Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
I believe this is the penultimate newsletter of the year and next Friday will be the last. However, I have attempted a brief summary of this year and what to look forward to for next year in the Holly Leaves magazine which will be winging its way to you soon.
It was difficult to summarise everything we have done this year and everything we are going to do -so I have shared just a flavour in our yearly magazine!
My thanks to the Friends of Hollygirt for organising a fabulous BBQ last Friday; it was wonderful to see many of you there. I look forward to more social events which bring the school community together next year.
This week started with Mr Firth sharing some more interesting statistics. These were about the amount of time that mounts up due to regular absence from school. We know that sometimes children are poorly but regular absence is really debilitating in terms of learning. Grades /levels go down if students are regularly not in school. The presentation can be viewed here.
We then had senior sports day this week which was a lovely event with great sportsmanship -my thanks to PE staff for organising and all staff for looking after the students and showing off some real athleticism. Next year, I am thinking that an ice-cream van for everyone at the end and picnics /teas and coffees would be a nice idea.
Talking of athleticism, Liam Oughton is in our thoughts this week and we wish him huge luck as he represents Team GB at Under 16’s for Ball Hockey in Slovakia -that really is quite an education!
Today, in assembly, I went through the new tutor groups for next year as we move from our current tutor mentor system to having a form tutor and deputy form tutor. We have said that the students should feel free to talk to their former tutor mentors if they wish and /or trusted members of staff but we are pleased to be able to deliver more consistency in terms of a more regular form tutor and form time. We have increased this time from September 2022.
The new academic year will bring lots of exciting changes and I will write to you separately about these next week.
Short and sweet this week and to finish – I wish Year 11 a great prom tonight and thank the Year 11 team for organising this great event. I look forward to seeing Year 11 again on Thursday 25th August which is, of course, results day.
Best wishes,
Helen Barsham
Head
Message from the Head of Juniors
Good afternoon,
We are approaching the end of term and I can’t believe that next week is the last full week of this academic year. Juniors are so busy rehearsing for plays, Sports Days and looking forward to class trips.
What wonderful hairstyles the children have today! Thank you for taking the time to create these fantastic styles and for the donations of bottles and sweets.
I would like to thank the Friends of Hollygirt and everyone who helped or attended the BBQ last Friday. It was such a great event and I can’t wait for the next one!
Years 5 and 6 had an amazing time at The Mill this week, taking part in a huge variety of activities including climbing, archery, kayaking and a campfire. There are loads of photographs on our Facebook page where you can see just how much fun they had. Many thanks to Mrs Keyworth, Mr Goodhead, Miss Davey and Mr Ockleford for organising this and accompanying the children on the trip.
The Junior Productions will take place on Monday, starting at 12:30 at Trinity Church. We hope you can join us for these.
On Tuesday morning, it is EYFS and Year 1 Prize Giving. This will be held in the Friends’ Room (Year 5 and 6 building) starting at 9am. EYFS Sports Day will follow, in the Junior garden.
Junior Flying up afternoon will be on Thursday. Children in Nursery to Year Five will spend some time with their new class teachers whilst Year Six go across to the Senior School to meet with their tutors. Junior Form Teachers for next year are as follows:
| Nursery
|
Mrs Jackson and Mrs Mahl |
| Reception
|
Mrs Scott (EYFS co-ordinator) |
| Year 1
|
Mrs Heatlie |
| Year 2
|
Mrs Wand |
| Year 3
|
Miss Cooper |
| Year 4
|
Mrs Maher |
| Year 5
|
Mr Goodhead (Deputy Head of Junior School) |
| Year 6
|
Mrs Keyworth |
Our extracurricular programme will run until Friday 8th July. After School Club will run until Tuesday 12th July. Please note that we finish at 12:30 on Wednesday 13th and all children need to be collected at this time.
Our Garden Party is nearly here! Thank you for the donations so far. We still need chocolate and would really appreciate any items being brought into school next week.
And finally, huge congratulations to Mrs Nicholson who is getting married today! She will return on Monday as Mrs Jackson. We hope she and Mr Jackson have an amazing day.
Have a lovely weekend,
This week’s Stars of the Week can be viewed here.
Have a lovely weekend,
Victoria Wright
Head of Juniors
Key Dates for the Week Ahead
| Monday 4th July | Junior School Productions, Trinity Church, 12.30pm |
| Tuesday 5th July | EYFS and Year 1 Prize Giving and Sports Day, Friends Room (9 Villa Rd)/Junior School Garden, 9am House Winners Trip – Adventure Golf |
| Thursday 7th July | New Parents’ Afternoon Junior School Flying up Day |
| Friday 8th July | Year 9 Librarians Trip to Waterstones |
| Saturday 9th July | Trip to Europe Departs Junior School Garden Party, Junior School Garden, 10am – 12.30pm |