Newsletter

Newsletters are emailed out to parents and carers every week on a Friday. If you do not already receive you can read it here or have it emailed by contacting the office on: office@hollypark.barnetmail.net

To see the full colour version of this week’s newsletter including photographs please scroll further down this page. You will also find there a full list of previous newsletters.

This plain version of the newsletter will translate into different community languages using the Google translate button at the bottom of this page.

Here is this week’s newsletter:

Harvest Festival Assembly

Thank you very much to those of you who donated foods and toiletries for our Harvest collection. We had donations of tinned food, pasta, soups, pasta sauces, deodorant, shower gel, washing liquid etc. Our harvest donations were taken to Homeless Action in Barnet. The theme of our assembly this year was about all of the different words that can be made out of the word ‘HARVEST’ (we discussed what a Harvest is and different harvests around the world) – H-A-V-E (we are all lucky to have enough food and have temperate conditions for many crops to grow) E-A-T (when we eat our food – we can reflect on where it comes from and about the farmers who work to produce our food) S-T-A-R-V-E (In many parts of the world there are people who are not as lucky as we are and do not have enough to eat. S-H-A-R-E (At Harvest time we are lucky to be able to share what we have with other more in need than ourselves – as we did in our assembly) S-AV-E (Tradition harvests gathered in the crops and stored the food away to save for the winter months. We have brought in goods that Homeless Action in Barnet can save in their cupboards for future months)

We listened to the traditional song – ‘We plough the fields and scatter’ and thought about things that grow. The idea of growing can also relate to ideas. A class project can grow for example. An idea can grow. Sometimes we see results of the work we do immediately and sometimes like a plant growing, results of our hard work take time. Greta Thunberg worked hard to raise awareness about climate change. She has planted seeds in people’s minds about the importance of the environment. She has seen some immediate results but change on this needs more work and will take time. We sang a lovely Harvest song and listened to a Harvest poem.

Walk to School Week

Well done to everyone who walked to school this week or who made an effort to park and stride especially in some of the rainy weather we have had. Walking to school helps to relieve congestion in the streets close to the school, reduces air pollution close to the school and is also a healthier option. Keep up the good work next half term!

School Safety

Over the last couple of weeks the school has had cause to think about the safety of our children and parents. There were a couple of isolated incidents at the school which were brought about by the behaviour of parents. Throughout this time I have been in touch with the Barnet Safeguarding lead and the Metropolitan Police. I have been reassured that our school has the same safety levels as other schools and in many aspects is better than most as is evidenced from safeguarding audits which all schools perform annually. These safeguarding audits help us to look at our procedures and they are also scrutinised by Barnet – who will make suggestions if needed.

We have had no breaches in our own school safeguarding procedures. We are not complacent, however, and always seek the opportunity to reflect on situations and to consider if there is anything we can reasonably do to improve things at the school. I have been advised by the Barnet safeguarding lead to remind all of our parents that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility. This relies on parents following the school’s rules and expectations. We are a community school and as such cannot operate like a fortress. We already have in place all practical and reasonable systems expected by the local authority. In difficult or challenging circumstances, we always try to deal with them as effectively and swiftly as possible having regard for the safety of the children in the first instance and try to keep the situation calm and not cause sensation. We always contact and ask advice from relevant outside agencies, including the Safer Neighbourhood team, health services, and CAMHs should we need to in challenging circumstances. Parents should know that we will always call the police if we believe it necessary. We expect parents to model good behaviour to their children – please support the school with this.

PTA Junior Quiz

The Junior Quiz this week was a great success and good fun, with all of our houses competing for the Junior Quiz Shield. The quiz had a selection of questions ranging across general knowledge, picture clues, maths & music. Thank you to all the Holly Park staff and the PTA team of volunteers for making the quiz possible.

The results are as follows:

First Phoenix 500 points
Joint Second Unicorn 400 points
Joint Second Griffin 400 points
Fourth Dragon 200 points
Fifth Hydra 100 points

Be Bright Be Seen Day

The last day of the half term, the children came to school wearing very bright clothes – many children made a great effort. We have done this day as part of our work on road safety. Children and parents need to be aware that the nights are drawing in and more accidents involving children being knocked down on roads occur in the winter months. If your child has a dark coloured coat – make sure they also wear something bright or fluorescent too especially as we return after the holiday.

Infant Music festival

Our Y2 children really enjoyed performing with other Barnet infant choirs at the Infant Music Festival. They all sang songs from around the world and songs in other languages. The Holly Park Infant Choir represented the school really well.

Inter School Cross Country Competition

On Thursday 10th October Holly Park took part in the Barnet Schools Cross Country Event. This year there was a record amount of schools taking part which meant there were over 80 children taking part in the races. All of our Holly Park children performed really well and there were some outstanding performances most notably by Chayil in Year 4 who won his race. When all the points were added up Holly Park are in 5th place out of over 40 schools with the second event to come in February. Well done to everyone who took part and to Mr Bourne and Mr Carini who have been training the team. Let’s keep up the good work for the next round of the competition in the Spring Term.

Our News Discussion Point of The Week

In our Monday assembly we discuss a news topic – it often provokes discussion and different viewpoints. The children have time in assembly to consider their point of view – the teachers also share their thoughts. I will share the topic with you each week. It would be wonderful if as a family you could spare some time at the weekend to discuss the issue. This week our question related to famous people – particularly Meghan Markle and Prince Harry who have discussed issues of privacy recently. The question is: Should we all be entitled to a private life?

Diary Dates

Monday 28th October Flu Vaccinations
Wednesday 30th October Y5 workshop for parents & children at 9am
Thursday 31st October Y4 workshop for parents & children 9am
Thursday 31st October PTA Halloween table top sale
Friday 1st November Holly Park Book Club at 9am
Monday 4th November Parent online sign up for parent consultations
Monday 4th November Y5 School Journey meeting at 9am
Tuesday 5th November Juniper Class assembly at 9am
Tuesday 5th November Bonfire Lunch
Tuesday 5th November KS1 Book Look for parents at 3.45pm
Wednesday 6th November Y1 Expectations meeting for parents at 9am
Thursday 7th November Individual Photographs
Thursday 7th November KS2 Book Look for parents

Parent Code of Conduct

As I reminded parents in a newsletter only a couple of weeks ago – we have certain expectations of parent behaviour on the school grounds. These include:

Please do not speak negatively to any child in the playground
Please do not speak negatively about another child so that they can hear you in the playground. This is very unkind and is intimidating for a child and can make them feel very scared.
If you have a problem with another child in relation to your own child, please speak to the class teacher and not directly to the other parent. The correct action is to speak to the class teacher. If it is a supply teacher – speak to the class teacher the next day.
Failure to comply with this code of conduct can lead to an initial warning letter from the school that a repeat of this will lead to a removal of a parents’ licence to enter the school grounds – effectively being banned from the premises.

The school governors review this Parent Code of Conduct Policy every year. It is being reviewed this term as part of the normal cycle of policy review. If you feel that you have any suggestions for inclusion in this code and would like us to consider these, please feel free to e-mail the school office, myself or drop a note in to me before 8th November.

Music News

Instrumental Tuition All lessons and ensembles are now in place. Barnet Education Arts Trust reminds us that the deadline to pay for next term’s lessons is midnight on the 10th December. Most of our tutors have no time left on their timetables to admit new pupils next term. However, there is space for any children from Year 3 onwards who would like to play Cornet or Trumpet. Children in Year 4 and above may apply to learn Tablas or Drum Kit. Your child must be auditioned by the relevant tutor to ensure the instrument is suitable for them. A short letter requesting an audition should be sent to Mr Hogan. Please include a telephone number and the tutor will contact you.
Barnabas Choir: Wednesdays at 3:30-4:30. Remaining Barnabas Choir dates for the term: October 30th – FULL CHOIR; November 6th – FULL CHOIR.
Infant Choir: Remaining Infant Choir dates for this term are: October: 29th. November 5th.
BOTH CHOIRS: Parents should make sure that they supply their children with a plastic wallet file (or A4 ring-binder) to assemble the words of the songs. After half-term we will be handing out the lyrics of the Christmas songs.
Barnabas and Infant Choirs join together for our annual ‘Candlelight Concert’ on Weds. December 4th at 6:30 p.m. Ticket details to follow.

PTA News

Congratulations to L.J. who won £26.40 from our school lottery recently. So far we have had 14 Holly Park winners and we have raised £514.80 for our school. Thank you all for filling your bags2school. We collected 400kg @ 40p/kg – so that is £160 raised for Holly Park and in the process we are helping other countries. Someone asked what happens to the clothes? So, once collected, they are baled and shipped to factories where all the garments will be sorted and start a new life in Africa, South America or Eastern Europe.

Holly Park Online Community Noticeboard

We now have a Community Noticeboard on our school website under the ‘Contact’ heading. This is for parents and friends of the school to advertise their businesses/events. For example if you make birthday cakes, do nails, are a decorator etc. The following rules will apply: Items will be listed alphabetically to avoid any favouritism eg C for cake making, P for Piano lessons. There is a disclaimer at the top of the page saying that inclusion on the page does not mean the service is endorsed by the school in any way. The cost to advertise will be £10 per term paid to Mrs Hassan. We no longer distribute leaflets for companies advertising holiday clubs, tennis lessons etc as this is not very eco friendly. However the company can email the school office a leaflet and for £10 can advertise on this page.