www.heronhill.cumbria.sch.uk

@heronhillschool

HERON HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER NO. 12

9th June 2015

Dates: Wednesday 10

th June Years 1&2 Sports Day, 1.15 pm

Friday 12th June Friends of Heron Hill ‘Freezer Pops Fridays’ begins – see back page.

Friday 19th June Friends of Heron Hill Mufti/Non-Uniform Day: pay in chocolate or bottles!

Friday 19th June Y2C (Mrs Cooper) Class Assembly has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances.

Friday 19th June Fairtrade Tuckshop

Wednesday 24th June New Parents’ Evening, 5.30 pm - Reception, 6.45 pm Nursery

Thursday 25th June Reception Assembly, 2.30 pm. Parents and family of current Reception children welcome.

Friday 26th June Reception Assembly, 10.00 am. Parents and family of new Reception children welcome.

Friday 26th June Friends of Heron Hill, Summer Fair, 5.00 pm-7.00 pm

Tuesday 30th June Family Day

Thursday 2nd

July Years 3-6 Sports Day, from 9.30 am Tuesday 7

th July Year 6 production ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, 2.00 pm and 6.00 pm

Wednesday 8th July Heron Hill Choir in ‘Ten Pieces’ at the Brewery Arts Centre

Friday 10th July Heron Hill’s Got Talent

Friday 10th July Reports to parents

Friday 17th July End of term, 2.00 pm

l e a r n i n g t o g e t h e r , p l a y i n g t o g e t h e r , g r o w i n g t o g e t h e r

Dear Parents and Carers

Firstly, let me thank you for completing and returning the parent questionnaire. This was the 6th time we have sent out the annual survey and once again the collated results tell us a great deal about your views on the school, how you appreciate the good things going on here and the areas we can still improve upon. The survey results are included on the back page of this newsletter together with those from previous years as a comparison.

Also in this edition you will notice that Mr Murphy, our next Deputy Head, was able to join us last week for a couple of days, which were very fruitful as he prepares for his start in September. Mrs Wilkinson has been awarded an internal promotion to Assistant Head and we have recently made 2 more new appointments to begin in September. Mr Matthew Harris will be joining us as a class teacher in Year 2 and Miss Helen Reid as class teacher in Year 6.

At a recent meeting of headteachers from the Kendal area, a letter was drawn up jointly to be shared by all schools regarding the use of school grounds after hours and the behaviour we all expect. See the letter below with the Kendal Collaborative Partnership (KCP) logo! Hopefully we will not experience any such problems at Heron Hill, but we do now have the site fully covered by CCTV cameras 24 hours a day so that any evidence of damage to our school by uninvited visitors in the evenings or weekends can be passed to the Police.

Thank you for your continued support.

Peter Hicks

Music Lessons from September Children in Years 2-5 have been offered the opportunity of musical instrument lessons beginning in September. If you have indicated interest in lessons, please return signed commitment forms by the end of this week at the latest.

Message from All Schools in Kendal re Summer Behaviour

As the summer begins in earnest, and we enjoy long bright evenings, we – all the Kendal schools – wanted to write to all Kendal parents, and remind you of the duty we all share to keep Kendal a fantastic place to live.

Recently, a number of our schools have suffered anti-social behaviour and vandalism on their sites at night. Sadly, some of that vandalism has even included broken glass and deliberate damage in Early Years and Reception areas. Local police officers have also reported an increase in the number of groups of young people around town in the evening, and sometimes these groups have left a mess behind; occasionally leaving damage behind too.

The vast majority of our young people are responsible and considerate, and if they are out in public spaces or on school sites in the evenings they are playing sport, socialising and behaving well. Some young people however can be less considerate and become thoughtless, even intimidating, especially when in groups.

As summer draws on, please take a minute to chat to your child about what they get up to in the evening, who they hang out with, and also how easy it is to be inconsiderate without thinking. Thank you in anticipation of your support.

PHOTO GALLERY

New Senior Leadership

Mr Ian Murphy, our newly appointed Deputy Head, took time out from his current school in London to visit Heron Hill for 2 days last week.

He met the staff, governors and some pupils and had intensive training in some of the roles he will be taking on in September.

Here he is (centre), meeting with Mr Hicks and Mrs Wilkinson, our newly appointed Assistant Head.

nationalbooktokens.com/school

Please help! The more parents, friends and school staff who register their name and e-mail along with our school name at the above address, the better chance Heron Hill has of winning £5000 of book tokens to spend on our school library. Please register before 31

st July.

Kendal to Kenya...and Back Again!

Since retiring from a 38 year career in education, besides getting involved as a governor at Heron Hill I have been on several visits to support Open Arms International and its work at Open Arms Village, near Eldoret, in Western Kenya. Open Arms Village has a number of loving family homes and provides safety, an education and hope to an ever increasing number of children, all of whom have been orphaned, abandoned or suffered terrible neglect or abuse. My wife and I find it is a privilege to endeavour to serve the needs of the children and staff at the school within the village by offering a little something out of our experience. Like most schools in Africa they lack the wealth of resources that we in the UK have become accustomed to and most of their teaching is best described as ‘chalk and talk’, even with the 3 year olds.

We normally travel in a party of 5-12 people so we able to carry teaching materials in our hold luggage in order to encourage the staff in ‘new’ ways of educating the children in the village. Through a combination of role modelling and staff training sessions we try to influence classroom practice and encourage teachers to move beyond the blackboard.

I am keen to share our African experiences with the Governing Body, believing that we will be a more informed group of people if we can look at our school not just in a local context but in an international one too. To this end, in January a group of Heron Hill governors met with two of our Kenyan teacher friends, who had been funded by the British Council to visit schools here in Kendal, so that we could compare the challenges we have in the UK with those in Kenya. It was a special evening in which people across two continents had a common interest and motivation; a heart for children and a desire to serve their needs.

Andy Blackman – Chair, Pupils and Curriculum Committee.

Year 3 had a fun but tiring day visiting Vindolanda and Hadrian’s Wall as part of their Roman’s topic.

Year 4’s half term of rugby-maths lessons ended with an assembly and a tag-rugby festival at Kendal Rugby Club; this is a photograph of one of our three teams in action.

The Park and Stride Adventures of Holly the Heron by Bobby Gorst

Year 1 pupils have been reading ‘The Snail and the Whale’. They have been rehearsing parts of the rhyming book and then performing it to each other with actions!

Foundation Stage Sports Days

We trialled a new format for our Sports Days this year and opted for traditional style races on the field behind Nursery. Every child won a sticker at the end of the race and ran back to their places with a smile on their faces. The weather was kind to us and the children and family members thoroughly enjoyed the events.

Heron Hill’s tag-rugby team in action at the Cumbria County tag-rugby finals at Cockermouth (see report on back page).

Nursery staff show the children how it is done. Top marks to Mrs Warren (left) for commitment.

Nursery has been learning about growing and change.

Mathletics Competition

Since Easter, Year 5/Year 6 children have been participating in an online Maths competition which has been a resounding success. It has had a very positive impact on the children’s mental maths skills, with teachers reporting improvements in children’s speed of recall of number facts and accuracy. The winner, Millie Reed, received a £10 book voucher and Mathletics trophy plaque and the 4 runners-up received £5 tokens. Well done to everyone who took part!

1st Place Millie Reed 482,380 points - Mathlete of the Year 2015

2nd

Place Ashleigh Elvey 419,450 points 3rd

Place Callum Wilkinson 80,041 points 4

th Place Kian Barsby 77,193 points 5

th Place Dexter Westwell 77,141 points

Friends of Heron Hill

starts Friday 12th June

Freezer pops on sale at the school gate at 3.15 pm, 50p each

(every Friday except 26th June unless it is raining)

l e a r n i n g t o g e t h e r , p l a y i n g t o g e t h e r , g r o w i n g t o g e t h e r

Information that Mrs Maddock, Mrs Swords and Mrs Cooper DO NOT NEED TO READ

Gifts for the teachers who are leaving us will be presented to them at the end of this term. If you would like to contribute towards the gifts, please send your contribution to the school office in a clearly labelled envelope (for whom the gift is intended) by Friday 26

th June. Thank you.

Tag-Rugby County Finals, Wednesday 20th

May 2015

Having won the Kirkbie Kendal School festival, Heron Hill’s tag-rugby squad of 3 girls and 6 boys headed to Cockermouth to compete in the county finals. Stramongate, Dean Gibson and Staveley also represented South Lakes, approximately 240 children took part. In the first round, Heron Hill played against South Walney Junior School; Jericho Primary, Whitehaven; North Lakes Primary, Workington; Kingmoor Primary, Carlisle and Fairfield Primary, Cockermouth.

With a final tally of won 2, lost 3 from the five games in the first round, Heron Hill did not progress in the competition. However, all of the squad should be very proud of the way they acquitted themselves against strong opposition. Although they found some of the young referees’ decisions a little surprising and some of their opponents somewhat more direct than they had experienced, they maintained a very positive and supportive attitude throughout. With 4 of the squad being in Year 5, the prospects for next year’s team already look promising.

Keith McDougall

Mid-Day Supervisor Vacancy

We currently have a vacancy for a Mid-Day Supervisor. If you are interested in joining our team of Mid-Day Supervisors, please contact the office for an application pack. Hours of work are 1¼ hours over lunchtime Monday to Friday and the rate of pay is £7.8822 per hour (term time only). The closing date for applications is Monday 29

th June;

short interviews will take place in the week beginning 6th July. We also require relief Mid-Day Supervisors who can work

on an as-needed basis to cover absence. Please contact the office if you are interested.