Habs Weekly - Junior School edition - Friday 7 October

Head of Junior School’s Message

Mrs L Flynn

As we head towards our Harvest assembly, I have been struck by the engagement from our pupils with the generosity of their donations, supporting those outside of our school community. On Monday, we will join together as a school, ages 4 to 18, to mark this important event in the school calendar where our focus is on those beyond the school campus and how together, we can make a difference.

Throughout life at school, the concept of social responsibility is interwoven through our assembly programme, PSHE curriculum and charity strategy with a focus for our students on developing empathy and kindness towards their fellow humans. Within this, our pupils are also empowered to look outwards, developing their understanding of how we, as individuals, can directly impact the experience of others.

I have seen this in action in a number of ways this week, from the Year 2 student who came to speak to me about her ideas that would create positive environmental change in the Junior

School, to the 4 Aesc students who have run a drop in library this week sharing texts with all pupils, following their fantastic class assembly. Furthermore, on a Friday afternoon approximately 100 students in Year 9 to 12 visit local primary schools and the refugee hub in Watford, running after school clubs and mother and child sessions.

Later in the newsletter, you will find a more detailed explanation of our charities strategy within the Junior School, and I warmly encourage you to attend Mrs Millman’s upcoming talks, following Family Friday (see page 17).

Looking ahead

Whole school

House Poetry

One of the school’s key areas of focus is to develop pupils’ mastery of oracy and the spoken word. Later this term, we will be holding our first poetry forum at the Junior School. We would like to invite all pupils to have a go at learning one poem. This is an opportunity for the pupils to have some fun as well as challenging themselves at the same time!

Pupils are at liberty to choose any published poem, but we ask that it takes a maximum of two minutes to perform. Click this link for some suggestions.

In form time, during the week commencing 10 October, your child will be sharing their chosen poem with the class and will have the chance to practise performing it. Please can you support your child in bringing their poem to school every day that week.

During half-term, pupils will be asked to learn their chosen poem off by heart. Please can you listen to your child performing their poem and encourage them to bring it to life, making it their own.

As part of St Catherine’s Day, on Friday 25 November, the pupils will be split into their House families and will have an opportunity to perform their poems to each other. House captains and leaders will then choose one pupil from each house to perform their poem in front of the Junior School as part of the celebrations.

We are sure that this will be a very exciting and enriching learning experience for everyone. Good luck and have fun!

Looking ahead

Y3 to 6

Poems for Carol Service

Every year, pupils from Years 3 to 6 deliver readings as part of our annual Carol Service. This year, we are inviting pupils in Years 4 and 5 to write their own poems on the theme of friendship or kindness. Pupils in Years 3 and 6 will be delivering a reading from a published anthology of poetry or prose.

The deadline for submission of poems for Years 4 and 5 is Monday 31 October. Pupils in Year 4 should send their poems to Miss Sultana (rsultana@habsgirls.org.uk) and pupils in Year 5 should send them to Mr Bloch (rbloch@habsgirls.org.uk).

After half term, pupils will be auditioned by their class teachers and the successful pupils will be selected to read a poem as part of the Service.

Looking ahead

Y5

Open Morning

TUESDAY 1 NOVEMBER

On Tuesday 1 November we will be holding an open morning for Year 5 parents and your child for you to gain a greater understanding of what life is like in the Senior School. This session is an important marker on your child’s journey from the Junior to the Senior School and is an opportunity for you to visit and to ask questions.

Parents should park in the visitor car park and walk up to school with their child – pupils will go into their classrooms as normal for registration. From 8.30am please sign in at Junior School reception before making your way to the Performance Space via the DT doors, where refreshments will be available. At 8.45am we will hold a question and answer session, at which the following members of staff will join to talk about Senior School life and the transition from the Junior School:

• Mrs Rose Hardy – Headmistress

• Mrs Sarah Wright – Principal Deputy Head

• Mr Daniel Sabato – Deputy Head (Academic)

• Mr Tim Scott – Deputy Head (Admissions, Co-Curricular and Events)

• Mrs Anna Saunders – Head of Middle School

After the question and answer session, you will be joined by your child for a tour of the Senior School, led by two Upper 4 (Year 8) students. The morning will finish by 10am.

We look forward to meeting you, but in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Rana, Admissions Registrar (arana@habsgirls.org.uk) if you have any further queries.

Reminders

Whole school

Harvest Festival

INFORMATION

We are looking forward to our whole school assembly on Monday 10 October, where we will gather together for our Harvest Festival. Collections for both Akshaya Patra and Islington Migrant Centre will be displayed, and we are welcoming a speaker from Akshaya Patra.

Many thanks for all the donations that have been brought in already. Please see the link below for further information, and a reminder that any remaining donations should still be brought to Mrs Walsh’s desk in the Junior School Reception.

We are looking forward to this opportunity to gather together and reflect on the ways in which we are able to share our good fortune in practical ways.

Click here to read more about the chosen charities.

Head Teacher Awards - Art competition

FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER

Mrs Flynn would like to invite all students to enter a competition to design a cover for her Head Teacher Awards folder.

If you would like to enter, you should create a design on A4 paper, using any art materials you like. It should include the text – ‘Head Teacher Awards.’

Entries should be brought to school and handed to Mrs Walsh or your class teacher by Friday 14 October.

Reminders

Reporting Review

IMPORTANT LINK

Last year, the Junior School undertook a reporting review and we are grateful for the input from both parent and staff working groups, representing a wide cross-section of our community. Together, we looked at the purpose, format and timings of our reporting cycle, which have informed the reporting schedule for this academic year.

Click here to see the new reporting schedule.

Wraparound Care INFORMATION

Information about our Wraparound Care provision can be found in the resources section on Firefly and in the Parent Handbook. Please use this link for quick booking access.

Lunch Menu

WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 10 OCTOBER

Please click here to view our EYFS and KS1 menu.

Please click here to view our KS2 menu.

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.

Reminders

Whole school

Clare Balding, CBE visit

MONDAY 21 NOVEMBER

We are very excited to announce that the Junior School will be hosting a visit from Clare Balding, CBE on Monday 21 November 2022.

Writer, broadcaster, animal lover and sports fan, Clare is also the best-selling, award-winning author of numerous books and children’s novels and an ardent campaigner for better coverage of women’s sport.

During the visit Clare will talk about her passion for books, animals and sport, and share her experiences of being a writer. You can read more about Clare and her books on her website Clare Balding Books. Clare will also conduct a book signing whilst she is with us. The titles available are:

• The Racehorse Who Learned to Dance : £6.40 (RRP £7.99)

• The Racehorse Who Wouldn’t Gallop : £5.60 (RRP £6.99)

• The Racehorse Who Disappeared : £5.60 (RRP £6.99)

• Fall Off, Get Back On, Keep Going: 10 ways to be at the top of your game : £8 (RRP £9.99)

To order, fill in this form by 9am Friday 11 November indicating which titles you would like to buy. This cost will be added to your end of term bill.

If you already have any of Clare’s books and you would like her to sign them, please bring them in on the morning of the visit and leave them with the class teacher. Ensure the books are clearly labelled with your child’s name and class.

We are very much looking forward to hosting Clare, and hope that the pupils will have a very enjoyable day.

Family Friday

DATES

Rainbow Family Fridays will continue to take place each week and the dates for other year groups are below:

Date Time

Friday 14 October

Years 1, 3 and 5

Friday 18 November Years 2, 4 and 6

Click here for more information.

PARENT TALKS

Over the past year, we have shared information on the curriculum, Junior School developments and philosophies through a series of talks for parents. Following feedback on the timings and format of these talks, we are offering a range of short parent talks which parents can choose to attend. They will take place between 8.30am and 9am, straight after Family Friday for Years 1 to 6. Rainbow parents are also invited to attend should they wish. Talks on 14 October will be repeated on November 18. For the Autumn Term, parents may choose from the following talks:

Charities This year, we have expanded our charitable engagement, coordinating with our assembly and form time programmes. Mrs Millman will be sharing more about how and why we have developed this across the school and academic year, and the ways in which we hope this will provide meaningful opportunities for the pupils to engage personally, in year groups and in Houses.

Oracy Being ambitious in oracy skills is fundamental to our pupils’ communication and expression. Mr Bloch will be speaking about the importance of oracy, in particular, how to support pupils in their communication with each other, both formally and informally. Enrichment Mrs Ede will be speaking about the value of enrichment opportunities across the Junior school, the co-curricular nature of the activities and the philosophy behind the ACE programme. Coffee with Senior Leadership Team

Opportunity to meet and chat with members of the senior leadership team of the school

So that we can organise appropriate venues, please complete this form by 9am on Thursday 13 October to indicate which session, if any, you would like to attend.

Reminders

Y1 to 6

Parents’ Evening BOOKING INFORMATION

We look forward to welcoming parents of students in Years 1 to 6 into school for parents’ evenings after half term. Booking for class teacher appointments has now closed however if you need to amend your appointment time, please contact Mrs Karaolou in the Junior School office on 0208 266 2425 by Tuesday 11 October.

Parents’ Evening appointments with Mrs Summers INFORMATION

Mrs Summers, who leads our Individual Need department, will also be available for appointments at the parents’ evenings after half term. Mrs Summers is a teacher with a specialist qualification in supporting pupils with SpLDs and is happy to meet parents of students in all year groups who have any concerns or questions about strategies for supporting their children. If you would like to make an appointment with Mrs Summers, please call Mrs Karaolou in the Junior School office on 0208 266 2425 by Tuesday 11 October.

Y3 to 6

Subject specialist appointments

INFORMATION

For parents with children in Years 3, 5 and 6, there is also the option to book a five minute appointment with your child’s subject teachers. These appointments can be accessed via this link or through Firefly. Booking for appointments with subject specialists will remain open until noon on Tuesday 11 October.

Tooled Up

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Following their brilliant assembly on Black History Month, 4 Aesc have run a ‘library’ of books to look at in the playground this week. More details on page 18. See below for some resources to introduce or support conversations that we hope have been sparked in school this week.

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

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

• Dr Weston Talks with Professor Christia Spears Brown: Why Biases Matter and How to Reduce Them - Tooled Up Education

• Supporting Your Child to Step Away From and Challenge Harmful Talk in Their Peer Group - Tooled Up Education

ACE Focus

ART THROUGH MUSIC

Art through Music is a KS2 lunchtime activity that falls within the ‘Music and Performance’ strand of our ACE programme, although it also fosters creativity through looking at different styles of art and music. Musical genres explored include jazz, classical music and Bollywood and bands such as The Beatles and Abba have also provided a focus. Whilst enjoying the wealth of musical genres, students have experimented with shading, watercolours, patterns and different art media.

This week the focus was Surrealism and the group made portraits in the style of Picasso while listening to traditional Spanish music to totally immerse themselves in the experience!

Some of the Year 2s shared what they most enjoy about Art through Music:

“I like it because you get fun music and you can draw what you feel like!”

“I like it because you can express yourself however you want!”

“I like it because you get to feel the beat while you draw!”

Cornflower Assembly

Friday afternoon assemblies are always a time of joy and celebration in the Junior School. Our weekly Cornflower Assembly celebrates individuals who have particularly demonstrated ways in which they have embodied our school values: Courage, Curiosity, Community and Ambition. Without fail, the pupils in our school community celebrate the successes of their peers, as well as take time to reflect on the ways in which they have, themselves, taken risks, wondered why, supported others and aimed high. We cherish our Cornflower Assemblies, and hope that you enjoy celebrating weekly with us too.

Ambition

We set our sights high in terms of what we want to achieve as individuals and as a community, in and outside the classroom, aspiring to achieve our full potential in whatever we put our minds to.

Rosie (1 Purple)

Issra (2A)

Harriet (3 Alpha)

Courage

Annika (4 Aleph)

Annie-Selin (5 Aleph)

We believe in the courage to face challenge, embrace opportunity and step out of our comfort zones to grow and become our best selves, whilst also having courage in our conviction, remaining true to our moral compass and what we believe is the right thing to do.

Leela (Rainbow Red)

Olivia (1 Orange)

Mahvi (2A)

Holly (3 Alpha)

Mayya (4 Aesc)

Carrie (6 Aesc)

Anushka (6 Aleph)

Kiera (6 Aleph)

Community

Since we were founded, we have had an inherent responsibility to our diverse internal and wider community and continue to dedicate ourselves to nurturing it and supporting each other to be our best selves.

Reeya (Rainbow Red)

Janvi (Rainbow Blue) Dahlia (Rainbow Blue) Freya (1 Green)

Azra (1 Purple)

Zahra (2 Alpha)

Lia (4 Aesc)

Isla (5 Aesc)

Ella (5 Aesc)

Curiosity

In a diverse world, we believe that growth comes from not standing still. We are driven by an unending desire to learn and improve, not standing still and having an open and enquiring mind to anything we face.

Amani (1 Green)

Eva (1 Orange)

Noor (2 Alpha)

Sia (3A)

Iman (5 Aleph)

Values in Action

Aliya heard about an experiment that the STEM club had tried out, and decided to have a go at it home, demonstrating her curiosity in what had caught her attention and in the wider world around her.

Having carried out her experiment, Aliya wrote up a lab report of her method and findings and brought this into school – a young scientist at work! This is what Aliya had to say about her experiment and what she found out:

“I really like science because I like things exploding! I did this experiment because I wanted to know what peeled and not peeled oranges would do in jugs of water.

I thought that the orange that was peeled would have all its juice come out, but this didn’t happen. One orange rose to the top and one sank! The one that was peeled sank and the one that wasn’t peeled floated at the top of the jug of water. After I had finished, my fingers were sticky and slimy and smelt of oranges.”

School Community Charity Overview

This year, we are excited to grow our Charity programme, alongside our PSHE curriculum and Assembly programme.

We are committed to the philanthropic principles on which we were founded. We have had an inherent responsibility to our diverse internal and wider community and we continue to dedicate ourselves to nurturing these philanthropic principles and supporting each other to be our best selves.

As part of supporting children as they develop their social and emotional skills, we believe it is important to provide meaningful opportunities for children to engage in charitable endeavours. We want to ensure all our pupils understand the importance of, and take responsibility to, nurture, serve and actively support the broader society of which we are a part. This is the start of their lifelong commitment as a citizen who has a positive responsibility to the wider world.

Having an appreciation of the value of time over money, building empathy and performing acts of service is the first step on that journey.

In this new academic year, we are excited to share with our whole school community that each year group has their own charity. We have thought carefully about meaningful engagement at age appropriate levels, recognising the conceptual development of children between the ages of 4 and 11.

These have been carefully chosen so that they are appropriate and meaningful, providing means by which our pupils can develop relationships and understanding, opening their eyes to the lives of others outside our immediate school community. Each year group will have opportunities to connect with their charity on a number of occasions over the year (for example Year 2’s upcoming class visits to Heath House Care Home), as well as engage with whole school charitable endeavours, such as Odd Sock Day.

Supporting charities helps us create a school that is more inclusive and this community enhances the educational experience of all students at the school. We hope that, both this year and in the years to come, you enjoy discussing your child’s charity with them, and invite you to come to the short talk from Mrs Millman after Family Friday (14 October and 18 November).

Year 5 trip to Suntrap Education Centre

Year 5 enjoyed an excellent trip to Suntrap Education Centre on the edge of Epping Forest last week. Our focus was rivers – we sketched a meander and noted the different parts, then spent time measuring and collecting data.

Rio (5 Aleph): What I absolutely loved most about Suntrap was measuring the stream with the bungee cord and two metre stick. My team were very good at teamwork!

Long, Sylvia and Leyla (5 Aesc): At Suntrap, we explored a tributary of the River Thames and it was a lot of fun! We studied features of a meander and drew a field sketch of it too. We also took measurements of a channel cross section. We found it very interesting and loved the experience.

Black History Month - Mini drop-in library by 4 Aesc

After the wonderful class assembly with a theme of Black History Month, 4 Aesc pupils have been hosting a successful mini drop-in library in the playground during lunch break. They had a wide range of books about black British history and culture. Junior School pupils enjoyed reading and finding out important facts that they could share with their peers during lessons.

KS2 pupils were also kindly reading to younger pupils, and this showed how important and valued everyone is in our community.

Sport

Year 4, 5 and 6 Cross-Country

On Monday 3 October 12 students in Year 4, 5 and 6 took part in the Berkhamsted Cross-country relays. They all showed excellent determination, teamwork and effort. This was a very enjoyable event for everyone and the students should be proud of their achievement.

Year 6 Netball

On Wednesday 28 September, Year 6 played against St Albans High School, and needless to say, all of the students were very excited to play the first match of the year. St. Albans played stuck to a very tough game plan but Year 6 pushed through and played competitive netball. The event provided a super way to the players to commence their programme of fixtures this year. Habs players are very excited about the prospect of the tournament at NLCS on Saturday 8 October.