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.

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Holly Park Forever

As part of our Recovery Curriculum, we were very keen to support pupil wellbeing and to facilitate them being school ready and to feel part of the HPS community again under one roof. We decided to have a two week Holly Park Forever Project. The main idea was to reunite the children with each other and welcome them back to our school –to the school community they are part of. Each class took a slightly different angle on the project and looked at areas such as:

New beginnings after the lockdown,
Holly Parkers together. – The HPS family,
The people who help us at Holly Park,
A day in the life of the adults at Holly Park,
The global village of Holly Park –diversity of HPS,
What Holly Park in the future might be like,
The history of Holly Park,
What it means to be a Holly Parker
Maps of the school.

Each class made a display of their work.

Wet Weather

The rain has come! Unfortunately due to the site layout and COVID rules, we have to release pupils at the end of the school day in the same way that we have been doing. Of course the children will not be sitting on a wet floor. We need to make sure that we keep this in perspective. This is actually no different in time standing outside than it was before the virus for KS2 children who wait outside for parents to collect them anyway in rain, wind or shine. Children have often left school in torrential rain over the years. Parents should realise that the time outside is about 10 minutes. During the school day children are outside in rain showers and cold for much longer periods during breaks and lunchtimes. Schools are encouraged to get children outside in all weathers and to do outdoor PE in most weathers. Rain is part of our British weather. It is a scientific fact that we don’t catch colds or coughs from rain or cold weather. A cold is caused by a virus, which is not influenced by rain. Wet hair, or being wet, will not increase the chances of becoming ill with a respiratory condition. It is bacteria and viruses, not the weather, that cause infections such as the common cold , influenza (the flu), or pneumonia. Please make sure that your child comes to school every day with a waterproof coat with a hood. Please do not send umbrellas as they take up space and are dangerous as children don’t always look where they are going with them. At Holly Park we encourage the children to be resilient – please support us in encouraging resilience in this situation.

WEARING PE KITS ON PE DAYS

A reminder that from next Monday children will come to school on PE days in their PE kits. This will come into effect from MONDAY 28th SEPTEMBER- NEXT WEEK.

Every child will need: · Red shorts · Plain white T-shirt · Plain white trainers · Plain dark green jogging trousers and sweatshirt Children will come to school dressed with the red shorts and white T shirt underneath the plain dark green tracksuit. On their feet they should wear plain white trainers. Your child will need to come to school like this twice a week.

PE days are as below: (Please make a note)

Y1 Pine Tuesday & Wednesday
Y1 Chestnut Tuesday & Wednesday
Y2 Rowan Wednesday & Thursday
Y2 Elm Wednesday & Thursday
Y3 Willow Monday and Tuesday
Y3 Hazel Monday & Thursday
Y3 Spruce Monday & Thursday
Y4 Mulberry Thursday & Friday
Y4 Sycamore Thursday & Friday
Y5 Maple Thursday & Friday
Y5 Juniper Thursday & Friday
Y6 Beech Wednesday & Friday
Y6 Cedar Wednesday & Friday
Reception children will not need their PE kit until after the half term holiday. They will also however need the green tracksuit and white trainers. Reception staff will let you know on which days.

Why Is Mr Reid at the School Gate?

I thought that I would just make clear to all parents what Mr Reid’s role at the school gate is at the start and the end of the day. He is not out there to be in charge of the traffic. Of course, the school is not and cannot be responsible for the traffic outside – nor can we control it. Parents are responsible for the health and safety of their children who are waiting outside school – until such time as they pass through the school gate. This is still true of older children who may be waiting by themselves. The school is only responsible for them once their official school time has begun and they have entered the premises. I would remind parents to keep a mindful eye on their children and hold their hand at all times as you would when you are near any road with a young child. It is not Mr Reid’s job to have anything to do with traffic. He is not a lollipop man or a traffic warden. It is not in his job description to manage traffic. His job is only about the school site. Mr Reid’s job is also not to manage parent behaviour. Mr Reid is not there to get involved with arguments in queues or queue jumping. We expect parents to be able to join a queue in the normal manner and to be a good example to the children. It is also not Mr Reid’s job to ensure face masks are worn – we rely on parents to do this for themselves. Mr Reid is at the gate at my request. His task there is to ensure that different groups of children enter the site at the correct time and to ensure that children and parents follow our one way system on site and that they do not stop and chat once inside the site – blocking the paths. He will also ensure there is no blockage at the entrance to the site.

Children Listening To Adults Talking About Coronavirus

As we seem to be moving forward into another difficult time ahead with Coronavirus nationally – with numbers growing daily and the news is full of it – opinions abound on how the government are or are not handling it, I thought it would just be a good time to remind parents that whilst we as adults have our own very real anxieties and concerns about the virus and the coming months, children pick up very quickly on what they hear, what is said and what they see. They pick up especially quickly if parents are anxious. I know that I am talking about the virus much more than I was a few weeks ago and so are my friends and relatives. I would just ask parents to be mindful of how you are discussing the pandemic with your children and indeed even more so around your children. I am sure that this may seem obvious but discussions about COVID deaths and ‘how much worse it’s going to get, and how so many more people are going to die, society isn’t taking it seriously’ etc is going to really worry children if they hear it. Please be careful that children are not hearing the adult conversations around these topics. Conversations like these have been heard outside the school gates when waiting with the children. Please just take care when talking about the virus around with children in earshot.

Mobile Testing Units in Barnet

The unit will be open for tests for attendees in a vehicle and on foot, at each location, from 10.30am to 3.30pm. ALL appointments must be pre-booked. Anyone who just turns up will not be able to have a test. A place can be booked at the Barnet site or any other location, via the national booking site at: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test. Please remember to look at the webpage with upcoming dates of where the mobile testing unit will be in Barnet. The page has all the information you need to know. https://www.barnet.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19-latest-information-andadvice/nhs-test-and-trace-service/covid-19-mobile

DFE Guidance For Parents About Coronavirus

Actions you can take:

Do not send your child to their nursery, childminder, school or college if: · they are showing coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms · someone in their household is showing symptoms Arrange a test if you or your child develops symptoms. Inform your nursery, childminder, school or college of the results. If the test is positive, follow guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, and engage with the NHS Test and Trace process. It is really important that you help nurseries, childminders, schools and colleges to implement these actions by following the advice set out here and wider public health advice and guidance.

Face Coverings on our Site

Some parents and some local residents have raised concerns about so many parents standing close together in the lines at the start and the end of the day without face coverings on the street. I am not at liberty to enforce parents wearing face coverings outside the school gates. I cannot enforce this because the space outside the school is out of my jurisdiction as a Headteacher and it is a public space. The government have not enforced the wearing of a face covering outside in a public place. However, on the school site itself we would now like anybody walking through the school gates to wear a face covering. We would like you to do this for the protection of yourself and others – especially as cases nationally are rising quite quickly. Space inside the school when collecting or dropping off can be tight. It can be a struggle for people to keep social distance. This can be very stressful, particularly for older parents that are more at risk. It is essential that we are all doing our best to limit the virus circulation. Thank you for your support with this.

Punctuality

Punctuality at the start of a school day is still very good. Thank you. Let’s keep this up! A few parents need to make sure that they pick up children on time at the end of the school day. Children really don’t like it when parents are late and it worries them if they are left waiting especially if it is a regular thing. We need to teach children punctuality by modelling it ourselves. Punctuality is a lifelong skill.

Diary Dates

Tuesday 29th September Y4 Together Apart project
Friday 2nd October Reception phonics meeting for parents
Monday 5th October INSET Day
Tuesday 6th October Y6 School Journey Meeting
Friday 9th October World Mental Health day
Wednesday 21st October Harvest Festival
Friday 23rd October House Challenge
HALF TERM
Monday 2nd November Individual school photographs
Monday 9th November Y5 school journey meeting
Monday 9th November Notice for parent consultations
Wednesday 11th November Y3 parent curriculum meeting
Thursday 12th November Y5 parent Curriculum meeting
Monday 16th November Anti-Bullying Week
Tuesday 17th November Y4 parent curriculum meeting
Friday 20th November National Charity – Coram Children’s Charity
Monday 23rd November Nasal Flu Immunisation

PTA AGM Agenda (30/9/2020 10am on Zoom)

As Holly Park parents, you are all automatically members of the PTA. Every September there is an annual general meeting (AGM) for the PTA. This year, it will be held via zoom. All HPS parents will get a zoom invite to the AGM (via email) the day before. The meeting will last no longer than 40 minutes. Please see the agenda below: 1. Election/re-election of PTA committee members 2. Overview of last year’s PTA finances 3. Overview of last year’s PTA activities and events 4. Present this Autumn term PTA calendar and outline how the PTA will be adhering to COVID rules (all subject to changes) with upcoming events 5. Wish lists 6. AOB