Dear Parent / Carers,
I hope you had a lovely half term and that your children are looking forward to this half term with lots of exciting trips and our Christmas shows. We have our individual class photos on Tuesday 12th November and I am hosting my Infant Class Rep meeting at 9am on Wednesday in the school canteen.
Black History Month
Throughout October children were learning about black history as part of Black History Month. Children learnt about a wide range of famous black people and their achievements which you can read about below.
Nursery
In nursery we wove a traditional Ugandan mukeka (mat) and made a Ghanaian market crowd collage. We also read Handa’s surprise which we acted out together. We had fun carrying babies on our backs using African fabrics for slings. A big thank you to the parents who joined us to talk about and share the flavours of Nigeria and Jamaica.
Reception
During Black History Month, students engaged in a range of activities celebrating African and Caribbean cultures. They created unique patterns and necklaces inspired by traditional African fabrics and jewellery and explored Anansi folktales. They also enjoyed learning about the Caribbean, exploring its vibrant music, and tasting tropical fruits.
Year 1
Claudia Jones (born February 21, 1915, Port of Spain, Trinidad—died December 24, 1964, London, England) was a Trinidadian social and political activist and journalist who advocated for Black individuals, women, and workers in both the United States and England.
Year 1 learned about Claudia Jones and how she helped launch the Notting Hill Carnival in 1959 in an attempt to uplift Black British communities. The first carnival took place at St Pancras Town Hall. Year 1 wrote about her life and drew a picture, they then shared their work during Black History Month assembly.
Year 2
In Year 2, children explored the inspiring story of Norman Samuels, the first Black bus driver who championed equal job opportunities within the travel industry. They learned about his pivotal role in the Bristol Bus Boycott and his dedication to fairness and equality. As part of this, students created their own bus passes as a tribute to his legacy, they reminded others to show racism the red card!
Year 3
As part of Black History Month, year 3 learnt about a wonderful woman called Alison Bennison. We found out about Alison’s journey to Britain from Barbados in 1960, to train as a nurse and to work for the newly formed National Health Service (NHS). Alison worked for the NHS for over 40 years and the children in year 3 discussed how nurses like Alison have played a huge role in helping people, especially during difficult times like the pandemic. Alison’s story is important because it shows the dedication of Black nurses to healthcare in the UK. Inspired by Alison’s story, the children wrote thank you letters to Alison, as well as nurses in our local hospitals. The children also created posters that could have been displayed after WW2 to encourage people to move to England and to work within the newly formed NHS.
Year 4
In Year 4, students studied the professional life of Abiodun MacDonald Williams, a ventilation officer commonly referred to as ‘Mac.’ Mr. Williams, of Nigerian and English descent, was born in Newcastle and commenced his employment at Dawdon Colliery in County Durham at the age of 15. Abiodun held several significant positions within the mining industry, most notably as a ventilation officer. His primary responsibility was to ensure the safety of the air quality for miners working underground. To demonstrate our understanding of Abiodun’s work, year 4 collaboratively constructed a large-scale model of a canary because these birds were employed as early warning systems for hazardous gases, particularly carbon monoxide, due to their heightened sensitivity compared to humans. Canaries would exhibit signs of distress before gas levels became critical for miners, thus aiding ventilation officers like Mr. Williams in maintaining safe working conditions.
Year 5
During Black history month, we have been learning about the amazing work of Elsie Owusu, a highly successful Black Ghanaian-born architect who has battled for recognition in a white, male dominated career. She has worked on many important projects like Green Park station and The UK Supreme Court. Elsie works hard to ensure the buildings she works on are inclusive of the diversity within our country. Inspired by Elsie, we became architects ourselves and designed our own buildings to represent the diversity within our communities. We wanted to make sure our designs were inclusive and truly reflective of what we see around us. After designing, we used our plans to construct these buildings. Here are a few children to talk about their creations now.
Year 6
In Year 6, we have been recognising the achievements of Dennis Morris. During the week, we explored British Values and what they represent. These include democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We had a task where we had to think about how best Dennis Morris embraced these as a successful member of society. We then looked at aspiration and how Dennis Morris demonstrated this during his life. We thought about our own aspirations and the sorts of characteristics needed for us to succeed in our aims. We wrote the strengths that Dennis would have shown in becoming a successful photographer on a silhouette. Finally, we considered how he would have overcome different challenges when becoming a successful photographer. It was wonderful to get the opportunity to reclaim his narrative. Well done, Dennis!
New Forest School Shelter Courtesy of Ronan Clancy and the Clancy Group
As I am sure you will have noticed this week as you came in through the school gates we have a fantastic new pagoda, with roof, in the middle playground. This has been provided to us by Ronan Clancy, who is a director of the Clancy Group. Following dialogue with Alex Lawson of the HSA, Ronan and I had some discussions earlier in the year to see if there was any way in which his company could support the school. The previous structure, which was literally on its last legs, was in much need of being renovated and had been on our to do list for some time. Ronan and his colleagues were absolutely amazing in designing and creating our new pagoda which also has a roof and means we now have a sheltered area where children can get changed for Forest school. This will make a huge difference and wouldn’t have been possible without their generosity so I would like to say a huge thank you to Ronan and his colleagues.
Latest from the HSA
Halloween Donations
Thank you to those who brought in costumes before half term and you might have noticed that our sale didn’t go ahead. Due to such a tiny amount of donations, we weren’t able to host our Halloween Costume Sale, but to reassure you, the few donations we received will be safely stored in our HSA container until next year!
Christmas Trees
We’ve teamed up with local tree distributer Christmas on the Hill who will donate to Campsbourne for each purchase made! All trees are competitively priced, you can choose from 3ft to 12ft and are delivered directly to your door – every purchase helps raise extra funds for the HSA. If they receive at least 5 orders, they’ll give the school a free 6ft Christmas tree to enjoy as a thank you! Choose your tree size, choose your delivery date and at the checkout, select Campsbourne School in the drop-down box to donate some money to the HSA at NO additional cost to you! The bigger the tree, the bigger the donation! christmasonthehill.co.uk/
Winter Fair
On Saturday 30th November, you are all invited to the Campsbourne Winter Fair from 3 -6 pm! Pre-sale tickets will go live on Monday 18th, both in the middle playground and ONLINE for the first time (and be cheaper than at the door on the day) so make sure you secure your ticket so you don’t miss all the exciting events! You can expect to enjoy a BBQ with Halal meat and vegetarian options, s’mores making, sparklers, festive crafting, face painting and tattoos, a cafe with hot & cold drinks and snacks, Jeannie/choir-led festive singalong and classical music performances, a makers’ market packed with a wide variety of crafts etc to purchase, an epic disco with DJ Ben, glow in the dark football in the MUGA and a magical Santa & Elf show. See Classlist for more details.
Attendance
Congratulations to Moore Classes in the Infants and Cameron Class in the Juniors for registering the highest attendance for the week ending 25th October! Well done to Gainsborough, Gwen John and Riley in the Infants and ALL Classes in the Juniors for such good punctuality!
| Infant Class | Attendance | Punctuality | Junior Class | Attendance | Punctuality |
| Gainsborough | 92.1% | 98.2% | Cameron | 99% | 97.6% |
| Gwen John | 93.2% | 98.6% | Hockney | 99.7% | 99.93% |
| Ofili | 94% | 96.7% | Kapoor | 96.4% | 99.93% |
| Riley | 94.5% | 98.6% | Whiteread | 98.2% | 97.1% |
| Hepworth | 92.7% | 97.7% | Thompson | 95.4% | 99.96% |
| Moore | 97% | 97% | Turner | 91.8% | 99.96% |
| Himid | 85% | 98.9% | |||
| Shonibare | 96.7% | 99% |
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Jonathan Smith
Headteacher
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