Taking Stock: 2nd February 2024

As always, we have been busy around the school. We hit the ground running, with Explore Learning Maths workshops taking place in Years 1, 2 and 4 in the first week after the Winter break. We also held our first Learn to Ride Courses in KS2, for those children who need the confidence to ride without stabilisers.

All of KS2 have also had the opportunity to take part in Cycle Confident Bikeability courses. These courses support the children with learning to ride safely in parks, on pavements and on the roads.

We have also had a number of sporting opportunities. Mr Coker and Mr Hirsch also escorted some of our budding cricketers to a Cricket Festival at Evelyn Grace. Mr Coker has also been busy with our school football team. They have played in six matches so far, more on their efforts below. Well done team!

The newest members of the Stockwell Primary School Community have settled in well. We welcomed new children in Nursery and Pre-School and they have done a great job of learning the routines and systems. Last week, they turned the classroom into a hairdressing salon, constructing combs and hairdryers out of blocks. They added ribbons to Miss Pinto's hair and Mrs Lutumba even showed them how to braid. I'll be making an appointment very soon!

In the spring Term, our PSHCE lessons are focused on staying safe. We talk to the children about the people who keep us safe, how to stay safe in person and online, and how to keep safe when walking around or in the park. This approach to child safety is called 'Clever Never Goes' and it is a child-friendly alternative to 'Stranger Danger', which you may have been taught as a child. Clever Never Goes teaches children what do do when someone asks them to go with them. To support the children's learning, we also had our local, community police officers in to deliver assemblies to our children.

The children will also be learning about road safety, with children in Years 2 and 3 undertaking pedestrian and scooter training this week. Next week, Years 2 and 5 will also receive fire safety talks from the London Fire Brigade. Lastly, KS2 are also learning about how to administer first aid.

Thank you to those parents who came along to our Phonics workshop, Year 6 SATS workshop, our Writing Workshop and to our Writing Drop-In.

During the Writing workshop, Ms Thomas gave an overview of how we teach writing and some of the approaches we use to support the children. There is a spotlight on Writing below, for those who were not able to come along. We have workshops regularly, and we encourage parents to come along, so that you have the information you need in order to support your children at home. We often follow these up with a parent drop-in, so that you can see the theory in practice.

Coming up, we are holding a Maths parent workshop, and drop-in, for all parents, and a virtual e-safety workshop, in conjunction with the NSPCC. We hope to see you at these events.

Yesterday, the pupils of Stockwell Primary represented the school well with a win and a narrow loss.

Stockwell 3-1 Clapham Manor

Goals: Henrique (2) Bilal B.

MOM: Henrique

Good match with Stockwell pressing hard from the first minute. That pressing resulted in two early goals (one from a rebound and another from a free kick). After that, Stockwell eased a little bit and allowed Clapham Manor to get back into the match, suffering a goal. An immediate response was needed and Stockwell provided just that, scoring another goal to make the final result of 3-1.

Allen Edwards 2-1 Stockwell

Goals: Tariq

MOM: Tariq

Narrow loss. Stockwell started a bit shaky, conceded one early goal that shook a bit of their confidence. The team regrouped and started to counter Allen Edwards' game. Stockwell started to create many chances without actually taking them. Allen Edwards scored from a counter attack but then Stockwell got back with just a few minutes to the end. At the end Stockwell was all over Allen Edwards looking for the draw but it proved to be a bit too late.

Stockwell squad:

Abubaker, Bilal B, Bilal S, Henrique, Marco, Emir, Fareed, Rayan and Tariq.

Stockwell is now joint first in the league (4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss), but it is still too early in the competition to make any judgments.

A huge thank you to Mr Coker for training and escorting the team and to Mr Da Silva and Mrs Melo for the photos and updates. Keep up the good work everyone.

This week, we saw a dog and we didn't realise that the dog's owner was deaf. We were on bus number 2, on our way home. When we got off the bus, we used Makaton to say goodbye. She said 'Good afternoon' back to us. The lady was very happy that we knew Makaton. We felt happy that we knew it as well. Now we want to learn even more so that next time we meet the lady, we can say more, not just 'hello'.

Our monthly value for February is 'Love'.

You say that you love someone when their happiness is very important to you, so that you behave in a kind and caring way towards them.

If you love something, you like it very much.

We loved the food so much, especially the fish dishes

I loved reading.

...one of these people that loves to be in the outdoors.

I love it when I hear you laugh.

If you would love to have or do something, you very much want to have it or do it.

I would love to play for England again.

I would love a hot bath and clean clothes.

His wife would love him to give up his job.

Synonyms: adore, care, for, treasure, cherish, prize, worship, enjoy, like, desire, appreciate, relish, delight in, savour

Sentences provide us with the framework for the clear written expression of our ideas. The aim in writing is always to write in complete sentences which are correctly punctuated. Sentences always begin with a capital letter and end in either a full stop, exclamation or question mark. A complete sentence always contains a verb, expresses a complete idea and makes sense standing alone.

Each term, we cycle through three types of writing. The children learn three weeks of fiction (story exploration, narrative, diary entries, playscripts, setting descriptions); two weeks of non-fiction (non-chronological reports, fact files, debates, newspaper reports, recounts); and one week of poetry (acrostic poems, shape poems, imagery poems, haikus, performance poetry).

Cycling through the different text types ensures that the children are exposed to rich and varied writing, which are designed to inspire the children. We teach spelling, punctuation and grammar as part of the exploration of each text as well as independently, as stand-alone sessions. This helps to introduce and embed challenging concepts in the long term memory.

Each unit of work follows three main stages:

Immersion

At the start of each unit, the immersion lessons will involve ‘immersing’ the children in the examples of the genre they are focusing on. This will include lessons which allow the children to read, listen to, and where applicable, act out a range of examples of that genre.

Exploration

Following this, children use the features of the genre to work on their sentence and word level skills. This will include a focus on the grammatical elements of the genre. These lessons and their work are linked to the overriding topic of that term and have a clear context and purpose in terms of their end of unit piece.

Innovation

Children will then have the opportunity to plan, draft, edit and publish their final pieces, building on the skills developed over the course of the unit and embodying the practices of professional writers.

Opportunities for Writing at Home

There are lots of ways in which you can support your child with their writing at home. Being a role model, and ensuring that they see you writing is the best way to encourage children to write. Encourage your child to:

• make shopping lists
• write letters to family
• try mark making
• complete diary/journals
• fill in occasion cards
• write captions in a scrap book
• jot notes on post-its
• write playscripts (and then act them out)
• interview family members
• role play stories
• write book or movie reviews
  

Just this week, I was visited by one of our youngest learners, who had worked with his class teacher to write me a letter about the sandpit in the nursery.

I was also visited by some Year 6s, who came to share their recent writing, which was inspired by the story 'The Water Tower'. Here are some excerpts from their writing.

'Dawn’s first rays of sunlight set in the heart of the Outer Banks. The warm feeling of a community, where everyone knew everyone, showered the town. There was rarely a problem that couldn’t be solved with a joke and a smile; well, that was until the night of 1923. A rotting structure of a cottage was tucked away into the depths of Nova Wood. A sense of unease settled; if anyone stepped foot into those woods, their fears and concerns worsened, as the dystopian setting swallowed the city whole.'

Constanca

'This week had been the hottest week of the year and everyone and everything had been moving much slower than usual. Catia lay in her bedroom, chugging on an enormous bottle of water. Her straight jet-black was tied up in a tight bun. “UGH it’s so hot!” she groaned, wiping the pool of sweat from her brow. It was 5pm, yet the sun was still blazing through Catia’s bedroom window. Suddenly, her bedroom door opened and a tanned freckly leg stepped in. It was her older sister Alicia. “I’m BOORRREEEDDD,” she complained.

Catia rolled her eyes at her sister. “And what exactly do you want me to do about that?”.

“I know! Let’s go to the beach!” replied Alicia, her bright emerald green eyes shining with excitement.

“Fine.” said Catia. “But just an hour of swimming. And we are NOT going to the Black Cave. Weird things happen there.”

“I make no such promise,” whispered Alicia as she put a bottle of sunscreen in her tote bag. “TO ARIAN BEACH!” she yelled.

Catia sighed. She didn’t understand how she could be so much more mature than her sister who was 3 years older than her. Nevertheless, she followed Alicia out of the house.'

Nourah

'That fateful night in Skypiea , the sky was clear, the trees smelled like cotton candy and the air brushed through Asta’s hair. Near Asta, hiding in a box, Yuno his best friend was the exact opposite, though you know the saying opposites attract. Asta was the leader type, his inviting smile reassured everyone especially Yuno. Yuno was a follower and a scaredy cat, the one who asked his friend for anything and everything.'

August

Have a go at writing with your child at home. We love to see what they come up with at home.

• 5th - 9th February - E-Safety week
  
• 5th - 9th February - Children's Mental Health Week
• 6th February - Safer Internet Day
• 6th February - Year 2 and 5 Fire Safety Talks
• 6th February - Year 5 (selected children) Science workshop at St Gabriels
• 8th February - Reception and Year 6 Height and Weight Checks
• 9th February - PTA Non-Uniform Day and Disco
• 12th - 16th February - School Closed for Half Term
• 21st February - Maths Parent Workshop
• 26th February - 1st March - Spanish Week
• 26th February - NSPCC e-safety workshop
• 26th February - Open Morning
• 27th February - Federation Spanish Workshop
• 28th February - 6K Class Assembly
• 29th February - 6A Class Assembly
• 1st March - Maths Parent Drop-In

Next week is Safer Internet Day and e-safety week. With this being a whole school focus, I thought this would be a good time to talk about online, or cyber, bullying.

Safer Internet Day is an event organised in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre, which aims to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. The event has grown year-on-year, and it is now celebrated in approximately 170 countries worldwide!

Report it and block people
If someone’s harassing or bullying you online, you can report it on the site or app. Even if someone else has reported it, making a report yourself can make it more likely the content will be removed. Don't reply to abusive messages or posts as this can make things worse.

Keep evidence
Keep a diary of what's been happening and when, and take screenshots of online messages. This can help you prove what's been happening.

Tell someone at school
If you’re being bullied by people at school, your school has a responsibility to support you. If you have screenshots or evidence of what's been happening, show them to a teacher you trust.

Practise being assertive
Being assertive means standing up for yourself without being aggressive. It can help you feel more confident and in control when someone's bullying you.

Get support from someone you trust
You don’t have to cope with bullying alone. Talking to an adult you trust can help you to find ways to stop the bullying. If you don’t know who to talk to, talk to us.

Take a break from checking messages
It’s natural to want to see what people are saying when they’re bullying you. But taking time away from your phone or device, even for a few minutes, can help you to feel calmer.

We will be holding an e-safety workshop on February 26th, between 5 and 6pm. The focus will be social media, online bullying, gaming and more. We hope that lots of you can join us.

We have an active PTA, called Friends of Stockwell, who do a brilliant job of fundraising for the school and bringing the community together. Last year, every child was given a £5 donation to reduce the cost of trips; the PTA contributed to class Christmas presents; they also raised money for vulnerable families at Christmas.

It is great to see new faces getting involved. Every parent is a Friend of Stockwell. I ask that everyone gets involved. If you can spare an hour per term (that's three hours per year), your contribution would make a huge difference.

Please email friendsofstockwell@gmail.com to get involved.

Can you help out around the school? Are you a keen gardener? Do you have skills or knowledge that the children would benefit from? Visit our Call to Action page to let us know how you can help.

Have you read the BJS Federation Newsletter? You can find it below.

Central to raising standards in all schools and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is the need for children to attend school regularly to benefit from their education.

There is a strong link between good learning, high achievement, rapid progress and developing good social skills with excellent attendance.

We want to take this opportunity to outline our expectations for school attendance this academic year.

If your child arrives at school from 9.02am they will be marked as LATE, if they arrive after 9.30am, they will be classed as “late after the register is closed” and their attendance is classed as absent for the morning session. As the registers would have already been returned to the Department for Education.

Regular poor punctuality can also have a negative effect on your child’s attendance as well as their academic learning. Being 6 minutes late each day equals 30 minutes of missed learning every week.

If your child’s attendance drops below 90%, we will need to share our concerns with the Local Authority Education Welfare Officer at Lambeth Council.

Well done to 3T for the best attendance in the school. Let's see if we can shake off the bugs, colds and illnesses that have kept some of us at home, and end the term on a higher note.

School uniform should be worn throughout the school day. While we do not enforce that all school uniform should be branded, children should be wearing the correct colours (white t-shirt tops, navy trousers/ skirts/ pinafore dresses, sensible black shoes). Football boots/ coloured trainers are not school uniform and should not be worn.

Children should be changing into their PE kits for PE lessons (Blue or black tracksuit bottoms, plain white t-shirt, trainers). We have made arrangements for girls and boys to be able to change separately, so the expectation is that all children change for PE.

While our supplier of school uniform is WearAbouts, we do some some items available for sale from the school office. Please check with us to see if we have what you need in stock.

If you have a concern, please see your child's class teacher in the first instance. If they are unable to resolve the problem, please speak to your child's phase leader.

If they are unable to help, please see one of the school's Assistant Headteachers.

If you are still dissatisfied, please see the Acting Head of School.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and carers of the expectations for conduct on the school grounds. Please remember that everyone in our school community deserves to be treated with respect. While we may have differences of opinion, it is vital that we continue to communicate effectively with each other.

Breaches of conduct towards staff, children or other parents may result in the school taking further action.

If you have a concern about your child, please speak to members of the school team. Members of SLT are always on the gates at the front and back gates. Class teachers can be contacted by email via the school office.

We let space around the school.

You can hire the school hall, and grounds, on a regular basis or as a one off.

Need a space for a party?

Looking for a pitch for your team?

Contact the school office on:

clericalofficer2@stockwell-pri.lambeth.sch.uk

to make an enquiry.

The BJS Federation of Schools is running a number of low-cost out of hours clubs for the children of the local community. A number of these are taking place at Stockwell Primary School, on Stockwell Road. Are clubs are run by professionals, who hold up to date DBS checks.

The clubs taking place at Stockwell are:

• Girls' Football will run on Saturdays from 11am - 12pm, starting on 13th January
• Table Tennis will run on Saturdays. 9:30 - 10:30 for short tennis (5-8yrs) and then 10:45 - 11:45 for table tennis (9-11yrs). This will also start on Saturday 13th January.
  
• Boxing will run on a Sunday from 3-4pm, starting on Sunday 14th January.

Please see the attached flyers for more information.

Please visit: BJSFederationclubs.classforkids.io to book a place for your child.

What are Pre-School, Nursery and Reception learning about? Find out below.

Years 1 and 2 are incredibly busy with their learning. Find out more on our website.

Are you keen to find out more about the learning in Years 3 and 4? If so, have a look by clicking the button below.

Please check our website, to find out what the children in Years 5 and 6 are learning about.