Week Beginning 7th March
Week Beginning 7th March 2022
Book Week: What a wonderful week we have had in school celebrating Book Week. The children looked absolutely fantastic in their costumes on Thursday. Please click on this link to access collages of the day, including our Book Cake Bake. These can be found on our Gallery, on our website and also on our Twitter account, where you will also find a few masked readers – can you tell how they are?!
At The Hayes we massively value the importance of reading and know that developing this key skill opens the door to so many other areas of learning. Please do find time to listen to your child/ren read and to read to them as much as you can to inspire that love of learning. It is also good for them to see you reading in different contexts, for work, for pleasure, recipes, instructions, etc as this models the importance of this key skill.
On Friday we enjoyed some fantastic dance and drama workshops from Boom Arts Academy. The children had a great time acting and dancing with a zoo theme. We were also blown away by the amazing entries to the cake decorating competition, such talented and generous bakers and, thanks to your generosity, we raised a whopping £230 for new books for our class book corners. THANK YOU!
Parent Governor: we would like to thank all those who put their name forward and took the time to complete candidate statements, and those of you who voted in the recent parent governor election. On this occasion, we would like to extend our congratulations to Leyla Dey, who received the most votes and was successfully nominated as Parent Governor. Well done to all and thank you again!
RND: Red Nose Day is coming on 18th March. Whatever you give, no matter how small, you can help people live free from poverty, violence and discrimination. This includes funding organisations that are supporting people right now in Ukraine, and those attempting to cross the border. You have the power to make a difference to the lives of millions across the UK and around the world. Together, we can change lives.
Very soon, you will be informed what your child’s class has chosen for a sponsorship activity and then please click on this link and let fundraising begin!
On the day (Friday 18th), we will be fundraising by wearing something funny or red, if your child wishes to do this, please drop £1 into our Just Giving Page. The link will take you there, directly.
Many, many thanks in advance!
Parents Evening: will take place, week beginning 21st March from Monday-Thursday. Next week we will let you know which days each teacher will be available and provide information on how to book your appointment. Please note, there will be no before or after school boosters taking place this week.
Lexia/ Touch typing club: we are pleased to let you know that as of Monday our Lexia and touch-typing clubs will resume. These clubs are by invitation only and will take place before school in Class 11 as they did previously. We look forward to seeing your children there.
PTA AGM: The PTA are holding their Annual General Meeting on Monday 7th March at 1:30pm. This will be via zoom and all parents are welcome to join virtually. If you wish to come along please use the following link to sign in:
[https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9887112422?pwd=QmFIZUdrcWtLNjhjekNRVHR6R2lkZz09]
Meeting ID: 988 711 2422
Passcode: cqt9SH
Mothers’ Day Gift Room: the PTA will be holding their Mother’s Day gift room between 12 and 1pm during the week beginning 21st -25th March. This is an event that allows parents to purchase a ticket online (£3 each) which enables their child/ren to choose and wrap a surprise present to bring home to their mums (or any other important female loved one) for Mother’s day surprise. Tickets are on sale now at www.thehayespta.co.uk if you would like to pay for your child to attend the Mother’s Day gift room.
Share Your Creativity in the Great Outdoors Photography Competition
A reminder that our Great Outdoors Seasonal photography competition deadline is nearly upon us: Wednesday 9th March. So, get out in the great outdoors and enjoy the wonders of nature and wildlife around us!
What to do: take a photograph that celebrates winter. Photos should feature landscape or portrait photographs of natural settings. It can be of wildlife, woodland, seascape – of anything that depicts winter at its finest.
Equipment: the photo can be taken on a tablet, phone or camera.
Winners: there will be one winner from each class, from EYFS, KS1, lower KS2 and upper KS2.
Prizes: winning photos will take pride of place in our news bulletin, website and Twitter pages. The winning photos will be displayed in a large frame in the school corridor in the form of a collage.
Terms and Conditions
*Photograph to be taken by a child (not adult) on either a camera, tablet or smart phone.
*One entry per child.
*Photo to have a title.
*Entrants email to Mrs Staines: wstaines.306@lgflmail.org who is the administrator for this exciting, new competition.
*With entries (jpg), please state name of child and class.
*Closing date: Wednesday 9th March, 12pm
*Judges: our School Council, Governors and Miss Slade.
Travel Week: we have another active travel week coming up this half term (Week of 21st-25th March) during this week we shall be holding ‘The Big Walk’ and ‘Wheel week’. During this week the classes will be timetabled to bring in their scooters or bikes and they will be involved in an activity using them during the day (on the playground) and are being encouraged to ‘bling’ them as part of a class parade where they stand to win a class prize. More info to follow shortly from Mrs Draper.
Ukraine and Russia: many of us will have been watching events in the news with a mixture of shock and horror and we know that some of the footage coming out of Ukraine on the news or in social media may be taking a toll on us. Some of the children have mentioned this conflict in school and, as such, we wanted to share with you some materials that you could use to talk to your children about what is happening. Firstly, the Mental Health organisation ‘Young Minds’ has a parents’ blog with useful advice and tips on talking to young children about the conflict which can be found here How To Talk To Your Child About The War In Ukraine | YoungMinds. Additionally, our Local Authority Education Psychology service have prepared some useful links that you may wish to refer to (see below). Our love and support goes to those who are being affected right now and we keep them in our thoughts as we hope to a speedy end to the conflict.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
The Hayes Team
Useful resources/links to help children and young people to understand the war on Ukraine and to address worries.
*Guidelines for school staff and parents on helping children and young people deal with fears and anxiety about war, conflict and frightening world events.
https://www.octavopartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Helping-children-to-deal-with-fears-and-anxiety-about-conflict-war-and-frightening-world-events.pdf
Russia & Ukraine story | Climbing the rainbow
*Support to explain the difficult concepts associated with the conflict – news delivery designed for children and young people and provided by Newsround: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround#more-stories-2
*Advice for children and young people if they are upset by the news – provided by Newsround: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/13865002
*The government have also posted some guidance on the government’s Education Hub: Help for teachers and families to talk to pupils about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how to help them avoid misinformation. - The Education Hub (blog.gov.uk)
*Child Bereavement UK: Supporting a child after a frightening event. A short film sharing ways adults can support children who are worried about frightening events reported in the media.
See below for recently posted tips for talking with children:
Save the Children share five tools that caregivers can use to approach the conversation with children:
1. Make time and listen when your child wants to talk: Give children the space to tell you what they know, how they feel and to ask you questions. They may have formed a completely different picture of the situation than you have. Take the time to listen to what they think, and what they have seen or heard.
2. Tailor the conversation to the child: Be mindful of the child’s age as you approach the conversation with them. Young children may not understand what conflict or war means and require an age-appropriate explanation. Be careful not to over-explain the situation or go into too much detail as this can make children unnecessarily anxious. Younger children may be satisfied just by understanding that sometimes countries fight. Older children are more likely to understand what war means but may still benefit from talking with you about the situation. In fact, older children will often be more concerned by talk of war because they tend to understand the dangers better than younger children do.
3. Validate their feelings: It is important that children feel supported in the conversation. They should not feel judged or have their concerns dismissed. When children have the chance to have an open and honest conversation about things upsetting them, it can create a sense of relief and safety.
4. Reassure them that adults all over the world are working hard to resolve this: Remind children that this is not their problem to solve. They should not feel guilty about playing, seeing their friends, and doing the things that make them happy. Stay calm when you approach the conversation. Children often copy the sentiments of their caregivers – if you are uneasy about the situation, chances are your child will be uneasy as well.
5. Give them a practical way to help: Support children who want to help. Children who have the opportunity to help those affected by the conflict can feel like they are part of the solution. Children can create fundraisers, send letters to local decision-makers or create drawings calling for peace.
*How to talk to children about Russia invading Ukraine in an honest but reassuring way: article by Kasia Delgado, ‘i’ newspaper 25.02.22
-Be honest – be aware of misinformation
-Try to seem calm even if you don’t feel it – be aware of overhearing
-Listen to children – acknowledge and validate feelings
-Don’t bring it up if children seem uninterested – watch and wait
-Maintaining normality helps children to feel secure if the world seems chaotic.
Collated by the Croydon Educational Psychology Service February 2022