Diary Dates

Year 5 are on a trip to a mosque on Tuesday 1st, we have the School Council Sharing assembly on Wednesday and on Thursday 3rd we will be singing at the Light Up Harold Hill Event. Our pupils are due on stage at 4pm – so fingers crossed for the weather! In the evening we have the Full Governing Body meeting.

We finish on Friday with the chance for Year 4 parents to come in and play some of the maths games with their children and see how they have been working hard to develop their skills.

On Saturday 5th December the Choir is performing at the MyPlace Christmas Market. We will be on stage at 12pm!

Fact Hunters: Blinking and salt!

Charlie Matthams
Two Big Berthas were captured by the US Army at the end of the war. One was taken to the United States and evaluated at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The gun was later placed on display at the United States Army Ordnance Museum.

Kimberley Stewart
Why do we blink? We blink to keep our eyes moisturized and to prevent our eyes drying out.

Ayomide Otegbola
Suprisingly, salt gets into the sea through erosion. Rainwater dissolves minerals in the soil and rock that it passes through, carrying them until it reaches a stream or river. Eventually this water will flow into the sea taking with it the dissolved minerals, or salts.

Charlie Matthams
Did you know that a duck billed platypus doesn’t have any teeth? Instead it uses gravel to help chew its food!

Plamen Vasilev
Incredibly the bar headed goose (Anser Indicus) can fly higher than Mount Everest. It is found in South Asia and is monotypic (both males and females look the same). The bird copes with low oxygen by hyperventilating 7.2 times faster than it does at sea level.

Samanyu Handoo
Did you know that the drnking of tea probably originated in southwest China during the Shang dynasty as a medicinal drink?  An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Hua Tuo!

E for Excellence Winners:

These wonderful children have demonstrated excellence this week. 

Sophia Duddell – Mulberry

Hayden Northwood – Pine

Fayo Ayodola– Cedar

Leah Joyce – Cherry

Sonia Lewis – Ash

Katrina Weaver – Hazel

Mia Gallagher– Birch

Samanyu Handoo – Willow

Candice Chambers – Elm

Ronnie Nichols– Maple

Alfie McKatherine – Acer

Mervyn Vumuka– Palm

Keira Parmenter– Sequoia

Mayor of London Conference

On Friday we had the chance to attend the Mayor of London's Education Conference. It was a fantastic opportunity to network with other partner schools we have worked with on a range of projects: the London School's Excellence Fund, Count On Us Challenge, Team London and the NCTL.

Looking ahead there are a wonderful number of opportunities for our school to be at the forefront of developments in London over the next few years. We also had the chance to listen to a great poet - Jacob Sam LaRose - who may well be coming to our school to work with Year 5&6.

Certificates of Presentation

Sacha Raif, Yazmin Satti, Iasha Sillah, Timi-David Adelowo, Alffie Pilcher, Lacey Joyett, Caydon Buckland, Austin Hall, Cydney Ridley, Alex Ianache, Sophie Porter & Grace Moody : all of these pupils have shown that they are making a sustained effort to improve and develop their presentation. By carefully forming their numbers and ensuring handwriting is neat they are producing higher quality work.

We're In The Paper: Anti Bullying March

Make sure you pick up your copy of the Romford Recorder this week as it features our Anti Bullying March across Harold Hill. All of the Primary schools joined together for the march to promote our ABC code:
Always tell someone
Be positive
Care for each other!

I really enjoyed walking the banner to Hilldene. Their children gave us a great welcome. We talked about what we were doing in our schools to beat bullying.
Brandon Brown

Broadford Primary Expansion - Consultation Survey

Dear Parents

This concerns the proposed expansion to the school so that we can accommodate three classes in each Year group. It will start in September 2016, with just Reception (other than the bulge class in Year 3) and then will bubble up through the school.

A meeting is planned with the Education Funding Agency on the 16th December to discuss further the plans to demolish the old building and create the new classroom spaces which will eventually be needed. However - other than the two classrooms currently being built - we do not need any more classrooms until September 2017.

We have emailed the consultation documents out to those parents who are on the Newsletter mailing list. We will also be adding the information pack to the website shortly.

If you would like a paper copy then please come into the office from this afternoon as we have copies to give out.

There is a link to the official survey below so that you can register your views about the expansion.

Should you have any questions, please come and see me about the proposals or ask me on the gate.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2016expansions

Harold Hill Health Issue

It is absolutely vital that we all do everything that we can to give our pupils the very best start in life. Sadly there are huge odds stacked against them. Even though there have been great improvements with reading, writing and maths, life chances for children born in Harold Hill remain poor compared to other parts of Havering.

Firstly - a fact we have shared with you before - the life expectancy gap between RM3 and RM14 is 7 years! Now a study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that out of the years we are alive, boys born in Harold Hill are likely to have 17 less years in good health than their counterparts in Upminster in Cranham.

We will continue to do all we can: providing a free breakfast club, cookery classes, extra curricular clubs, specialist sports provision, excellent facilities, an outstanding education, giving away free fruit, having a healthy snack shop. But we must have your help.

Pupils must come to school having had a healthy breakfast. We have seen pupils sucking on lollipops, eating maltesers and munching crisps. Lunchboxes should have healthy snacks - not chocolate bars. These bad habits need to be prevented so that we can honestly say we have all done everything we can to help close this gap.

It is also worth noting the frightening fact that 3-5% of our pupils start Reception seriously overweight. By the end of Year 6 this figure is up to 40%. Our vision is that we will all combine our efforts to break pupils free from a cycle of deprivation so that they will be empowered to make their own educated choices. The success we have had cannot blind us to the knowledge that there is still a huge amount of work to do at school and at home.

Super Readers

Well done to our latest batch of super readers!

These pupils have now read 10 books and collected their Bronze award: Finley Short, Lucien Bundy, Nikola Urban & Brooke Atkinson

Vittorio Omwanghe and Oliwia Bartnik have both managed to read 50 books, earning them a £5 voucher and Silver certificate.

Personal Growth Awards

Congratulations to Joshua, Michael and Ronnie who have all been working hard on their personal targets.

Mrs Smith is proud of me because I have shown that I can think before I act in class. I have tried hard not to get distracted so easily and make sure I am doing my job.
Michael

Joshua has been working very well in his Fresh Start group. He is very keen to develop his reading and works well with his partner.
Miss Sparkes

Star Readers

Congratulations to Maisie Cohen, Paris Godfrey, Maliat Bakreen, Mia Gallagher, Plamen Vasilev and Grace Gore who have managed to complete their 10 books for the Bronze award.

Kiera Baker has collected her Silver award as she is now on 50 books - this is a certificate and a £5 voucher!

Fact Hunters: Starlings & bats!

Holly Clark
Were you aware that the largest ever murmuration of starlings contained over 1.5 million birds?

Samira Rahman
Incredibly there are over 1,000 species of bats. Their babies are called pups.

Star Writers

Sydney Griffiths, Isaac Wright, Ashlee Wright, Amandeep Ubhi, Deborah Oluokun, Plamen Vasilev, Timothy Dempsey, Yemi Adedipe, Tianna Osho, Katherine Barrett, Freddie Lewis, Olivia Bundy, Caitlin Bowden, & Lucian Bundy: these children have all produced pieces of outstanding writing this week. Look out for examples of their work on the blog! 

Learning Power Awards

These are the key skills that our children will need to learn effectively in class and be successful later in life. Yazmin Satti, Samira Rahman & Charlie Quilligan : they have demonstrated effective reciprocity this week – able to listen carefully, work collaboratively and take turns.

Gabija Krasauskaite: has shown that she is revising her ideas, identifying key features and showing she can talk about her learning. This has earned her a Reflectiveness award.

Arya Shah, Jordan Iordan, Athenkosi Nombeko, Guilia Vargas, Simran Bashir, Yussuf Al-Beity, Arhaan Kaushal, Leo Mbata, Lacey Wall & Donna-Marie Quilligan have all shown that they are able to make links between their learning and reason methodically. This has meant they have been awarded the Resourcefulness certificate.

Resilience means: showing perseverance, managing distractions, seeing patterns and being absorbed in your task. These skills have been demonstrated by: Naleli Sibanda, Brandonlee Bundy, Jake Reynolds, Jack Dempsey, Oliver Stay & Ayra Shah.

Y3 Artwork

In Year 3 they have been learning about the life and work of Albrecht Durer. He was regarded as the greatest German Renaissance artist. His work includes altarpieces, portraits and self-portraits, engravings, and woodcuts.

Did you know that Albrecht Dürer was born in the city of Nuremberg? He was the third of eighteen children... 18! Originally he was taught to draw by his father who was a goldsmith.
Finley Livingstone

It was hard to get my sketch right. Albrecht was very accurate with his drawings. We had to keep redrawing the lines and getting advice from our partners
Jacob

Y3 Poetry

Linked to their topic on World War 2, Birch class have been looking at the poetry of Seigfried Sassoon.

'I think this poem is trying to tell soldiers to stay brave. If they are injured we won't care, we will try to take care of them'
Denisz 

It made me think about all the jobs that you can still do if you are disabled. Some soldiers might think their life is over if they can't walk anymore, but they can still do job
Callie Rose

Does it Matter?
DOES it matter?—losing your legs?...

For people will always be kind,

And you need not show that you mind

When the others come in after hunting

To gobble their muffins and eggs.


Does it matter?—losing your sight?...

There’s such splendid work for the blind;

And people will always be kind,

As you sit on the terrace remembering

And turning your face to the light.

Do they matter?—those dreams from the pit?...

You can drink and forget and be glad,

And people won’t say that you’re mad;

For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country


And no one will worry a bit.

Christmas Concert Arrangements:

Please check our Google calendar for the latest dates for parents and school events. Below we have included the dates for each of the Christmas concerts this year. Please be aware that the KS2 concert is for Y3-5 only. Y6 pupils have already been involved in the Shakespeare Festival performance and will be taking part in a role play for the Royal Courts of Justice on Dec 14th.

Tuesday 8th December KS1 – 9.15am & 2.15pm

Wednesday 9th December Nursery & Reception – 10.30am & 2.30pm

Thursday 10th December KS2 (Y3-Y5) 9.15am & 2.15pm

Birch's Sharing Assembly

Birch Class gave us a great assembly today. They recounted their learning about WW2 and what it was like to be an evacuee. Libby and Finley read out their play - which they had tweaked with an alternative ending. Finally the class shared their art work and read a poem by Siegfried Sassoon.

Thank you Birch Class... a great show!

Christmas Values - Dec 1st

Richard Shorter has organised an opportunity for members of the Harold Hill Community to have a day reflecting on the meaning of Christmas. Set in the sunny - but sometimes breezy - location of Southend, there will be a chance to eat, chat spend some time alone, be part of a group and reflect on the true meaning behind this time of year.

Please see the flyer below for more details.

Albie's Fashion Design

Albie - inspired by his trip to the Victoria & Albert Museum - has been working hard on the design for his jacket. At the exhibition he saw some garments designed by Alexander McQueen.

There was a coat which had a vivid rose petal design to it. I think it was worn by the rapper Professor Green. It really caught my eye and I wanted to try and create something similar that used my favourite colours.'
Albie

Albie will be shortly completing his wardrobe for his model and presenting his first collection... we are very excited to see it!

Jessica's Bauble

Congratulations to Jessica Chilvers, who has been shortlisted for the Liberty Centre Christmas Bauble design competition. Her idea features the school tree and a family of snowmen.

'It was quite hard to draw and colour. It took me a long time to get it right. The snowmen are supposed to be my family!'

Well done Jessica for your design and fingers crossed that it is picked as the winner!

School Funding: Importance of Pupil Premium

Please apply now!
You may well be aware of the cuts that are being made to services. This year our school will be hit by the Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) which means that our money will shrink by 1.5%. As costs still go up – wages, materials and services – it means a reduction nearer 3-4% at least. In order to ensure that we have the maximum level of funding to provide an outstanding education for your children we need to have as many parents as possible apply for the Pupil Premium Grant.

If you have a child in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 you would rightly think that it doesn’t affect you. The Universal Free School Meals offer provides a free school dinner for everyone. However you may well be eligible for Pupil Premium Funding. This is extra money, given to the school, that helps us to pay for the free clubs, resources, training, trips, workshops and other enrichments. It is worth £1,300 per pupil, per year for the next six years… £7,800 per pupil in total! Typically 50% of pupils in every Year group are eligible for this money, but in Reception and Nursery we are very low on numbers.

Please come into the office with your date of birth and National Insurance Number so that we can apply for you and see if you are eligible. Without this funding it may be necessary to review some of the opportunities we are able to offer the children. The next census is in January, so we must have details before then to ensure the funding is in place for 2016-17.

Should you have any questions, then please do not hesitate to speak to me on the gate or fix an appointment with the office.

Scholastic Book Fair

We would like to thank everyone who came along and supported the book fair. This was the biggest and best book fair that we have seen in a while. We made a staggering £223 in commission to buy new books for our library.

These books will benefit all of our children as we continue to foster a love of books and reading throughout the school.

A huge thanks you to Miss Sparks and the spine breakers for organising and running the book fair.

Well done everyone!

Parent Council - Meeting 9

Date: September 24th @ 2pm
Parents/Carers Attending: Wise, Omwanghe, Sibanda, Vincent, Reynolds (Murray), Wheal, Atkinson, Harrop

Actions from previous meeting
1. Reading survey
This is to be carried out before Christmas - Mr Harrop volunteered to do this with Miss Sparkes

2. Parent View
Parents were reminded of how to login on the website and informed that the survey would be formally undertaken during the Autumn parents' evening

3. New cook
Parents were reminded that we have a new cook - Michelle - as Mandy has been promoted to area manager

4. Travel Plan – now got Gold
Mr Drakes thanked parents for their help in completing the information used in the Travel Plan assessment. The update is that we have now been awarded Gold status since the last Parent Council meeting. The JTAs will be meeting soon to outline the targets for this year as we hope to become a centre of excellence for cycling

Agenda
1. New staff
Last year the Parent Council raised the point that not all parents were aware of the new adults who had joined the staff. It was agreed that in future we would add photos of new staff to the website so that all members of the school community would know who the adults in school were:

http://broadfordprimary.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/new-staff.html

2. School Expansion
Parents asked for an update on the timelines for expansion. At the last meeting parents had raised concerns about the plan for demolishing the old building and requested details about why the work had not taken place in the Summer holidays. Parents also pointed out that the hall space issue was more likely to come into effect this year as we have an extra class in Y3.

Mr Drakes went through the timetable

• The EFA (Education Funding Agency) and LA are due to meet on Oct 22nd to make further plans for delivering the building work locally. The intention is still to get the work completed for Summer 2016 so that the new block will be ready for Sept 2017.
• The reason that the works were not carried out this Summer was that the PSBP2 (Priority Schools Building Program) schools all have to be surveyed first and then a report compiled. This wasn't ready in time for any work to be commissioned. However in meetings in Sept it was indicated that Broadford will be high on the priority list.
• Since the last Parent Council meeting the school has obtained funding from Veolia for the canopy - parents were shown an image of the likely installation. We are now waiting for planning permission which is expected on Oct 15th. Once that is obtained the grant body can give permission to get underway.
• A further update will be given on the building works for the permanent classrooms at the Parent Governor meeting later in the term (Nov 16th). Value Grade have been appointed as the contractor, but we are still awaiting a date for the pre contract meeting. This normally signals that the works are imminently due to start.

The bulge class has started in Y3 and parents were informed that 23 pupils have already been added to the school roll. Parents asked about the impact at playtime and whether it would reduce play space and equipment for existing pupils. It was explained that the plan is to continue to add extra facilities to the playground: giant climbing tyres, a ladder and outdoor gym equipment. Pupils who had completed the reading challenge had earned £800 towards extra equipment: balls, skipping ropes and building blocks. This would be chosen by the children and the ordered.

3. School Improvement Plan
Parents looked through the latest version of the School Improvement Plan and discussed areas where they may be able to contribute:

1. To embed new curriculum and ensure that all staff are ‘teaching to the top’
2. To embed the new assessment systems and ensure that all stakeholders are aware of progress
3. To further develop leadership capacity throughout the school 
4. To continue developing a culture of continuous improvement that drives progress in teaching and learning 

Parents suggested that they would be able to:

• Survey pupils new to the school in the bulge cohort to check that they had settled in and new of the key expectations
• Come in and take part in Maths Games as part of the Count on Us challenge
• Share with parents the pupil passport and what it is for
• Come and observe some play times to see the new facilities in action and the quality of the behaviour/interactions

Mr Drakes also pointed out that there were a number of opportunities in the diary for parents to be involved:

• Friday 25th November - McMillan Coffee Morning
• Tuesday 29th September - Parent Gym booster session
• Thursday 1st October - Assembly for new parents (Reception, Y3 and other new pupils)
• Thursday 1st October - Y6 Health & Hygiene talk
• Friday 16th October - Reading Volunteers meeting
• October 19th & 20th - Parents Evening (launch of the pupil passports)

4. AOB
The questions asked by parents were:

• Are all new staff aware of the children's reading level from their previous class? There had been some cases where pupils had been placed back a level on the scheme and the books were not challenging enough. Mr Drakes agreed to speak to the teachers and remedy this. It should be the case that all information is handed up to the new teacher so that pupils make a smooth transition.
• A similar issue was raised with the Rock Stars times tables. In the previous year group the pupils had been tackling harder sums. In the new class they seem to have gone back to simpler x tables. Again, Mr Drakes stated that he would speak with class teachers and then get feedback from parents as to whether the situation had changed.

Date of next meeting – Thursday 28th January @ 2pm

4Rs: Resilience

The following children have been recognised for the Resilience they are showing in class:

In recognition of his determination when presenting and completing the column method for addition. He has been resilient all week when the tasks became difficult.
Miss Connell

For using independent time at school and at home to meet your targets!
Miss Estall

For her exemplary resilience and hardworking attitude during the recent Science work.
Mr Lander

Jameel persevered with the 24 Game against Miss Rooney and eventually won one of the rounds! Superb resilience Jameel.
Miss Rooney

Choir Practice!

It is now that time of year when the Choir start getting ready for their many visits to community venues around Havering: Charlesbury Court, Triple S Housing and many others.

Plamen's Poem - For The Fallen

Plamen has been busy learning his poem from the Learning Challenge!

I liked this poem because it describes how the soldiers will be remembered forever - as long as the stars are above us!

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

PwC Careers Talk

Today we had an inspiring talk about working for PwC from Mr Varun Sharma - Senior Associate. He spoke to our Y5&6 pupils about:

• What PwC is and who it works with
• The size and scale of the business
• The different teams and roles that are within the company
• Possible routes into the business: leaving from school or graduate recruitment
• Life skills that you need in order to be successful

It was interesting to hear how Mr Sharma has worked so hard with his maths skills. When he told us how he was able to understand difficult ideas because he practised regularly it made me feel I could do that too. 

Isaac Stevens

Mr Sharma was very impressed with the three pupil values that we uphold everyday. 

Your pupil values are excellent skills for when you have a job. If I didn't turn up on time every day then pretty soon I wouldn't have a job to go to. In fact, my motto is that if you are early for work, or a meeting, then you are on time. If you are on time then you are already late!

Our pupils also learnt about how PwC is a company that provides amazing training opportunities for its associates: team building days, support from colleagues and the chance to travel overseas.

It sounds like a very exciting company to work for and I will definitely think about them in the future. I had no idea that they were so big! In our school it seems huge and there are only 45 employees. Mr Sharma said that PwC have over 200,000.

Emma Bloy

It was great to hear the positive feedback from the children after the talk today. Once they had a chance to reflect on the content, the talk seems to have had a positive impact:

• 100% agreed that they were inspired to work harder in Maths (73% strongly agreed)
• 90% agreed that they had a better understanding of how to work for a professional firm
• 100% agreed (83% strongly agreed) that they had a better understanding of how the pupil values and 4R skills are vital in the workplace.

4Rs: Resourcefulness

These are the key skills that our children will need to learn effectively in class and be successful later in life. Fabian Cacaj: he has demonstrated effective reciprocity this week – able to listen carefully, work collaboratively and take turns. Samanyu Handoo & Kaine Painter: they have all shown that they are revising their ideas, identifying key features and showing they can talk about their learning. This has earned them their Reflectiveness award. Polina Backane, Charly Wallace, Ellie Mae Wager, Jacob Owsley, Samson Wright, Cruz Carey, Jessica Chilvers, Vakare Ivanovaite, Tiara McGillvary, Fallon Sharpe & Tyler Wager have all shown that they are able to make links between their learning and reason methodically. This has meant they have been awarded the Resourcefulness certificate.

Tyler Has shown that he is able to make links with his learning this week.
Miss Estall

For always using the tools in class to support your learning Fallon!
Miss Estall

Tiara has used her imagination in Literacy to think of different possibilities and put herself in the character's shoes. She has also used rhetorical questions... well done!
Miss Chau

Vakare has been using her phonics skills to help her with the spellings this week!
Miss Rooney

Cruz was able to independently use the word banks to help improve his play script
Miss Connell

Samson used questioning skills to delve deeper into the life of a court room
Miss Porter

Charlie's Fact

Did you know that the German artillery used to have a gun called 'Big Bertha'? Amazingly it took 285 to load and fire her. However the gun was able to launch shells up to 43 miles.

Certificate of Presentation:

Pupil Job #2 is to 'Do your best in every lesson!'

Georgia Chilvers, Conor Borrell, Tahani Towe Enu, Yazmin Satti, Charlie Matthams, Oliver Bartnik, Ellis Drummond, Armani Peek, Charis Jones: all of these pupils have shown that they are making a sustained effort to improve and develop their presentation.

By carefully forming their numbers and ensuring handwriting is neat they are producing higher quality work.

Year 2 Sculpture Day

Our Y2 pupils enjoyed a sculpture workshop where they had to create an igloo type structure as part of their topic. Using a variety of tools, the children had to cut, bend and beat the metal to form the shapes they needed.

Reciprocity
We had to work well together. On the machines you needed one person to hold the work steady while the other person turned the handle. When we were weaving the metal we had to talk to each other to say where it would go.
Charlie

The Arctic theme gave the children plenty of ideas for their drawings. Once they had sketched out their idea on a piece of paper, the children had to make a wire copy. 

We did this by cutting and bending the wire and sticking it to our piece of paper. Maisie helped me because the cutters were quite hard to press shut.

Maliat 

Once the 1.6mm soft aluminium wire was fixed with tape the children got to use the mallets! 

Bashing the metal with the hammer was my favourite part. It was hard to keep going because my arm started to ache.

Alex Ianache

Once they had imprinted their design onto the metal with the rubber hammer the pupils fixed the aluminium sheet design onto the igloo sculpture.

Owl Lady Visits EYFS

Our Reception pupils had their Owl Babies story bought to live this week when they had the chance to meet Nelly The Barn Owl. Nelly quickly made herself at home, swooping up and down the hall without making a sound. At one point she felt the need to get a better view and soared up to the light fittings to find a new perch.

During the show, the children got to learn lots of amazing facts about owls...

• their feathers are not waterproof, so if they get wet they aren't able to fly
• the Barn Owl's heart shaped face is designed to help it collect sounds - it can hear the heart beat of a mouse!
• they use one of their talons like a comb to keep their face groomed

Nelly was beautiful and her feathers were so soft. Even when she flapped her wings she didn't make a sound!

Andreea Gabreanu

Now that the children have met the owls for real, their artwork and story telling will be amazing!

We're In The Paper: Finley's Star of the Week

We are delighted to announce that Finley Livingstone has been selected as the Star of the Week by the Romford Recorder! He is a very active member of our school community with his different club commitments and regular reading habits. Good luck with the metal detecting, and if you find any gold be sure to remember us!

Christmas Bazaar

Thank you to the Friends of Broadford who organised the Christmas Bazaar. This well attended event gave our pupils a whole range of great opportunities:

• helping on stalls
• volunteering for a community event
• speaking to customers
• selling craft work they had created in clubs
• performing songs in public
• meeting Father Christmas

We loved getting to help on the toy stall. Lots of kids in my class helped by donating toys. Then we sold them at the Bazaar to help raise money for the school. I had to label up the toys, speak to the customers and then work out the change! 

Ethan

In the Hama Beads Club, the children have been making Christmas decorations ready for the Bazaar. It is a great opportunity for them to develop a sense of entrepreneurship and practise their maths skills with handling money. By volunteering their time to help on the stall to sell their wares, the club makes a real contribution to the fundraising.

I felt very proud when someone chose my decoration. I had made a Christmas Pudding from beads to hang on the tree. One lady bought three of them!

Alexa

It wouldn't be a Christmas event without a performance from the Choir. Led by Miss Tynan, the children sang four festive tunes. This was a good warm up opportunity - on home turf - before the choir goes out around the Borough to perform for the sheltered housing Christmas meals. This year we have more than eight separate bookings!

When we first started doing these events, I felt nervous. But now that I've sung in the O2, been to the Queen's Hospital and visited the old people's home I don't get nervous any more. It is great to see how much people enjoy us singing to them. I get a real buzz!

Sophie

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend this great event and start the Christmas calendar off with a bang.

Fact Hunters: Dogs & witches!

Maisie Cohen
Did you know that the word ‘witch’ originally meant ‘wise woman’?

Sky Griffiths
Incredibly Russia has a bigger surface area than Pluto!

Ja’Shayla Cousins
The Chow Chow is a dog breed originally from northern China where it is now known as the Fluffy Lion-dog. Amazingly it has a purple tongue.

Arya Shah
Did you know that amphibians are vertebrates (which means they have a backbone or spine)? They are also ectothermic which means they cannot regulate their own body heat.

Pieyce Egan
Did you know that Christie Ramone became the world’s oldest player in a World Cup Final when she competed aged 40!

Samira Rahman
Incredibly trees are used to: absorb carbon dioxide, help us build houses, provide fruit, act as homes for animals and fuel fires!

Tracker Awards:

Arya Shah, Charlie Ilott, Ethan Himuyandi, Mikkileigh Williamson & Sophie Porter have managed to collect enough merits for their Bronze award. Jaydon Holloway has completed his second tracker (Silver).

Kynan Omundi has his Golden Bookmark. Razvan Gabreanu has earned his Platinum pencil & pen set!

Jacob's Bronze Scout Award

In order to earn his Bronze Chief Scout Award Jacob has had to complete six tough badges. You must finish all the challenge awards. They are:

• My World Challenge Award
• My Skills Challenge Award
• My Outdoors Challenge Award
• My Adventure Challenge Award
• Teamwork Challenge Award
• Personal Challenge Award

My hardest challenge was the global one. For that I had to research a country where there is a Scouting movement and find out the history of it. I learnt that in Japan you would start school at six years old - not aged 3 like we do here!

Jacob

Well done on your amazing achievement Jacob. We are very proud of you.

E for Excellence Winners:

These wonderful children have demonstrated excellence this week.

Paris Godfrey – Mulberry
Zac Nickson – Pine
Samuel Hatwell – Cedar
Steven Davenport – Cherry
Matthew Murcia – Ash
Michael Rack – Hazel
Lillie Wicks – Birch
Brooke Atkinson – Willow
Bryan Bahati – Elm
Coral Wilkinson – Maple
Thelma Amankwah – Acer
Tia Thakhar– Palm
Austin Hall – Sequoia

Star Writers: Rashida & Jude

Well done to two of our Star Writers who have recorded their writing this week! Both pupils have worked hard on the links between their ideas and the sentence structures used.

New Gym Equipment!

We are delighted with the feedback about the new outdoor gym equipment. We believe that this resource will inspire the children to be more active at break and lunchtimes. Frighteningly, when our pupils start the school in Nursery only 3-5% are classified as obese. This rises dramatically to as high as 40% of our pupils being severely over weight by the time they leave Year 6. Pupils who are obese at this age are very unlikely to live healthy lives as adults!

Providing physical challenges (the trail, boxing equipment, outdoor gyms, sand pits, climbing opportunities and specialist sports staff) will contribute towards our efforts – with your help – to reverse this statistic.

A huge thank you to the Awards for All Lottery Fund and Veolia Landfill Trust who have donated funds to help us install the equipment on the playground. The cost of the machines, the installation and the surface/base was approximately £15,000! Without their generous help it would not have been possible.

Star Readers & Writers

Star Writers:
Vinnie O’Leary, Vinnie Brand, Maizie Parker, Ayomide Otegbola, Smilte Mikalcuite, Indie Sale, Mya Thakhar, Alfie Bloy, Jordan Iordan, Deniz Huseyin, Elliot Cottam, Vittorio Omwanghe & Ketty Omwanghe: these children have all produced pieces of outstanding writing this week. Look out for examples of their work on the blog!

Reading Awards:
Well done to Finley Hudson Grace Horne Connie Harvey, Hayden Northwood, Summer Wingrove, Laicey McGeoghan, Jessica Butler, Sophia Ehihon, Georgia Brooks, Athenkosi Nombeko, Jessica Chilvers, Matthew Munjere, Alfie Bloy, Elliot Cottam, Lea Cerqueria, Laibah, Shah, Rolan Vumuka, Paige McGeoghan, Maliat Bakreen, Ronnie Mersh, Harry Brown, Amundeep Ubhi, Bonnie Martin, Michael Rack & Aimee-Leigh Parmenter who have all completed their Bronze reading awards for finishing 10 books!

Charlie Porter, Lilly Reynolds, Teni Adu & Yemi Adedipe are now Silver readers for completing 50 books!

Fact Hunters: Soldiers & fish!

Yasmin Satti
Piri piri is also called African bird's eye chili!

Samuel Hatwell
Did you know that camels have three eyelids to help keep out the sand?

Mikkileigh Williamson
Did you know that a group of barracudas is called a battery?

Matthew Leadbitter
Were you aware that no one is sure of the origin of the military salute. However it is believed that it may have come from the practice of lifting your visor to show you were friendly.