Newsletter 25th May 2012

High Beeches Primary School Newsletter 25th May 2012

Well done to all of the children who participated in the walk to school week. Year 2 and Year 3 completed the challenge of walking from Lands End to John O’Groats

The children all enjoyed the Steel Pan workshops on Tuesday, and learnt about the origin of the pans and the music. The assembly was one of the liveliest we have had for some time!

Well done to all of the children in Year 6 for the manner in which they have conducted themselves during the SATs testing weeks. This week the Level 6 tests were completed. I know that the children are all looking forward to the residential trip to Windmill Hill after half term a well-deserved break.

Thank you to all of the members of FoHBs for their hard work in organising the May Ball last Saturday. It was a wonderful evening and received a great deal of positive feedback. The focus for FoHBs fundraising this year has been for a large ‘play equipment’ installation predominantly for the Junior children. Thanks to all the hard work, we have ordered the equipment which will be installed during the week after half term. It is a large play frame with over 14 different possible activities. The children have worked with the School Council to select the styles of equipment that they preferred and we have had visits from a number of companies before the children chose the ‘Skeleton Climber’. I am certain that this will be enjoyed by all of the children for many years to come. Thank you for supporting FoHBs events and helping us to raise funds for the children.

Hopefully this brief spell of warm weather is a sign of things to come! Please do remember that all children must have a sun hat and a water bottle in school. Sun cream is not allowed in school so please ensure that this is applied at the start of the day.

Well done to the Learners of the Week, we are very proud of you all.

w/b 14^th May 2012

EYFS       Finian Wallman – pushing himself to improve his writing                                                                       

Yr 1         Martha Davies – pushing herself to improve in all areas       

Yr 2         Hattie Jenkinson – pushing herself to concentrate harder

Yr 3         Katarina White – exceptional maths work with problem solving

Yr 4         Thomas Chenery – pushing himself to do some excellent writing

Yr 5         Edward Sheehan – pushing himself to learn all of his times tables

Yr 6         Edward Vickery – pushing himself to improve his acting skills

Paul Driver

Headteacher

Letters Sent Home

21.5.12 – Yrs 1,2 and 3 –Mini tennis

21.5.12 – KS 2 Drama Workshop

23.5.12 – EYFS Boxmoor Visit

Year 1 Plant Sale

Year One would like to say a huge thank you to all of the Parents/Carers who supported their plant sale on Wednesday. Once again it was a valuable, real life experience for the children in using money. Some of the children would have stayed there all evening. The sale would not have been possible without the donation of the plants from the School’s former caretaker Mr John Bates to whom we are enormously grateful and the teaching assistants who gave up their time to collect the plants and set up the sale. Thank you.

Sports News

Well done to all of the Year 5 children who recently competed in the Quicksticks hockey event. The children finished a highly creditable fifth place after only two training sessions at the sport.

Year 3 and 4 football

Well done to all of the boys who represented the school at the recent tournament. The team played exceptionally well considering that due to the poor weather no training sessions had been held. The boys did not lose a game all afternoon and finished in third place behind Woodend and The Grove. A superb result; well done to Alex Helsby, Louis Bennett, Thomas Crawford, Henry Huntley, Thomas Chenery, Oliver Fish, Ethan Russell, Alex Moffatt, James Moffatt and Oscar Ryan.

Pupil Success

Congratulations to the following pupils:

Edward Sheehan (Yr 5) who reached the quarter finals in the u11’s County Squash Tournament

 

Summer Term 2012

Wednesday 30^th May ...................................... KS2 Drama Workshop 3.15pm

Friday 1^st June ................................................ Queens Jubilee Street Party – come in party clothes

w/b Monday 4^th June .................................... Half term holidays

Monday 11^th June .......................................... INSET DAY SCHOOL CLOSED

Tuesday 12^th June .......................................... HDSA Rounders tournament at Redbourn

Tuesday 12^th June .......................................... Yr 6 Parents meeting 7.00pm

Monday 18^th June .......................................... Yr 6 to Windmill Hill

Monday 18^th June .......................................... EYFS Boxmoor visit

Tuesday 19^th June .......................................... HDSA Kwik Cricket at Woodend

Friday 22^nd June ............................................. YEAR 5 CLASS ASSEMBLY 10.30am

w/b 25^th June ................................................. SPORTS WEEK

Wednesday 27^th June ................................... Phonics workshop 3.30pm Creche available

Thursday 28^th June ........................................ (HDSA) Athletics at SJL – District Sports

w/b2nd July .................................................... Yr 5 Cycle training week

Friday 6^th July ................................................. YEAR 4 CLASS ASEMBLY

Saturday 7^th July ............................................. FoHBs Summer Festival 3-7pm

Monday 9^th July .............................................. Sports Day 1pm

Tuesday 10^th July ........................................... Yr 6 Play 7.00pm

Wednesday 11^th July ..................................... Yr 6 play 7.00pm

Thursday 12^th July .......................................... Secondary school transition day

Friday 13^th July ............................................... Annual Reports to parents/carers

Friday 13^th July ............................................... FoHBs Disco

Monday 16^th July ........................................... Open evening

Tuesday 17^th July ........................................... Year 6 BBQ

Wednesday 18^th July ..................................... Artsfest performances 1.15pm

Thursday 19^th July .......................................... Artsfest performances 1.15pm

Friday 20^th July ............................................... Term ends

High Beeches Newsletter 11.05.12

High Beeches Newsletter 11.05.12

Thank you to everybody who supported the Book Fair. I am very pleased to say that over £325 was raised in commission for the school which we will use to purchase new books.  Thank you to Mrs Savage for organising the Fair and to all of the staff who helped out.

Thank you to those who attended the EYFS Cake Sale and to all of the members of FoHBs for organising this event. £88.55 was raised.

Apologies, Learner of the week has been omitted from the last newsletter. Here are this weeks and previous Learners of the Week.

Well done to the Learners of the Week, we are very proud of you all.

w/b 16^th April 2012

EYFS       William Masters – pushing himself to improve his handwriting                                                             

Yr 1         School outing

Yr 2         School outing

Yr 3         Eiyah Stephen – pushing herself to concentrate

Yr 4         Mariette Hancock – pushing herself to learn times tables

Yr 5         Tim Lewis- Lim – pushing himself in all lessons since the start of the term

Yr 6         Paras Shah – ‘I know that pushing myself makes me better at things’

w/b 23^th April 2012

EYFS       Chloe Sayle – pushing herself with her writing skills                                                 

Yr 1          Thomas Wellham – pushing himself with writing and phonic skills

Yr 2         Talia Russell – pushing herself to answer questions in class

Yr 3         Oscar Ryan – continually pushing himself in maths

Yr 4         School outing

Yr 5         Isabel Heneghan – for knowing how to push herself and who to ask for help

Yr 6          Rowan Robinson – pushing herself to improve her maths

w/b 30^th April 2012

EYFS       Daniel Batchelor – pushing himself to write unaided                                                               

Yr 1          School outing

Yr 2         Toby Sayle – pushing himself to improve his writing

Yr 3         James Moffat – continually pushing himself in maths

Yr 4         Daniel Clark – pushing himself to make his work more presentable

Yr 5         Olly Scinaldi – pushing himself to do the best historical sketch he could do at the British Museum

Yr 6          Ali Juma – pushing himself to improve his times table knowledge

I hope that you all have an enjoyable weekend.

Paul Driver

Headteacher

Letters sent home

8/5/12 – Yr 4 Zoo visit

9/5/12 – Yr 6 V and A Museum visit

10/5/12 – Yr 3 and 4 football tournament

Attached with the newsletter (electronic version) Luton Hoo Walled Garden children’s book festival

Pupil Success

Congratulations to the following pupils:

Madeline Roy (Yr 2) who achieved a bronze medal at an U9 Squash Tournament

Mariette Hancock (Yr 4) who has passed her Level 7 swimming award

Liberty Hancock (Yr 2) who has passed her Level 4 swimming award and achieved a merit in her Primary Ballet exam.

George Kershaw (Yr 5) will be representing St Albans District in the 2012 Herts Primary Swimming Championships this Friday 11th May. He will be part of a team of 32 swimmers in years 5 & 6 from the district to compete in this event. In 2011, St Albans District won this event the first time in 7 years

Show Choir Day

Places are available for Years 4,5 and 6 for the Show Choir Day organised by Herts Music Service. The day will be held at St Albans School of music on Thursday May 31^st from 9.30am– 3.30pm. No experience is necessary and there will be a ‘Glee’ style performance at 2.45 pm to which parents and carers are warmly invited. 
Applications are available in the school office, closing date is the 24^th May 2012

Junior String Day

St Albans Music School is running a ‘Junior String Day’ for violin, viola, cello and mini bass players of Grade 1 standard and above on Wednesday 13^th June 2012. The event will be held in the main hall of the school from 9.30am – 3.30pm. The cost of the day is £15. Parents/carers are invited to a short concert at the end of the day. For more information pick up a form at the school office.

Safe Sleeping

The Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board (HSCB) has launched a safe sleeping campaign to highlight the dangers of sleeping with your baby.

300 babies in the UK die suddenly and unexpectedly in their sleep every year as a result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS); commonly known as cot death. In Hertfordshire, nearly a third of these types of deaths could have been avoided.

The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a cot, moses basket or crib in your room. Although we don’t always know what causes many sad, unexpected deaths, it has been proven that if the parent is a smoker, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or just very tired, falling asleep with their baby significantly increases the risk of sudden infant death.

Following good advice does not guarantee the prevention of sudden infant death, but there are a number of things parents and carers can do to reduce the risks to their baby:

• The safest place for a baby to sleep for the first six months is on its back in a cot, moses basket or crib in their parents’ room

• It is dangerous for a baby to sleep in a normal bed or on a sofa or armchair

• Babies should be placed on their back on a firm mattress, with their feet at the bottom end of the cot

• They should not be allowed to get too hot - an ideal room temperature is between 16-20°c

• Babies should be protected from second hand smoke - mothers should not smoke during pregnancy and people should not smoke in the house.

Dr Hilary Angwin, Public Health Consultant for children, NHS Hertfordshire. said: “Losing a child this way is a terrible tragedy. We should all do everything we can to reduce the risk of this happening. As the campaign highlights, drinking alcohol, smoking or any drug use adds unnecessary risks. I hope people take note of these messages and that this campaign saves lives not only in Hertfordshire, but across the country.

High Beeches Newsletter 4^th May 12

Well done to all of the children in the Year 2 recorder club for their wonderful assembly this week, thank you to Mrs Woodward for her work with the children. Thank you to Year 3 for their excellent assembly today, I am amazed at the amount of links to different curriculum areas that the topics offer. It is wonderful to see the enjoyment that the children have in their learning.

Earlier in the week I was informed of a burglary at the home of one of our parents during the school run in the morning. There does appear to have been a spate of house burglaries in the area recently so please do ensure that all doors and windows are closed and locked when the house is empty even if just left for a short time. Luckily the property was returned and the culprit caught thanks to an APP which the parent wanted to share the details of as it was very useful. The App was called ‘Find My Phone’ it tracks iPhones etc and shows their location. Thanks to this the Police were able to track the property stolen and catch the culprit.

The weather really is beginning to have an impact in school. We always try to avoid cancelling or postpone clubs but unfortunately sometimes circumstances make it unavoidable. I must apologise for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of clubs or activities. We try to wait until as late as possible to make a decision. Sadly the field is just too wet at the moment for any sport, certainly not cricket and is unsafe for athletics.

Last week Gardening Club was omitted from the club list. Apologies for this oversight, if you would be able to offer 45mins to help with the gardening club please speak to Mrs Brannon or Mrs Miller (Yr2).  Thank you to all of the volunteers for their hard work. I am sure you will agree that the impact of the club is very noticeable particularly around the front entrance. 

I hope that you all have an enjoyable weekend.

Paul Driver

Headteacher

Book Fair

Now in school until Tuesday evening. The Book Fair is an excellent opportunity for the children to purchase books and also enables the school to gain commission towards books for the school. This year they have a fantastic summer offer of three books for the price of two with the cheapest book being free.

Catering Vacancy

We currently have an opportunity to join our dedicated catering team. Our school lunches are fabulous and we have one of the highest uptakes for meals in the County. We have a vacancy for a General Assistant to join our wonderful team. The vacancy is for 12.5hrs a week, 2.5 hrs a day. If you are interested in this post please speak to Mrs Nugent in the kitchen or to Mr Driver.

Pupil Success

Congratulations to the following pupils:

Paras Shah (Yr 6) who participated in the 8^th Eastern Region Special Olympics Swimming Gala on Sat 28^th April. Paras did fantastically well achieving a silver medal in the 50M Freestyle and a speed time ribbon in the 25M Backstroke. He was also awarded a certificate in recognition of his personal best achievements.

Aran Shamir (Yr 2) who has been selected to play in the Hatters Cup at Luton FC on the 26^th May

Jenna Heywood (Yr 2) Who achieved a merit pass for her Ballet Exam

Josh Toon (Yr 6) who was nominated as the Kaizan Karate Student of the Month

Elliswick Tennis Club Open Day

Saturday 5^th May 10am – 1pm. Come along and join in with the activities and have fun. Memberships available for all ages.

Show Choir Day

Places are available for Years 4,5 and 6 for the Show Choir Day organised by Herts Music Service. The day will be held at St Albans School of music on Thursday May 31^st from 9.30am– 3.30pm. No experience is necessary and there will be a ‘Glee’ style performance at 2.45 pm to which parents and carers are warmly invited. 
Applications are available in the school office, closing date is the 24^th May 2012

Date of events can also be found on the school website http://www.highbeeches.herts.sch.uk/

Click on the information link and then calendar.

Summer Term 2012

Friday 11^th May .................................................. Yr 2 London visit

Sunday 13^th May.................................................. RAH Sing Up Gala Yr 5

w/b Mon 14^th May .............................................. SATS WEEK

Tues 15^th May ..................................................... Yr 3 and 4 football tournament at Sauncey Wood 1pm

Friday 18^th May .................................................. Yr 3 Wardown Museum visit

Saturday 19^th May............................................... High Beeches May Ball

Monday 21^st May ................................................ Class / group photos

Tuesday 22^nd May ............................................... Steel drum workshop

Friday 1^st June .................................................... Queens Jubilee Street Party

w/b Monday 4^th June ......................................... Half term holidays

Tuesday 12^th June .............................................. HDSA Rounders tournament at Redbourn 1pm

Tuesday 12^th June .............................................. Yr 6 Parents meeting 7.00pm

Monday 18^th June .............................................. Yr 6 to Windmill Hill

Monday 18^th June .............................................. EYFS Boxmoor visit

Tuesday 19^th June .............................................. HDSA Kwik Cricket at Woodend 9am

w/b 25^th June ..................................................... NATIONAL SPORTS WEEK

Wednesday 27^th June ......................................... Phonics workshop 3.30pm Creche available

Thursday 28^th June ............................................. HDSA Athletics at SJL

w/b 2nd July ...................................................... Yr 5 Cycle training week

Friday 6^th July ..................................................... Yr 3 Cuffley Trip

Saturday 7^th July ................................................. FoHBs Summer Festival 3-7pm

Monday 9^th July .................................................. Sports Day 1pm

Tuesday 10^th July ................................................ Yr 6 Play 7.00pm

Wednesday 11^th July .......................................... Yr 6 play 7.00pm

Thursday 12^th July .............................................. Secondary school transition day

Friday 13^th July ................................................... Annual Reports to parents/carers

Friday 13^th July ................................................... FoHBs Disco

Monday 16^th July ................................................ Open Evening 3.45pm – 5.30pm

Tuesday 17^th July ................................................ Year 6 BBQ

Wednesday 18^th July .......................................... Artsfest performances 1.15pm

Thursday 19^th July .............................................. Artsfest performances 1.15pm

Friday 20^th July ................................................... Term ends