Parent Update (26th May 2023)

Dear Parents,

There’s no stopping FoHPS (PTA) at the moment! The committee is busy preparing for the Summer Fete and organising all the preloved toys, sweets and bottles that have been donated this week. Thank you to everyone for their generosity. A particular highlight for me was watching Mrs Watson walking down the road carrying a pink rocking horse while wearing a sparkly pink rucksack on her back!

In addition to organising the Fete, they also hosted a Race Night last Saturday which was a huge success! Thank you to all the sponsors and those that attended where an amazing £1192.17 was raised for the school!

All funds raised by FoHPS at the moment will go towards improvements to the playground including new play equipment.

Silent Auction

The FoHPS silent auction goes live at midday today. Mrs O’Malley has worked hard and been lucky enough to secure some fantastic lots including tickets to see Arsenal FC, a night in One Warwick Park with dinner, lunch at the Small Holding, pottery experience at the Ceramic Studio, skip hire from Scrapco and many more! There really is something for everyone! See the Silent Auction Flyer for more information.

Poster Competition

Thank you to all the children who took part in the Summer Fete Poster Competition. The entries were fantastic and I found it very tricky to choose just 2 winners and 2 runners-up. After a lot of deliberating, I’m pleased to announce that the winners were Adam and Florence P, closely followed by the runners-up, Otis and Florence M.

Kent Test Registration – Year 5 Parents

The Kent Test is for children who wish to apply for a Kent Grammar school place for September 2024. If your child is currently in Year 5, and you intend to apply to a Kent Grammar school, register online at this link. Registration opens on 1 June 2023 and closes at midnight on 3 July 2023.

School Calendar

Miss Foord will begin organising the school calendar soon to ensure it is ready to purchase in time for Christmas. Photos will be taken in September to include our new intake, but we need to start gathering sponsors. If you own a company or know someone who does, and would like more information about sponsoring our calendar, please contact the school office.

Projects

As mentioned previously, FoHPS are busy raising money for playground improvements and are currently getting quotes for new play structures and equipment. This is an ongoing project and Mrs Clark is working hard on a plan which we’re hoping to share soon. In the meantime, the children are enjoying playing with our new basketball hoops and football goals, which have been funded by FoHPS as part of the playground developments.

The pond and allotment projects are also ongoing. Progress on this has slowed slightly, but we are now back on track to have it completed by September. The allotment is being funded by the Trust and the pond is being funded by Year 6 legacy money, including money from the last couple of years.

Having an allotment and pond will add to our outdoor learning offer and I am so grateful to Mrs Baxter-Smith who enlisted the help of Camillia Taylor, from The Garden Taylor, to help with the pond design. We are so fortunate to have someone on board with such a wealth of experience of garden and landscape design who has just won Silver Gilt at the Chelsea Flower Show!

Uniform

As a reminder, please see below for our uniform list. In addition to this any child with hair long enough to touch their collar should have it tied back and off their face.

Car Park

For the last term of school Mrs Baxter-Smith has kindly arranged with the Horsmonden Cricket Club to make use of their parking during drop off and pick up. The car park will be opened at 8.35 and closed at 8.55 and then again between 3.15 and 3.35 Monday-Fridays. This initiative is to try and reduce traffic, improve air quality around the school and allow those who drive to benefit from the short walk along the beautiful footpath that runs between the club and the school. We hope those that can support this will do so to help us improve the local environment. Parking would be at your own risk as neither the Cricket Club or school can accept any liability. Please see the map showing the route from the Cricket Club to Horsmonden School.

Attendance

Thank you to those parents who have supported us again, by ensuring your child is in school every day and doesn’t take time off unnecessarily. Today I handed out certificates to children who have 100% attendance this term as well as being on time for school (arriving no later than 8:50am).

Have a lovely week and I look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 5th June.

Kind Regards,

Hayley Sharp
Principal