Habs Weekly - Junior School edition - Friday 2 December

Habs

Head of Junior School’s Message

Mrs L Flynn

On Friday last week, we held our St Catherine's day celebration, during which the pupils spent time together in their houses taking part in a creative task, an act of service, a poetry forum and house singing. This year, for the first time, within houses pupils are each part of a house family. These families work together in every house assembly and contain a member from each year group, this ensure that pupils feel connected not only to their own house but also to the wider junior school community, getting to know friends in different year groups.

We were all treated to performances from the winners of the poetry forum, voted winner by members of their house. It is testament to the ambition of our students and the real sense of community spirit within the pupil body that the winners were spread across Rainbow, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 6.

After the poetry performances, we moved on to house singing in which pupils performed an song with lyrics written to represent their house by their House Captains. What a joyful event it was, pupils sang with passion and pride, with meaning attached to every word. I wanted to share some of these with you today, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed listening to them!

Seahorses

We are kind, fun, special and so much more, We are marvellously made!

Happiness, trust and honesty galore, In every single way!

Puffins

Each term goes by, spread our wings and fly

We learn something new everyday Our yesterday’s done, tomorrow’s not come, Community’s always the way!

Aardvarks

A little bit of Aardvarks here and there It’s all about community that cares We’ll always be kind and helpful too – are you ok? When you’re lonely or you’re sad Aardvarks will help to make you glad We always have a helping hand to support you

Chameleons

We include everybody in our house

We can’t explain How many friends we’ve made in just one term The power of chameleons, hooray

Residential

In the Summer Term, Years 3 to 6 will have the opportunity to take part in overnight residential experiences, each of these offering unique enrichment opportunities for the students to develop skills, engage with new activities and build relationships with their peers outside of their everyday learning environment and, for the Upper Phase, away from the school setting.

Letters giving more specific details of costs, how to give consent and payment dates for each trip will be shared with parents via Evolve by Wednesday 14 December. In the Spring term, comprehensive trip brochures will be shared in the newsletter and there will be an opportunity to ask questions both electronically and in person.

ACE Activities

Following details of our Spring cocurricular programme being shared, please be reminded that the final date for registering interest for wraparound ACE for next term is this coming Monday, 5 December, at 12pm. This will be through SOCS, which can be accessed via Firefly, using this link

If you are logging in from a mobile device, you may also be asked to authorise the app.

Step by step instructions of how to register interest for wraparound ACE can be found using this guide.

Should you be experiencing trouble accessing SOCS to register your child’s interest in a wraparound ACE activity, it might be helpful to check the following:

1. The yellow pupil button is clicked on the SOCS login page.

2. Login details are correct (these have been shared with all students).

3. Spring Term is selected from the drop down menu.

Students have had the opportunity to attend drop-in surgeries this week if they have experienced problems logging onto the SOCS system to register their interest.

Junior School Carol Service

FRIDAY 9 DECEMBER 2022

ALDENHAM SCHOOL CHAPEL, 2PM

We are delighted to invite KS2 parents and guardians to our Carol Service at Aldenham Chapel on Friday 9 December. Please refer to this letter sent on Wednesday for more information. Please be reminded that KS2 pupils should only come into school with their coat on Friday 9 December and not bring any school bags or water bottles with them. We hope to see you there!

RECORDING

Click

HIGHLY IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

Reminders

Switch Off Fortnight - Eco Council message

POSTER AND POETRY COMPETITION

Switch Off Fortnight is an event that the Junior School participates in annually. We try hard to look after our community and our planet and Switch Off Fortnight is so important because it encourages people in our community to use less energy. We make a huge effort to switch off electrical appliances including lights. When we all work together as a team, we achieve great things.

On a day-to-day basis, it is important that everyone takes responsibility and focuses on reducing energy waste and Switch Off Fortnight motivates our whole community to take action.

This year, Switch Off Fortnight is taking place from Monday 28 November to Friday 9 December. Switch Off Fortnight is not just about saving energy for two weeks but about encouraging people to reduce their energy consumption all year round!

To celebrate the Fortnight, the Eco Council have set up a poster and poetry competiton. Your poster or poem should be centred around saving energy, and if you are submitting a poster, we recommend making it bright and colourful. The deadline for entries is 9am on 28 November. Everyone entering will earn a house point, but the winner from each year group will earn a mystery prize!

Reminders

Here are the Eco Council's Top Tips for saving energy and looking after our planet:

1. Always turn off the lights, television, computers and all electrical appliances when they are not being used 2. Don’t leave the tap running whilst you are washing your hands and brushing your teeth 3. Wear a jumper instead of turning the heating on 4. Recycle and reuse as much as you can 5. Walk, scoot, ride a bike or use public transport instead of travelling in a car 6. Keep the windows closed when the heating is on

By Anushka and Aishwarya, Year 6 Eco Council Prefects

Zen Den and E-Hub sign design competition

A competition is underway to design a sign for our Enrichment Hub, or E-Hub as we call it for short. This is a room where small group and 1:1 support takes place. It also houses the Zen Den, a quiet space where pupils can go if they are feeling overwhelmed, upset or simply need a bit of time to themselves. Please click here to find out more about the competition.

Reminders

London Regional Diving and Dive London, home of Olympic Champions

London Regional Diving alongside Dive London, the home of Olympic Champions Tom Daley and Matty Lee and Commonwealth and European Champion Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix are conducting a talent search through London and the surrounding areas to look for the next generation of potential Olympic athletes to join the most successful diving program in the UK. Please see this flyer for details.

Snacks

INFORMATION

Our snacks list remains the same as last year and as published in the Parent Handbook. Please note that we are a nut and sesame free school; it is imperative no food containing nuts or sesame seeds is brought on site. Student Voice will be surveying our whole community regarding snacks in the coming weeks, and any changes will be published accordingly.

ACE - Final week of term

Wrapround ACE will continue until Thursday 8 December for all activities taking place before and after school. There will be no wraparound ACE on Friday 9 December, when Junior School students break up for the Christmas holidays making the final date for Football Squad, Country Dancing and Water Polo on Friday 2 December.

ACE - Swim Squad

REMINDER

After swim squad on Thursdays, collection is from the Junior School playground, unless your child is attending after school care or catching the 5.30pm coach. If there is a gala during swim squad, collection arrangements will be detailed in the communication sent via Evolve.

Reminders

Christmas Jumper Day

THURSDAY 8 DECEMBER

This year, on Thursday 8 December, the Junior School will be taking part in Christmas Jumper Day.

The Junior School will be raising money for Save the Children, to raise valuable funds to help disadvantaged children in the world. The money raised will help Save the Children give the world’s forgotten children a brighter future.

It could help bring essentials like healthcare, education, protection and food to the millions of children around the world who are missing out on the most basic support. This year for every £2 we collect, the UK government has promised to give £2 to Save the Children too. To find out more, click here.

We ask that pupils wear a Christmas-themed jumper or t-shirt on top of their school uniform. No headbands (for example, reindeer antlers) to be worn please. If your child would like to participate, they should bring a £2 donation to school from the week beginning Monday 5 December and hand it in to their class teacher.

Reminders

Rainbow, Y1 & Y2

Rainbow and KS1 Production

WEDNESDAY 7 AND THURSDAY 8 DECEMBER

Pupils in Rainbow, Year 1 and Year 2 are working hard to prepare for ‘The Night Before Christmas’, written by Mrs Whiteley and Miss Rockley. It will be a fun filled performance, full of singing and dancing. We do hope that the children are enjoying learning their lines and the lyrics to the songs. Your help with line learning is much appreciated and will help the children feel ready for both performances in December.

You are warmly invited to attend a performance of ‘The Night Before Christmas’ on Wednesday 7 December 2pm or Thursday 8 December 9.15am. Refreshments will be available in the Dining Hall from 8.30am before the Thursday 8 December performance. Please follow the signage for the Performance Space as you exit the visitor’s car park and enter using the Dining Hall doors.

Due to the timing of Senior School lunch, parents attending the Wednesday 2pm performance should be aware they will be required to wait outside the Dining Hall doors on the new boulevard until 1.50pm. In light of this, please consider the weather on the day and come prepared.

Seating in the Performance Space is limited, this means that tickets are limited to two per family. These two tickets can be booked for the same performance, or one ticket can be booked for each of the performances. Tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis, so early booking is advised.

Tickets for the performances will be available online, please click here. The Box Office will open online from 9pm on Friday 2 December until 8am on Wednesday 7 December.

Reminders

Class assemblies

3 ALPHA

We are excited to invite Year 3 Alpha parents and guardians to their child’s class assembly which will be on Monday 5 December at 8.45am to 9.15am in the Lecture Theatre. Attending parents please follow signage to the Dining Hall doors where you will be registered and directed into the Lecture Theatre.

ACE - Mandarin TASTER SESSIONS AVAILABLE

Karen, who runs our lunchtime Mandarin, is offering on further taster session for any Year 3 students who would like to try Mandarin ahead of selecting their ACE activities for the Spring Term. The first session this week was very popular! Anyone interested should meet Karen in the playground when the club bell rings on Wednesday 7 December.

Reminders

Y3 to 6

After School Clubs collection arrangements

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Please be reminded that the following changes have been put in place for collection arrangements for Years 3 to 6 after their clubs.

After their club has finished, at either 4.45pm or 5pm, all KS2 students will be brought to the Junior School playground by the member of staff running the Club, and will be dismissed from the playground. Pupils will not be dismissed to the car park, so parents will be required to come up to collect them.

If your child has a Club which takes place in the Boys' School (Senior or Junior buildings) they will be taken by the member of staff to the Prep School Reception, and should be picked up in person from there.

If parents are running late, please contact the Junior School Reception.

Any students not collected from the playground within five minutes of the finish time of a club will return to the Junior School reception. They will then attend after school care at Habs Boys’ Prep, which is chargeable. On these occasions, parents will be telephoned so they are aware that collection will be from the Boys Prep school. A member of the Junior School reception team will also ring ahead to the Boys’ Prep School so they know to expect the child.

Collection arrangements for sports fixtures remain the same, and will be communicated through fixture letters.

Tooled Up

This week, 3A delivered a wonderful assembly on Interfaith Week, which took place from Sunday 13 to Sunday 20 November. Their assembly very much celebrated the range of different faiths and cultures that are represented within the Habs community, which was wonderful to see. The children also addressed the issue of discrimination, and the ways in which we seek to value and embrace diversity within school. Fostering an inclusive culture is at the heart of all that we do in the Junior School, and we encourage our students to view themselves as global citizens, who respect the beliefs and cultures of others. If you would like to continue these conversations with your children, below are some helpful links (some of which have been shared previously) which may help support discussion of these topics at home:

• Race and Tolerance Book & Film List - Tooled Up Education

• Dr Weston Talks with Bennie Kara: Embracing and Valuing Diversity in Schools - Tooled Up Education

Performance Poetry ACE Focus

This term, Year 3 have been enhancing their oracy skills through attending performance poetry club. During the first half of the Autumn Term, we read a selection of poems exploring our innermost feelings and emotions, written by renowned poets Matt Goodfellow and Laura Muchamore. These included poems entitled Chatting to my inner critic and Doing Nothing . We have also discussed what makes an outstanding poetry performance. This half term, we have read poems by the wonderful Michael Rosen, including Fridge and the children have written and performed their own poems describing the best and worst foods they have ever tasted. More recently, we have been looking at the wonderful world of nonsense poetry and the children have been writing their own poems. Through attending the club, the children have been given the freedom to express themselves and perform in front of their peers in a safe space. Encore!

Beatrice Stewart: I like performance poetry club because you can write and perform poems. Nonsense poetry is so funny and you don’t even need real words. I love poems and performance poetry.

Cressida: I love performance poetry. I have learned some poems that I never knew before and I wrote my own poem called Disgusting Food! I enjoyed learning about Spike Milligan and read one of his poems called On the Ning Nang Nong . We also listened to a poem called The Land of the Bumbly Boo.

Sia: In performance poetry, you get to read, write and perform all different types of poems and what makes it even more fun is that you do it with magnificent Mr Bloch!

Values in Action

Ambition and Community

Rhyah in Year 4 has taken part in The Bobby Moore’s Keepy-Uppy Challenge throughout November. The challenge involves spending some time every day of the month practising keepy-uppies, and through sponsorship for her efforts, Rhyah has been raising money for Cancer Research. So far, she has raised over £1000! This is a charity close to her and her family’s heart as she has a grandparent undergoing treatment for cancer at the moment.

Driven by a desire to do something to support her grandfather, Rhyah has been determined to succeed in this challenge. This is what she had to say about taking part in the challenge:

At the start, I could barely do one keepy-uppy. I kept on improving through practising for 15 minutes everyday. And now I can do five in a row! When I visit my Grandad, he tells me he's very proud of me and for the efforts I'm making. I love to sit and chat with him and recently we have been watching some of the World Cup football together.

Congratulations Rhyah, on being so ambitious and showing immense determination, as you worked to raise precious funds for this fantastic charity.

News stories

Rainbow to Year 3 Panto

On Thursday 24 November, pupils in Rainbow to Year 3 enjoyed a fabulous production of Goldilocks and The Three Bears .

Oh yes we did!

It was exciting when Goldilocks met the Three Bears because I loved that she actually met bears. – Talia, Year 1

I liked it when Baby Bear got to be Goldilocks and Billy’s singer because it was so funny. – Moon, Year 1

I think it was magical because there were talking animals and my favourite character was Gertie Grump. – Rosie, Year 2

It was really fun because we got to shout a lot! – Olivia, Year 2

I loved that it was so funny and full of action. – Anthea, Year 3

Christmas Disco

On Sunday 27 November St Catherine Parents’ Guild held the Junior School Christmas Disco. Excited children arrived dressed in their favourite party wear and sparkly shoes.

Popstarz laid on a fabulous disco for the children with two entertainers, games, prizes and lots of dance activities. Parents were encouraged to join in too and did so with gusto!

The disco was followed by snacks and drinks in the Dining Hall which parents said was decorated beautifully. Tea, coffee, a delicious mulled wine and mince pies were available to parents to enjoy at no extra cost.

Santa was asked if he could make a special, early visit for Habs Girls and he was happy to accept our invitation bringing fabulous gifts for the children.

It was an exciting and fun time for everyone who attended!

Rubia Noordin, Chair of the Parents' Guild, said: Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered at the event. It never fails to amaze me how incredibly hard all our volunteers work to ensure that the event is a huge success. We simply cannot hold these events without your support. I would like to say a special thank you to Mrs Flynn, Mrs Ede and Ms Lansdown for coming along to help too…..Santa crowd control was definitely required!

If you would like to be more involved in Guild events then please do contact me at stcatherineparentsguild@gmail.com

EasyFundraising

As we approach the busiest shopping period in the year, can I please ask you to sign up to support the Guild through Easyfundraising, if you haven’t already done so?

This is an effortless was to support the Guild and doesn’t cost you anything extra to purchase items. Over 7,000 brands will donate funds to the Guild every time you use Easyfundraising to shop with them. The cost of the donation is covered by the brand themselves.

The brands are able to pay us a commission when you start your purchases from the Easyfundraising website or app as they can see we directed you to them. So, if you make a purchase in this way, a commission is automatically generated for the Guild. Brands such as Apple , Amazon, John Lewis, M&S, Boots, Staples and Currys all participate in the scheme to name but a few.

Please do take a few minutes to register and ask family members to do so too. You can register by clicking here.

St Catherine's Day

On Friday 25 November, pupils had a wonderful day participating in House events. From House poetry and singing to making friendship bracelets in House colours and creating cards for hospitalised children, a fun filled enjoyable day was had by all.

Please enjoy the links below to hear each House song.

Sea Horses Puffins

Chameleons Aardvark

The afternoon culminated with a whole school assembly where each House proudly sang their House songs and Super Saxes delighted us with two stunning performances.

Swimming Gala

On Thursday 24 November, 30 students in Year 4, 5 and 6 took part in a Division 10 swimming gala at Habs' Girls' School. We swam against Charlotte House and St Albans High School. There were a number of competitive individual and relay races in this gala. All of the students showed excellent teamwork, determination and sportsmanship.

Well done to all of the swimmers for representing Habs in such a positive manner throughout the gala.

Charities Assemblies

Year 4 - Comfort Cases

This week Year 4 had an inspirational talk led by Comfort Cases UK. A comfort case gives a child entering foster care a sense of dignity. Pupils helped pack rucksacks with pyjamas, a teddy, a toothbrush, soap, a book and other items a child may need to spend their first few nights with a new family.

Mishka said afterwards: We don't think it is fair for children to leave their home with a bin bag, so packing a rucksack felt special.

Anika added: I felt proud that I helped Comfort Cases and would love to help them again.

Charities Assemblies

Year 5 - Herts Young Homeless

Written by Tanisha (5 Aesc)

On Monday, Year 5 listened to a talk from Herts Young Homeless (a Hertfordshire based charity that focuses on young people who are homeless). We were taught what it means to be homeless, the reasons why people become homeless and how to help if we are aware of a homeless person.

If you are homeless, it doesn’t mean you sit on the street and beg for money every day. It means there is no place where you feel warm, happy or safe like you should feel at home. Even if you go to live with different friends, you often have to move as you can’t stay in one place for a long time.

Young people usually become homeless because of family issues. It might be that your parents are angry with each other or they are angry with you. If you feel like that is you, it is important to call Herts Young Homeless as soon as possible, so that being homeless might be prevented. Some children feel as if they have no choice and leave home even if they haven’t been told to, whereas others might be told to go and are given a little bit of time to pack before going. If you yourself become homeless, call the charity so that they can sort out the problem that made you homeless in the first place and find you safe accommodation.

If you know about a homeless person, you should help them. They might feel like Herts Young Homeless will say that their problem isn’t a big problem and calling was a waste of time but that is never the case. Whoever wants advice will always be helped and will feel better for it.

If you see a person on the street who is homeless you could use Streetlink. Streetlink is an app and website which help homeless people in a slightly different way. When you tell them about the homeless person you have seen, they organise help by putting them in touch with Herts Young Homeless or another charity that is best for them.

Charities Assemblies

Year 5 - Herts Young Homeless

Year 6 - Good for Goods

Written by Eva (6 Aleph)

Monday 28 November saw Year 6 students learn more about the Goods for Good charity they will be supporting this year. It was a real pleasure to meet Rosalind Bluestone, the founder and CEO of the charity, who presented the talk and give more information about the wonderful work that they do. It was quite poignant to hear her talking about poverty and suffering not just in the UK but around the world too, and how Goods for Goods, along with their trusted partners, support people in need, here in the UK and across the world. She spoke about how lucky, appreciative, and thankful we should be to have the fundamental basics and much more, whereas some people don’t even have a warm coat in the winter. She also spoke how the ‘human kindness we show’ through the funds we will raise will be used to help.

Year 6 believe that for Rosalind to have set-up her charity from scratch and to be giving so much to so many people in need is truly amazing! It also came as a great surprise to us that the cost of running Goods for Good, so that they can achieve their belief of ‘everyone has a right to dignity and hope’, is a truly astounding.

Year 6 are very much looking forward to supporting this charity this year.