Dear Howley families,
Welcome to our final newsletter of what has been another super term here at Howley.
The last couple of weeks have certainly been busy ones. We have had visitors galore, including our families who joined us for our Mother’s Day celebrations and many of you who attended our recent Parents’ Evenings. Feedback from those who attended and our staff team was that the 10-minute slots enabled everyone to have meaningful conversations with regards to our children’s progress, well-being and their next steps. Parents, carers and staff also enjoyed the time to catch up with each other and continue to build those strong relationships which underpin all we do at Howley. Thank you for taking the time to attend these events - your support is always greatly appreciated by us all.
This week has seen our Easter celebrations in full flow. Reception and Years One and Two looked spectacular in their bonnets as they performed their Easter songs for everyone on Monday. We hope our families enjoyed them. If you are anything like me, you will have found yourself singing ‘Spring Chicken’ at the strangest of moments – it is always a firm favourite! I must congratulate everyone who took part in our Easter Eggstravaganza competition. I thought that after 30 years of enjoying it (but totally avoiding any sort of judging responsibility) I would have seen every possible egg creation and yet every year, I am taken aback with the creative and innovative designs! Every entry was absolutely brilliant. The lucky winners this year were ‘Pokeoegg’, ‘Achieve, Believe, Care’, ‘Eggercoaster’ and ‘Howley Free Grange Egg’.
We have much to look forward to next term. The first half of which will be incredibly busy as it is only four weeks long. You may have noticed on the dates list that we have set our last INSET day, where school will be closed to children, on Monday 23rd June. Howley has historically been used as a polling station on the first Thursday in May. We have been informed that this will not be the case this year so whilst you may hear of schools closing for polling, Howley will be open as normal on Thursday 1st May.
As we prepare for the break and whilst the sun is still shining, I would like to send my deepest thanks to our staff team who have once again worked so hard to ensure Howley is the very best it can be. They have been constantly supported by our families, PTA and Governors. The collective efforts of everyone working together ensure our brilliant children remain at the heart of all we do, which is exactly where they should be.
Wishing you all a restful, happy and wonderful break.
Take care. See you all on the 28thApril,
Miss Lewis
PC Naz Hamzah visited school last week and delivered an assembly to our Year 5 and 6 children and reminded us all of the responsibility we have to care for our community, both in and out of school, he also reminded us of the important message that if we see something that makes us uncomfortable or we think is not morally right, we should be brave and call it out otherwise we too are involved and could be held responsible. Following his visit, he emailed the following into school: "Both year groups were brilliant with the subject matter and their engagement throughout; they collectively did you and the school proud and asked some fantastic and pertinent questions". Whilst I am not surprised by this, it was really lovely to read.
Cadent and an associated educational team also visited us recently; they delivered a brilliant workshop involving our Year 3 children. The workshop entailed the children being taught about carbon monoxide (CO); its dangers and how to keep themselves and their homes safe. It's my understanding that they are all now 'official safety assistants to Safety Seymour' on his mission to protect homes against carbon monoxide and will be bringing home a certificate and goody bag today if they haven't already.
Year 3 have had a busy couple of weeks as they also visited the Black Country Museum as a way of bringing history to life yesterday; I am told they conducted themselves brilliantly for the duration and gained lots from their first-hand experiences!
Thank you to all the children involved in the above for conducting themselves so well but also to the staff that have organised these extra curricular events for our children to take part in.
Miss Williams
TT Rockstars Update
Here is Howley Grange's TTRS data from the last 30 days.
Just a reminder that the expectation is for children to complete 3 minutes a day (15 mins weekly) on TTRS at home, in addition to the TTRS practise opportunities that we provide for children in school. Our aim is to see all classes reaching 100% active users!
To help motivate the children, this half term we have introduced 'TTRS rewards'. Children who complete their 15 minutes are awarded a star on their individual reward card. Children who manage to collect all stars for the half term are entered into a raffle. The winner of the raffle receives a £15 Amazon voucher.
Today, the first raffle has taken place and the winner for this half term is Maddie ! Big congratulations to them!! Happy spending!!
Thank you to the children for their continued efforts and to you as parents for your continued support, helping us to improve Maths here at Howley.
Have a lovely Easter and a well-deserved rest!
Miss Holden
School Meals Price Increase
Just a reminder that the price of a school meal will rise to £2.60 per day from the beginning of next term.
The new menus will open over the holidays for bookings for next term.
New Uniform Suppliers
We are delighted to let you know that we have two new uniform suppliers: Somal Uniforms are brand new to us and based in Quinton, and Totally Uniform, who have taken over from Dancers and are opening over the holidays in the old 'Dancers' shop in Halesowen.
Our third supplier, Ace Embroidery, continue to offer Howley Grange Uniform for delivery or collection from their shop near Blackheath.
PTA Updates
A huge thank-you for supporting our first Rainbow raffle! We received a generous amount of donations making 12 fabulous hampers! And raised an impressive £450!
Here are some dates for the diary:
Summer Fete - 14th June
Own clothes day - donations for the Fete pocket money lucky dip toys - Fri 23rd May
Own clothes day - donations for the Fete bottle tombola & cake donations - Fri 13th June
We will continue to collect uniform donations the week after the holidays too
After school, preloved uniform sale... watch this space for a date!
We are working with Dudley Performing Arts (DPA) to provide music lessons in school. The summer term is a fantastic time to start learning an instrument, lessons will start after Easter for as little as £8.50 a week. The team at DPA have decades of experience and are the biggest provider of music education in our area. If you would like your child to start music lessons simply click on the link below for more information about enrolling.
As well as lessons in school there is an option of choosing lessons at Cable Plaza on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings.
Starting after Easter 2025 we have an amazing opportunity for any KS2 pupil to learn what are known as minority instruments. These are instruments usually found in an orchestra that are dwindling in number – cello, double bass, oboe, bassoon, euphonium and tuba.
Over the next 9 weeks we will run beginner group lessons on a Monday or Tuesday at our music base at Cable Plaza on the Waterfront near Merry Hill. Each lesson will last for 25 minutes. The children will all be beginner students and learn how to play a musical instrument in a fun, relaxed group environment. All the instruments will be provided, and they will be able to bring their instrument home every week to allow them to practice and try new things!
Sessions will take place on the days and times below, starting from the week beginning 28th April. Spaces will be limited and allocated on a first come first served basis. To take up this fantastic offer please click on this link and complete the necessary information.
Monday 4:30 – 4.55pm and 5:00 - 5:25pm
Strings – Cello or Double Bass
Tuesday 5:00 – 5.25pm and 5:30 – 5.55pm
Wind - Bassoon or Oboe
Tuesday 4:30 – 4.55pm and 5.00 - 5:30pm
Brass – Euphonium or Tuba
After the project has finished we hope that some pupils will be inspired to continue to have lessons and sign up to pay from September onwards. Our lesson charges can be found here on our website:
https://www.dudley.gov.uk/things-to-do/dudley-performing-arts/
We’re looking forward to some exciting music making!
The Dudley Performing Arts Team
