The Patten Pages The William Patten Newsletter for Parents and Children
th Issue 127 Thursday 29 March 2018
Dear parents, Back in time … We are at the end of a very busy term, which Years 1, 2 and 5 participated in a Victorian started with the fabulous Dancer in Residence Schools workshop this week, as part of the WP project and ended with our Local Heritage Project Local Heritage Project. Each class were looking (there has been a lot going on in between too!). William Patten is so fortunate to have such a at how school might have been for children back super staff team, who always do more than what is when WP first opened as 'Church Street School' expected or required of them. We simply could not in 1892. Mr Murphy showed us lots of artefacts do all of these wonderful projects without their from the time, including finger stoppers, back support and hard work. This is what makes our posture boards, slates to do their work on and school so special, together with our very lovely clothing children wore. One or two unlucky ones children and super parental support and from each class even got the chance to try out engagement. Thank you! We had an exciting day yesterday with the very how 'the cane' felt!!! (Not quite how it really felt first WP whole school Easter Egg Hunt! Large though... phew!) eggs, small eggs, mini chicks and bunnies were A very interesting workshop had by all. Thank hidden around the school and the children had to you to Kim for organising it, and thanks to Years find them. If they were lucky enough to find one, 1, 2 and 5 for participating so enthusiastically and they had to bring it to me to read the Easter asking such excellent questions about school life fact attached before collecting a chocolate egg or in the past. bunny. Lots of fun and excitement was had by the children, as they searched high and low and everywhere! The egg in 4M’s class was very well hidden and only found this morning! I learnt lots of new facts about Easter too. The hunt was Natalie’s idea and I have already asked her to make sure that we put it in the diary next year. The planning application for the green screen has been re-submitted and we hope to hear within the next 12 weeks if it will go through (the council had to look at the implications of the screen on the overhanging trees). If successful, the green screen will probably be put up in the summer. I will be sending a letter out to parents the first week back after Easter about the meeting (air quality in the playground) the school had with the council last month. We are starting a boys’ gymnastics club after Easter, which is very exciting and it will be run by school. I’ve spoken to some children who are very keen to join and I hope others will too. More information about that when we are back. More information about clubs in general too! I hope you all have a lovely break and we look forward to seeing the children back in school on Monday 16th April. Best wishes
Karen
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Local Heritage Project As part of our local heritage project, we were very pleased to welcome some former pupils of William Patten this week. Olive and Ava’s (Y3) Grandma, Betty Manning visited on Monday with Pam Guest and Brenda, and again on Tuesday, with Jean Dawson. Pam and Jean both attended the school during the time of the war, so the children were able to find out about their time at school during this era. The children also listened to Brenda’s experiences of evacuation and found out about how different it had been to go from living in London to helping out on a farm in Somerset. The children
were very welcoming to our guests and had lots of Year 2 welcomed a special visitor into class this very well prepared questions about what the school week. The children participated in Q&A with Al used to be like. Some of the children were also able Johnson, a former resident of Stoke Newington, to handle some of the artefacts brought in by our whose family have lived in the area for over 5 special guests. Both Pam and Jean brought some generations! Al told the story of how her family photographs of their childhood in Stoke Newington survived a bombing during WWII on and Jean showed the children a ration book and Londesborough Road. She described how her identification card. Brenda brought in an item of uncle and her mother, who were just children at clothing she had made in a needlework lesson the time, hid in the cellar of their house, under an during her time at the school, which the children old wooden table made by her grandfather, who passed around. Thank you Betty for spreading the was a skilled carpenter. A bomb landed right on word of our project to your friends so that we could top of their house, destroying the property and welcome back so many former pupils and thank properties nearby. She explained how after the you all for supporting the work of the school and bombing, her family was dug out by neighbours enabling so many children to learn about the past and firefighters, and were extremely lucky to from your own experiences. survive. Her uncle was 9 years old at the time, and to this day has little to no memory of the incident, but has since lived a very happy life. This shows how distressed and shocked many were at the time of the Blitz. The children got to ask Al many questions and she explained her answers clearly and thoughtfully to the classes. It was also great to hear that many of Al’s cousins went to William Patten School and loved their time here. Thanks Al for coming in and sharing your family story.
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Welcome back Kathleen! This week 6B were treated to a special visit from Wendy and Carole who attended William Patten with their sister Jill (and who now all work at the school!). The children asked various questions about what was school was like during their time here and the changes they have seen over different periods of time. Some of the children’s quotes included “I really enjoyed it when Carole and Wendy came to our class because it was very informative; I got to know things I didn’t know before!” Eliz Mete. Kezia Davis explained “One of the most enjoyable things about listening to people who came to this school was the amazing sensation I got listening to them and knowing what school was like. I really enjoy learning about what our school used to be like”. 6B would like to thank Carole, Wendy and Jill for sharing their experiences with us. Can you spot them in the photos below? Top to bottom: Wendy, Carole, Jill.
Former pupil of William Patten, Kathleen Housden, visited the school for a special ‘Welcome back’ assembly last week. Kathleen was at the school in the 1920s, when it was known as ‘Church Street School’. To mark her recent 104th birthday, the KS1 children sang happy birthday and she was presented with flowers and birthday cards that the children had made. Kathleen shared some of her memories and the children looked at photographs from her time at the school. The children also learnt that Dora Gibbs, who was at the school at the same time as Kathleen, went on to represent Britain at the 1928 Summer Olympics! Following the assembly, Kathleen took part in some filming and answered a number of the children’s questions about what the school and Stoke Newington used to be like, so that others can learn about the past from her memories and experiences. Thank you Kathleen for supporting our local heritage project. We would love for you to come and visit us again soon. Thank you also to Jonathan Gebbie and to Betty and Jeff Manning (Olive and Ava Y3) for your part in supporting the visit, and also to John Guest, twin brother of Pam Guest, who also attended the assembly and took part in filming.
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Year 2 went on a local heritage tour of Abney Year 2 enjoying their Abney Park Cemetery tour with John Park Cemetery last week. John, who works for the Cemetery, provided us with a very interesting and informative history tour, telling us SO MANY facts! He said it was a pleasure to provide tours for our classes, that they were so well behaved, and are a credit to us and the whole school at William Patten. Facts about some key graves/memorials within Abney Cemetery:
Lady Mary Abney and Sir Thomas Abney whom the cemetery is named after, lived in the Abney House, a grand property which was situated at Church St entrance, prior to the site becoming a cemetery.
Dr Isaac Watts, who lived here for 36 years with Year 1 visited Sutton House this week to support the Abney family having visited them for a cup of our topic of ‘Buildings in Hackney’, with a link to the tea, wrote over 750 hymns and poems, as well Tudor times. We time travelled through the ages, as a diary. meeting the first owner Sir Ralph Sadler as well as Tommy Hall, world record breaking cyclist, was the Lady and Master of the house during the first person to go 50mph on a bicycle and Georgian Period and a very strict Victorian school competed in the 1908 Olympics. teacher from when the building was a Victorian PC Tyler, who was on duty in Tottenham when Boarding school. We were pleased to arrive back in two anarchists tried to steal money from a wage 2018 at the end of the workshop! van. He gave chase but they had firearms and unfortunately he was shot and killed whilst chasing them.
Frank C. Bostock, 'The Animal King' who travelled the world with his circus and entourage of animals. His giraffe house was situated on Yoakley Rd and he was also a world famous lion tamer.
Margaret Graham, Britain's first female aeronaut, flew hot air balloons over the skies of London and beyond, crashing quite a few times, in particular on Queen Victoria's coronation, but survived them all.
Perhaps families may like to explore Abney
Cemetery at the weekend or during the holidays hunting for these graves/memorials! On Thursday 15th March, both Year 6 classes visited Hackney Library for a workshop on William Shakespeare. This was a trip linked to our heritage project, looking at how our local area has historical links that we can learn about today. The workshop gave an insight into the discovery of 'The Curtain Theatre', a playhouse located in Shoreditch. Built in 1577, the theatre was used for a number of Shakespeare's plays, including Romeo and Juliet. The children read lines from the play, and also got a chance to 'excavate' some of the artefacts found at the site which were of historical importance!
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Heritage project filming Year 5 visited stunning Two Temple Place last Filming for the heritage project took place at the week to experience all things jazz! Despite a very long bus journey, their behaviour was exemplary end of last week. Michelle Deignan (Alva Y3) filmed and the staff at the museum were very small groups of children from each year group, complimentary about them. 5M and 5D listened to asking questions about the past, which represented a story about a grandmother’s first introduction to those recorded by the children across the school. In jazz, had a tour of the exhibit and sketched all the afternoon, Kathleen Housden, Betty Manning things ‘jazzy’. They also formed their own jazz and John Guest (Pam Guest’s twin brother) filmed band. Thank you to the parents that accompanied their responses. We hope to be able to create a us and were so accommodating with their time. resource which demonstrates what life was like at the school for the former pupils during the era they attended.
Last Thursday, Year 3 journeyed to The Wallace Collection, where they took part in 2 workshops. One focused on their growing Spanish vocabulary, using the objects and animals within the art, and the other was an art workshop, where the children learnt about the foreground, mid-ground and background. We'd like to congratulate the children on their fabulous attitude throughout the day and take this opportunity to thank our wonderful parent volunteers who joined us.
London Underground Talk Tony Earle, a retired Scientist from Kodak (and grandfather to Lizzie 3A, Josephine 2K and Florence RLM), visited Year 3 to talk about the London Underground. The children learnt about its
steam-powered inception and life in the smoke Year 1 were visited by Jan Cullen (Luka 5D) who filled tunnels to modern times. The illustrated talk led sessions in each class on the textile trade. included Tony’s reminiscences from the 50’s and Both classes had learnt about a former clothes was rounded up by a quiz and questions. Thank shop on Church Street and each session focused you to Sandra Earle for suggesting the visit and on Sir William Henry Perkin and his discovery of also to Tony and his wife Eileen. The visit purple dye. The children learnt that purple dye had deepened the children’s knowledge of the history of previously been made with snail shells and was the underground as part of our local heritage very expensive. They then found out that Perkin project. had created a purple dye whilst trying to create a cure for Malaria! Thank you Jan for supporting our heritage project.
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Circus skills workshop by Willo and Connie Deborah Reade Art Award th On Monday 26 March, Year 6 had the great The winners of the Deborah Reade Art Award for opportunity of taking part in a magnificent circus the Spring Term 2018 were announced at a workshop! It consisted of an extremely engaging special assembly on Tuesday. magician and circus performer showing us sme tricks. He performed a trick (along with some music) The theme was ‘Make like Paul Klee’ and as to get our attention and to really get us to join in. It always the standard of artwork was incredible. was so fun and I know for a fact that everyone was Congratulations to the winners:
really amazed. Once he showed us how to use the EYFS: Una Collins tricks, he let the whole class go off and enjoy. One KS1: Ellis Mundy of the reasons why it was so fun is because it KS2: Oscar Olley wasn’t a normal Monday morning, and the fact that he was wearing a quirky, colourful circus type outfit Their beautiful artwork is on display in the school was really cool. Altogether, it was just amazing to office. Please come to have a look! try and master a circus skill, listen to amazing music and joke around with your friends. Everybody loved the workshop and almost always had a smile on their face. I know that I found the workshop really inspiring because by the end of it, I could almost juggle! (not really, but it was still fun and I tried!). Willo Ramlal and Connie Warrington 6B
Una - EYFS winner
Ellis – KS1 winner
Afternoon tea with Karen Karen hosted another ‘Good Deeds’ tea party last Friday. Grace Bellingham, Osi Alukwu, Vita Hayward, Pelle Stone, Ephraim Boma, Olive Gargett, Paige Gillen-McLeod, Marlo Sheppard, Phoebe Kurek, Isobel Windross, Akbar Aliyev, Muhammad-Ibrahim Pandor, Muhe Wu, Rezwana Begum, Enoch Boma, Brody Corner, Finn Curtis, Nadia Malik, William Desouza, Tomas Hall, Oscar – KS2 winner
Alexandra Simao, Yusra Amerat and Connie Cars in the playground Warrington all enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea! In the morning, the fire gates to school are open to allow for the bin men, recycling truck and deliveries to come in. They usually drive in before 7.30am. Parents also use this entrance to drop their children off at Breakfast club or morning clubs, which both start at 8am. Can I remind everyone who does drive in to drop their children off, to drive very slowly because there are lots of children coming into the playground and staff too.
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PTFA update Bikers’ Breakfast Thanks to everyone who made it along to the PTFA William Patten hosted another Bikers’ Breakfast on AGM last week. We caught up on - and said thank Monday, for children and parents who cycle to school. you - for all the good work done by departing co- Two mechanics from the London School of Cycling chairs Lena Ruthner and Paula Biswas, and were on hand to check bikes and recommend repairs if welcomed new co-chairs Greg Allan and Hannah necessary and the bikers enjoyed a tasty breakfast of Worthington. There was an update on the green wall, crumpets, toast, croissants, yoghurt, fruit and juice! a review of accounts, and some ideas about what the PTFA could invest in, as well as - crucially - new ways for the school to start raising money as government spending cuts kick in. We'll be circulating the minutes soon, and we'll also be sending round a survey after Easter to hear your thoughts on what you'd like to see the PTFA committee doing more or less of.
Gymnastics performances Reception and Year 4 children put on an impressive gymnastics display for their parents last Wednesday. The children worked well together and parents enjoyed watching their very polished performances, which included some difficult balancing moves!
WP Lottery (March) 1st prize £40 Julia Andrews (ex-parent) 2nd prize £30 Patricia Allen (staff) 3rd prize £20 Hannah Worthington (Matilda 2K, Jonah RL). Thank you to everyone who takes part in the lottery which raises a lot of money for the PTFA. If you would like to join the lottery please collect a form from the office or contact Jasmine Hayward (Cecily 3A and Vita 1N)
1A are at the top of the attendance chart this time with 97.5%, which is great! Well done 1A.
RLeah/Maria 96.3% R Wendy 96.5% Y1 Asima 97.5% Y1 Natalie 96.3%
Y2 Tanya 96.9% Y2 Kim 96.1% Church Street Market will open in May inside the Y3 Aimee 97.2% Y3 Christine 96.4% playground of William Patten School every Sunday Y4 Helen 94.5% Y4 Marcus 95.9% 10.30-3pm. The rent which will be generated from the Y5 Diane 94.1% Y5 Marion 96.8% market is a fabulous fundraising opportunity for the Y6 Jon 96.8% Y6 Ben 95.5% school.
The idea behind the market is to create a food market that champions local London food producers, social enterprises and farmers. Over the past months we have handpicked each stall, Many happy returns to the children who recently giving priority to high quality local London based celebrated their special day: Nell Carpenter, producers and social enterprises. Imogen Abel, Ares Dogan, Luca Janda-Hill, When the market opens, customers will be able to get Tayyibah Amerat, Ezra Korn-Partridge, Lenny everything they need for their weekly shop, plus a Korn-Partridge, Efe Demiriz, Olive Earley-Dotan, whole lot more from an incredible selection across 40 Finn Curtis, Cameron Rattray, Paige Wood- different stalls. Collier, Nehir Ozcetinkaya, Aurelien Fawcett, We would love you to come and check the market out Alexandra Simao, Henry Whitehead, Isabella when we open in May. If you would like to get in Davis, Leo Dillon, Hawwaa Ismailjee, Huxley touch, please contact us on Mundy and Ana Sofroni. We hope you all had a [email protected] lovely day!
Visit our website www.williampatten.hackney.sch.uk