December Newsletter
Welcome to our latest issue, keeping you informed about what is going on in school, what is coming soon and other information which we hope will be useful. You may need to click to view the web-based version if you can't see the photographs on the newsletter.
Keep scrolling down to the end for dates and reminders. If you have downloaded the School Life app, you can find more information about each event on the 'calendar' section.
Dear Howley families,
I hope you are all keeping warm during this cold snap. I think the arrival of frosty days and the month of December has led to a rather festive feel in school today. Our classrooms definitely have a Christmas vibe with decorations, trees and a few elves, (which I very much hope are of the well behaved variety)! We have also had our school Christmas tree delivered today courtesy of one of our ex pupils, Gary who runs Green Leevs in Blackheath, -our thanks go to Gary for never failing to help out his old school.
Last week saw the start of our Christmas events with a super Cinema night for our older children. We all enjoyed watching Elf and I would like to thank the parents, grandparents and staff who gave up their time to make sure our children had a super night. We have an exciting weekend coming up with Santa's Magical Adventure, again this wouldn't happen without the fantastic volunteers who give their time to support our school, thank you all so much.
We do hope that you are finding these newsletters informative and useful. This one certainly has a wealth of information for you to read.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend, take care and keep warm!
Miss Lewis
Parking Complaints
We have been contacted again about dangerous parking in the roads around school. It is very frustrating as you know we frequently send messages asking for considerate parking.
If you spot any parking which puts people at risk, please use the link below to report it:
New Catering Provider
We sent out an email this week with the news that we will have a new catering company providing school meals from January 2024. Alliance in Partnership specialise in education catering and have a vast amount of experience in this sector. They will be working with our existing catering staff so the children will still have familiar faces in the kitchen. There will be no changes to the way you order and pay for your child's meals and if your child receives free school meals, the entitlement remains exactly the same.
You should have received AiP's food safety form on paper this week (more copies are available in the school office). If your child has any dietary needs, even if you have informed school already, it is really important that you complete and return the form so that they have accurate and up to date information about food allergies and dietary requirements.
Reading Around Howley
After-School Clubs from January
Please see below an overview of the extra-curricular clubs we will be running in the new year.
Bookings will open next week on School Life in a similar way to parents evenings bookings.
We will let you know when booking is available and give more details on the booking and payment process.
If you have previously signed your child up for a Your Sport club, they can continue to attend without signing up again.
School Health
Our School Nurse team has asked us to share the measles poster below as there has recently been a resurgence of the illness and they have been asked to promote the message that parents need to check that their children are fully immunised .
If you need to check if your child is up to date, you can either contact your GP or the School Nurse Office on 0121 423 3938. You can also email the team account dihc.halesowenschoolhealth@nhs.net, but please specify which school your child attends.
The flu vaccination team will be in school again on Wednesday 13th December. If your child missed the last session for any reason, you can give consent on the form at this link:
Vaccination UK Immunisation (schoolvaccination.uk)
If you do have issues with the E-consent link, please contact Vaccination UK on 01384 431712 or you can request paper consent forms via email on Dudley@v-uk.co.uk.
Age Restrictions
Below (courtesy of the website Twinkl) is a reminder of the recommended age restrictions for various social media and gaming platforms despite what our children tell us they want to access; what their friends are already accessing and that they don't see anything that worries/upsets them when accessing them, the age restrictions are there for a reason. We strongly recommend that you monitor what it is the children are accessing if they are not accessing devices in the same room as an adult. Two platforms which have recently been brought to our attention are Roblox and TikTok, where the content Huggie Wuggie and BabyBlue (respectively) is really scaring children.
Dates for the Diary
Saturday 2nd December: PTA Magical Adventure Reception, Years 1 & 2
Monday 4th December - last day to return book fair competition entries
Book Fair in the Garden Room Monday 4th - Friday 8th December before and after school
Wednesday 6th December - Year 5 Inspire afternoon
Thursday 7th December - Christmas Jumper Day (donations for the Christmas Hamper Raffle)
Friday 8th December - Santa Dash! (wear outdoor PE kit and Christmas themed head wear)
Tuesday 12th December: Year 1 Trip
Wednesday 13th December: Flu Vaccination catch up date for children who missed the last session
Wednesday 13th December 2.30pm: Christmas Singalong Years 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
Friday 15th December - PTA Christmas Hamper Raffle Draw
Monday 18th December 2pm - Reception & Year 1 Christmas play for 1KW & RCS parents
Tuesday 19th December 2pm - Reception & Year 1 Christmas play for 1MR & RWA parents
Wednesday 20th December - Christmas lunch - please book by 8th December so we can order enough turkey!
Thursday 21st December - Last day of term (3.15pm finish as usual)
Friday 22nd December - INSET day, school closed to children
Monday 8th January - Spring term begins
