Mead choir at St Paul’s Church

On Tuesday evening, Mead choir presented a wonderful concert at St Paul’s Church. Family and friends were treated to a host of songs, with many children singing solos with great confidence and skill.

Afterwards children, family and friends stayed to enjoy a drink and a mince pie and discuss the delightful singing they had just been treated to. Well done to everyone for their outstanding effort and commitment.

Christmas in Germany!

Pupils in Germany class were so excited this week, to help Santa find his missing sleigh.

"We saw a news flash about how Santa had crashed his sleigh. We saw him walking around near Mead school," said Chanelle, excitedly.

"We got to see the reindeer, and we found the missing sleigh, hip, hip horray! " exclaimed Alfie.

The children also had the opportunity to make 'Christmas Puddings' out of rice crispies, which they took home to show their families .

"We had the chance to make some Christmas puddings, that had tasty white chocolate on top. We had to scrunch it up into a ball. I kept licking my sticky fingers," explained Liam.

"The Christmas Puddings that we made from melted chocolate were so delicious, I really liked it so much!" said Maddie, with a big smile on her face.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to say farewell to the pupils and parents of Germany class, as well as to all the Mead Community.

I have had a wonderful time since I joined the school, and have loved teaching so many of the pupils in class, as well as helping out with Travel Team, Eco Warriors, School Council, and Friends of Mead. I have many fond memories of you all, We would like to welcome Miss Sligar, who will be taking over Germany class from January. The pupils have spoken to her on Face time, to ask her questions and tell her all about the class. She is very excited to be joining Mead next year. Mrs Eubanks.

Years 5 and 6 become chefs for the day.

On Friday, children from years 5 and 6 got the opportunity to make a range of sweets. These sweets included rocky road, peppermint creams and toffee. The children needed to use a range of skills to create these culinary delights, they also got the opportunity to be able to use the cooker and cooking implements. The children all showed a flair for cooking and great maturity when using the different equipment in the kitchen.

Well done for a great effort from all the children, and thank you to Mrs Rowton for making it possible.

Mead is in the newspaper.

After an exciting day trying to find Santa’s sleigh and reindeer the children of Mead school have made it into the local paper. The event turned the rear of the school into an amazing winter wonderland and the children had fun trying to find Santa’s lost items.

The full report will be in the next issue of the Romford Recorder, but for now you can see a sneaky peak at some of what is to come below. Also, keep on looking at Facebook and the blog to see more films of the days fun.

http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/pupils_save_christmas_after_santa_crash_lands_in_harold_hill_1_4824118

Father Christmas enlists the help of Mead.

After crash landing his sleigh in Harold Hill Father Christmas has enlisted the help of the children of Mead Primary to find it.




Will they find it in time to save Christmas?

Successful stay and play in EYFS

Wow, what a successful day in EYFS we had! Parents from Nursery and Reception turned up, to collect their eagerly awaiting children before heading into the hall and experiencing all the different activites we had on offer. There was reindeer and angel craft, to decorating your own stocking, christmas themed maths activites and making your own reindeer biscuits to name a few. The hall was filled with sequins and glitter galore, and lots of fun was had by all.

Thank you to all those who were able to attend today, we hope you enjoyed your time with us.

May we take this opportunity to with you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

   

Awards

Bronze Tracker
Well done to Courtney Wingrove, Jessica Iancu and Anya Shorter who have completed their Bronze Trackers and are now working on gaining merits for their Silver Trackers.

Reading Awards
Cameron Danquah and Grace Allen have achieved their bronze reading award for reading 25 books.

Aleena Seleka is a Star reader

Additional Awards
A fact hunter certificate is awarded to Tobey Rigg.

Certificates

Certificate of Presentation:
Well done to Lukas Norkus, Jessica Iancu and Fahdeelat Rodemade who have presented their work beautifully; They have shown pride in their work and taken care with their handwriting and number formation.


Learning Challenge Awards

Courtney Wingrove, Alynniea Joyce, George Folan, Hermione Rose-Billings, Sumaiyah Shafique, Unnati Prajapatu and Sophie Sherrin have been working hard at home and extending their knowledge through their learning challenge work.

Attendance Update

Attendance Update

Year 5&6 - Mexico 95.7%

Year 3&4-  Scotland 95.9%

KS1- Madagascar 95.9%  

Overall - 94.6%

Well done to Mexico class who have had the highest attendance in Y5&6 at 95.7%.

Scotland had the highest attendance for LKS2 at 95.9% and Madagascar the highest attendance in KS1, also at 95.9%

The overall attendance was 94.6% significantly better than the last few weeks-Let’s hope this trend can continue into the New Year!

Y4 Christmas cheer in Church!

Year 4 pupils went to St Paul's Church to sing two of their Christmas songs and learn about lighting Advent candles. 

"Did you know that they light four red candles, one every week, and one white one on Christmas Day. The white one represents the light of knowing ," 

Maisie - Germany Class

Russell used a range of props to explain to the children the Christmas story, and the significance of the gifts baby Jesus was given.

 

Christmas Reception Newsletter

Reception Newsletter-December 2016 

Our Reception children have come to the end of their first term and haven`t they done well. We are so proud of them all. During our assessments we were pleased that most children now recognise a good percentage of their sounds, many can blend sounds to make words and some have learnt to read a bank of key vocabulary. Lots of the children are really keen to write and it is lovely to hear the children counting with confidence. So we are not surprised that they are feeling tired.

So with only three days until the Christmas holidays we would just like to remind you of the end of term arrangements.

On Monday we have our Christmas stay and play craft day. There will be a range of activities set out in the KS1 hall. There will be two sessions running one between 9.30 and 11.00 and one between 1.15 and 2.30. Come along whenever you can and enjoy making some decorations, decorating biscuits and having fun with your child.

On Tuesday we have a very magical party day . Please send some shareable food in as soon as possible such as cakes, crisps or biscuits. Children should wear school uniform as usual.

On Wednesday we will have a fun last day with music and Christmas festivities.

School finishes at the normal time of 3.00.School is then closed for the Christmas holidays and reopens on January 3^rd at 8.30am.

As the week is so hectic we will change the children`s books for them but not actually hear each child read.

We would like to finish by thanking you for your support and wishing you a very Merry Christmas  and a happy 2017.

Kind Regards

The Reception Team

Star Writers:

Star Writers:
These children have used a range of powerful vocabulary and techniques to become a Star Writer; Dovydas Leonovas, Joey London, Megan White, Jessica Lacatus, Cameron Wingrove, Alessia Dragostin, Agigail Safo-Frimpong, Amelia Nauthoo, Amiyah Halley, Mihrac Yilmaz, Bobby perfect, Akacia Mungulu, Hektor Rimikus, Chase Kwakye-Safo, Sulainman Al-Azami,Cloe Emanuel, Bobbi Harrington, Rowa Bashier, Pawel Lyckzo and Lia Summer
Look out for examples of their work on the blog!

Year 2 Poems under the sea.

This half term the year 2 literacy and language class have been learning about writing poems.
To create their own piece of writing the students had to use kennings (2 words that give a reader an image of something without saying its name. example a fish could be a bubble blower.)

Have a look at some of the work produced by our year 2 students.

'I've enjoyed creating my poem.'- yr 2 student

Weekly Update

This has been a very busy but exciting week. Those of you who were able to attend our Christmas performances will, I’m sure, agree that we really do have some amazing children at Mead. For the first time we were able to show the KS2 performances live on social media and I have received some lovely messages from relatives who appreciated being able to watch their nephews, nieces, grandchildren perform. I am aware that some of Miss Kumszczynska’s relatives were watching in Poland!

Please watch our blog on Monday evening for some very exciting news and we will be going live again on Tuesday morning at around 9:15am so you can join us for a few surprises-Watch this space!!

EYFS
Parents of children in our EYFS are invited into school for a stay and play day on Monday 19th December-This will take place in our KS1 hall

Christmas parties
The children will be having Christmas parties in school on Monday and Tuesday afternoons next week. You should already have had a letter from your child’s class teacher advising you of the arrangements.

Flu Immunisation
Nurses will be in school to administer flu immunisation to those children who have returned forms on Tuesday 20th December

Choir Dates
The choir will be singing in St Paul’s church from 18:00-approx 19:00 on the evening of 20th December

Mead X-Factor
Our X-Factor final will be held on the morning of 21st December. Unfortunately we do not have the space for parents/carers to attend but you will be able to watch it live on social media.

School dates
The last day of school for this term is Wednesday 21st December. School finishes at the normal time 3:00pm for EYFS/KS1 and 3:10pm for KS2 pupils.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING OUR CHILDREN BACK TO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY 3RD JANUARY

Learning Federation Leadership Team

Learning Federation Leadership Team

We are delighted to inform you that we have now confirmed the Leadership Team for the Learning Federation. Last Friday the Governing Board interviewed Mr Drakes, Mrs Nicholls and Mrs Smith. Following their presentations and discussions about the future for our two schools and Federation the Governors unanimously appointed all three to their posts on a permanent basis. Mr Drakes will take overall strategic responsibility for the Learning Federation as Executive Headteacher. Mrs Nicholls is now the permanent Headteacher for Broadford and is responsible for all aspects of day to day leadership: staffing, pupils, behaviour and communication with parents and members of the local community. Likewise Mrs Smith is now confirmed as the permanent Headteacher at Mead. At both schools we also have Assistant Headteachers with specific areas of responsibility both at their ‘home’ school and across the Federation:

Mrs Joanne Stanley (Broadford) - AHT Professional Development & Director of the Teaching School

Mrs Jane Wallis (Broadford) - AHT Curriculum Development

Miss Anna Calitz (Mead) - AHT Inclusion SEN/More Able

Mrs Alison Pidgeon (Mead) - AHT Outdoor Learning & Read Write Inc

I would like to thank you for all the patience and understanding that you have shown during a time of considerable change. We have had a very positive start to our life as a Federation. This Summer we saw outstanding results at KS2 for all of our pupils across both schools. In October Mead restored its Ofsted grading to Good - in fact the report was so positive that much of it read as if it were well on the way to Outstanding. Our pupils have seen the Federation community grow much closer through shared teaching, joint trips, Federation sports teams - allowing us to finish 3rd in the recent indoor athletics tournament - and joint enrichment activities: London Symphony Orchestra, Primary Proms & cycling. It has been fantastic to see so you coming to support your children at the recent events and celebrate their achievements through the social media footage and posts. You have significantly contributed towards strengthening what is a very positive, child led ethos. Thank you.

As we close out the year we can be certain that 2017 will continue to see our new Federation go from strength to strength for the benefit of all our pupils - your children.

Nursery concert success!

Wow! What beautifully singing we had this morning from the Nursery children. The children were so excited to sing to their families and have been rehearsing every day in preparation. I think it's safe to say the preparation paid off, as it was a brilliant morning.

Thank you to all the families who came and supported us, the children thoroughly enjoyed it and we hope you did too!

Please remember Monday is stay and play day and children can only attend if an adult is going to stay with them. Normal session times, but if you can only come for an hour that is fine.

See you Monday for another Christmas filled day!

Reception go to Church

Reception children all had a fantastic time on our first school trip to St Pauls church. They throughly enjoyed listening to and seeing the story of Jesus brought to life through acting, learning about the advent candle and how each of the red candles are lit every Sunday in the lead up to Christmas with the white candle being lit on Christmas day. We were told how Jesus was a gift from God, who "brings light into a world of darkenss". A christingle orange was shown to us and we were told what each part symbolises. St Pauls chrurch are holding a christingle mass on Christmas Eve at 4pm if you and your family wish to join them.


We were extremely proud of all the children today, they demonstrated fantastic behaviour and were all so sensible with their road safety, we even made it back in time for our delicious Christmas lunch!

year 2 spelling strategy Week Beginning 19th December

How did you go in your spelling this week?

Well done to everyone that got all their spellings correct last week.

How many of these common exception words can you spell correctly?

improve

people

should

path

told

Nursery Christmas concert

Last reminders for Nursery concert 

Nursery Christmas concert is tomorrow! Please remember that afternoon children need to attend in the morning and parents come back just before 11 to watch the show. 

Please give your children sensible, low hairstyles as they will be wearing hats and we don't want it to keep falling off because there is a hairband in the way! 

Lastly, don't forget Christmas tops/jumpers should be worn. The rest of their outfit should be school uniform. 

We look forward to seeing you all in the morning. 

P.S. last chance to buy raffle tickets in the morning so don't forget your change! 

Xmas dinner

Well Done to Reception

Well Done to Reception for your fantastic performances during the Christmas Nativity shows.We were so proud of the fantastic way that you spoke your words and  sang your songs.You looked wonderful and were a credit to your school.We hope your visitors enjoyed it too.

Final Forest School Fire!

'We enjoyed a fire for our final session. We shared stories from the previous weeks of our favourite parts of forest school, these included 'finding bugs', 'toasting marshmallows', 'finding a fox hole' and 'everything'. We reflected upon our biggest challenge's and how we overcame them. "My biggest challenge he was lighting a small fire, I learnt I had to push harder to make it work." Another child shared, "I found it difficult to make a shelter from materials but I kept going until it worked."

The children enjoyed sharing their thoughts by a warm fire whilst having marshmallows and hot chocolate. We all had lots of fun!'

Thank you to Alison Shorter, who has taken these sessions for the last 10 weeks. The children have loved taking part.

Forest school will be running again after Christmas for a different group of children. 

Scotland Class Cupcake Party!

As Scotland Class were the only class to have 100% for 2 weeks running at the beginning of the term, they won a cupcake party on Friday afternoon.

They were thrilled when they were told the good news! The tables were cleared, the cupcakes presented and 'Just Dance' on full blast! 'This is the best treat ever!' screamed many of the children.

Keep the attendance up Scotland Class, well done!

Nursery special visitor!

Today we had a very special visitor at Nursery- Theo the dog! The children were very excited when he came into our classroom and once we had finished stroking and cuddling him, started showing him our toys. The children learnt that Theo loved to listen to stories so a few children found their favourite books and began to read to Theo. Theo was so impressed with our storytelling!

Michael said, 'He's so soft!'

Saeeda said, 'I love to hug him, I want Theo to come back!'

Please come again soon Theo!

Key stage two concerts going are going live.

This Thursday, the 15th December, at 2.15pm years five and six will be taking part in a Carol Concert in our junior hall. A letter was sent out to all parents last week giving everyone the opportunity to be able to book tickets to watch this event. We are very aware that many parents will be unable to come into school at this time due to other commitments, therefore this year we will be streaming the event live on our Facebook page. This will allow everyone to be able to enjoy the festivities, and don’t worry if you are unable to watch live as the video will remain on the page for your later enjoyment.




You will also be able to watch the year 3 and 4 carol concert live at 2.15pm on Wednesday.

Reception are having a party!

Reception will be having their Christmas party on Tuesday 20th December. We are asking each class to bring in some food to help us celebrate, if your child is in:

St Lucia class could they please bring in biscuits
Barbados class - cakes
Jamaica class - crisps

If you wish to bring in other savoury goods, such as sausage rolls etc your donations would be much appreciated.

Please note children will be expected to wear their school uniforms on this day.

We thank you in advance for all your support and cooperation.

Governor & Parents Meeting Minutes

Dear Parents,

We were delighted with the number of families who were represented at the Parent & Governor Coffee morning. The turnout from both schools was heartening to see and certainly was great evidence of how the community will be at the forefront of our achievements as a Federation.

Understandably many parents were unable to make the meeting due to family or work commitments. Please find below the notes from the discussion to keep you informed about how we are progressing:

Welcome

Gill Gordon (Chris Kent was absent due to unforeseen circumstances) welcomed parents to the first joint meeting. Gill described how positive the feeling had been about the Federation during the recent Ofsted Inspection and how good it was to see so many parents in the hall for the meeting.

Meetings would continue to alternate between Mead & Broadford.

Purpose of the meetings was for Governors to talk to parents about plans, progress so far and to hear their thoughts on how the schools were doing.

Vision & Values update

Mr Drakes - Executive Headteacher - provided an update on the Values expected of Parents, Staff & Pupils. This had also been covered at the recent Parent Forum meetings at both schools. There were some key facts about the RM3 postcode and how the deprivation could be a limiting factor for pupils if the quality of education wasn’t world class

• Pupils from a poor background and 4x more likely to be poor themselves when older
• 9 in 10 people in a low paid job are still in that job after 8 years
• Those who are unable to read by the age of 10 will earn 20% less than their peers
• The life expectancy gap between RM3 & RM14 is 7 years

Clear imperative for Broadford & Mead staff to work hard to ensure all pupils get the very best possible education.

Key is being able to read well - so our vision specifically refers to the need for pupils to be able to read by the age of 6.

Feedback from Ofsted & LA about Federation

The Ofsted report referred to the strength of the relationship between the two schools and how it had been a powerful agent for change and improvement:

• Staff morale is high. Teachers told inspectors that they were excited about the new federation. Senior leaders have set a clear vision and demonstrate a thorough understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.

The local authority has supported the school well on its journey of improvement prior to the federation with Broadford Primary School. The school is an active member of a network of schools.

• There is a strong collaborative approach to planning as teachers have the opportunity to share good practice with other teachers from Broadford Primary School

Over the next few months we expect to see a formal change of structure that will better reflect the shared leadership between the two schools and the collaborative teaching.  

Update on buildings work @ Mead

Parents were shown images of the near completed EYFS learning area: tree houses, nature gardens, tunnels, water play and construction area. It is anticipated that the remaining equipment (music feature and sound systems) will be in place by the end of the term. Parents will then be invited to have a look at the new area and see the impact it is having on the children’s learning.

Broadford parents were reassured that there will be continued investment, but much of the focus was inside: new flooring, updated screens for teachers, new ICT network, new PCs. This was due to the lack of clarity about exactly would be included in the new build project.

Update on expansion @ Broadford

The plans were due to be completed soon. They will be available for parents to view at the next Parents Forum in the Spring Term. We expect construction to begin in Feb/Mar of 2017 with completion by Dec/Jan 2018

Launch of Teaching School

Mr Drakes informed parents that Broadford had now been accredited as a National Teaching School. This would mean that we would be able to have our own ITT programs to train teachers, provide CPD for our staff and work as an agent for the LA. It also drew in much needed funding to the schools so that we can support our extended leadership team and retain key staff.

Questions & Feedback
There weren’t any questions from parents

We look forward to seeing you next term, when the coffee morning will be held at Mead Primary.

Yours faithfully

Gill Gordon

Chris Kent

Co-chairs of Governor

Mead has new digital leaders.

Children in Y5 & Y6 were invited to apply for the post of digital leader. After receiving a vast number of applications Mr. Frith held interviews on Wednesday afternoon for the shortlisted candidates. All the children conducted themselves well in the interviews and after a lot of deliberation the leaders were chosen.

Our new digital leaders are George Folan, Pawel Lyczko, Angel Adjei, Amelia Christie, Aaron Livingstone, Amelia Tattam and Stefan Labedzki in Y5. Abbie Harding, Callum Jackson, Rosie Bonnett and Formoso Da Silva in Y6.

There are many projects in the pipeline for the leaders to get their teeth into in the year ahead. These include leading Internet safety training with parents and taking assemblies, as well as having the opportunities to help teach other children within the school to improve their computing skills.

Well done to all the children who took the time to apply for the role.