Suffah Primary School

End of Autumn Term Two Newsletter 2017

Important Dates for your Diary

Wed 3rd Jan – 1st Day of Spring 1

Mon 8th Jan – Book Fair Week

Mon 5th Feb – Story Teller for

National Story Telling Week

Fri 9th Feb – Last Day of Term

Mon 12th – Fri 16th Feb – Half Term

Spring Term 1 Dinner Menu

Please see attached for the new

menu.

The Dinner fees for the coming half

term is £41.80. Kindly make

payments via School Pod.

After School Clubs Spring Term

Clubs Letter for Spring Term 1 are

attached.

Kindly ensure you return the form

by Wednesday 3rd January

Insha’Allah. You will receive a text

message with details of payments, if

your child is allocated a place.

Message from the Head Teacher Dear Parents, Assalamu Alaikum I pray you are all well and busy in the remembrance of Allah Almighty. We have just entered the Month of Rabi a-Thani in the year 1439 since Hijrah. The Themes of the Week over the past half term have been: Wk 1 Loving one another for the sake of Allah Wk 2 Rush to do good works Wk 3 Bullying is a major sin Wk 4 Being ever hopeful of Allah’s mercy Wk 5 There are many ways of doing good Wk 6 Being generous to everyone Wk 7 Virtues of learning religious knowledge Wk 8 Covering up people’s faults The last school I was at, devised this book (Tokens of Wisdom) by taking 45 themes from Riyadh as-Salihin. Each theme starts off with verses of the Quran and then several Ahadith linked to that theme. It is a very good resource for parents to have at home and to cover a theme a week with their whole family over supper in the evening. Many parents complain they don’t have enough Islamic knowledge to have conversations at home with their children, so this book is a good source of knowledge for a discussion. I have 40 copies of this book in school and each copy is available for £5 each. This is on a first come first serve basis. We don’t necessarily follow the themes in order of the book as certain themes/events in the national or Islamic calendar require that the themes are covered at other times of the year. Maintenance I know all parents have been very patient with the school regarding outstanding maintenance. I have been reassured during the GB meeting that: Ceiling tiles will be fitted by the end of December 2017. Air conditioning will be fitted into classrooms 4, 5 & 6 by end of Jan 2018. The awful smell that is plaguing the Masjid and school is being dealt with, and should be eliminated by end of December 2017. In Sha Allah, the school will be a far better place to return to in January. Islamic Studies and Nasheed Teacher

Islamic Studies and Nasheed Teacher We have welcomed Sr Ruqaya Rahmoon who has been appointed as the new Islamic Studies and Nasheed Teacher. She, Masha Allah, has extensive experience in Nasheed as an artist herself and has studied an Alima course and is well qualified to teach Islamic Studies. She has been teaching for 5 years at the Masjid on weekends and has a very good approach to teaching children. We hope and pray that she will find teaching at Suffah a rewarding experience. Parking Alhamdulillah, most parents are parking their cars in the correct bays and walk their children to the Masjid doors but there are still some careless parents, who out of their selfishness, are a danger to other users. I had a long rant in my last newsletter on the same topic. Only a few days ago a parent parked his/her car in a bay on the right had side of the gate upon entry. A child was crossing the carpark on the zebra crossing and this parent reversed his/her car back on to the zebra crossing, just missing the child by inches. It seemed like the parent just didn’t check his/her rear-view mirrors at all. Why should the school have to put up barriers and cones to block off bays to prevent parents from dangerous manoeuvres? Parents don’t park in the disabled bays at their local shopping centre, but feel it is their right to do so in the Masjid car park! The Highway Code teaches us that we can’t stop inside a yellow hatched box unless turning right, yet that is exactly where some parents want to stop their car in the Masjid car park, increasing the risk to other users. This incident also highlights that no child should be walking alone in the carpark. Parents must walk their children to the Masjid doors and up to the office if they are arriving after 7.50am. Uniform Most pupils attend school well prepared and it shows that their parents are well organised and conscientious but there are others, Subhan Allah, who turn up in almost anything they are wearing. I am attaching the uniform list to this newsletter. No child will be allowed to enter school in January 2018 and onwards if they are not wearing the full school uniform unless parents inform us of mitigating circumstances. We have children who don’t wear a school jumper but wear a multi-coloured top underneath their shirt which is visible not only through their shirt but from the collars, sleeves and waist. If a child comes into school and after taking off his/her coat it becomes clear that he/she is not wearing the correct uniform, then we will call the parents to either bring his correct uniform or take the child home until the correct uniform has been purchased. No excuses, ‘it’s in the wash’ or ‘mum couldn’t find it in the shops’ will be listened to. Where it states black/grey trousers, please understand blue can’t be worn. The common offences are; No jumpers, no plimsolls, multi-coloured socks, buttons missing from shirts. Please help us make the school a smooth-running organisation. Associate Governors Last week an email was sent to all parents inviting them to apply to become Associate Governors. The response was very low. The more parents we have on board the more you can influence improvements in the school. If you need to speak to me regarding anything linked to the school, then please ask to see me at the office. If you want to put in a note into the grey suggestion box which I have access to, then that is also an option. The red suggestion box outside the office window is opened directly by the Governors. You can bring anything to their notice if you feel it is more relevant.

Kind regards

Asif Ali Head Teacher

Assalamualaikum, We are very proud of all the hard work the children have been doing during this term. Maths has always been a strength especially Arithmetic. This term children have been working on developing their reasoning and problem-solving skills which have helped many of them to work at the ‘Mastery’ level. The ‘Bar Model’ has proved very helpful in understanding concepts, Alhamdulilah. In English, we are focusing on writing skills and we are happy with the pieces of work children have produced. Handwriting has been an area we need to work on and insha’Allah we hope to see better results across all subject in terms of presentation and handwriting. Children with excellent handwriting will be rewarded by their work being displayed on the ‘Handwriting Heroes’ board in addition to a certificate. We hope parents will support the teachers on this by reminding their children when they are doing their homework. In other areas of learning, Year 3 visited the British Museum whilst learning about the Romans. For RE, we had a scholar speak to the children about the significance of Advent and Christmas for the Christian community. We also had a visitor from Hounslow Food Box to thank the children for their amazing efforts at raising funds for our local community. Insh’Allah, next term, Yr 5 will be visiting Hounslow Food Box in Brentford to learn more about the charity. We would like our children to continue helping our local communities as this will be a good opportunity for them to reflect on how they can become responsible members of the community. Finally, I would like to thank all the parents, pupils, volunteers and staff for working together and making it possible for Suffah to work toward achieving excellence. Happy holidays!

Ustadha Soofia Ahmed

Message from the Deputy Head Teacher

Assalamo alaikum dear parents,

So it’s the end of the first term and what a term it’s been! Alhumdillilah, we’ve had some major changes take

place and I firstly wanted to start by thanking all the parents for their support and cooperation over this last term

as we have implemented changes throughout the school.

I have now been part of the Suffah team for just under a year and I honestly spent my first few months here

counting money and handing out endless envelopes of change. It was for this reason I started my campaign to

make the school cashless and paperless - why not help the environment along the way! The new software went

live at the start of the Autumn term and parents have successfully managed to pay fees, dinner money, club fees

and trip money online as well as book parents meetings. I am sure you will all agree that this has made life much

easier for us all, once we managed to iron out the initial teething problems that is. Sending out

letters/newsletters and all other communications via the new emailing system has also been a positive change as

parents no longer need to rely on their child fishing out the letter from the bottom of their school bag. I am

continuously looking at ways to improve the school further and would like to thank you all in advance for your

support as we implement these changes.

Last week was ‘fundraising week’, a week packed full of activities and fun throughout the school. The children

(and staff) took part in crazy hat/hair day, enjoyed hot chocolate and the chocolate fountain, took part in the

sponsored spelling, had an exciting toy day and gorged on numerous cakes at our very successful cake sales.

Crazy hat/hair day was certainly the highlight of the week with some very interesting and whacky hat/hair

designs. The children enjoyed seeing all the staff take part and Ustadh Asif was voted the winner by the children

for his stuffed turkey hat, I was a close 2nd for my colourful creation.

Two winners were chosen from each class too:

Year 1 - Hamzah P, Hamza L & Sumaya J (I couldn’t choose between the boys)

Year 2 - Mustafa B & Nada H

Year 3 - Isa S & Aseel O

Year 4 –Mumin A& Amna J

Year 5 – Sophia S & Asma K

Year 6 – Marwan P & Ramla H

Message from the Business Manager

IN YEAR ONE . . .

In English we were learning about traditional tales. We focussed on the elements of stories, such as the main character, sequence of events, and openings. Children attempted to write their first stories independently using beginning, middle and ending, inspired by the helpless Monkey who lost his tail and the cheeky and noisy one who disturbed the whole jungle! We also looked at how information books are organised and how to use the entries to check information about ideas or things we are looking for, attempting to understand the idea of a dictionary entry and the importance of attracting the audience using the 'Did you know?' box. Children were very excited to learn about vehicles and gathered lots of information.

In Maths we were learning about comparing and ordering numbers to 20 and 40, understanding the place value in teen numbers, establishing that teen are made of 10 and few ones. In geometry we were describing position and direction as well as measuring and comparing lengths and heights, using non-standard and standard units, including centimetres while using a ruler. Children also were learning how to recognise, compare the value of coins (up to £2) and make amounts of money using the minimum number of coins. In science we were learning about materials. We distinguished between an object and the material from which it is made, identifying and naming a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock.

Alhumdilillah, we managed to raise an incredible £750 throughout the week, and that doesn’t include the money

raised through the sponsored spell! JazakAllah khair to all the parents who helped at the events and attended to

make ‘Fundraising Week’ a success. I am hoping to hold similar weeks once every term, with lots of differing

exciting activities for the children. I also plan to organise larger fundraising events throughout the coming year, so

watch this space. All money raised will be used to purchase a trolley of tablets/laptops for the children to enhance

their learning In Sha Allah. I hope that I can rely on the continued participation of all parents to make these future

events a success In Sha Allah.

I truly believe that Suffah is going through exciting times and am sure that with the help of staff and parents alike

we will make Suffah a real success.

I wish you all a restful winter break and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

JazakAllah Khair

Sr. Soobia

School Business Manager

What have we been up to in the classrooms?

We tested the floating, sinking and magnetic materials as well as describing the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials such as, transparent, opaque and waterproof. Our topic was dressing up and we were learning about the history of clothes, recognising the costumes in other cultures as well as the seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom which affect clothing.

In Art we made our weaving patterns as we have learnt that fabrics are made out of yarn and we write our on instructions on how to make a woven heart bag. In ICT we worked on logging on and

off the computer, created pictures using the 3D Paint programme, entered text and used editing features on the Word Programme.

Ustadha Saida

Year One Teacher

IN YEAR TWO . . .

English: Year 2 have been learning about The Great Fire of London. They have

really enjoyed this topic and have produced some brilliant pieces of writing in

English. Year 2 been writing diary entries as Samuel Pepys describing the

events of the fire. They have also been learning about eyewitness accounts of

those present during the Great Fire of London.

Ibraheem E wrote a brilliant eyewitness account of King Charles ii.

Children also wrote 1666 newspaper reports about the fire.

Maths: In year 2, we have been adding and subtracting

2-digit numbers. We looked at measuring in cm and m.

Children enjoyed using money to count in 2s, 5s, and

10,s. Please continue to practice counting in 2s, 5s, and

10s with your children at home.

History: As you know, we have been learning about

The Great Fire of London. Year 2 have been learning

about the main events of the fire. They practiced

sequencing the events and even performed a play about the fire. We looked at the biographies of the

eyewitnesses of the fire such as Samuel Pepys, Thomas Farriner and King Charles ii.

Geography: In geography, year 2 have been learning about where we live. We looked at continents, countries,

cities & towns. We have been learning about different types of houses and how to read maps.

Science: In science, year 2 have been looking at changing materials. They have learnt about how materials can

change, what different materials are used for and the suitability of different materials.

Reminder: Reading books need to be changed once a week. Please remind your child to bring their reading book in

on the day that their book is due to be changed.

Ustadha Hafsa

Year Two Teacher

IN YEAR THREE . . .

Mathematics: We have been learning about:

doubling and halving numbers up to 100 using partitioning;

understanding fractions and fractions of numbers;

use money to add and subtract and record using the correct notation and place value;

add and subtract 2-digit numbers using partitioning; add three 2-digit numbers by partitioning and recombining;

measuring using cm and mm as well as capacity;

place 2- and 3-digit numbers on a number line; round 3-digit numbers to nearest 100; use counting up to do mental subtractions with answers between 10 and 20, 10 and 30, and either side of 100; and

we revised 2,3,4,5 and 10 times-tables! Please keep up the hard work! English: We have been reading an interesting book about bullying titled ‘Krindlekrax’ - an amazing story indeed! Pupils have been writing diary entries in role as the main character. We have also worked on how to make our descriptions more appealing using amazing adjectives and adverbs. We have created our own poems inspired by Valerie Bloom! Please read some of our FANTASTIC poems on our English Work Display!

Science: Be healthy! This is our motto. This half term we have been learning about teeth, our skeleton, vertebrates and invertebrates as well as muscles! We have been making dancing skeleton puppets that you can admire on our Science display in the classroom.

Topic: We have been learning about the Ancient Romans! How big was their Empire? What did they eat and drink? Why did they decide to invade Britain? We enjoyed a nice and interesting workshop about Roman Britain at the British Museum where we learnt lots of fascinating facts!

ART: Linking with our history topic, we have been making MOSAICS! R.E.: The topic for this half-term has been Advent and Christmas all over the world. We have been exploring how Christians prepare themselves spiritually and how they decorate their homes. ICT: We know how to produce a presentable word document and we know how to research safely! Ustadhas Hafza and Amatullah Year Three Teachers

IN YEAR FOUR . . .

Our topic this term was ‘The Ancient Egyptians’, which linked

in with Art as well. Children learned about the different

occupations during that era; the story of Tutankhamun and

discovery of his tomb and how hieroglyphics were used for

writing and communication. Children wrote their names in

hieroglyphics on cartouches. At the end of the term, children

wrote their version of story of discovering the tomb of

Tutankhamun.

As I went in the first room, I stumbled over an enormous

sarcophagus made out of pure, solid gold. Jewellery was

hanging on the gigantic walls. I couldn’t control my will to

go in the second room. Chariots were leaning on a great

silver statue. Amulets were wrapped around a picture of a

man. I felt a sudden urge of stealing it. Then I entered the

third room. There were incredible daggers neatly surrounded

by awe-inspiring canopic jars. Hieroglyphics and pictures of

gods shone on the walls. (By Abuzar)

In Art lessons, children had the opportunity to make clay pots

inspired by ancient Egyptian pottery; design and colour

Egyptian collars and draw a landscape of desert with

pyramids.

During our English lessons we have been reading ‘I was a Rat’

by Philip Pullman. They have written diary entries; descriptive

texts and answered comprehension questions. One of the

Literacy learning objectives this year for them is to read and

edit their work so they have started putting this into practice.

The crowd marched into the spectacular market place to find

their favourite stalls. The silence was broken by the

cacophony of vendors, customers and children’s rides. On the

left side, there was a sea of savoury. On the right side, there

was a river of sweet things like cones, cakes and pastries. Wonderful smells wafted through the air persuading

people to come to eat. (By Haadee)

Year 4 have been working hard in Maths consolidated the ‘grid’ method

to multiply 3 digit numbers by a 1 digit number. We also focused on :

doubling 3-digit numbers and half even 3-digit numbers; unit fractions;

identifying equivalent fractions; reducing a fraction to its simplest form;

counting in fractions (each fraction in its simplest form).

Throughout the term, children have shown good understanding about the

digestive system, digestion and teeth (of herbivores, carnivores and

omnivores). During ICT sessions, children created fact files on this topic

by gathering information from various sources. Well done to Yumna,

Haadee, Abuzar, Mohamed Y, Maysoon and Aminah K for detailed

description of the process of digestion.

Work produced by Mohamed Y.

Ustadha Sadia

Year Four Teacher

IN YEAR FIVE . . .

English: This term in English we have been reading Skellig.

Children wrote descriptive pieces of writing about the

creature in the garage. Children wrote a poem based around

the garage and the mysterious creature.

Maths: In math’s children enjoyed learning how to use a

protractor to draw angles and learnt how to use a compass to

draw circles. Children learnt about angles and how to work

out the missing angle.

Geography / ICT: Children enjoyed researching and learning

interesting facts about extreme weathers and the impact they have on

people’s lives.

In PSHE children learnt about the British values and enjoyed relating

these values back to the rest of the School. Children had an interesting

discussion about what they thought it was to be British and whether

these values are included in all parts of society.

Ustadha Aamina

Year Five Teacher

IN YEAR SIX . . .

Year 6 have been incredibly busy in this long half term; they have immersed themselves fully in their learning and

have come along in leaps and bounds- meeting and exceeding targets.

In English, we have continued to read our gripping class novel “Roll of thunder, Hear my cry” by Mildred D. Taylor.

As well as losing themselves in the story, children have increased their vocabulary (with many children regularly

using the new words they have learned in their writing); been looking at the techniques the author uses to keep

the reader interested; and empathising with the characters by writing letters to an advice column in role.

We also looked at parodies of traditional tales and wrote persuasive letters to give the opposing points of view for

different villains.

During anti-bullying week, we watched the short film “Little Freak” from the Literacy Shed to base our learning on.

Children were upset to learn about the existence of “Freak Shows” in the past and we considered the attitudes

that lead to them. Using the film to inform our learning, children wrote excellent descriptions of the setting in the

film; learned about pathetic fallacy and then attempted writing in a similar vein and we also looked at symbolism

and how it can be used to enhance writing. All of these new skills have been stored away in the children’s writing

toolkits and will hopefully be making regular appearances throughout the year.

Here is an example of descriptive writing by Ibrahim:

Year 6 has been making brilliant progress with their reading and children

are trying new books all the time; they are all in the habit of filling in their

reading journals with thought-provoking insights. This will have a positive

impact on their reading comprehension and writing, as well improving

their general knowledge and worldview.

In celebration of our love for reading, Y6 enjoyed their annual read-in on

Thursday 14th December 2017. Children came to school with comfy

cushions and reading books; they settled down to a sustained reading

session for approximately one and a half hours- I was incredibly impressed

with their stamina (especially those children who claim they cannot read for longer than 10 minutes!). We enjoyed

a hot chocolate and snacks half-way through our reading and children have also prepared radio book reviews.

In maths children have been consolidating previous skills and we are now moving on to more formal methods of

calculation in the four operations. Children are working very hard and are becoming more confident in these

methods.

Children are working through the three programmes of study in mathematics in accordance with the 2014

Curriculum: starting with fluency, moving onto reasoning problems and then finally trying to attain mastery.

MashaAllah many of the children are working on reasoning problems and preparing to move on to mastery.

Our science topic- classification- was an introduction to something which was completely new to the children;

however they have risen to the challenge and have been learning about all the different domains, kingdoms and

species. They have been very interested in learning about how animals are classified and often been surprised by

how living beings are grouped. They have been working hard to create their own dichotomous keys and finding

the complete classification of their favourite animals.

In ICT children have been using Fotojet Comic to create their own comic stories- they have had the opportunity to

practice lots of different skills: using a digital camera; creating folders on the computers; using a USB cable to

transfer photographs from the camera; and then uploading the photographs onto the website. It has been great

fun and a very useful learning experience

In history children have been continuing with their History of Slavery topic. They have learned about the abolition

of slavery, inspirational black role models and how modern slavery still exists today.

In geography, children have been using literature to discover the

effects of climate change- from flooding to the extinction of animals

and how to reduce wastage for our future generations.

In R.E., we have studied the nativity story and children have had a

chance to re-write it in their own words. We have been looking at the

various Christmas traditions and their significance to the Christmas

story. The children have been very fortunate that Lesley Prior from

Interfaith visited and spoke to them about Christmas traditions.

In Art, children have been using a range of materials to create

dioramas of schools around the world (related to research on International Day). They have thoroughly enjoyed

the creative process and learned a great deal about different classrooms - not least to be grateful for what they

have!

Below is Saad’s fabulous diorama- the detail is amazing!

Ustadha Humainah

Year Six Teacher