Week beginning 30th November 2020
Phonics Screening Test: the week beginning, 7th December, Year 2 children will be sitting their phonics screening check. Under normal circumstances, this would have taken place at the end of Year 1 but due to lockdown, this was not possible. As such, the government have now asked schools to carry out the check, with the children who are currently in Year 2, before we break for Christmas. The check entails asking the children to read a mixture of real words and pseudo (nonsense) words to their class teacher on a 1:1 basis. We will report results to you before Christmas via a letter. The pass mark for the phonics screening check is yet to be announced but historically, this has been 32/40. Any children who do not pass the phonics screening check will continue to receive additional phonics support within school. The test is not timed but most children will complete the check within a 5-10-minute window. If your child is in Year 2 and is taking the test, please click on this link: Parent Workshops | The Hayes Primary School to see a virtual presentation about how this works and what it is. You will find all you need to know in Mrs Farr’s excellent virtual presentation.
A Surprise: on Friday 4th December, please may we ask you to send your children to school wearing something Christmassy. This is for a little surprise that we will hope to be sharing with you very soon!
Music Exams: Congratulations to Terry who took his grade 2 piano exam, receiving a massive 127 which is a pass with merit. Also, a massive well done to Sharai, who achieved 118 marks in his grade 1 piano exam – brilliant news and well done to both of you. Thank you to Mr Holland, the boys’ piano teacher, you are a star!
Inclusion: if you would like to read the most recent newsletter from the Local Authority, aimed for parents and carers who support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), please go to this link on our website: november-2020-issue-4-final.pdf (primarysiteprod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com)
Au Revoir: it is with great sadness that I must let you know that at the end of this term we will be saying goodbye to Ms Spinks, a Year 4 teacher, who will be leaving us. Ms Spinks has worked at The Hayes for nearly eight years and during that time has been a committed and hard-working member of our school team who has worked tirelessly to ensure the children in her class and across the school have an excellent quality education. She has run extracurricular activities such as fit club, chess, etc and always supported children on residential journeys. After 20 years of teaching, Ms Spinks has decided to pursue a career change and after successfully completing multiple entry assessments, she will be undertaking training to become a train driver. We will miss her enormously and wish her the best of luck in her future career. To replace Ms Spinks, we are delighted to report that we have employed an excellent teacher called Miss Hale. Miss Hale is an experienced teacher who is very much looking forward to joining our staffing team in January and I trust that you will make her feel welcome in our school community.
Remembrance Day: if you would like to see our virtual Remembrance Day assembly, please click on the below link and scroll to the Remembrance Day section. The assembly is just below the photo of a whole school assembly which was taken in November 2019: Values | The Hayes Primary School (secureprimarysite.net) Kindness: this is something The Hayes talks to our children about regularly, as I am sure you do too. Throughout the month of December, we are encouraging our children to learn about and practice kindness with The Snowman and The Snowdog in The British Red Cross’ new kindness calendar. Times have been challenging this year, and we have all had to cope with a lot of changes to our lives. The British Red Cross is dedicated to helping create resilient communities, being kind and connected is an important part of resilience. Please click on the following link to access the kindness calendar which we hope will help children see the power and strength of kindness and friendship in supporting themselves and others in overcoming challenges and changes: https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-involved/teachingresources/the-snowman-and-snowdog-kindness-calendar
Local Restrictions: as you know, the current national restriction rules are still in place until 2 December and must be followed until they expire. After the 2nd, we will be in Tier 2 (High Alert). This means:
you must not socialise with anyone you do not live with or who is not in your support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place;
you must not socialise in a group of more than 6 people outside, including in a garden or a public space – this is called the ‘rule of 6’;
businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID-Secure manner, other than those which remain closed by law, such as nightclubs;
pubs and bars must close, unless operating as restaurants. Hospitality venues can only serve alcohol with substantial meals;
hospitality businesses selling food or drink for consumption on their premises are required to: provide table service only, in premises which sell alcohol, close between 11pm and 5am (hospitality venues in airports, ports, transport services and motorway service areas are exempt), stop taking orders after 10pm;
hospitality businesses and venues selling food and drink for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drivethrough;
early closure (11pm) applies to casinos, cinemas, theatres, museums, bowling alleys, amusement arcades, funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks and activities, and bingo halls.
cinemas, theatres and concert halls can stay open beyond 11pm in order to conclude performances that start before 10pm;
public attendance at outdoor and indoor events (performances and shows) is permitted, limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 2,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors;
public attendance at spectator sport and business events can resume inside and outside, subject to social contact rules and limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 2,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors;
places of worship remain open but you must not socialise with people from outside of your household or support bubble while you are indoors there, unless a legal exemption applies;
weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on numbers of attendees – 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies and receptions and 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies;
organised outdoor sport, and physical activity and exercise classes can continue;
organised indoor sport, physical activity and exercise classes will only be permitted if it is possible for people to avoid mixing with people they do not live with (or share a support bubble with). There are exceptions for indoor disability sport, sport for educational purposes and supervised sport and physical activity for under-18s, which can take place with larger groups mixing;
you can continue to travel to venues or amenities which are open, but should aim to reduce the number of journeys you make where possible;
you must continue to follow tier 2 rules when you travel to a tier 1 area. Avoid travel to or overnight stays in tier 3 areas other than where necessary, such as for work, education, youth services, to receive medical treatment, or because of caring responsibilities. You can travel through a tier 3 area as a part of a longer journey;
for international travel see the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel advice for your destination and the travel corridors list
However, during the Christmas season, up to three households will be able to meet up during a five-day Christmas period of 23 to 27 December, leaders of the four UK nations have agreed. To read more, please click on this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55064962
Above all, during this time – please do remain safe.
Christmas Lunch will take place on 16th December, please can we kindly request you indicate on Parentpay if your child/ren require Christmas lunch on this day (menu is available to view on Parentpay). Those children who are entitled to Free School meals will automatically receive a Christmas lunch. Last day to order is Monday 7th December.
If your child wishes to learn a musical instrument, please click on the link to apply via the Croydon Music and Arts website https://www.croydonmusicandarts.co.uk/music-lessons
Below, we are pleased to announce our achievement awards for this week:
Safari: Preston for settling into school so well and brightening our day by coming in in the morning with a big smile.
Rainforest: Mireille for wanting to independently complete class activities and challenge herself.
Class 1: Ayden, for his amazing effort and improvement in his writing.
Class 2: Summer-Leigh for using her phonics in English this week to write sentences. Class 3: Fabio for writing a great letter, using persuasive language
Class 4: Jack for always contributing in lessons and creating a lovely fact file about lions.
Class 5: Romeo for excellent concentration in all lessons. Keep it up!
Class 6: William for showing a real artistic flair when mixing water colour paints to make different tones
Class 7: Kieran for wonderful insight and explanation when giving reasons for the behaviour of characters in our story 'Miss Cockroach and Mr Mouse'.
Class 8: Chloe in Class 8 for being responsible and always trying to be the best that she can be.
Class 9: Caitlin, Class 9 for making excellence contributions in all lessons.
Class 10: Hugo for settling in so well to his new class in year 5!
Class 11: Mariah for successfullypersevering in her fractions work this week.
Class 12: Zoe for consistently working hard to be the best she can be – a pleasure to teach.
End of Term Dates:
11th Xmas Jumper Day (Save the Children)
14th-18th Head Teacher Celebration Events
16th Xmas Dinner/wear something Christmassy
17th Christmas Parties
18th Break up for Christmas Holiday (1:30pm)
That just leaves us to say, have a good weekend and stay safe.
Best wishes
The Hayes Team