Newsletters

Please keep up to date with all the news happening in school at the moment and click a headline to read more.

• Week Beginning 7th January 2019

  Fri 21 Dec 2018

  Week Beginning 7th January 2019

  What a great final week we have all enjoyed. Congratulations to The Year 6 Drama Club and Junior Choir who performed in ‘How Christmas Came To Be’ on Tuesday evening. It was a wonderful performance showcasing our children’s amazing talents and levels of confidence and self-belief. Well done to all involved!

   

  On Wednesday we enjoyed our Christmas jumper day and a yummy Christmas dinner from Alliance in Partnership. In addition to an amazing pantomime ‘Cinderella’ which was very generously funded by our fabulous PTA- thank you, our children also enjoyed their end of year Christmas parties. Thank you to all those who donated food for these events. Well done also to our children from the older years of the Junior Choir who performed at a local residential home, it was very much enjoyed by the residents. So important for The Hayes to give to the local community.

   

  We also enjoyed Key Stage 2 singing to their parents yesterday after school getting us all in the mood for the seasonal holiday.

   

  Today the children and staff have looked truly wonderful in their Christmas clothes and fancy dress, a great start to our break.

   

  On behalf of all the staff we would like to take this opportunity to thank you so much, not only for the support you have shown us this term but for the very kind, thoughtful and generous gifts that we have received. We have all been spoilt!

  
  Coming up in 2019…

  *Monday the 7th of January 2019 is an INSET day and school will be closed to the children while staff undertake training.

   

  *The children return to school on Tuesday the 8th January. We look forward to welcoming them back and beginning our spring term.

   

  Some advance notice of upcoming events at the beginning of the year for you to put in your diaries…

   

  *One of our 12 days of Christmas Raffle prize winners, Finley, won the opportunity to design his own menu. On the 9th of January Finley’s menu will be on offer to all children. He has chosen the following options:

  Chicken or Veggie Fajitas with Rice and for desert Pancakes with ice-cream, strawberries or banana. Yum! Thank you Finley.

   

  *Our termly coffee mornings (where the class teachers go through what the children will be learning during the term) will be coming up on the following dates between 9:00 and 10:00 in the hall:

  Monday 14th Reception

  Tuesday 15th Year 1

  Wednesday 16th Year 2

  Thursday 17th Year 3

  Friday 18th Year 4

  Monday 21st January Year 5

  Tuesday 22nd Year 6

   

  *15th January: closing date for reception primary school applications. If you have a child due to start school in September 2019, please ensure that you have submitted your application form before this date.

  *18th January: football match scheduled for The Hayes V Christchurch. Will we remain unbeaten in the New Year? Fingers crossed!

  *Saturday 19th January: sponsored swim at Croydon High School, 4:30- 5:30 for children in Years 3-6. More info to follow.

  *Wednesday 23rd January: Class 9 assembly at 9:10am in the school hall. If you have a child in this class we hope to see you there to enjoy this event.

  *Thursday 24th January: Croydon School’s Swimming Gala at Purley Pool. More information to follow.

  *Wednesday 30th January: parent workshop in the hall by a company called Mathletics at 2:45pm. This is a maths programme that we have bought for the New Year which can be used in school and at home. It is great fun and very enjoyable for the children to use so please do try to come along to this meeting to find out more about how you can use this programme at home with your child to further improve their maths skills. It is suitable for and available to all children from Year R to Year 6. On this day, the children will also have an assembly where they will get to see this programme for the first time too!

   

  Our next break is half term and this is the week beginning 18th February.

   

  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2019!

• Week beginning 17th December 2018

  Mon 17 Dec 2018

  Week Beginning 14^th December 2018

  The last school week of 2018 is upon us…how time flies when you are having fun!

   

  Last week we enjoyed three wonderful Christmas performances from Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 who all showed how confident they were by performing brilliantly. Well done to all the children and the staff involved in these productions and thank you to all the parents who came to support these events. We hope you enjoyed these special musicals and nativities.

   

  On Tuesday evening, the Year 6 Drama Club and the Junior Choir (all of them) will be performing in their production of ‘How Christmas Came to Be!’ at 6pm. Children in the drama club should come back to school for 5:30 and meet in the Computing suite to ensure there is enough time to get their costumes on before the show. Children in the Choir should come to school at 5:40 and meet in the music room. They should be wearing their school uniform minus their jumper (it gets very hot in the hall under the stage lights!) They may also wear a Christmas accessory on their head e.g. Santa hat or antlers for example. There will be a dress rehearsal to the school on Monday afternoon. Hot food and drinks will be served by the PTA at Tuesday evening's Christmas performance.

   

  On Wednesday we will be having our Christmas Dinner. All children will be given a cracker on this day even if they are packed lunch. It is also our Christmas jumper day. Children may wear a Christmas jumper to school with their normal school uniform.

   

  On Wednesday some of the children in the Junior Choir will be singing at Acorn House at 10am to bring some Christmas joy to some elderly members of our community. Please remember to wear Christmassy hats! Also on Wednesday, David from the Croydon School Sports Partnership will be in to work with Year 6 from 9:30-12:00.

   

  On Thursday at the end of the day, the children in Key Stage 2 will be singing Carols in the playground on the raised area by the breakfast club room. Please come along to listen and/or join in at 3:00pm.

   

  Friday is the last day of term and we break up for Christmas at 1:30pm. On this day, children may come to school in Christmas clothes/costume/jumper or dress up as something Christmassy.

   

  We wish you a very restful and peaceful break and a happy start to the New Year. We look forward to welcoming you back to school on Tuesday 8^th January 2019!​

   

   

  From the office: 2019 Hayes Swimathon, letters went out to Years 3 - 6 via email on Wednesday. If children want to be included they must return their reply slips to Ms De Cruz by Tuesday 18th December. Swimathon is on Saturday 19th January at Croydon High School to raise money for essential works to the pool, it is a fun event and would be great to get many children involved. Wraparound Care invoices will be issued, week commencing 7th January for the spring term. If you have an outstanding balance due, please ensure this is cleared before the Christmas holidays. Your child may lose their place unless you arrange to speak to the office about ways of reducing any debt this week. Any more donations for the Salvation Army can be brought into the school office this week. Many thanks.

• Week beginning 10th December 2018

  Sun 09 Dec 2018

  Week Beginning Monday 10th December

  
  Coming up this week…

  We start the week with Breakfast with Santa. Those who have purchased tickets should join us in the hall for an 8:00am start. The children can look forward to a healthy breakfast, some festive music and some very special visitors including the man in red who may even have a present or 2 in his sack!

  
  Monday: your child will be asked by their class teacher to make their Christmas dinner selection. There will be two choices red (meat) or green (vegetarian) plus a variety of desserts. Every child, regardless of their lunch choice, will receive a Christmas cracker on the day. Also on Monday, the children in Rainforest and Safari will be delighting their audience with a wonderful Christmas production in the hall from 1:45pm. Tissues at the ready for what we are sure will be a great event. Monday is the last afterschool Infant choir session of the year, as is Tuesday for the Junior Choir.

  
  Tuesday: it is the children in Year one who have the chance to perform to everybody. The performance of ‘Hey Ewe!’ will begin at 1:45pm in the school hall. If you have a child in this year group, please do come along to support the children performing in this Christmas production.

  
  Wednesday: the children in Year 4 will take part in their last Soundstart session of 2018. Please ensure instruments are all in school. A few children in Year 4 will be decorating a Christmas tree at All Saints Church for their Christmas tree festival which takes place on Saturday 15th December if you wish to attend.

  
  Thursday: the school council will be meeting for their 5th meeting of the year on Thursday 13th at an earlier start time of 12:10 in the ICT suite. The children will be taken to the dinner hall for lunch following the meeting. Thursday also gives the children in Year 2 the opportunity to shine on stage as they present their version of Angel Express. This will begin at 1:45am in the school hall and we look forward to seeing our Year 2 families there…be prepared to be wowed!

  
  Friday: some older members of the junior choir will be performing carols at one of our local residential homes for the elderly, Hill House. They will be accompanied by Miss Slade and Mrs Yates where they will sing some carols and Christmas songs, bringing joy to the elderly!

  
  Finally, some reminders:
  I am afraid we have received complaints again from local residents regarding the inconsiderate parking of some of our families. The police will be attending the school in the New Year and issuing tickets to parents who park inappropriately. Please can we appeal to you to be courteous towards our neighbours and avoid blocking driveways which causes a huge amount of frustration and damages our relationships with our neighbours.  We know this is only a small minority of you and thank those of you who respect the law with regards to this matter.

  
  Dogs are not permitted in the school playground unless they are a working dog. Some children are frightened and for this reason we ask that they remain outside of the school premises please.

  
  It is the time of the year when we have a post box in school for children who wish to send Christmas cards. To ensure your cards get to the right people please can we ask that on the envelope you write the child’s first name and class number. If there is more than one child in the class with the same name, you may wish to also include the first letter of their surname e.g. Sally J. Class 1.
   
  Filming Performances – please see the letter attached.
   
  Finally, we are collecting for the Salvation Army who are extremely generous at this time of year in helping others. If you would like to make a donation, the items they are hoping to collect include: collection of Christmas biscuits; Jaffa cakes and chocolate fingers and savoury items; crisps, nibbles, toiletries; shower gel etc. Any donations would be gratefully received by the 14th December latest please.
   
  Thank you. See you all tomorrow!
  _____________________________________________________________

  Dear Parents and Carers
  Re: Videos and Photos during school performances.

  After much thought and deliberation with the Chair of Governors, we have agreed to permit photos or videos to be taken during school events. However, there needs to be certain rules.

  There are many reasons why taking photos or videos can be problematic. This includes the following under the GDPR rules:
  *confidentiality,
  *religious beliefs,
  *children who may be within the care system whereby sharing their image on social media may present a direct risk to them and their safety.
  
  We must make it clear that there may be performances whereby we still need to ask you not to take photographs or videos due to any of the above reasons; however we will ensure you have the opportunity to take photos of your child on stage after the performance.

  As you may be aware, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into force in May 2018. This Law amongst many things, states that schools need to get permission from parents to use photos and videos on social media and websites. We have completed this task but parents do not have the permission from other parents (should their child be in the photo or video) to put photos or videos of their children on social media. Therein lays the problem. The Hayes would be in breach of the Law if a parent puts on social media a photo or video of their child with another child who they have not had permission from. This would be the parent’s responsibility who took the photo, however, the school would be penalised and in some cases heavy fines have been given. This is the reason why many schools in Croydon have banned the taking of photos and videos during performances or events.

  Despite this, the Data Protection Act is clear and states that photos or videos can be taken for personal use as they are not covered by the Act, but only for personal use. We understand the importance of family memories and are therefore prepared to take an informed risk and trust that you will abide by the below statement taken from the ICO’s (Information Commission Office) website https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/schools/photos/ :

  The Data Protection Act is unlikely to apply in most cases where photographs or videos are taken in schools and other educational institutions. If photos are taken for personal use they are not covered by the Act.

  This means that you can take photos and videos but they are for YOUR personal use (a family photo album, or a video on the TV) and of your children. Under no circumstances can these be shared on Social Media (ie: Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc).
  
  If we discover that you have shared any images or videos, we will be forced to stop any photography and videoing from parents at any future events. This is an informed risk we have decided to take because we know how special memories are but I cannot emphasise how important it is that they cannot be shared publically. I ask you all as parents to also be vigilant here, if you see a photo/video of a school event go on social media, please tell the adult to take the photo off or come into school and we will deal with it. We do not want to stop this because of the small minority. I want to add, any photo or video that is on the school website or Twitter site, the school has permission for.

  We are aware that Class 12 were not allowed to take photos or videos of their assembly, this was before the above was reviewed. If we can get permission from all parents to video it, we will do this for you all.

  Here’s to a very exciting final fortnight before the holiday season starts.