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EYFS

With the summer finally arriving and the temperatures soaring, we think long and hard about how best to protect the children from the harmful rays of the sun and ways in which to keep them cool. We tend to use less of our outside space keeping to the shady areas and moving water play to the shade, rather than it being in direct sunlight. You will find that your children come home a little damp on sunny days and this is due to lots of water play, keeping them cool and learning at the same time. We have introduced sea creatures that link to our current under the sea topic, talking

about habitats, animal classifications and the different oceans. But water play is more than just keeping cool. There is capacity, water movement, floating and sinking and the states of water, adding ice with sea creatures in and helping them to break free. We also add colour, glitter and bubbles to the water to help the children stay engaged.

This week the Reception team met the first of three groups who will be attending a starting school settling session at the Academy. Most of the children were from our Nursery but they met some new faces too. All the children settled well, showing amazing confidence in what is going to be their new classes and with their new teachers. All the staff are looking forward to meeting the rest of the children next week.

Year 4 Westcliff High School for Girls

On Thursday, our year 4 girls took the short walk to Westcliff High School for Girls, to spend a fun morning learning what secondary education in a grammar school looks like. They were given the opportunity to be scientists, mathematicians and artists for the day! The girls were then treated to a performance from the drama students summer show, ‘Matilda.’

Thank you to Westcliff High School for Girls for giving our children the opportunity to see what life is like in a grammar school, we are sure you have inspired many of them.

PGL 2025

Please be reminded that the deadline for paying the deposit of £90 to secure a place for your child on PGL 2025 is 30th June 2024.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please contact the Finance Office in confidence by emailing finance@darlinghurstacademy.org.uk.

PTA

We have been shaping the New Generation PTA and we have welcomed new fresh faces to our team. If you would like to join us or join us as an associate member, please contact Mrs Lowe via email on mrslowe@darlinghurstacademy.org.uk everyone is welcome to be part of our supportive and generous team taking us forward into the new academic year continuing to support our Darlinghurst family.

Holiday Activity and Food programme

Southend City Council are looking forward to delivering another successful Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme funded by DofE. HAF providers deliver free spaces to primary and secondary school pupils who are eligible for benefit based free school meals. They offer free, fun filled activities and each child will receive a meal.

The programme will run from 29 July to 22 August 2024. Eligible families will be able to book up to a maximum of 16 sessions and but only attend one club per day. The Local Authority are promoting the HAF programme within schools and there is a link below to the Easter HAF video that gives you an insight into the programme across Southend City:

HAF codes will be issued to parents from Wednesday 19 June 2024 from the following email account: hello@holidayactivities.com.

Once the Holiday Activity vouchers are issued, families can book through the link on their voucher: https://www.livewellsouthend.com/directory/36/holiday-activities-and-food-scheme-partners

In addition, schools can request funded places for pupils who are not eligible for Free School Meals but would benefit from the programme. In this respect please contact Mrs Grant via the general enquiries email on generalenquiries@darlinghurstacademy.org.uk

If you have any further questions, please contact me HAF@southend.gov.uk or call 01702 212948