Newsletter

PTA House Point Jars Competition

There is still time if you would like to contribute to the PTA House point jars competition. Win house points for your house by entering the competition. Bring in a jar, cup or covered pot filled with small toys and/or sweets, with your name and House written underneath. Each entry will get 5 house points and the 5 best entries will get an extra 10 house points! Bring these in to the office as soon as possible. The filled jars will be used on a stall at the Christmas Fair. The PTA have had some really lovely jars and pots given in over the last two weeks, and have been keeping a tally to see which team will get the most house points.

Attendance is part of Safeguarding

A reminder that the new statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools in England has been updated with the decision that being absent from education can be a warning sign of a range of safeguarding concerns, including sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation. Children who are absent from education refers to children who are registered pupils at a school but not attending regularly. This includes persistently absent pupils (who are absent 10 percent or more of the time from school) or severely absent pupils (who are absent 50 percent or more of the time). Schools are required to put in place appropriate safeguarding responses for pupils who become absent from education, particularly on repeat occasions and/or for prolonged periods. Children with attendance of 90% or less will need to be referred to the Barnet Educational Welfare Officer.

Parent workshop – Marking & Feedback

Marking and feedback is a crucial part of teaching and learning; it is how we assess pupils’ understanding, decide on next steps, address misconceptions and celebrate their successes. If you would like to understand Holly Park’s marking policy and to know more about the range of strategies and processes that we have in place to support pupils’ learning, then please come to a presentation Ms Sampson is giving on Monday 1st December at 9am.

Primary Maths Challenge

The Primary Maths Challenge (PMC) is a mathematical competition created by The Mathematical Association for primary school pupils in years 4 to 6, designed to encourage enthusiasm and logical reasoning rather than just formal curriculum knowledge. The challenge isn’t easy and is designed for the most able mathematicians. Questions are designed to be logical and not heavily reliant on formal curriculum knowledge, encouraging students to think creatively. Certificates are given for participation, and gold, silver, and bronze certificates are awarded to top scorers in each school. A second, invite-only round is available for high-scoring students, which has a similar format to the main challenge but is designed to be more challenging. We await to hear who has been selected (If anyone) for entry into the next round. Huge congratulations to Franco who was the highest scoring pupil at Holly Park.

PTA Jazzy Jumper Day

Jazzy Jumper Day will be Monday 1st December. In return for wearing a Jazzy Jumper, the PTA would be delighted if children could bring in Christmas Chocolates for the chocolate tombola.

PTA Christmas Fair

The Christmas fair will be after school on Friday 5th December. Please save the date. If you are able to volunteer with the set up that afternoon. The PTA still need a few helpers for the hour of the fair, both parents and some year 5/6 pupils to run the games.

Christmas Lunch

Christmas lunch day will be on Wednesday 10th December. Children are allowed to wear their jazzy jumpers again on this day if they wish.

PTA Christmas Shop

The PTA Christmas shop will be open on the mornings of 15th and 16th December. This is an opportunity for children to secretly buy gifts for parents or carers while they are at school. Look out for more information about signing up to this from the PTA.

Holly Park Chess Team

Six children from the lunchtime chess club at Holly Park took part in the – London Junior Team Championships 2025 – Under 11. There were six rounds of chess for each school to compete in. Holly Park School came 6th Place in the competition out of 24 schools. The other schools were mainly private schools, from all over the South of England! The chess teacher is rightly very proud of them as they are constantly performing well. Look out for a flier next week if you would like your child to join chess club in January.

Attendance

Whole school attendance for the last week was 96% Well done to Year 5 Maple Class with the best attendance at 99%.

Dates

Monday 1st December Meeting for all parents: Addressing Misconceptions – Marking and Feedback
Monday 1st December Decorations Day
Friday 5th December Reading meeting for Reception parents at 9am
Tuesday 9th December Nativity Dress Rehearsal
Tuesday 9th December Nursery stay and play for new children 4-5pm
Wednesday 10th December Christmas Lunch
Thursday 11th December Y3 Nativity at 9.30am
Friday 12th December Y3 Nativity at 2.15pm
Monday 15th December Y3 and Y4 parties
Tuesday 16th December EYFS parties
Tuesday 16th December Y1 and Y2 parties
Wednesday 17th December Y5 and Y6 parties
Thursday 18th December Choir sing a long 2.30pm
Friday 19th December Term ends at 1.30pm Jazzy Jumper Day