Headteacher’s Newsletter – Friday 8th September 2023 – Autumn 1

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Welcome back to each and every one of you to the start of a new academic year. I would like to start this newsletter by thanking you for the kindness and generosity that was shown to staff at the end of the last term. Your gifts were graciously and gratefully received  and I hope that you all had a lovely summer break. The children were welcomed back this week by teachers and support staff, and judging by the comments of the two visitors from County who visited the school on Tuesday and Thursday, they were incredibly impressed by the way they have settled. They also spoke about the calmness they felt around the building. Thank you children, thank you staff. Meet the Teacher meetings take place on Monday at 9am so please make every effort to attend. The annual Secondary School transfer meeting takes place on Tuesday at 9am and I encourage many year 6 families to attend. We look forward to working closely with you again through the course of the school year. Please support the school in all that we do for your child.

 

 

The word of the week is – SUDORIFEROUS – sweat-inducing.

 

 

THE BIG QUESTION – What is friendship? 
Try discussing this question with your child to help them think about developing their thinking skills.

 

 

THIS WEEK’S EXAMPLES OF THE CHILDREN’S WORK –

 

 

REMINDERS –
Please read the following carefully to remind yourself  or introduce yourself to the following to help the operational running of the school run smoothly. Thank you.

SMILES NOT MOBILES – Please remember that we would like you to collect your child after school in a way that is welcoming. If you are asked not to be on your phone please don’t be offended.
UNIFORM – Kindly make sure that your child comes to school in the correct uniform. Trainers and boots  are NOT part of the school uniform so please don’t be offended if your child is sent home with a letter to remind you of this.
ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY – Poor attendance and punctuality hampers a child’s opportunities and life chances. Please remember this. 

If for any reason you need to speak with Mrs Mattholie the school’s Pastoral and Parental Engagement Office please contact her through the school phone number and select option 3.

 

 

CHANGE TO THE START OF THE SCHOOL DAY – Week 2 – The government has issued a directive to all schools about 32.5 hours of teaching time every child in the country is entitled to. To meet this new directive we will open the school gates as normal at 8:30am BUT they will CLOSE at 8:45am from MONDAY 30th OCTOBER. Please make sure you make a note of this change. We will continue to put it in all of our newsletters from the start of the new academic year until FRIDAY 20th OCTOBER.

 

 

ONLINE SAFETY NEWSLETTER – Please click the link to read the latest Online Safety newsletter.
https://parkside.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/hfl_online_safety_newsletter_autumn_23_parents_or_carers-1.pdf

 

 

ATTENDANCE – Congratulations to Nursery Fir and 5 Cedar who had the best attendance this week.

CLASS WEEKLY TOTAL %
Nursery Fir 97.6
Reception Pine 80.5
1 Maple 87.0
2 Willow 92.2
3 Birch 95.0
3 Elm 86.8
4 Aspen 94.2
5 Ash 90.1
5 Cedar 96.8
6 Cherry 88.5
Total 90.4

Attendance was an issue that as a school we worked very hard to address last year. There are many ways we  incentivise the children to help them to understand how important it is to come to school every day. For a number of years now we have had; a toy trolley which rewards the children for excellent attendance over a sustained period of 6 weeks, each class is rewarded with a star on the Attendance Champion board  at our weekly award assembly, classes with 95% attendance and over enjoy a roll of the school dice and move round the attendance Monopoly board to enjoy yet another reward. This year we will be introducing an attendance reward badge scheme for those children (hopefully all of them) who come to school 100% of the time which means each and every day.

Autumn – Bronze award
Spring – Silver award
Summer – Gold award

 

FOR THOSE CHILDREN WHO HAVE YET TO RETURN TO SCHOOL OR WHO CAME BACK AFTER THE 4th SEPTEMBER UNFORTUNATELY YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO GET A BRONZE AWARD THIS TERM. 

 

 

DATES FOR THE DIARY –
Monday 11th September – Meet the Teacher Meetings – 9am in your child’s class
Tuesday 12th September – Secondary Transfer meeting for Year 6 families – 9am in the school hall
PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR FORTHCOMING DATES AND EVENTS BY CLICKING THE LINK – https://parkside.herts.sch.uk/calendar/

 

 

TUNES FOR THE WEEKEND –
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=marmalade+the+ballad+of+cherry+flavor+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AGFj9b2tIw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDUk9Lsy_yQ

 

 

HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND AND ENJOY THE WARM WEATHER