Our P1- P3 boys and girls were very pleased to receive a special bright badge today from local business people Elizabeth and Charlie. Their company are supporting the national campaign to encourage children to be safe and be seen particularly when walking to and from school. The children will wear the badges on their coats or attach it to their schoolbags.
Harvest presentation to Saphara
Earlier today we welcomed Christine Burnett, a representative from Saphara. Christine showed everyone really interesting slides from her recent visits with a team of young people who travelled to the Himalayan region of India. The pictures gave us all an insight into what life is like for the boys and girls who live in this mountainous area and also helped us appreciate what school is like there too. The children attend Donk Primary School. Christine was delighted to receive a cheque for £620. This is enough money to buy 124 pairs of shoes for the children. Thanks to everyone at HPS who supported the charity.
Security alert in Holywood. HPS not affected
Police are in attendance at a security alert in Church Road/Brooke Street after a suspect object was found in a hedge on Church Road. Holywood Primary is not affected and remains open.
Church Road is closed between Brooke Street and High Street. The BBC reports that Holywood Nursery School is closed. Further information is available from PSNI and BBC.
Parents:
- Please collect your child at the normal time from the front gate this afternoon; the back gate is closed. All pupils will be accompanied to the gate by their teacher. Please be aware that there is likely to be a high volume of traffic at this time.
- 1,2,3 Club is still on this afternoon.
Proposed Reduction in Primary School Funding
You will be aware from the letter sent home last week about the proposed changes to the Budget Allocation for our school in the coming years along with over 80% of other NI schools.
Governors and staff urge every parent to respond to the DENI consultation which must be completed by Friday 25th October.
A number of parents have asked for guidance when completing the consultation responses. Please click here for guidance material which has been compiled by the Northern Ireland Primary Principals’ Action Group. You are not expected to make an exact replica of this information in your own response it is simply for guidance only.
Click here to be directed to the online consultation response.
Many thanks.
D. Crookshanks
Thanks for your help with our Harvest Appeal for Saphara
This year our Harvest Appeal was for a local charity called Saphara. It works in the Himalayan Region of India and some of our former pupils have spent time there, helping families with building projects and their local school - Donk Primary School (above). The children walk many miles to school and wear little shoes like flip-flops. For £5 Saphara can purchase proper shoes for pupils to wear.
We welcomed Aaron Ditty to our Harvest Service. The boys and girls enjoyed singing songs and listening to the School Choir. We look forward to welcoming a representative of the Saphara charity to collect a cheque for the money raised and talk to the children.
Thank you for your help in our appeal.
J Wallace
Charity Co-ordinator
Beginner musicians at HPS
Best wishes to the many pupils who are learning to play a musical instrument for the first time this year at our school. Georgia, Eshneha, Bailey, James and Jamie have enjoyed their first lesson with one of our music tutors, Mrs Ashmore.
Bike It 2013-2014
Pamela, our Bike It Officer, came to visit Holywood Primary School to plan the Bike It Programme for the year ahead. Pamela is pictured with Ben from P6 who has been trying to come to school as often as possible on his bicycle (even in the rain!). Check back soon for more information about some forthcoming Bike It events at HPS.
Healthy break each day in HPS
Teachers and Classroom Assistants have been really encouraged this month that parents have been very supportive of our Healthy Eating Break Initiative. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of boys and girls bringing healthy breaks each day which is great to see. A BIG THANKYOU! HPS is also part of the SEELB Milk Scheme. Each day Mrs Dowling, with the help of P7 Room 10, distribute milk to over 110 P1- P7 boys and girls.
PTA House of Colour Tuesday 8th October 7.00 p.m.
Come along with friends and family for an informative and relaxed evening to learn about what House of Colour can do for you ! Helen Allen, House of Colour Consultant, will discuss about the effects and benefits of wearing the right colours and styles. You will gain an insight into how you can save time shopping and save money by not making mistakes when buying clothes and accessories – some of which never get worn!
7.00 p.m. - 9.00 p.m.
@ H. P. S
£5 (incudes tea/coffee)
Eco & Garden Club Gets Underway
The ECO Club have begun their busy schedule for this term by together tidying two flower beds and planting some Autumn bedding plants. This year our school will be applying for a third ECO Flag. Keep watching for ways in which you can help us achieve this goal and support the school Action Plan for the year ahead.
Curriculum Evening Tuesday 10th September 2013
All parents are invited to attend the Parent Information Evening on Tuesday 10th September 7.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m in the School Hall. Important information relating directly to each Year Group will be given. i.e. classroom routines, homework details and aspects of the curriculum that will be covered during the year.
Please see the timetable here for more details.
Many thanks.
Parent Questionnaire Responses 2013
Thank you to everyone who has responded to the 2013 questionniaire. Many comments made along with analysis of the questions asked, will be used to assist in the content of future School Development Plans. The results can be seen here.
Tubs4Tablets - Spread the Word
This summer Flora, in partnership with Tesco, is launching an amazing new scheme called Tubs4Tablets which aims to help our school bring cutting edge technology into the classroom.
The scheme gives primary and middle schools in the United Kingdom the opportunity to collect tokens from special tubs of Flora on sale at Tesco and exchange them for FREE touch screen tablets!
Help us make our campaign a success
Our school has already registered to take part in the scheme, now all we need to do is to collect as many tokens as possible.
Tokens can be found on special tubs of Flora Original and Flora Light 500g, available at all Tesco stores now.
Hand us your tokens and we will exchange them for FREE touch screen tablets. Tokens can be left in our collection box or put into an envelope and handed to the school office.
Just 100 tokens will get our school one brand new ASUS MeMO Pad™ 172 so help us to claim as many as we can.
Spread the word
Remember, if friends, neighbours, work colleagues and family can help too we could collect even more tokens to exchange for tablets. There’s no limit to the amount of FREE tablets we can claim for the school!
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any support you can offer will help us to introduce modern technologies to the classroom and open a world of possibilities for our pupils.
Super Summer Serenade
A wonderful afternoon of musical talent was on display. Over 70 boys and girls played flutes, trumpets, cornets, a trombone, clarinets, a euphonium, violins and handbells throughout the afternoon. The Choir members in P5, P6 and P7 also sang beautiful pieces. Thank you to all the children and staff (especially Miss Riddell) who put together such a varied programme for everyone to enjoy.
HPS Sports Day 2014 @ Sullivan Playing Fields
The sun shone at our SPORTS DAYS this year!
A well organised P4 - P7 Sports Day at Sullivan Playing Fields saw the children taking part in individual finals and team events. They used a range of athletic skills to earn points for their Houses and win medals. Back at school in the afternoon the fabulous Tug of War competition took place. There was even time for a teachers’ Tug of War. (Your children will tell you who won that!) The enthusiastic and very loud support for all participants could be heard far and wide! The overall winners of House Sports Day were Red House!
Our P1- P3 boys and girls had a lovely morning together at their annual Sports Day. Running, throwing, relay races, a Teddy Bears’ Picnic, sack, egg and spoon and obstacle races were thoroughly enjoyed by the children and the many spectators. It was lovely to see the children leave very proud of their vast collection of competitor stickers on their t-shirts!
All smiles at the sunny Summer Fair!
Many thanks to everyone who helped before during and after the Fair to make it such as success. Everyone had such a great evening and the weather was fantastic!
Over £2600 was raised at the FAIR and £1700 on the RAFFLE which is a tremendous total.
A special THANK YOU must go to Deb Evans for co-ordinating the event superbly! It was lovely to be part of an event such as this which not only confirms our school is in the heart of Holywood but that so many people feel welcome and enjoy sharing family time together as part of the HPS community.
More pictures in the photo gallery.
P1 Information 2013
Thank you to all the parents who came along to our P1 Information Evening for their children who will be joining us in September 2013. Mrs Wallace gave a very informative presentation regarding the weeks and months ahead. The presentation from the evening can be found here.
Football First!
Congratualtions to our P6 & P7 girls who formed the first ever HPS Girls' Football Team! They had the opportunity to participate in the John Barratt Tournament and finished in a very creditable fourth place. Well done Mary, Claudia, Grace, Kirsty, Kirsty, Olivia, Olivia, Rachel and Taylor. We are very proud of you all!
Sumdog Success!
We were delighted to hear that a number of our pupils had come in the Top 30 in the recent contest that all SEELB schools were invited to get involved in.
Very well done to:-
1st Matthew Keown (P6)
2nd Scott Wyatt (P4)
3rd Ethan Cheshire (P4)
4th Chloe Hanna (P4)
8th Patrick Hughes (P4)
14th Lily Cao (P6)
20th Eva Cheshire (P6)
22nd Rachel Sweeney (P6)
The Sumdog website is a secure website being used by SEELB for a maths competition. Some of the children have been provided with their own username and password at the back of their homework diary so they can play the maths games on the Sumdog website in school and at home.
Parent Questionnaire - Anonymous Responses by Friday 31st May
We invite all HPS parents to provide us with feedback and help shape the future of our school.
Over the past few years we have distributed an annual paper questionnaire to every family in our school and we received many responses. These responses are discussed at School Management Team Meetings and considered when compiling content for the School Development Plan.
We really value your input and invite you to complete this year's questionnaire. The time you give to this is much appreciated by staff as developing strong links with parents is a very important part of the educational experience we aim to give your child. We would estimate that it will only take between 5-10 minutes to complete.
In an effort to continually improve the way we interact with you, we are introducing a new, online questionnaire this year. We trust that you will find this modern, ECO-friendly method easier than completing a paper form and having to return it to school. Your responses are treated in confidence and are completely anonymous. At the end of the questionnaire there is an opportunity to provide your name if you prefer, as this allows us to follow up on your comments.
Please complete the questionnaire by Friday 31st May. It must be completed in one session and before you can begin, you will need the password that was sent home today with your child (why?).