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The Patten Pages The William Patten Newsletter for Parents and Children

Parent governor result

Congratulations to Tom Knowles (Poppy 1A),

who has been elected as the parent governor.

Thank you to the other nominees, who put

themselves forward for election and thanks also

to all parents who voted.

Children in the playground after school

A small minority of children are still behaving

inappropriately in the playground, when they

have been collected by parents. This week some

children have been jumping off the bridge and

onto the beanbags below. This is incredibly

dangerous and not an example of behaviour we

want in our school. The beanbags have been

taken out of the playground until we have spoken

to all the children involved and contacted the

parents. We would ask all parents to be aware of

where their children are and what they are doing

after they have been collected at 3.30pm.

Equaliteach workshop

This week Year 5 were lucky enough to work with

Gabriella from the charity EqualiTeach. We

participated in a two hour workshop where we

used critical thinking to discuss stereotypes and

how we perceive other people. We also

discussed many different topics, sharing all of our

opinions whilst respecting everybody's thoughts

and ideas.

Dear parents,

It is half term already and the children and staff have worked so hard in the last seven weeks that they all need a very well deserved rest! I would like to say a huge thank you for your very generous donations to the Hackney Foodbank. Families have been so kind. We had boxes of food everywhere – the office, the room behind the office and the hall. It was all bagged up for collection on Thursday and there were 25 black bags full of contributions. We will start our Winter Warmers collection at the end of November and donations will be shared equally between the Hackney Food Bank and the Spitalfields Crypt Trust.

The children really enjoyed No Pens Wednesday this week, with great fun being had across the school. No Pens Day Wednesday is a project organised by The Communication Trust, which encourages schools and settings to put down their pens and to run a day of speaking and listening activities.

Caitlin introduced it to WP last year and it was so popular that we have planned a NPW for each term. I was able visit most classes during the day and see what they were doing. It was lovely to see the children enjoying sharing their ideas, talking with one another (the children were so articulate and eloquent!), demonstrating such good listening skills and working so well collaboratively. Year 6 took part in a debate about whether teachers should be replaced by computers and the answer was a resounding 'no' (thank goodness!). Their other debate was about the national tests and whether they should be abolished. The children surprisingly said no!

We had a Headteacher, Deputy and SENDCO from a school in Sussex visit us this week and after half term five teachers from Polegate School will be spending a day at WP as part of their Continuing Professional Development. I hope everyone has a lovely half term and we look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Monday 30th October

Best wishes

Karen

Issue 119 Friday 20th October 2017

Visit our website www.williampatten.hackney.sch.uk

Great Fire of London storytelling session

Year 2 had another special treat in school this week – a visit by an actor from the Museum of London! The children learned about the Great Fire of London through an interactive storytelling session. Children learned facts including the date (“Say it, don’t spray it!”), the cause, the devastation and how people tried to put the fire out. Richard told the story in a fun and action-packed way, and the children used their imaginations to really get into the setting. They threw imaginary buckets of water on the fire, pumped water squirters and used gunpowder to blow up houses to try to break the path of the fire. A very exciting session for us all, including Year 2 children from Betty Layward and Grasmere, who also joined us to see the show, and very much enjoyed it too!

Book corner competition

The 2017 William Patten Book Corner Competition

was fiercely competitive this year! We had secret

gardens, superheroes and even the Odyssey

featuring as some of the themes the children had

chosen within their classrooms. Some members of

the School Council bravely took on the job of judging

and the winning classes were as follows:

EY – RW LKS2 – 4H

KS1 – 2K UKS2 – 6B

Year 2 went to the ZSL London Zoo last Friday! The trip was part of our Science unit on Animals...so we thought we ought to see some real animals!! The children travelled by bus and underground to get to the zoo. Getting on the tube was slightly ambitious with thirty 6-7 year olds but the children were utterly wonderful. James, a TfL supervisor at Angel Station, said he had never seen such well-behaved classes on the underground! The children had a great time at the zoo, observing gorillas playing, lions snoozing, tigers feeding, penguins swimming and a Komodo Dragon...just staring straight at us! The classes then took part in an interactive workshop in the education centre all about different groups of animals. They then got hands-on touching real artefacts including bird feathers, mammal and reptile skins, turtle shells and even a live rat! Eeeeeek! A wonderful trip had by all. Thanks so much to the children for their super behaviour and enthusiasm at the zoo, the parents for helping out and the staff for organising such a huge trip. Without everyone pulling together, a trip like this would not be possible! We look forward to the next one soon…

Visit our website www.williampatten.hackney.sch.uk

No Pens Wednesday

Following on from the success of our first No Pens

Day Wednesday event last year this week we held

the first of three No Pens Wednesdays for this

year. Teachers and children diligently stashed pens

and pencils away for the day to enjoy a whole

range of engaging and inspiring activities involving

speaking, listening and communication skills.

Around the school classrooms were buzzing with

lively debates and discussions. Year 5 even re-

created their own House of Commons to debate

the merits of school uniform. Their arguments and

counter arguments were carefully planned and

eloquently expressed and received enthusiastic but

decorous responses from the house. From Nursery

to Year 6 children explored maths through

practical, hands on activities, games, puzzles and

problem solving challenges. Children in Year 2

used counters, dice and lolly sticks to complete

maths puzzles and a group of Year 6 children

worked collaboratively to create a coordinates grid

with wool and bean bags. It was wonderful to

witness how children in Year 5 working in teams

used problem solving and communication skills to

build marshmallow and spaghetti towers. In

Literacy a group of Year 1 children used their

imaginations and acting skills to explore what a

stick could be if it’s not a stick. Children and

teachers took part with great enthusiasm and

thanks to the hard work and creativity of pupils and

staff No Pens Wednesday at William Patten was

again a great success!

Autism Awareness

This week at William Patten we held two

assemblies to raise awareness of autism. We used

a short film called ‘Amazing Things Happen’ which

explains autism in a positive and very child friendly

way. The film can be found easily on Youtube if

you would like to watch it. The children both in KS1

and KS2 responded really well and were given the

opportunity to share their thoughts and ask

questions.

Claytime workshop

Reception and Nursery children were very excited to take part in a Clay time workshop last Friday where they had the opportunity to suggest ideas for a story. The workshop involved two artists creating a variety of clay figures to help tell the story that the children created. In the morning, children created an imaginative story entitled ‘A big fire at the house in the park’, and in the afternoon children created a spectacular story of ‘The Queen, the children and the bottom crown!’ During the second part of the workshop, children were able to work with clay to produce their own sculpture. This was a super experience; the children suggested so many wonderful ideas and had a great time! Thanks to the PTFA for helping to fund the event.

Visit our website www.williampatten.hackney.sch.uk

Patten’s "Playing Out" session which happens

once a term. To find out more about any of these

roles please get in touch or ask at the Office and

they can point you in our direction.

The big event for this term is of course the Winter

Fair on Sunday 3rd December. People have

already started offering their services, which is

fantastic but we will need lots of volunteers,

energy and enthusiasm to make it happen.

We are having a Winter Fair planning meeting on

Wednesday 1st November at 3.45 in the back

classroom. The school will be providing a crèche.

If you can't come to the meeting then do get in

touch. All offers of help, no matter how big or

small, are welcome.

Email: williampattenptfa@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/willi

ampattenptfa/

Website:

http://www.williampatten.hackney.sch.uk/partnersh

ips/ptfa-and-fundraising/

PTFA Dates

1st Nov 3:45 (Wed) - Christmas Fair meeting

(crèche provided)

23rd Nov - Quiz Night

3rd Dec - Winter Fair

Kindness Cup

The Kindness Cup was presented to Alexandru

Croitoru (4H) last week and Amina Khan (5M) this

week.

Alexandru helped to support a new boy in Year 3,

acting as his translator and buddy. Alexandru is

always helpful, polite and reliable and really

excelled in his role as WP ambassador.

Amina was nominated by the breakfast club staff

for her kindness towards the younger children; she

spends time reading to them in the library every

morning. Amina always has a smile on her face

and can be relied upon to help in any way she

can. She is a great role model.

Both their names have been added to the

Kindness Tree in the bottom hall.

Abney Park

On Wednesday both Reception classes visited

Abney Park. They walked through Abney Park

and collected leaves, sycamore seeds and

observed the autumnal scene. As always, the

children behaved impeccably and they enjoyed

their first school trip this term. It was lovely that

so many parents were able to help on the trip

and make the experience so positive. We will

venture further afield for our next trip!

PTFA Update

Just a quick note from the PTFA this week. We

got the year off to a good start with our first

meeting on Wednesday with an update from

Karen on the activities funded by the PTFA and

lots of brainstorming about new ideas for the

coming year. We will be sending minutes out via

the whole school email and also publishing them

on the William Patten website (see link below).

We are also recruiting for some new PTFA roles.

Co-Chairs Lena and Paula will be stepping down

after two years in the post so we need a new

Chair or Co-Chairs. We also need someone, or

possibly a group of people to organise William

Visit our website www.williampatten.hackney.sch.uk

Request for spare clothes

Our supply of spare clothing for children to use (particularly trousers) is running very low. If you have any old trousers to fit 5 years and above, please drop off at the school office. Thank you!

Reception Class Admissions September 2018

Parents can apply for a reception class place until 15th January 2018, by completing an on-line application form at www.eadmissions.org.uk . Parents should be advised to read the primary admission guide, particularly the details regarding the number of applicants who were successful in the previous year and the criteria under which they were offered places and should be encouraged to list at least 4 schools on the online application form, this can include both Hackney and out-borough schools.

WP Lottery (October)

1st prize Siena Pakington (Cecelia Y2) 2nd prize Caroline Bowman (Matilda Y4) 3rd prize Lucy Pert (Tristan Y2, Leia RC)

Thank you to everyone who takes part in the lottery which raises a lot of money for the PTFA. If you would like to join the lottery, please collect a form from the office or contact Jasmine (Cecily 3A and Vita 1N) at Jasminedick1@yahoo.co.uk.

NO nuts please!

Please remember that we are a NUT FREE school.

This includes packed lunches (both in school and

those brought on trips by children and accompanying

adults), as well as food for the end of term parties and

school fairs. Please remember Nutella and other

chocolate spreads also contain nuts.

Many happy returns to Grejsi Babolli, Ronnie

Heseltine, Elsie Enright, Jarvan Joseph, Alec

Delion, Joe Preston-Burges, Seth Hawkins,

Blythe Barbet, Sophia Deighton, Jonah Vittori-

Garman, Theda Peirce, Joshua Duran, Dotty

McIntosh, Seth Stokes, Joshua Ings, Bonnie

Ballantyne Tallant, Britveeraj Singh, Max

Deighton, Finn McCluskey and Romario Morgan-

Shaw who celebrated their special day during the

last fortnight.

Well done to Wendy’s reception class who are at the top of the chart with excellent attendance – 98.5%. Both 3A and 2K are close behind. Maybe

next time there will be a new winner?

Rec Leah/Maria 97.3% Rec Wendy 98.5% Y1 Asima 97.3% Y1 Natalie 97.8% Y2 Kim 98.1% Y2 Tanya 97.2% Y3 Aimee 98.3% Y3 Christine 95.9% Y4 Helen 97.9% Y4 Marcus 96.3% Y5 Diane 95.9% Y5 Marion 97.8% Y6 Ben 95.7% Y6 Jon 97.3%

Half term Activity Camp Fit for Sport are running a holiday camp at William Patten during October half term. To book a place call them on 0845 4563233, go to their website www.fitforsport.co.uk or email Sammy (WP Camp Site Manager) on williampatten@fitforsport.co.uk/ or sammyanjorin@hotmail.co.uk.

Visit our website www.williampatten.hackney.sch.uk

School Council feedback

Diane meets with the School Council every

fortnight. These are the latest points raised by the

children and the SMT responses to them:

We do not want jacket potatoes or fish pie / we

want to have hot dogs

The school will be adapting the school menu, so

that there is another option for children on

Mondays, as well as jacket potato. It won’t be hot

dogs, but we are thinking maybe falafel with pitta,

with hummus. Children can make their own pitta

pockets.

We will continue to offer fish pie, as under the

school lunch nutritional guidelines, we have to offer

an oily fish once every three weeks.

Golden time

We stopped Golden Time (where children have

free time in class and can choose what they would

like to do) a few years ago and now do Spanish

instead. Golden Time was part of our old

behaviour reward system.

We have said that we will have a special Golden

Time every Friday before half term.

Get rid of cigarette butts in playground

David and Dee work very hard to keep out

playground clean and tidy. We don’t know where

the cigarettes are from! We are saying that a child

finds one, to tell an adult and the adult will put it in

the bin.

Cooking club/book club/basketball club

At the moment, we do not have space for any

more clubs, but if a club closes because of small

numbers, then we can look at replacing it with one

of these options.

Having sauces on Friday

We are looking into this. It will depend on sugar

content and the price!

Bringing our own stationery

We have that we are concerned that if children

bring their own stationery it might cause arguments

and we also worried that it might go missing. So

children will not be able to bring in their own

stationery.

Napkins at lunch

We will be getting napkin holders and napkins for

the dining tables at lunchtime. This will start in

November.

In school football tournament

We will be having a special World Cup competition

next year!

We have joined the Hackney primary football

league ( the KS2 boys’ team and the girls’ team

will be participating)

Fixing the climbing frame

This is being done at half term in October.

Good deeds

The School Council are concerned that the friends’

invitation for the Afternoon Tea with the

Headteacher is causing arguments. They also

think that we should change from 3 nominations to

5 before an invitation is given.

This year, children will come to tea on their own

and each child will need to be nominated 5 times

before they come to tea!

November diary dates

1st PTFA Winter Fair planning meeting 3.45pm (crèche provided)

2nd Flu vaccination for Reception - Year 4 6th Invisible Flash Theatre Company for Yr 2 7th Year 6 trip to Millfields Theatre 9th Parents Evening 5.00 – 7.30pm 10th Year 2 to St Pauls Cathedral 13th Groundwork workshop for 3A (weekly) 13th Anti-Bullying Week 15th Chain Reaction Assembly for Years 4-6 16th Parents Evening 4.00 – 6.30pm 20th Dancer in Residence launch assemblies 20th Road Safety Week 21st Tastes of the World 23rd PTFA Quiz Night for parents 27th Winter Warmers Appeal starts 27th Buzz roadshow visiting Year 1