Parent Update (31st March 2023)

Dear Parents,

The rain didn’t put the Easter bunny off from making an appearance at Horsmonden Primary Academy this afternoon! The children had a great time finding their eggs, which were kindly donated by FoHPS (our PTA). Thank you once again, to the parent team for buying, storing, labelling and hiding the eggs, as well as inviting the Easter bunny back for another year.

Projects

Following previous communication regarding our upcoming projects of an allotment and improved playground facilities, I am pleased to announce we will also be creating a pond over the coming months.

The pond is being funded partly from legacy money raised by children in Year 6 over the last couple of years and will help support our offer of outdoor learning at Horsmonden Primary Academy. I am so pleased that Mrs Baxter-Smith has enlisted the help of Camillia Taylor, from The Garden Taylor, with the design. We are so fortunate to have someone on board with such a wealth of experience of garden and landscape design and has also exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show!

The pond will be located near the new allotment (in place of the old swimming pool), creating a natural space for children to plant, grow and be at one with nature. The aim of the pond and allotment is to combine a teaching space with an area to relax, be still and improve children’s emotional wellbeing.

The other ongoing project is the improvement of the playground which is being funded by FoHPS. So far, I have ordered 2 new portable football goals and 2 new freestanding basketball hoops for the children to enjoy at playtimes and lunchtimes. I am also sourcing quotes for new play structures to include more monkey bars. Monkey bars are the most popular piece of equipment we have and from listening to the Horsmonden Huddle it is clear we need more!

Competitions

Since Christmas children have had opportunities to take part in a range of competitions outside the classroom, including: reading, writing and art. Next will be a maths competition run by Mrs Stockbridge where she is challenging children to show off their mathematical knowledge of fractions. Look out for the flyer coming home with children today giving more information. Completed entries need to be handed into Mrs Stockbridge by Wednesday 19th April.

Football

This term has seen success in football with all 3 competitive matches against other local schools being won by our Horsmonden teams! I am so proud of the resilience and determination shown by all the children that took part and very much look forward to more competitive games in the near future! Thank you to Mrs Turvey and Mr Bodle for organising the games with the other schools. Please see our Facebook page for pictures of the winners!

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).

As we close today for Easter I would like to wish you all a lovely time with your families and thank you for your continued support of Horsmonden Primary Academy.

Kind Regards,

Hayley Sharp
Principal