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News & Events

13 September 2024

The school calendar is filling up with exciting trips and visits. This week, Year 6 spent Monday afternoon at Surrey University Research Park, learning about the wide variety of careers available to those interested in healthcare. The children learnt about the role of dieticians, radio therapists, music therapists, occupational therapists, healthcare assistants and podiatrists. This gave the children an exciting insight into a world of careers that they may not previously have been aware of. Years 3 and 6 had a very successful Buddy Day today, where they got the chance to know each other during a walk through the Chantries before stopping to play games and take part in nature art and team building challenges. The teachers enjoyed hearing the supportive and encouraging conversations between the Year 6 children and their buddies throughout the day - well done to Year 6 for being great role models! Next week, we’re looking forward to all the new children in Reception coming in for their first full week. Year 4 are heading off to Butser Ancient Farm on Monday and we are hoping for a dry day on Thursday for Year 4 and Year 5’s Buddy Walk to the Chantries.  

Thank you for making a real effort with the parking at drop off and pick up. You might have noticed that we have had visits from Surrey County Council Road Safety Officers and our Health and Safety Govenor this week. Whilst there have been some improvements, following a near miss last week, we will continue our strenuous efforts to encourage parents and carers to consider the safety of children, and to be considerate to residents.  We will continue to work with SCC to ensure the safety of all and ask for your continued co-operation by not stopping in the middle of the road to let your children out of the car, or parking on pavements, double yellow lines or the zig-zags. If you are not the regular person picking your child up, please could you pass this message on to other caregivers – thank you. 

The school is committed to ensuring the snacks children eat in school are healthy and do not contribute to litter around the school grounds. This is not a new initiative; however, the beginning of the school year is always a good time to remind the children of this and press re-set. Some suggestions of suitable snacks include: fruit, vegetables, savoury items, healthy muffins/flapjacks etc. The following snacks are not suitable in school: crisps, sweets, cakes, biscuits, fruit winders or other snacks containing largely refined sugars. In a bid to keep our school tidy and do our bit for the environment, we ask that packaged snacks are not sent into school. Please remember when baking, that no nuts are allowed on site. Thanks for your support in keeping us a healthy school! 

As you will be aware, the Ofsted inspection took place at Pewley before the summer holidays. I am delighted to be able to share the report with you; it will also be published on the official Ofsted website. The report really captures the essence of the school, with the pupils saying their time at school is ‘joyful’ and the inspectors saw first-hand how our values are at the heart of the school’s work. Being graded as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas is absolute testament to the relentless hard work of Clare and the team. Despite the challenges of last year, the happiness, welfare and provision of high-quality education always remained the priority.  We won’t rest on our laurels and have plans across the whole school to continue building on these strengths. 

One final note, as we seem to be having all four seasons each day, please ensure your child brings a coat to school, we love using our fabulous outside grounds! 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Vicky 

Thought of the week: We are all unique - Psalm 139 v14 “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”  

WHOLE SCHOOL

A reminder of school start and finish times:

  • Pewley Down (infants) starts at 8.30am and finishes at 3.00pm.
  • Holy Trinity (juniors) starts at 8.35am for Years 3 & 4; 8.40am for Years 5 & 6 and finishes at 3.15pm.

Dates for the Diary

  • 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

Keeping Children Safe Online & Mobile Phone Policy 

In line with the nationwide movement to protect children's childhood, at HTPD we are strongly recommending that children are not bought a smart phone while they are in primary school and hopefully for some time afterwards too! The more of the school community that agrees with this philosophy, the less of an issue peer pressure becomes and the easier it becomes for parents to say no to a mobile phone while their children are in primary school. As a school we are determined that we can reset children's expectations regarding technology and create a new normal, whereby children are free to enjoy rich and varied lives, build relationships and learn essential skills, without the distraction of smart phones. I have attached a useful one-page guide to this newsletter, with some useful tips for managing children's use of technology you may already have at home. 

It has been pleasing to see the numbers of children bringing a phone to school dwindle over the last few years to almost none. In line with our local partners at secondary schools, we have now reviewed our policy. Children's phones are not allowed in school unless there are extenuating circumstances that require this. If you feel this applies to your child, please email me (vickye@htpd.surrey.sch.uk) with an explanation of why this is the case. Any phones that are given permission will only be allowed to be feature phones (non-smart phones) and must be left at the office for the duration of the school day. Please note, smart watches with messaging or photography capability are also not allowed in school, even if these features have been disabled. We appreciate your support in this update to our policy. Please contact Tom Everard, our Esafety lead, if you have any queries or would like to discuss anything related to keeping children safe online. He can be reached on tome@htpd.surrey.sch.uk 

Infant

Meet the Team, Tuesday 17 September, 7.00pm: We look forward to seeing you next Tuesday. Please go straight to your child’s classroom on arrival. Meet the Team will be followed by Meet the Headteacher in the school hall.

Healthy snacks:  Children at Pewley Down receive a fruit or veg snack at morning break.  They only need to bring in a healthy snack (see Vicky’s letter above) if they are attending an after-school club

Menu: week 3 beginning 16 September

Junior

Dates for the diary

  • Monday 16 September – Y4 Butser Ancient Farm Trip
  • Monday 16 September – 3N Swimming
  • Wednesday 18 September – 4SJ Swimming
  • Thursday 19 September – Yr 4 and Yr 5 Chantries Buddy Day

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 3 menu week commencing 16 September.

Sports Fixtures:

Tuesday 17 September

Y6 Boys Football and Y5&6 Girls Football v Worplesdon & Boxgrove at Holy Trinity. The team has been sent out on ParentMail.

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

Thursday 19 September

  • Y5&Y6 XC at St Joseph's. The team has been sent out on ParentMail.

Friday 20 September

  • Y6 Girls Netball Festival at Surrey Sports Park. The team has been sent out on ParentMail

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.

 Notice for Y6 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 Thursday, 31 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 Council.

Other

Presentation on pipeline work in October on Pewley Down @ The Keep, Castle Street, Tuesday 17 September at 7.30pm - The HTAG Meeting will include a presentation by Thames Water contractors Galliford Try on the Pewley Down pipework to begin on 7 October.

The resilience water pipeline that has been paused for several weeks at the edge of Pewley Down is set to extend across the Downs from 7 October. Representatives from Galliford Try, the building contractors for the Pewley Down section, will attend the meeting and present details of how they intend to carry out the works. Many have voiced concerns about the impact of this work on our local nature reserve, so please come along to understand and interrogate the plans.

Flyers:

PTA

This is an HTSC update only. FOPS are still looking for a Chair, Co-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it last night to our PTA AGM and a huge welcome to our new committee members!

▪️Christina Hlinschi - Chair

▪️Paul Davies - Treasurer

▪️Catherine Cox - Secretary

We're delighted to have the Charity leads in place now so we can continue to fund raise and meet our commitments to the Charity Commission too.  They are going to need all of your ongoing commitment and support to ensure future events are a great success.  That comes in many forms:

▪️Lead an event

▪️Volunteer to support at an event

▪️Be a class rep

▪️Collect Sponsorship / raffle prizes for events

▪️Turn up, buy tickets, bring the family, spend some money and have fun with this wonderful school community!

We will be sharing the date of the first PTA Meeting soon - be sure to come along and share your ideas and offer your support.

Class reps / Volunteers - please do sign up here and fill those critical gaps - https://signup.com/go/kMaEFGj

If you didn't see the update last night, we were delighted to share that we raised a huge £10,600 for the school last year!  With that and the funds in the PTA bank we were able to donate some amazing new equipment for HT worth over £18,000:

A huge thank you to you all for your support in making that happen!

Also, a big thank you to the out-going team, Ashley, Vicci and Jen!  

As many of you heard from Vicky last night, our big drive this year is a furniture refresh for Years 3 to 5.  We raised over £1,000 from your generous donations alone last night!  If you want to support, buy a chair or table, or just pop in a donation, any time - head to https://www.pta-events.co.uk/htsc/ 

Many thanks,

Anne (your former Treasurer)