9th September 2022 Newsletter

9^th September 2022

Dear parents/ carers,

Welcome back to the start of a new academic year, I hope you all had a super summer break.

A very warm welcome to our new families that have joined Henham this week, including our wonderful new Reception class who are settling in so well, I am delighted to officially welcome you all to our lovely Henham community.

For the first time since March 2020, it has been an absolute delight to return to what feels like ‘normal’ this week, with the restart of whole school assemblies. Thank you so much to those that have already told me how much your children enjoyed being together with everyone at Monday’s assembly; the children should be so proud of themselves. For our youngest children, this was their first experience of a whole school coming together and it was just magical.

We do start today with the sad news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, our longest reigning monarch.

We know that this news may affect many of you, our staff and our pupils deeply and we will approach the coming days and weeks with sensitivity and consideration.

Our wonderful class teachers have been able to talk with the children today and in Monday’s assembly I will talk about the wonderful work of the Queen during her reign, reminding us all of her resilience and commitment.

As we start the 10 day national mourning period, further guidance will follow in the coming days from the Department for Education regarding the mourning period and action that might need to be taken. In the meantime we have been issued with the guidance that we should consider cancelling any celebratory events during this period.

To this end, we have taken the decision to delay the start of our whole school celebration assemblies on a Friday; these will resume after this period.

Essex County Council has issued a formal statement alongside a history of the Queen in Essex, which is a touching tribute you may want to look at.

Prior to yesterday’s sad news, we were fortunate enough this week to receive a letter sent on behalf of the Queen to thank the school for the colourful pictures and booklets that were sent to her from the children, following our Platinum Jubilee Celebration week.

Parking in and around school: As we start the new year, this is a reminder that unless I have given permission due to exceptional circumstances, there is no parking/ turning on school grounds at morning drop off or afternoon pick up.

I have noticed that School Lane has been very busy this week and I was advised of a ‘near miss’ incident involving a child when a car was reversing on the lane. For the safety and consideration of our children and local residents as well as to ensure access for emergency services vehicles, could I please ask that you refrain from parking on School Lane, but park along Crow Street and walk down to school; thank you.

Attendance: You may have read in the press that there is a large focus on children’s attendance at school this year, including monitoring lateness. The document released in May comes into force from September 2022. This document makes it clear the responsibility on schools to ensure maximum attendance and closely monitor absence and lateness. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance

To be successful in improving attendance in our school, it is vital that parents and school work together and in partnership. The new DfE guidance outlines the expected roles and responsibilities of parents, schools, governing bodies and local authorities with an emphasis on collaborative working practices.

In line with the DfE guidance, I can only authorise absence for exceptional circumstances, which includes medical appointments. I cannot authorise holidays taken during term time.

I will be monitoring absence carefully and if your child’s absence drops below 95%, I will write to inform you. If your child’s attendance drops below 90%, I will contact you again to invite you in for a meeting to discuss the reasons for absence and if there is anything we can do to help.

Any unauthorised absence of 10 sessions or more (equal to 5 school days), could result in a penalty fine being imposed.

In order to monitor lateness, from Monday 12^th September, if you arrive to school after 8.55am, you will need to go to the school office to register your child as late for the morning session. Again, if lateness persists, I will contact you and invite you in for a meeting to discuss ways in which the situation can be resolved.

Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.

Pokemon Cards: There are many children that have Pokemon cards and spend their break and lunch times enjoying playing Pokemon with their friends. I want children to continue to be able to do this, however there has been some upset over cards being traded this week. The younger children in particular may not understand the value of their cards and swap them or give them away and get upset later.

I will monitor this situation closely, however, for the moment, children can continue to bring in their cards, but I have told them they are not permitted to swap/ trade/ give away cards.

Volunteers: We are looking for reading volunteers across the school. Please contact me if you are able to spare some time each week (please note we do not put volunteers in the same class as their child). You will need to have a DBS issued through the school, which we can arrange. If this is something you would like to do or would like more information on, please contact me at head@henhamugley.essex.sch.uk or come and speak to me at the school gate during drop off or pick up.

Headteacher Awards: Congratulations to following children who have received my Headteacher award this week:

Nursery Class	Frankie J James G
Reception Class	Ella S Jed W-G
Year 1	Sienna H Clara L
Year 2	Penny F Carter R
Year 3	Samuel W Lukas C
Year 4	Leo H Gracie N
Year 5	Zena H-D Rowan T
Year 6	Persephone P Harry W Franklin

House Points: Well done to the Red Team who have taken the first placed position this week!

RED	BLUE	PURPLE	GREEN
40	30	20	10

Year 4: What a super time Year 4 had today during their science lesson. They learnt about the roles of the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, and intestines as part of the digestive system. The children got to reinforce the steps of this process practically , even culminating in them making their own poop!!

Something for the weekend? Please see the attached poster advertising an Emergency Services Day event being held on Saffron Walden Common this Saturday (10^th September)

Finally, huge congratulations to Isla in Year 6 who competed for Karate England at the Great Britain Open in Birmingham last weekend. Isla won gold, beating Scotland in the final; what a fantastic achievement – well done Isla, we are so proud of you!