London Fields Primary School

This week, as part of the teacher's CPD programme, teachers broke off into small groups and celebrated the subject of Geography across the school. Evidence of learning was shared from Nursery all the way through to Year 6. Teachers tracked the progression in the subject, evaluating how activities in Early Years focusing on developing an understanding of the world provides the foundation for the Geography curriculum in Year 1 and beyond and how the curriculum builds up knowledge around the subject's Big Ideas (see the website page about how we teach Geography at London Field Primary). 

A huge thank you to everyone who shared in Place2Be's Mental Health Week. The theme of the week was 'This is My Place....' and explored the vital role of belonging in our mental health and wellbeing. In our assemblies this week, we have discussed how a sense of belonging, whether in our families, schools, peer groups or wider communities, is a fundamental human need. It helps us feel secure, supported and ready to learn and grow. We know that when children truly belong, they are more likely to have positive mental health, build healthy relationships, and believe in their ability to make a difference. 

It was lovely this week that so many of you were able to share how you feel you belong to our wonderful school community. London Fields Primary school is EVERYONE'S place and we will stay committed to ensuring we all feel a sense of belonging in our school community. 

To consolidate their 'People and Communities' theme this half term, the Reception children visited their local Post Office to send a letter home. Along the way, they identified familiar places that are part of their community, including coffee shops, restaurants, the bus stop and buses, the green grocer, the medical centre and the hairdresser.

At the Post Office, they waited sensibly in line, showing confidence in following familiar routines, and used fantastic manners when asking the post office workers to mail their letters home. The rain did not slow them down; they simply put on waterproofs and continued their learning.

This experinece supported their understanding of the world around them, as they built confidence in new environments, practised social interactions and strenghtened their sense of belonging within their community. 

Over the past 6 weeks, Year 5 has been working hard with professional architects Georgia and Jamie, to design a community centre building for Hackney Marshes that can meet any challenges that a future change in climate may bring. The aim of the project is to help combat climate anxiety in children by helping them see design as a way of mitigating any challenges that climate change may bring in the future.

As budding architects, the children have been working incredibly hard in creating section drawings, elevations and plans of their community centres as well as building 3D models of what their building could look like. This week, the children presented their ideas, drawings and models to a team of 5 professional architects. They were incredibly articulate and the professionals commented on how impressed they were by the high standard of the children's work.

The Numbers are in and we raised over £300 for the NSPCC on Number Day! The children had a wonderful day which included reading a story called 'Mastering the Mountain' all about the importance of learning from mistakes and how to build resilience. They also looked at all the places where we can find maths - everywhere of course! - and where they might see and use maths in their daily lives.  Finally, in our maths lessons, every class had some special Number Day challenges to complete: from building 3D shapes to completing an escape room by solving number problems to find the code; to finding the hidden treasure and even setting up a pretend sweet shop! We had a fantastic day and loved the enthusiasm that all the children brought to the day. 

Year 4 have been working with Apollo Music to further develop their knowledge of the different instrument families in orchestras. So far they have had performances and workshops from the string and brass families. In the Summer Term, Year 4 will also be attending an orchestral chamber performance so they can see and hear how the instrument families come together to make music that can transform them to a different place. 

Children across the school have also attended an assembly with the string musicians and were treated to some wonderful performances! 

We started our Internet Safety Day by taking part in a class assembly, discussing what internet safety is and what we can do to ensure that we keep safe online. Our main focus was to explore the benefits and dangers of AI technology and software.

We looked at scenarios and held class discussions on any dangers identified within the scenarios.  We then listed safe and positive strategies that the people in the scenarios could have followed. 

As a final activity, we created posters to demonstrate the uses and dangers of AI!

What a great start to Number Day! We have been so impressed with the wonderful costumes that children have arrived in, we've had rubiks cubes, dominos, clocks, timestable rockstars, number blocks and even the volume of sound! We've also had some amazingly decorated t-shirts and some very impressive finding of maths in everyday items of clothes - from parrallel lines, to estimating the number of spots and even the mathematics of tie-dye!

The day has started with an assembly about the NSPCC and the children are looking forward to the fun maths activities that will be taking place in their maths lessons and throughout the day. More photos to follow as the day progresses!