Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
I hope you received our Happy Diwali message yesterday and I hope we all find time to celebrate the triumph of darkness over light; good over evil. Please do enjoy festivities this weekend but keep safe around fireworks and look after those animals!
We have been having a ‘green’ week in school (timed, of course, to mirror the global climate conversation Cop26). Staff have been bringing plants in and Ms. Carr is propagating some more (chlorophytum – aka spider plants) to adorn our classrooms, corridors and laboratories in order to improve the air quality and aesthetics. We have some eco champions already and many of you will be aware of Aleesha in Year 2’s campaigning and accolades. Aleesha is appearing on The One Show today – keep fighting the fight Aleesha! In the senior school, Leo in Year 10 has been invited to attend a special eco opportunity: Midlands Engine Young People’s Green Growth Champions. We have some real home-grown talent at Hollygirt – in more ways than one – and we shall be launching an eco-warrior team shortly to accompany the excellent work of our student estates team and our soon to be students’ media team, who will blog and vlog for us on the website. Hollygirt really does house some incredible talent from our trustees to staff to students …
Continuing the note of eco- talent, children in the Junior School entered a competition to come up with a way we can help with climate change, and the winners will have their design made into a top trump card as part of a special climate change edition. Brilliantly, Gurleen in Year 4 was one of 40 winners nationwide and her design (highlighting the issue of disposable nappies) has been printed and is part of the new Top Trumps pack. We are all extremely excited for Gurleen, and classes in the Junior School have been playing Top Trumps with packs Gurleen has gifted to the school.
This week, we listened to an inspiring assembly from Ms Fry (an alumni of Hollygirt) and our senior school Art teacher. Ms Fry showed us her old school reports which highlighted her (then undiagnosed) dyslexia as a problem and told us the story of how she came to value her dyslexia for the gift that it is -enabling her to be the creative person she is today and how dyslexia was not a barrier to achievement. Did you know that 40% of millionaires are dyslexic? Food for thought. It’s not just dyslexia that we nurture and celebrate at Hollygirt -it is all of our differences and individualities and that is what makes us such a talented community.
A fitting extra for green week was the arrival of our green lanyards that will enable us to keep the site safe and challenge anyone we see who is not wearing one – an addition to our staff school uniform. On that note, I include the link to our school uniform provider, where you can now order trousers for girls:
https://www.schoolwearsolutions.com/product-category/our-schools/hollygirt-school/
You should have received the email about being able to pre-order the new PE kit (and appointments for sizing) which will be available online from February. I will reiterate, there is no expectation to buy immediately but we would hope that all of our lovely Hollygirt students are in the new PE kit from September 2022.
It is a real pleasure getting to know you and your sons and daughters and I’d like to reiterate that my door is an open one – please feel free to approach me with any worry or problem (or success and joy) no matter how small. I believe very firmly that the key to our continued success is a combination of communication and truth as I said as Prizegiving. I have an informal Breakfast meeting this term (date to follow) and I look forward to meeting some of you then and embracing your feedback and suggestions for improvements.
Have a good weekend,
Helen Barsham
Head
Message from the Head of Juniors
Welcome back after, hopefully, a relaxing half term; it has been really interesting to listen to all the exciting places the children have been to over the break.
I hope you have had a happy Diwali.
We are now selling poppies and other items for the Poppy Appeal. From next week, we are also starting to sell Children in Need merchandise. These will be available to purchase during morning breaks.
Please could we ask that if any cakes or food products are coming into school for cake sales or other celebrations (homemade or bought), a full ingredients list is provided. A reminder that anything the children bring in, including break time snacks, must not contain nuts or sesame.
Children should now be wearing their school coats and many have started to bring in gloves, scarves and hats. These should be back, red or green. Please could all uniform items be clearly labelled.
Recently, children in the Junior School entered a Climate Savers competition with MoneySense, which asked them to think about climate change and ways in which we can all do our bit to help save the planet. The children had to design a new Top Trump card for a special Climate Saver pack and we are thrilled to announce that Gurleen in Year 4 has been picked as one of the 40 winners nationwide! She has had her design made into a real Top Trumps card and has received packs for her classmates, friends and family, as well as winning a pair of trainers and other goodies. Well done Gurleen – this is such a wonderful achievement.
Monday 15th November marks the start of Anti – Bullying Week and we will be taking part in Odd Socks Day. Children should come to school in their usual uniform with the addition of odd socks and we will be celebrating what makes us unique. Please could children bring in £1 which will go to the Anti-Bullying Alliance to allow them to continue with their important work.
Please could I remind you that if any child has any of the covid symptoms, they must stay off school and take a PCR test. A negative lateral flow test is not sufficient if any of the covid symptoms are present. Please continue to keep school informed.
This week’s Stars of the Week can be viewed here.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wright
Head of Juniors