Newsletters
Please keep up to date with all the news happening in school at the moment and click a headline to read more.
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Week Beginning 27th September 2021
Sat 25 Sep 2021Week Beginning 27th September 2021
Harvest Festival: thank you to all those who have donated food items and toiletries for our Harvest Festival, we have had an amazing response so far! We will continue to accept donations until Friday next week when we will display all of the foods and toiletries collected in our assembly and then transport all goods to the Purley Food hub. Our Harvest assembly will now take place on Friday 1st October 2021 and will be led by Reverend Elizabeth from St Barnabas Church.
Free School Meals: we are in the process of ordering vouchers for children eligible for Free School Meals during the October half term. To ensure that nobody misses out on these food vouchers, please can we remind you that, if you have not already done so, you should check your eligibility for Free school meals using the checker located here: Free School Meal Eligibility Checker (lgfl.org.uk). You could be entitled to some supermarket vouchers. We are unable to provide any families with a voucher if you have not completed this check. Don’t miss out!Cross country event: well done to all of the children who took part in the cross-country event on Friday. We saw real examples of children striving to live our school vision and ‘be the best they can be’. Especially heart-warming was the support and encouragement they showed to one another cheering each other across the finish line. Well done to the year 5 and 6 winners who will be invited to represent the school at the cross-country event at Lloyds Park.
Uniform: please can we stress the importance of naming all items of your children’s uniform including PE kits and trainers. We are very grateful to Mrs Gray (a parent) who is kindly volunteering her time to sort through our lost property box and return all named items to children in their classrooms. Unfortunately, she has been unable to return many items including a ladies size 10 Zara raincoat and a brand-new PE kit as they are not named. If your uniform is named, it will make its way back to your child. If it is not named, or collected, we will keep it for a half term and then donate it to the PTA to be sold as preloved uniform. Do let us know if your child has lost an entire PE kit (items 5-6 and 7-8).
Fashion Show in-class: well done to the children in Year 4 who looked absolutely fabulous in their most fashionable outfits today. The wearing of fashion clothes was the launch of their new IPC topic during which, the children will learn about fashion throughout the years…prepare for questions on flares and shell suits!
Mufti day for reading books: you may remember from the bulletin a few weeks ago, we asked you to check at home for any books from our reading scheme that you may have at home as our collection in school is missing a number of titles. Unfortunately, not many books have been returned meaning that we are still short of books in our reading scheme. Teaching early reading is an essential skill for learning and we want to ensure we have enough books in our scheme for children to take home and read. For this reason, on Friday 1st October, we will be hosting a mufti day where we encourage children to wear non-uniform items for a £2 donation. With the monies raised we will be purchasing replacement books to replenish our book scheme. This will ensure our early readers have decodable books at an appropriate level for their abilities to read at home with parents and carers. Donations for mufti day are via ParentPay please.
Reading: as part of our reading journey in the school, it is expected that all children read a minimum of 4 times a week at home. Reading journals will be checked once a week and a parent’s signature should be included. At the end of the half term, the children who have completed their weekly reading journals will receive their 'Reading Stars' certificate. Thank you, Mrs Randall, English Leader.Small world toys: if you are having a clear out at home, our Reception department are accepting donations of ‘small world’ toys. Small world toys are those that enable young children to engage in imaginative play and act out real life scenarios. Doll's houses, play farms and other settings inspired by the real world are classic examples of small world toys. Any Happy Land toys or similar would be gratefully received. Thank you.
Wraparound Care: if your child uses our wraparound care facilities and you have signed them up for an extracurricular club, please ensure that you notify our Wraparound care team that your child will not be at the afterschool club. You can do this by emailing them directly on wraparoundcare@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk . You can also let them know if you are collecting your child on a day that you would usually be going to the club. When they are not informed of changes to your usual routine, staff spend time trying to locate your child. This could easily be avoided if you notify them that your child will not be in attendance. Thank you for your co-operation. Additionally, if parents are picking up their children from afterschool club between end of the school day and 4:15pm, they are to collect their children from the foyer (to avoid confusion at the gate due to sports clubs). After 4:15pm parents are to pick up their children as usual – by buzzing the school gate. Thank you.
Reception Parents: we are so proud of how well your children are settling in to school life and it has been wonderful getting to know them. From next week, the children will take part in a baseline assessment (RBA) with their class teacher. This is a new form of statutory assessment that has been introduced to schools and you can find information about the baseline assessment here. Information for parents: reception baseline assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk). Please do speak to your child’s class teacher if you have any questions or worries about the RBA. As a school, we signed up last year to be ‘early adopters’ of this new scheme and as such, our staff are experienced in leading these assessments.Football Club: if your child attends after school football club (finishes at 4:15), please can we remind you that the coach will bring the children to the gate (to the right of the school), where you can collect them at the end of the session. Please do not ring the bell to be let into the playground earlier than this as it interferes with our afterschool club.
ABCD: Above and Beyond the Call of Duty, as reported last week, is a new award which recognises any staff member who deserves special recognition for doing something amazing. This week our superstars have been nominated members of staff and goes to Mrs Kioufi, for showing patience and being really supportive, by sharing knowledge and expertise with her colleagues and Miss Smallwood for preparing for, organising and delivering a fantastic Spanish Day – loved by all. A huge well done to you both! To see photos of our Spanish day, please click here.
And lastly… A message from the PTA
Hi all! We have some good news to share with you all. We have been given the go ahead to start organising and planning events again. So please keep your eyes and ears open for more information coming your way very soon!PTA NEWS & BOOKING SYSTEM - we would like to remind everyone/inform new members of The Hayes, that you can find all the information about PTA news and events by visiting our website www.thehayespta.co.uk and joining our Facebook page www.facebook.com/thehayespta. To be able to purchase event tickets and products, you will also need to sign up to www.pta-events.co.uk/thehayes (you can access via our PTA website and click on Product Sales and Events Tickets).
SECOND HAND SCHOOL UNIFORM - if you wish to purchase or donate second hand school uniform, please contact Alexia on: 07798 530351
RECRUITMENT - the PTA are always looking for new members to join our committee. We would especially love to see some dad’s join. If you would like more information, please email thehayespta@gmail.com We are also currently looking for an Accountant who would be able to check and sign off/file our annual report. If this is something you feel you may be able to help us with, please email thehayespta@gmail.com
Kind regards
Danni Harrington (Chair)
Thank you all! Have a lovely and safe weekend.The Hayes Team
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Week beginning 20th September 2021
Sat 18 Sep 2021Week beginning 20th September 2021
WELL DONE: we would like to start our bulletin by saying a HUGE WELL DONE to all of our Reception starters. The children have come into school so confidently and we are really enjoying getting to know them all. Next week, they start full time and we can’t wait to enjoy them for a little longer. Well done Mums and Dads too, we know that the first day of school can be an emotional time for parents but it is also one that engenders a huge amount of pride! If you missed your welcome bag from the PTA on your child’s first day, please come to the office to collect yours!RECEPTION OPEN MORNINGS: if you or somebody you know has a child that is due to start in Reception in September 2022, we are hosting 2 open mornings to which you are invited to attend (just one adult per house hold please) on the 21st of October and the 18th of November. These will take place in the school hall and will start at 9:30 am. Please use the link on our school website under the ‘News and Dates tab’ to book your place. All those in attendance are asked to wear a face covering please for the safety of all.
JEANS FOR GENES COLLECTION: a huge thank you to all of our families who supported our Jeans for Genes day on Monday last week. With your support we managed to raise £200 for this important charity. Your kindness and generosity are much appreciated.
SPANISH DAY: Spanish day on Friday was a huge success. Our thanks go to our Modern Foreign Languages leader, Miss Smallwood, for organising this event. The children ad a fun-packed day, learning new words and phrases with our native Spanish speaker, tasting traditional Spanish cuisine and wearing Spanish clothing. Our Spanish curriculum is now well and truly underway and we are excited to watch the children progress in this new aspect of our curriculum. Please click here to access our Gallery of photos on our website.
ADDITIONAL FUNDING: please can we ask all parents to check their eligibility for Free School Meals. Even though meals are free for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 we ask you to complete the checker as, if eligible, this generates additional funding that we can use directly to support your child’s learning. Checking your eligibility is a very quick process and should take less than 5 minutes. Please can we ask all families to check their status by using the following link Free School Meal Eligibility Checker (lgfl.org.uk) Thank you.
UPCOMING SPORTING EVENTS: Wednesday 22nd September is National Fitness Day. We will be challenging ourselves with different fitness challenges throughout the day. Please send your child to school in their PE kits to help to celebrate the day and enable them to be active in the challenges. On Friday 24th September, we will be holding a House Cup competition for Cross Country. Please send your child to school in their PE bottoms and, if you have one, a house colour Tshirt or headband. The Y5 and Y6 winners will be invited to represent The Hayes at an inter-schools competition which will take place in Lloyd Park on Wednesday 6th October.
MISSING: we are missing some of our Hayes Football Kits. These were kindly purchased for our school football team by Toyota - Jemca Croydon for our children just a couple of years ago. If your child had a kit at home for washing (pre-pandemic) and you still have this at home, please can you return this to the school as soon as possible. We are in the process of setting up our new team and registering them for a place in the league and we will need all kits back to enable us to participate in these events. Thank you.
WRITTEN STATEMENT OF BEHAVIOUR PRINCIPLES: The Board of Governors are responsible for setting the framework of the school's behaviour policy by providing a written statement of general principles relating to behaviour and discipline, taking into account the needs of all staff and students. The purpose of this framework is to give guidance to the Head teacher in drawing up the Behaviour and Discipline policy by stating the principles which the Governors expect to be followed. Schools are required to consult with parents and carers on this document and as such this can be found on our school website using the following link. If you wish to give any feedback on this statement, please email your comments to head@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk by the 24th September. Thank you.
IMPORTANT DATES: alongside this bulletin you will also receive a document called ‘Important dates’. This document outlines the main events in our school calendar for you to add to your diaries. We hope this is helpful to you and enables you to plan work commitments around certain events i.e.- nativities or sports days. These will also be added to the school website in due course. Some events are listed as TBC as it will depend on COVID restrictions at the time as to whether or not they may go ahead. Additionally, if you go to our website, you should be able to sign up for the dates with your mobile phone, the dates will then automatically be saved into your calendar.
HARVEST FESTIVAL: on Monday 27th September we will be hosting our Harvest Festival Assembly. Unfortunately, due to numbers this is an in-school event only but we will be delighted to share photographs of the items collected on the school website. From next Monday, we will begin to collect donations of non-perishable food items or toiletries such as shower gels, tooth brushes etc. These will be donated on the 2nd October to the Purley food hub who seek to help local people in crisis. Food poverty can happen to anyone at any time and we consider this to be an important opportunity to teach our children about helping those experiencing hardship and to be grateful for the food they have to eat. From Monday, there will be a collection bucket placed outside of school each day in which we encourage you to place your donations. Please may we politely request that you check the expiry date on all food items before donating. We have attached a letter from the Purley Hub that outlines the items they are currently in need of and we thank you in anticipation of your generosity.
CLASS ASSEMBLIES: we are pleased to let parents know that we are now in a position to restart our class assemblies to which you are invited. To those who are new to our school or those who may have forgotten, each class in the school leads an assembly on something they have been learning about or a current event and the parents of children in that class are invited to come and watch. This half term, the following classes will be leading their class assemblies.
Class 11- Mrs Sutherland -13th October 2021 and Class 3- Mrs Gourlay – 21st October 2021.
These events start at 9:15 and take place in the school hall. If you are planning on attending these class assemblies, please ensure you have a face covering to wear whilst on site and no more than 2 spectators per family.
SWIMMING: we have just been informed by the swimming school that hires our pool on Saturdays that one of the parents spectating accidently dropped a glass bottle at pool side. Sadly, our pool will now be out of circulation for at least two weeks because we will need to drain it, sweep it thoroughly, refill and balance the water. This as you can imagine is a time consuming process but a very necessary one. The swimming school apologises to you and the school for the inconvenience and when our pool is up and running again, we will let you know.
ABCD: Above and Beyond the Call of Duty, is a new award which recognises any staff member who deserves special recognition for doing something amazing. Miss Slade asked the children and staff during last week’s assembly if they would nominate an adult who is worthy of this award. It goes without saying that it could go to many, we have an awesome staff! On Friday, the award went to Miss Browne and Mrs Aamir for making sure the swimming pool environment is always clean and spotless (please note, the above accident, poolside happened during an external let). Thank you so much, you are both superstars!
That just leaves us to say have a great rest of the weekend.
Thank you for your ongoing support, as always.
The Hayes Team
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Week Beginning 13th September
Fri 10 Sep 2021WELCOME BACK!
Welcome back everybody. We hope you have had a great summer holiday and more importantly a great first week back at school. We have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming all of our children back to school and welcoming our new starters in Reception and across the school. They have settled well in their new classes and we are excited for another fantastic year of learning and fun!
POM POMS: many of you have commented on the beautiful display of Pom Poms outside the front of the school and we thank our brilliant PTA for organising this. We also thank the many children and families that have spent time making a Pom Pom. This installation is in memory of those near and far who have lost their lives to Covid - the flowers who will not bloom again, but whose memory will continue to bring joy to those who love them.
Please can we ask that children do not walk through them as tempting as that might be because some are getting a little damaged. We are still collecting Pom Poms and if your child wishes to make one, we will happily accept it and add it to the display. Please drop them of in the Pom Pom box located just inside the foyer.
STAFFING CHANGES: we would like to congratulate Miss Smallwood who has been successfully appointed as our Infant (Years 1 and 2) Phase Leader. She has over 12 years’ experience in teaching these year groups and has previously performed the role of a Phase Leaders, we know that she will make an excellent addition to our leadership team. We also welcome Mrs Noel to our staffing team who has joined our support staff and will be working in Rainforest class this term. Mrs Noel also has many years of experience of working in Early Years settings and we know that she will also be a great addition to our team. We trust that you will give her a warm welcome to our school community when you meet her.
EXTRA CURRICULAR CLUBS: we are now in a position to restart many of our extra-curricular activities, something that we were not able to do last year. Please view our website for a list of clubs available and information on how to register interest. For many of the clubs, you will need to contact the organiser directly, for others, please enrol via ParentPay. Thank you.
VACANCY: we are currently seeking to appoint a new member of staff to work in our After-School Club provision. This role would suit somebody looking for a term time only job between the hours of 3-6pm, Monday to Friday. Previous experience of working with children is desirable. A full induction programme and safeguarding training will be offered and you would be subject to enhanced DBS checks. If this role is of interest to you, please email head@hayesprimaryschool.croydon.sch.uk to express an interest and to obtain further information.
START AND END OF THE DAY: please can we politely request that you refrain from dropping children off in the playground before 8:45am. Prior to this, the playground is unsupervised and this places your child at risk. The doors are open for the children to come in to school from 8:45- 9:00am and this is when children should be arriving at our premises. Please can we also ask parents to refrain from pressing their face up to the windows to peek inside or banging on the classroom windows to gain the children’s attention during learning time. This is very distracting to our staff and children and we thank you in anticipation of your support in this matter. This week we have experienced this in Years 1, 2 and 4. Additionally, when collecting your children at the end of the day, please can we ask that you stand back towards the stage/field area. This makes it easier for our teachers to spot you and release your child. When crowds gather too closely it is very difficult for us to see beyond those who are standing very close up. Thank you for your support in this matter.
JEANS FOR GENES: as you will have seen from the separate school newsletter, on Monday 13th we are hosting our Jeans for Genes day. Your children may come into school in jeans on the bottom half but should wear normal school uniform on the top half along with regular uniform shoes. We politely ask that your £1 donations are paid via Parent pay as we are a cashless organisation. ALL monies raised will be given directly to the Jeans for Genes charity. During the morning, all children from Years 1-6 will have a special assembly to explain more about why they are wearing their jeans and how their donations will support those living with genetic disorders. Reception children are not expected to participate in this event as it is their first day at school and we know that the buttons on jeans can be a little fiddly for them to manage but they may, of course, join in if they wish too.
SPANISH DAY: on Friday 17th we will be hosting our whole school Spanish day to launch our new Modern Foreign Languages curriculum. Up until this year we have taught the children to speak French but following parent consultation, we will now begin to teach Spanish. To launch this new curriculum, the children are welcome to wear anything in the colours of the Spanish flag (Red and Yellow) or dress up in a Spanish costume (e.g. flamenco dancer, matador, footballer- Spanish) and they will experience a taste of Español at lunch time with traditional paellas (meat and vegetarian). They may also have a Spanish flag face painted on their cheeks at lunch time too. In addition, they will have a workshop with a native Spanish speaker, who also runs our afterschool Spanish club. We are asking parents for a small donation of £1 per child to cover the costs of this event and thank you in advance for your support.
MISSING BOOKS: please can we urge all parents to have a good look around at home for any reading books that you may still have following the school closures. Our reading scheme is somewhat depleted at the moment and we are hoping this is because the children may still have some school books at home. If you find any please return them via your child to their new class teachers…no questions asked! Thank you.
PE KITS: thank you to those parents who took the time to respond to our Doodle Poll on the issue of changing for PE. This was as a result of many parents requesting that we maintain the practice of children wearing PE kits to school on their PE days. Of the 249 responses we received, 203 (82%) of parents prefer their child/ren to change for PE at home rather than in school. Consequentially from next week, the children may come to school on their PE days wearing their PE kit. However, I must stress that this should be the full school PE kit as detailed below:
*White Shorts;
*White T-Shirt with school logo or Plain white;
*Plimsolls or Trainers (trainers required for outdoor PE sessions);
*Plain dark jogging bottoms;
*Grey sweatshirt (M&S- logo) or plain grey sweatshirt for cold weather.
Towards the end of last year, in some cases this was not adhered to and some children were turning up to school in mufti clothes or branded clothing such as Nike tracksuits. This is not acceptable and children not wearing full uniform PE kits will be provided with a replacement kit from the school spares and you will receive communication from the school to remind you of the uniform expectations. Last year we were lenient because we know that Covid made it difficult to get certain bits of uniform – this is not the case now. Thank you for your support.In requesting your feedback, we also had some pleas from parents to change our uniform from white shorts to black shorts. We are aware that most of you have already purchased your uniform for the coming year and, as such, we will be sticking with white shorts this year. However, we are happy to make an amendment to our PE uniform as of September 2022 when we will switch from white to black shorts. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback.
That just leaves us to say, have a fabulous weekend and stay safe!Thank you for your ongoing support.
The Hayes Team
