Week beginning 21st March 2022
Week beginning 21st March 2022
We have a busy week next week with lots of fun and important events coming up. But first, we would like to say a huge well done to the children in Class 5 and Class 1 who led fantastic class assemblies this week. We hope you enjoyed watching as much as we did.
Red Nose Day: is today and what an amazing day we have had, from silly dancing to sponsored silences. Miss Slade was particularly impressed with Class 9 who were silent for a whole day! She was so impressed she is donating to RND today via the school’s Just Giving Page Today’s assembly was about RND and also the achievements of our children. Isobel and Ethan (Year 6) helped with the assembly and told all how important it is to do something super exciting to raise much needed money to help change lives. They reminded everyone that you can all put your sponsorship money on our Just Giving page, accessed via our Twitter page or the link above. Thank you so much. At present, we have raised a whopping £891, 89% of our target, which is £1000. COME ON! We can do it….thank you! Photos are now on our website, please click here.
Miracles of Nature Competition: a massive well done to all the photographers who entered into our second photography competition. During the last few months, children have been taking wonderful photos of nature at its finest and yet again, it has been hard to judge the competition, the talent has been astounding. This competition was ‘Miracles of Winter’ (and although it feels like spring, winter ends on Sunday 20th March!) We will run the competition again when we come back from the Easter break, the competition will then be Miracles of Spring and we are very much looking forward to seeing photos of daffodils and the spring sunshine.
A massive well done to all who entered - you are all so talented. A huge thank you, again to Mrs Staines who has been the administrator for this competition. For this competition, we have a winner per class, as promised. For the spring competition, we will have one winner per year group.
A collage has been designed and this will take pride of place in one of our large frames in the lower corridor. The winners will also have their photos published on our website in due course. Next week, everyone who entered, will receive a certificate- well done again.
The winners of this year’s spring wonders of nature photography competition are:
Safari: a huge well done to Sanaa, with her fabulous First Hailstone Experience. The school council said: a lovely wintery blanket that covers the grass.
Rainforest: well done to Orla who took a photo of snow drops of winter. Our school council said this is just like little drops from Heaven.
Class 1: well done to Romeo-Blu who took this photo of ‘Showing My True Colours’...our school council said a beautiful variation of colours and an amazing double rainbow!
Class 2: well done to Thomas for A Winter Window, View from Bodium Castle. The school council said: a window of wintery magic.
Class 4: well done to Emily for ‘A Bunch of Snowdrops’. Our school council said the flowers look beautiful as they sprout out in spring.
Class 6: well done to Chloe for her Winter Wonderland….our school council said you can see the dew drops glistening on the delicate bulbs.
Class 7: well done to Naomi, for Fox Playing with Deers. The school council said: what a scene, how beautiful it is to see such nature!
Class 8: well done to Mylo for his Wonderful Winter Waves….our school council said a vast open sea view with the sun setting.
Class 9: well done to Isabelle ….our school council said what a delicate burst of yellow, reminds us of saxophones.
Class 10: well done to Finley, for Dragon Lord of the Forest. The school council said: what an amazing image of a fierce, woodland dragon
Class 12: well done to Lois….our school council said a warm, frosty blanket covering a winter window.
The judges: committee of the school council, the school governors and myself say well done to all who entered -some really strong entries and we look forward to the spring competition.
ABCD Award: this week goes to Mrs Randall, who worked really, really hard to put on a fabulous Book Week. Well done! She was nominated by a number of children who said……..you always try your best to make an easier understanding of work, you help me when I am stuck and because she has taught me many things. Well done!
S6 Form: today, we have sent home with each child an S6 form. This is a data collection form in which you include your contact details and those of emergency contacts. It is essential that we check these from time to time to ensure we are holding the most up to date information about you so that you can be contactable in an emergency. Please can ALL families take a moment over the weekend to fill in the requested information and return it back to the school by Friday 25th March. Thank you for your co-operation.
Neurodiversity Week: This week is National Neurodiversity celebration week. This is a worldwide event that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. In raising awareness of neurodiversity, we aim to recognise the many strengths and advantages of being neurodivergent in order to further promote our inclusive environment in a way that is equitable. We want to empower every individual in our school to celebrate their differences and similarities. Too often people focus on the challenges that people with specific learning differences face, this week is about celebrating their greatness. The children will have a special assembly by Dr Jo, an education psychologist, who will explain more about neurodiversity and how this may be more commonly recognised for example in children with ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia or Dyspraxia. If you would like to know more about this week you can visit Neurodiversity Celebration Week (neurodiversityweek.com).
On Monday, to kickstart the week, we are all invited to wear odd socks, the odder the better to celebrate Neurodiversity. Also, if you think your child may have specific learning differences and would like to discuss this, our inclusion manager Mrs Roberts, is always happy to meet with you. She can be contacted on lroberts@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk .
Mental Health First Aiders: at The Hayes we are committed to breaking the stigma around mental health difficulties and, as you will no doubt be aware from the national press, in recent years cases of poor mental health in young people have been increasing quite significantly. In addition, the uncertainty of current events is also causing added stressors for some people in relation to their mental health. A NHS study showed that in 2018 approx 1 in every 9 children had a diagnosable mental health condition but by 2020 this had increased to 1 in every 6. Therefore, in addition to having physical first aiders at school we are now proud to let you know that we also have two mental health first aiders. Mental health first aiders are not able to diagnose mental health conditions but, they can listen to concerns in a non-judgemental way and provide support and information about professional services that can be accessed. They can also share ideas for other types of support that may be helpful including voluntary organisations, apps and self-help books.
If you have concerns about your child’s mental health and would like to discuss these with one of our mental health first aiders (Mrs Rich or Mrs Olley), please feel free to email deputy@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk to request a chat and one of our mental health first aiders will make contact with you to invite you in. Please remember they are not qualified to diagnose but they can offer you support and information in relation to your concern.
Monday Run-Day: one of the best ways we can maintain a good sense of wellbeing is by participating in regular exercise that gets the endorphins pumping. If you are wanting to ensure that you start your week the way you mean to go on, our new Monday morning extra-curricular club may be of interest to you. From Monday 28th 25 interested children (and a parent if they wish) can come to school at 8:15 to complete a mile on our daily mile track. This is first come, first served, please apply via Parent Pay. We shall provide you with a clicker to count your laps (13 laps of the daily mile track = 1 mile). You can run, walk or jog, it’s up to you but you have up to 30 mins to complete your mile before the school doors open at 8:45! There are 13 term time Monday mornings left until the end of the school year…the challenge is to complete a half marathon (1 mile at a time) before we break up in July for the Summer holidays. Each child taking part will be given a ‘trainer tracker’ sheet to colour in at the end of each session. When 13 sessions have been completed, the trainer will be fully coloured in and the half marathon will have been achieved. Those completing the half marathon will receive a certificate in the last week of term. A super opportunity to spend time together in the great outdoors whilst promoting healthy and active lifestyles.
Active Travel Week: next week is also our active travel week during which the children will have a special assembly from our JTAs (Junior Travel Ambassadors). Each child who walks to school (or partially walk to school e.g. park and stride) will be given a raffle ticket and could win a prize at the end of the week. They are also invited to bring their bike or scooter into school on the day indicated on the table below, with helmets, please. They are encouraged to ‘bling’ their bikes or scooters too! There is an area at the front of school for the bikes and scooters to be stored in the morning. During their sessions, the children will have a helmet safety demonstration and during the week, they will also have a lesson about air pollution to raise awareness and children in Years 4, 5 and 6 will also receive an Anti-Idling workshop on Thursday. If any families have any helmets that are too small, not needed, and not damaged we would appreciate them for our EYFS department. Many thanks.
Parents evenings: Parent/Teacher meetings will be taking place Monday-Thursday this week. Details of booking can be found on the school website. If you have not already made your appointment and need support to do so, please call the school office where a member of staff will be happy to assist you. Please can we remind you, there will be NO BOOSTERS taking place next week (this includes before and after school). Our staff look forward to meeting you to give an update on your child’s learning and progress.
Mother’s Day Gift Room: our Mother’s Day gift room shall be open from Monday to Thursday this week. If you wish for your child to attend, please buy them a ticket on the PTA home page. With this ticket they will be able to attend our PTA shop, chose a gift for a special family member, wrap it up and bring it home to present to someone they love. Thank you to our PTA for organising this lovely vent.
Year 1/2 CSSP: on Friday the staff from the Croydon Schools Sports Partnership (CSSP) will be in school leading a multiskills session with the children in Year 2in the morning and Year 1 in the afternoon. We are sure they are in for a fun time!
Thank you for your ongoing support. Have a lovely weekend.
