Dropping temperatures have not dampened our children’s enthusiasm to be back at school. On Wednesday our KS2 children were racing into school – it was a joy to see. The traditions of school life continue and this week we welcomed back our peripatetic music teachers teaching instruments at a social distance. If you would like your child to have instrumental lessons at school please click here
The cold weather only enhances our enjoyment of our ‘home cooked’ school lunches. We are proud to be the only school in Camden that prepares and cooks our own school meals from scratch. Here is our Autumn menu which includes ‘meat free Mondays and Fridays’ at the children’s request.
Thank you to parents and carers who have provided feedback about the one day closure of the Nursery. The Department for Education completed a risk assessment as a member of the nursery staff tested positive for COVID-19. Their instruction to reopen has meant that our new children have continued to settle, enjoyed and benefitted from our wonderful Nursery and we have not had a single further case in the nursery or the rest of the school. Our school has been well guided by Camden Learning and Public Health England in dealing with this incident. We all wish our member of staff well as they recover from their illness. Here is the school’s full risk assessment, letter to parents and carers about full reopening and information from Camden about keeping schools safe in a range of languages:
• Arabic
• Bengali
• Chinese – traditional
• Chinese – simplified
• French
• Gujarati
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Punjabi
• Romany
• Somali
• Turkish
• Urdu
Toilet update: All our toilets are now unisex to allow for year groups to have single use of these facilities. This is to keep children safe from the risk of meeting children outside their bubble in these confined spaces. Teachers have been teaching children about responsible use of the toilets and encouraging complaints to be voiced if these areas are not being used appropriately.
Lost property: We are no longer able to maintain a communal lost property area. All named lost property is being returned to children in their class. All unnamed items are displayed in the KS1 and KS2 playground for collection by children and parents or carers. Any unnamed lost property will be bagged up and sent to a grateful charity each Friday. Please name all items that belong to your child(ren).
Technology Top Tips
The technology our children have at their fingertips is like a powertool: it can do amazing things, but can also be extremely dangerous if not used correctly. At Brookfield we aim to give all of our students the ability to safely and effectively use technology both in school and at home.
TOP TIP: Setting up parental controls on the internet at home.
There is no filter on the content that comes into your house unless you set up parental controls through your internet provider. Without these controls children can accidentally stumble upon all sorts of upsetting images, videos or content.
The major broadband providers in the UK have joined together to help make setting these controls easy and quick. Set aside 10 minutes, make yourself a cup of tea and go to https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/broadband-mobile/
For more information on this topic and many others go to parentsafe@lgfl.net
Attendance and Punctuality
We have been really pleased with attendance and punctuality since the children returned to school in September, see figures below.
As government advice on attendance during the pandemic is subject to change at short notice, any changes that impact on our policy and or Camden legal responsibilities will be shown on our website and via school newsletters.
We work closely with the Pupil Attendance Service (PAS), and other health support agencies, to ensure that children are able to access education. If you are worried about your child’s attendance at school and the impact of Covid 19 please contact Faye (Assistant Head) so we can look at additional measures or support that can be put in place.
Below is a list of each classes attendance from 2nd September to 23rd September. We are are aiming for each class to reach 95%. So far, this is a great start to the term, given the current challenges, and the gold star goes to Acorn class.
Year 1 Bluebell 94 %
Year 1 Daisy 94%
Year2 Dandelion 95%
Year 2 Poppy 97%
Year 3 Fern 95%
Year 3 Heather 91%
Year4 Bramble 91%
Year 4 Ivy 94%
Year 5 Ash 95%
Year 5 Willow 93.2%
Year6 Elm 94%
Year 6 Oak 89%
Nursery Catkin 90%
Reception Acorn 99%
Reception Conker 95%
Government guidance for coronavirus testing
Public Health England has produced a letter for schools and colleges to share with parents which explains when a child requires a coronavirus (COVID-19) test and what the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are.
Healthy Eating Week
Next week is Healthy Eating Week – the perfect time to embark on or return to healthy habits! This year, the event is encouraging everyone to take on a different challenge each day of the week. The first three challenges focus on healthy eating, but the following four reflect the important role that physical activity and mental health also play in everyone’s wellbeing. We will be sharing the challenges with the children in an assembly on Monday and encouraging them to take part – why not tackle them as a family?!
Monday – Eat more wholegrains
Tuesday – Vary your veg
Wednesday – Drink plenty
Thursday – Move more
Friday – Be mind kind
Saturday – Get active together
Sunday – Eat together
For ideas, activities, recipes and more visit https://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/whole-school/bnf-healthy-eating-week-2020/
SEND meetings with Laura
I hope you have all had a great start back to the term!
On the week beginning 5th October I will be holding SEND planning meetings with parents, carers and teachers to discuss how the start of the year has gone and how we can put in the correct support for our children at school. Unfortunately, in order to keep our school safe, these meetings will be taking place over the phone, rather than being face to face.
Next week I will be emailing you a time for when these will happen, if you cannot make your allocated slot please let me know and I will do my best to rearrange.
If your child is not on the SEND register and you would like to talk to me please email me l.smale@brookfield.camden.sch.uk
I look forward to meeting with you all,
Laura
Laura Smale
SENDCo
Brookfield Primary School
Year 1 reminder
Reminder to year 1 parents, please don’t let children bring their own toys into school. Thank you!
PTA NEWS
Brookfield Masks
So. Masks – they are going to be needed for some time, it seems. And we should all be wearing them at the school gates – so show your support with an “I love Brookfield” mask – a bargain at £5. We have an initial order of 10, but if there’s demand we can quickly get more.
BUY YOUR MASK HERE (and we’ll deliver to you)
Raise money while shopping online
Did you know you can raise money for Brookfield while shopping online? It costs nothing. All you need to do is add the easyFundraising plug in on your browser and it automatically does the rest.
Find out how to do it here. Sainsbury’s, Amazon, eBay, John Lewis – you can raise money any time you make a purchase.
If we all did it, we could massively change the PTA’s fundraising. So far we have 123 people signed up, so if we could get to 200 that would be fantastic.