winning film-maker, Steve McQueen invited Year 3 pupils in London to have their photograph taken by a team of specially trained Tate photographers.

Our children were thrilled to be invited back to see their photographs on display. It was wonderful to not only see Year 4's amazing pictures, but to see how all London schools are part of a wider community. The children enjoyed themselves immensely and were very proud to see themselves on display in such an amazing venue. The exhibition is free and runs until 3 May 2020 so do try to visit!

A Healthy Packed Lunch

If you child brings a packed lunch to school, please try to ensure that is a healthy one. We ask that you

do not include sweets, chocolate bars or fizzy drinks as part of their lunch.

Please make sure that your child’s lunch box/bag is named. If your child has any dietary needs, please

speak to the school office so that this information can be shared with our team of mealtime supervisors -

they are in the dining hall everyday to assist and support the children.

Getting ideas and inspiration for what to include in your child’s lunchbox can be a difficult

task. Healthy eating is simply about getting a better balance and eating a wide variety of foods. Variety

is the key to a healthy diet, so try not to offer the same foods on consecutive days. By including a broad

range of different foods, a much wider variety of nutrients will be eaten.

Please note that we are a NUT FREE school so please do not send any nuts or products

containing nuts (such as peanut butter or cereal bars with nuts) into school with your

child.

The following links contain some useful information on healthy packed lunches:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/childhealth6-15/Pages/Lighterlunchboxes.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/healthy-lunchbox-picnic.aspx

School Dinners

Many of our children enjoy eating a school dinner. The meals are prepared by our catering provider

‘Pabulum’. Pabulum is committed to serving the children really tasty primary school meals they can

enjoy. They also encourage them to discover the wonders of food by trying new dishes and flavours,

and help them begin to understand the importance of a healthy diet from an early age.

Please visit Pabulum’s website to view the current menu.

www.pabulum-catering.co.uk/primary-school-meals/

Did you know we have a School Counsellor for our Children?

What Is Counselling In Earlham School and how does it work?

Children from time to time have trouble with managing their feelings and can find it difficult to talk about their worries in the course of a busy day at school or home.

The counsellor creates a safe space in which children can think about their situations and express themselves through play, storytelling, poetry, puppets, sand tray work, clay and music. Many of us find it difficult to talk to those we are closest to about what is worrying us and sometimes children don't want to burden their parents and carers.

Counselling can not only help your child feel better and more able to cope but also it can have a positive effect on your child's school work by freeing them from worries, increasing confidence and making it easier to listen in class and concentrate. As a result very often behaviour improves, confidence grows and their school work benefits. Counselling can also improve their relationships at home and school with other children and adults.

What children bring to counselling varies but it might include: family illness, parental divorce and separation, problems of being bullied or teased, exam or test stress, bereavement, separation anxiety and school refusal, anger issues. Many children have times in their lives when they feel worried, sad, angry, frightened, confused or frustrated.

The counsellor is a fully qualified professional who works within a code of ethics and practice and is professionally supervised. She works closely with the school staff but keeps sessions confidential as long as there are not safety concerns.

How Can It Help My Child?

Some children do not have the words to verbalise their feelings. Counselling in a quiet play setting one to one helps to create a space to explore and support children in how to understand and talk about their anxiety, fears and worries. Once understood they can, where possible, be eased with support from those around at school and home so the child can feel more happy, Counselling is not a 'magic wand' and it is not always possible to fix everything but children are often helped by counselling support.

How Does My Child Get To See The Counsellor?

Your School Counsellor, Belinda, works for Hope In Tottenham Schools Counselling which offers sup-port to over 150 children each week in 32 Haringey primary schools. Belinda works in school every Tuesday. She is happy to meet with parents and carers to support them in how best to help with any concerns that have relating to their child’s wellbeing and parenting issues.

What Children, Parents and Teachers Say About Counselling

"Even my mum has said I have changed, I always have a smile"

" The counsellor helped me to think about what happens to me when I get angry in here (counselling room); and that has helped me to get less angry outside too"

Teacher: "He is really settled down and is much less clingy and gets upset less easily."

Parent: " The counsellor's advice helped me to think how to talk to my child and help him calm down"

Counsellor Appointments

Belinda is happy to offer School Counsellor parenting advice to you regarding any issues or concerns you may have about your children. These may include bedtimes, mealtimes and food issues, media and online safety issues and support with setting boundaries. Please speak to the school office if you would like to arrange a meeting with Belinda.

Earlham Primary School Key Events – Spring Term

Date Event Who is involved Time

03.02.20 SATS year 2 meeting Year 2 Parents and

Carers

9am to 10am

03.02.20 Drop in reading event Reception to Year 6

Parents and Carers

3pm-3.330pm

04.02.20 Phonics screening test meeting

Years 1 and 2 Parents and Carers

9-10am

04.02.20 Emerald Class visiting Wood Green Vue Cinema—attendance award

Emerald Class Morning

05.02.20 Year 6 SATS meetings

(1 repeat session at 5pm)

Year 6 Parents and Carers

3pm-3.30pm

5pm to 5.30pm

05.02.20 NSPCC Speak out Stay Safe programme

Years 1 to 6 All day

06.02.20 Year 4 Multiplication Test Meeting

Year 4 Parents and Carers

9am to 10am

11.02.20 Movie Night All classes 3.30pm to 5.15pm

12.02.20 Learn with me sessions Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

Reception, Year 1 and 2 Parents and Carers

9am to 10am

12.02.20 CSI Road Safety Workshops

Years 5 and 6 All day

13.02.20 Learn with me sessions years 5 and 6

Year 5 and 6 Parents and Carers

9am to 10am

African Mask Making and Dance Workshops

New build update

The build is continuing to progress well. Site visits take place on weekly basis and the pace of

change is remarkable! The interior is almost ready for decoration. You can see for yourself from

the pictures below how many changes have taken place since the August!

Earlham Primary School Key Events – Spring Term

Date Event Who is involved Time

13.02.20 Coffee Afternoon—PC Iq-bal and PCSO Belgrave

All Parents and Carers 2.30pm-3.15m

13.02.20 Repeat Phonics Screening Meeting

Year 1 Parents and Carers

3pm

14.02.20 Learn with me sessions

Years 3and 4

Year 3 and 4

Parents and Carers

9am to 10am

14.02.20 Last day of Spring 1 School finishes at the usual time

School finishes at the usual time

24.02.20 First day of Spring 2 School begins the usual time

9am start

January 2020 Corridor January 2020 Classroom January 2020 School Office December 2019 Corridor

December 2019 Classrooms October 2019 Our new building August 2019 KS2 Playground September 2019 The new site

African Mask Making and Dance Workshops

Safer Internet Day 11.02.20 This Safer Internet Day the UK Safer Internet Centre are encouraging everyone to think about identity online, looking at how the internet shapes how they think of themselves and others.

This year the Safer Internet Day campaign will be using the hashtag #freetobe – exploring all of the things that young people should be free to be, when they are online.

Safer Internet Day is a fantastic opportunity to have a conversation with your child about using the internet safely, responsibly and positively.

We will be celebrating Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 11th February. Please visit the UK Safer Internet Centre for further information www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2020/i-am-parent-or-carer

10 tips to stay safe online

Not sure what advice to give your child? Our pointers have got you covered.

1.You should only talk to people you know and trust in real life – anyone can pretend to be a child online

2. If you do talk to people you don’t know, don’t give away personal information – like what street you live on or where you go to school, or share your location with them. Say no to any requests they send you for images or videos of yourself, and stop talking to them

3. Set your profiles to private, to limit what others can see

4. Be ‘share aware’ – think carefully about what you share and with who. Once it’s out there, you’ve got no control over what the other person does with it. Remember, it’s illegal to take, share or view sexual images of under-18s, full stop

5. Be mindful of your digital footprint. What you post online now could come back to bite you later, like when applying for jobs, college or university

6. If you see something upsetting, or someone bullies you, tell an adult you trust

7. Be aware that people will try to make their lives look more exciting online. There’s a lot people can do with photo editing to make their photos look better. So don’t assume everything you see is a true to life representation

8. Watch out for hoaxes and scams, like messages you’re meant to forward on or that ask you for payment details or your password

9. Take any content that glamorises gang lifestyles with a very large pinch of salt – it’s not as glamorous as it looks. Be wary of schemes promising easy cash for receiving and transferring money too, they’re almost definitely criminal activity

10. Watch out for loot boxes or other parts of games where you pay money to take a chance on getting a reward – you can get sucked into spending lots of money on them Don’t feel confident starting a conversation with your child about what they’re up to online?

Read this advice from the NSPCC: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/onlinesafety/talking-child-online-safety

Contact details: Please inform the school of-fice if your contact details have changed.

End of day collection arrangements: If you are unable to collect your child from school, please contact the school office before the end of the school day to name an authorised collector.

You will be provided with a password which must be shared with the named authorised collector before they come to collect your child from school. Named authorised collectors should be aged 16 or above.

Parking: W e have lim ited parking spaces for our staff and visitors. We kindly request that parents and carers do not park on site.

Medical: If your child has a new m edical condition or there are changes that we need to know about, please inform our school office.

Please also ensure that the correct medication is in school and that the correct authorisation documents have been signed.

If your child is asthmatic, please ensure that an up-to-date inhaler is in school. The same applies to

Staffing update Ms Kaya’s Maternity Cover As you may already be aware, Ms Kaya is about to go on maternity leave. I am sure that you will join me in wishing her the very best over the coming months! We are pleased to let you know that we have arranged for 2 experienced teachers to cover Ms Kaya’s absence. Mrs Patel and Mrs Khan are looking forward to working in partnership with the school community over the coming months. Ms Revell,(Amethyst Class) We will also be saying goodbye to Ms Revell next week. We wish her the very best for the future. I am delighted to let you know that Ms Wills will be joining us after the half term break. We look forward to welcoming her to our team.

A retrospective look at the Autumn Term

Winter Fair

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the school Winter Fair last term. The hall was full of people clamouring to purchase lovely festive arts, crafts and tasty treats made by Earlham’s talented pupils! It was a great opportunity to bring the Earlham community together and to raise money (over £500) for the school! A huge thank you to all the staff and parent helpers who helped to run the event - we couldn't do this without you. A special thank you to Mr Miah who generously donated boxes of chocolates and contributed towards cinema tickets for our raffle.

A huge thank you to everyone who donated a cake – we clearly have some very talented bakers!

Winter Disco

Our School disco was also a great success. Thank you to all the staff who helped to run it. The children had a fantastic time and have already asked me with the next one will take place (April)!

Earlham Primary School

EARHAM GROVE

WOOD GREEN

N22 5HJ

Headteacher

Natasha Rezai BA (Hons) PGCE

Tel: 020 8 888 2750

Email: admin@earlham.haringey.sch.uk

www.earlhamprimary.com