Newsletter 20th May

Key Events​Date
Year 2 SATs Week23rd – 27th May
Year 4 Performance for parents and carersWednesday 25th May 2pm
Mental Health Coffee MorningWednesday 25th May 9am
Year 3 trip to St John’s Lodge Regent’s ParkThursday 26th May
RE dayThursday 26th May
Jubilee Day and bake saleFriday 27th May
May Half TermMonday 30th – Friday 3rd June
Sense of Community – your ideas. At the Star pubTuesday 7th June
Mental Health Coffee MorningThursday 9th June 9am
Year 2 trip to Camden Learning CentreMonday 13th June
Coffee Morning with a presentation about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)Friday 17th June 9am
Friends of Brookfield Community DaySaturday 18th June 10-3pm
Class PhotosTuesday 21st June
No Junior Choir after schoolThursday 23rd June
Maths DayFriday 24th June
Anti-racism committeeTuesday 28th June
Year 6 showTuesday 5th July 6pm
Camden secondary transition dayWednesday 6th July
Year 5 Ukulele PerformanceThursday 7th July (Ash 10am Bottom Hall/ Willow 11.30am Top Hall)
Open Afternoon (school closes from 1pm)Thursday 7th July
Head and chair of governor’s coffee morningFriday 8th July 9am
Summer FairSaturday 9th July
Last day of the summer termThursday 21st July
Brookfield Bank Holiday (in lieu of Queen’s Jubilee)Friday 22nd July
INSET daysThursday 1st – Friday 2nd September
Autumn term begins!Monday 5th September

Laurel’s Update

Our week started with an inspirational visit from the Mayor of Camden, Sabrina Francis. Sabrina delivered two assemblies on our value of achievement. The children learned about her journey through Camden schools to become Camden Labour’s first black woman councillor. The children had lots of interesting questions to ask her. A huge thank you to the Mayor of Camden for taking the time to meet our wonderful children.

Thanks to the parents and carers who attended events at school this week, including: year 4 drumming performances, Mental Health Coffee Morning, Head and Chair of Governor’s coffee morning and a school dinner tasting session. Caterlink now have rich feedback from children and parents to further improve meals at Brookfield.

Next week, we look forward to the Year 4 show and our Jubilee celebrations! I would be really grateful if you could spend a few minutes completing the parent/carer survey below.

Brookfield Survey

We really value your feedback and would really appreciate you completing our Brookfield Parent/Carer Survey. Please ensure it is completed by Sunday, 5th June. You can either follow this link here or use the QR code below. Thank you for your time! 

Parent Governor vacancy!!

Hi everyone, we have a vacancy for a parent governor to join Brookfield’s governing body. The school governors play an important role in the running of the school, supporting and challenging the school to provide the best possible education for all our children. It is a rewarding volunteer role which gives you a chance to get closer to and work with the leadership team. You don’t have to have particular skills or qualifications to be a governor, and it is beneficial for the school to have a diverse governing body with a wide range of experiences and perspectives. If you would like to apply to be a parent governor, an application form will be included in next weeks newsletter. If you are at all interested and would like to know more about the role, please get in touch with Jo Cooke, the Chair of Governors. You can email Jo directly at jvicooke@hotmail.com.

Headteacher Award

Thanks to these wonderful year 3 children from Fern class who shared their excellent report writing with Laurel. Congratulations on receiving Head Teacher awards!

Attendance at Brookfield

Now that COVID is beginning to ease up and things are getting back to ‘normal’, we are concentrating on improving children’s attendance at Brookfield. Our current attendance target is 95%. Below is a table explaining the impact of missing even a few days of school.

100% Attendance0 Days MissedExcellent
95% Attendance9 Days of Absence 1 Week and 4 Days of Learning Missed  Satisfactory  
90% Attendance19 Days of Absence 3 Weeks and 4 Days of Learning MissedPoor  
85% Attendance28 Days of Absence 5 Weeks and 3 Days of Learning MissedVery Poor  
80% Attendance38 Days of Absence 5 Weeks and 3 Days of Learning MissedUnacceptable  
75% Attendance46 Days of AbsenceUnacceptable

For some parents, 90% may seem like an acceptable level of attendance, but the reality is that 90% attendance means that your child will miss half a school day each week or 19 days of school during the school year – that is nearly four school weeks of learning lost.

Every school day counts.

​PTA News

Jubilee Bake Sale next Friday

In the junior playground, hosted by Year 4.

Summer Fair

Save the date for BrookFest – this year’s Summer Fair will be on Saturday July 9th, at the usual time of 12-3. We are planning two stages for music & performance, plus a new and improved offering of food, drink and fun activities for all. If you have DJ skills, want to help book some kids and parent bands, or have any other skills to offer, please email brookfieldschoolpta@gmail.com

Please also get in touch if you have other ideas or things you’d like to see at BrookFest.

Building a sense of community: your ideas

Tuesday 7th June @ The Star pub on Chester Road.
Come and meet other parents and discuss how we rebuild the sense of community around the school after Covid. Also how we raise money. All welcome, we hope at least 2 people per class will come along. The aim is to discuss ideas and then feed back via each class’s WhatsApp group.

We will have another meeting later in June in the evening at the school, so it’s not always in a pub.

Ukraine Fundraising

MHST Transition to Secondary School Webinar for Parents or Carers of Year 6 children

Dear parents and carers of Year 6 children,

The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) are excited to offer all primary schools within Camden a parent and carer webinar around supporting young people in Year 6 as they prepare to move from primary to secondary school in September 2022.

The webinar will be held online via Zoom and lasts for 60 minutes, with an optional follow-up slot of 30 minutes for questions and comments.

Parents and carers of Year 6 children may choose one of two dates:

  • Thursday 9th June 12:00-13:30
  • Friday 8th July 12:00-13:00

To sign up, please click here

From the Office

Just a reminder that only children that are free school meals in Years 3-6 are entitled to a packed lunch provided by the school when children go on their trips everyone else needs to provide their own.

Please remember that there will be a small increase to after school club prices from next half term.

Music News

A big congratulations to Buna, Wren and Levi, Y5 members of Brookfield Junior Choir, for all being given a place in the ‘Camden New Voices’ choir. It is the only auditioning ‘Camden Music’ choir, and not everyone who auditions gets a place. We are very proud of them and we hope that they enjoy this wonderful singing experience.

Bramble and Ivy’s Drum Performance

Over the past four weeks Bramble and Ivy have been having weekly West African drumming lessons with Tanya. They have come a long way and performed amazing music. Thank you to all the parents who supported the Year 4 drumming performance, thank you year four and thank you Tanya our drumming teacher.

Chocolate Tasting in Year 2

Over this half term, Year 2 have been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and learning all about the wonderful world of chocolate. After hearing so much about Willy Wonka’s delicious creations, they wrote persuasive letters to Laurel in the hope she would let them sample some. Luckily, she said it was allowed! The children got the chance to sample a piece of these special bars. Zach in Dandelion said it was ‘the nicest chocolate I have ever tasted!’. 

Eco-Update

The Eco-Committee are launching a planting programme for our schools grounds and have put up posters and displays. We are also enforcing our Action Plan and we are focusing on school grounds, energy and waste. The school has taken out the bins to be replaced with white compost buckets. Make sure that at home you are recycling and turning taps and lights off.

By Eva Year 6, Sammy Year 3, Leo Year 1 and Teal Year 1

Mental Health Coffee Mornings

​Camden are presenting a series of mental health coffee mornings alongside Lillie, Mental Health Lead. They are free to attend and you are welcome to join all or any one of them. You do not need to book beforehand. Dates and topics are as follows:

  • Wednesday, 25th May –  Supporting parent/carer wellbeing
  • Thursday, 9th June  – Supporting stress and anxiety​
Supporting Child Wellbeing

​Following our coffee morning presented by Camden alongside Lillie, our Mental Health Lead, please find below the slides on how to support your child’s wellbeing. Next week’s coffee morning will be about supporting parent/carer wellbeing. It runs from 9-10am – we really hope you can attend! If you have any queries following the coffee mornings, please email Lillie: l.rosenblatt@brookfield.camden.sch.uk.

Please click here for further information

Want to make a difference to children’s lives?

​Do you have an interest in mental health and ​education? Would you like to explore a new career? Camden’s Mental Health Support Team (MHST) is expanding and recruiting to train new Education Mental Health Practitioners to work at local schools. Brookfield works closely with our local MHST and sees the valuable work that the Practitioners do for our children and families. There is a free online event on Wednesday, 1st June at 4-5.30pm​ to give you more information about the role and how to apply. Please sign up here

Summer Fair

Save the date for BrookFest – this year’s Summer Fair will be on Saturday July 9th, at the usual time of 12-3. We are planning two stages for music & performance, plus a new and improved offering of food, drink and fun activities for all. If you have DJ skills, want to help book some kids and parent bands, or have any other skills to offer, please email brookfieldschoolpta@gmail.com

Please also get in touch if you have other ideas or things you’d like to see at BrookFest.

Positive Futures Project

New Employment and Benefits Support:
Parents and carers at Brookfield school can get help from a new project called Positive Futures.  They are offering one to one support :

  • to help people find a job that has better pay and prospects for growth and development, or
  • to check you are claiming all of the benefits you are entitled to, or
  • to help people deal with mounting bills or other debts?

If you are worried about rising household bills or the challenge of finding work that supports you and your family – email justina@hncp.org.uk or text 07962 259349 for confidential, supportive one-to-one help.