Dear Parents and Carers,

My favourite part of this last week was the short time that I spent in one of the Year 5 classrooms reading the children a story. Seeing their excited faces as the plot took a surprising turn, laughing with them as we acted out the sound effects and facial expressions, and noticing the pin-drop silence as they hung onto my every word, I can fully recommend it to anyone, especially if you find yourself anxious about Covid19; take some time out to enjoy a great book with your children. You’ll soon be swept away with them into a different world! I’ve been so pleased to see reading stories is being prioritised across every year group. Take a look at some of the photos on Twitter – our staff are doing a great job and the children are loving it.

Huge thanks to the children too for their politeness, courtesy, respect and gratitude. It’s been delightful seeing how much they appreciate being back at HTPD with their classmates.

If your child has a cold and is well enough to be in school, they can still attend, just as they would have done before Covid19. Sniffles are part of normal primary school life! Of course, a high temperature, or a persistent cough, and / or a loss of taste or smell would be different; your child would then need to be tested before they can return. Take a look at the helpful guide (What to do if…) that we’ve linked to the website advice page. We are so grateful for your ongoing support to keep the school safe.

We’re working hard to provide home learning for any child that’s having to stay at home due to coronavirus advice or self-isolation. If however, they are ill, all they need to do then is rest and recover – they won’t need to engage in home-learning! I’ll share more details of our contingency plan for remote learning provision next week, but thank you in advance for keeping to the government guidelines regarding school attendance. Please do keep working hard to socially distance at the school gates; gathering in groups larger than six would not be appropriate. As soon as your child is either dropped off or picked up, please move quickly away from the playgrounds and entrances.

I was delighted that Year 4 successfully took part in our first big day-out of the school year. They visited Butser Ancient Farm, bringing their topic on Iron Age Britain to life as they experienced round houses and traditional crafts, as well as enjoying a coach trip and a picnic. The trip obviously involved a lot more planning and risk-assessment than usual, but it has proved to us that it can be done! We were so encouraged that HTPD’s rich diet of exciting learning experiences can continue…and as the first school to visit the farm this term, we were given the gold-star treatment! The success of the day gave us the confidence to plan for other similar events later in the term! Next up, is Year 3’s Marwell Zoo trip, and it’s great to hear that the Wild Place is back on the timetable at Pewley.

With love,
Clare

Thought of the Week: “Dare to care.” Care for others as God cares for you. Who should you be caring for?

Whole school

Please remember when bringing dogs to areas outside of school that some children are wary of them and dogs must be kept under control at all times. A reminder that dogs are not allowed on the school premises and please be courteous to residents and ensure any mess is cleared up.

Infant

Hand washing
Some parents have noticed that with all the extra hand washing, their children’s hands are becoming dry. Please do feel free to send in moisturiser if that would help. Do let us know also, if your child has any skin condition like severe eczema; you would of course be able to provide a pharmacy-sourced or medically-prescribed soap substitute. Just email the class teacher.

Menu for week beginning Monday 21 September
Mon: Spaghetti with Bolognese or Vegetable Sauce; Flapjack
Tues: Thai Chicken or Mild Vegetable Curry with Saffron Rice; Chocolate Sponge with Chocolate Sauce
Weds: Roast Turkey with Roast Potatoes & Gravy or Roasted Vegetable Tart; Jelly
Thurs: Sausage or Vegetarian Sausage with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy; Fresh Fruit Salad
Fri: Fish Fingers & Chips or Homemade Pizza; Rice Pudding
Selection of seasonal vegetables also available daily.

Junior

Current Year 6
This is a little reminder to the parents and carers of Year 6 children that applications for secondary schools are now open. The secondary schools in Guildford are running Open Evenings over the next few weeks, virtually or otherwise. Please check the respective schools’ websites for dates and details so that you can arrange to attend them.

Please note that on-line applications are preferred by SCC, and e-Admissions forms together with further information are available on their website https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions/secondary/apply. Should you require a hard copy, please e-mail schoolbooklets@surreycc.gov.uk or telephone 0300 200 1015. Paper copies should be returned directly to Surrey County Council. The closing date for all applications for entry in September 2021 is Saturday, 31st October 2020, which happens to fall on a Saturday during half term this year and it is vital that you submit your application on or before this date.

Menu - Week 3

Socially Distanced Takeaway Macmillan Coffee Morning:
Laura H and Svenja T, with boys in Year 4 and Year 6, are organising a Macmillan coffee morning on Friday 25th September as a take away service from 40 Harvey Road with social distancing in place. Delicious home-baked cakes and tea or coffee will be available to collect for a kind donation from 8.30am until 12pm approximately. Nothing stops cancer, so nothing should stop us from having a coffee morning and raising some money for a good cause along the way. As you probably know Macmillan provides care and support for people living with cancer. If you would like to help on the day or get baking, please get in touch with Svenja or Laura in advance of the event as cakes will have to be “quarantined” and packaged up beforehand. Or just come along and visit https://thyg.uk/BUU004690221

FOPS News

Hi All,

It's a shorter newsletter this week with two key items:

1. We are starting preloved uniform sales through the office. Please email Ruth and Jane and Ruth with details of what you would like, and they will endeavour to find it for you. We are looking to try and set up a PayPal pool for this, but currently, it will be cash into an honesty box on collection.

2. FOPs are still looking for FOPs Chair/Chairs and a FOPS Secretary.

Please please do contact us if you have any questions about the outstanding roles or would like to put your name forward. It would be a great shame if we were unable to continue with the PTA this year…...

Also, please don’t forget that Friends of Pewley Down School is registered with easyfundraising. So, although we’ve been unable to get together and hold fundraising events in person since March, we can continue to raise free funds with easyfundraising, at no extra cost to you.

In the coming weeks, if you’re buying new school uniform, PE kits, rucksacks and stationery online, please remember to shop via the easyfundraising website or app. There are thousands of retailers on easyfundraising, including M&S, John Lewis, Clarks, WHSmith and The Works, who will all give free donations to FOPS when you shop with them.

If you’re not already signed up, it only takes a few minutes, then you can begin using the easyfundraising website or app straightaway - simply visit easyfundraising first and then shop online as normal. This will be an enormous help to us, at no extra cost to yourself. Please visit our easyfundraising page to get started: You shop. Friends of Pewley Down Infant School, Guildford gets money. For free.

Thanks, Sam and Jo (FOPS Chairs)

HTSC News

Hope you’ve all had some time in the sunshine this week and looking forward the weekend.

Class reps
Thank you to the below for volunteering to be class reps this year – all the classes are filled for years 3,4 and 5; just need Year 6 reps now.

Confirmed reps for 3A – Steph & Mel,
Confirmed reps for 3C – Suzie
Confirmed reps for 3S – Vera & Moriam
Confirmed reps for 4A – Laura & Becky
Confirmed reps for 4EL – Buffy & Claudine
Confirmed reps for 4N – Svenja (if anyone could join Svenja, that would be great).
Confirmed reps for 5JJ – Rebecca & Jenny
Confirmed reps for 5T – Lou & Kim
Confirmed rep for 5S – Marisa & Caren

Second Hand Uniform
Simone Chidlow is very kindly keeping all our donations at her house. If you have any to donate (age 7-8 upwards), please drop her an email simonechidlow@googlemail.com to arrange dropping it off at her house. If you need any uniform from her, please email her and she will do her best to sort it out for you. We are using Paypal this year for uniform payments as we cannot handle cash – please pay for your second hand uniform using this link https://paypal.me/pools/c/8scngiBObf

Meetings
We will be holding our termly meetings and our AGM via Zoom in the next couple of weeks – dates/times and links for these will be shared via your class reps once the dates are confirmed. We still need a Secretary (to minute the meetings) and a Treasurer (looks after the accounts/payments – all online) – both of these roles can be shared between 2 people to lighten the load. As we cannot have any physical events this year, there will be less work for these roles to process and less time required, making this a good transition year to come on board.

Once we have had our AGM and the formalities of this process are concluded, we will have our first committee meeting via Zoom. All parents are invited to join with any ideas you may have for fundraising this year. Thank you for the suggestions that have arisen in conversation at the gates for some virtual events. We cannot hold any events at school or gather in groups for the foreseeable, but I’m sure we will be able to continue to support the school community in other ways.

Easyfundraising If you are shopping online, one way to support the school is through www.easyfundraising.co.uk and selecting HTSC Holy Trinity School Community as your cause. Over £1900 has been raised through this so far with only 78 supporters – it would be great if more signed up as this is a really simple way of supporting the school while shopping online.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this. As always, if you have any questions, please drop me an email at helen@thomasday.co.uk

Kind regards
Helen
HTSC Chair (Issy 4EL, William 5S)