Dear Parent / Carer,
I hope that everyone has had an enjoyable weekend. We had a lovely morning on Saturday with the Hunsley Primary Parent Partners, running our first HP Car Boot Sale – thank you to the HPPPs for setting this up and making the event work so smoothly. The sun even shone! Well done to the Eco-Team pupils too, who make lots of repurposed products, seed gifts and pamper-packs! They raised £150.00 for their charity of the day, too.
We also are really happy to be more involved with our neighbours at Primrose House next too, too. They are keen to work with the Parent Partners and the school to set up chances for the children to collaborate with them over activities such as gardening, choir, games and social events – watch this space!
I hope that you all have a good week and I look forward to welcoming our new Reception families very soon to the school for the children’s first Stay and Play!
More information about what is happening at the school, can be found in our current Newsletter.
Lucy Hudson
Headteacher
We are pleased to confirm that the weather finally allowed us to complete the Lacerta fundraising walk for The Woodland Trust. The children walked collectively, as a chain of pupils, 43 miles for their charity!
We are so proud of their efforts – go orange team!
Thank you to the families who have already donated for this activity. If anymore parents/carers would like to do so, this can be done through IRIS Parentmail until Wednesday 20 March.
Thank you for your support
Our next Parent Learn sessions are taking place on Thursday 18 January at 4.30pm. further information can be found in the letter that was emailed today (15/01/24).
We do hope you will be able to join us!
Parent/carers of children who will turn 5 between September 2024-August 2025 need to apply for a school place at https://orlo.uk/school_PgG6f or return a paper application form by 15 January 2024.
Need help? Contact the ERYC admissions team on schooladmissions@eastriding.gov.uk or call us 01482 392100.
As per the recent email sent the charity fundraiser walk has been postponed until January due to the weather. Thank you to the parents/carers that have already donated. If you have not yet donated but would like to support this activity – the payment item is still available on IRIS Parentmail – Payments- Shop.
Don’t forget! Our next Hunsley Family Drop-In takes place on Wednesday 6 December at 2.45pm.
This is a chance for our parents/carers to have a sit down and a chat before you collect your child at the end of the day. We will focus on the Online Safety Hub which has been set up by the Trust to support parents/carers with using devices safely at home. No need to book; just drop by!
Can’t make the school drop-in? Don’t worry we will also be holding a virtual drop-in at 6.00pm. The link to join this session can be found in our recent newsletter.
Join us for our open event on Thursday 23 November. This will be the perfect opportunity to speak with members of the Hunsley Primary team and have a look around the school. Please follow this link to find out more – https://www.hunsleyprimary.org.uk/admissions/open-events/
Important Dates – further information about the applications process can be found on our website – https://www.hunsleyprimary.org.uk/admissions/
| 15 January 2024 |
Deadline to submit your application to the Local Authority who oversees the area in which you live.
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| 16 April 2024 |
The Local Authority notifies parents of their child’s allocated school.
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We are delighted to confirm that following our School Games Mark application, we have received the Silver Standard!
The School Games Mark is a government led awards scheme launched in 2012 to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. Participating in this process allows schools to evaluate their PE provision and assists them in developing an action plan for future progress.
Well done HP!
Thank you for supporting all of the events and activities which took place at the end of the school year – including our super Peter Pan performance, please see our recent newsletter for photos from this event for you to enjoy. Thank you to our Hunsley Primary Parent Partners for supporting school so fully, too.
We’d like to wish everyone a safe and happy summer; we look forward to seeing everyone again in September!
#JOIN THE HUNSLEY FAMILY
The deadline for applying for a school place for Reception 2023 is 15 January.
All applications for places at Hunsley Primary must be submitted to the Local Authority who oversees the area in which you live. For East Riding households, please visit the East Riding of Yorkshire Council normal school admissions page for further information – https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/learning/schools-colleges-and-academies/schools-and-school-places/school-admissions-and-catchment-finder/normal-school-admissions/
ERYC online citizen portal for applications – https://emsonline.eastriding.gov.uk/CitizenPortal_LIVE/en
Thank you once again to our families for your kind donations – with your support we raised £260.90 for BBC Children in Need
We currently have a vacancy for a Teaching Assistant (Level 2). If you would like to find out more, please follow the link below:
https://www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/teaching-assistant-level-2-east-riding-of-yorkshire-1515758
We are currently in discussion with the Hunsley Primary Parent Partners on how to give our parents the opportunity to obtain pre-loved uniform items. We have a great selection that has kindly been donated by our parents. We will share information on how this will be offered to our parents as soon as arrangements have been finalised.
We are pleased to announce that the Parent Partners’ page on our website is now live. On this page you will find further information about the HPPP, and a feedback form about events and activities, which can be completed to provide your comments or suggestions for future events and activities to be set up by the HPPP together with school – https://www.hunsleyprimary.org.uk/hunsley-primary-parent-partners/
Due to our usual Parentmail system being overwhelmed with messaging traffic. We have put an urgent message upon our Google Classroom system with important information with regard to school tomorrow.
Our next Parentlearn sessions are taking place via Microsoft Teams on:
- Monday 23 November, 4.30pm – 5.30pm – Reception class phonics
- Tuesday 24 November, 5.00pm – 6.00pm – Whole school PSHE
Further information can be found in our newsletters. If you would like to register your interest to attend please email enquiries@hunsleyprimary.org.uk
Thank you to our parents for registering your interest in the Virtual Parents’ Progress Events. All appointment requests that have been received by the school have been added to the online progress event system.
Please log into the system to check and access your appointment. Details regarding log in procedures have been emailed to parents/carers.
If you have not yet booked an appointment, you will be able to log into the system until 4pm tomorrow (Wednesday 14 October) to view and choose from the available appointment slots.
If you have any questions, please do contact the school.
Contact the school today to express your interest in one of our virtual open events!
As we are missing so many of our friends, we wanted to do something to bring us all together – even if it is not in person!
With this in mind we have created a Hunsley Primary ‘We are a Team’ poster with our pupil’s pictures.Thank you to our Hunsley pupils for sending in your pictures to add to the poster.
We are delighted to be able to share this with you and we hope you enjoy looking at it. Perhaps you can spot your friends!
To view the full poster, please click here.
Please do click here to see some messages from the Hunsley staff too.
Thank you to our amazing #TeamTEAL for making this possible #NHSheroes #keyworkers
Throughout the Easter holiday Hunsley Primary and the other schools in the TEAL_Trust will remain open to ensure that our #NHSheroes are supported in continuing their vital work.
Almost 400 keyworker shifts supported by our schools in just 7 days!
Please click here to see the latest Covid 19 education guidance poster.
HP Families: An email was sent to parents/carers on Wednesday 25 March with details on how to request childcare provision for next week. This information is also available to view on our Online Learning Platform.
Please note the deadline for requests is Friday 27 March,2.00pm.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
We have been notified that, whilst the school is closed, Jackie and the Building Bricks team can unfortunately no longer provide a wraparound care provision for the keyworker and vulnerable children that are attending Hunsley Primary. Thank you to Jackie and the team for their care of the children and their support of school at the start of this week as part of the new offer.
If keyworker / vulnerable children parents have any concerns about wraparound provision, please do contact the school on the usual telephone number.
FAO HP Families
Letters from The Education Alliance and Hunsley Primary are in the process of being sent out, via Parentmail, with regard to the arrangements for next week, week commencing 23 March 2020. We are aware that Parentmail is experiencing some delay, so the letters can now also be viewed on the Online Learning Platform –https://www.hunsleyprimary.org.uk/online-learning-resources/
The school will be operating as per the Government guidelines. The letters that are being sent out will include a registration link, please do follow this to inform the school of your requirements next week.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the school.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is now available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
• https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Guidance for educational settings:
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
Educational resources
• https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/101-coronavirus-/resources
• https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/schools
Latest Department for Education information:
• https://twitter.com/educationgovuk
• https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk/
Our school and all East Riding schools are actively monitoring the situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19) and are acting on any advice given by Public Health England and specific advice provided for school by the Department for Education.
Guidance for travellers returning from certain areas has been updated today. It starts as follows:
If you have returned from these specific areas since February 19, you should call NHS111 and stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if you do not have symptoms:
- Iran
- Specific lockdown areas in Northern Italy as designated by the Government of Italy (12 specific towns)
- Special care zones in South Korea as designated by the Government of the Republic of South Korea
- Hubei province (returned in the past 14 days)
We have not been made aware of any pupil or staff member who has returned from any of the above areas since February 19.
The guidance continues:
If you have returned from these areas since February 19th and develop symptoms, however mild, you should stay indoors at home and avoid contact with other people immediately and call NHS111. You do not need to follow this advice if you have no symptoms.
- Northern Italy (defined by a line above, and not including, Pisa, Florence and Rimini) outside the specific lockdown areas in Northern Italy as designated by the Government of Italy
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Myanmar
The latest information for travellers is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public#situation-in-the-uk
General information on the coronavirus (COVID-19) is available on the NHS website here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is now available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
Please be assured that we will continue to monitor the situation and keep parents fully informed.
Welcome back to all our children and families this week! We are looking forward to the second half of the Spring Term which proves to be packed with all sorts of curriculum activities. May I also thank you all for your support and enthusiasm last half term in helping the children to get involved in the diverse range of wider learning provision we offer: this is all part of a rich curriculum to broaden experiences and support teamwork, inclusion, and positive physical and mental health in the children.
The children’s personal health and wellbeing is always very close to our hearts and minds, and this term we are continuing to focus on enriching our ‘Talk Time’ curriculum to ensure that it continues to grow with and respond to the developing school. Talk Time is what we call our Personal, Social, Health, Economic and Relationship curriculum – specifically because we know it is essential to encourage the children to talk about citizenship and their own wellbeing as part of a healthy approach. We welcome all parents to come to talk with us too about any aspect of the school’s provision. Thank you to Mr Howell for coming to talk to Y3 and 4 this week about charity work.
If you want to know more about our curriculum philosophy and content, please do come to talk with me and I would be very happy to share how we go about building learning from Reception upwards.
I look forward to talking with you more about curriculum this year! Have a super week.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current newsletter please visit our ‘Useful Downoads’ page.
We are excited to confirm that Mrs Wicks shall be following the Year 4s into their penultimate year of primary as their Year 5 teacher, helping to shape our Upper Key Stage 2 provision with myself and Miss Dixey.
We’re Hiring!
We are currently looking for a Year 4 teacher to join our Hunsley Primary Team.
We shall also be advertising other posts over the course of the term, so please do share this with any interested friends or colleagues.
For more information about working with the team and to submit an application form, please visit https://www.hunsleyprimary.org.uk/about-us/work-for-us/
We are currently looking to appoint a Year 4 classroom teacher.
To find out more please visit our ‘Current Vacancies’ page on our website or follow the link below.
TES Vacancy – Y4 Classroom Teacher
We enjoyed our first after-school Drama club yesterday, on Tuesday 4 February.
A confirmation email has been sent to all parents who returned the consent slips. This first session was a taster session. If your child is no longer interested in attending, please do let us know: there is currently a waiting list and places will be reallocated as and when they become available.
HP Families – Thank you for returning the Pupil’s Choice meal feedback your child has shared with you at home. Mrs Prew has built a lovely menu based on the children’s feedback and chosen the most popular suggestions to run for the Pupil Choice week, as well as making some tweaks by bringing in extras such as carrot sticks to add to the usual salad choice. The Pupil’s choice hot dinner taster week will take place week commencing 10 February 2020.
To view the menu, please do visit the useful downloads section on our website.
We hope the children enjoy it!
Applications for Hunsley Primary Reception places
All applications for school Reception places should now have been submitted to your Local Authority. If you have not submitted your application yet or you wish to change your school preferences, please contact the Local Authority Admissions Team and they will be able to offer you advice and guide you through the process.
As always, we are looking forward to meeting the children who will be joining the Hunsley family in September 2020 and once a child has been allocated a place with us we will look to arrange various transition events to help ensure that they settle into their new school well.
Parents/Carers will receive notification of their child’s allocated school place from the Local Authority on Thursday 16 April, 2020. Please see other key dates below that you may find useful if your child is allocated a place with us:
| Thursday 16 April |
Parents/Carers informed of allocated school place.
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| April 2020 |
Parent welcome letter and Pupil Information Data forms sent out to Parents/Carers.
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| May 2020 |
Completed Pupil Information Data forms to be returned to Hunsley Primary.
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| Jun/July 2020 |
Hunsley Primary staff carrying out pre-school or home visits to meet pupils.
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| Tuesday 7 July 2020 |
1.00pm – 3.00pm – Induction afternoon for new Reception pupils.
4.45pm – Meet the Teacher event for parents.
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| Tuesday 8 September 2020 |
Start of Autumn Term (Please note that Reception pupils have a staggered start over two days and specific dates will be communicated to parents)
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If you have any questions – please do not hesitate to contact us.
Welcome back and a very Happy New Year to everyone! We have been looking forward to seeing the children again and hearing all about the holidays.
May I take this opportunity to thank you all on behalf of the staff for your lovely cards, feedback, messages and kindness at the end of term. We hope that the children are feeling rested, as well as fully recovered where bugs were challenging the boundless energy and enthusiasm we usually see. Back to their thriving selves, we hope! The children did amazingly well in their performances during that final week of term – we were so impressed – as were their audiences!
As usual, we have a busy and full Spring term ahead. On Monday 6 January, the HP staff team members were in school, engaged in a range of professional development activities, from off-site visits and first-aid training to curriculum planning for the year ahead. We have been excited to get involved with some really interesting educational research and evidence-based practice via the Wolds Research School, based at South Hunsley. This term, we welcome our Yorkshire Wolds trainee teacher – Miss Relph – who will be working closely with Ms Boyes and Mrs Staniforth in Year 2 until the end of the year.
There are various clubs and new activities beginning this week, so please do check our current Newsletter for details. I am also looking to set up a drama group for children who are particularly interested in working collaboratively to explore performing and will be talking to the children about what this entails. We also will be hosting a Tigers’ Trust girls’ football initiative in school this term – more on these new clubs and activities soon.
Have a super week!
The staff and children at Hunsley Primary would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thank you to everyone who came to listen to the Hunsley Primary choir at the Elloughton and Brough Christmas Tree Festival!
The children really enjoyed themselves and we were really proud of our Christmas Tree-“May your Christmas be Merry and Bluebird Bright”
If you have a child who is due to start school – including siblings of our current pupils – please do fill out our online ‘Express an Interest’ form or let Mrs Hitchin know via our ‘Enquiries’ email address. This will help us to keep you informed about admissions information and events. Please do also share this information with friends and family if they have an interest in applying for a Reception place at Hunsley Primary too.
Don’t forget! Hunsley Primary is part of the co-ordinated scheme for admissions and therefore applications for school places must be submitted via the Local Authority (LA) which oversees the area in which you live. The LA’s Admissions webpages will have further information on how to do this.
We are looking forward to our open event this week and do hope that our interested families are able to join us.
Welcome back! We all hope that you enjoyed the Half Term break and the Bank Holiday. The children really enjoyed their Chess ‘Find Out Friday’ on the last day of the half term – thank you, again, to Mr Mattos who will be coming back to run more workshops for those who wish to take it to the next level, as well as a chess club, in the new school year. If you have a spare chess set at home gathering dust, then the children would certainly appreciate borrowing it for their forthcoming activities.
We are now looking forward to the second half of the summer term and the new activities we have planned for the children, including new Big Questions – this term, we have an open question which the children can take in a range of investigative directions: ‘What’s the Big Idea About…?’ For some, this will mean exploring the Media; for others, stop-frame animation will form part of their learning programme. We’ll also be looking forward to our Tree Week, which is the last week of the term and of course the Sports Day and Choir Performance, amongst other things. Year 3 will be taking part in an exciting workshop day at Bae Systems and Reception are planning a Forest School session. Lots to look forward to.
Enjoy the week ahead!
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
Welcome to the week. I hope that everyone enjoyed their weekends. We are excited this week to look forward to a Find-Out Friday, all about Chess! We are welcoming our chess expert who will talk to the children about how he became interested in the game and will take groups in workshops as an introduction to the club we will be running. It’s a reminder to us of the many ways in which children are all individuals, needing and enjoying different pastimes and hobbies.
Perhaps you have a hobby or pastime which the children might be interested in learning about? If so, please let us know, as we would like to invite in our parents to share their favourite pastimes, hobbies or activities with the children.
A particular ‘well done’ to Year 2 for last week’s SATs – it’s always a very busy week and as we round up the assessments this week, it must be said that Year 2 have worked beautifully (as usual!) all week and shown some super attitudes to learning.
As you’ll know, the school photographer was in school last week to take our fantastic group shots – always a great sight to see. I wanted to pass on to parents and carers the lovely feedback she gave us: she wanted to share that the children’s conduct was ‘outstanding’ and that she had been very impressed with them all – great to be able to share this feedback with you.
Just a reminder that, as ever, if you have any questions, ideas or feedback that you want to share with us, for example about your child’s transition in summer to their next class, I will always welcome a conversation and can happily arrange a meeting to discuss questions that arise – no matter how small they might seem. It’s all part of making sure the children have what they need!
I look forward to seeing you all this week at the Parents’ Progress events.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current Newsletter please click here.
Welcome to the week at Hunsley Primary! I am especially looking forward this week to our House Development Day on Friday where the children get to work in House Teams across their year groups. It is always lovely, seeing how the year groups support and help each other with their learning. The topic this week is Being Me! and you’ll guess this is all about celebrating our individuality and unique qualities, as well as thinking about what we bring to the wider team.
Last week, Reception had a super day at the Railway Museum in York – they were beautifully behaved and great ambassadors for the school. They even won high praise from the staff there who commented on their smart, blue uniform.
Comic Relief brought some smart, red noses last week too – we raised over £70 with donations. Thank you to everyone who gave money in exchange for wearing a Red Nose accessory!
I wish you all a week of sunshine! It’s been great to see a glimpse of warmth shining through this morning.
To read our current newsletter please click here.
Last week was a lovely week, culminating in the children gathering together in the Hall to listen to Mr Hall reading and teaching poems from the wonderful ‘Lost Words’ book. ‘The Newt’ was a particular success! Thank you to Mr Hall for your time and for your contribution to World Book Day – which rather became a World Book Week! We were also extremely pleased to welcome Mr Williman, Headteacher at South Hunsley, and Mr Brady, Deputy Headteacher, to read with the children too. Great to be part of the bigger Trust family! Thank you also to Miss Hepburn for producing a super dance routine with the children in costume, to the Toy Story favourite ‘You’ve got a friend in me’ – pulling at the heartstrings, I must say. Mrs Holtby and Mrs Vincent offered one-to-one reading to the children too. Following on from Mrs Malthouse’s support of the Year 3 museum visit the previous week, the children have really benefited from volunteers’ time this half term. What a great team we have!
We were also very pleased to welcome local Elloughton-cum-Brough councillors to visit the school last week – Kate Brogden and Sara Rowe have invited the choir to sing again at events this year and we all look forward to taking part.
Let’s hope we have some warmer weather ahead this week, but just in case, please do make sure your child wears a waterproof coat for outdoor play as the odd shower may still be lined up!
To view our World Book Day photos please click here.
To read our current Newsletter please click here.
What a lovely week we had last week – warm weather and plenty of chances to get outdoors!
The Year 3s, in particular, spent a super day in Beverley, observing, investigating and reflecting upon why we place artefacts and arts in museums and galleries! A big thing to think about.
We also welcomed back Mrs Russell to run her maths workshops once again. It’s great to be able to offer so many children the benefit of one-to-one coaching.
The teaching staff also had a very busy week, developing our delivery and participation in the SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training) – we welcome being part of the Yorkshire Wolds programme, as well as the Teaching School Alliance, where Hunsley Primary staff lead on delivery of training and support to up-and-coming teachers. Contributing to a range of professional networks and programmes is exciting for Hunsley Primary: it enriches the children’s experiences each day and brings a wealth of opportunities too.
To read our current newsletter please click here.
Welcome back to school, everyone, following the Half Term holiday. We all hope that you had an enjoyable break.
This is a very busy half term ahead of us all, with the children involved in a range of wider curriculum activities, as well as lots going on in the classrooms! Thank you all in anticipation of your continued support of the children taking part in events such as the World Book Day (7th March) and Comic Relief Day (15th March). We also have a number of visits and after-school sessions taking place this half term, plus a planned open classroom event for the penultimate week of term. It also won’t be very long before we find out which children will be joining our Hunsley family in September ‘19 too which will bring with it a new era for the school. Very exciting!
May I extend a ‘thank you’ to the parents attending the most recent Parent Partners group? I am looking forward to catching up with the group again later this week to update on what we have planned for the open classroom event on the 29th March. I am also on the look-out for parents who are interested in coming in to talk to the children about the work you do – if you are keen to get involved, please do let us know this week.
May I wish you all a fantastic week ahead – Lucy Hudson, Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current newsletter please click here.
Welcome to the week!
This week, we welcome Tiger’s Trust and Fit4Fun once more to work with the pupils across the school. We were so impressed with the sports leadership skills demonstrated by the children last week that we have decided to reward Sports Leadership this week in our celebration assembly. We’ll be looking for those children who show the best team skills and leadership ethos over the coming PE sessions and after school clubs.
We also have an eye this week on handwriting – we have really noticed children ‘reaching for the stars’ with their writing, trying very hard to develop a fluent and neat style, forming their letters correctly. We use the Nelson Scheme, so if parents would like some guidance on how best to help their child with their handwriting style, please let us know. In this final week of the Half Term, the children will be working hard to complete their Big Question investigation, before they start the next exploration after the holiday. Very exciting!
May I wish you all a super break when Friday comes round. I’ll look forward to hearing all about the holidays when the children return to school.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current Newsletter please click here.
I hope that you have all had a super weekend. Some of you will have been to Hull Fair and braved a ride or two; some will have been spending the weekend on a touchline or spectating on the swimming pool balcony; others will have been helping out with homeworks, music lessons or listening to readers, and some of you will have done all of the above! Whatever you have been engaged in as a family this weekend, you’ll probably have wondered at how the time has flown yet again and that Autumn is well and truly here. I marvel at the fact that it is nearly time for us to leave our East Dale site and relocate to Bluebird Way. This is an intense period of activity for contractors as it is for the school and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (the arm of the DfE concerned with capital projects like this one of ours) and I will be visiting the site again this week to see how things have changed since the last visit and to map out around the building the day-to-day activity we will be engaged in in a few weeks. As parents and carers, you will be keen to visit and make plans for arrivals and collections. Watch this space for information about a date to visit the site in the coming weeks – we await confirmation from our ESFA project leads about arrangements regarding this visit but very much look forward to the weeks to come.
To read our current newsletter please click here.
Thank you to all who attended our ‘Superhero Super-Senses’ Open Event on Saturday. It was brilliant to meet new families and to get to know the children who might be joining us in September next year – we have always found this to be of benefit in helping children get off to a flying start. As always, we love to see our existing pupils coming back at the weekend too. That’s a vote of confidence!
All that remains is for me to say I hope you enjoy the week ahead – personally, I’m looking forward to another Musical Skills workshop, for one thing.
To read our current newsletter please click here.
I hope that you have all had a super weekend and enjoyed some sunshine. I am reminded about how quickly these next few weeks will fly past and how the children will soon be meeting their new teachers and gearing up to move onwards and upwards. For those parents thinking how your child will manage that next step, please can I reassure you? We will always think about each child’s needs – they are all unique and we aim to smooth that transition as much as possible by meeting their individual needs. If you feel that your child will benefit from some particular additional help with this forthcoming transition (for example, some photos of the new classroom, new teacher or some resources to take home over summer) please do ask. We will be thinking of these things over the coming weeks and chatting to the children on a regular basis so that, when the next step comes, it is an exciting one. We’ll be doing the same for the move to the new school too!
Thank you to all our parents who have returned the Parent View survey too – we have been delighted to read your feedback and to share with the Governors and Trust team, as well as our School Improvement Partner, Mr Ian Clennan, NLE, the positive comments and encouraging words you have sent in. With any questions or suggestions you share, I will take those to the Trust team for further discussion and get back to you as appropriate. It is always good to have suggestions – thank you, as ever, for your interest in the school. Enjoy your week ahead!
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current newsletter please click here.
I am very pleased to be able to give you all the latest update on the progress of our new school. Having met with the ESFA team and our Project Lead, we have been informed that the new Hunsley Primary building and site are set for completion mid-October. With this now in mind, we will plan for a handover at the end of October, with the intention of starting the second half of the Autumn term with the children in our brand new building. We also look forward to receiving the new additional classroom for our current site to provide for the children in that interim period.
Thank you again to our parents/carers for the kind offers of help and support you have been sending in anticipation of our move. We will certainly welcome your input as we draw closer to moving.
Kind Regards
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
Thank you to all our families for your support and input last week: we really value the conversations, feedback and insights parents and carers give. As all of the children progress towards national assessments this summer (Reception: EYFS Statutory Profile; Year 1: Phonics Screening Check, and Year 2: Key Stage 1 SATs) their teachers are delivering really personalised and detailed learning experiences for the individuals in their classes – every child needs something unique and you’ll not be surprised to hear that their teachers really ‘go to town’ on providing that in class. We all enjoy seeing the children grow and flourish each week: when the Celebration Assembly comes round every Friday, it is quite telling to see all members of the team smiling broadly as children from every class come up to collect their certificates. There’s something very special about working in a smaller school – staff really get to know all the children and never stop following their progress, even as they move on in the school. With this in mind, our focus on transition will soon begin!
So, thank you all for helping us to really personalise how we meet children’s needs – never hesitate to speak with us and share your ideas and questions: it’s how we work best together.
To read our full newsletter please click here.
A big ‘thank you’ to our parents and carers who attended the ParentLearn sessions last week. We really enjoy working closely with you all and offering strategies and advice to support the children’s learning at home. It is also a pleasure to be able to give you a snapshot of what happens in the classroom each day. We hope that you find it helpful to learn from the school’s professionals about the Hunsley Primary approach – we all thoroughly enjoy teaching our unique curriculum to your children, as you can probably tell when you come along to one of the sessions! The resources from these sessions are available on the website, but do please ask for more guidance if you would like it.
Thank you also for your support, enthusiasm and (much-appreciated) warm greetings in the playground last week in the bitter chill of winter – the children all take it in their stride, don’t they? Let’s hope that we have seen the last of the poor weather, so we can get on with aiming for the promise of Spring!
We are delighted to hear that our wrap around care provider, Building Bricks @ Hunsley Primary, received a judgement of Outstanding from Ofsted in their recent inspection. Well done to the team and thank you to parents for your fantastic feedback!
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current newsletter please click here.
We had a fantastic time on the Healthy Living bus on Friday: the children made smoothies from fruit and vegetables, did workout routines on the Wii Fit and designed their own healthy cereal, which I hope they enjoyed for their Friday supper or Saturday breakfast!
It was a very busy week with the Year 1 visit to Conisbrough Castle, Year 2’s Benchball competition and the discovery of mystery eggs on our site! What could possibly happen this week to top that? The children are very much enjoying the new Big Question (What’s it like inside the egg?) which is allowing them to explore everything from farming to life cycles and even the design of children’s interactive books.
We look forward to seeing what exactly is living inside the eggs the children have found and to furthering our exploration with a range of activities designed to encourage investigation and analysis.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
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To view our Find Out Friday: Public Health Vehicle gallery please click here.
Welcome back to school, all our pupils and families, following the Half Term holiday – we all hope that you had an enjoyable break. May I extend a heart-felt ‘thank you’ to you all for sending in such positive, thoughtful and helpful comments last half term? We were absolutely delighted with the feedback survey forms handed in during the last week of half term – thank you all so much for your encouraging words. To all of the staff at Hunsley Primary, the children are very much individuals and we place great importance on getting it just right for each child whilst making sure there is a really strong sense of the whole team too. We are glad you agree that this is a special part of the school’s unique offer. It also won’t be long before we find out which children will be joining our team in September too – one thing is for sure, the families that join us will undoubtedly feel supported and included by our existing family team.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
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It is hard to believe we have reached the final week of the first half of term – Christmas and the New Year are a faint memory and chocolate eggs abound in the supermarkets! It is with thoughts of Spring that we look forward to the next half term and continue to plan our exciting, investigative curriculum and the next Big Question: What’s it like inside the egg?
Last week, the children enjoyed spending their Friday afternoon in the ‘big school’ – they were ready to get stuck into the cross-curricular house team activity for the SMSC curriculum (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural), which meant that our impromptu relocation following a burst drain did not affect the children at all – quite the opposite, in fact! All 85 of the children were quick to adapt and happy to learn in an alternative classroom. We spent the afternoon reflecting upon how we could design an inclusive Lego-style toy for all children to play. How impressed I was to hear all of our children sharing a positive message of inclusion and teamwork, presenting their ideas back to the group confidently and with understanding! I was also very proud that the children were so organised and well-behaved in the process: kind Year 2s and 1s looked after their Reception peers and worked together in key group teams to get the job done. More about key group team development in our newsletter.
And may I extend my thanks to parents for passing on the message about the change to the end of the day and for collecting the children from South Hunsley? Great teamwork all round.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
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Thank you to all our parents and carers who attended Progress Evening appointments last week. It was great to see so many of you there. It is such an important aspect of your child’s education, meeting with staff and discussing your child’s progress. If, at any point, you have questions about the curriculum or about your child’s achievements to ask, please do not hesitate to contact me directly or via the ‘Enquiries’ email address: we aim to make sure that we hear all our parents’ questions about how best to support learning at home, so we can continue to work together. I look forward to seeing you at the next Parent Learn session for your child’s year group.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current newsletter please click here.
It was great to see our Year 2 parents gathering together on Thursday after school to find out more about the Key Stage 1 assessments and also the national expectations as the children move into Year 3. As you’ll know, we are recruiting a new Year 3 teacher to join our rapidly expanding team, and so the idea of looking forward to ‘next steps’ was apt!
For all parents and carers, this Progress Event week provides a great opportunity to look in books, speak about the children’s progress and support, and have further feedback on how parents can help us to help all of the children to meet their full potential.
I will also be meeting again this week with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (the arm of the DfE which leads on building projects and funding). As the piling and ground beams are now in place on the Brough South site, the next step will be steel! Soon we will all be able to see the frame of our new school rising from the ground – quite a landmark.
I wish you all a great week and look forward to seeing our parents at the Progress Events.
Lucy Hudson – Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our current newsletter please click here.
Welcome to this week’s Newsletter! 2018 is here and the children and staff are already well into the swing of the new term, looking ahead to a very busy year. Year 2s are in gear for their Key Stage 1 National Assessments which take place after Easter, with a meeting this week for all Year 2 parents and carers to look more closely at what the year ahead holds and how parents can help too. Year 1 are working towards their Phonics Screening Check – a national assessment which all Year 1 pupils will be undertaking in June. The Reception Team are continuing to support, challenge and nurture our Early Years children towards their end of year Profile, developing the whole child from literacy to listening skills, pencil grips to painting.
Thank you to our parents for sending your feedback on the Progress Reports which went home before the Christmas holidays. The Parents’ Progress Events at the end of January will give parents a further chance to find out more about their child’s progress and to look at their workbooks for insight into what they have all been learning. Parents can, of course, look at theirr child’s work at any time – please do just ask! We love to share with parents and we actively welcome your support in practising new skills at home – this is the very best way to ensure your child meets their full potential.
This week, the application window closes for new Reception pupils’ places: this is always a very exciting time of year for us and this year is especially exciting as our growing school will all be moving over to our new building in Brough South together. As building materials continue to arrive on site, it is great to see the project starting to take shape. We are also in the process of recruiting a new Year 3 teacher to join our teaching team in September 2018! The children always play a key role in the teaching staff recruitment process, interviewing prospective candidates and giving their feedback. Very important!
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Happy New Year to all our Hunsley Primary families and friends. I hope that you all had a restful, fun and memorable Christmas holiday. Thank you so much for the kind and thoughtful gifts you gave – it was so lovely to read the cards and messages over the holiday! The children are always at the very heart of all we do and it is fantastic to read that you can see the impact of this.
As we take down the decorations in school, we all anticipate the new term and the exciting learning experiences awaiting the children. 2018 is the year for our big location move too: visiting the Brough South site before the end of term really helped us to visualise how the school will be positioned – even down to the drains!
As ever, the team is focussed on helping each of our children reach their goals: the Spring term, albeit brief, is a term in which we move towards a range of highly important national assessments:
- Reception: the Early Years Profile
- Year 1: the Phonics Screening Check
- Year 2: the National Key Stage 1 Assessments
The support of Parents/Carers is vital, therefore we will be offering a range of ParentLearn sessions for specific classes, which we urge parents to attend so that their child can benefit from additional targeted support to achieve their very best.
Lucy Hudson
Head of Hunsley Primary
To read our full newsletter please click here.
It is hard to believe that we are at the end of what has been such a fantastic term. The school is growing year on year and so too are the children! I have been struck this week by how much some of those little brothers and sisters have grown and how quickly it becomes time for a new Reception group to join us. The children have done us proud this term with their teamwork skills; we have held two ‘Team-building Theme Days’ where Key Groups have worked together across classes, mixing pupils together to support and inspire each other. We are always impressed with how well the older children work with their younger peers, ‘We are a Team’ never far from our minds.
So from one part of the Team to the other, have a restful, fun and festive holiday together with your families. Thank you for all of your cards and kind wishes – it is lovely to see a collection of carefully hand-written cards with beautiful handwriting to boot! We look forward to the New Year – new learning experiences ahead of us all – and to seeing the children bright and ready to get stuck in again in January.
Lucy Hudson
To read our current newsletter please click here.
Last week, we saw the festive curriculum gather apace. The children are exploring Hanukkah and Advent this week too, starting with Reception’s visit to St Helen’s Church in Welton to look at the Advent Wreath and find out more about this aspect of the Christmas festivities. Year 1 and 2 are also experiencing an extended assembly on Monday to learn how colour and light feature across a range of seasonal festivals, as part of our half term’s Big Question.
We have also been up to the secondary school on a number of occasions and will continue to do so this week, to practise our songs and lines for the Nativity – it is very exciting to be on the ‘big stage’ too! A reminder to send your child in sturdy outdoor shoes or wellingtons if the weather takes a turn for the worse (don’t forget something for them to change into once inside too). We look forward to seeing you all next week at the show!
Starting School – September 2018
Is your child 3 – 4 years old? Were they born between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2014? If yes then he/she is due to start school in September 2018.
All parents who are planning to apply for a Hunsley Primary Reception place must complete and submit the Local Authority admissions application form by 15th January 2018. You should have already received details of how to make an electronic application to the Local Authority. Unlike our first year of opening, all applications must be made via the Local Authority co-ordinated scheme.
Please see below some important dates for the admissions process:
- Applications must be submitted to the Local Authority by – 15 January 2018
- Result of applications set to parents – 16 April 2018
- Appeals against admissions decisions must be submitted by – 18 May 2018
- Hearing of Admission appeals start – June 2018
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What a wonderfully festive Open Event we had on Saturday! It was lovely to see our Hunsley Families enjoying themselves and getting to know some of our interested parents and pre-schoolers who came to find out more about our school. We hope that you enjoyed the event as much as we did and don’t forget to put out that reindeer food on Christmas Eve.
The next couple of weeks are full of seasonal activities from around the world: as we count down through Advent, the children will also be learning about Hanukkah and finding out about a range of celebrations held at this time of year. ‘How is the world filled with colour?’ draws to a conclusion with answers to be found in everything from the children’s artwork to their science investigations.
The Not Now Nativity is shaping up well with some catchy tunes and memorable lines. Thank you to all of our fantastic helpers, including our guest ‘Artistic Director’, Mrs Nunn, and our ‘Costume Designers’, Mrs Pearson and Mrs Richardson, who are all busy behind the scenes making for a very polished performance, and not forgetting Mr Parker, and his help with technical wizardry!
We look forward to seeing our families there on the day.
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The weeks are rushing by and it is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of November. As you’ll know, every hour of the day in school counts towards each child reaching their full potential. We continue to work very closely as a team to deliver carefully planned, engaging learning experiences designed to help the children develop as learners as well as socially confident individuals. We have very much enjoyed the most recent week’s activities, including our visits to Tropical World in Leeds and our PE sessions with South Hunsley staff and Fit4Fun. We have also welcomed into school Mrs Helena Webster and Mr Paddy Hall last week – both Local Governors (and Mr Hall a Director of the Trust too) to monitor the standards delivered in school and to give me feedback on what they find. This feedback is always very useful, showing how our Local Governors are very much part of the wider school leadership team driving the school forward to continued success.
Thank you also to all of our parents and volunteers who helped us to deliver the two successful trips last week! It is no surprise that we always say ‘We are a Team!’ at Hunsley Primary.
Lucy Hudson
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It was fantastic to see all the children on Friday last week dressed in their Pudsey spotty tops and ears! Thank you for supporting the day and for your donations too. We are pleased to inform you that we managed to raise £108.40 for Children In Need. Well done!
We have had a super week, including the first sports competition for Year 2s, playing benchball against 4 other local teams. We are looking forward to the next event after Christmas and to future competitive sports activities.
The pupils have also been visiting the secondary school for their first rehearsal of ‘The Not Now Nativity’. This is always a collaborative affair with our colleagues at South Hunsley, including support from the Textiles and IT team. We can’t wait to present the show to you at the end of term and the children already know most of their songs which you will also know very soon (very catchy tunes, I must admit).
Lucy Hudson
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We do hope that the children enjoyed their first week of the new half term – we already have had a lot of excitement with new Big Questions and exciting new topics, including the Great Fire of London. Year 1 were amazed to see their classroom had become Pudding Lane over the half term break! We also all enjoyed Reverend Bielby’s assembly on being good peacemakers. We had rugby, broccoli playdoh and the Gunpowder Plot too. Lots to think about and even more to enjoy and discover next week. Thank you to parents for helping as Ambassadors too – and for coming forward to join in. We always appreciate this gesture. A quick reminder to come and join in our Open Event in December – pop it in your diary and we will see you there! Don’t forget, our new Big Question is ‘How is the world filled with colour?’ so if you can ponder all the possibilities of this one with your children, we will look forward to hearing all of your collective ideas!
Enjoy the week ahead.
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One of the highlights of my week last week was watching the new Reception children tasting their Diwali foods. It was very tempting to join in, for one thing, but also fantastic to see the class really thinking about new flavours and experiences and getting fully involved. Parents of our Year 1s and 2s will well remember those Early Years experiences and will be marvelling at how time has flown since their own child’s Diwali food-tasting sessions last year and the year before, and it was also lovely to see how the older pupils were reminiscing about their early experiences in school and how much they have grown up!
The other highlight for me last week was watching the Sixth Form Reading Mentors encouraging and reading with our pupils: as teachers in a Trust working with children of all ages, it’s a dream scenario to see how learning can be passed on from the oldest to the youngest and, dare I mention, in what seems like the blink of an eye, I just know it’ll be our pupils doing the same for the Hunsley Primary children of the future – a brilliant thought!
Lucy Hudson
Head of Hunsley Primary
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Last week, the children really enjoyed the chance to work together across year groups in their House Teams (Key Groups). They explored the wider school site, using maps and grid references, then captured the sights, sounds and even smells of the local environment on their iPads to see how the landscape is changing at this time of year. It was superb to see how the Year 2s used their writing skills to document the activity, and even more pleasing to see how they cared for the younger pupils as they walked around the site – spot on, Year 2.
Year 1 have really impressed us with their writing skills too – it’s great to know how far they have progressed this half term, applying their new spellings and really working hard on their presentation and handwriting.
Reception have wowed us with their reading skills – how quickly they are adopting their phonics strategies to open up a brand new world of independent reading is quite remarkable! Now begins a lifetime of reading pleasure.
A huge well done to all the pupils for their learning this week – and thank you to parents for supporting and enhancing this learning through practice at home.
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As you know, we were teaching the children to be extra vigilant last week with their handwashing and personal hygiene – thank you all for your support with this by keeping nails short, keeping school informed about your child’s health and reminding the children about how to avoid spreading germs! Tricky for these good habits to stick with very young children, but together we certainly had them all checking and reminding each other by the end of the week – long may this continue! We also had Reception vision screening last week too, so if your child missed this, there will be a catch-up session planned for later in the term.
I am sure that all our children will be happy, healthy and raring to go this week, having recovered and rested over the weekend. Full attendance is vital so that children can make outstanding progress, but we also recognise that a little help and advice is sometimes useful when you are not sure whether to send in your child or not – so please do refer to the NHS leaflet we sent home last week – it is also on our website – as it clearly outlines when and when not to keep your child at home. Please also find our Parent Learn materials on the website for those of you who were unable to make the after-school sessions. Here’s to a happy, healthy week!
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What an amazing week we all had last week! The children experienced such a wide range of learning activities and investigations from asking some seriously scientific questions about the process of fire-fighting to putting carnivorous plants under the microscope. We had a long list of people to thank for helping us out by the end of the week – so to Mr Hall, Mrs Hall, Mr Clark, Mr Hussain, Mr Taylor and all of your teams, thank you from us all for supporting and inspiring the children! Please turn to our website, Facebook and Twitter to see some of the fun we have had.
At Hunsley Primary, we aim for the children to engage in their Big Question investigations with absolute enjoyment so that learning is a real joy – I shall not quickly forget the lines of children spontaneously jumping and skipping with delight at the sight of the fire engine shooting huge jets of water. That’s something they shall not quickly forget either!
Please follow this link for this news story! – Building on Success – Succession Planning
With only three weeks of term left to go, it is hard to remember the very beginning of September 2016, when our current Reception pupils joined us and Year 1 took their first steps into Key Stage 1 learning. Now, we look forward to a new group of children making their start with us, as well as a new member of staff in Mrs Gray, and our existing pupils moving onwards and upwards in their learning journey. With much to do over the next weeks, including a range of visits, induction lessons and exciting activities, I am sure the time will pass before we know it.
Please do take the opportunity to make contact with us before the end of the term, if you have any questions, feedback or suggestions for next year – we always welcome our parents/carers support.
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Last week, we have enjoyed a diverse range of learning activities in school, including Fit4Fun’s Basketball Workshop (Year 1), Vehicle Mechanics (Reception), Tigers’ Trust Football Skills (Year 1) and Scooter Awareness Day (Reception). We really enjoyed seeing how much the children got out of those experiences and how excited they were to be learning in such a hands-on way.
Thank you to parents for attending our Progress Events – we really value your support and feedback and thank you, especially, for all of the very positive things you have to say about the school and your child’s progress with us: we are so pleased to hear from you.
To view this week’s newsletter please click here.
Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured in the events at Manchester Arena on Monday night.
If you have any concerns about pupils who have been affected directly or indirectly by the events, please let us know so we can provide any support they may need at this time.
We are aware that many young people are worried and anxious about what has happened and some may not know how to talk about those worries. Below is a link to some useful information from the BBC Newsround site which gives guidance on how to support young people.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/13865002
Our DfE Adviser visit on Tuesday went very well with Mrs Gill Broughton – she saw a range of teaching and learning activities, talked with children and parents and read the feedback sent in by our families. The personalised, caring provision on offer at Hunsley Primary always features high in Mrs Broughton’s feedback and following a full day’s inspection, we were very pleased to hear very positive and encouraging comments.
Thank you to all our parents for taking the time to speak with the Adviser and share your views.
A busy time was had by all last week, with plenty going on across four days instead of five!
The Reception Class were writing letters saying what they would like to see in their new school (writing tables, construction areas) – handy as the company providing us with our new furniture came in to visit whilst the children were deciding, so they have put in their orders! The Gardening Club enjoyed working on outdoor planting with Teaching Assistant, Mr Kendall, and with Lauren from Year 9, both of whom are volunteering with us as part of our partnership with South Hunsley. The children were able to try out the new Reading Retreat for outdoor reading and they all enjoyed developing their football skills up on the 3G, giving the Y9 girls’ PE students a run for their money too.
This week, we look forward to our next visit from Mrs Gill Broughton, our Department for Education Adviser, as well as a range of other visits and activities which you can read in our current newsletter.
Welcome back to school to everyone following what we hope has been a happy and enjoyable holiday. We have been especially pleased to learn the first details of our new intake for September, with the school proving to be very popular for the incoming Reception class. The work our team does, together with you all as parents and ambassadors, to make sure every child is supported and encouraged as an individual has certainly been a key factor for our new parents, who have been keen to point out how impressed they have been with the behaviour, confidence and development of Hunsley Primary pupils. We have also been continuing to meet and liaise with the DfE regarding our new build and our final year in the current accommodation, with discussions about furniture and grounds layout really bringing home how close we are to our move. Let’s look forward to an exciting term of learning – and some sunshine too, we hope.
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As we begin our final week of the Spring Term, we could not be busier at Hunsley Primary: the Year 1s are gearing up for their Inclusive Sports afternoon at St Anne’s; Reception and Year 1 have an Easter Investigation to engage in, including a visit from Reverend Bielby on Monday and the Spring Walk on Tuesday; Gardening Club and Film Club are also on the cards, as well as a ParentLearn session for Year 1 families wanting to find out more about supporting spelling and handwriting.
By the time we return, we will already have begun getting to know our new Reception children who are starting in September, with Miss Hudson and the Reception Team planning their pre-school and home visits once again. During the weeks ahead, Mrs Boyes and Miss Briggs are preparing for the Phonics Screening Check which takes place in the Summer Term, as well as developing those vital learning skills ready for Year 1 to move into Year 2. Finally, Mrs Hudson is looking forward to meeting the DfE again this week, to continue planning the internal layout of the new school building – exciting!
May we wish you all a restful holiday? Please don’t forget that term finishes on Thursday this week.
Hunsley Primary Newsletter – w/c 3 April 2017
Thank you to everyone who supported the Red Nose Day bun sale on Friday last week. It was super to see so many children, parents and family members enjoying the warm spring afternoon sunshine together and reminded us all that we are part of a thriving and growing school community.
As we near the end of term, we are thinking about how quickly time flies and how, when we return after the holiday, allocations for our third Reception class will have been sent to parents and we will be getting ready to meet the new pupils during the summer term. We will also be gearing up for the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check and the Early Years Profile for Reception. A very busy few weeks term ahead!
We had a great week of investigations and discovery last week, exploring our Big Question. Our Reception children have spent a lot of their time looking at the difference between night and day and spotting the clues that show us how light changes. Year 1 have been immersed in writing, developing their sentences with skill!
Find Out Friday was a super opportunity to launch Science Week with a focus on being eco-friendly, looking after our world and understanding what we can and cannot recycle. Well done, Hunsley Primary – another super week of learning.
Last week was a week of delicious smells and flavours at Hunsley Primary: we started off with our Lent Investigation, cooking pancakes and sampling them too (naturally)! Then Year 1 were very impressive with their Lighthouse Keeper’s ‘Healthy’ Lunch on Thursday morning, creating their own healthy versions of the lunchtime treats from the story they are studying. Finally, we topped off the menu on Thursday evening with the first of three Cookery Club sessions at South Hunsley – Mrs Maund, Mrs Hall and Mrs Mutter helped the children to create a batch each of tasty Hamantash biscuits which I imagine a few of you sampled on Thursday evening too! We have some chefs of the future here, for sure. It is rather a good job that on Tuesday evening we also held our first Multi-Sports Club of the season too – just to make sure we are working in balance.
Thank you to the South Hunsley Sixth Form Sports Leaders for setting up this club: the children love having the chance to practise their sports.
If you are an avid follower of our twitter and facebook pages, you’ll have seen some of the activities our children have been involved in last week, including a fantastic Reception class visit to The Deep and some very creative housebuilding work in Year 1.
We also very much enjoyed the Chinese New Year workshop led by Mr Hussain. So much learning is taking place!
Year 1 formalised their own set of classroom rules to go with our Playtime Values, showing that they really understand the importance of teamwork, good learning behaviours and kindness in everything they do.
We have had a great week last week – not least due to a visit to the Brough South site to see how things are progressing there. Hopefully, you were able to catch the article in the Hull Daily Mail (links on our facebook and twitter sites).
Mr Paddy Hall, Trustee of The Education Alliance and Local Governor for Hunsley Primary who came with me for the visit, was struck by the proximity of the school to natural wetlands and by the outdoor learning opportunities provided by the site.
As things move forward, we will look to document the development of the building and keep you all informed about each exciting stage! We are even beginning to think about how we would like to mark the moment we set down the first foundations of the school – all ideas very welcome!
Check out the Hull Daily Mail’s website to read the super article about Hunsley Primary’s new build. Exciting times!
The children have all enjoyed their investigations last week – how do houses change over time and what makes the best house-building material to keep those three little pigs safe and warm.
We have seen some excellent problem-solving skills and also some great teamwork, with the children supporting each other to get the job done.
We are a Team!
It is hard to believe that we are in our third week already and time is passing so quickly. The children are experiencing such busy weeks of learning!
Last week for Reception in particular was a very exciting week – someone crept into the Three Bears’ Cottage and broke a table! The children spent the week trying to get to the bottom of this mystery, measuring footprints and checking out clues. You might have seen some of the photographs on the website or on Tapestry.They certainly enjoy a good investigation.
Year 1 had a ‘sweet’ challenge too, exploring which materials would create the most efficiently built Hansel and Gretel house walls: chocolate fingers, marshmallows or biscuits. Now, perhaps we could try those on the new school…?
Another busy week has passed and we find ourselves looking forward to the next. So many exciting investigations on the go from Reception’s warm clothing experiment to Year 1’s first exploration of our brand new touch screen netbooks!
Last Friday, we welcomed Gill Broughton, our Department for Education Advisor, into school for one of her regular monitoring visits. As a new school, we are monitored very closely by DfE, who look as Ofsted will at the quality of provision here at Hunsley Primary. The visit went very well – Based on the now Year 1 pupils’ progress and outcomes last year, coupled with observations of teaching and learning in the current Reception class, the Advisor found the provision in Early Years to be ‘Outstanding’. The care, nurture and personal development of our children was found to be of a very high standard, something our families often share with the school.
Thank you to our families for your superb feedback!
What a super week we had last week, learning more about Diwali; enjoying our first Multi Sports Club on the South Hunsley 3G pitch with the Sixth Form Sports Leaders; a very interesting assembly with Reverend Bielby about Remembrance and visits from a range of people interested in our school .
We have also been getting back into the school routine after the half term holiday and hearing about all the exciting things the children have been doing, from sleepovers at grandparents’ houses to fundraising events.
Hunsley Primary children certainly do lead exciting lives!
Last week, the children were busier than ever, creating scarecrows, planting herbs, singing with our Sixth Form volunteers, enjoying a visit to the Dance Studio at South Hunsley and practising their friendship skills by remembering our Hunsley Primary Playtime Values.
We decided upon these through assembly, TalkTime and discussion as a school, having asked the children themselves what would make them happiest at playtime. Year 1 revisited the British Values which we discussed last year, then created a special Team Agreement to model kind and respectful play in everything they do. As a team of staff, we have very much enjoyed seeing the positive and team-spirited interaction between Reception and Year 1, which includes the time they spend together at lunchtimes and in Building Bricks too. We thought you might like to read our Playtime Values:
1 We are a TEAM: look out for children on their own and INCLUDE them
2 RESPECT everyone’s feelings and ideas and LISTEN to what they say
3 FOLLOW THE RULES: stay where your teacher can see you – be SAFE
4 PLAY KINDLY with your hands, feet, voices and words too
5 TAKE TURNS and PLAY FAIRLY: everyone is free to have a go
It was great to see everyone at the open morning on Saturday and to be able to share our school with the wider community. Thank you for supporting such events; we always love to see current and future pupils enjoying our open events together.
Miss Jackson and Mr Moatt, parents of Theo who is due to start school in September 2017, believe that their son would be very happy at Hunsley Primary.
“As parents we are 100% confident that Theo would receive an excellent education at Hunsley Primary. The school is well organised, homely and the staff are very warm and welcoming.”
Theo proved to be a budding artist creating a wonderful self portrait of himself. Well done Theo – we hope to see you again soon!
If you would like more information about our open events or would like to arrange a visit to the school, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The children had a brilliant day at Normanby Hall. They found out lots of fun and interesting things about mini beasts, explored the grounds and enjoyed a story telling session all about the Gruffalo – A fabulous hands-on and engaging learning experience for us all!
Pop along to our gallery to see some of our photos from the visit.
Reception pupils got to meet some very special visitors today for Find-Out Friday. They were very excited to welcome Mr Paddy Hall, our Vice-Chair of Governors, who had brought along some chickens!
The children enjoyed hands-on learning, finding out about the different breeds of chickens, how they come in all shapes and sizes and learning some really interesting facts from the ‘question and answer’ session.
Thank you to Mr Hall for bringing in his feathered friends: we all really enjoyed meeting them!
View our Find-Out Friday photo gallery
We are pleased to confirm that on 1 February 2016 we formalised our partnership with Malet Lambert school into a multi-academy trust arrangement. The trust will now be known as The Education Alliance and is currently made up of three schools; South Hunsley School and Sixth Form College acting as the lead school with Hunsley Primary and Malet Lambert as partners.
Following a rigorous and competitive interview process, we are pleased to confirm that Patrick Sprakes has now been appointed to lead Malet Lambert as their Head of School. We welcome Patrick to the team and look forward to working closely with him to shape the learning experience of children from all three of our institutions.
To view a copy of the letter sent to all parents/carers containing the final logo for The Education Alliance logo, please click here.
Our Big Question that the children are exploring this half term is ‘What makes a great playspace?’ As part of this Reception are investigating a wide range of toys and getting to grips with how they work.
In the spirit of hands on investigation on Friday 15 January we welcomed parents and grandparents to the school to reminisce and show the pupils some toys from their childhood. The variety of toys, memories and photos was wonderful, ranging from Sindy to shop tills and cars to hoola hoops.
Thank you to our parents and grandparents for sparing their time and sharing the toys from their past with us.This was a really rewarding experience for the pupils and staff alike and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Being part of the Hunsley family of schools certainly has its benefits, giving Hunsley Primary the chance to draw on a wealth of subject specialist expertise and experience from South Hunsley School. Most recently, we have been lucky enough to set up a weekly drama workshop for our Reception children with Drama Specialist, Lucy De Gaye.
The children have been exploring Moonscapes through role play and tableaux, as well as enjoying interpreting music on a space theme – David Bowie, no less!
This week, the children found a letter from an alien who had always wanted to know about life on Earth and hoped that the children could help. They created ‘living pictures’ to send to him and certainly had a great time getting stuck in and exploring new drama techniques.
Lucy will be back in the spring term with a brand new workshop theme – we can’t wait to see what will be next!
