AUTUMN T E R M 2 0 1 6

PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT

There have been many opportunities this term for parent engagement. We began the term with ‘Meet the Teacher’ sessions for every year group. This was then followed with informal coffee mornings for all year groups and school journey meetings for Years 5 and 6. We held a curriculum meeting for Reception parents, End of year expectation sessions for Years 1 and 2 and phonics sessions for Reception and Year 1. There were also parent and child workshops on Online Safety for Y3, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar for Y4 and Maths for Y5. On top of this we have had our monthly Holly Park Book Club for parents to read with children

Y4 Walk Like An Egyptian!

This term the Year 4 learning project has been 'An African Adventure'. A large part of this has been focusing on life in Ancient Egypt. During their curriculum day the children drew images of important Egyptian gods, made Egyptian cuffs and collar necklaces. They also learnt an Egyptian dance and ate food that was typical of the time, for example, dates dipped in honey. The children had a memorable day as Egyptians!

Year 3 NativityThe Year 3 Nativity was absolutely wonderful. The children danced beautifully, sang sweetly and said their lines extremely clearly. Every child in Year 3 had a part to play. Many thanks go to the Year 3 teachers – Mr Bourne and Mrs Mehtar for their hardwork and commitment with the rehearsals. Many thanks also to Mrs Gillingwater for organising the costumes and to Mr Hogan for the singing. The children participated with energy and enthusiasm.

As Mr Turner who taught the children last year said – it was a slick operation and the show really flowed. Mr Carini, who has done the nativity for a few years in the past when he was a Y3 teacher explained that it was nice to sit back and enjoy the show from a different perspective. He commented that it was clear just how much hard work had gone in to the show from both the children and staff.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

and also parent consultation evening. A new venture for us this term was the very successful ‘Parent Gym’ sessions that ran each Friday afternoon. Lots of opportunities for our parents to get involved!

We celebrated International Day of Peace. Children came to school dressed in white as a symbol of peace and they each wrote a message for peace on to a single feather. All of the feathers were collated together to make a lovely large dove of peace which is displayed in the main hall.

Year5 & Ancient Greece Year 1 Pirate AdventureYear 1 Pirate Adventure

Year One had a fantastic time dressed as pirates for their curriculum day. They enjoyed a range of activities linked to their pirate learning project. First they had a fashion show showing off their costumes and their pirate poses and phrases.

Then they received a letter giving them the first clue of the treasure hunt. They followed a series of clues around the school that finally led them to Mrs Hassan’s office where they found a treasure chest full of chocolate gold coins! They spent the afternoon making treasure map pizzas and finished the day with tattoos. The children did some excellent writing about their pirate day in their English books.

This term Year 5 had a fantastic time learning about Ancient Greece. In November they had lots of fun on their curriculum day. The children dressed up as Ancient Greeks and enjoyed tasting Greek food. During the day, the children learned about Archimedes Principle and had a competition to float a boat containing marbles. They also made Greek theatre masks. A real highlight was the trip to the British Museum in December. It was very exciting to see the original

Greek pots, some of which are over 2000 years old. The children enjoyed using iPads to explore the Parthenon Gallery by playing an interactive game.

Be Bright Be Seen

GRANDPARENT DAY In October, the children came to school wearing very bright clothes – everyone made a great effort. We did this day as part of our work on road safety. Children and parents need to be aware that more accidents involving children being knocked down in roads occur in the winter months. We warned parents that if their child has a

afterwards to say how well the children had performed and how much intelligent conversation they had had with our children. It was a great opportunity to see young and older come together. Perhaps it will become an annual event! At the gate we collected money for Barnet Age UK and we collected a total of - £195.65.

As part of Silver Sunday Week we invited grandparents to come to school. The coffee afternoon was a wonderful event. Grandparents came

and a chat. Mr Hogan led an informal concert of wonderful instrumentalists and fun singing by Y2 Elm Class. The grandparents really

for a cup of tea, a biscuit

enjoyed the event and many came to speak to me

dark coloured coat – they need to make sure they also wear something bright or fluorescent too.

ANTI BULLYINGANTI BULLYING YEAR TWOYEAR TWO CAFÉCAFÉ

ENTERPRIENTERPRISESE

Year Two have had a busy term learning about Heroes and Villains, with work including comic making, story writing and starting to learn their two, five and ten times tables! The children were also entrepreneurs during their Enabling Enterprise Café Challenge. In groups, the children created their own themes including the Minecraft Café, The Pokemon Café, The Superhero Café and many that were Christmas themed. They used three main skills; teamwork, staying positive and problem solving. The children produced menus, tablecloths, signs and decorations which really enhanced the café vibe. The food that they made looked delicious… a choice of sandwiches, iced biscuits and popcorn. Each class took £60 and made £45 profit per class. The children will be able to choose how this is spent in

HEALTHYEATING

The children wrote anti-bullying messages on a cut out hand and these have been collated

to make an Anti Bullying peacock which is proudly displayed in the hall.

Part of our School Improvement Plan this year is to encourage healthy eating and exercise. We have just achieved the Healthy School Silver Award this term. On World Obesity Day, every child did 20 minutes of exercise. The teachers talked to the children about the importance of exercise in our lives. We have been teaching the children about drinking water and making the right food choices.  The Healthy Living council came up with the great idea to have a poster competition to 'Design a healthy packed lunch' which they judged just after half term. The parent taster session in September to try the new food on our menus was a great success. Our caterers are providing school meals with : organic and free range products.They also use British, local and seasonal produce. Year 5 have been learning all about healthy eating and exercise this term. The learning Council and Healthy Living Council attended a Barnet food event to learn about the importance of low sugar and

In We reminded children about what bullying is. Our school definition of bullying is: “Bullying is a repetitive series of actions, carried out on purpose, and designed to hurt someone’s feelings and make them feel ashamed of who or what they are. In Assembly we talked to the children about how bullying is also about words that hurt not just physical harm. To demonstrate this we had two apples. One apple was talked to nicely and the other was said hurtful things to it over and over again. We cut the apples in half and the one that had been spoken to repeatedly with nasty words looked ok on the outside but on the inside was bruised and damaged, the other

council have looked at our Anti Bullying policy to see if it can be improved. They have also done a bullying questionnaire. The council have spoken to their classes about what bullying is. They have reminded the children that if they are being bullied – REPORT IT. They reminded the children that if they see someone being bullied they should – REPORT IT and also if someone tells them that they are being bullied they should – REPORT IT. A school governor and Miss Michael met with a group of children to see what they felt about our school procedures and how they felt about the way the school dealt with bullying and if there are improvements we can make. Our house

apple was fresh inside. This clearly demonstrated to the children how hurtful words can be harmful to us even if it doesn’t show on the outside! The children also did some homework about bullying. In class they all had a lesson about bullying and the older children thought more about online bullying and how to behave responsibly on the internet – ‘netiquette.’ The school

challenge was connected to bullying and in small groups from each house, the children wrote anti bullying poems. Mr Hogan taught the children a song about the power of good which was made up by some Y4 children. The children came to school dressed in blue to show their support for anti bullying.

their classrooms. about fruit and vegetables.

NURSERY LEARNNURSERY LEARN ABOUT DIWALIABOUT DIWALI

In Nursery this term, the children spent a week celebrating Diwali. They took part in a variety of Diwali activities such as making Rangoli patterns, creating firework paintings, making and decorating their own diva pots and recreating the story of Rama and Sita using puppets and dolls. Some parents bought in special food for Diwali and we also had staff

members, parents and grandparents come in and talk to the children about what they do during the Hindu celebration. One parent even came into the nursery to do some henna designs on the children's hands. At the end of the week, the children listened to some Diwali music while Diva lamps were lit.

Henna designs and Diva lamps

Reception Cultural Day Year 6 Mayan ExperienceYear 6 Mayan Experience

Reception Cultural Day focused on the rights of freedom of expression, views and beliefs. During the day the children celebrated a wide

themselves. They dressed up in special clothes and got to try some tasty treats from different parts of the world.

During the day they had lots of fun doing different activities

Year 6 had a fantastic time at their Ancient Maya Curriculum Day. During the workshop they discovered more about various aspects of Mayan life including religious beliefs, basic diet,

calendars, education and decorative arts. They enjoyed dancing, singing and dressing up in traditional Mayan clothing and even got to have a go at the Mayan ballgame (unlike the Mayans, we decided not to sacrifice the loser after the game!)

Y3 Investigating Very Early History

variety of cultural backgrounds in palm Class. They found out about the similarities and differences between

Year Three’s major topic this term has been the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. They have been learning about the animals. Tools, homes and art. The topic was reinforced with a trip to

the Museum of London where the children got to see and learn about various artefacts and pre history. These included weapons, jewellery and the first coins.

Tasting delicious food from around the world!