A message from Mr Fallon

We have made it to December! The last few weeks have certainly been a challenge for our whole school community. We have finally succumbed to bubble closures and the challenge was to ensure we had remote learning approach that minimised disruption to learning and continued to provide our children with the education they deserve. Staff and children (and parents!) have worked incredibly hard to engage with online learning and I have been blown away by the creative and inventive lessons I have seen across all year groups. I firmly believe that this approach will continue to enhance our learning beyond the classroom once COVID is a distant memory. So, as Christmas approaches, I offer a message of hope and opportunity. Hope, that we will soon return to a time where we can return to the hustle and bustle of regular school life, and opportunity that we can learn from the current situation and continue to grow our school community. I wish you all seasons greetings and hope to see more of you in the new year to come.

Best wishes, Mr Fallon

VIRTUAL LEARNING

We are absolutely blown away by the amazing work that has been produced by all of the children that are accessing online learning at home! HCPS would like to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH for all the hard work and efforts that have been put in by both pupils and parents. We are so proud of you all.

Mrs Burkill's and Mrs Miller's class have used their design and technology skills to try and make their own Viking long boats! Use the links below to see some of their finished products.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1329508438393688064

https://twitter.com/i/status/1329795666751737858

aTTENDANCE RAFFLE

On Thursday 17th December, we will be drawing the Attendance Raffle. The attendance raffle was a parent based attendance initiative that will be drawn at the end of every term. If your child has got a termly attendance of 97% or above, then they will be entered into a prize draw. One lucky parent will be selected at random and will win a £50 voucher.

REMINDER OF CHRISTMAS DATES

Christmas Dinner Day

On Wednesday 16th December, the children in Reception, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 will have their Christmas Lunch in the hall. The lunch options are; Roast Turkey with all the trimmings or Butternut Squash puff pastry parcel with seasonal vegetables! PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO OTHER OPTIONS FOR LUNCH ON THIS DAY. If your child does not want either of the options listed above, please make sure they have got a packed lunch from home. Children can also wear “Christmas Jumpers” for the day if they wish. Donations are welcome; all money raised will be donated to Bluebell Wood, Children’s Hospice. The cost of a Christmas lunch is £2.10 and can be paid via your child’s Arbor Account. However, if your child receives free school meals, your lunch will be free.

Christmas Dinner Day

On Thursday 17th December, the children in Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 will have their Christmas Lunch in the hall. The lunch options are; Roast Turkey with all the trimmings or Butternut Squash puff pastry parcel with seasonal vegetables! PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO OTHER OPTIONS FOR LUNCH ON THIS DAY. If your child does not want either of the options listed above, please make sure they have got a packed lunch from home. Children can also wear “Christmas Jumpers” for the day if they wish. Donations are welcome; all money raised will be donated to Bluebell Wood, Children’s Hospice. The cost of a Christmas lunch is £2.10 and can be paid via your child’s Arbor Account. However, if your child receives free school meals, your lunch will be free. Christmas Dinner Day

Christmas Parties

On Friday 18th December, all the classes within school will all be having their class Christmas Parties. The parties will take place within classrooms and we ask that children come to school in their party clothes on this day. We kindly ask that parents DO NOT bring any food donations in for the parties, school are going to provide the food. On the day of the Christmas Parties, children will be provided with party food for them to eat in their classrooms. The options for food on this day are Chicken Nuggets and chips or Veggie Nuggets and chips. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO OTHER LUNCH OPTION ON THIS DAY, if your child does not want one of the options listed above, they will need a packed lunch from home.

KS1 Nativity

Due to current government restrictions, we cannot hold a traditional nativity for Christmas this year, but the KS1 Teachers have come up with a plan to make sure that the children still get festive fun! Mr Clare has created a nativity advent for each day in December, him and the children have worked hard to create lots of videos to share with you all! There will be an advent video posted on Twitter and Seesaw everyday throughout December, so keep a look out for the first video today!

Christmas Plans for FS2

Mr Lickley and Mrs Gregory have got lots of exciting plans for the festive period! Please read all about them below!

We are well underway with our song practicing for The Nativity. The children with speaking parts are being sent home with their words over the next few days. If your child is sent home with some words, please practice with them over the next week as we will hopefully be recording the week after. However, don’t worry if they don’t know it off by heart. The Nativity will be available digitally in a few weeks. We will be asking for a donation for this if possible. We are wanting to raise money for those less fortunate than ourselves, so any donation you can give will be greatly appreciated (please only give what you can afford!) However, the performance will be available for everybody, whether a donation is given or not.

We will also be selling calendars of your child for £1 each. Again, all of the money raised from this will be going towards charity. We did last year and they were hugely popular Christmas gifts to give to family. Over the next week or two, we will be sending home a picture that will be used for the calendar so you can see it before you buy them.

As well as raising money for charity, we will be singing some Christmas Carols for the residents at St James Court care home which is situated next to the school. It has been well documented in the media, the struggles that residents of care homes have had without visitors and being able to see loved ones during the pandemic. So we have decided to bring some Christmas cheer to them. We will also be taking along some mince pies for them to enjoy. We will be doing this from their courtyard on Thursday 17th December in the afternoon. However, we would please ask for parents not to try and attend this due to current social distancing guidelines.

CHRISTMAS FAIR

Unfortunately, due to lockdown restrictions and government guidelines, we cannot hold a Christmas Fair this year! However, we would like to take this opportunity to ask you to support local business in the surrounding community. COVID had been a difficult time for everyone but it has been especially difficult for small business owners, so we would like you to help them out as much as possible! We have attached a list of local businesses in the area that you can visit over the festive period!

Festive Updates

HCPS have had a festive visitor this week and we would love it if you could follow him on his journey! If you scan the QR Code on the image above, you can see what exciting and mischievous things our elf has been up to! You will also find lots of Christmas themed activities for you to complete!

Magic Breakfast

The children in Fun Club had lots of fun building a den with all of the boxes from the Magic Breakfast delivery! Your child will receive a box of cereal and a packet of bagels on a fortnightly basis! If you would like some more information, please visit the Magic Breakfast website.

https://www.magicbreakfast.com/

CHILDREN IN NEED

Class 9 supported Joe Wicks on his final 20 minutes of his 24 Hour workout! Use the link below to watch them in action.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1327179386261544960

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO AT HCPS?

Miss Younger and her Nursery children ventured up to the main hall and did some Zumba! Check out the link below to see their Zumba!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1327187324246093825