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 31st October 2022

  Fri 28 Oct 2022

  Week beginning 31st October

  We hope that you are all having a fantastic and restful October half term. We return back to school on Monday 31^st October.  

  Culture and Diversity: before we broke up, we had a lot of fun celebrating Diwali, International Language Week (culminating in Spanish Day on Friday) and of course, the end of Black History Month. At the bottom of this bulletin, you can read a report about Diwali and in the next bulletin, we will share a report on BHM. Please see our website- gallery for photos of artwork and writing about the many Black people who have influenced our children alongside Diwali artwork, Flamenco dancing and many photos of various activities, taken between September and October.  A massive well done and thank you to Ms Smallwood who organised a fantastic Spanish Day on Friday – walking around the school, it was clear all were enjoying speaking to each other in Spanish. Additionally, all children learning the basics in Flamenco, led by a very talented Spanish Flamenco dancer. A great way to end the Oct half term.

  Football: well done to The Hayes Mixed football team who played in a cup match against Winterbourne. The team won 15-0, well done to all of our team and also Winterbourne, all of whom were great sportspeople. The scorers were: Darcy, Lilybell, Sam and Harry W.

   

  Here’s what is coming up…

  Secondary School Applications: firstly, a reminder that Monday 31^st is the closing date for secondary school applications. If you have a child in Year 6 and have not yet submitted your preferences, please ensure you do so prior to this deadline.

  Nasal Flu Immunisation: on Monday, the children whose parents have given their consent, will have their nasal flu immunisation. This will be administered by the school nursing team.

  Parents Meetings: on Tuesday 1^st of November, at 11am, the sign-up system for parents’ meetings will go live. This term, parents’ meetings will take place on the 8^th and the 10^th of November between 3:45 and 6:15. We shall be trialling a hybrid model in which parents have the choice of either a face-to-face appointment with the teacher or a virtual meeting which may suit working parents. Please bear this in mind when you make your appointments using the following table as a guide. All appointments must be booked via the usual sign-up system (see website/ParentTeacherMeetings). In person appointments will take place in our hall, where a 10-minute bell will be sounded to end the meeting and you will then leave via the doors leading to the car park. There will also be a one-way system in place where you can come into the hall via the foyer and exit via the car park gate. Please come to your meeting just before your time to minimise any crowding either in the hall or corridor. More info on this to follow.

  Tuesday 8th November 2022	Thursday 10th November 2022
  EYFS and KS1: In person appointments ONLY	EYFS and KS1: Virtual- online appointments ONLY
  KS2: Virtual- online appointments ONLY	KS2: In person appointments ONLY

   

  Open Afternoon: we are bringing back our Open Afternoons, where you can share your child’s books with them and celebrate their hard work. This will take place on Friday 25^th November, from 1:45pm. Once your child has shared their books with you, if you wish you can take your child home with you.

  Wellie Walk: on Tuesday, the children in Reception will be going on a wellie walk in the woodland area at the rear of the school to explore signs of autumn. It is likely to be muddy so please ensure that your child has her/his wellies in school and a warm jacket. If it is cold, you may also wish to provide a hat and gloves. If you have a child in reception and are interested in helping at this event, please do let your child’s class teacher know.

  Swimming: after half term, Reception will begin swimming lessons! Safari class will swim on the first Wednesday back (2^nd November) and Rainforest will swim the following Wednesday (9^th November). Please ensure your child comes to school on their relevant swimming day with a swim hat, towel, plain dark coloured costume/trunks and goggles, if wanted all in a separate bag to their school bag. No earrings on swimming days please. 

  Football: on Tuesday, our football team have a home match against St David’s school. Kick-off is at 3:45pm and we wish the team the best of luck #Bethebestyoucanbe.

  Coffee Morning: there will be a SEND coffee morning on Wednesday 2^nd November, at 9am in the breakfast club room. If your child has SEND, or you are concerned that they may have an additional need, please do come along to join us and meet with our Inclusion leader and other parents of children with SEND.

  Second hand Christmas jumper and Spooky cake sale: on Friday after school, the PTA will be holding a second-hand Christmas jumper sale in the playground and this will run alongside the postponed spooky bake sale. Cakes will be available from a cost of 50p. If you are able to donate any cakes for this event, please bring them to the school office on Friday morning. Thank you.

  Junior Travel Ambassadors: lastly, we would like to congratulate our new Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs) who have been elected from Year 5:  Polly, Terry, Ajwah and Lemar.

  Road Safety Week: starts on 21^st November and will include a Be Bright Be Seen Day on Friday 25^th November, when children can come to school dressed in their brightest clothes.

  Wishing you a very lovely rest of half term.
  The Hayes Team
  ____________________________________________________________________________________

  Diwali
  We are writing a report about one of India’s most important festivals. We are Hindus and we celebrate Diwali (which is taking place right now, as we write this report). It is one of our favourite festivals that lasts over five days. The word Deepawali means "rows of lighted lamps." It is a festival of lights and we celebrate it by having joyous fun!
  During this festival, people light up their houses and shops with Diyas. These are small cup-shaped oil lamps made of baked clay.  We consider it as a celebration of life and use the occasion to strengthen relationships – we are stronger together.
  In some parts of India, it marks the beginning of a new year- people clean and decorate their houses before the festival and do colourful rangoli artworks on floors. We get coloured powder and put it on our doorstep to welcome people. We can do any pattern we wish with any colour but usually bright.
  We celebrate Diwali over five days:

  Day 1: Dhanteras: this day marks the birthdays of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and Dhanvantari, the god of health and healing. People clean and decorate their homes and offices and lights are arranged. They also use this day to buy gold and silver jewellery. This is because we believe that Gods and Goddesses look over us, so we want our houses to look fabulous.

  Day 2: Naraka Chaturdasi: on this day, people celebrate the Goddess Kali and Lord Krishna’s defeat of the demon Narakasura to free the world from fear. Women and girls decorate their hands with henna designs. Families are also busy preparing homemade sweets for the main Diwali.

  Day 3: Lakshmi Puja: this is our main celebration day. We wear new clothes or our best outfits as the evening approaches. Then diyas are lit and pujas are offered to Lakshmi. We ask for her blessing for a good year ahead. We open our windows to let her in. After the puja, we go outside and celebrate by lighting up fireworks. Next, we head back to a family feast and family time.

  Day 4: Padwa, Balipratipada: Padwa is celebrated differently in different parts of India. This day celebrates the love between mum and dad. Our dads give thoughtful gifts to our mums. Lord Krishna is also honoured on this day.

  Day 5: Bhai Duj, Bhaiya Dooji: the last day of the festival is called Bhai dooj, where it is the major day. We celebrate our sister-brother loving relationship. In our family, the boys give the girls presents and are very kind to them on this day!

  Why not learn some traditional Indian dance steps?
  Click here, to see six-year-old Aishwarya with her mum learning some dance moves for Diwali! Try it out!

  By Kabir (Class 10), Arjun (Class 9) and Ava (Class 12)

  

• Week beginning 17th October 2022

  Sat 15 Oct 2022

  Week beginning 17^th October 2022

  A Massive Thank You: Wow, Wow, Wow! Thank you to our amazing PTA for organising our spectacular fireworks evening, last night. It was wonderful to come together as a community for this event and we hope that those of you who came, enjoyed it as much as we did! A massive thank you to the PTA for organising this event and to all the volunteers who helped and led stalls during the day. Without you, this would not have been possible. The PTA will let you know how much was raised, asap! Photos for this event can be found on the Gallery, on our website.

   

  Congratulations to our mixed football team who won their first match of the season, against Kenley Primary School, with a score of 5-1. Our goal scorers were: Isaac T (1), Lilybell (1), Darcy (2) and Seamus (1). Well done team, coaches and Miss Hale!

   

  Reading Meeting: on Monday, we would like to remind you that Mrs Farr (our Reading/Phonics Leader) will be leading a reading meeting in the hall, at 9am. All parents are welcome to attend but those with children in Reception or KS1 or those with reluctant readers may find this meeting most useful. Please do come along to learn more about our new reading scheme, Little Wandle, and about how you can support your children’s progress and love of reading.

   

  EYFS Grandparents’ Tea: on Monday afternoon from 2:15pm, the children in Reception are looking forward to welcoming their grandparents into school for a special treat. They have been practising their singing and have even made them a tasty treat!

   

  Culture and Diversity: on Thursday, we shall be leading a special assembly to celebrate the many languages that are spoken by the children in our school. We consider being bilingual a huge asset and are excited that some of our children will be able to share more about their home languages and cultures in our special assembly. This event will lead nicely into Spanish day on Friday. To remind you, the children are invited to wear something red or yellow (colours from the Spanish flag) on this day. We look forward to sharing with you some photos from our flamenco workshops, throughout the day. If you have not already made your £2 donation towards these workshops on parent pay, please can we remind you to do so. Thank you.

   

  We Want Your Pom Poms: the PTA are also hoping to replace some of the Pom Poms at the front of the school. If you are able to make some, please place them in the box at the front of the main office. There is also wool available for those who may need it. It would be lovely to have some red and black pompoms to display for Remembrance Sunday. Many thanks!

   

  Christmas Cards and Gifts: please see letter below from the PTA regarding Christmas artwork. Deadline: 31^st October. Thank you.

  
  October Half-Term Holiday: we break up for the half term on Friday 21^st at normal time. After school on Friday, there was to be a spooky bake sale in the playground, however, the PTA welcome donations for this sale on Friday 4^th November, combined with the 2nd hand Christmas jumper sale.
  
  Year 6: lastly, a reminder for our Year 6 parents and carers: please could you check your Year 6 secondary applications on PAN London, the closing date is the 31^st October. There are still some families who have not done this yet to confirm their spaces. Thank you.

   

  Have a great rest of the weekend.
  The Hayes Team

  ____________________________________________________________________________________
  Christmas gifts using your child’s artwork
  Dear Parents/Guardians,
  Your child will be coming home (or has come home) with information and a form for the Christmas cards / gifts. On the reverse of the form, if they have not already done so, there is space for them to draw their picture.

  All forms/artwork should be returned to school by Monday 31^st October 2022.  Anything received after this date cannot be sent on for printing as it would have missed the deadline. The date on the form states earlier but this has been extended to allow enough time for a masterpiece to be created!  All products ordered will be returned at the beginning of December. Attached to this news item are the pictures to help you. 

  We hope your child enjoys being creative.
  The Hayes PTA

  ​

   

  

• Week beginning 10th October 2022

  Sun 09 Oct 2022

  Week beginning 10^th October 2022
  Harvest Festival: firstly, may we thank you for the harvest donations that you kindly gave. We have received messages of thanks from Purley food hub and from the Whyteleafe Community Hub. Your kindness will support members of our local community in their time of need.

  DISCO: thank you also to the PTA for organising our fantastic discos last Friday. The children had a fantastic time dancing the night away with their friends while also raising funds for the PTA to invest in the school. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped on the night! Photos of this event will be on the Gallery section of the website, soon. 

  World Mental Health Day: on Monday 11^th October, we are celebrating World Mental Health Day and will be taking part in the #HelloYellow. On Monday, the children can wear an item of yellow clothing to mark this occasion and they will have a special assembly led by our Year 5 Mental Health Champions. We recommend a voluntary contribution of £1 to support the mental health charity, Young Minds. This is payable on ParentPay. Thank you.

  Year 2 KS1 SATs meeting: on Thursday morning, parents of children in Year 2 are invited to a KS1 SATs meeting with Miss Slade in the school hall, at 9:05am. She will be running through what to expect for the statutory assessments at KS1 and will answer any questions that you may have about these assessments.
  What are we learning? And Year 6 KS2 Sats meeting: on Friday morning at 9:05am in the hall, the same will be offered to parents of children in Year 6 with a KS2 SATs meeting.  Both presentations will be put up on our school website for any parents who are unable to make this event. For parents in Year 6, this meeting will also include the rescheduled ‘What we are learning’ meeting with the Year 6 teachers.

  PTA Fireworks! Friday 14^th October is the PTA Fireworks event, which starts from 5pm-7:30pm. Tickets can be purchased here: The Hayes School Association (pta-events.co.uk). All stalls and activities will close for the fireworks at 7pm and will not reopen, after. This event will close at 7:30pm. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Many thanks to the PTA and all helping for this event, we are very excited!

  Lastly, it is with much sadness that we must let you know that we shall be saying goodbye to three long standing members of staff this term. Mrs Ashby has worked as a TA at The Hayes for almost 25 years offering support as a class teaching assistant and as a 1:1 support assistant. During her time at The Hayes, she has supported many children as a whole class TA and also as a 1:1 TA. We will be sad to see her leave and wish her all the best for the future.
  We shall also be saying farewell to Mrs Bolton, our SENCo assistant who has taken on a new role of Assistant SENCo, in a local secondary school. Mrs Bolton joined The Hayes over 12 years ago as TA and then secured the role of SENCo Assistant. She has been an invaluable member of our Inclusion team, has supported many children as a TA and SENCo Assistant, including those with additional needs to be the best they can be; staff and parents. We shall miss her dearly but wish her all the best in her new role! Mrs Ashby and Mrs Bolton will be leaving at October half term.
  Lastly, Mrs Yates our Higher-Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) will be retiring at Christmas time. Mrs Yates has taught Music across the school and led many extra curriculum activities including Infant choir and recorder/ocarina. We wish her a happy and restful retirement, more about this nearer the time. Thank you, Mrs Ashby, Mrs Bolton and Mrs Yates. We are in the process of recruiting new members of staff and will update you as soon as possible.

  Free School Meal Eligibility Checker: we would like to remind all those eligible for Pupil Premium/ Free school meals that we will be providing supermarket vouchers for the October half term break. If you think you might be eligible for free school meals, please use the lgfl eligibility checker found here:  Free School Meal Eligibility Checker (lgfl.org.uk) to check. Also, for those of you who are not eligible, but may be experiencing hardship, please do reach out to us as we have a small hardship fund from the local authority to help those in need. We know that hardship can happen to any of us at any time and there is no shame in it. If we can help in anyway, please do let us know. 

  Reception Recruitment: an update for Reception parents. As you will be aware, we have been busy trying to recruit a new member of teaching staff for our EYFS team. We are delighted to let you know that we have been successful in our drive and have appointed an excellent new teacher to join our EYFS staffing team from January 2023. Mrs Williams is a highly experienced practitioner who is passionate about teaching in the Early Years and we are delighted to welcome her to the team. From January, Mrs Williams will take over as the full-time class teacher of Rainforest and Mrs Farr and Mrs Duckett will resume their job share arrangement (3 days Mrs Farr and 2 days Mrs Duckett) as class teachers of Safari. During this term, we will ensure that there is a thorough hand over between Mrs Duckett and Mrs Williams so she can hit the ground running in the new year.

  See you all tomorrow.
  The Hayes Team

  

• Week beginning 3rd October 2022

  Sat 01 Oct 2022

  Week beginning 3^rd October 2022
  Jeans for Genes: thank you to all those who took part in Jeans for Genes last Friday. With your help and support, I am delighted to report that we raised £246.00! 100% of this will be donated to support children and families living with genetic conditions. We are proud to support this charity and to raise awareness of the challenges that can be faced for people living with genetic conditions and consider it important to teach our children to be inclusive and kind to others, including those who live with disabilities.

  DISCO: a massive thank you to our PTA who organised a great dancing session last Friday. It was great to have this event back that the children love and it was really well organised! Thank you all.

  Responsible Parking: a reminder about not parking on yellow lines and leaving the engine running! Our children know this is not good practice as idling pollutes the environment and parking on yellow lines is illegal. Please be smart.

  Parent Governor: we have a position on the Governing Board for a Parent Governor. The role of the parent governor is to provide confident and strategic leadership, and create accountability, oversight and assurance for the school’s educational and financial performance. You’ll also play a vital role in bringing a parental perspective to the governing board, but you’re not there to speak ‘on behalf’ of the parent body. To be a parent governor you should have:
  *A strong commitment to the role and to improving outcomes for children
  *Good inter-personal skills, curiosity, and a willingness to learn and develop new skills
  *The specific skills required to make sure the governing board delivers effective governance
  If you are interested in this exciting role, please complete the candidate form at the bottom of this bulletin and return via email to Claire Slade, Head Teacher by Friday 14^th October 2022. If we receive more applications than there are vacancies, a secret ballot of all parents will be carried out. We will inform you closer to the time if we have to do this.

  Purley Food Hub and Whyteleafe Community Hub: our next community endeavour is linked to our Harvest Festival which is taking place on next Monday (3^rd October). Thank you so much to all those who have donated items to be shared between Purley Food Hub and the Whyteleafe Community Hub (the latter a new charity donating food and other essentials to Whyteleafe, Kenley and the surrounding areas). We will be joined in assembly by Reverend Elizabeth who will lead our Harvest assembly before the foods/toiletries collected are delivered to Purley Food Hub to help those in need. If you have not already donated and wish to do so we are happy to take last minute donations on Monday morning, before the start of the assembly.

  Books! Do you have unwanted books in good condition? Perhaps your child/children have outgrown them? The Ismali Civic are running a book drive called ‘Old Books, New chapters’. They are collecting unwanted books in good condition to donate to nursery schools, children’s centres, prisons, foodbanks and other community/women’s groups to assist those in need. If you wish to donate your unwanted books, please leave them in the box at the front of the school by the office, collection will be open until October 14^th. Thank you for your support.

  Our ‘What we are learning Meetings’ continue into next week from 9am-10am in the main school hall. On Tuesday 4^th October, we invite in parents of children in Reception. On Wednesday, Y5 parents and on Thursday Y6 parents and carers are invited to join us.

  National Teachers Day: on Wednesday, we shall be celebrating National Teachers’ Day. We are so lucky to have such a hardworking, dedicated team of teaching staff and wish them all a wonderful day!

  Vacancies: as you may be aware we are currently recruiting for Teaching Assistants. The closing date is 12pm on Friday October 7^th. If you know anybody who may be interested in this position, please direct them to our website Vacancies | The Hayes Primary School.

  Keep Acting! Also, a reminder that drama club begins for the children in Year 6 who have signed up for the club on ParentPay, on Friday 7^th October. There are still spaces available for this club and all children from Year 6 are welcome to join. We shall be working towards a Christmas production that will take place 14^th December and are also hoping to organise a theatre visit this term…details to follow!

  Spanish Day: please note a change to the important dates that were sent out at the beginning of the year. Spanish day will now take place on Friday 21^st October rather than the advertised, Tuesday 18^th. There will be more information about this event to follow from Miss Smallwood, our MfL co-ordinator. But the children will be in for a fun day of Spanish food, Spanish music and dancing!

  Reading Workshop: may we also give you some advance notice of a parent workshop coming up on 17^th October, at 9am in the school hall. This meeting has a focus on Reading and will be led by Mrs Farr, our phonics co-ordinator. This meeting is open to all parents but will be particularly useful for those with children in Reception and KS1 or those with older children that are early readers. Mrs Farr will explain our new reading scheme and be on hand to answer any questions you may have about how to support reading at home.

  Happy Grandparents Day: lastly, this Sunday is Grandparents day (2nd October). We would like to wish all of our children’s grandparents a lovely day and say a huge thank you for the love and support that you show to the children from The Hayes.  To acknowledge the important role that our grandparents play in our children’s life, our EYFS children will soon be sending home a special invitation to their Grandparents to come to school for a little treat…please ask them to keep their diaries free at 2:15 on Monday 17^th October 2022 and await their special invitations!​____________________________________________________________________________________________

  1^st October 2022

  Dear Parents and Carers,
  Re: Vacancy for role of parent governor on our Governing Board

  I am writing to inform you of a vacancy for the role of parent governor on our Governing Board.

  The role of the governing board: The Hayes school’s governing board is responsible for providing confident and strategic leadership, and creating robust accountability, oversight and assurance for the school’s educational and financial performance. The board is passionate about education and committed to continuous school improvement to ensure the best possible outcomes for our pupils.
  The role of a parent governor: as a parent governor, you’ll work with the board to make sure it effectively carries out the duties referred to above. You’ll also play a vital role in bringing a parental perspective to the governing board, but you’re not there to speak ‘on behalf’ of the parent body. To be a parent governor you should have:
  *A strong commitment to the role and to improving outcomes for children
  *Good inter-personal skills, curiosity, and a willingness to learn and develop new skills
  *The specific skills required to make sure the governing board delivers effective governance

  The board needs a range of aptitudes and skills to cover its responsibilities.  It is always helpful to have people who can work with quantified data, whether examining pupil progression or the management of the school's finances.  Professional skills such as in finance, or premises or personnel management, are useful too but paramount is the commitment to delivering the best educational opportunities for our children, sound judgment in decision-making, and ability to work effectively with fellow governors and staff in our shared enterprise. The board is keen that it should reflect more evenly the diversity of the community it serves, such as ethnicity, age, and other factors.

  Governors are expected to make adequate time available to prepare for and attend meetings of the full board and of sub-committees to which you may be assigned, amounting typically to 3 or 4 meetings a term.  In recent circumstances meetings have been online but they will again be held in person at the school when it is safe and practical.  Meetings are generally in the early evening during the week, with a session in school one morning at least once a year.  In addition, governors are assigned link roles to year groups or subjects and in normal times are expected for this purpose to visit the school at least termly and to report back to colleagues.

  It is essential that all governors including parent governors should exercise discretion in the role, should avoid conflicts of interest (including in relation to their own children), and should maintain due confidentiality of governing body business.

  Appointment is for a term of 4 years.

  How to apply: if you’re interested in applying for the role, please complete the candidate form attached to this letter and return to Claire Slade, Head Teacher by Friday 14^th October 2022. My email address is: head@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk If we receive more applications than there are vacancies, a secret ballot of all parents will be carried out. We will inform you closer to the time if we have to do this. If you have any queries about this process or would like to find out more about the role, please contact me via the email above.
  Yours sincerely,

  Claire Slade
  Head Teacher

  Candidate name:
  Candidate address:
  Candidate statement:	In this section, please outline: The skills and experience you have that the governing board requires Your commitment to undertaking training to acquire or develop the skills needed to be an effective governor If applicable, details of your contribution to the work of the governing board during your previous term of office How you plan to contribute to the future work of the board

   

  I confirm that I am a parent or carer of a registered pupil at the school and am not:

  • An elected member of the local authority
  • Paid to work in the school for more than 500 hours in any consecutive 12-month period
     at the time of election

   

   

  Signed: ________________________________________   Date: __________________________