Our School Vision
Introduction
It's been a jam packed half term and month. The children have had a wealth of experiences in and out of the classroom, which has supported with their educational journey. It's been great to see each and every child progress in different ways pertinent to them individually and why it's such a joy to be Headteacher here at Holme. Seeing their happy faces when they come to school in a morning and also leaving ready to talk about their day, the buzz has been fantastic to see, especially when the festive season was with us!
Now that we have moved into the Spring Term, it is very short compared to usual with 10 weeks in total. We are ready and raring to go with our learning and looking forward to showcasing what we are doing over the term.
Have a look through what the children have been up to over December and what they have to look forward to in January and enjoy!
Please remember if you're not following our Facebook page, like and share for regular updates!
Christmas Video
If you have not had the chance to watch our 'Rockin' Robin' Christmas video with the cast of children and staff from Holme School, please head over to our Facebook page and click here to watch it!
Governor Update
After supporting the school over the last 14 years as a governor, Rebecca Gough has made the difficult decision to step down from the board to focus on other areas. We would like to thank her for the tremendous service she has given in ensuring all the children at Holme School have continued to have an improved education during this time. Her educational knowledge and endeavours will be missed and we wish her all the best.
Family Learning
Thank you to those parents who made it to our English Family Learning session. I know the children valued their parents alongside supporting with their learning and feedback from parents valued the opportunity to have an insight into their child's school life and also understand how they can support better at home. We will of course take this onboard for the future and look forward to welcoming our allocated parents to our Maths session on Wednesday 17th January at 9:00am - 10:00am.
Please note that our next session is fully booked. Spaces might be available for our Science/Forest School session in April and we will make parents and carers aware of availability closer to the time.
Children in Need
It was a great day and we would like to thank everybody in school for their donations. We raised a total of £46.70 for such a worthy cause. We would also like to congratulate our award winners from our colouring competition. We hope you enjoyed your goodies!
Class Assemblies
It was brilliant to see what the children have been learning over the term in their class assemblies. For their first one, it was great to see how confident they were and proud to talk about what they have been learning and their work. Here are just a few pictures from each of their assemblies. Well done #TeamHolme!
Care Crew
Our Care Crew have been designing pictures and posters thinking about what food supplies would help our local food bank. Thank you so much for all of your kind donations, you have been so generous with bringing items in. We are planning in the coming week's to take the mini bus and present our food boxes to the food bank and have a little look at how it all works.
November Parents' Evening
We hope parents and carers found the Parents' Evening informative and useful. We would also like to thank all parents and carers for their feedback in our survey, which we sent out in November. We were bowled over by the positive responses and this is testament to the hard work of all stakeholders, including you as parents. Our next Parents' Evening is scheduled for 20th March. As this is such a short term, we may delay this to April in order for us to give parents pertinent information after our Spring assessments. We will let parents know in due course if this will be changed.
DT Fashion Show
Move over Stella McCartney, here at Holme we've taken our own take on fashion design. The children (and parents) were invited to our Fashion Show in December to look at what each and every pupil produced as part of their DT work. Reception children created their own snowman, Year 1 and 2 children created their own stuffed toys and the Class 2 children upcycled and created garments. The confidence shined through each and every child during what can be a nerve wracking experience and as I am sure you will agree from these photos, there were a lot of proud moments from parents and carers, staff and the children themselves.
Class 2 Synagogue Visit
Class 2 were made to feel very welcome at Etz Chaim Synagogue in Leeds. Mrs Broughton arranged the trip as part of Class 2's RE learning about Judaism. The children really impressed the hosts with all the knowledge they’ve already gained and it was wonderful to see some real-life Jewish artefacts.
Cinderella Pantomime
It was an excellent opportunity for our children to attend this years seasonal pantomime at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield. A great time was had by all (oh yes it was!) and we would like to thank Friends of Holme School for yet again allowing this to happen for another year.
Prospective Parents
The deadline this year for primary admissions for a September 2024 start is the 15th January. If you know of any parents who are undecided or still looking for a school place, please do send them our way and we can showcase what our wonderful school has to offer!
We also currently have availability in Years 1, 3 and 6. If you know of anybody with children in these year groups looking for a place, please ask them to get in touch.
Christmas
It was a wonderful time in December in the run up to Christmas. It was brilliant to see all the different Christmas jumpers, singing carols down at the Fleece and placing their own baubles on the Christmas tree, having a wonderful Christmas lunch by our talented cook, Mrs Crowther, topped off on the last day with a Christmas party. Here is just a snapshot of the fantastic time we had at this magical time of year!
Friends of Holme School
Bongo Bingo
Following the success of Bongo Bingo in November we are doing it again!
Friday 23rd February
Let Emma (Henry and Billy’s mum) know if you would like tickets or if you can help out on the night.
We also need prizes! We would love any unwanted Christmas gifts, bottles, chocolates, nibbles, fun prizes (the inflatable unicorn went down a storm last time!) and anything else you think would make a good contribution!
Please bring in to school or give to Emma.
Thank you!
Junior Road Safety Officers
Our JRSO's held two meetings with Mr Bond last half term. Having worked through some very important documentation they have started to prepare a display for the cabinet outside the main entrance of school with information around road safety. They are hoping to complete this over the term. They are also looking into competitions and supporting visitors who are coming into school over the next two terms to teach all the children about road safety. They have made a fantastic start. Keep an eye out for their display that is coming soon!
Holme School Parents' Parking Promise
Congestion on the roads around school at drop off and pick up poses a risk to children and their families, as they travel to and from school.
It’s a parent’s responsibility to see their children safely to and from school but, in doing so, they should not create dangers to others. Walking, scooting, or cycling to school has endless benefits for you and you child/ren and is without doubt the best way to travel to and from school.
However, we recognise that there are circumstances when travelling to school via car is the only option. If this is the case, then we would ask you to please park with care and consideration.
We are asking parents and carers to complete and sign the parking promise, agreeing that, as a caring and responsible driver they:
- Will NOT park or stop on the ‘SCHOOL KEEP CLEAR’ markings during the hours stated (Currently awaiting Kirklees to redo them)
- Will NOT park on double yellow lines in and around the school and village with the exception of a displayed valid Blue Badge
- Will NOT park on single yellow lines during the hours stated in and around the school and the village with the exception of a displayed valid Blue Badge
- Will NOT block the school entrances
- Will NOT park on pavements in the village, making it difficult for prams and wheelchairs to get by
- Will NOT park on the school side of the road creating a bottleneck and hazards for children crossing
- Will make sure children get out of the car safely
- Will park some distance away from the school, walking a short journey, even in bad weather conditions. (We have made arrangements with The Fleece to utilise their carpark and walk the short distance to school or advise parking on the cobbles at the bottom of Meal Hill Road.)
- Will turn my engine off while waiting outside school, to avoid unnecessary air pollution
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED AND VALUED SUPPORT
School Council
The School Council met with Mr Bond in December to firm up their roles and responsibilities. We now have co-chairs, a secretary and a treasurer. We discussed what can be done at the moment to support in developing the school. On the agenda was sport at playtimes and lunchtimes, reading buddies and liaising with the Care Crew on some potential joint projects. They will be feedback back to Mr Bond this month on their discussions with the relevant staff and classes and some actions will be put in place.
We will then work towards a movie night in February and also supporting Miss Wood with the outdoors and Forest School area from February half term onwards. They are doing a fabulous job so far and very proud as to how they are all taking their roles very seriously in order to support school improvement.
School Website
As the year progresses, we will be updating our school website. This is the first port of call if you need any information about school. Some parents and carers have asked questions about where they can find information. I thought it would be useful to signpost the most common pages that might be helpful (and to possibly bookmark for the future):
- Calendar - Our calendar is regularly updated. It can be found here.
- Class Curriculum Information - Teachers update their Class pages at least once a term with important updates as to what children are learning and ways in which parents and carers can support at home. These should be updated by the 19th January for this term. You can access the Class 1 and Class 2 pages.
- Curriculum Information - We are currently in the process of updating our school curriculum. You can find more information here. Please use the links at the side or the 'Curriculum' drop down menu to see specific pages.
- Policies - We are currently in the process of updating our school policies. If you see a little red page with the Adobe symbol in it, this means the policy has recently been updated. You can find our policies page here. These will continue to be updated.
- E-Safety - We have created a dedicated page with information for parents and carers. It can be found here. We have also produced a page with questions and answers that parents and carers may find useful. This can be found here.
- Parent Information - Miss Talbot and Miss Devlin are currently updating our parent information pages. Please keep an eye here as updates continue. Please use the links at the side of the 'Parent Information' drop down menu to see specific pages.
Shine Bright Values
Our shine bright values encompass what we believe our children should foster during their time with us to become well-rounded citizens in our community and the wider world. We cultivate our children to be independent, resilient, respectful, creative, adventurous and aspirational for their future. These will be featuring more regularly within school through our positive behaviour policy, being rewarded as part of Class Dojo and having a 'Shine Bright Values' award of the week. This will be one child in the entire school each week who has been recommended by all the staff in school, achieving one of our Shine Bright Values really well. We would like to encourage parents and our local community to support us with these values outside of school to ensure that the children understand the language and are able to show these life skills in order to thrive, not just now, but in the future. Here are our November and December award winners. Great work! We can't wait to see more children actively showing our Shine Bright Values.
Positive Behaviour Policy
We have updated our Positive Behaviour Policy to include our Shine Bright Values. We wanted to make parents and carers aware of what positive behaviours we would like to see on your child's journey throughout Holme School and also the awards and consequences children will receive dependent on the behaviours they display in-line with our code. We will be celebrating our Shine Bright Values daily in class and allow children to understand what these mean to them and also how they support in their whole Holme School journey to leave as well rounded citizens.
Celebration Assembly
It's been great to see our children continue to be awarded for Honour of Holme, Shine Bright Value award, Remarkable Writer, Regal Reader and Maths Mogul. We've also added an all new Lunchtime Award and Super Speller! Our lunchtime award winner is chosen weekly by Mrs Crowther. This lucky person will be able to have their trophy and Munch eating with them for the week. She's keeping a close eye for those with good manners, eat their yummy lunch and are respectful at all times during their time in the dining hall. As spelling is a school focus, we have also introduced our Super Speller, where one child throughout school is chosen each week. Here are some of our award winners for November and December.
Please remember to keep those pictures of what your child is up to outside of school coming in for our Shine Bright Board. It doesn't have to be a sport, it can be anything they're proud of achieving. We do ask that you send these to shinebright@holmejischool.co.uk. If pictures are sent to Mr Bond or the Office e-mail, there is no guarantee they will make it to the board. When we receive them, they will be printed and placed onto our board, being celebrated in the next Celebration Assembly.
FOHS (Friends of Holme School) usually supply refreshments each week and we kindly ask that you make a donation as all funds go back to the children. This will start again when the colder months approach. All of our community are welcome to attend the assemblies outlined on the Key Dates section at the end of each newsletter.
Maths Mastery
As part of our Maths curriculum, we have embarked on the Readiness for Maths Mastery programme led by our in school Maths Leader, Mrs Broughton. Over the year Mrs Broughton will be working with other Maths Leaders across Kirklees, being supported by Maths specialists in order to ensure that our bespoke Maths provision can be the best it can following the White Rose Maths Hub foundations. As Miss Wood did last year, we hope to run a Maths workshop during Spring 2 or Summer 1 in order to share our practice and how you can help your child at home. If you have any questions about Maths, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Broughton in the first instance.
Attendance Matters
At Holme Junior & Infant School, we fully recognise the impact of good attendance and punctuality on the success and development of young people both socially and academically.
Research has proved that any young person with attendance under 95% is at risk of achieving a grade lower in every subject by the time they leave school. We expect all children to attend school regularly.
We do understand that children become ill and there are guidelines around how long a child should be absent for. We do take these guidelines onboard. We do ask that parents consider the period of absence beyond the guidelines as this may have a negative impact on the child missing further learning.
We take attendance seriously at Holme and follow our school procedure in-line with our policy that has been ratified by the governing body and also follows national guidelines. You can take a look at our policy here for further information and clarification. If you are ever unsure, please contact the school office in the first instance who will happily support and advise.
November Attendance Figures
Whole School Attendance: 92.5%
- Class 1: 91%
- Class 2: 94%
December Attendance Figures
Whole School Attendance: 94.7%
- Class 1: 93.4%
- Class 2: 96%
Our target as a whole school is 97% and we were unfortunately short of the mark in both months. We have had a number of illnesses during this time, which is understandable, but do ask that parents and carers follow guidelines with the amount of time children are away from school. We hope to see an increase in January.
Miss Talbot's Reminders
- Please can we urge parents to keep on top of their ParentPay lunch accounts. We are seeing some accounts going into arrears and Kirklees do monitor this.
- Just a gentle reminder that reception children receive free milk until they turn 5. If you would like your child to continue to have milk then this is payable through cool milk www.coolmilk.com
- We remind parents and carers that the schools office telephone is only manned until 3.30pm, therefore any messages that are left may not be picked up until the following day.
- Please can we ask that the office is given as much notice as possible for any medical appointments during school hours. Where possible we ask that routine medical appointments are made outside of school hours.
- Can all Acceptable Usage Policy agreements be signed and sent back via Weduc forms as soon as possible please. Update -I have received most back via Weduc but I have given some paper copies out this week for those I have not received a reply.
- We will be starting a uniform exchange soon and ask that if you have any unwanted uniform (including tights) then we would welcome them here and be very grateful. Also if you have any dress up costumes or Christmas jumpers you no longer need, we are also looking at building a box so that we always have something available should someone need something. These can be just handed in to the office.
- Lastly, thank you all for your continued support.
As you will have noticed the celebration of our school through Facebook shows just how committed we are at Holme to show the rounded education our children experience. Teachers will be updating our community at least once per week as to what is going on in their class and we will celebrate achievements from our week celebration assembly. I will also be updating Facebook with any further posts that I feel will support our school community. Give us a follow and a like and share with your friends far and wide!
Outdoor Learning
As we are approaching the coldest months, along with the unpredictable weather and short term, the decision has been made not to run any Forest School sessions during the Spring Term. We are wanting to develop our area with the support of the School Council and work will be happening behind the scenes during this term. The children will recommence Forest School during the Summer Term with Miss Wood from April.
We would like to thank you for your understanding.
Parental Engagement
We have an upcoming Open Book Evening on 6th February from 3:20 - 4:20pm. We look forward to seeing parents for our casual and informal book look and conversation with the staff around progress.
Cost of Living Crisis
As we are living through these very difficult times with the cost of everything rising at an alarming rate, if you need any support either financially or practically, please do speak to a member of staff, as there are many agencies and charities that have a range of offers to support families through these times and we can confidently signpost you to the most appropriate.
Wellbeing
We have developed some comprehensive parental advice around wellbeing, which can be found on our school website. If you have any concerns around your or your child's wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Bond or Miss Wood at this time.
Dates for the Diary
As always, if you wish to speak to us about your child, please do not hesitate to talk to Miss Wood in Class 1 and Mrs Guest or Mrs Broughton in Class 2 in the first instance. We will endeavour to help in any way we can.
Safeguarding
Holme Junior & Infant School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff, volunteers and parents to share this commitment.
We have safeguarding policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our child protection and safeguarding policy which can be viewed in the policies section of our school website. Our safeguarding policies and procedures seek to ensure that every child, regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, has a right to equal protection from harm.
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about a pupil are discussed with the child’s parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.
We actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda: to challenge ideology that supports terrorism and those who promote it, protect vulnerable individuals from being drawn into terrorism, and raise awareness of radicalisation risk.
Further information around safeguarding can be found on our website, which has recently been updated. We ask that parents explore these pages if they are unsure of any procedures.
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mr D Bond (Headteacher).
Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) is Miss B Wood (Acting Assistant Headteacher).
Our Safeguarding Governor is Mrs M Thomas.
If you have any safeguarding concerns at all, please do not hesitate to get in touch with either Mr Bond or Miss Wood.
Our school website also has further information around safeguarding and e-safety, which will be updated at regular intervals.