| Key Events | Date |
| Fair in the Square Highgate | Saturday 11th June |
| Year 2 trip to Camden Learning Centre | Monday 13th June |
| Year 3 trip to British Museum | Tuesday 14th June |
| Year 4 trip to see Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at Acland Burghley | Wednesday 15th June |
| Fern Class at the Lido | Wednesday 15th June |
| Reception Plant Sale, infant playground | Thursday 16th June 3pm |
| Heather Class at the Lido | Thursday 16th June |
| Coffee Morning with a presentation about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) | Friday 17th June 9am |
| Year 1 trip to The British Museum (parent volunteers required) | Friday 17th June |
| Year 4 trip CLC | Friday 17th June |
| Friends of Brookfield Community Day | Saturday 18th June 10-3pm |
| Class Photos | Tuesday 21st June |
| Ivy Gardening with Rob at Waterlow Park | Tuesday 21st June |
| No Junior Choir after school | Thursday 23rd June |
| Maths Day | Friday 24th June |
| Anti-racism committee | Tuesday 28th June |
| Eco-Committee trip to Superbloom (parent volunteers required) | Tuesday 28th June |
| Year 2 seaside trip | Wednesday 29th June |
| Year 6 show | Tuesday 5th July 6pm |
| Year 4 Gardening with Rob at Waterlow Park | Tuesday 5th July |
| Camden secondary transition day | Wednesday 6th July |
| Year 5 Ukulele Performance | Thursday 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 morning | Friday 8th July 9am |
| Summer Fair | Saturday 9th July |
| Last day of the summer term | Thursday 21st July |
| Brookfield Bank Holiday (in lieu of Queen’s Jubilee) | Friday 22nd July |
| INSET days | Thursday 1st – Friday 2nd September |
| Autumn term begins! | Monday 5th September |
Update from Laurel
We have had a wonderful start to our half term and the children have returned to school ready to learn and achieve. At the beginning of the week, we reflected in assembly on Queen Elizabeth’s achievements and I enjoyed hearing how the children had celebrated the Jubilee weekend. On Wednesday, members of the Anti-racism Committee met with children, engaging in activities to explore values and attitudes. This work will then inform our priorities as we move forward and plan appropriate workshops on anti-racism across the school. Sincere thanks to Mike Yule and the parents and governors who are supporting this important work.
Next Saturday (18th June) is our first ‘Friends of Brookfield Community Day’ when the school will be open between 10am and 3pm for volunteers to drop in at any time and help with a range of tasks including: planting, varnishing play equipment, painting book cases, rebuilding picnic benches and more! Derek (Site Service Officer), Rob (Forest School Gardener) and I look forward to working with you and providing refreshments with the support of the PTA.
Thanks to parents and carers who attended the mental-health coffee morning and/or met with Jo, Chair of Governors, and Zia, Parent Governor, this morning to discuss the vacant role of Parent Governor. Please read this letter to find out more about volunteering for this important position in our school community.
Wishing our year 6 children and families a fun weekend away camping together and I look forward to seeing other families at the Fair in the Square this Saturday!
Updates from the office
Breakfast Club Update
We are delighted to have joined the National School Breakfast Programme, which helps to provide a healthy free breakfast to all children at Brookfield.
The National School Breakfast programme is funded by the Department for Education and run by Family Action to support schools in England to provide children with a healthy breakfast at the start of the school day. They are committed to supporting child development, and believe a healthy school breakfast, without barrier or stigma, can set up children to succeed and give them the very best chance to learn.
You can access our wonderful breakfast club from 8am each day. Children have a variety of games, art and toys to play with and will receive a healthy delicious breakfast for only £2.50 (discounts and free places also available). Simply arrive before 8.30am – no pre booking is required.
We are planning to widen our breakfast offer in the future by introducing a ‘bagel bar’, to make it accessible for the whole school – not just those attending breakfast club. This might require some volunteers, so please do get in touch if you think this is something you would be interested in doing. r.williams@brookfield.camden.sch.uk
Absence reminder
If your child is not in school, please remember to leave a message on the absence line, or send an email (first thing) letting us know why they are absent. Although we do not need detailed explanations of your child’s illness, a little more than “unwell” or “sick” is always helpful to us.
Attendance and Punctuality
As you know, we are working closely with staff, families and children to improve and promote good attendance and punctuality at Brookfield. We will be celebrating this in assemblies each week and giving out class certificates and prizes for classes with the best or most improved attendance.
Well done to Heather class for having the best attendance in the school this week with 98%!
Well done also to Elm class for a big improvement in their attendance this week.
As a school, we are aiming for over 95% attendance. This week we had 93% of children in school- this is an increase from last week so well done everyone!
Thank you for your ongoing support with this.
Swimming News
KS2 classes will be visiting Parliament Hill Lido this half term. The children will be taught some water safety and first aid by the Lifeguards on duty. After that they’ll be able to swim, splash and play in the pool. Summer fun. Fingers crossed for sunshine. Look out for a trip letter with details from your class teacher.
Year 1 Trip
Next Friday 17th June, Year 1 will be visiting The British Museum for a Museum Maths workshop. Please ensure that your child is wearing comfortable shoes and has a backpack to carry their lunch. We will need parent volunteers in order for this trip to go ahead. If you are interested, please email year1@brookfield.camden.sch.uk
A Secret Garden Proposal from Year 4
Year 4 wrote excellent, persuasive letters to Laurel proposing a new Secret Garden at Brookfield, inspired by their class novel. Laurel was so impressed, she wrote letters to both classes including quotes from all the children. They are available to read here:
Letter to Ivy
Letter to Bramble
Eco-Committee Trip
The Eco-Committee will be visiting the Superbloom at the Tower of London on Tuesday 28th June. More information about this trip will be sent out closer to the time. If your child is a member of the Eco-Committee and you are available to come along and support this trip, please email Amy: a.sprinks@brookfield.camden.sch.uk. We will need a few parent volunteers in order for this trip to go ahead.
Reception Plant Sale
Next Thursday,16th July, Reception will be holding a plant sale in the infant playground to fundraise for some new balance bikes. As part of our work on sustainability last half-term, the children planted and tended to a variety of seeds including courgettes, basil, runner beans and sunflowers to name a few. If you have space for a plant or two in your garden, balcony or window box then please come along and give us your support. The balance bikes costs £60 each and we would love to be able to buy 6 of them so donations are also very welcome!
Y2 Seaside Trip
We are excited to tell you that on Wednesday 29th June, Year 2 will be going to the Seaside. The children will be travelling by train to Southend beach, where they will spend the day enjoying the sea, sand and hopefully some sun! We will be sending a letter out with all the details shortly. A team of staff will be accompanying us but if any year 2 parents are able to join, please email year2@brookfield.camden.sch.uk. We anticipate this will be a popular trip to join, so please wait for confirmation of your attendance.
Lucy and Martin
SEND at Brookfield
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you had a lovely half term!
I am writing to invite you to take part in our Special Educational Needs (SEND) parent survey so that we can understand what is working well for SEND support at Brookfield and how we can make improvements moving forward. Your responses would be greatly appreciated in order to get the best understanding of how the SEND community of Brookfield feels about provision in the school.
We will analyse the results before the end of July and then share with the Brookfield SEND community what is working well and where we can improve in September.
To complete the survey please click here.
Laura Smale (SENDCo)
Maths Day
On Friday 24th June, Brookfield will be holding a ‘Maths Day’. This will be a chance to celebrate all things maths and to demonstrate what a diverse and fun subject it is! The day will consist of a variety of maths based activities including; creating maths art work, taking part in STEM challenges, a Times Tables Rockstars competition and other problem solving fun. At the end of the day, the children’s maths art will be displayed on the playground in an Art Gallery and we welcome all parents to come and see.
To make this day extra special, we encourage children to dress up in ‘maths themed’ clothing. This could be a patterned outfit, an outfit linked to their favourite number or even as a Times Tables Rockstar!
Mental Health Workshops
Thank you to the parents and carers who have attended the Camden children’s mental health workshops over the past few weeks. If you were unable to attend, please find below all of the PowerPoints that were used. Attached is also a list of services that you can access to support both yourself and your child. If you have concerns about your child’s mental health and wellbeing, please contact their class teacher or Lillie (Mental Health Lead) on l.rosenblatt@brookfield.camden.sch.uk.
Wood Donations Wanted
Reception are in need of wood for the children to use in their woodwork projects this half-term and would be very grateful for any donations. Any spare pieces or offcuts that you might have lying around would be equally welcome and will be put to good use! Softer woods such as pine and balsa are preferable as these are easier for young children to work with. Thank you!
Big Battery Hunt
Thank you to everyone who has collected and recycled batteries over the last few weeks! The deadline for the Big Battery Hunt has been extended to June 24th. If you recycle any before this date – no matter how few! – please let Amy know: a.sprinks@brookfield.camden.sch.uk. Further information is available on the Big Battery Hunt website: https://www.bigbatteryhunt.co.uk/
Race to Health
Race to Health is an award winning online physical activity challenge for primary and secondary school children that encourages them to participate in daily physical activity. The aim is to increase the number of children that are meeting the physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes per day.
This year’s race is themed around the Queen’s Jubilee, celebrating her 70 years in the throne. The race route takes us on a jubilee journey through some of London’s most iconic landmarks and the beautiful Royal Parks.
Your child will receive log in details from their class teacher and will be encouraged to log in to the website regularly to record their daily physical activity. Each minute of physical activity equates to distance in miles and collectively the physical activity minutes accumulated by pupils at your child’s school will help the school move along the route and edge closer to the finish line.
Schools will be competing to be the first in Camden and Islington to make it to Moscow, Russia, while classes will be competing against each other to be the most active.
Each week, your child will be eligible to win a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal in three areas; participation, improvement and time. Participation relates to how often your child enters their physical activity data, improvement relates to increases in physical activity levels for that week compared to the previous week and time relates to how close they are to achieving the recommended 60 minutes of activity per day.
Physical activity is any activity that gets you breathing a little heavier and your heart beating a little bit faster. Some examples include walking, active games, running, swimming, scooting, football, tennis, karate, gymnastics, netball and dance.
You can support your child by reminding them to log in and record their physical activity levels daily. If you have a very young child, you may need to log in and record their physical activity levels for them. Ideally it is best to log in and record physical activity every day as your child may forget how active they were if a few days go by.
Take this opportunity to increase your own physical activity levels – you’ll be surprised how much better you will feel and how much fun you will have with your child!
La Sainte Union Open Evening
La Sainte Union School invites Year 5 parents and their daughters to our primary transition event on Thursday 23rd June 2022 – an opportunity to see the school ahead of the October Secondary applications. Please use this form to register your interest and we will contact you with further details.
Camden Music Service Survey
Dear Parents and Carers.
Camden Music Service is looking at ways to develop their current offer to include more children with SEN outside of the school environment.
A short survey has been created to gather your views and ideas. It is a great chance to have a say and describe what you think would work well for your child.
The results of the survey will be fed back to the Camden Music Steering Group who will then be deciding how best to move forward.
Please do spend 5 minutes filling in the survey.
The Camden Clean Air Cycle Ride!
This is just a reminder to you that this week is your last chance to purchase tickets for Camden Clean Air Cycle Ride. The event is now just around the corner, taking place this Sunday 12th June! Staggered Start from 10am-12pm. Start and finish lines at Granary Square. Buy your tickets here or scan the QR code.
New Under 5’s Toy Library at Highgate Library
Set up by The Friends of Highgate Library Charitable Foundation, with Camden’s Community Infrastructure Levy, they offer a wide range of interesting and colourful toys for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers and are currently the only active toy library in The London borough of Camden.
Toys can be borrowed with an ordinary library card free of charge.