Newsletter

The Royal Albert Hall

Just before the end of term, our choir took part in a huge Barnet event at the Royal Albert hall. The title of the event was called ‘All under one sky.’ It was arranged by the Barnet Education Arts Trust (BEAT) What a terrific event and a fabulous opportunity and experience for those who participated. Our children were beautifully behaved and took part with enthusiasm and enjoyment. Thank you to Mrs Thomas and Miss Sampson who accompanied the children for the day and a huge thanks to Miss Halil who had rehearsed the children so well in the lead up to the event.

New Pirate Ship

It was marvellous for the children to return after the Spring break to a brand-new pirate ship – kindly paid for by the PTA. The ship is lovely and it was marvellous to see so many Year 6 children excited and playing on the ship. The ship provides fantastic role play opportunities for children during their break times. We hope that future fundraising this term will provide funds to have new surfacing around the ship over the summer holidays.

Facebook

We have a new whole school Facebook page. Instagram will follow. If you are on Facebook – please follow the Holly Park Facebook page. The page is public – there will never be children’s faces on the page. We are looking to extend our marketing of the school and be more public facing to attract more pupils to our school. The birth rate has dropped and we know that there will be far fewer children to share between existing schools – so it is important to attract as many children and families as possible because every pupil on roll brings funding. Funding affects the children already in the school and what we can offer our existing children. Please share the Holly Park Facebook page with your friends and family on your Facebook page and especially share our page with any local Facebook groups you belong to. We need to raise the profile of the school in the local community – as we are quite tucked away on Bellevue Road and not on a main road. Your help and support is appreciated.

Read Together Sessions

On Monday 28th April, parents are invited to go into school with the children to read. The session is from 8.45am to approx. 9.15am. Parents are welcome to read to children or listen to children read a book to you. Children love to read and share books with adults. You will be reading with a small group of children. If you have more than one child at school you will need to decide which class to go to as there will only be time for one class. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate toddlers or buggies in the classrooms. The event will be repeated in the Summer term so there is a chance to read with your other children too. We hope that many of you will be able to visit.

Holly Park Parent Council

Just before the Spring break we had our first Parent Council meeting. Below is a photo of most of our council members. The meeting was very useful to me and enabled me to get feedback, views and opinions from a selection of parents across the school from nursery to Year 6. The council meets every half term – with members staying for one term. The council is not a decision-making body but a forum to share ideas and opinions to support myself, governors and my Senior Leadership Team make decisions and changes. At the first meeting we discussed why parents chose Holly Park, what attracted them to the school and what they had seen whilst looking at other schools that they had liked. We have two more meetings this term.

School trips and packed lunches

We have produced a quick guide for parents on packed lunches. Most children have school dinners (as they are free at the moment) and so you may not be fully aware of our packed lunch policy. Teachers have noticed that many children have brought in very unhealthy packed lunches on school trips. Please make sure that you follow the packed lunch guidelines for trips. Thank you.

BRITISH VALUES DAY

Today is British Values Day. The children have come to school wearing red, white and blue. British values are woven into our PHSE curriculum so that they are part of our planned curriculum and are not just happening by chance. Each year group has a particular topic that they learn about on our British Values Day.

Year 1 learned about showing tolerance and acceptance of those with other faiths. They thought about the fact that everyone has different opinions and views. They thought about the fact that – There are NO OUTSIDERS at Holly Park – we are all different – ages, religions, ethnicity, disability etc but everyone is welcome at our school. When someone is included, it helps them feel respected, valued for who they are and like they belong

Year 2 learned about Individual Liberty. They thought about bullying and that we should all be free from bullying. They talked about different kinds of bullying – social, physical, verbal and online. They looked at the Holly Park Helping Hands. The children listened to the story ‘The Juice Box Bully’ to understand how children can be either ‘bystanders’ or ‘upstanders’ in a situation and to empower children to stand up for others. The children had different scenarios to decide if there was bullying going on or not and if there was then what type of bullying it might be. Children then got into groups to work together as a team to build a house of cards.

Year 3 learned about the Rule Of Law. They thought about why we have rules and who makes the rules. They discussed what would happen if there were no rules. They identified the different rules that they follow in different places. They looked at the consequences of not following the rules. Year 3 also talked about the how rules relate to children’s rights. They also looked at how to resolve conflict using the Restorative Approach.

Year 4 learned about Mutual Respect. They thought about – What makes our community? The different contributions that people and groups make to the community, how different members in the community help and our responsibilities for protecting the environment.

Year 5 learned about Democracy. They learned how to identify the key elements of a democracy. They thought about the key elements of democracy, who makes the decisions, local government and the rights of every citizen,

Year 6 built on work they have already done on the fundamental aspects of democracy and learning about ‘The Rule of Law’. They learned about the role of parliament, the police and the criminal justice system. They considered what a country with no laws would look like and came up with new laws that they would introduce to make Britain an even better place to live.

Summer Dresses

A reminder that our school summer dresses at Holly Park are green and white gingham – NOT red and white.

Summer Term Clubs – External Providers

It is that time again when you will need to sign up again for any clubs run by external providers. Please sign up directly with the club. Most clubs start next week.

Just One Tree Update

We received a note of thanks from just One Tree for our fundraising for them as we have helped to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. Our school’s ‘forest’ now stands at 696 trees. Every £1 really does make a difference, so thank you, to those who contributed. Our tree purchase will be supporting a reforestation project in one of the following countries: Brazil, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, Mexico, Indonesia, Kenya or Zambia. Because of our school, a further 314 seeds will be chosen and planted. In the next rainy season, the seedlings will be transported to their carefully selected new homes, where they will be planted and nurtured over the coming years. Our school’s forest of 696 trees will remove approximately 214.37 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the next 25 years.

VE Day – Thursday 8th May

It is the 80th anniversary of VE Day on Thursday 8th May. At Holly Park we will be marking this day. Year 1 are on a trip that day. The children will again come dressed in red, white and blue. There will be a whole school assembly. Every class will do one lesson that day about the end of WW2, the celebrations etc and what it meant. Year 2,3 and 5 have dance workshops that day – Zumba style dance. We have asked the company to use WW2 style music for the sessions. Lunch will be a street party style – hopefully outside. It will be a sandwich style lunch and will be served from the white canopy and the children will sit at the normal tables and benches under red, white and blue bunting.

Free Bike Maintenance

Last year 230 children’s and adult’s bikes were checked and fixed at the 24 Dr Bikes that took place across Barnet. The sessions are run again this year. The free Dr Bike sessions will be run by qualified bicycle mechanics. Members of the public can take along their bicycles to have a free, full safety check, which includes the condition of tyres, rims, gears, brake function and tyre pressure and adjustments can be made if required, all for free. Both adult and child bicycles can have the free safety check and adjustments made if necessary.

High Barnet, Stapylton Rd car park Area immediately to the right of carpark entrance (EN5 4LR) 16 April 2025 4pm to 7pm
Finchley, Lodge Lane car park Yellow chevrons immediately to the right of the entrance to the Car Park (opposite NL Auction Rooms N12 8JH) 14 May 2025 4pm to 7pm
High Barnet, Stapylton Rd car park Area immediately to the right of carpark entrance (EN5 4LR) 18 June 2025 4pm to 7pm
Finchley, Lodge Lane car park Yellow chevrons immediately to the right of the entrance to the Car Park (opposite NL Auction Rooms N12 8JH) 9 July 2025 4pm to 7pm
High Barnet, Stapylton Rd car park Area immediately to the right of carpark entrance (EN5 4LR) 20 August 2025 4pm to 7pm
Finchley, Lodge Lane car park Yellow chevrons immediately to the right of the entrance to the Car Park (opposite NL Auction Rooms N12 8JH) 10 September 2025 4pm to 7pm

Attendance

Whole school attendance for the last week of the Spring term was 91%% Well done toY6 Cedar Class with the best attendance at 91%. Whole school attendance from 3rd September to the end of the Spring term was 94%

Dates

Monday 28th April Read Together in Class
Monday 28th April Read together in class 8.45am – 9.15am
Tuesday 29th April KS2 Copthall trials
Wednesday 30th April Coffee morning for Y3 and 4 parents
Friday 2nd May Reading- how to support your child with reading 9am
Monday 5th May May Bank Holiday
Tuesday 6th May Y2 to Kew Gardens
Wednesday 7th May Olive Dining food taster at the school gate 8.45am
Wednesday 7th May Y3 Willow to the Environmental Centre
Wednesday 7th May Early Help Coffee Morning
Thursday 8th May Y1 to Hertfordshire Zoo
Thursday 8th May Dance workshops for Y2,3 and 5
Friday 9th May Y3 Hazel to the Environmental Centre
Monday 12th May Y6 National test week
Wednesday 21st May Coffee morning for our Turkish families
Thursday 22nd May Y6 to the Mosque
Friday 23rd May Y6 sailing to West Reservoir
Friday 23rd May Yoga workshops for Y3,4 and 5

HALF TERM

There is facility to translate this newsletter and the whole school website at the bottom of the website home page.