Newsletter

Fabulous Chess Success

Our amazing under 11 team have qualified for the National Primary Schools Final!! They played last Sunday and were totally brilliant – they came second place out of 37 schools, winning silver medals for the first time at the semi-finals chess tournament. They have now qualified for the national final which is absolutely amazing considering this is only their second year of playing. Their coach John has said that it is one his best results ever. Huge congratulations to Ansh, AJ, Franco, Joe, Krish and Leo on this fantastic achievement. Only eight schools make it through to the national final out of an original 600+. The final will take place in the Science Museum in London in late June where these boys from Holly Park will compete with children from very well renowned schools. A huge well done as well to our U9’s team – Aariv, Gerry, Harry, Tanvi and Yakoob — who also played brilliantly in the semi-finals for the very first time.

Wellbeing Coffee Morning

We had a fabulous turn out of parents for our Wellbeing Coffee Morning this week. Children from across the school sang a lovely song about being ‘wonderful’ thanks to Miss Halil. Children in Year 1 waved colourful scarves. Miss Michael and Mrs Puzey talked about the Pastoral Team and we had a visitor – Corina Doican a Higher Level Therapist/Supervisor from BICS who spoke about their service and what they can offer to families.

Spread Your Wings Day (12th June)

On Friday 12th June we will be continuing to support our national charity ‘Spread Your Wings.’ On this day we are asking children to come to school dressed in a costume with wings for a donation of £1 on School Money. We will also allow capes as an extension of wings! Children can come dressed as fairies, pixies, butterflies, bees, birds, dragonflies, ladybirds, superheroes with capes, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, mythical creatures with wings e.g Phoenix

PTA Rainbow Raffle

From Monday 1st June until Friday 12th June, the PTA will be holding a Colour Raffle Collection Competition between the year groups. Each year group will be assigned a colour. Children are invited to bring in donations of food, treats, toys, or other items in their year group colour. These donations will be used to create colour themed raffle boxes for our summer fair raffle. Please note: * Items must match your year group colour * No fruit, vegetables, or other perishable items, as these cannot be included Donations should be brought into your child’s classroom during the first week after half term. The year group that donates the most items will win a special prize! Half term is a fabulous time to have a look to see what you could contribute to the year group box!

Nursery: RED
Reception: ORANGE
Year 1: YELLOW
Year 2: GREEN
Year 3: BLUE
Year 4: PURPLE
Year 5: WHITE
Year 6: BLACK

Parent Gym – Six Weeks of Free Parenting Workshops At Holly Park – with Mrs Puzey & Early Help

Mrs Puzey will be running parent Gym sessions from Thursday 11th June – and every Thursday for 6 weeks. These are excellent sessions and a GREAT opportunity to talk to other parents and share ideas about parenting. Somebody from early Help will also come along to each session. At Holly Park we are fortunate that our Learning Mentor Mrs Puzey is a trained Parent Gym Coach. Every year she runs free parenting sessions for parents. It’s a great opportunity to come together in an informal social group to come along and join the sessions. The sessions are a mixture of information sharing with lots of time to chat with other parents and to share ideas.

Parent Gym is a series of 6 sessions based on the following parenting themes:

Chat – How to communicate – you and your child talking positively every day
Love – How to show you care in lots of ways – how to balance warmth and discipline
Behave – How to be consistent in setting boundaries – bring order with rules & routines that work
Care – How to raise healthy children – keep yourself & your family happy and healthy
Discover – How to encourage learning – help your child to learn & grow and achieve
Together – How to build a support network – keep your family rock solid and help your child make friends

Mrs Puzey has run parent Gym classes for Holly Park parents in the past with great success. Now we would like to invite you to participate. Come along on 11th June. Do come along and meet Mrs Puzey and find out more. It’s a great way to bond with other parents and make friendships now that your child is on their school journey. If you decide to join the six-week programme, the sessions will run on Thursday mornings from 9am to 11am. We are delighted that Early help will also be attending each week and will be supporting the sessions.

Y4 Multiplication Check 2026

The children in Year 4 will take part in the national multiplication test after half term. This is an annual assessment and is done as quick-fire multiplication questions online up to 12×12 where children have seconds to type in the answers. Mrs Thomas will administer the test with the Year 4 pupils. Year 4 parents will get the results later this term. It is a good idea for Year 4 parents and children to practice their times tables for 10 minutes every day and through the upcoming half term holiday. Times Table Rockstars is a great resource.

Y1 Phonics Check 2026

The children in Year 1 will take part in the national phonics check after half term. This is an annual assessment for all Year 1 children across the country. Miss Richardson will carry out the checks. Year 1 parents will get the results later this term. It is a good idea for Year 1 parents to practice reading phonic words (real and alien) for 10 mins every day and throughout the upcoming half term holiday with their children.

Y5 Secondary Transfer Information

There is a meeting for current Y5 parents on Monday 15th June at 9am about secondary transfer for their children and how the process works. This is now the start of a very important time for Y5 parents and children as they make decisions about the next educational step for their children. If you do not manage to make the meeting – please ensure that you really are fully aware of the process and how it works. It is vital not to miss deadlines.

Diversity Day: Be Yourself Thursday (18th June)

On Thursday 18th June we are having ‘Be Yourself Day’ It’s a day for the children to celebrate and acknowledge the beauty of being themselves and their unique capabilities. It’s also a day to celebrate everyone’s differences. It’s a day to be yourself – the focus is about believing in their dreams, embracing their uniqueness, and inspiring them to use joy and laughter. We are asking the children to come to school that day wearing clothes that celebrate who they are – be it party clothes, a particular colour of clothes, pyjamas, dressing up clothes, sports clothes etc

Attendance

Whole school attendance for the last week was 98% Well done to Year 6 Cedar Class with the best attendance at 100%.

Dates

Monday 1st June INSET Day
Tuesday 2nd June Y4 Multiplication checks begin for 2 weeks
Thursday 4th June World Cup Dance Workshops
Friday 5th June Nursery trip to Holland Park
Monday 8th June Year 1 Phonics Check week
Tuesday 9th June Y4 to The Tower of London
Wednesday 10th June Barnet Music Festival
Thursday 11th June Author Visit – Hollie Hughes

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