Habs Weekly Junior School edition Friday 27 May 2022 Summer Term
Head of Junior School’s Message Mrs L Flynn
The weeks certainly seem to be flying by this term, no sooner had we returned from the Easter break, than we have landed at half term. I often describe the ‘buzz’ the permeates from the Junior School and one of my favourite parts of being Head of the Junior School is the privilege of being able to experience the joy of learning that takes place around the school daily. Last week, I talked about the importance of community to us within the Junior School, and this ‘buzz’ is evident in each community to which our pupils belong, throwing themselves into the many and varied opportunities on offer. Across the nation there is much excitement as communities will be coming together over the bank holiday weekend to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, sharing common joy. Just as we do in the Junior School every day. I wish you and your families a peaceful half term break.
We are excited to welcome parents and guardians to our Rainbow and KS1 Sports Day!
Friday 24 June 2022 Rainbow: 10.30am start KS1: 1.45pm start Click here for more details
Junior School Sports Day Save the date
Junior School Looking ahead...
Y1 to 6 Induction Evening
T U E S D AY 2 1 J U N E Induction evenings will take place for new Year 1 to 6 classes on Tuesday 21 June, following changeover morning for the pupils earlier in the day. We have done our best to accommodate families with siblings and invite parents to join us in the Junior School at the following times: Years 3, 4 and 5: 6.15pm to 7pm Refreshments: 7pm to 7.30pm Years 1, 2, and 6: 7.30pm to 8.15pm Please join the session for the year group your child is entering in September. We look forward to seeing you!
Y2
Year 2 Playstrings T U E S D AY 2 8 J U N E We are excited to invite parents of Playstrings violin scheme pupils to sit in on their child’s las session this term. This informal performance will take place on Tuesday 28 June. 2Alpha
8.45am to 9.45am
2A
2.25pm to 3.20pm
If you would like to attend, please park in the cark park and come to the Junior School reception to sign in. You will then go to the Sime Hall for the performance.
Junior School Looking ahead...
Y4 to 6 Summer Recitals NOTE We would like to welcome any student taking instrumental or singing lessons, inside or outside the school, to perform in our informal Summer Recitals. Pupils in Years 4 to 6 must sign up to the event via Showbie by Tuesday 7 June. Pieces must be no longer than two minutes and can be unaccompanied; if required, the piano accompaniment must be given to Mrs Whiteley or Miss Rockley by Wednesday 8 June.
Y6
Year 6 Norfolk Lakes trip M O N D AY 6 J U N E
Year 5: Tuesday 14 June 09.30am to 11am in the Lecture Theatre
Due to exams taking place in the gym on Monday 6 June, the luggage drop-off point for the Year 6 residential has been changed. Please can parents accompany their children to Rainbow Blue, where they will be able to drop off their luggage and any medication between 10am to 10.45am. The children will then be supervised on the junior playground, until they depart on the coach at 11am.
Year 6: Friday 17June 2pm to 3.30pm in the Sime Hall
Thank you so much for your help – it is so much appreciated.
Parents are invited to attend the recitals. Year 4: Wednesday 29 June, 08.45am to 10.15am in the Sime Hall
Please click here to view the trip information pack.
We are excited to welcome parents and guardians to our KS2 Sports Day!
Monday 20 June 2022 Click here for more details
Junior School Sports Day Save the date
Reminders
Y5
Year 5 class assemblies M O N D AY 1 3 A N D M O N D AY 2 7 J U N E We are excited to invite parents to our Year 5 class assemblies on Monday 13 June (5Aleph) and Monday 27 June (5Aesc), 8.45am to 9.15am, in the Performance Space. Please come past the Junior School and enter through the DT doors. We are all looking forward to having you join us!
Habs bookshop
Whole School Author visit: Jeremy Strong
W E D N E S D AY 1 5 J U N E May we remind you that the deadline for pre-purchasing books for this event is Wednesday 1 June. If you would like place an online order, please click here. Jeremy will be happy to sign books old and new, so if you already have a copies of his books that you would like him to sign, please do bring them in on the day of the visit.
WEEK BEGINNING 20 JUNE We will be running our own Habs bookshop the week beginning 20 June, offering a selected range of books. Pupils will visit the bookshop during their library lesson, KS2 will also be able to visit during lunchtimes. Most of the books will be priced at around £5; others up to a maximum of £9. To purchase books, pupils should bring cash, preferably in a named envelope. We hope for an enjoyable week, discovering and celebrating books new and old.
Snacks NOTICE After half term we will be taking time to ensure that all snacks brought in to school are in line with our agreed list, as this has become increasingly lax. As a reminder, we are a nut and seed free school, and the snacks that are allowed are outlined below. Please also note that as a school we provide fresh fruit every day, which is available to all pupils should they wish to have some. • • • • •
Fresh fruit or vegetables (no forks). Grapes and olives must be cut in half. Dried fruit Small bag of breadsticks Nut free cereal bar small slice of malt loaf/fruit bread
Whole School Reminders Music Tuition A P P L I C AT I O N D E TA I L S CURRENT YEAR 2 TO 5 PUPILS We are thrilled that music plays such an enriching and vibrant part of student life at our school. Nearly 400 students across the Junior and Senior School have weekly individual instrumental or singing lessons at school, provided by our team of 25 Visiting Music teachers. If you wish for your child to begin instrumental or singing lessons from September 2022, please complete and return our application form by Monday 6 June. Click here to read more about instrumental and vocal tuition at Habs. Any other enquiries, please contact Ms Mea Jenkins (mjenkins@habsgirls.org.uk) or Mrs Jo Whiteley (jwhiteley@habsgirls.org.uk)
Lunch Menu WEEK COMMENCING M O N D AY 6 J U N E Please click here to view the lunch menus for the following week.
Breakfast and After School Care B O O K I N G I N F O R M AT I O N Click here to book your child into the breakfast club or After School Care (ASCF) the week commencing Monday 6 June Prearranged bookings can be made up until 12pm the Friday before. After this time, please email ascf@habsboys.org.uk. Please note, there may be a small charge for ASCF after 4pm.
Cornflower Assembly Friday 20 May
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 all love Cornflower Assemblies, and hope that you enjoy celebrating weekly with us too.
Community
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.
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.
Scarlett (1 Purple) Athena (2Alpha) Rio (4 Aleph)
Thea (Rainbow Blue) Rosie (Rainbow Yellow) Iona (Rainbow Red) Lucy (2A)
Courage 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. Ryeona (1 Orange)
Emily (3A) Jessica (5 Aesc) Safa (5 Aesc) Chloe (5 Aleph)
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. Mishka (3 Alpha) Anaya (4 Aesc)
Platinum Jubilee Celebrations Banner artwork winner “When the competition for designing a banner to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II, 70th Jubilee, where the winning design would be hung from the lamp posts in Borehamwood High Street was announced, I was really excited. I knew immediately that I wanted to have the Union Jack featuring on it as bunting, as bunting always makes me think of parties. The rest of the designs on banner I chose because of their meanings; the crown symbolises Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation and the number 70 reminds us of how many years she has reigned. On finding out I had won the competition, I was thrilled! Now, when I travel through Borehamwood High Street, I feel so proud when I see my banner design on the lampposts.” Scarlett (6 Aleph)
Platinum Pudding Finalists On Friday 13 May, we went to Haberdashers’ Hall as Platinum Pudding Finalists. Back in March, Mrs Ede informed us about this incredible competition, to design a pudding for the Queen, and immediately we knew we wanted to enter. We initiated research on all aspects of our cakes at home, including some of the Queen’s interests, sustainable and seasonal fruits as well as much-loved British cakes. Within just a handful of days, we were carefully assembling our recipes, after much hard work and consideration. Asha commented: “I made a mint chocolate biscuit cake with vanilla ice cream. On the top was a white chocolate ‘70’ and a mint leaf. The whole cake was then sprayed with silver glitter spray.” Liberty added: “I made a four-decker Elizabeth II sponge cake, modernised from the pastfavourite of a Victoria sponge cake, garnished with a purple theme consisting of blackcurrant jam, buttercream and blueberries, which are a seasonal fruits in June/July time.” With the news from Ms Elliott that we were Platinum Pudding Finalists, we were informed that we would have a trip to Haberdashers’ Hall and have a baking class with the Head Chef! At the Hall, we made blueberry cheesecakes with the other Haberdasher schools finalists. At the end of the day, we had a tea party with Rev. Powell, the Master Haberdasher which really put a smile on our faces. The visit could not have gone any better for us, and we were leaving Haberdashers’ Hall with very happy memories and smiles written on our faces. By Liberty and Asha (6 Aesc)
Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
School Community Year 6 Play Madagascar: A Musical Adventure
It was such a joy to see so many of you at our performances of Madagascar: A Musical Adventure. I hope you enjoyed the show as much as the children. Here is a link to a recording of the performance. The photos taken at the dress rehearsal are available to order in sizes A5 (9x6) for £5 each and A4 (12x8) for £9 each. Thumbnails of the photographs stating the photograph number are available via this link. If you wish to order any, please use the photograph order form, stating the number, size and quantity. Again, the cost of any photographs ordered will be added to the next term’s bill. The proceeds from the sale of the photographs will be donated to St Catherine’s Guild. The deadline for ordering photographs is Friday 17 June and, once the orders have been processed, these will be sent home with your child. Mrs Jo Whiteley Head of Performing Arts
Year 1 Picnic with Habs Girls’ Year 1 pupils hosted a picnic with Haberdashers’ Boys’ Prep School. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed their picnic together and chatted about Year 1 life across both schools. After lunch, the pupils took a leisurely walk through the woodland trail and appreciated the beautiful nature along the way. We hope to organise another picnic again very soon!
Sport
Swimming gala - Years 3 to 6 On Thursday 19 June 36 pupils in Years 4 to 6 took part in a friendly swimming gala against NLCS. All swimmers swam their best and showed excellent team work and sportsmanship. The Year 5 and 6 teams finished in 1st place and the Year 4 team finished in 2nd pace. It was a very competitive and enjoyable gala for all of the swimmers and spectators. Well done to everyone.
Swimming - Watford and District Schools competition Congratulations to the five pupils in Year 5 and 6 who took part in the Watford and District Schools Year 5 and 6 Individual Swimming championships on Friday 20 June. They swam with excellent determination, effort and speed in all of their very competitive races. Congratulations to Charlotte (5 Aleph), who finished 3rd in the Year 5 girls 50m Butterfly. Further congratulations to Charlotte (5 Aleph), Gia (5 Aesc) and Ava (5 Aesc) who, from this gala, have been selected to represent the Watford and District Schools team in the Hertfordshire Schools swimming gala in June. We wish them all the best of luck!
CALENDAR DATES M O N D AY 3 0 M AY T O F R I D AY 3 J U N E Half term
CALENDAR DATES W E D N E S D AY 2 2 J U N E * Years 5 and 6 Rounders
M O N D AY 6 J U N E Inset day
W E D N E S D AY 2 2 T O F R I D AY 2 4 J U N E Year 4 Norfolk Lakes Residential
M O N D AY 6 T O F R I D AY 1 0 J U N E Year 6 Norfolk Trip
F R I D AY 2 4 J U N E Rainbow Family Friday Rainbow, Year 1 and 2 Sports Day
F R I D AY 1 0 J U N E Rainbow Family Friday
T U E S D AY 2 8 J U N E Year 2 Playstrings Performances
W E D N E S D AY 1 5 J U N E Parents’ Evening Year 6 Rounders Author visit - Jeremy Strong
F R I D AY 1 J U LY Year 6 Valedictories to parents Years 2, 4 and 6 Family Friday Years 5 and 6 Author visit: Alexandra Hart and Phoebe Sleeman
T H U R S D AY 1 6 J U N E * Years 3 and 4 Swimming S AT U R D AY 1 8 J U N E * Year 6 Swimming * Year 5 and 6 Football - Watford and Distrct tournament M O N D AY 2 0 J U N E Year 3 to 6 Sports Day Beginning of Habs Bookshop week T U E S D AY 2 1 J U N E Junior School changeover day Year 1 to 6 Induction evening
* Selected pupils will be invited to participate in fixtures via Evolve
S AT U R D AY 2 J U LY Habs Family Funday M O N D AY 4 J U LY Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly Year 6 Leavers’ Party T U E S D AY 5 J U LY Junior School Summer Concert