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20 September 2024

It’s been another busy week. Year 4 had a fantastic time at Butser Farm and it was a real treat to be able to join Years 4 and 5 on their ‘buddy day’. We were blessed with glorious weather, and it was a real opportunity for me to see the Schools' values in action. There was certainly a ‘zest for learning and a love of life’. The haze clearing over the beautiful downs and watching some of our new children seeing the view at Pewley Down for the first time really was ‘seeing heaven in the moment'. 

It was fantastic to see so many of you at the Meet the Team events this week and last, I hope you found the evening informative. Securing volunteers to take FOPS and HTSC forward for this academic year was vital for the continuation of our community events, thank you to those who bravely stepped forward. At the end of the evening, parents/carers were able to buy a chair or desk to enable the continuation of our furniture replacement programme. Thanks to your generosity, we raised approximately £1000 at HT and £700 at PD, an amazing start to the academic year!  

Exciting news - We are delighted at last to be able to confirm that thanks to very generous donations, the school now owns the field adjacent to the school, and the school is now free to use it as a wonderful, environmentally friendly space for education, accessing nature, and experiencing all the joy that this can bring. We are so excited to give our children this opportunity. It has taken a few years to make this a reality, and governors are hugely grateful to Steve Britain (a former governor) for his time, and to Hamish Ferguson and Gordons Solicitors in Guildford who have done all the legal work for the school pro bono. The school's plans for the field and how it is to be fenced and used will follow in due course.  

Having shared Pewley’s fantastic Ofsted report with you last week, I am delighted to be able to share the following BBC article with you. It is wonderful to see the school's success acknowledged and celebrated so widely! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7ymxmkn7zo  

We are in the rare position of having a few Year 3 spaces available. If you know anyone moving into the area, please encourage them to look at our website or contact the school.  

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Best wishes 

Vicky 

Thought of the week: "Love one another; as I have loved you". John 13:34 

Whole School

  • Wednesday 23 October – Early Finish PD pick-up at 1.15pm, HT pick-up at 1.30pm
  • Thursday 24 and Friday 25 October – INSET days
  • Monday 28 October – Friday 1 November – Half term holidays
  • Monday 4 November– Children back to school

Harvest Fundraising

Following our first school council meeting of the year, our newly-elected representatives from each class have decided on our charitable fundraising focus for the term ahead. As usual, we're asking children to bring in items for a collection to be sent to North Guildford Food Bank on the day of our Harvest assembly, Wednesday 9th October. Suitable items include dry or canned goods, as well as cleaning materials and toiletries. Please send any donations in with your child to the chapel on the morning of the assembly. It's always wonderful to see 

The school council have also voted to raise money for a local charity called Home Start Guildford. This organisation supports parents in our local area who have at least one child under 5 years and who are dealing with issues such as isolation, poor mental health, sickness, disability, domestic abuse and difficult relationships. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, this can be done via Parentpay. Further details about the organisation can be found on their website: https://hsguildford.org.uk/

Thanks for your support in our fundraising efforts this year. 

E-Safety 

A big thank you to those of you who have fed back positively about our messages around keeping children safe online and mobile phone use. We are planning our first E-Safety focus group of the year and are keen for as many parents as possible to attend. Our first meeting will aim to find out priority areas for advice for our parents and carers, identify those in our school community with experience and expertise and make plans for the year ahead. Everyone is welcome, whether you are seeking advice on a particular concern, able to offer some expertise and insight or just keen to have your say in the direction we take as a school community. If you would like to attend the meeting, please register your interest by following the link below. We will try and build a consensus of when is most convenient and publish the date in advance. https://forms.office.com/e/AQFe6R4s0t

For those of you who were unable to make the Meet the Team evenings over the last two weeks, I wanted to make you aware of and organisation called Smartphone Free Childhood. This national movement aims to protect children from the harmful influence of smart phones, by engaging with parents and carers and encouraging them to join an agreement not to provide their children with smart phones until they are at secondary school, or older! If you would like to join the HTPD WhatsApp community for this organisation, the QR code below should sign you up so you can receive updates and advice from this excellent movement. The more parents and carers who say no to a smartphone during their child's primary school years, the easier it becomes for us all to say no!

Dogs

A gentle reminder that if you have a canine companion at drop off or pick up, please ensure they are on a lead in the roads surrounding the school sites. 

Infant

School photos, Tuesday 1 October: The Tempest photographer will be in school on 1 October to take individual photographs of the children.

Flu vaccination e-consent: A reminder to complete the e-consent form sent out last week via ParentMail. The deadline for completion is 4pm on Monday 18 November (vaccinations will take place on Friday 22 November).

Menu: week 1 beginning 23 September

Junior

Dates for the diary

  • Monday 23 September – 3N Swimming
  • Monday 23 September – Monday Mindfulness Club cancelled
  • Tuesday 24 September - Year 6 Football Club cancelled
  • Wednesday 25 September – 4SJ Swimming
  • Friday 27 September – Year 6 Wisley Trip

Thursday 21 November - Influenza (flu) vaccinations via nasal spray. Please complete the e-consent form by 4pm Friday 15 November, by visiting: www.surreyimmunisations.co.uk and entering your school’s unique code SR125288 . If you do not want your child to receive a vaccine, then please fill in the ‘No’ box.  Please see the ParentMail dated 11/09/2024 for details.

Lunch – week 1 beginning 23 September

If your child brings snacks or a packed lunch in school, please remember HTPD has a No Nuts Policy

Notice for Year 6 parents re Year 7 Secondary Applications
This is a reminder to the parents and carers of Year 6 children that applications for secondary schools close on Tuesday 31st October 2024.  It is vital that you submit your application on or before this date.  Please note that on-line applications are preferred by SCC, and e-Admissions forms together with further information are available on their website https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions

Should you require a hard copy, please e-mail schoolbooklets@surreycc.gov.uk or telephone 0300 200 1004. Paper copies should be returned directly to Surrey County Counci

Sports Fixtures:

Tuesday 24 September

Y6A&B Football v QE at Holy Trinity. The teams have been sent out on ParentMail.

Y6 football club is cancelled for those not playing in the matches

Wednesday 25 September

Y6A&B Netball v QE. The teams have been sent out on ParentMail.

Thursday 26 September

Y3&Y4 Tag Rugby Festival at Stoke Park. The teams have been sent out on ParentMail

Monday 30 September

Y6 Boys Football v Send & Burpham at Holy Trinity. The team will be sent out on ParentMail.

Thursday 3 October

Y5&Y6 XC at HT. The team will be sent out on ParentMail

DANCE AND FOOTBALL CLUB CANCELLED - Parking in car park

PTA

The new school year is now solidly "on" and we kick off with a new PTA committee, as voted in the AGM on 12th September. Many thanks to the outgoing PTA committee team for the tremendous job they did and the wonderful events they put on last year - Ashley (Chair), Anne (Treasurer) and Jen (Secretary)! 

The new PTA committee counts three new members, and they are eager to get started and work with the parent body and the HT staff, to continue together our community-building and fund-raising activities that help make HT such a brilliant place for the children. The new committee members are: Catherine Cox (years 6 and 3, Secretary); Cristina Hlinschi (year 6, Chair); and Paul Davis (Treasurer; years 5, 3 and R). 

We look forward to getting together with all the parents to define together ideas and plans for the year ahead! We're aiming to organise a brainstorming session where we can listen and hear from all the parents, on 9th October (around 7pm).  We will keep you posted as details get confirmed.

In the meantime, please get in touch with us at: HTSC@htpd.surrey.sch.uk

Other

This October half term, P4 Coaching will be running a GIRLS ONLY football camp. The camp will be held at Northmead Junior School, Guildford (for children in years 2-7).  Flyer below.

The Therapy Garden Holiday Club is taking place this October Half Term.  Please see the ‘Garden Explorers’ holiday club Flyer below.

STEM tech camp at Longacre School from 28 October to 1 November this October half term.  Camps are a fun and engaging environment to access impressive technology and learn the foundations of coding and engineering for 5–11-year-olds.  Please see the Flyer below.

Spectrum swimming - see flyer below.