Head of School’s Message

As we transition into Summer Term, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank you all for your ongoing support. Our events have once again been very well attended, the fundraising for various projects is going nicely and there is a lovely feeling of community. I know that community spirit doesn’t happen by accident, it comes from thoughtful communication, supportive relationships and the willingness to work together in the best interests of the children.

On the topic of passing on thanks, I would just like to take the opportunity to thank a few more people.

Firstly, I’d like to extend my thanks to Chris Raymond, her husband David Raymond, and their neighbour Karen Rogers. The Mill Race Plant Ladies, as they’re better known, have been running a plant stall from the wall at the side of their house for the last three years, come rain or shine. Over that time, they have raised over £5000, which they have kindly shared between our school and Wolsingham Primary School. The money raised has paid for new equipment for our greenhouse, plants, soil and maintenance of our planters, as well as funding gardening clubs. This year, we have been able to extend our Gruffalo story in our woodland area by purchasing a handcrafted statue of the fox, as well as rubbing plates of insects and plants. Even though Chris, David and Karen have decided to hang up their gardening gloves, the children of Hartside will be able to enjoy the legacy of all of their hard work and generosity for many years to come – THANK YOU!

Attendance

One of the biggest challenges that schools have faced following COVID has been attendance. We introduced a new trust-wide policy at the start of the year and have been putting it into practice over the last two terms. With your support and despite all of the challenges with proposed strikes and winter bugs, our attendance is slowly improving. This is something that we should all be extremely proud of, as it has truly been a team effort.

Our attendance currently sits at 95%, which is above local and national averages. We’re still not quite reaching our target of 97%, however we are absolutely delighted with the progress so far.

Punctuality

The school day starts at 08:50am (this will change to 08:45am in September). It is expected therefore that the children are in their seats and learning by that time. Over this term, we have kept the gate open until 08:55am. Starting after Easter, this will be brought forward 5 minutes, to 08:50am, so that we can all start to get used to the slightly earlier start time and transition over gently, rather than abruptly, in September. Anyone who arrives after the gate is closed will need to walk around to main reception and sign in as late. The number of minutes is recorded each time (from the start of the school day to the child’s arrival time). For example, if a child arrives at 08:58am, they will be recorded as being 8 minutes late.

We understand that motivating children to get out of bed and get ready on a morning can be challenging, we therefore have a couple of initiatives running to support with this. We have a punctuality draw every week – all of the children who were on time the previous week are entered into a draw and the winner is awarded with a £5 voucher which they can redeem at breakfast or after school club. Alongside this, we are running wake up, shake up sessions.

Cypad

We’ve made some changes with how the children choose their meal option for a lunchtime. Rather than parents and children choosing in advance, they get to explore the choices every morning when they come into school and then choose what they want. We try our best to encourage the children to choose a hot option. This is completed as soon as the children start school at 08:50am (this will change to 08:45am in September) and it is saved immediately, to allow the kitchen plenty of time to prepare the meals. Therefore, once the options are saved, this cannot be changed. Any children who arrive late and are not present for choosing, will be allocated a sandwich.

Behaviour

Behaviour continues to be really positive across school and our children have been great ambassadors when out and about in the local area for walks, competitions, trips, events and workshops. We’ve had some lovely feedback from a range of different people, who have commented on how kind, polite and enthusiastic our children are. It’s so lovely to hear that the children recognise that demonstrating our character traits (kindness, empathy, respect, self-control, grit and integrity) is something they can do wherever they are, not just in school.

The lunchtime supervisors have been particularly impressed with the fantastic behaviour demonstrated on a lunchtime and have decided to acknowledge this by choosing a small selection of children each week to sit at the golden table. The children chosen can bring a plus one, who will also enjoy the benefits of the golden table, which include: decoration and placemats, queue cutting privileges, a choice of juice and of course bragging rights!

Packed Lunches Guidance

Just a quick reminder about pack lunches.

Children’s packed lunches should include items from the 5 main food groups:

1) Bread, Rice, Potatoes, Pasta. These starchy foods are a healthy source of energy. Packed lunches should include 2 or more portions e.g. pasta salad, sandwich, wrap.

2) Fruit and Vegetables. These foods provide vitamins, minerals and fibre. Lunches should include at least 1 portion of fruit and 1 portion of vegetables / salad, or more e.g. carrot/cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, fruit.

3) Milk and Dairy foods. These foods provide calcium for healthy bones and teeth. Include 1 portion at lunch e.g. yogurt, fromage frais, milk, cheese.

4) Meat, Fish, Eggs, Beans. These foods provide protein for growth. Packed lunches should include 1 portion of these foods e.g. boiled egg, sandwich fillings, mixed bean salad.

5) Drinks – You could include: plain water, milk (semi-skimmed), unsweetened fresh fruit juice, diluted fresh fruit juice, fruit or dairy based smoothies.

Please support us by not including these items in your child’s packed lunch:

• Fizzy pop or Fruit Shoots
• Sweets of any kind
• Chocolate

Children are welcome to have a single portion of crisp, alongside one of the following treats per day:

• A cake bar
• A cereal bar
• A biscuit or mini packet of biscuits (they can be chocolate coated, but should not be a chocolate bar or sweets)

Snack for breaktime

EYFS and KS1 children already have access to free fruit and vegetables at break time, as part of the School fruit and vegetable scheme.

Children are welcome to bring in a snack for their morning break, however this needs to be either a portion or fruit, or vegetables. Children will not be permitted to take crisps, or treats out of their lunchboxes for breaktime snack.

Water bottles

Water bottles for during the day (not lunch) should contain only water.

Where reasonable adjustments need to be made, this should be with the support of a GP and/or a paediatrician and you may be asked to provide further details.

Wraparound Care

Just a quick reminder that our wraparound care run runs from 07:30am – 5:30pm. This is bookable via School Gateway.

Just a few quick reminders:

• School Gateway will not accept bookings within 24 hours of the club starting. If you need to book at short notice, please contact the school office staff, who will be happy to help.
• If you are trying to book the 4:30pm – 5:30pm slot and it appears full, contact the school office, who may still be able to get you booked in.
• If a place is cancelled at short notice (within 24 hours of the club starting), refunds do not apply.
• We accept that the children who are coming to breakfast club at 08:00am want to be on time and we therefore allow a few minutes grace for that. However, if children are dropped off, or arrive, between 07:30 and 07:55am, they will be added to the earlier register and you will be charged the earlier rate of £3.50.

All children must be booked onto the club and paid for before they attend. EYFS breakfast club in particular have very tight adult to child ratio and we need to plan for this day to day. If you arrive and your child has not been booked in, we may not have the sufficient staffing planned to cover ratios. If this is the case, we would not be able to accommodate your child on that day.

Future Events/Dates

The school holidays for 2023/24 are on the website – they do differ slightly from the Durham holidays, however the ALP schools will be aligned.

Have a lovely break.

Dawn Simpson
Head of School

Year 2

Spiritual Experiences

Year 2 visited St Catherine’s church where they learnt all about the Easter story. We waved palm leaves for the arrival of Jesus and his donkey. We tasted bread and grapes and even had a visit from Mary. It was a lovely immersive experience. Thanks to the volunteers at St. Catherine’s Church in Crook for making it so special.

In their PE lessons, Year 2 have been learning a dance called ‘Penguins’. We have learnt lots of skills, including counting the beats in a piece of music, being able to put together some moves that have the same count as the music and working together in pairs to create a small routine. I’m sure they’ll show you, if you ask nicely.

Year 5

On the beat

This half term, Year 5 have been recruited into the Mini Police! So far, they have learnt all about roles within the police, uniforms, how the police help us, and also about anti-social behaviour. For our learning about the Easter story, the class visited St Catherine’s church in Crook. They experienced the events of Holy Week first hand, through drama and role play. They even had the chance to take part in their own Last Supper. To celebrate Science week, Year 5 made a balloon rocket. It was lots of fun watching the balloon rockets fly in the classroom.

Accelerated Reader update – for children from Years 2-6