Week beginning 28th February
Week beginning 28th February 2022.
Book Week: this week we are celebrating BOOK WEEK when we will be revelling in the joy of books. We launch this week with a special assembly in the hall, on Monday. World Book Day is on Thursday 3rd March and, on this day, we invite all children and of course staff, to dress up as a favourite character from a book. This does not have to be a shop bought costume, we love seeing home-made creations so let your imaginations run wild! During the week there will be a number of fun events for the children including drama and dance workshops led by Boom Arts Academy. These will be linked to the whole school text that we will be looking at – Zoo by Anthony Browne. There will also be some masked readers shown to the children each day – have fun guessing their identities! We thank Mrs Randall, our English co-ordinator, for her hard work in organising this fun packed week. She writes below:
Extreme Reading Competition: please take a photo of your child, reading in extreme or in a really unusual places. These photos will be displayed around the school. To take part, please put the photo of your child on Google Classroom, thank you. Deadline: Friday 4th March, 12pm.
Tasty Book Competition: we are running a cake-making/decorating competition with entries based on a literary theme. Cakes will be sold on Thursday 4th March, after school to raise funds for new books for our book corners. A child from each year group will receive a prize for winning. We look forward to receiving your entries. Good luck!
Parking: sadly, an ex-parent complained to the school yesterday about a few parents/carers parking over the drives in Stenning. This is preventing residents from leaving their homes or letting emergency services getting through to elderly people who live in these properties. This is frustrating for our community and also breaking the Law. Please can you refrain from doing this, or the neighbours will be forced to contact the Police.
Red Nose Day is coming! From Monday, we have a small number of red noses to pre-order for Red Nose Day which we shall be celebrating in school on Friday 18th March. Noses can be purchased at a cost of £1.50 and will be distributed in the week of the event. More information in terms of sponsorship, on what each class or year group are going to do for RND will follow – it is going to be a very fun and exciting RND week! Whatever money you can give will make a difference, no matter how small. Together, we can help people live free from poverty, violence and discrimination because we have the power to change lives.
Secondary School Offer Day: Tuesday is offer day for those of you who have a child in Year 6. We hope you are all happy with your allocations. Over the remainder of the year we will work closely with the relevant secondary schools to ensure a smooth transition for the children. In the summer term we will also begin transition work with the children to reassure them about taking the next exciting step in their educational journeys.
COVID Summary: please click on this link to access our revised Risk Assessment. We are more than aware that Law and Guidance can be confusing, please read our summary below, taken from the document Schools COVID-19 operational guidance and our explanation of this for our context. Please also note that the Government will update this again, from 1st April, 2022.
From 24th February:
*While you’re no longer required by law to self-isolate, if you have COVID-19, the Government guidance and The Hayes states that you should still stay at home and avoid contact with other people. This helps reduce the chance of passing COVID-19 onto others- we continue to have vulnerable staff and pupils in our school.
*Self-isolation: this can be for up to 10 days from when your symptoms start although many people will no longer be infectious to others after 5 days. You can do a lateral flow test from 5 days after your symptoms started (or the day you had the test if you do not have symptoms) and another the next day. If both tests are negative and you do not have a high temperature, you're less likely to pass COVID-19 to others and you can go back to your normal routine. If you test result is positive on day 5, you can carry on doing rapid lateral flow tests every day until you get 2 negative test results in a row.
The Hayes additional school measures:
*Face coverings: it is up to individuals if they wish to wear a covering. However, if a member of staff has a meeting with a parent/carer who does not want to wear a covering (and vice versa, making adults uncomfortable), the meeting could take place remotely.
*Bubbles: The Hayes will no longer work in bubbles (including wrap around care), except for: sport in the hall – max of 30 children. Sport with more than 30 should take place outside.
*Assemblies: achievement assemblies with whole school continue to be virtual due to numbers of adults and children in the hall. Monday assemblies will take place in the hall for Key Stages (EYFS/KS1 and KS2) and streamed into the other classes in other Key Stages. Class assemblies will continue to be recorded on iPad and sent to parents via Google Classroom.
*Performances: no in-person performances- to be reviewed end of spring term.
*Parent/carer meetings: continue to be virtual in the spring term.
*From guidance: individuals can still reduce the risk of catching and passing on COVID-19 by: getting vaccinated; letting fresh air in rooms; wearing a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces (especially where you come into contact with people you do not usually meet); when rates of transmission are high; trying to stay at home if you are unwell; taking a test if you have COVID-19 symptoms; staying at home and avoiding contact with others if you test positive; and washing your hands/‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’.
Please note, any of the above could change if we get another outbreak – when we will be advised by the PHE.
PTA: it is with sadness that Danni (Chair) and Verity (Vice Chair) have decided to step down at the end of the school year. We thank them for all that they have achieved over the last five years which has also included coming up with ideas to raise funds during a pandemic- not an easy task – thank you both again, you have been fantastic in your roles, with the team have raised ££££££s for our school and we are very appreciative of all you have done. If anyone is interested in filling either role, please contact Danni directly on: direct danniharrington1@gmail.com If there is more than one candidate, there will be an anonymous vote.
Above and Beyond the Call of Duty: this week is dedicated to Mrs Sutherland for working so hard even when she is poorly, is kind and caring and all that you need, for being amazing, wonderful and being the best. This week’s award was nominated by both staff and children. Well done!
Football: a massive well done to our football team for winning 5-3 against St David’s School yesterday. Huge congrats to the team, particularly to Lilybell who scored 2 goals and Freddie, Tom and Taejahn who all scored 1. An awesome result.
Parent Governor Vote: many thanks to all our very credible candidates, the deadline was yesterday and Miss Slade will contact all nominees on Monday before informing you all! Very exciting!
Lastly, it is with great sadness that we must inform you that Mrs Gourlay (Class 3 teacher), will be leaving The Hayes at the end of this term. She is relocating to Leighton Buzzard where she has purchased a new family home. Mrs Gourlay has been with us at The Hayes since 2018 and during that time has been a fantastic teacher to many children. We will be very sorry to see her go but wish her the best of luck in her new adventure- her new school are very lucky to have her. We are, however, delighted to let you know that we have appointed Ms Fidge who has over 10 years experience of teaching in primary schools, to take over the responsibility of Class 3 for the summer term. Over the coming weeks, Ms Fidge will be spending time with Mrs Gourlay to ensure there is a thorough handover. She is looking forward to meeting the children soon and I am sure you will give her a warm welcome to our school community.
Thank you for your ongoing support. Have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes,
The Hayes Team
