Friday 21 October 2011

High Beeches Newsletter Blog Edition

High Beeches Newsletter Blog Edition
It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of the first half term. It has certainly been a busy few weeks with the children involved in many exciting learning activities.

As the weather changes please ensure that all children are dressed appropriately. Every child must have a coat with them in school which must be named. We try to ensure that the children are outside as much as possible at lunchtime and break time but we cannot allow the children to go outside if they do not have appropriate clothing.

After half term we will be running a trial allowing the junior children to come straight into class from 8.45am the same as the infants. The children will be engaged in activities in the classroom. All children must be in class by 8.55am at the latest as all doors will be closed at this time. The children are to enter the classrooms through the doors that they currently use. Please do remember that no adults should accompany the children into the school as the cloakrooms are small.

Thank you to all of the parents/carers who returned the slips for the curriculum event. The majority of the responses were in favour of an afternoon meeting with a crèche available for children. We will therefore be holding the curriculum event in the school hall at 3.30pm on November 15th. More details will be sent out after half term.


Well done to the Learners of the week, we are very proud of you all.
W/b 17th October 2011

EYFS Clover McDonald – working hard to improve her counting skills
Yr 1 Neel Bhopal – working hard to follow instructions
Yr 2 Jessica Clark – spotting things to improve in her work
Yr 3 Oliver Bhutiani – making an effort to improve handwriting
Yr 4 Natalie Payne – working hard to improve her handwriting and presentation
Yr 5 Max Norris – working hard to improve his spellings
Yr 6 Jemma George – working hard to improve her artwork

I hope that you have a restful half term. We look forward to seeing all of the children on Monday 31st October.
Paul Driver
Headteacher

School Photos
In response to concerns over our previous photographers we have used a new company this year. I would be interested to hear any comments on the photos. These could be given to the class representative in time for the Parent Forum meeting on Friday 4th November

Please ensure that all photo orders are returned to the office by Friday 4th November.

Rotary Club Shoe Boxes
Information about the Rotary Shoebox Appeal is in the school office window. This is an appeal which we have always supported usually filling over 100 boxes. Details were sent out in a letter on Tuesday and were shared with the children in assembly yesterday. Filled boxes need to be back into school on Wednesday 2nd Nov and it would be wonderful to break the 100 box mark once again. The £1 for the box is sent to the charity in order to cover the cost of the boxes, this is not money for the school.

Pupil Success
Congratulations to the following pupils:
Abigail Roy (Yr 5) who won the U10’s category in the Herts County Girls Squash tournament
Becky Shott (Yr 6) who has achieved her Level 4 ‘Skate UK’ Ice Skating Award
Madeline Roy (Yr 2) who gained a Bronze Medal in her age group at the Herts County Girls squash tournament
Finn Heywood (Yr 4) who was awarded the ‘player of the week’ trophy for Harpenden Colts football club.
Jemma George (Yr 6) who has passed her Grade One riding award.

Friday 14 October 2011

Newsletter 14.10.11 Blog edition

Newsletter 14.10.11 Blog Edition
I have received a number of complaints about parking and the standard of driving demonstrated by some of the parents at the school. I had one report of a parent dropping off their child in the car and ‘speeding’ off down the road with no sense or concern that the area was full of children looking to cross the road. Please do park considerately around the school, drive carefully and consider the children’s safety. I do not want to report in this newsletter an injury or worse to one of our pupils on the roads. As a reminder; nobody should park opposite the school on the yellow markings at any time. There must be no parking opposite the disabled bay on the corner of the road, this causes double parking, restricts the flow of traffic and creates a huge risk to pedestrians. A speed limit of 20 mph should be adhered to on school days. I know that due to the volume of traffic on the roads parking can be difficult. Please do consider arriving earlier to school, parking further away and walking.
Next week is Walk To School Week, where all children will be encouraged to walk to school or park further away and walk. There will be an incentive for the class who makes the greatest effort.

Thank you to all of the children and staff involved in organising the MacMillan Coffee morning. £241 was raised for the charity. Thank you to all of the parents/carers who supported this event.

School ends at normal time (3.15pm) next Friday 21st October for half term. All children should be back in school on Monday 31st October.
Some of our older children have been allowed to bring in mobile phones to school. Please ensure that these are handed into the office every day before the beginning of school.

Well done to the Learners of the week, we are very proud of you all.
w/b 03.10.11
EYFS Freya Barker – Working hard to improve her presentation
Yr 1 Jack McDonald – Working hard to improve his writing
Yr 2 Oscar Cuthbert – Working hard to improve his reading
Yr 3 Jack Gibbs – Listening hard in order to improve
Yr 4 Millie Faulkner – Improving her work by checking for punctuation
Yr 5 Tommy Castellani – Finding ways of improving his learning on his own and knowing who to ask for help
Yr 6 Felicity White – Improving her speed and accuracy in times table recall
W/b 10.10.11
EYFS Romilly Tuckley – Working hard to improve her writing
Yr 1 Lorenzo Annecchiarico – Working hard to improve his writing
Yr 2 Jenna Heywood – Working hard to improve her writing
Yr 3 Anna Castellani – Always pushing herself to achieve and therefore improve her maths
Yr 4 Lily Snowden – Knowing how to improve her handwriting and then working hard to do so
Yr 5 Simran Basi – Improving her story opening in the style of Michael Morpurgo and working hard in maths
Yr 6 Grace Joshua - Massive improvement in mental maths calculations.
I hope that you have an enjoyable weekend.

Paul Driver
Headteacher


FoHBs News
Thank you to everyone who supported the movie nights last week and to all of the helpers for all of their support. Friday 21 October: Year 6 Cake sale please support our monthly cake sale next week. Cakes will be available from 3.15 pm onwards, only 25p each. Many thanks


Pupil Success
Congratulations to the following pupils:
Neel Bhopal (YR 1) who was nominated ‘pupil of the week’ at his Jujitsu class
Aran Shamir (Yr 2) who was selected to represent Harpenden Colts in their 5 a side team at the Mid Herts football tournament
Jack MacDonald (Yr 1) who has achieved his Level 3 ASA National Swimming award
On Sunday, the 17th Harpenden Brownies participated in the Harpenden and Redbourn District 'Guiding's Got Talent' show which was held at The Public Halls. The girls gave a brilliant performance and won first place with their rendition of 'It's a Hard Knock Life' from Annie. Well done to Jemma George, Alice George, Lily Snowdon, Sophie Booth, Milly Faulkner, Rebecca Shield and Mary Kershaw


Lost clothing
Ben Blackburn in Year 3 has lost his school coat which is named. Please check that your child has the correct school coat. Please ensure that all items of school clothing are labelled including PE kits and trainers.


HarpendenPlus Partnership
HarpendenPlus Partnership have arranged the following parenting workshops for the Autumn term
Date Time Workshop Aimed at Cost Aim
Wed 2nd Nov 9.30 - 11.30 Developing Confident Children Parents/carers of children aged 5 - 11 £10 To enable parents/carers to help their children become more confident
Wed 9th Nov 1.00 - 3.00 Raising Teenage Girls Parents/carers of teenage girls £10 To enable parents/carers to maintain a good relationship with their teenager daughters
Fri 18th Nov 1.00 - 3.00 Raising Teenage Boys Parents/carers of teenage boys £10 To enable parents/carers to maintain a good relationship with their teenager sons
Wed 23rd Nov 1.00 - 3.00 Sibling Rivalry Parents/carers of children aged 5 - 11 £10 To enable parents/carers to manage the needs of siblings


Help!
Year 1 are asking if you could kindly dig deep into drawers and cupboards to help them with items for their themed Role-play area. They would be very grateful for donations of plain/themed bedcovers, curtains, rugs, large scarves/pashminas or fabric. We would also welcome dressing up clothes which older children may have grown out of, especially boys items. Any adult clothes made from special fabrics e.g. shiny, sequinned, striped, fluorescent etc that could either be adapted or added to the Art fabric supplies (we are running low!). Buttons and trimmings are always welcome too. Some classes are rather short on good quality games or toys for Golden Time & wet playtimes. Thank you!

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Newsletter 30.09.11 Blog edition

It has certainly been a very busy week in school. The children all had a fantastic day on Tuesday celebrating International Day. They were all engaged in many activities learning about their chosen countries. We would like to thank all of the parents/carers who contributed to the day; we wouldn’t have been able to offer as many opportunities for the children without your support.

On Wednesday Year 4 visited Verulamium. They learnt a great deal about the Roman town and we would like to thank Mrs Cocks for sharing her expertise with the children. Mr Cross also visited Year 2 on Wednesday to share his hot air balloon with them as part of their transport topic. The children had a fabulous time and the whole school enjoyed seeing the balloon on the field. We would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Cross for a truly memorable morning.

All children will be escorted to the main front door at the end of after school clubs. All adults should meet their child / children in the lobby area at the time when the club finishes, which is 4.15pm for school led clubs (netball, football, cookery, maths etc..)

On Tuesday 4th October Mr Fellows will be leading the school assembly as we celebrate our Harvest Festival. We would like the children to bring in non perishable food items which we will then send to the local Harpenden Day Care Centre.

Your child/children should be bringing home their Learning Log today. Please do spend time reading the introduction with them. The first activity is to decorate the front cover. I look forward to sharing their work with them as they return their Logs each Wednesday.

Year 2 are in need of a marble run as the one they use currently has many missing parts. If you have one which is in good condition that you no longer need please speak to Mrs Draycon.

Well done to the Learners of the week, we are very proud of you all.
W/b 26.09.11

EYFS Archie Taylor – trying to improve writing his name
Yr 1 Olivia Haugen – Knowing how to improve her work and make it even better
Yr 2 Jack Condon – checking his writing in order to improve it
Yr 3 Rachel Piper – Asking lots of questions to improve her work
Yr 4 Izzy Norman – Knowing how to improve her writing and making it even better
Yr 5 Jack Archer-Hart – Improving his writing and handwriting throughout the week
Yr 6 Joshua Cholot-Deutsch - Improving his multiplication knowledge

I hope that you have an enjoyable weekend.
Paul Driver
Headteacher

FoHBs Movie Night
Friday 7th October is Movie Night for infants and juniors. There has been a change to the film which will be shown to the infants. The children will now be watching The Bee Movie and not How to tame a dragon.

There will be no after school football club on this night.
Pupil Success
Congratulations to the following pupils:
Oliver Card (Yr 5) who has been selected for the U10’s Herts County cricket winter training squad. He has also been awarded the Harpenden Cricket Club U9 A team Best Bowler trophy.


Netball club
There will be no netball club on Monday 3rd October as Mrs Draycon will be on a visit with her Year 2 class.

Board game club
Mrs Rogers (Yr 5 TA) will be starting a board game club after half term. If you have any unwanted board games in good condition we would appreciate any donations in order to add to our collection in school.