10 February 2023

I can't quite believe we have got to the end of another half term. I am not sure where the time has gone but do know that all the children should be very proud of everything they have achieved. As a school we have excelled in chess and sporting tournaments on top of all the achievement the children make in the classroom each and every day. We have shown numerous prospective parents and visitors around the school recently and they have all remarked on the calm and purposeful atmosphere around the building.

This week, like every week, the children have all been working hard and learning new skills and information. As always a variety of activities and lessons have take place to instil a love of learning in all our children. Reception even had special visitors come into school this week which was linked to their learning on animals.

I liked the frog, it climbed up the walls of the box. It was called Naughty Norman - Alfie, Reception

We learnt about Matthew Henson who was an explorer who discovered the North Pole. It was so cold there that eight of his toes fell off - Max, Year 1

We wrote our own version of Pattan's Pumpkin - Mila and Sasha, Year 2

We learnt how a dam closed a river so the water doesn't flow out and flood villages - Noga, Year 5

As part of Children's Mental Health Week every class thought about how to connect with other people in order to make themselves and the other person feel supported and that someone is there for them. In assembly we thought about who we connect with on a daily basis as well as how people like Malala Yousafzai, Jazz
Jennings, Anne Frank, Greta Thunberg and Louis Braille have connected with others in order to try and change the world.

On Tuesday it was Safer Internet Day. The children all attended workshops run by Streetwise on staying safe online. They also talked about the age limits associated with various apps and games - did you know that Whats App has an age rating of 16? Safer Internet Day 2023 was centred around conversations with its theme ‘Want to talk about it?’ It’s never too early or too late to start an online safety conversation and keep it going. See the tips and tools below to support your child’s digital journey.

Wishing you all a good half term and a restful shabbat. See you all back to school on Monday 20 February at the normal time.

Shabbat shalom,

Mrs Martin

3 February 2023

Thank you to everyone who supported Blue-ish Jewish Child's Day today, we managed to raise over £100 for this fantastic charity. Jewish Child’s Day was founded in 1947 to give Jewish children and their families in Britain the opportunity to help children in Europe whose lives had been devastated by the Second World War. Its guiding principle was to educate Jewish children in the UK about the importance of Tzedakah (giving to charity) and chesed (acts of loving kindness) within Jewish law and tradition. Although the causes have changed, the abiding principle remains the same. Through Jewish Child’s Day’s fundraising activities and events, children can increase their understanding of the continuing relevance of these mitzvot and broaden their experience of social action.

On Sunday 29th January, Etz Chaim made their National Schools Chess Championships debut! Two teams of 6; one under 9 and under 11 competed at HABS girls school as the boys and girls of Etz Chaim traded in their football matches and birthday parties for some competitive chess!

Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week. The week is run by children’s mental health charity Place2Be to raise awareness of the importance of children and young people’s mental health. This year’s theme is Let’s Connect. The aim is to encourage people to connect with others in healthy, rewarding and meaningful ways. We will be discussing this in school during the week and talking to the children about the importance of connecting with other people in a positive manner.

Love is in the air this half term as Libraries celebrate Valentine’s Day. Children can make a teddy bear card, create an animal and make Valentine’s crafts. There’s a focus on kindness too at Golders Green library’s craft event.

At Colindale Library, Creative Communities delivers a range of events including a creative writing workshop for children with author Savita Kalhan, Sing, Story and Sign where we’ll be learning some British Sign Language and a special event to explore STEAM with Lego.   

All events are free and no booking is required. Find out more.

Libraries are open for families to visit, read and take part in activity worksheets throughout the holidays too. Please check our opening times before visiting.

Finally, congratulations to Mrs Fraser who became our School Business Manager this week. She will oversee the efficient day-to-day running of the school and support myself and the leadership team in continuing to drive the school forwards. 

Shabbat shalom,

Mrs Martin

27th January 2023

This week has been another particularly busy week. On Tuesday we were lucky enough to be visited by Team GB badminton player Jordan Hart. Jordan spoke to the whole school in assembly about her career and her successes as well as how hard she had to work to get to where she is today. She spoke about how to handle loosing matches with dignity and learning from them so that they motivate her even more to continue to train. She also spoke about the importance of eating a balanced meal and the fact that sweet treats should make up less than 5% of the foods eaten in a day! The children then completed a fun and challenging sponsored fitness circuit with her which raised over £1300. This money has been split between Jordan and the school and will be used in school to add more resources to our outdoor area.

On Tuesday afternoon a group of Year 5 and 6 boys together with Mrs Gishen left school to compete in a Maccabi GB boys football tournament. The boys in both teams played extremely well against a number of tough teams and we were overjoyed to hear that one of our teams won the whole competition with some great penalties taken by the whole team - even the keeper. Well done to all the boys that took part, they represented our school so well and even those who were not in the winning team were able to take pleasure in watching their friends reach the final and receive the trophy. 

We had another special visitor in our assembly on Wednesday. Mrs Zinkin, our volunteer librarian, came and joined us in the hall so that we could all say a massive thank you and goodbye to her. Mrs Zinkin has been offered the opportunity to be the Librarian in another school which is very exciting for her but a loss for our community. Over the last eight years Mrs Zinkin has come in each week to look after our library and provide our children with the opportunity to visit the library at lunchtimes in order to enjoy the amazing range of texts we are fortunate enough to have in school. She has also helped to stock our library with some fantastic books and has instilled a passion and love of reading in so many children. We are sad to see her go but wish her all the best in her new school.

Congratulations to our Spring term library monitors, who are:

Reception - Brooke and Lennie 

Y1 - Summer and Sylvie 

Y2 - Dylan C and Sasha 

Y3 - Freddie and Casey 

Y4 - Jonah and Eden 

Y5 - Noga and Amelie 
Y6 - Edward and Jaxson 

This week I was lucky enough to be shown some amazing story maps created by the children in Reception. They had all read the story Lost and Found by by Oliver Jeffers in which a boy travels to the South Pole. They were then able to draw out the events of the story and use it to retell the story to their friends, Miss Genn and I. After retelling the story I asked the children if they would like to travel to the North Pole. Brooke told me she would as she would get to see a penguin. Lyla on the other hand was not in a rush to go as she said it would be freezing.

I hope those of you who attend the Havdalah Jam or PTA bingo events this weekend have a fantastic time.

Shabbat shalom,

Mrs Martin

20 January 2023

It was unusual for me to begin my working week with two days off site at a conference. During those days I spent time with over 50 other Headteachers learning from each other and discussing the exciting opportunities and challenges we are currently facing as school leaders. It was wonderful to see everyone again on Wednesday morning, which started with an assembly on Chinese New Year. We learnt that Sunday is the start of the year of the rabbit and discussed how the dates of the Chinese new year move in line with the lunar calendar much like the way the dates for Jewish festivals and celebrations move.

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to give our children the opportunity to experience the sport of Rugby thanks to a visit from the Saracens Sport Foundation. The children were able to experience the thrills of playing tag rugby though the Saracens Rugby 4 Life programme. They were introduced to some basic tag rugby moves and rules and had time on the astro to test out their new skills. All the children appeared to thoroughly enjoy their session and came back into class energised and ready to learn.

We are very excited as a school to be taking part in PAJES Israel 75 project to celebrate Israel turning 75.  This is an international educational programme culminating in celebrations and exhibitions in the UK and in Israel. It gives our children the opportunity to explore, connect and reflect on the cultural, artistic and historical narratives of Israel via a selection of objects from a range of Israeli museums. All class teachers have chosen artefacts from an Israeli museum and the children will spend time over the next few weeks exploring the object and formulating an artistic response of their choosing to the object. All the children's work will be sent to an exhibition selection committee who will decide on exhibits for JW3 in London and Israeli international shows. All work will be exhibited on their online gallery.  

This weekend is Mental Health Awareness Shabbat organised by the mental health charity Jami. The theme of the MHAS 2023 will be “Community”. How does our sense of community help or hinder our mental health? In what ways can we support one another in our community? This year the MHAS falls on Parashat Va’eira. In Parashat Va’eira, Moshe tells the Jewish nation that their woes have ended and that redemption is at hand. This should have been a time of elation, but the Israelites were too overwhelmed by their own stresses to absorb this message. They had lost hope and could not imagine a positive future for themselves. Stresses in life may be inevitable but it is comforting to have hope that the future can bring our own personal redemption and in turn can bring us from darkness into light.

We spent time in Kabbalat Shabbat today talking to the children about the 5 Ways to Wellbeing and how they can help us to feel more positive.

1. connect with other people
2. be physically active
3. learn something new each day
4. give to others
5. pay attention to how you feel

We look forward to welcoming Jordan Hart, team GB athlete, to our school on Monday. Please make sure your child returns their sponsorship form to the school office before her visit.

Finally I would like to welcome Miss K, who started at Etz Chaim as a Teaching Assistant this week, we hope you will be very happy here!

Shabbat shalom,

Mrs Martin

13 January 2023

We have had another jam packed week here at Etz Chaim with every class beginning new topics and looking forward to the learning that will be taking place this term. 

In relation to some weeks at Etz Chaim, this week has been a quiet week with no big events taking place. However as I have walked around the school and spent time in classes I have noticed how focussed our children seem to be on their learning and how well they have adapted to our new approach to teaching and learning. It was wonderful to see how engaged all of the children were with their learning and how keen they were to tell me all about it!

Reception - I filled up my rainbow challenge (Mia)

Year 1 - I drew the world (Dina)

Year 2 - We wrote about how to protect Pattan's pumpkin (Hannah)

Year 3 - I measure things in my classroom in millimetres, centimetres and metres (Freddie)

Year 4 - We learnt that Romans wore camel skins on their feet (Oli and Libbi)

Year 5 - We wrote a description of a Varmint, a vicious animal (Kobi)

Year 6 - We have been learning about animals and thier habitats, sorting them based on habitat and how they live (Noa and Josh)

We are very excited that we will be welcoming athlete Jordan Hart to our school on the 24 of January. She is a Team GB badminton player and gold medallist. The children will be participating in a sponsored exercise circuit as well as meeting Jordan. Please find the sponsor form and we will be raising money for our school. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/etzchaim 

Next week I will be attending the PaJeS Head Teachers’ conference which is an opportunity to spend two days learning alongside the Head Teachers from the other Jewish Schools. It will be strange being away from school for this time but know that it will be well looked after by the Senior Leadership team in my absence. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Martin

6 January 2023

Happy New Year. I hope you were able to have a restful holiday and that you all enjoyed some precious family time.

2023 has started with a bang in school with everyone coming back rested and ready for the new term. We began on Wednesday morning with a whole school assembly during which some children shared their reflections on things they were proud to have achieved last year. We then looked at the new year and though about some challenges we might like to try to set ourselves for 2023 in order to end the year proud of ourselves. One child said she would like to improve her handwriting, another said they would like to develop their knowledge of times table however, the most popular resolution or challenge was to learn to ski! Hopefully those that manage this come back in one piece!

I also took the opportunity during this assembly to remind child of the many positive things we do in school to reward them for showing positive behaviour. The children love receiving stickers, certificates, dojos and class rewards for making the correct behaviour choices. I also reminded the children of the process to support them if they are finding it more difficult to show the desired behaviours in school. We discussed how staff are here to provide any help needed so that all children can focus on their learning as that is the reason we all come to school. The poster below was shown to the children and has been put up in school to remind everyone of the steps taken to give all children the chance to make positive changes if they are showing any unwanted behaviour.

We are really looking forward to professional badminton player, Jordan Hart, coming into school on 24th January 2023 to lead an assembly, give a motivational talk to the children and show off her collection of medals. She will also be leading a fitness circuit session for all the children to take part in - which we are asking all the children to do a little bit of fundraising for. Each child in the school has been given a sponsorship form and asked to raise money to sponsor themselves completing the fitness circuit. If every child asks their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles for a few pounds each, we will be able to raise a significant amount that will make a real difference to our school and to the athletes being supported. Who knows, our funding may be what helps to create a future Olympic champion! As an incentive, Sports for Champions has put in place rewards for different levels of fundraising - with any child raising £5-£14.99 getting a photo postcard of Jordan; £15-£4.99 getting an A4 autographed poster; and over £35 getting an instant photo of them with Jordan in an autographed wallet.

We asked the children what they think the best thing about Etz Chaim is and were pleased to see many wonderful responses. Comments such as "the teachers help you with problems," "I get to have new friends to play with everyday" and "that there are kind people to be friends with" show just what a special school we have. Thank you for continuing to support our school and staff in the things we do in order to provide all of our children with the best learning opportunities they could hope for and so rightfully deserve.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our CST information evening next week. 

Shabbat shalom,

Mrs Martin