Parent Update – 29th April 2022

Dear Parents,

As we look ahead this term and beyond, there is lots to look forward to: Maypole Dancing on the village green, Year 5 Activity Day, Forest School sessions for Years 3 and 4, Year 6 residential to PGL, expansion of our after school clubs, Jubilee celebrations, development of our wrap around care, FoHPS Summer Fair, improvements to the EYFS outdoor area, Year 6 end of year production, coffee mornings, sports day, moving closer towards becoming an IB World School and the continued development of our inquiry based curriculum. Please take a look at the diary dates to ensure you don’t miss out!

Class Newsletters

By now you should have received this term’s class newsletter from your child’s class teacher. Following feedback from parents, teachers have now included information about what children will be covering in English, Maths, Science, History/Geography and Art/DT. This will hopefully help keep you up to date with what is being covered each term. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher.

Assessment and Reports

All children are assessed through an ongoing process as part of routine classroom practice in all subjects. Assessment of a child’s ability in specific subjects is measured in a variety of ways including: questioning, written work, discussion, tests and assessment activities. Teachers are responsible for assessing the children in their class to ensure all children make progress from their starting points. At the recent Parent Consultation meetings, your child’s class teacher will have told you whether your child is at the level expected for the year, above or below. This is to ensure that you understand how well your child is doing and how best to support or extend them at home. There are 3 formal occasions when we communicate this information with you: Parent Consultations in November and March, as well as end of year reports.

Forest School

The pilot forest school sessions are now in full swing for children in Years 3 and 4. Mrs Turvey and Mrs Radford are doing an excellent job of driving this project forward and providing fantastic opportunities for the children. Thank you to all the parents who have supported them so far, your help is greatly appreciated. Please take a look on our Facebook page for the photos of the children and adults in action!

Uniform

As new families join our school, I thought it would be useful to recap on the rules regarding our school uniform. Brigade is our branded uniform supplier and the items that can only be purchased from Brigade are: sweatshirt/sweat cardigan with logo, tie and PE t-shirt (jerzees t shirt). There are lots of optional extras listed on the website, but these are not compulsory. Parents can buy all other uniform items from any high street shop or supermarket. This is to ensure the uniform is affordable for all.

Currently there is an offer running with Brigade for 15% off orders placed up to and including 1st May.
To take advantage of the offer, please put the code SPRING15 in the promotional code box when checking out. Please ensure orders are placed up to and including 1st May to qualify for the discount.

Following on from this, I am urging all parents to label their child’s uniform clearly. This week a number of school sweatshirts have gone missing and when they are not named it makes it very difficult to find them.

EYFS Outdoor Area and New Intake

As we look forward to the new intake of children starting with us in EYFS in September, I am delighted to share our plans for the EYFS outdoor area.

Almost the entire outdoor area is going to be levelled and covered with a fresh, bright rubber crumb surface suitable for all weathers and activities. The old shed in the corner is going to be taken down, providing much needed space to play and learn, and a new wooden fence and gates are going up to ensure everything is secure. Miss Foord has already started planning how to use the new, open space and has begun sourcing equipment to fill the area ready for September. None of this would have been possible without significant investment from the Trust and we are very grateful to be part of such a forward thinking, supportive Academy Trust – Leigh Academies Trust.

As part of the development of the EYFS area, I am hopeful the classroom will be painted and new flooring laid ready for September too.

Breakfast and After School Club

Thank you to everyone that completed the Breakfast and After School Club survey. This time, I had a total of 30 responses.

Breakfast Club

63% of respondents would use the service more if breakfast was provided or the start time was earlier.

After School Club

83% of respondents would use the service more if there was a snack provided or the finish time was later.

It is clear to me that there is now more demand for Breakfast and After School Club as more and more people are returning to the office. After speaking to Ms Norman and Mrs Tuck about the results, we have agreed that we will make the following changes in Term 6 (after May half term):

Breakfast Club

• Drop off time from 7:45am
• Breakfast included
• £3.50 per session

After School Club

• Finish time of 5:30pm
• Snack provided
• £3.00 until 4:20pm
• £6.50 until 5:30pm

The changes will take effect after the May half term. This will give us a chance to amend working patterns, retrain staff on food hygiene and change the booking options on Parent Pay. The price increase reflects the cost of the snacks being provided and staff working later, but is still in line with other schools locally and provides a cost effective childcare service for working parents.

Attendance

Children should be in school every day unless they are too ill, attendance is mandatory, as set out by the Department of Education. We have high expectations of behaviour, learning and attendance at Horsmonden and will use the full extent of our Attendance Policy to support this.

Parents should aim for 100% attendance for their children. When children are not in school regularly it not only affects their learning, but also their behaviour, routines and ability to make and retain friends. We often find that those children that have friendship issues are the same children who have poor attendance. There is also a direct correlation between attendance and attainment. Children have missed out on too much education over the last couple of years and I am asking for your support in ensuring your children are in school every day.

As always, if there is anything you wish to discuss, you can arrange a meeting with your child’s class teacher, send an email, or catch me at the gate. I am out there mostly every day, along with Mr Alabi.

Have a fantastic Bank Holiday weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday 3rd May.

Kind Regards,

Hayley Sharp
Principal

 

Diary Dates 2021/22

Term 5

• Monday 2nd May – May Bank Holiday (School Closed)
• Tuesday 3rd May – Year 4 Maypole Dancing on the Green, 10am
• Thursday 5th May – Visit from Jessica Fleisher (Sports for Schools Fundraiser)
• Monday 9th to Thursday 12th May – Year 6 SATs Week
• Monday 16th to Friday 20th May – Bottle and Crockery Collection for FoHPS Summer Fair
• Friday 20th May – Children invited to wear non-uniform in exchange for donating a jar of sweets to the FoHPS Summer Fair
• Friday 20th May – Parent Coffee Morning with Mrs Sharp and Mr Alabi, drop in between 8:40am and 9:45am
• Tuesday 24th May – Year 5 Activity Day (GoApe, Bedegbury)
• Thursday 26th May – Jubilee Celebration Day and Whole School Picnic
• Friday 27th May – End of Term 5

Term 6

• Saturday 4th June – FoHPS Summer Fair
• Monday 6th June – Start of Term 6
• Friday 10th June – Hotshotz Tennis Workshops
• Monday 13th to Friday 17th June – Year 6 Residential to Windmill Hill
• Monday 13th June – Year 3 Trip to Wildlife Trust
• Monday 20th June – Marvellous Males Afternoon for Dads, Grandads, Uncles to celebrate Father’s Day, drop in from 1:45pm
• Friday 1st July – Leigh Academies Trust Kwik Cricket Tournament (selected children in Years 5 and 6)
• Monday 4th July – Year 6 Trip to Kent Police Open Day
• Thursday 14th July – FoHPS Summer Disco
• Monday 18th July – Leigh Academies Trust Sports Day (selected Years 5 and 6 children)
• Wednesday 20th July – Year 6 Production to Year 6 Parents (5pm)
• Friday 22nd July – Year 6 Leavers Assembly
• Friday 22nd July – End of Term 6