Newsletter 16th July

Laurel’s Update

In a week when we should have been able to celebrate the achievements of the England Football team, their values apparent both on and off the pitch, we were forced to defend our team from outpourings of hate and racism. Teachers’ applied their training from the Black Curriculum to lead important discussions with their classes about this. Gareth Southgate’s team remain an inspiration and have shown us another form of English patriotism.  If any parents or carers would like to join me in an anti-racist working party from September, please get in touch. We plan to meet once every half term.

Nationwide, schools have been impacted by COVID-19 related absence. We were disappointed to have to burst the Y4 Bramble bubble, and Y3 Heather this week, including several children from Ivy class. We are thinking of all the children and staff involved. Given the current rise in cases, we are likely to keep most safety arrangements in place for September including the staggered starts and collection times. I will confirm this in next week’s newsletter. Staff absence has been a particular challenge this year and this has resulted in a significant delay to our transfer of kitchen management to Caterlink. This is now planned for October. We look forward to sharing the exciting new menu with you. Dinner money will remain at £2.40/day for children in year 3 and above, payable to the school directly. Please help us by clearing any money owed before the summer break.

End of term finish times

Please note that school finishes early on Friday 23rd July:

1pm Nursery, year 2 and 6

1.05pm Years 1 and 5

1.10pm Reception and Year 4

1.15pm Year 3

We look forward to welcoming children back to school on 2^nd September. Children in Nursery and Reception have been given individual start times.

Class Pictures

Please see the following information if you would like to view and purchase a class picture

Your school IMAGES are ready for you to view and purchase. 

LOOK OUT FOR YOUR LOGIN DETAILS which will be sent home with your child.

FREE DELIVERY PERIOD: Order by 27^th July for FREE delivery to your home address (UK only).
Orders after the cut-off date will incur a P&P charge.

Please do call us with any queries or problems, we are here to help.

Summer Stroll Cancelled

Please see the message below from the Brookfield PTA

Dear Brookfield Community

We’re really sorry to announce that we are cancelling the Summer Stroll for tomorrow (Sat 17th). There are simply too many Covid cases in the neighbourhood, several classes are isolating, and overall it is logistically almost impossible.

Also, this is supposed to be a celebration. The stroll was about keeping safe but giving parents and children a lovely end to the term, with some of the elements of a Fair. It doesn’t feel like that – understandably, lots of people are worried.

We realise that people have their own sense of risk, but the PTA don’t want to be responsible for putting people in a position where they aren’t comfortable, or worse, spreading the virus.

There will be other opportunities for community events in the autumn, we hope. While this is a disappointment for Year 6 especially, please do stay in touch – it would be great to invite leaving families back next year.

For anyone who has incurred expenses for any stalls, please email brookfieldptatreasurer@gmail.com with receipts, and we will reimburse you as usual. Anything we can store, we will store. Anything with a use-by date, let us know and we’ll work something out.

Thanks for your understanding

Much love

The PTA Summer Fair Team.

You can still however donate instead:

Raffle

And the Raffle will still be going ahead – tickets can be purchased at the school gates, but easier still you can buy tickets online and see details of all the prizes. The draw will be next week rather than Saturday.

After School Club

Bookings for September will open on our school website on Thursday 22^nd July. All families who have paid for 2020/21 after school club will be able to register for sessions in the new academic year. We can already announce these clubs to begin from Monday 6th September:

Monday : 

Lego Club with Asher

Fabulous Phonics Club with Norah

Ball sports with Aaron and Haseeb

Gardening club with Charlotte and Christel

Tuesday:

​Aaron and Haseeb fixtures until 6pm

Year 6 Science club (12 children) with teacher from Highgate

Wednesday:

​Rhythm club with Jerome

KS1 Multisports with Aaron and Haseeb 

Drumming club with Tanya 

Thursday:

KS2 Multisports

Sports Day

This week all of Brookfield enjoyed their very own year group sports day. Kicking off the week were year 4, followed by year 1 on Tuesday. Double action on Wednesday with year 5 taking the morning slot and year 2 taking the afternoon slot. Thursday saw our racing reception class having a great time with their sports day. Finally Fern Class and Year 6 ended the week with Year 6’s enjoying their very last sports day. Next week Monday, nursery will have their sports day as well.

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Book of the Week

Recently I was on a Literacy leaders training session and had the pleasure of listening to the wonderful author of this week’s book, Smriti Halls, speak about how she became a writer, what she likes to write about and how her books come to being published. I immediately went and bought a copy of one or two, including this one, ‘Rain before Rainbows’, illustrated by David Litchfield. It is delightful. For anyone going through a difficult passage, this uplifting, beautifully illustrated picture book is about finding optimism in the darkest of places. Here’s a link to the author’s webpage https://www.smriti.co.uk There’s also a reading of the book by Bridgerton actor Rege-Jean Page which appeared on CBeebies Bedtime Stories available on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owHJl23GP7Y

Louise (Literacy and Oracy Lead)

Bangladesh Celebration in Year 3 with Lubna

Year 3 had an absolute treat last week after weeks of learning about Bangladesh. The brilliant Lubna, who not only works in the Brookfield kitchen but is also Ayaan’s Mum from Heather, came in along with Ayaan’s older sister, to help the children dive into a world of further learning about Bangladeshi culture, costume, food and traditions. There were several parts to this magical morning. The children, having learned a little about Britain’s relationship to Bangladesh as well as its physical geography, had prepared questions to ask Lubna about her life, her family and culture. Lubna dressed in a shimmering green traditional sari and glittering jewellery, brought some clothes for the children to try on (Brookfield’s very own Zenab had also donated some material the children could turn into saris so a big thanks to her also!). They shared what they had already learned about Bangladesh with Ayaan’s mum and sister and then interviewed them. Then, most excitingly, the children ate the most delicious vegetable samosas prepared by Lubna herself (there were around 100 of them!). What a wonderful and unforgettable way to learn. The year 3 team and children cannot thank Lubna and her family enough.

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Snail Sitters Wanted!

Reception are looking for volunteers to take care of their Giant African Land Snails over the summer holidays. They are incredibly low maintenance and can be left for the weekend if topped up with water and veg/salad. Each class’s snails come complete with their own terrarium measuring approximately 48 x 31 x 18cm. If you are interested please email reception@brookfield.camden.sch.uk​

Welcome to Reception

It was lovely to see so many families at the meeting on Thursday about starting Reception in September. For those who were unable to attend, or would like to view the slides again, please find the presentation below. If you have any further questions about the Reception year, please don’t hesitate to contact us at reception@brookfield.camden.sch.uk

We are really looking forward to getting to know you all!

Year 6 Cinema Trip

Thanks to their brilliant fundraising efforts, and the support of parent volunteers, year 6 will be visiting the Holloway Odeon on Monday morning to see Space Jam. Please can children wear shoes suitable for walking to and from the cinema and a bag to contain their popcorn, snacks and drink.

Year 6 Leaver’s Assembly

Dear Parents and Carers, 

We would like to invite you to the Year 6 Leavers Assembly on Friday 23rd of July at 9.30am. This will be an opportunity for the children to share their memories of Brookfield and celebrate their achievements and highlights of the year. 

The assembly will take place in the bottom hall.  Please enter through the infant gates from 9.20am. For any questions please email: year6@brookfield.camden.sch.uk

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Year 6 Team

Year 5 Author Visit

On Thursday afternoon, Year 5 were treated to a special Zoom visit from new author, Damien Hine. With his trilogy, The Hearthmark Chronicles, hot off the press, the children explored what it takes to become a writer, how Damien Hine became an author and top tips for great writing. He treated us to a reading from the opening of the first book, Out of Atlas, before having a quiz! Well done to the lucky five winners, who each received a copy of the book. 

Camden CNJ Covid Update

Please see attached update from Camden CNJ

Camden Youth Recorder Group

Please see the flyer below for information about a new Camden Youth Recorder Group

Highgate Newtown Community Centre Updates

Please see information below from HNCC