Future Leaders in Action

Hackney Citizens Assembly

This week, we hosted the Hackney Citizens Assembly in our school, where both mayoral candidates (Caroline Woodley and Zoe Garbett ) were present.  Thank you to those members of our school community who also came.

One theme from the event focused on how the candidates plan to ensure Hackney becomes a Living Wage borough. The London Living Wage is the hourly rate calculated to reflect the real cost of living in London, ensuring workers can afford essentials like housing, food, and transport.

Our fantastic Year 5 and 6 Community Action Group have been working incredibly hard to play their part in this campaign. As part of their learning, they visited the Young Victoria and Albert Museum, where they spoke to staff and explored the issue further, recognising that many catering and cleaning staff are not currently paid the Living Wage.

They followed this up by writing a virtual letter to the museum and even created a powerful song with the support of Sara Hunter, which they performed at the assembly. The performance was amazing and clearly made a strong impact on everyone present.

In addition, Year 5 pupil Xander, wrote a powerful poem with ideas from Kamilah, which was performed at the event. Ugo delivered an inspiring speech about living in Hackney, and Aisha co-chaired the entire assembly with confidence, keeping everyone on time and introducing each segment!

The children absolutely loved the experience and were brilliant.  They even saw their opportunity to approach the mayoral candidates afterwards to collect autographs.

Please enjoy some photos from the event below, along with the poem written by our pupils.

Hackney is my home

(Written by Xander with contributions from Kamilah)

From Woodberry Down to Hoxton South,
My happiness jumps up and down!
With 89p donuts from Lidl so sweet,
And tasty treats I love to eat.

The Museum of the Home has stories to share,
Of sofas and kitchens from everywhere!
Shoreditch Park is where I play,
Running and laughing every day.

Hackney, my home, with playgrounds and schools,

Hackney is my special place.
A place to explore, a place to be,
A place where I feel totally free

Things aren’t perfect, that is true,
It could be cleaner, just a bit too!
And maybe cheaper- that would be nice,
For donuts, homes, and everyday spice!

But Hackney’s our home, both yours and mine,
A place that’s busy, bright, and kind.
And if we help, both me and you,
We can make it better for everyone too!

Excelling in Maths

Congratulations to our Kangaroo Maths Children

This week, we were delighted to celebrate the children who took part in the Primary Kangaroo, a national maths competition that goes well beyond the expectations of the Year 6 curriculum and SATs. Unlike typical maths tests, it focuses on reasoning and problem solving, challenging pupils to think deeply, spot patterns and approach problems creatively. Many of the questions draw on concepts more commonly taught in Year 7 and 8, including early algebra, making this a significant step up in difficulty. All of the children who took part showed fantastic resilience and determination, and we are incredibly proud of their efforts. We look forward to even more pupils taking on this exciting challenge next year!

Exciting News: Our Reading Forest 

We are very excited to share something special happening in our school: Our Reading Forest! This new library space is being created in the middle hall to give children a calm, cosy place to enjoy books and stories.

Reading for pleasure is so important for children. It helps them become better readers, understand what they read, and learn lots of new words. The more children read, the more confident they become in speaking, writing, and sharing their ideas. Reading also sparks imagination and helps children explore new worlds and ideas.

We have been working with Bow Arts, who have helped staff design our beautiful Reading Forest. We are now starting to set everything up and bring the space to life.

We can’t wait for you to see it , watch this space for more photos coming soon!

Cleaner Air for Our Children

London Mayoral Project

We are excited to be part of a London-wide project, supported by the Sadiq Khan, providing air filters to 200 schools to improve air quality and support children’s health and wellbeing.

Cleaner air helps reduce pollution indoors and can protect against illnesses such as winter colds and summer allergies like hay fever, creating a healthier learning environment.

Today, we welcomed a visitor from the supporting charity, who led a fun, interactive assembly and workshops for Years 5 and 6, helping pupils understand air pollution and how to make a difference.

We are proud to be part of this initiative. If you would like to find out more, please click the link.

https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-and-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/pollution-and-air-quality/mayors-air-quality-fund

In the news over the past week…