Newsletter 9 - 5th November 2021
Dear Parents and Carers,
Well this week has flown by hasn’t it?
We are happy to welcome autumn too. However, as part of our risk assessment to keep us safe at the moment, we are keeping windows open to ensure a good flow of air. So, please send your child in with extra layers under their uniform if necessary so that they can stay warm.
Superstars!
I was blown away by two of our pupils fundraising antics over half term. Isabella W (Y2) and Ernie (Y4) both spent time in the holiday to raise money for our KS2 Playground. They are both absolute superstars and we’re all very humbled and proud of your achievements. Thank you both! Please see some pictures of Isabella in action below.
We also have another superstar at Holy Trinity. Ethan in Y5 has been signed by Reading Football Club. How amazing! Well done Ethan!
Catch-up Funding
You may have heard in the media about funding allocated to schools to provide tutoring for pupils to ‘catch-up’ due to lost learning from the pandemic. You may remember in previous newsletters that I shared our plan for providing this tutoring last academic year. This can be found here. Sadly, we have received significantly less funding this year. However, we have continued to employ additional teachers to provide tailored catch-up for those pupils that we have identified. Rest assured that the team here at Holy Trinity are continually working to ensure that all our pupils are in receipt of the support that they need. Please speak to your child’s class teacher if you have any concerns.
KS1 Library
We are very grateful to Mrs Williston who has kindly volunteered her time on a Monday lunchtime to run the library once again. So, KS1 pupils will be invited to choose and enjoy books during their lunchtime on a Monday that they are welcome to take home and return the following week.
If there are any other volunteers who could spare time to do the same for KS2 that would be wonderful. KS2 children currently choose library books from the stocks in their classroom.
We hope you all enjoy a terrific weekend celebrating Bonfire Night and Diwali!
Mrs Griffith
Stars of the Week for w/e – 5th November 2021
Well done to all of our Stars this week.
Class 1 – Molly for showing super confidence in front of the class this week.
Class 2 – Martha for her excellent effort in her maths learning this week.
Class 3 – Mia for her growing confidence in Maths – she has tried very hard and her perseverance has paid off.
Class 4 –Maya for using rich vocabulary in your writing and applying the rainbow lenses so beautifully.
Ernie for raising over £1500 for your school and for your super hula hoop skills. Amazing!
Class 5 – Issy for her fantastic work in gymnastics.
Class 6N – Demi for her attitude to learning in Maths. Her confidence is visibly growing as a result.
Year 6W – Sophie for being an excellent Y6 role model and for exemplary presentation skills in her maths book.
House of the Week
The House with the most house points this week is Water! Well done Water!
Maths Week
Next week is Maths Week and we will be taking part in a friendly competition involving schools in England from Monday 8th November to Thursday 11th November. It’s all done online via Times Tables Rockstars.
For every correct answer to a multiplication or division question, your child will earn their class a point. The Times Tables Rock Stars platform will calculate the class average (the number of correct answers per pupil in the class who play during the competition hours, subject to a daily 60-minute limit (see below)). Winning classes in the school and in the competition as a whole will be the ones with the highest average.
All game modes (Gig, Garage, Studio, etc.) will count but only from games played between 7:30AM GMT and 7:30PM GMT on Monday 8th, Tuesday 9th, Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th. To support player wellbeing, there is a daily time limit of 60 minutes per player. In other words, each player can earn competition points for up to 60 minutes between 7.30am and 7.30pm. Once the player goes beyond 60 minutes of play on a given day, they will still earn coins but will no longer earn points towards the competition.
In the spirit of the competition, please don’t play on their behalf but by all means encourage and support them to the extent that it doesn’t cause high stress levels or impact on family plans. We suggest a limit of half an hour a day outside school hours – some will play more, some will play less.
Many thanks for your support,
Miss Wallbanks- Assistant Headteacher and Maths Lead
Readiwriter Problems
We have been experiencing some problems with Readiwriter and have reported this to their Support team. Please see their response below:
We are currently experiencing intermittent technical problems within our Readiwriter platform.
On behalf of 3P Learning, I sincerely apologise for the ongoing Readiwriter issues for both yourself and your pupils.
I have now escalated your case onto our technical support team (techsupport@3plearning.com), who are investigating the situation.
In the meantime, please advise your pupils on the below information:
To ensure that Readiwriter is running at full capacity, please ensure that you're using Google Chrome as your browser and the cookies and cache data has been cleared on your device.
To clear cookies and cache, please select 'Ctrl' and 'H' simultaneously on your keyboard and select 'Clear Browsing Data' from the left-hand side menu. Please also ensure that you select 'All Time' in the 'Time Range'.
Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience with this matter.
Kind regards
Kind regards,
Customer Support UK
Poppy Appeal
As usual we will be supporting the Royal British Legion with their Poppy Appeal this year. Items will be available to buy in school/classrooms until next Friday for suggested donations which are as follows:
- Traditional Poppies - 50p
- Reflectors - 50p
- Zip Pulls - 50p
- Wristbands - £1
- Snap Bands - £1.50
Parents may also buy items at the school office. Many thanks for your support.
School Council
We had our first school council meeting as an UKS2 bubble this week. We worked on a new school council prayer, discussed more ideas to improve our school environment and Rev Jon even got us involved in some Church removals! Fun had all around!
UKS2 School Council
Fantabulous Footballer
A huge congratulations to Ethan in year 5 who has been signed for Reading FC. Last half term he shared his amazing football skills with Miss Harding, Mrs O’Neill and all of year 5. We are all incredibly proud of him! Congratulations Ethan.
And Amazing Polo Achievements...
Last week Ava in Year 6 attended the annual prize-giving ceremony for her pony club, the Hampshire Hunt, where she was presented with the ‘Best Player Trophy for Polo in 2021’. This was her first year playing competitive polo for the pony club, during which she also captained her team to 3rd place at the Pony Club National Championships! Well done Ava - may this be the first of many successful years playing polo!
Year 4 Music
Year 4 are continuing to love their recorder lessons with Berkshire Maestros and are making wonderful progress. This week they have started learning Christmas songs!
Year 5 Ravenous Readers
We have lots of Ravenous Readers this week! Hristiana has read Tracy Beaker and Charan has read The Borrowers, King of the Cloud Forests and Carrie’s War. Well done Year 5!
Year 6 Eco Warriors
On Wednesday 3rd November, the year 6 eco warriors went outside and cleaned out some pots and laid some new soil so we could plant some daffodils and tulips so over the winter they can grow. And in the Spring the rest of Holy Trinity can enjoy them. To make sure the plants are kept in good condition we need to make sure there are no weeds surrounding the plants and we need to make sure they have light, warmth and are well watered.
Evie - Class 6N
Shoes for the Field
As we've now moved in to a muddy period, if your child would like to play on the field at school can you please make sure they have a change of shoes on site e.g. old shoes, old trainers or wellies. Many thanks.
PTA News
Bags2School raised a fantastic £121.50, thank you.
Thank you for your wonderful pumpkin creations! The winners of the competition are:
KS1
1st place – Isabella W - Y2
2nd place – Molly - Y1
KS2
1st place – Mia - Y6
2nd place – Ben Y4
A huge thank you and congratulations to Isabella in Year 2 and Ernie in Year 4 for your amazing fundraising efforts for the KS2 play area.
If anyone would like to support the PTA through their own fundraising activities we are now registered with Go Fund Me and Just Giving. You can search for us under our charity name and number:
Name: Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Parent Teachers Association
Number: 900407
Unfortunately the Christmas Fair is no longer able to go ahead, but we will be organising a Virtual Fair, along the same lines as the one we held in the summer. Watch this space for further details and our Facebook page link. The usual Christmas Raffle and Online Auction will be going ahead as normal.
Christmas Tree Express
This year we are working with the Christmas Tree Express who have helped schools across the country to raise vital PTA funds.
If you would like to support us and order your Christmas Tree, please complete the attached flyer and return with cash payment to the PTA postbox located in the school office by Monday 8th November. Trees will be delivered to the school on a specified date, bagged and ready to collect (TBC).
In order to go ahead with this, we require a minimum order quantity.
The Nordmann Fir is one of the most important species grown for Christmas trees due to its attractive foliage, with needles that are not sharp and that do not drop as readily as other varieties. It will last the whole of Christmas and will look grand on its own or decked with all the ornaments you can find. Being a natural product, sizes are not exact but will be within the range.
School Lottery
Don't forget you can join up to the School Lottery which raises funds directly for Holy Trinity PTA. There are cash prizes to win every week and the chance to win the £25,000 jackpot. It's quick and easy to sign up and there are extra prizes for Christmas! See flyer below for more details and click here to sign up for £1 a week.
Dates for your diary
5 Nov – Year 5 Bake Sale
15 Nov – Virtual Christmas Fair
27 Nov – Online Auction
4 Dec – Raffle draw
7 Dec – Bubble Film Night
10 Dec – Year 4 Bake Sale
Autumn Key Term Dates – 2021
Monday 8th November – PTA Meeting 8pm
Friday 26th November – Mufti Day £1 donation
Saturday 27th November – PTA Christmas Fair
Friday 3rd December – Nasal Flu Vaccination – All Years
w/c 6th December – Last week for All Clubs
Tuesday 7th December – PTA Film Night
Wednesday 8th December – Christmas Lunch
Thursday 9th December – Christmas Service – KS2 – 6pm
Friday 10th December – Reception Class Nativity – School Hall – 9.30am
Friday 10th December – Year 4 Bake Sale
Monday 13th December – KS1 Nativity – School Hall – 1.30pm
Tuesday 14th December – KS1 Nativity – School Hall – 9.30am
Tuesday 14th December – Christmas Parties – Reception Class and KS1
Wednesday 15th December – Christmas Parties – KS2
Thursday 16th December – Christingle – Holy Trinity Church (children only)
Friday 17th December – Christmas Jumper Day/Mufti
Friday 17th December – End of Term 2 – 1.30pm
School Term Dates
Please see here for term dates:
Absence
Although tempting as we have not been able to travel freely for so long, please do not book holidays or family days during term time. These will show up as persistent absence which is checked by Ofsted when they visit and monitored each half term by the Education Welfare Officer at RBWM. Thank you.
Holy Trinity CE Primary School take safeguarding very seriously. If you have a concern, please do not hesitate to report to our designated staff;
Mrs J. Griffith, Mrs C Barnes, Miss S. Harding, Mrs F Fargher
Please do not send your child to school if they're unwell or with a high temperature controlled by paracetamol or ibuprofen. Don't forget that your child must not return to school until at least 48 hours after the last episode of any gastric upset (vomiting or diarrhoea).