Dear Parents and Carers, 

What a busy and varied week! Fluffy Friday has been an excellent way to end this first half of the spring term! The variety of different activities on offer has been phenomenal (thanks to our wonderfully creative staff team!), and the enthusiasm of the children and staff has been fantastic. Everyone seemed to be learning something: perhaps mastering a new skill, perhaps making new friends, and some overcoming nerves and pushing themselves to face a challenge, even if that’s not being with their friends for an activity. We talked to the children about the importance of learning from Fluffy – it’s not just a fun day. It sometimes provides an opportunity to build resilience, especially if the activity you were assigned, wasn’t the one at the top of your list. Facing disappointment and overcoming hurdles as a child can be part of realising that struggle and difficulty isn’t always to be avoided. It might mean that future setbacks in life won’t be quite so catastrophic or traumatic. Thank you so much for remembering to send in £1 or making a payment on Parentpay. It’s proving a real challenge to stretch our funds in school and we’re so aware that every donation makes a real difference and secures future Fluffy days.

On Tuesday, we celebrated Safer Internet Day in school. This year's theme was 'Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from online scams.' The children joined online assemblies and learnt about the importance of keeping personal information safe. They also discussed a range of scenarios and how they could respond to them to avoid being taken advantage of. If you are interested in the topic, we've attached below four helpful one-page guides from the National College which outline some of the most common scams and how to avoid them - useful reading for children and adults alike!

The children in Years 4 -6 also filled out an anonymous survey to find out how the young people in our community use the internet. Some of the most interesting data collected is as follows:

• 70% of those surveyed felt they had their own tablet or mobile phone which had access to the internet

• 53% of those surveyed felt that they were allowed to use a portable device anywhere they want to in the house. 

• 31% of those surveyed had seen something online they felt was inappropriate for them and a further 39% were unsure if something they had seen online was appropriate or not. 

• 10% of children surveyed would not tell an adult if they saw something that upset them online. 

• 26% of children surveyed said they had received unwanted contact from someone they did not know. 

• Of these, 44% said that it made them feel uncomfortable. 

• 61% of children identify as a 'capable' or 'expert' user of the internet

With all of this in mind, we would urge you to remember that open and honest conversations about the good, the bad and the ugly of the internet are essential to make sure children feel safe and know what to do when things go wrong. Please also consider that there is no substitute for supervision when a child is using the internet. Using devices in communal areas at home is a great way to keep children safe. The approaching half term is a fantastic opportunity to review how devices are used at home and draw up a family contract if you don't already have one in place.  If you have any questions about anything to do with internet safety or would like some advice, please do not hesitate to contact our E-safety lead, Tom Everard. (tome@htpd.surrey.sch.uk)

Lots of sport news this week! Reception had a wonderful time at the annual Guildford Schools Sportshall competition. They all participated enthusiastically in the different activities including launcher, speed jump and beanbag throw and finished the event with an obstacle relay race.  The Year 1 Sportshall event was also fabulous.  The children enjoyed the adventure of taking part in a sports event and tried their very best.  The six Pewley teams did so well and two of our teams came first and third overall! On Thursday, it was the turn of 26 Year 5 and 6 children. This time the events were a little more demanding; teams were challenged across a range of disciplines, from high jump and javelin to sprinting. Competing against 12 other schools from across Guildford, our children performed brilliantly throughout the morning—securing the overall victory! They will now advance to the County Finals, where they’ll compete against teams from across Surrey. A huge well done to all the children who took part with such enthusiasm!  

On Tuesday after school, two of our Year 5 football teams played in a double-header match against QE. The boys represented the school brilliantly and can be very proud of their efforts. One match went the way of QE, but the other was a 13 goal thriller, narrowly won by HT. 

On Wednesday morning, a team of eight Year 5 and 6 children went to take part in the 'Trivia Showdown Quiz', hosted by Tormead School. The teams scored well through a range of rounds, including current affairs, sport, humanities, science and culture, as well as taking part in bonus challenge rounds like building a tower out of spaghetti! Out of 18 teams, we were very proud to see our team finish in the top four - well done quizzers! 

Also on Wednesday, Donna hosted a Lunar Party to mark the end of our Chinese New Year celebrations. The Chapel and stairwell at the juniors were adorned with lanterns made by the children. The children partied through lunchtime to music from various countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year and had to guess which country the song was from. A huge thank you to Donna for organising these celebrations with such enthusiasm. 

Visiting the Year 5 Space Science Exhibition was a highlight for me. Our young scientists amazed everyone with their fascinating demonstrations on light, space, and gravity. Their enthusiasm and creativity shone through as they modelled experiments, explained cosmic phenomena and showcased their impressive understanding of the forces that shape our universe. 

I did say it was a varied week, we’ve been ‘learning to live’ in every way! 

You should have received sponsored read forms from FOPS and HTSC. The sponsored read will run from half term to the end of our STEM book week, with the aim to replenish books and add new titles to the libraries. Your child should also be come home with a £1 book voucher for World Book Day, which can be exchanged in bookstores for one of the £1 titles, or it can be put towards the cost of a book - Happy reading! 

We have some staffing news to share. This week has seen the very early appearance of Ben Stackhouse’s baby daughter, Elsbeth. Weighing just 970g at 30 weeks, Elsbeth is likely to have a lengthy hospital stay but she is being well cared for at St George's. We are sending all our thoughts, love and prayers to Ben and his wife, Hannah, at this time. 

Following her recent engagement, Jonel van Schalkwyk will be leaving HTPD at the end of the Spring Term to re-locate to Sussex with her fiancé. I know you will be disappointed to hear this news; however, we wish her all the best with her next exciting chapter. We are pleased to announce that Danielle Stewart will be taking Chestnut class, full time, for the Summer Term. She is also covering 4B whilst Ben is on leave.  I am sure you will join me in welcoming Danielle to the school.

With the half term break ahead of us, I do hope that you have a restful and happy week at home or on holiday. Thank you for your continued support; see you all on Monday 24th February.  

Have a wonderful half term! 

Vicky

Thought of the week: What does it mean to be humble?

Whole School

Now for my repeated plea about parking, driving and traffic. Unfortunately, I have had both local residents and parents contact me about dangerous driving, parking across driveways and some unpleasant and, at times, heated dialogues. School pick-up is an especially busy time, please be patient and help us ensure the safety of the school community, whilst being mindful of our local resident neighbours. This also applies when picking up from after school clubs. Please ensure you are not parked on the zigzags or across driveways at this time too. I have been contacted by Addison Court (opposite the juniors) this week complaining that residents could not leave their car park there for 15 minutes when it was blocked for pick up from an after-school club or watching a sports fixture on Tuesday. 

If you live locally, just to forewarn you, local road works will start on 17 February, for 5 days, on the improvements to the Jenner Road/Harvey Road Junction, including installing bollards and a traffic island and reducing the two lanes going from Jenner Road into Harvey Road to one lane.  These are designed to calm speed at this junction.  On Harvey Road, they will prevent vehicles turning right out of Mount Alvernia, inhibit vehicles turning right out of Pewley Way, and prevent vehicles suddenly changing lanes at the Jenner Road junction. During the works, Jenner Road will be closed at the junction with Harvey Road.  Access will be maintained, supported by the suspension of one-way restriction and access along Harvey Road will be maintained. However, delays are likely. We are hopeful that this work will be completed over half term and complete for our return to school on Monday 24 February.

Dates

• Monday 17–Friday 21 February - Half Term Holiday
• Monday 24 February – Children back to school