Laurel’s Update
This week we have continued to welcome new children to Brookfield in our two nurseries, reception and older classes. It has been a pleasure to meet children and families and hope they settle in quickly and feel a strong sense of belonging.
Thanks to all the parents and carers who attended the Curriculum meetings this week. For those who were not able to come, recordings will be shared on year group pages on our website next week.
Next Thursday, we look forward to seeing parents and carers in years 1 and 2 at 9am in the bottom hall for a maths workshop with our Maths and Phase Leader-Lucy. Come and find out how your children learn maths at school and how you can support at home with a cup of tea or coffee!
Shana Tova to all our Jewish families who have celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and happy holidays for Sukkot on Monday.
Brookfield’s Kitchen
We are pleased to announce that from Monday, Brookfield will be working in partnership with Caterlink to deliver our school lunches. The menu that you can view below, features ‘Meat Free Mondays’, as well as other dishes with 50% meat and 50% plant protein. Our friendly and talented kitchen team will remain here cooking meals on site daily from fresh ingredients. We look forward to providing tasting opportunities for families in the future.
IMPORTANT ALLERGEN INFORMATION: While we have contacted families directly who have already identified their child(ren) having an allergy, if your child has an allergy to any food that we are not currently aware of, please ensure that you complete the form below, and return it to office on Monday (20th September) morning. We thank you in advance for completing these so quickly.
Reception, year 1 and 2 children continue to enjoy hot school lunches paid for by the government. Parents of children in Nursery, Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 who pay for their lunches will carry on paying in the usual way through Scopay.
If your circumstances have changed and you think your child(ren) might be eligible for free school meals please complete the information here https://www.camden.gov.uk/free-school-meals#rfht
Year 6 Campaign for Refugees
In year 6 as part of our topic on Global Citizens and with our termly theme of sustainability, we have been discussing the crisis in Afghanistan. Part of being a global citizen means helping people in need in our community and wider. We want to help the refugees who have come to London and are struggling. We hope you will play your part and donate the needed items below which we will send to Care4Calais. Please send in or drop off any donations. They will be kept (for now) with your child’s class teacher or in year 6. See below and thank you!
Children of Elm and Oak Class
Gardening Club
A busy week at Gardening Club at our plot in the Waterlow Park Kitchen Garden. Our strawberries have lots of runners so we propagated some baby strawberries to plant back at school. We harvested some lavender which is now drying so that we can create lavender bags later in the term. We also planted some radishes and checked in on our giant pumpkins. How heavy do you think they’ll be by the end of term? Closest answer sent to nursery@brookfield.camden.sch.uk by Friday 22nd October will win the pumpkin in time for Halloween!
PE Update
This half term key stage 1 will focus on spatial awareness and coordination, years 3 and 4 bench ball and years 5 and 6 netball.
Children are required to have a change of clothes for PE lessons. This can be clothes from home, or a Brookfield kit, which is available to buy from the office. Acceptable kit is; shorts or leggings, t-shirt and appropriate footwear. They should arrive to school in their regular clothes and get changed for their lesson.
Some exciting news for our keen athletes! Competitions will be resuming this year starting with cross country. I will have a weekly training session before school on the Heath at 8am starting Wednesday 22nd September. Come and speak to me in the playground or email for more information. Parent support is welcome; if you are able to help, please let me know.
Haseeb
Move with pace and purpose!
Year 1 Google Classroom
Year 1’s Google Classrooms are now ready to go! Please sign up with the class codes below. We will use the Classrooms to share what we have been doing in school, updates for parents and useful resources to support learning at home. If you need reminding of your child’s login, email us at year1@brookfield.camden.sch.uk
Bluebell: auz35fd
Daisy: dp6ogtk
Amy and Jo
Reception Junk Modelling Project
We would appreciate donations for our junk modelling projects. These can be items that are normally recycled. Smaller items are best (nothing too large) for example, yoghurt pots, lids from milk cartons, small cardboard boxes etc. Please drop these off in our Reception fenced area in the Key Stage 1 playground at drop off or pick up times.
Seren, Kate and Becca
Secondary School Visits: Camden School for Girls
Camden School for Girls have replaced their open mornings and open evening with a virtual open event which can be viewed here. If applying to the school please be reminded of the requirement to sit the banding assessment – the registration for this closes on Tuesday 21 September at midday.
Book of the Week
This week, book of the week is bought to you by Lara Alici in Elm Class.
The Star of the Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
This book’s about two girls who work as servants in a house in Vienna. They have one day off a month. They like to climb a mountain on that day, have a snack at the top and enjoy the view. Then they find a foundling baby. What will they do? It’s a mix of magic and real drama. I like it because it’s slightly odd and I’ve never read a book before where they find a baby in a church.
Forest School
This year, we are looking forward to developing our Forest School provision to ensure that all children access inspiring outdoor learning through the seasons. We have three Forest School trained staff, based in our Early Years, and we are now partners with the brilliant Hampstead Heath Education Team. Brookfield children will enjoy Forest School experiences embedded in our new curriculum here at school, at local natural spaces and Hampstead Heath’s Secret Garden.
Our Forest School Lead, Paula, has decided to leave Brookfield to pursue other forest school projects. We have been so grateful to have had her lead our Forest School provision across the school and for keeping Forest School alive during lock down. We wish her the best of luck in the future and know that she will continue to inspire those around her.
Camden Resident Survey
Complete this survey and your views will help to shape a future exercise service, plus you will have the chance to be entered into a prize draw for a £50 Love2Shop voucher! The survey closes tonight at midnight.
Camden Covid Update
Where to get your COVID-19 vaccination – 11 to 19 September
The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective and offers you the best protection against coronavirus. Camden’s community vaccination bus will be offering free Pfizer vaccinations (first and second doses) in the following locations this week:
- Regent’s Park Estate, NW1 3RH – Saturday 11 September,10am to 2pm
- West Hampstead, Iverson Road, NW6 2RB (outside Thameslink Station) – Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 September, 3pm to 7pm
- Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AX – Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 September, 3pm to 7pm
- Kilburn Grange Park, Palmerston Road, NW6 2DG -Friday 17 September, 3pm-7pm and Saturday 18 September, 10am to 2pm.
This is a free vaccination service for anyone 16+ who needs their first dose or anyone 18+ who needs their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Walk-in appointments are available at all these stops or, if you’d prefer to book an appointment in advance, call the Council Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm on 020 7974 4444 (option 9) To find out more visit camden.gov.uk/getting-the-vaccine
Walk-in vaccinations clinics are also open at:
- Bidborough House,38-50 Bidborough Street, WC1H 9BT, Saturday 11 September, from 9am to 5.30pm
- Essentials Pharmacy, 169 Drury Lane, WC28 5QA, Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5.30pm
- Macey Chemist,68 Mansfield Road, NW3 2HU, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5.15pm and Saturday, 9am to 3pm
- JP Pharmacy,139 Camden High Street, NW1 7JR, Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm; Saturday, 9am to 7pm, and Sunday, 10am to 6pm.
Please contact the vaccination clinic or pharmacy to confirm vaccine availability on the day. To find out more visit north central London NHS.
Healthy eating for families
Camden Learning’s Health and Wellbeing Team runs free sessions to support children and families to make healthy lifestyle choices. They also support schools, children’s centres, and youth clubs. Read or download their latest flyer for free ‘virtual’ (online) sessions in October, November and December 2021 (‘Starting Solids and Next Steps, Oct to Dec 2021’, pdf), visit their web page here or email healthandwellbeingteam@camden.gov.uk
Strengthening families, strengthening communities – free course for parents / carers
SYDRC is running a free course for parents and carers – see leaflet attached (‘Leaflet for September 2021 – Camden SFSC Course’, pdf), starting on 22 September. This is a popular parenting programme, with many Camden parents / carers completing it over the past two years.
PTA News
New Co-Chair needed
The wonderful Sophie Wong has stepped up to be chair, but she desperately needs a co-pilot. Please do consider. All the boring stuff with banking is done by Rob, who’s going nowhere. Lulu and Rahma are stepping or stepped down, and did a fantastic job for the last few years – running a PTA in a pandemic is not easy… but now is the time for someone new. Go on… speaking of which:
New Reps / Continuing Reps
Please let us know if you are stepping forward as a new Rep for your class. Email us at BrookfieldSchoolPTA@gmail.com
If you are considering being a Rep, here’s a few of the duties – it’s not too much:
- organise class/year socials – perhaps a picnic or parents pub night out
- collections for teachers presents – usually something at Xmas and end of school year
- attend the AGM – see below
- help organise a stall for Winter/Summer fairs.
- set up / maintain the class WhatsApp group or email list – for Reception this is important
That’s basically it.
We will continue to contact last years Reps until we are told who the new ones are, otherwise comms will get lost.
AGM
The annual meeting will be on Zoom at 6:30pm on Thursday Oct 7th. Please do attend. We need to be quorate to get things passed. Zoom details nearer the time.
Any items for the agenda, please email the usual address (see above) or rob@minto.net.
The agenda will include the yearly accounts for the PTA, spending plans, and updates on events.
Fancy Dress / Costume swap
With Halloween coming up, it’s time to dust off those costumes. However, what if your kids have outgrown their delightful pumpkin outfits? Or fancy something different? Before you start ordering, Brookfield will be running a costume swap session. No cash, just drop and browse / collect. Donations welcome, but no pressure. You might even spot something for World Book Day (thinking ahead to March!). DATE TO BE CONFIRMED but get rummaging.
Event ideas
What do you want to see the PTA organise this year? Let us know – it’s your PTA so do pitch in any ideas you have:
BrookfieldSchoolPTA@gmail.com
lastly
Raise money for Brookfield while shopping on Amazon
If you are going to use Amazon, make it pay! Go to smile.amazon.co.uk and select Brookfield Primary as your chosen charity. The money then rolls in… well, at least a little bit. It all helps.
That’s it for now. Keep well. And tell us who the new Reps are.