Introduction
We've made it to the end of the first term of this academic year. School has seen changes in many ways, both with our environment in school and the curriculum. I really appreciate your patience over the last term while we start the foundations in order to make Holme School the best it can be. We have a very dedicated staff here at Holme who want the best for the children and this has been clear to see over the last term. We end 2022 with some festivities for the children (including staff and parents) to enjoy and embark on a new year in 2023 building on the foundations we have begun to put in place.
I would also like to thank parents for their patience with the staffing changes we have made this half term. I sent a letter to parents on the last day of term informing them of the staffing arrangements for the start of the Spring term after meeting with the governors to discuss and evaluate external reviews that have been conducted during the term. These temporary changes are the best arrangements for the children in light of review outcomes and the staffing I have available, utilising their skills in the best way possible. I understand this has caused some disappointment for a few parents but I can assure you that staff have been allocated to classes/groups in school where they have previous successful teaching experience and expertise in order for the school and most importantly all children to flourish over the coming months.
Please remember if you're not following our Facebook page, like and share for regular updates!
New Website Update
Our new website is currently being compiled with information from our previous site. We are hoping to have the essentials up and running at the beginning of the new term.
In the meantime, we will send any necessary updates by e-mail. Thank you for bearing with us!
English Workshops
Thank you to those parents who attended our Early Reading and Key Stage 2 Love for Reading Parents' Workshops. Due to technical issues, videos won't be available this time but we will put the slide shows that were shown and used on the English page on the new website.
Thank you to Miss Wood for organising and running these informative sessions and to Miss Talbot for operating the creche to allow parents to join the workshops. We will be running more sessions to support with your child's education in school during the Spring term, so please keep a look out on future newsletters for information and dates.
Curriculum
I would like to thank parents who have given feedback in our most recent parent surveys from parents' evenings. One of the questions was around us as a school making parents aware of what children are learning in school throughout the year. I can fully appreciate and understand the frustrations that this has caused for some of our parents but I would like to make you aware of our commitment as a school to have the best curriculum possible for the children at Holme. As mentioned in previous newsletters, due to unforeseen circumstances in school, we will do what we can to ensure that key elements are on our website from January. This will include termly curriculum letters and long term plans for this academic year. As the year progresses, subject leaders will be updating their subject pages to host more in-depth information around what children will be taught and when in their subject area. As parents, we hope you will find this information useful to enhance the understanding you have of your child's learning to complement the opportunities of coming into school and also seeing our fantastic work on Facebook. I would like to thank you for your patience during this time.
Parents' Evening
We would like to thank all parents for coming our parents' evening sessions in November for Class 2 and December for Class 1. We hope you found them informative and useful.
We will be holding another Open Book Evening session before half term in February and another Parents' Evening in March. We are also hoping to hold more open sessions during the school day where parents have the opportunity to look around school, see what we're up to and get involved with their child's learning. Please watch out on future newsletters for further information.
Parents Coffee Afternoon
Thank you to those parents who came for a coffee, a natter and to support school in how you feel we could improve and move forward in ensuring Holme can be the best it can be. As part of our new safeguarding procedures, the outer gate is now locked at all times from 9:10am to 3:00pm. Please don't let this put you off... ring the buzzer to join us! Our next coffee session will be at 1:45pm on Friday 3rd February (subject to change) before our celebration assembly and community assembly with Reverend Nick Heaton. We hope you can join us!
Celebration Assembly
It's been wonderful to see our hall bursting at the seams for our celebration assemblies that have grown in popularity. Miss Devlin has taken the mantle from Miss Talbot for making the weekly hot chocolate, the children enjoy the treats and a VIP chat with Mr Bond about their learning, and the trophies take pride of place both at school and at home. We're now on our second round of pictures on our Shine Bright Board, which just shows how proud everybody should be of the children here at Holme. Here are a few pictures of some award winners since our last newsletter...
FOHS will be supplying refreshments each week and we kindly ask that you make a donation as all funds go back to the children. All of our community are welcome to attend the assemblies outlined on the Key Dates section at the end of each newsletter.
Young Voices is cancelled... but there is more to come!
Unfortunately, Young Voices have got back to me and let me know that there is currently no availability for us to attend the Young Voices concerts in either Sheffield or Manchester in 2023, due to this we are going to have to cancel the plans that we had but fear not...
On the back of this and the popularity we had, Mrs Guest and Mr Piggott are currently discussing what opportunities could be offered for a Choir over the next few years. Please watch this space for updates from Mrs Guest, our Music Leader, as to what can be offered to our children in the future starting with Choir from January 2023!
Attendance Matters
At Holme Junior & Infant School, we fully recognise the impact of good attendance and punctuality on the success and development of young people both socially and academically.
Research has proved that any student with attendance under 95% is at risk of achieving a grade lower in every subject by the time they leave school. We expect all students to attend school regularly.
November Attendance Figures
Whole School Attendance: 96.5%
- Class 1: 95.3%
- Class 2: 97.2%
Well done everyone - Keep it up!
As you will have noticed the celebration of our school through Facebook shows just how committed we are at Holme to show the rounded education our children experience. Teachers will be updating our community at least once per week as to what is going on in their class and we will celebrate achievements from our week celebration assembly. I will also be updating Facebook with any further posts that I feel will support our school community. Give us a follow and a like and share with your friends far and wide!
Outdoor Learning
The children have had a fantastic time as part of their Forest School sessions with Miss Wood. Here are a few things they have been up to over the last half term...
The following sessions have been booked in next half term:
- Class 1 - 5th January and 26th January
- Class 2 - 12th January and 2nd February
Please ensure that your child comes to school on these days with the relevant and appropriate clothing and footwear for the weather as Miss Wood will take the children outside where possible!
Children in Need
Thank you to all the parents and children who donated to such a worthy cause! We have sent £23 to them in order to support children who are in need throughout the country.
Christmas
We have had a fabulous Christmas here at Holme. We have completed some of our curriculum work with a focus on Christmas, been to watch a pantomime, been to sing at Monkey Business, performed a Christmas performance at the Sunday School and sung carols outside The Fleece around the Christmas Tree. We also had a very scrumptious Christmas dinner made by our very own Mrs Crowther. Here are some photos of the joy we have had this month:
Dates for the Diary
Dates for the next term will feature in our January newsletter and on our new platforms.
As always, if you wish to speak to us about your child, please do not hesitate to talk to the class teacher and we will endeavour to help in any way we can.
Credits:
Created with images by MclittleStock - "responsive theme screen multidevices" • dizain - "Hand writing Curriculum with marker, concept background"