Harrow Lodge Primary School Newsletter

Summer Term 5th July 2019 Issue Number 37

Visit www.harrowlodgeprimary.com to view it online!

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week has been very busy as always. The end of the summer term is

always the busiest time of all as we try to get ready for the new academic year whilst still keeping up our high expectations of work and progress for this current year. On Monday, I met with a gentleman regarding the provision of lunchtime clubs. Many of you have commented to me that you don’t feel that we provide enough extra-curricular clubs and so I’ve been looking for ways of enhancing what we deliver. I’ll let you know what we decide to do as soon as we’ve ironed out all the particulars but I hope it will give more children an opportunity to have a go at more diverse sports. Library visits have continued this week with 5A enjoying a relaxing time browsing the bookshelves – I do hope you’ll continue to take your children to the library in the summer holidays; keeping up the reading will keep up the reading age. We are currently assessing children’s reading standards for the end of the year and we assess at the beginning of September so we get a clear picture of progress from September to July. It’s shocking to see how many children actually drop back in their reading ages over the summer holidays because of the lack of reading! So, keep those library visits going! This week saw some strained faces in year 5 and 6 as they battled in the Hype’s Maths Quiz – it was a battle of the giants! You’ll be able to read all about it in our next issue of The Hype. Reception and Year 1 were treated to a wonderful story time by a real author who entertained them with lots of activities as well as the story itself. One of the biggest events this week involved our Year 6 children who were taken on a Scout’s Day where they experienced all sorts of new activities from roasting bananas on an open fire to axe-throwing in the field!! All children returned with their heads firmly attached to their bodies, I’m pleased to say! And sports day was amazing! What a fantastic day Miss Goddard and Mr Charlee put together for the children. Everyone had a wonderful time except for the excruciating sunburn (actually, I think that was just me!) and we saw some outstanding performances in the afternoon session. I have to say that I witnessed the most competitive parents’ race known to man and the teachers were nearly as bad in their race but it all added points to the final total which was revealed at the end of the day. Congratulations to the Centaurs who proudly ran a lap of honour around the field holding the House Sports trophy aloft for all to gaze at. And today, some of our Year 6 pupils entered the Havering Schools’ Maths Quiz. The quiz involves a great number of schools and it’s a gruelling but fascinating 2 hours filled with exciting maths challenges for the children.

I’m usually the designated driver so I drop off and pick up at the appropriate times. It’s a rather nice break for me and I thoroughly enjoy listening to the nervous chatter of the children on the way there and the excited analysis of the quiz questions on the way back! Today, however, the ‘analysis’ comprised of one thing and one thing only – the invasion of the bat out of hell (my words not theirs) into the competition hall! Well, you can imagine the pandemonium that ensued – screaming, shouting and running around (and that was just Miss McAuliffe!) With 10 minutes left of the quiz, I’m sure many of the other children were distracted and confused (my dastardly plan to sabotage the enemy seemed to have worked – mwahahahah!) Well, we shall have to wait for the results so watch this space (meanwhile, I’ll just put my pet bat back in his box!!!) Our year 6s have been very busy this week as they also took part in the Junior Citizenship Competition which was a resounding success as our children had to work together as a team to achieve their goals. Very proud of our Year 6 children. And, finally, I can see all the stalls being placed out for tonight’s Carnival themed summer fete. I have to say that the PTA have worked their fingers to the bone on this enterprise and we’re really grateful to all of you that have given your time and energy to help get this event off the ground. I know Mrs Lawson and Mrs Kersey have been beside themselves with worry over the lack of a barbecue as the old one had finally given up the ghost. And it was down to the wire really with two weeks to go that someone finally came forward with the offer of one to borrow. The cheers of relief were audible and peace was restored once more in the Harrow Lodge household. How frustrating, therefore, for the whole team, when the doner pulled out yesterday because they’d lent the barbecue to someone else who hadn’t returned it yet! I had to find several cushions on which our formidable committee could vent their frustration! But, never one to be defeated, Mrs Lawson and Mrs Kersey picked themselves up, dusted themselves down and, with the faces of determined British bulldogs, they marched off to B&Q on Hornchurch Road and bemoaned their plight to anyone who would listen. Luckily, a very kind and sympathetic store manager came to their rescue and, with a caring ear, he let the painful words tumble out of their mouths as they recounted the pitiful story of the barbecue that never was! And, would you believe it, our local DIY store saved the day! Paul, the hero of our story, donated a brand spanking new barbecue to our PTA with best wishes and a bottle of ketchup! Well, how’s that for customer service? First a Christmas tree and now a barbecue – B & Q truly are a service for all weathers! And on that rather wonderful note, I shall bid you a restful weekend full of sunshine and laughter. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy plenty of both and it’s probably a great time to get those barbecues out!!

With kind regards and best wishes,

Mrs Searle

Hot Chocolate Friday

Drinkers

1B: Rosie

2/3C: Jessica

3A: Lexie

3B: Grace

4A: Dominic & Vinnie

4B: Vinnie

5A: Josie

5C: Mathavan

Attendance

w/e 28th June 2019

Year Group

Attendance %

Reception 91.4

Year 1 96.9

Year 2 98.1

Year 3 95.2

Year 4 96.1

Year 5 95.1

Year 6 96.1

Congratulations to the individual class attendance winners!

2B - 100%

Overall School Attendance (year to date) – 95.9%

Writer of the Week

R1: Jacob R2: Aisha 1A: Hayden 1B: Preston 2A: Parker 2B: George 2/3C: Molly 3A: Evelina 3B: Mikele 4A: Benita 4B: Laila 5A: Catalina 5B: Sydney 5C: Eloise 6A: Ronnie 6B: Paula

Star Of The Week

R1: Boe R2: Raoul 1A: Edith, Darius & Frank 1B: Feroz & Maria 2A: Matthew 2B: Scarlett 2/3C: Harry 3A: Phillip 3B: Nassar 4A: Maria 4B: Alfie & Eshan 5A: Lucia 5B: Janvi 5C: Riley 6A: Lily-Jo

This week’s

Presentation Award

goes to ….

Harvey (2/3C)

for presentation in

Maths

PUPIL ACHIEVEMENTS

Congratulations to …. Ellen Lee who is having her hair cut for charity.

The hair itself will be sent to the Little Princess Trust to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to illness/treatment and any donations will go to Children’s Services at King George & Queen’s Hospitals. The cut is due to

take place on 23rd July at 2pm. Ellen hopes to raise enough money to purchase two ipads to entertain children when they are in hospital. If you’d like

to make a donation to help Ellen on her way, please send the money into school in an envelope marked ‘Ellen’s Challenge’.

SUMMER HOLIDAYS

We will be breaking up for the summer on

FRIDAY 19th JULY @ 2pm

School starts again on

MONDAY 9th SEPTEMBER @ 8.40am

Picture of the Week ‘Burg-Zilla’ by Jordi (4B)

Parents’ Evening & Art Exhibition

Thursday 11th July 3.30pm – 6.00pm

Your children have recently produced

wonderful works of art!

During the Parents’ Evening we will be holding an Art Exhibition in the KS2 Hall where you will be able to view and purchase your child’s framed artwork. Each picture will cost £8, a percentage of which will be donated to the school. Only cash payments can be made, so please come prepared! If purchased, children will be given their pictures to bring home on Friday 12th July.

DIARY DATES

Monday 8th July

Year 5 - Last swimming session

Tuesday 9th July

9.15am - 10.15am New Intake Stay & Play

1.45pm - 2.45pm New Intake Stay & Play

Wednesday 10th July

Year 6 Road Safety Course (selected children only)

Yrs 1-4 Dental Health & Sugar Awareness Assembly

Thursday 11th July

9am - 10.30am Class Swap

3.30pm - 6pm Open Evening / Art Exhibition

Friday 12th July

Reports due out

5pm - 8pm Year 6 Leavers’ Party

Monday 15th July

2.30pm EYFS parents - meet the Year 1 teachers

Tuesday 16th July

2pm & 6pm Year 6 Production to parents

(please return the reply slips by 10th July)

Wednesday 17th July

PTA End of Year Parties:

3.30 - 4.30 EYFS & KS1

4.45 - 5.45 KS2

Thursday 18th July

100% Attendance Assembly

6pm Year 6 Prize Giving Evening / Leavers’ Assembly

Friday 19th July

Break up – 2pm

Monday 9th September

Return to School

Water Bottles

If your child brings a water bottle into school, please ensure that it is a clear plastic bottle. We have had several accidents with split bottles and those with glitter or fruit or any such additives have caused irreparable damage to our carpets.

Thank you for your consideration in this

matter.

ABSENCES

If your child is going to

be off school for any

reason, PLEASE ring

the school office by

9am EVERY day of

absence and leave a

message on the

absence line, even if

you have already told

your child’s teacher.

This will save you

getting a phone call

from us!

Please follow this up

with a note on your

child’s return. Thank

you for your co-

operation.

https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/link-to-us

KEEP FIT is held on Tuesdays from 9.00am - 9.45am in the KS2 hall. This is a fun and FREE exercise class run by Mr Charlee. If you don’t have childcare, please bring your little ones

with you as they can be in the hall with us.

C O F F E E M O R N I N G t a k e s p l a c e o n W e d n e s d a y m o r n i n g s

from 9am-10am in the Oak Room. Please come and join us for a chat and cuppa!

sQuid

The amount owed on sQuid for school dinners is currently £100.40.

Once a sQuid debt reaches £6.60, your child’s entitlement to a hot meal will be

cancelled and they will be given an emergency meal of cheese and crackers with unlimited salad from the salad bar. This will continue until the debt is cleared. If anyone is struggling to pay the debt, please arrange a meeting with our office manager as soon as possible to agree a monthly payment plan. We would also like to advise you that Trust policy is to seek to recover unpaid debts through the small claims court, but we sincerely hope that will never become an issue at Harrow Lodge.

Notification of School Dinner Price Increase

A message from HES Catering Services:

HES Catering services have managed to avoid a price increase for over 3 years and, if we could, we would want to avoid any increase this year. However, there have been some very challenging circumstances for all of us. Havering used to be one of the most expensive and now we are better value than Greenwich, Tower Hamlets* and Enfield (£2.30, £2.39 and £2.37 respectively - *Mayors meals). Labour has increased especially since the T&C’s have come into force. Food costs are very volatile and we are currently paying an average of 8% more now than ever before which is forecast to rise further. Pre-planned maintenance (gas safety / PAT testing / refrigeration servicing and extraction cleaning) has increased, this does not include remedial repairs. We want to continue to support with regards to kitchen equipment (as much as we can do). The increase in costs have been very substantial.

With the above in mind, we need to increase our current £2.20 price from

September 2019 to a new price of £2.25.