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 18th July 2022
Sat 16 Jul 2022Week beginning 18th July 2022
We cannot believe the last week of term is upon us! Where has this year gone?
Year 4 Trip: this week, the children in Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the Natural History Museum where they learnt so much and were excellent ambassadors for the school. Thank you to the staff for organising this trip and to the parents and staff who supervised the children on this visit.It’s Hot! As you will be aware, we are in the midst of a heat wave and next week is looking to be incredibly hot. We have taken a number of measures to keep the children as safe and as cool as we can whilst we face these high temperatures. As you already know, the children are welcome to wear their PE kits (shorts and T-Shirts) instead of their uniform if this is more comfortable for them. We have also purchased new fans for the classrooms and have put up some gazebos on the field to provide some much-needed shade. Classroom windows and doors will be open and blinds will be pulled down. Please can you help by ensuring your children have a water bottle in school (which they can refill as often as required) and they will be encouraged to drink throughout the day. You can also help by ensuring your child is wearing long lasting sun cream and wearing a sun hat. We will encourage children to spend time in the shaded areas only and will ensure there is an indoor area available for those finding the heat too uncomfortable. Thank you for your support.
School books: next week, please can your children/child bring a named carrier bag into school in order for them to take home their school books. These will be sent home by the end of the week. Please note that we need to keep a selection of books (4) and if your child’s has been selected, they will get their books next year.
Reading: on Monday, we are welcoming a Librarian to our school assembly to talk to the children about the summer reading challenge. This is a great way to keep your children reading over the summer break and reward their efforts.
Musical: also, on Monday evening Year 6 will be presenting their end of year performance. They have been working so hard on this and I know you will enjoy the show. Entrance is strictly limited to a maximum of 2 guests per child including siblings. Please do not attend with more than 2 people as you will be turned away. The hall is air conditioned and with limiting the number of people in attendance, we hope that the room will be as cool as possible and as safe as possible. All school age siblings will be given the opportunity to watch a dress rehearsal of the performance during the school day so will not miss out on seeing their brothers or sisters perform.
Leavers Assembly: on Wednesday, we will be hosting our Leavers’ Assembly to which parents of children in Year 6 are invited. Once more, this event will be strictly limited to 2 guests per child. Please join us to celebrate our leavers special achievements and memories of their time at The Hayes…tissues at the ready! In the afternoon, at 2pm, the children will attend a leavers’ barbeque. This event is for the children only.
Year 1 Trip: on Wednesday, our Year One children are heading out on their postponed trip to Gatton Park. We hope they have a fantastic time and look forward to hearing all about it on their return.
Class parties will take place on Thursday morning- please provide your children with a small snack pack for them to consume. They will not be permitted to share with others so please do not send more than they can manage themselves. You may wish to include a piece of fruit, a packet of crisps and a small biscuit for example. No items containing nuts or fizzy drinks will be permitted.
Parent Questionnaire: our Parent View questionnaire gives you the chance to tell us what you think of The Hayes, including: how happy your child is at the school, how the school manages bullying or challenging behaviour, etc. If your child has special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), we ask how well the school supports them. The questionnaire is the same as the questionnaire that Ofsted will give when they inspect schools. We will use your responses to help us plan improvements and to share success. Please give your views now by clicking here to help us improve further. The questionnaire will be closed on Wednesday 27th July. Many thanks.
Sal’s Shoes: on the last day of term, we are participating in an initiative called Sal’s shoes. Sal’s shoes are an organisation that collects outgrown but not outworn shoes to send to Africa to children in need. If you would like to support this initiative, please send any outgrown school shoes in on the last day (tied together) with a £1 donation to cover shipping costs please. More information can be found if you click on this link. Thank you for supporting this initiative.
Free School Meals: for those eligible for free school meals we want to make you aware that you are entitled to enrol your children in free summer holiday club (part of the DfE’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme). These are now live and available for parent/carers to book their children onto, across Croydon. Clubs are for 5-16 year olds and the link to book is here:
https://www.croydon.gov.uk/children-young-people-and-families/holiday-activities-and-food-haf
Many clubs are specifically accommodating SEND pupils and there are a limited number of free places available for non-FSM pupils who would benefit from this summer provision and may, for example, be looked-after, have an EHC plan or be at risk of exclusion. Please talk to us if you feel this could apply to you.Photography Competition: congratulations to all who entered our Photography Competition – so much talent at The Hayes! The below children won their section and I am sure you will agree the content and tone of the photos below are fantastic – well done children! Keep an eye on the website, your photos will soon be shown and they will also be put in a frame collage next to the music room.
Over the summer holidays, please snap away to enter our Summer Photography Competition, one winner per year group and can be landscape or portrait. The deadline for this is Friday 9th September, 12pm.To conclude the final bulletin of the year we want to say an enormous thank you to all of our parents and carers for your ongoing care and support. We are proud of our children and of their achievements and know that our strong home/school partnership contributes to this success. Thank you also, on behalf of all of our staff, for the numerous cards and thank you gifts that we have received from parents and children. Your generosity and kindness has been warmly received. We offer our sincere thanks. All that is left to say is have a wonderful summer, please stay safe and we look forward to seeing you all back in school on September the 5th. Please remember the earlier start time of 8:45am and the later collection time of 3:15pm. The children break up at 1:30pm on Thursday 21st and we wish them all and yourselves a very happy and safe summer break.
The Hayes Team
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Week Beginning 11th July 2022
Mon 11 Jul 2022Week Beginning 11th July 2022
Sports Day: what a wonderful week we have had last week, ending in a fantastic Sports Day on Friday. It was amazing to be able to welcome parents and carers back into school for this event and we hope you enjoyed watching your children participate in their events as much as we did. Brilliant effort and team work from all…well done to all. A special congratulations to Seacole who won the KS2 event and to Lawrence who won the event in KS1. The trophy will be decorated with your team colours in the cabinet until next summer. A huge thanks also to Miss Hale for organising and co-ordinating this event and to Mrs. Derodra for providing the children with an ice-pole. To see photos from the event, please go to the Gallery on our website, or click here.
Soundstart and learning an instrument: well done to our Year 4 children who performed to their families on Tuesday – only playing for 8 months, they played professionally and with panache. Well done to our Year 4 musicians. Please remember if you would like your child to learn an instrument, please do contact Croydon Music and Arts by clicking this link. Instruments on offer are: piano, cello, clarinet, flute, trombone and trumpet. If you would like your child to play the drum kit or violin, please contact the school office. Photos can be seen here of the concert.
New Teacher and Teacher Assistant: today, the children were given the opportunity to meet their new teachers and support staff for next academic year. They visited their new classroom and spend 30 minutes with the class teacher and support staff, getting to know each other. We will also be emailing a list home to all parents so you, too are aware of the staffing arrangements for next year. The teachers are in the process of giving one another a detailed hand over to ensure the transition is smooth for all.
New Reception Picnic: we are so excited for Wednesday afternoon where we will be hosting our new Reception starters picnic, we are looking forward to meeting the newest members of our school community. If your child is coming to this event, please ensure they are wearing sunscreen and a sun hat. There will be plenty of water available. The weather is predicted to be very warm on Wednesday and we want to ensure that we keep everybody safe.
Natural History Museum: on Thursday, our Year 4 children will be heading out to the Natural History Museum where they will take part in an exciting show entitled ‘Emergency! Earthquakes and Volcanoes.’ We are sure they will be excellent ambassadors for our school and wish them all a fantastic time.
Reports: on Friday, you will receive your child’s end of year school report. This will summarise their achievements from this year. We are so proud of all of our children, who despite the challenges of the last couple of years have shown incredible resilience and have been working hard to close any gaps that may have arisen as a result of school closures.
Statutory Test Results: last week, we received our Year 6 SATs results and are delighted to report that 87% of the children achieved expected attainment in EGPS (English Grammar Punctuation and Spelling), Reading and Maths and 72% in Writing. We remain above National Averages (NA) in all areas - this is a wonderful achievement and we are so proud of our children.
We are also proud of the children in Year 4 who recently took their Multiplication Check. Our average mark on this check was 21.6 out of 25. They did so well. Additionally, the children in Year 2 amazed us with 80% of children hitting the expected standard in Teacher Assessments in Reading and Maths and 76% in Writing – we do not yet have the National Averages for Year 2, but the attainment is above National for 2019, which is the last NAs we have, before the pandemic, so are assured we will remain above National again. It doesn’t stop there. Year One phonics results showed that 93% of the cohort passed the phonics screening check alongside 100% of our Year 2 children. AMAZING! We have so much to be proud of and we want to thank you, the parents and carers for your ongoing support and all of our amazing staffing team who have been involved on the educational journey of our children, all who are relentless in their efforts to help children ‘BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE!’
Goodbye! This Friday will be Miss Langan's last day in school. We thank her enormously for all she has done for the children during her time at The Hayes and wish her all the best in her new job. The final week of term for Rainforest will be covered by a mixture of Mrs Duckett and Mrs Farr to ensure that Rainforest have a wonderful final week.Invacuation: today, Miss Slade did an assembly about Invacuation and explained to the children that on rare occasions, it may be necessary to seal off the school so that it cannot be entered from the outside. Reasons are varied, but the assembly was focussed on the reasons such as: a swarm of bees, an animal that should not be approached, someone who was on the field that we should not be near. Miss Slade then gave instructions for an invacuation, which we will practice on Friday. This Policy can be seen on our website.
Changes to starting and finishing times of school day (from September 2022): as a result of the Pandemic, the Department of Education has published the Schools White Paper, a formal plan from the Government that sets out proposals for future legislation before being decided upon by parliament. One of the expectations is that all schools deliver a 32.5 hour school week, by September. In order to meet this expectation, from September 2022, all children are expected to be in school by 8:45am every day and school will close at 3:15pm (unless children attend a club or after school club. A member of the Leadership will blow the whistle on the playground at 8:45am and all children will line up on their line to be taken into the school by their class teacher and teacher assistant. Learning will then commence. If children are later than 8:45am, they will have to go into school via the foyer. Children will be released from class at 3:15pm – EYFS children from their entrance as usual and Year 1 and Year 2 from their doors. KS2 will come onto the playground, as usual. Please take note of the extension of the school day and please ensure that your child is in school by 8:45am every day. Many thanks.
Here’s to a great week, as we speed into the final week of the summer term, before we break up for the summer holidays on Thursday 21st July, at 1:30pm.
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Week Beginning 4th July 2022
Sat 02 Jul 2022Week Beginning 4th July 2022
Goodbye and Thank You: as we approach the end of the school year, it is with sadness that we must let you know that we will be saying farewell to some much-loved members of staff. Miss Langan has secured a promotion as an Early Years SEND advisor for Sutton Council. She has worked at The Hayes since 2015 in Year 4 and in EYFS and has coordinated subject areas including PE and Wellbeing. We will be sad to see her go and thank her for all she has done for children across the school. As Miss Langan leaves her role as EYFS leader, we are delighted to congratulate Mrs Farr who will take on this responsibility. Mrs Farr previously worked as our Early Years Department Leader prior to having her children. We are delighted that she feels able to step into this position once more. Miss Langan’s last day in school will be Friday 15th July.
We will also be saying a sad farewell to Mrs Sutherland (formerly Miss Booth). Mrs Sutherland has worked at The Hayes since 2018 and has taught in Year 2 and Year 6 supporting many children through their Statutory Assessments. She has also coordinated computing across the school ensuring that children had access to exciting opportunities in this area of the curriculum. Mrs Sutherland has taken a promotion to middle management in a school closer to home. We are sure that her calm and caring nature will make her a wonderful addition to any team and we wish her all the best in her new position.
We will also sadly be saying goodbye to Mrs Dobson who has worked as a member of our fantastic support staff since 2018. She has secured a TA position in a school that her own child attends. During her time at The Hayes, Mrs Dobson has worked tirelessly to support many children across the school. She has always been conscientious and hard working. The care that she has given to the pupils is second to none and we shall be very sorry to see her go. Our loss is certainly her new school’s gain.
Hello! With these farewells, we are delighted to welcome Mrs Knapman to our teaching team. Mrs Knapman has been working as a supply teacher for us over the last term and we are pleased to welcome her to our permanent teaching staff.
JTAs: well done to our JTAs (Junior Travel Ambassadors) who organised and announced the winners of the ‘count your steps’ competition for our Walk to School week, alongside the ‘design a traffic cone competition’. They certainly display our school values: responsibility, enthusiasm, co-operation and self-belief! Well done, children.
Here’s what’s coming up next week…
NSPCC: on Monday, the NSPCC are visiting our school to host workshops for the children in Year 5 and 6 as part of their Speak out, Stay safe programme. We encourage all children to talk to you or us if they have a worry or a concern and want them to know that their concerns will always be listened to and taken seriously.
Welcome: on Monday evening, we are delighted to welcome in our parents of our new Reception starters. Please join us in the school hall at 5pm where you will be given the opportunity to meet the teachers and learn more about life at The Hayes. At this meeting, you will be given a welcome pack and learn who your child’s teacher will be next year. Please remember to bring with you the full version of your child’s birth certificate. Thank you.
Soundstart Concert: on Tuesday, the children in Year 4 will be taking part in a Soundstart concert to parents. Please join us for this live musical performance taking place in our school hall from 2pm (please note change of venue), where our children will be demonstrating what they have been learning on their instruments this year. Only 2 adults per family, please.
Learn an Instrument: if you would like your child to play the guitar, cello, flute, clarinet, flute, trumpet or trombone next year (open to children from Year 2-Year 6), please contact Croydon Music and Arts (CMA) by clicking on this link. If you would like your child to learn the drum kit or violin, please contact the school office. CMA will invoice for any fees and our percussion and violin teacher will do the same directly to yourself.
Year 1 Trip: on Wednesday, our children in Year 1 will be going on a visit to Gatton Park. We are sure they will have great fun pond dipping and going on a nature walk. Have fun Year 1!
Sports Day: on Friday, we will be hosting our whole school Sports day that was rearranged due to the soaring temperatures. We are hoping that this Friday will be cooler making it a more enjoyable event for all of us! Parents of children in KS2 may join us from 9:30 am and parents of children in KS1and EYFS can join us from 1:30pm. When the afternoon event is finished, you will be able to take your children home from school if you wish to do so.
That just leaves us to say – have a great rest of the weekend!
