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.

Can You Help? – Climate Change Book Donations

We are asking parents to make donations of books to support our climate change focus. We feel that it is important to make sure that there are books available in all classrooms from nursery to Y6 and in our reading challenge on this important theme. A book list of climate change books that we would love to have is attached to this newsletter. We will be collecting climate changes books for the rest of this term. We really appreciate this help from parents. Thank you for your support. Thank you to those who have already donated a book for this theme. We can never have too many books in school – especially recent books on important issues. A book plate is put inside each donated book with the name of the children or family who have donated them.

Year 4 Choir

We were very excited that our Year 4 choir performed a special short children’s opera this week with two of our other partnership schools – St John’s and St Paul’s schools. This has been part of a special project with all of our partnership of schools. The Opera was Hansel and Gretel arranged by The Royal Opera House Covent Garden for children. The project was organised by a local opera singer – Veronique. The children learned the songs at school led by Miss Biggs. They rehearsed with Veronique and also came together with the other schools for a dress rehearsal. The performance took place at St. John’s Church. The project was funded by Barnet. The performance was a lovely community project and the children really enjoyed it.

PRIDE Month

June is Pride Month and it is a celebration of diversity and people’s right to live how they choose without discrimination. Pride Month promotes positivity and equal rights for all. It provides an opportunity to celebrate the culture of inclusivity. At Holly Park we are celebrating the diversity of our Holly Park families, in class assemblies this week the children talked about PRIDE – what it is, why it began and why it is important. Learning about PRIDE links to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and specifically Article 2: No discrimination – All children have all these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what language they speak, what their religion is, what they think, what they look like, if they are a boy or girl, if they have a disability, if they are rich or poor, and no matter who their parents or families are or what their parents or families believe or do. No child should be treated unfairly for any reason.

Sports Days

I am delighted to tell you that parents can come to school to watch sports days again this year. We hope that you will all be ready for the parents’ race at the end! Sports days usually last approx. 1.5 hours and will be finished by 12pm.

Infant Sports Day is on Wednesday 29th June at 10.20am Reception children wear red PE shorts, white T shirt, white socks and white trainers

Children in Y1 and Y2 wear red PE shorts, a plain colour T shirt – the colour of their house, white socks and white trainers

Junior Sports day is on Friday 1st July at 10.30am

All KS2 children wear red PE shorts, a plain colour T shirt – the colour of their house, white socks and white trainers You can buy plain T-shirts very cheaply on Amazon.

Children should come to school that day wearing their sports kit for the sports day They should bring a bottle of water. Please put sun cream on at home before the children leave for school If it is bright and sunny the children should wear a sun hat or cap

A Guide for Parents on Sports Day

It has been two years since parents have been on site for a sports day – this is quite a long time. This means that for some parents this will be their very first sports day on site so we wanted to give you some guidance about what to expect.

The sports day is arranged as a round robin of activities which all take place at the same time

Your child will start at a base with their class
They will move around all of the activities with their class
There will be tape up at each activity – parents must stay behind the tape to spectate
Parents should not approach their child during sports day
Children will have their own bottle of water – so parents don’t need to give children anything
If a child is injured, the class teacher will deal with it and will send them to first aid if necessary
If you have more than one child in a sports day – you will have to split yourself between the different activities to see both children

There will be a parent race at the end. If you would like to enter it – please wear sensible footwear. Parents take part at their own risk!

Parents, Children and social media

At school we do a lot of work each year as part of our curriculum about online behaviour – this is part of the PHSE and the Computing curriculum. We look at respect, etiquette, empathy etc. Every year we invite in a specialist company and every year group has an age-appropriate workshop. However, the school cannot do this alone and it is part of every parent’s responsibility to support their child with this.

Children are growing and learning and they will make mistakes online and on social media just as they do in the real world and it is the job of the adults around them to help them see their mistakes, learn from them and make better choices as they move forward, It is worth remembering that:

The minimum recommended age for Whatsapp is 16 years old
The minimum recommended age for TikTok is 13 years old
The minimum recommended age for Instagram is 16 years old
The minimum recommended age for Snapchat is 13 years old
The minimum recommended age for Twitter is 13 years old
The minimum recommended age for Facebook is 13 years old

Therefore no child in primary school should be using any of these social media platforms. They have an age recommendation for a reason. It is important for both mental and physical health that your child’s life is balanced—so they are not constantly ‘online’ or spending hours on a mobile phone. This should not be used as punishment, rather as some peaceful time where they are not being bothered. Monitor your children’s phone activities and messages. If children know that their parents will regularly check their texts and messages to monitor the content, the children are less likely to engage in any negative behaviour or online bullying.

Do not let your child have their phones in their bedrooms at night. Charge the phone elsewhere overnight so the children can get a good night’s sleep and are not tempted to be on their phone. Use the parental controls and restrictions on devices to limit or prevent contact, talk to your child and understand how they are using the Internet and their phone. Communication with your child is essential. Talk to them and reassure them that they can always come to you if something upsets or worries them online. Use safety tools and parental controls – if you’re not sure how, contact your service provider but please note that these tools are not always 100% effective.

Model positive online behaviour for your child. It’s important that they know how to act safely and responsibly online and are aware of what content is acceptable and unacceptable to post or share. Ensure that they are only using age-appropriate apps/ games etc it can be challenging if other friends are using these things but you have to stick to your rules and not give in. Age restrictions are put on for a reason it’s important to have regular conversations with your child about the online world, including issues like cyberbullying.

Support children to realise that:

Your online activities affect your offline relationships.
You can’t always judge correctly, or control, what effect your online words will have on other people or situations.
Making other people the target of your pranks and jokes is often not funny for them.
It is even easier to spread lies and rumours through social media than face-to-face.

Some questions that you could ask your child are:

How can you be kind online?
What would you do if someone was being unkind online?
What do you think cyberbullying is?

Technology is not going away and online activity is only going to be a far bigger part of their lives.

This all links with the Rights:

Article 14: Children can choose their own thoughts, opinions and religion, but this should not stop other people from enjoying their rights. Parents can guide children so that as they grow up, they learn to properly use this right.

Article 15: Children can join or set up groups or organisations, and they can meet with others, as long as this does not harm other people.

Article 17: Children have the right to get information from the Internet, radio, television, newspapers, books and other sources. Adults should make sure the information they are getting is not harmful

PTA Summer Fair

The PTA fair is Saturday 16th July 12-3pm £1 entry – children go free. Lots of fun activities including: Hungry Hippo Mega Inflatable International food stalls Drinks and cakes Tombolas Face Painting Cn you help? We need volunteers to run the stalls as well as donations of International food.

Attendance

Attendance for the last week was 94%. The best attendance was from Y1 Pine Class with 97% attendance.

Dates

Wednesday 29th June Infant Sports
Friday 1st July Junior Sports
Monday 4th July Reports emailed home to parents during this week
Friday 8th July School closed in lieu of Jubilee
Monday 11th July Y6 show week
Thursday 14th July Option for parents to discuss reports
Saturday 16th July PTA Summer fair
Monday 18th July New Classes announced for September 2022
Wednesday 20th July Reception Assembly Performance at 9.30am
Thursday 21st July Children to visit new classes and teachers
Wednesday 20th July Y6 Leavers’ Party 7pm – 9pm
Friday 22nd July Y6 Leavers’ ceremony at 9.30am
Friday 22nd July End of term at 1.30pm

Climate Change Book List

Dear Earth by Isabell Otter and Clara Anganuzzi
The story of Climate change by Catherine Barr and Steve Williams
Climate Action: The future is in our hands – Climate Action by Georgina Stevens and Katie Rewse
Fever at the Poles by Stephen Aitken
The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole
The Fog by Kyo Maclear
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
The Polar Bears’ Home by Lara Bergen
The Lonely Polar Bear by Khoa Le
Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet by Jeanette Winter
What is Climate Change? by Gail Herman
Under the Weather by Tony Bradman
A Hot Planet Needs Cool Kids by Julie Hall
Mission: Save the Planet by Sally Ride and Tam O’Shaunghnessy
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
How You Can Save the Planet by Hendrikus van Hensbergen
Stuff by Maddie Moate & Paul Boston
Climate Rebels by Ben Lerwill
I Love You, Blue by Barroux
The Great Barrier Reef by Helen Scales
Be The Change (poems to help you save the world) by Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow & Roger Stevens
Great Women who save the Planet by Kate Pankhurst
How to Help a Hedgehog and Protect a Polar Bear by Dr Jess French and Angela Keoghan
Tree Full of Wonder by Anna Smithers
Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker
Fourteen Wolves: A Rewilding Story by Catherine Barr
There’s a Rang-Tan in my Bedroom by James Sellick
This Book will (Help) Cool the Climate by Isabel Thomas
Clean Up! by Nathan Bryon & Dapo Adeola
The Extraordinary Life of Greta Thunberg by Devika Jina & Petra Braun
The Bear in the Stars by Alexis Snell
Charlie and Lola: Look After Your Planet by Lauren Child
The Happy Hedgerow by Elena Mannion and Erin Brown
What a Wonderful World by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe and Lydia Hill
The Tale of the Whale by Karen Swann and Padmacandra
Song of the Dolphin Boy by Elizabeth Laird
Dear Greenpeace by Simon James
The Last Tree by Ingrid Chabbert
Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann
One Plastic Bag by Miranda Paul
What A Waste: Rubbish, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess French
A Planet Full of Plastic: and how you can help by Neal Layton
The Tin Forest by Helen Ward
The Blue Giant by Katie Cottle
If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams
Change Starts With Us by Sophie Beer
Dear World Leaders: A response to children’s letters about climate change by Aled Jones
Mother Earth is Weeping by Claire Donald and Simon Taylor
Somebody Swallowed Stanley by Sarah Roberts and Hannah Peck
Little Turtle and the Sea by Becky Davies and Jennie Poh
Sunny’s Blazing Battle: A True Story About Climate Change by Ellie Jackson and Liz Oldmeadow

Hall Rental

Are you or someone you know interested in renting our school hall on a regular basis? We do not rent the hall for one off birthday parties but we are looking to rent our main school hall out for regular weekday or weekend slots. We would like to rent it out to organisations such as: slimming groups, exercise groups, dance groups, language groups etc. Rentals would be from 6pm onwards on a school night and weekend lettings by arrangement. If you are interested or know anybody who is interested – please contact Miss Hounslow in the school office.