Kings Hawford Bulletin
Thursday 17th May 2012
Five Star Award for Kitchens
We were delighted to be informed this week that we have once again been awarded the prestigious Five Star Award by the County Council as a result of an unannounced visit to the school's kitchen's by the environmental health officer. This is the third time that Mrs Elliott and her team have been given the Five Star award. The visit focused on the food preparation areas and also the ways in which the team ensures the kitchens are clean, healthy and free from all contamination. Mrs Elliott and her staff are to be congratulated on this award and also on the high quality food cooked at the school for the children. At a time when healthy food standards have been relaxed nationally, allowing for schools to offer more popular but often less healthy food to children, we are proud that we have retained our determination to offer a balanced, diverse diet at lunchtimes and breaktimes.
Olympic Torch Relay
Parents will be aware that a former Hawford pupil, Andrew Evans-Fisher, has been chosen to carry the Olympic torch on Thursday 24th May. Andrew, whose brother Nicholas is in Year 4, will be carrying the torch at 7.05p.m from Friar Street, near Union Street to College Street (A44), near Deansway. Andrew has been a medal winning competitor at the World Transplant Games, showing his medals proudly in our assemblies. It will be good to see him carry the torch and we are sure he would appreciate your support on the day. He has offered to bring the torch into Hawford after his run.
Cycling Proficiency Week
Next week sees the first week of this year's cycling proficiency programme. This will be taking place for the Year 5 and 6 children involved after school.
1AP Assembly
Parents who have children in 1AP are invited to join us for morning assembly on Wednesday 23rd May. This will be led by the children. Assemblies begin at 8.45a.m
School Exams
Mr Peters has communicated this week with all parents of children in Years 1 to 6, outlining arrangements for the school examinations which will take place from Tuesday 22nd May. There is no need for parents to undertake rigorous revision sessions with their children, as most tasks do not require revision. The schedule will be different for each year group, involving English and Maths in all year groups and verbal reasoning and science in some classes. Results will be largely standardised against national norms and will be communicated to parents in the end of year report. The main reason for assessing the children is to determine the progress made and also to assist in setting future targets as they move on to new year groups at the end of the term.
Class Setting for next Term
As parents will be aware, we regroup our children at the end of each year. This allows for teachers to group children in a way that allows for any issues to be addressed and also to ensure our groups are roughly equivalent in terms of ability and gender balance. We take into account friendship groups. In previous years we have asked parents for their preferences. We will not be undertaking this exercise this year. Teachers will be mindful of friendship groups and other issues when resetting the classes. Our aim is always to children are grouped in a manner to ensure highly effective teaching and learning.
Gruffalo Trip
Our Kindergarten and Reception classes will be travelling to Cheltenham on Friday 25th May to see a performance of 'The Gruffalo'.
PA Camp Out
Following the recent poor weather and with unsettled weather, and cold evenings, forecast for next week, it has been decided to postpone the PA Camp Out until next term. It will now take place on Saturday 15th September. Bookings for pitches will be carried forward by the PA to the new date. If parents wish their payments to be refunded they should contact Claire Lawson by Friday 25th May. We apologise for this change of date, which was felt necessary as the bottom field could not take cars at present and the weather was proving far too unsettled. Hopefully the September date will be blessed with good weather after a long hot summer.
LAMDA Exams
Children who attend LAMDA lessons will be involved in their exams on Sunday 27th May. Mrs Kavanagh has circulated details to all involved.
Car Park
We thank parents for their consideration when driving around the car park. It is important that all those who park in this area drive slowly and exercise caution. Children should be closely supervised, as cars are often reversing and therefore vision is impeded.
Birthdays
We wish all children who will have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Winnie Walker, Sophie Goodman, Max Reen, Callis Wetherall-Drain, and Max Davies.
Thursday 10th May 2012
Hawford May Fete
The recent heavy rain led to us having to postpone the May Fete, planned initially for today. Hopefully the weather will improve and we will be in a better position to hold the Fete on Thursday 31st May. Putting back such an event is far from ideal but it seemed the best solution to the difficult situation we were faced with. As car parking on the field is essential on such occasions, and the forecast for today was pretty dire, we felt this to be the best course of action. We are grateful to parents for their donations for the Fete, which we hope to hold on the bottom field later in the month. We will combine our planned Jubilee Celebrations with the Fete on the 31st may and it should prove to be a memorable day.
Charity Dinner
Parents may wish to make a note in their diaries at this early stage of the date of the 2012 Charity Dinner. This will be held at Sixways on Saturday 13th October. We are moving the event to the weekend after the success of the dinner last year and plan once again to have a key known rugby speaker, a meal and a disco until late in the evening. As this year, the event will be to raise funds for St. Richard's Hospice. Full details of the evening will be circulated soon, with a booking form. Parents wishing to purchase tables may wish to begin planning their groups for the evening.
Year 6 Public Speaking Week
Our Year 6 children will be involved in their Public Speaking Presentations next week, with presentations each night after school. All of the year group have chosen topics to present and they have put together slide shows to back up their talks. Parents are welcome to attend the presentations, which will be held in Mrs Baxter's classroom each night after school.
Whole School Photograph
We will be taking a whole school photograph on Monday 14th May. We do this every two years and the photo will involve all children and staff. It is a big exercise setting up for this but the resulting photo is a great record of the school and is always one of those things that children look back on fondly for years to come. We plan to take the photo around 10am so will be setting up just after assembly.
Old Chapel Visit
Next week sees the second of our Year 2 groups visiting the Old Chapel. Y2PB will be visiting on Friday 18th May and Saturday 19th May.
Year 4 Broad Haven Trip
Year 4 will be travelling out to the Pembroke coast on Tuesday 15th May for the Broad Haven field trip. This is a super location to visit and the children are bound to have a memorable time. They will be returning on Friday 18th May.
Year 5 Parents Transition Evening
Parents who have children in Year 5 are invited to join us for transition talk and presentation after school on Tuesday 15th May at 4-30p.m. This will be a chance to meet Mr. Keyes, Head of King's School, and Mr Longley, Head of the Fourth Forms (Years 7 and 8). There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions on the evening.
LAMDA Exams
Children who attend LAMDA lessons will be involved in their exams on Sunday 20th & Sunday 27th May. Mrs Kavanagh will be circulating details to all involved.
Water Bottles
We have received a supply of water bottles, which the PA have purchased and wish to be made available to the children and parents. Like the popular travel mugs, they are priced at £3 and can be purchased from the school office. A photograph of one of the bottles is on the reverse of this week's newsletter.
Race for Life
On Sunday 24th June Amber Haywood will be taking part in the Race for Life. This is a race that she will be running to help raise money for Cancer research in memory of Mrs Turner. Amber will be running 5 km around the Worcester racecourse with her two sisters as well as many others who are raising money to help to find a cure for cancer. If any pupils, parents or staff would like to sponsor Amber she would be most grateful. Potential sponsors could contact Amber or the school office.
Birthdays
We wish all children who will have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Louis Hira, Naomi Marsden, Harry Thomson, James Brewer, Alice Clarke, Joseph Lewis, Leo Cunningham, Toby Cunningham and Dylan Lewis.
Thursday 3rd May 2012
Hawford May Fete
Although the weather seems to be unrelenting, with a great deal of rain having fallen over the past few days, preparations are now under way for the Hawford May Fete, which takes place on Thursday 10th May. We would be grateful for donations for the Fete. In particular we need bottles for the bottle tombola stall, books, nearly new toys in good condition, games in good condition, DVDs and, for the first time this year, good quality second hand children's clothes. We would like to collect in as many of these items for the Fete as possible on Friday 4th May. This will be a non-uniform day for all children, as a little thank you for items for the Fete. Thank you in advance for your customary generosity. We hope to see you at the Fete, which promises to be as enjoyable as ever, with maypole dancing, refreshments, pony riding and the like to amuse both adults and children.
King's Fete
We will not be at school on Monday, as it is a Bank Holiday. You are warmly invited to join us at the King's Fete, which this year is in aid of St. Richard's Hospice, Magg's Day Centre and the SPACE project. The event will be from 12 noon to 4-00p.m. in College green and will be officially opened by Zac Purchase MBE, an OV and Olympic Gold Medal Winner at the Beijing Olympics. Some of our children will be maypole dancing at the event, which always looks terrific on the Green.
School Travel Mugs
We have taken delivery of some Hawford travel mugs, which are available for purchase from the office, priced at £3. We have a limited supply and therefore parents wishing one should purchase them as soon as possible.
Europe Day
Wednesday 9th May is Europe Day. We will be flying the EU flag on this day.
Music Success
In addition to the music successes announced last week, we are delighted to hear that Eleni Smith has achieved a Grade 1 pass with Merit on the Guitar in the Trinity College Music Exams. Chris Rodgers has also achieved Grade 5 Violin success in the Associated Board exams. Congratulations to both on these results.
Year 1 Pedestrian Training
Our Year 1 children will be involved in pedestrian training on Thursday 10th May.
Old Chapel Visit
Next week sees the first of our Year 2 groups visiting the Old Chapel. 2CG will be visiting on Friday 11th May and Saturday 12th May. This is bound to be a memorable visit with a trip to the Big Pit and plenty of opportunities to sample the delights of the beautiful location in the Black Mountains.
Books for South Africa
We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of parents who contributed to the appeal for book for our partner school, Worcester Primary School, in Western Cape, South Africa. We received a large number of books and we are looking to ship these over for the library at WPS shortly.
Horse Riding Awards
Congratulations to the following children, who were awarded certificates for aspects of horse riding in assembly this week: Amy Hall, Michaela Holmes, William Hewston, Francesca Thomson, Harry Thomson, Srishti Parashar, Beatrice Morgan, Olivia Sproule, Martha Davey, George Sutcliffe, James Essex, Isabella Pritchard, Lucy Wadley, Freya Sinclair, Anton de Vos, Alexander Warner.
Summer Sport and Fitness
If there are any mums who want to keep fit and have some fun this term, Mr Bethell is kindly running a free fitness session at Hawford from 7.30 to 8.30 on Tuesday evenings. This summer we're planning all sorts of fun, including rounders, quick cricket and power walking. It's sociable and not taken too seriously. We have a good run around and all feel better afterwards. Please come and join us. Contact
Rugby Final
Worcester Rugby Club's U17 side, current Midlands Champions, will be competing in the National U17 Cup Final at Sixways on Sunday at 4-15p.m. Three former Hawford pupils are involved: George Preece, George Fairlie and Conor Richards. They have been playing together since the age of 6. If you wish to cheer them on entry is free and your support would be appreciated.
Charity Rugby Match at Sixways
Mr Pritchard, Mr Farmer and Mr Marsland will be playing in a charity rugby match at Sixways on Wednesday, 9th May in aid of the Matt Hampson Trust. The Trust was set up to provide support and care for anyone who has suffered from any neck or back injury. If you would like to support this wonderful cause, please contact Mr Pritchard for tickets which are available for the small sum of £5 (tickets also available on the door). Kick-off is at 6.30pm. Worcester Legends will play Leicester Legends at 8.30pm.
Birthdays
We wish all children who will have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Annabel Amess, Samuel Phillips, Harvey Lindsay-Veal and Thomas Rawnsley.