and the Fourth Plinth award winners are ..... FAIRLOP PRIMARY!

Recently, the Mayor of London invited all London primary schools to enter this new art competition. Children aged 7-12 could design a sculpture for the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. We had been working on quite a few sculptures over the last term, so Ms Rowbury decided to enter Fairlop into the competition.

We're delighted to say that 'Arachnid' by Class 4M has been awarded Borough Winner for Redbridge in the year 3 - 4 category, and 'Ellie 9000' by Ellie, Grace, Amen, Mariam, Chloe, Sean, Cherelle, Angelo and Scott has been awarded Borough Winner in the year 5 - 6 category! How good is that!

The photos below also show the prizewinners visiting City Hall on Friday 15th May for the awards ceremony.

Celebrating Easter

What a wonderful way to start our Easter holidays!

Students celebrated Easter together, firstly in our whole school assembly to learn about this important time of year, and sing songs and hymns. Take a look at our video below to hear us in full voice!

Later in the afternoon, the sun came out and we all had great fun on our Easter Egg hunt followed by the Easter Parade to show off our bonnets and hats!

‘Children are near, so don’t park here!’

School Councillors, Junior Road Safety Officers and children were so frustrated with the inconsiderate parking outside their school gates that they hosted their own demonstration complete with chanting, pom-poms and whistles! The ‘peaceful’ demonstration took place before school at 9:00am and at 3:20pm in hope that it would encourage drivers to park elsewhere. Children wore fluorescent jackets provided by Redbridge Road Safety Team so that they could be seen as well as heard and were supported by local residents, teachers, parents and Community Policemen. The School Council and Road Safety Officers even wrote to Boris Johnson expressing their views about inconsiderate drivers who put school children in danger everyday.

Parent Numeracy Courses - Spring Term

The Adult Institute of Education are holding a 10-week Family Numeracy course at Fairlop this term, for parents of Foundation Stage and Year 1 children. It's a really fun and social way of finding out more about how Maths is taught in school, update your skills and help make interesting and valuable resources to share with your child, and practice activities together. We also provide creche facilities within school.

Watch the video below to hear Letitia explain more about the course, meet Delores Matthews (the new Parent Support Advisor for Fairlop Primary, Mossford Green Primary and Ilford County High School) and see how the parents are enjoying resource-making activities!

Fairlop Book Week - Feb 2nd-6th 2009

It's that wonderful time of year again - not that we need a special week to get that feelgood factor that comes from opening up a book! The Travelling Bookfair will be in school from Friday 30th Jan until Thursday 5th Feb, using the Green Room to display their wares, from 8.45 - 9.15 and again from 3.30-4.00pm every day.

You will have received a leaflet by now of some of the wonderful titles available, with many more on display next week, so make sure you come in to take a look - armed with pocket money! You'll also get an extra chance to browse in your Library session too.

There's a competition too for KS1 children - win a bumper art pack by designing a Mother's Day card for Little Bear, by using paint, crayons, pens or collage! The entry form was with the Book Fair letter, but ask in the School Office if you need another copy.

Don't forget too, that on Friday 6th February, you can dress up as your favourite book character - who will you choose?

The Christmas Story

Fairlop enjoyed our Christmas Assembly today, bringing together all the children and staff in the school. The school orchestra were fantastic and played beautifully, and we sang many carols and Christmas songs, whilst the KS1 children gathered together as Mary, Joseph, Kings, Shepherds and Angel to remember Jesus' birthday story. Here's Year Six's presentation - which was wonderfully animated in powerpoint - but assembled hastily this evening in Movie Maker to share with you!

Our good wishes for a peaceful Christmas and New Year to our readers - wherever you are in the world. Enjoy!

Heritage Day

Heritage Day at Fairlop



On Friday 7th November Fairlop held their Heritage Day. This was a wonderful event which started with a visit from Peggy Oliver, 'Pearly Queen of Redbridge'. Peggy joined school councillors for lunch and after answered some of their questions.

At 1.45 we held a whole school parade in the school grounds, where parents came along to cheer the children on as they walked passed wearing colours of their chosen countries. We had two very talented drummers leading the parade.

Performances then began with some excellent dance troupes from around the world. We had a performance from High School Musical, our very own Asian dance group, Fairlop's Rockers and an Irish Dance from Year 6. There was also a solo artist performing a wonderful tap routine and a cornet player from Fairlop.

After all the fun and excitement, food from lots of different countries was served up in the hall, ranging from fish and chips, sausage and mash through to curries, samosas and fried chicken. It all looked and smelt wonderful! Some even braved the cold to run a 1940's cake stall outside!There were also side stalls which included face painting, hair braiding, henna hand painting and sari wrapping.

This was a wonderful day at Fairlop. We had a fantastic turn out of parents and would like to thank everybody involved. Take a look at some of our pictures of the days events.

Fairlop gains the ICT Mark!

Our Head, Gail Brannan, announces how delighted we are to be awarded the ICT Mark. She states how it recognises our positive approach to ICT and the benefits it brings to our children, and how we believe that ICT can be used in every aspect of learning to ensure our students are equipped for the modern world.

The award recognises the school's success in developing the strategic use of ICT in both administration and across the curriculum. Parents will have proof that their children are attending a school at the forefront of modern technology. The award was granted following an extensive external assessment by Becta, the British Education Communications & Technology Agency, which is the government funded body responsible for promoting the use of ICT in Britain's schools and colleges.

Artist Kat Hall visits Fairlop!

Kat Hall came to Fairlop in early October and our Year 4 classes had a great time working with her, creating minibeast sculptures. The photos below show how they used a range of images and books for inspiration, after visiting our Environmental Area to look at real-life minibeasts. From producing skeletons, they used tissue paper and coloured cellophane to make the outer shells in vivid colours. The three Year 4 classes made a spider, a grasshopper and two ladybirds.

The sculptures now adorn the lower corridor where a fantastic art display is on show detailing this project. If you're visiting soon, make time to take a look!

Welcome back!

Summer's over and time to look forward to some exciting events taking place in Fairlop during Autumn. The class blogs have been updated, so all our news will be recorded over the term.

Year Six made an early visit to Glasbury House and have written up their daily activities on the separate Glasbury blog. They have improved their photographic skills with some wonderful videos and photos, and recorded podcasts too. Listen by clicking on the Podcast tab on our website. Thank you to the parents who have kept in touch by commenting on the blog.

Over the term, we'll be using the Asus PCs that are on loan from Redbridge - and find out how Year Six enjoyed taking them to Glasbury.

Meanwhile, here's a panoramic view of Fairlop on one of the few summer days we've had this term!