East Hoathly Church of England Primary SchoolAuthor: Andrew Huggett
Owls’ Patina
On Friday 2nd July, the Year 5 and 6 children of Owl Class took part in the Moving On Patina Parade in Lewes.
Every year, the parade is held as a ‘right of passage’ for the children leaving Primary School that year. Due to the restrictions lifting slightly this year, the parade was able to go ahead.
Over the past few weeks, artists and parent helpers have been popping into school to help the children create amazing structures for the parade from willow. What started out as a few sticks and tissue paper soon turned into a work of art!
This year’s theme was a woodland theme and the children were excited to find out that their animal was a fox!
The Owls created a headpiece, a tail and wristbands in the style of a fox and they also created a branch to go onto the Patina Wish Tree. The branch was decorated with the children’s wishes for the future.
Thank you to the parents who used their time to come in and help the Owls with their structures!
Thank you to the parents who ferried the children to and from the Patina Parade!
Thank you to the artists for their time and expertise!
Thank you and well done to Owl Class, who pledged to do chores around the house, in order to raise money for Patina. You raised an impressive total of £190! Incredible!
Hedgehogs’ Hastings Trip
On Tuesday, the Hedgehogs went on a very exciting minibus journey, for their very first East Hoathly trip, all the way to Hastings to visit the aquarium as a part of their topic.
The children explored the aquarium, finding lots of different undersea animals – Charlie’s favourite was the octopus!
The weather held out for the Hedgehogs and they were able to have a dry—if very windy—picnic lunch on the beach. The children enjoyed their lunch looking out to the sea and managed to keep hold of their hats on the beach!
After lunch, the children visited the RNLI Lifeboat Centre, where a man called Andy showed the Hedgehogs all of the different boats they have and they even got to see a bulldozer!
Weary after their day of exploring, the Hedgehogs were so happy to jump on board for a bonus trip on the train to get the all-important ice cream!
Thank you so much to the FPTA and to the parent helpers who enabled this trip to go ahead. The children loved their day out!
Squirrels’ and Foxes Herstmonceux Trip
Forest School Update 9th July
Year 6 Go Kart
On Friday 9th July, Year 6 Owls started their school day at Chiddingly Primary School to take part in an inter-Federation Grand Prix!
The Owls raced the Year 6 Sycamore children in different races, such as the straight races, laps and the circuit race (where they had to weave in and out of cones).
The children worked hard as a team and even though East Hoathly won the straight races, they were pipped to the post for the laps and the circuit races! Well done Chiddingly!
Well done to the Year 6 Owls for trying your best and working as a team! What a great way to show the values of love and strength!
Hedgehogs’ Forest School 25th June
In Forest School this week, Hedgehogs went pond dipping! We found all sorts of water creatures like dragon flies, froglets and water boatmen bugs! We then had a go at natural printing with Miss Roberts, being extra careful not to hit any of our fingers with the big hammers!
Hedgehogs’ Forest School 18th June
Hedgehogs visited the woods for this week’s forest school session. They were buzzing with excitement and lots of the children were very knowledgeable about different parts of the woodland. We stopped at various points in the wood and voted as to which way we would go to explore.
Hedgehogs then spent the session testing their balance, building, jumping and landing skills.
They can’t wait to go back next week!
A big thank you to our parent helpers.
Starfish Malawi Update
Go-Kart Building
Hedgehogs’ Kings’ and Queens’ Day
On Thursday, the Hedgehog classroom was graced by the presence of several knights, princesses, queens and kings! After a quick show and tell of their costumes, the Hedgehogs got stuck into their very busy day!
Harry said “I dressed up as knight and played with a sword!”
The children took part in learning how to aim and joust at Knight Training School with Mr Brett—it was very tricky! The Hedgehogs also had a go at different mediaeval dances and they practised their bows and curtsies, before coming together at the end of their amazing day to have a royal banquet of jelly and cake that the children had made themselves!
The children loved dressing up and they really enjoyed the different activities throughout the week that led up to this day!
Squirrels’ Forest School Day 28th May
On Monday, Squirrels had a visit from Milly who works for The Lewes Railway Land Trust. We began our day with a visit to the school pond and had a go at pond dipping to see what creatures we could find. We then tried to identify them using a key.
After break, we then went to the woods where we used loppers to cut a piece of wood to make our own Mini-Me! We explored the woods and made dens as a place to sleep and costumes for our Mini-Mes. We came back to school for a picnic on the field then ended our day back in the woods making necklaces.
Sports Day
The children have had a very exciting Sport’s Day this year and were very happy to take part in one together!
On Friday, we braved the wind and held our sports day. Each bubble completed 5 different race stations testing different skills. The wind helped the javelins go that extra mile, and made the egg and spoon race a real challenge!
Children were super speedy at collecting the bean bags and completing the hurdles and sack races.
Our final event was the class flat races across the field and (of course) the staff had their race too!
After running around in the wind all morning, the children were then able to enjoy a picnic lunch in the shelter of their classrooms.
We ended our fantastic day with an ice cream treat from the FPTA. Thank you, it was lovely, even on a chilly day!
A big thank you to Archie for helping the adults score and starting our flat races with a big “ Ready, Set, Go!”
Well done to all the children to taking part and supporting each other throughout. It is great to see the school values of love and strength being used in such a supportive way!
PALs Assembly
This week, the children took part in a PALs assembly to discuss the progress they thought they had made this term.
The Hedgehogs and Owls had their PALs session together and had great fun looking through each others’ books. When looking through Chloe’s book, Lyra commented that “Chloe has worked really hard on her handwriting size and all of her letters are the right way around.”
In Squirrel Class, Kallie flicked through her topic book and spoke about how her truck research helped her to design her own one for DT. Alex said “I didn’t know how to plant a flower before, but now I do. They need sunlight and water to grow.”
As the children looked through their topic books in Fox Class, Alexandra said “I liked writing about my Goddess as I got my pen licence for this work!” and Kitty commented “I liked my pottery design because it was satisfying to do.”
There is some fantastic examples of great progress this term! Well done everybody!
Updated Risk Assessment
Awe and Wonder Day
The theme of Awe and Wonder Day was Equality and Inclusion.
On Thursday 6th May, the children at East Hoathly all took part in a range of activities that focussed on the theme of the day: Equality and Inclusion.
Children in Years 1-6 were visited by CLASS practitioner, Lisa, who led ’Amazing Me’ workshops. At the end of the morning, Lisa was really impressed with the sensitivity the children displayed during the workshops. She was touched by how amazing the children were with their brilliant questions and eagerness to learn. Lisa said her visit to East Hoathly had been one of the best so far!
The Hedgehogs explored how we are all different by reading the text ‘It’s Okay to be Different’ by Todd Parr. They then talked about how if we are all different, we would all need different things to help us. They looked at some images and thought about if they were fair or not, and what each one meant for the people involved.
After this, the Hedgehogs explored how they could show the value of love by helping others who may not be able to hear or see. The children learnt how this might feel by using headphones and special glasses. The Hedgehogs helped Miss Denney around the classroom, giving her clues and prompts so she didn’t hurt herself.
The Squirrels had a go at ‘blindfold phonics’ where they had to try and figure out what sound they were holding. The Squirrels found this really challenging and learnt that it would be really tricky to read if you were blind and turned to thinking about how braille is super useful! Squirrel Class then thought about how everybody was unique, focussing on their own likes and interests and comparing them with their friends.
The children in Fox Class had fun with their activities. The children created a portrait of an inner me and an outer me, using a range of materials to create some very impressive collages! The children also incorporated maths into their Awe and Wonder Day by creating a Venn diagram of what their own likes were in comparison to their partner’s.
Jack C from Owl Class reported that all of the Owls learnt about famous people who had disabilities, like Redouan Chitt (who is a famous breakdancer), who was born with one arm that was a shorter than the other and Beethoven, who was deaf, but still learnt all of the keys on the piano off by heart. They also learnt about Frida Kahlo and her story inspired them to create their own portraits of themselves in her style of painting.
The children ended the morning with a virtual assembly with the other classes to share what they had learnt throughout the morning.
Malawi Visitor
On Friday 30th April, East Hoathly were visited by Esther from Starfish Malawi.
Esther popped into each classroom to share a presentation about her time in Malawi and showed us some videos from our link school. We learnt that lots of the people carry things on their heads to help with their posture. We also learnt that the learners at the school are aged 6 up to 20. Esther taught us a song and dance to help us think about how the people in Malawi live and eat.
Castles & Shields
The Hedgehogs, Miss Denney and Mrs Smith would like to say a very big thank you to all that have donated cardboard boxes for their topic ‘Turrets and Tiaras’!
The children have loved creating castles and shields this week. They have also been using the cardboard donated to make incredible adaptations to their first build by adding a drawbridge, an extra castle wall and a dungeon!
Forest School Update 30th April
This week, the Squirrels took part in a very exciting session of Forest School with Mrs Smith!
As a part of their ‘Glorious Growing’ topic, the children had a go at planting flowers seed and using secateurs to carefully trim the Willow bush!
The Squirrels also made magical potions with mud and even some mud face paint! We’ll never need a spa day again! How resourceful, Squirrel class!
RE Council
At the end of Term 4, the RE council met to discuss our school Global Neighbours links. We are building the evidence to gain a Global Neighbours Award.
They talked about our links with Starfish Malawi and started to think about ideas for a fundraising event to raise money for our link school, Mikute Primary, in Malawi.
Alongside discussing fundraising ideas for our Malawi link school. The RE council also decided to create pledges for World Water Day and World Food Day. The children have also created posters to remind their peers of the pledges.
World Water Day
World Water Day is an annual United Nations observance day held on 22 March that highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
Pledges about how we will save water at school
Charlie and Beatrice – We will only fill water bottle up with what we need and wash them at home as part of washing up.
We will try to flush the toilet once.
Ewan – We will remember to turn the taps off when you are not using them in sinks and toilets.
World Food Day
World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year worldwide on 16 October to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945.
Pledges about how we will try to be healthy with eating, strive for sustainable living and aim for zero hunger
Beatrice – We will try to be healthy and encourage others to eat at least 1 piece of fruit.
Ewan – Remember to bring in fruit snacks.
Charlie – 3 bites of everything. Try everything, try to eat all your lunch and try not to waste food.
Year 6 Leavers Hoodies
Updated Risk Assessment
Easter Service
FPTA Easter Egg Hunt
The FPTA organised an Easter Egg hunt for our bubbles.
The children had to find little pictures and collect them to exchange for an Easter egg!
It was lovely to see the Year 6 buddies showing the value of love (like an otter!) by helping their Hedgehog buddies with their picture collecting!
Well done to the children for finding the different pictures during the hunt!
And a very big THANK YOU to the FPTA for organising this lovely treat for the children—it was very much appreciated!
PALs Assembly
This term, we held our PALs assembly in our classrooms.
The children sat together to share the work they had done over the term and commented on what they felt they had achieved and what their friends had achieved.
Molly in Squirrel Class said “I’ve got better at my drawings!”
Kallie said “I’m better at finding lots of bits and bobs to help me with my 2x tables!”
When looking at Emily’s book, Lily said “Emily has made progress in art as she has used different colours, materials and shapes.”
In Fox Class, Beatrice flicked through her topic book and said “I am proud of my Mayan God because I put a lot of effort into writing and drawing it!”
Hugo C said “I’m proud of my fact-file about the Harpy Eagle as I wrote a really fascinating introduction!”
When sharing his fact-file about jaguars, Samuel said “I am proud of my fact-file because I am very interested in the creatures of the Amazonian rainforest!”
That’s a lot of great work, children! Well done!
Starfish Malawi
WE DID IT!!!
We travelled from East Hoathly to Malawi!
It took us 12 weeks to make the 6,555 mile journey virtually from East Hoathly to Malawi! As of Tuesday 30th March, we have travelled 6,862 miles! Well done to everyone for taking part and getting active!
Malawi School Link
We are so happy to announce our link school in Malawi! We would like to introduce you to…
Mikute LEA School
“Mikute LEA School was established in 1964 under the Local Authority. Our school is in Mikute I Village—it is 7 km away from the lake and 15 km from the Salima district centre.
Our school used to have a very large catchment area until recently when another school was introduced 5 km away. This has dropped the numbers of learners to 1,975! Of those learners, 986 are boys and 989 are girls.
The age range of our school is 6-16. This is so due to starting school at a later age or resulting from pupils repeating classes. Our school has 30 teachers; 6 are male teachers while 24 are female.
We used to have high dropout rates in pupils because the lake is so close, pupils tend to go fishing. As fish numbers in the lake are decreasing, many people do not get what they expected. There used to be early marriages in girls after they reached adolescent stages. Parents used to get their children in homes of other civil servants as soldiers who are very close to our school catchment. By introducing mother groups in schools as well as other organisations engaging talks with the communities, it has resulted in reducing dropouts.
Since the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, our school has been managed in streams and shifts to decongest high numbers of learners in classes.
As a school we are trying our best to follow best practices that will help both teachers and learners to wash hands and use face masks during classes. We have football and netball teams that are currently not allowed to play due to preventive measures for Covid-19 that were set by government. This also applies to all extra curricular activities in school.
We look forward to a partnership that will enhance teaching and learning in our schools!”
Malawi Afternoon
On Wednesday, each class spent the afternoon learning about Malawi.
In Hedgehogs we looked at Google Earth to see what Malawi looked like and how far away it is from East Hoathly, we then made our own flags and talked about what our school is like compared to schools in Malawi. “their schools didn’t have lots of colourful walls like us” Charlie. “It’s not fair – they don’t get many toys like us, and they have to make things”
For Malawi afternoon, the Squirrels learnt all about life in Malawi from Mrs Healy’s assembly and then discussed how their lives were similar and different from our own. We also did some African clapping and noticed differences and similarities between African music and our own.
In Fox Class, we watched a presentation from Mrs Healy about her visit to Malawi and the work the charity does to raise money to support education. We then watched a video about a boy called Wongami and his experiences at a school in Malawi. Afterwards, we compared the differences between our school experience and theirs. Lastly, the children researched some key facts about Malawi including where it is in the world.
Owl Class spent their afternoon researching differences between Malawi and the UK. The children created very bright and colourful information booklets, highlighting key differences, such as all children in the UK have to complete their education until they are 18, however, in Malawi up to 57% of children don’t manage to complete primary school.
Abbie in Owl Class says “I learnt that Malawi is a really poor country—one of the top 10. It makes me feel sad that they are in that position. People are raising money for the children but they need more help!”
National Day of Reflection
Following the Prime Minister’s backing of Marie Curie’s National Day of Reflection, East Hoathly observed the minute’s silence for those that had lost their lives during the current pandemic. The children spent time during the morning taking part in activities to remember the year past and used the time as a springboard to talk about their hopes for the future.
Hedgehog Class sat on the carpet all together and talked about all of the things they missed doing during the lockdown and they discussed what they did that helped them stay happy through the lockdown.
Squirrel Class had a discussion about all of the people who helped them and others over the course of the last year. The children also created rainbow love hearts to remember those whose lives had been lost. The love hearts can be seen brightening up the Squirrels’ windows!
Fox Class reflected on a year passing since the first lockdown. Using a rainbow design, which has become a symbol of hope during the pandemic, the children added in their hopes for the future. The children had lots of ideas about what they had been missing over this difficult period. Stan is looking forward to seeing his relatives and going on holiday. Beatrice can’t wait to have assemblies back in the church and not have to wear a mask anymore!
Owl Class observed the minute’s silence, whilst reflecting upon the lives lost during the pandemic. Jack C said “I am looking forward to the leisure centres opening back up so we can go swimming again!” Spencer said “I’ve missed going on school trips, I hope I get to go on one soon!”
Comic Relief
This year, the theme was ‘Funny is Power’ and the children (and staff!) enjoyed this opportunity to dress up as superheroes—or a person they perceived to be a superhero!
In celebration assembly this morning, the children talked about why we take part in Comic Relief and why it is good to take part. The children really understood that the reason we do all of this and the reason we raise money is to help those less fortunate than us. Everyone took a moment to reflect upon how life can be unfair for lots of people but how lucky we are to be in a position to be able to help those people. So far, we have managed to raise an incredible £334!
Some children also took part in a talent contest in front of an audience! With a range of singing, instrument playing and comedy acts scheduled, it is definitely going to be the highlight of the day!
The children also had an opportunity to submit a funny Red Nose design in exchange for a surprise! Their art work is going to be judged by a panel (the Pupil Governors). Abbie from Owl Class said that she had been preparing for the role by watching a lot of Simon Cowell clips on YouTube!
A Superhero-themed celebration assembly today for Comic Relief! We talked all about why Comic Relief exists and why we support the charity. Children in Fox class knew that Comic Relief helps people, not only in the UK but around the world too. Today’s celebrations included 2 fantastic Head Teacher’s awards for Max and Corey – both children were brilliant at explaining why they had received their award and the learning that had taken place – well done! Unfortunately, we couldn’t see Owls class today (good old technology!) but we enjoyed celebrating Sophia as their Diner of the Week for being awesome at showing Love to her friends at lunchtime. We also celebrated Kitty as Diner of the Week in our other bubble too as she has shown wonderful Wisdom by making excellent choices. Great job everyone – another really successful week of learning!
Charities We Support as a Church School
Relevant Documents
Global Easter Comparison Afternoon
On Monday 1st March, we had an Easter Comparison afternoon. This was part of our work towards a Global Neighbours Award.
The Nursery bubble compared Easter traditions between the UK and Bermuda. The children found out that to celebrate Easter in Bermuda, Christians make kites and take part in egg and spoon races. The children also enjoyed a very popular tradition from the UK—hot cross buns!
The EYFS/KS1 bubble, compared Easter traditions in Spain and the UK. They discovered that the egg represents new life and in Spain, they decorate eggs and roll them down a hill. Also, in the USA they have egg and spoon competitions. The children and adults had an egg and spoon race as well as decorating eggs.
Sophie commented “In Spain, they put Ash on their foreheads like Christians in the UK on Ash Wednesdays before Easter. This is to ask Jesus for forgiveness.”
The KS2 bubble found out about how lots of different countries celebrate Easter. They discovered in Sweden, Easter is really important and they decorate houses (like Christmas in the UK but with Egg decorations.) The children had a go at using felt tips to decorate their own boiled eggs! We also found out that in Spain, strong people carry intricately decorated wooden boxes with depictions of the Easter story along the streets to commemorate Easter. For Christians in Spain, Easter is the most important celebration of the year.”
Great work everyone! What a fun way to try other countries’ Easter traditions!
World Book Day 2021
There were so many amazing costumes this World Book Day! Well done for taking part and thank you for sending photos! Can you guess which stories the characters below are from?
Contingency Plan Update
Updated Risk Assessment
Gov.uk Guidance
Nursery Bubble
Updated Risk Assessment
Miss Lewis’ Story Time
Updated Contingency Plan
Regular Staff Testing
Remote Learning
Reopening Risk Assessment
January Reopening Update
Dear Parents,
As you may have seen in the Government announcement this evening, schools will now be closed immediately until further notice. This means that East Hoathly school will be closed to ALL pupils on Tuesday 5th January.
Online learning (as specified in the letter sent today) will start tomorrow morning.
We will be in contact tomorrow regarding in-school provision for vulnerable pupils and children of critical workers to begin later in the week. In the meantime, please fill out the critical worker google form if it applies to you, by 12noon tomorrow (Tuesday 5th Jan).
Thank you for your ongoing support.
January Reopening
Parents’ Guide to Google Classroom
Christmas Colours
Christingle
This Thursday, East Hoathly school was joined by some Governors as we celebrated Christingle.
Each class sang a song from their Nativity and Reverend Phil led everyone in prayer. There were some Owl children who read prayers too. Christingle is a time for us all to reflect upon the life of Jesus and what his birth means for us.
The children enjoyed making their Christingle for the service and it was lovely to see Owl children helping their buddies in Hedgehog class!
It was lovely to see everybody on the screen for the service! Merry Christmas, all!
Nativity
This week, we began filming for the school’s Nativity. The children have been amazing at rehearsing their lines and practising their songs. We hope to be able to show you the final product soon! Thank you to Mrs Thatcher for filming and editing the play.
As we are now finishing the term on Thursday 17th December, the Christingle service will take place on Thursday morning at 9.30am—we look forward to be able to share photos of our service with you.
Christmas Dinner
This week, we were delighted to tuck into Christmas dinner. The children made Christmas hats for the feast and had crackers to pull with their friends, along with a treat of orange or blackcurrant juice to wash it down. Thank you Bev and Claire for the incredible dinner!
Hedgehog’s Christmas Cards & Post Office Trip
All the children within school have created Christmas cards for the residents of Lydfords care home, helping to spread a bit of Christmas cheer to others.
Hedgehogs also created cards for the residents at Freshfield Nursing home in Seaford, where Miss Denney’s Mum is a nurse. The residents loved their cards with one resident being moved to happy tears!
On Thursday, Hedgehog class put on their coats and hi-vis jackets to take a walk down to Lydfords Care Home to deliver Christmas cards to the residents. Once the cards were delivered, the Hedgehogs continued their walk to the Post Office to post their letters to Santa.
Thank you to the parents who joined us for our first trip! Hedgehogs were very sensible walking along the road and were very excited to post their letters!
Fun Fridays
Christmas Lights
Fun Fridays
Miss Lewis’ Story Time
School Vision
Thank you to Mr Martin Lawrence for creating this piece of artwork that reflects our school’s vision so beautifully.
The children had great fun spotting their class’ animals on the poster!
Fun Fridays
To bring a little bit of joy during this difficult second lockdown, we are going to introduce ‘Fun Fridays’ for the month of November!
Something will be different on each Friday this month (taking part is completely optional):
This Friday’s dress code was Funky T-Shirt Friday!
The children—and staff— have enjoyed the various dress codes over the last month!
East Hoathly Vision 2020
East Hoathly Vision Song
In all that we do, show respect for all.
In our community, be kind to all.
Resilient and strong, show bravery
Aim to be the best we can be.
At East Hoathly, love others, be true.
At East Hoathly, show your strength in all you do.
At East Hoathly, let your wisdom shine through.
Pray to God in all you do.
We aim high in all our learning.
Creative and fun, while enjoying.
Be honest and true, keep positive.
By God’s example we live.
Miss Lewis’ Story Time
Buddies
Year 6 and Reception buddies have really enjoyed being able to be together at playtimes. The Year 6’s have been fantastic at teaching Reception games such as domino and four square.
Owls’ Victorian Day
Year 5 and 6 had a great day. We started the day in role – Mrs Healy ordered us to write lines on black paper with chalk and we had to write out our times tables again and again! Two children experienced wearing the Dunce hat as well!!! The children went into groups to make Victoria sponge and Gruel. Meanwhile, the children shared their Great Exhibition projects which included a lamp post, post box, ice cream maker and camera! They then made an advert for an exhibit. After play, they made peg dolls. In the afternoon we did some Alice in Wonderland art and they created a mini play. We also tasted the delicious Victoria sponge!
“It was very much fun learning about the Victorians and what school was like.” Abigail
“I liked sharing projects and seeing what others had made!!” Joshua
Anti-Bullying Week
Forest School Update 20th November
This week, Fox Class journeyed down to the woods to have a go at working together to solve problems, build dens and take part in some archaeological digging! The children also had a go at whittling—the children’s skills are coming on very nicely with how much they have been practising!
A huge thank you goes to Mrs Gibbons, Mrs Thatcher, Mr Allen, Ms Mellor, Mrs Sibanda, Mrs Campbell-Stephen, Mrs Roberts, Mrs Magner and Mrs Mackmin for volunteering their time to be part of our adventures. We are still able to accept volunteers for forest school, which takes place on Wednesdays from 1:15pm. Please speak to Mrs Smith, Mr Lulham or the school office if you’d like to join us.
Children in Need
Last Friday, the children learnt all about how their donations can help other children. The children also enjoyed wearing their pyjamas to school—what a novelty! Each class had to decorate their class animal in coins.
With the donations from the children and staff, we managed to raise a very impressive £157! Well done everyone!
Open the Book Assembly
Miss Lewis’ Story Time
Fun Fridays
To bring a little bit of joy during this difficult second lockdown, we are going to introduce ‘Fun Fridays’ for the month of November!
Something will be different on each Friday this month (taking part is completely optional):
This week was PJ Week—which tied in nicely with Children in Need. Children and staff came to school in their pyjamas in exchange for a small contribution towards the charity. We had a lot of fun being in our PJs!
Once again, we thank Freya in Year 5 for her suggestion! What an amazing idea!
Friday 20th November: Wear odd socks to school to mark Anti-Bullying Week.
Friday 27th November: Wear a funky T-shirt to school to replace your school shirt/polo.
Forest School Update 13th November
Fox class were extremely excited to begin their forest school adventure in the woods this week. Dens were built, games were played and puddles were jumped in.
Due to a very generous donation from Mrs Frizzell of 20 pairs of gloves we were able to set up a whittling station which proved very popular – with Ashton proving to have a particular flair for the craft!
It was so lovely to see the children enjoying the freedom of the woods and engaging their creative and thinking brains to solve problems and create some fabulous memories.
A huge thank you goes to Mrs Gibbons, Mr Allen, Mrs Becvar and Mrs Mackmin for volunteering their time to be part of our adventures. We are still able to accept volunteers for forest school, which takes place on Wednesdays from 1:15pm. Please speak to Mrs Smith, Mr Lulham or the school office if you’d like to join us.
School Vision and Values
On Thursday morning, we had some special lessons in our classrooms. We learnt all about our new school vision and values and heard some stories from the Bible which helped us to understand the values in more detail.
Nursery and Hedgehogs Classes were learning about the value of Love. They read the story of The Good Samaritan. Corey told us that in the story, God teaches us to love our neighbour and that ‘neighbour’ means everybody. Edith told us that ‘the Good Samaritan man showed love, care and kindness’ in the story.
Squirrels class were learning about Truth. They read the story of the Annunciation which is when the Angel came to visit Mary to tell her she was going to have a baby and he would be the son of God. Oscar told us that this story showed truth in action because what the Angel had said came true. We talked about how Jesus teaches about truth throughout the Bible and that his birth is the beginning of his time on Earth.
Foxes class were learning about Wisdom through the story of Solomon. Beatrice told us that Solomon’s people benefitted from his wisdom as he spread joy and peace by sharing God’s word. Beatrice also told us that Catherine had shown and shared her Wisdom because she had helped children in the class with their times tables.
Owls class learned about the value of Strength through the story of Ruth. They used drama to explore the story and then reflected on how they have shown strength and resilience in different areas of their own lives.
We all learnt that by using our values in different areas of our lives, we can follow the teaching of God and make good choices.
We finished our morning by coming together to share our learning and hearing our new vision song for the first time! Here are the words:
New School Values
This week, the children looked into the Bible stories associated with our new school values.
Hedgehog Class learnt about the value of love through The Parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Squirrels learnt about the value of truth through The Annunciation—where the angel brought a ‘true’ message to Mary of events that would happen in the future.
Fox Class learnt about the value of wisdom through the story of Solomon asking God for wisdom.
The Owls learnt about the value of strength through the story of Ruth—who showed great strength in character when helping others.
Poppy Appeal
Our Church School
Generosity
Our Values stories – where do our values come from and how can we use the Bible to help us to understand how these should shape our choices?
Forest School Update 23rd October
Friendship
We reviewed friendship as our theme and discussed how ‘love thy neighbour’ means caring for everyone around us and always trying to be a good friend.
The theme of friendship links to our new vision value to ‘LOVE’.
Miss Lewis’ Wonder Wall
Wellbeing Day
Hedgehogs
We have been thinking about ‘wellbeing’.
We learnt in an emergency you call 999. We also explored first aid, and made our own doctors roleplay area. We explored feelings and emotions and thought about the ‘Zones of Regulation’, making our own feelings cards and thinking about what events make us feel.
Star Fish Malawi Project
We thought about the importance of handwashing, and watched some videos about Malawi where they are working hard to have running water to do this.
We talked about why it is important to wash our hands and did a hand washing yoga story!
Squirrels
On Wellbeing day Squirrel class did some first aid. Jacob S said ‘I put a bandage onto my friend’ and Harry said ‘I like to put a sling onto my friend’.
Also, we learnt about the importance of handwashing. Lily said ‘if we do not wash our hands we might spread germs and make people sick’. Also, we learnt about the Zones of regulation. Ralph said ‘If I am happy, I would be in the green zone’.
Foxes
Foxes class had a busy wellbeing day. First, we made a ‘which zone are you in?’ chart to help the children be more aware of their feelings. If they were not feeling so good, they could think about anything that might get them back to a happy place. Next, the children learnt about first aid and what to do in an emergency. Miss Roberts showed the class how to make a sling and how to bandage a head injury. Lastly, we looked at how a charity called Starfish Malawi ensures people have access to clean water. We also learnt about how they are promoting the importance of washing your hands properly. The children designed a poster for Wash Your Hands Day to promote this message.
Owls
Owls class learnt some basic first aid, including what to do if someone has possibly broken their arm, what to do if someone bumps their head and what to do if someone gets a cut or graze.
They explored the zones of regulation and different feelings they experience in school, learnt about the importance of handwashing around the world and thought of tips to help them with wellbeing.
PALs Assembly
On Thursday, we held our termly PALs assembly. During this time, we reflected on the term, considering the impact of our worship theme and the learning that has taken place across the school.
To begin with, we discussed our theme of ‘Friendship’. We thought about how the theme links to our school values and rules. Grace (Y2) told us that Friendship links with our value of Love. We thought about how we have been good friends and how others have been good friends to us:
Emily (R) said ‘Albie is a good friend because he shares with me’
Scarlett (2) said ‘I’m a good friend if someone falls over’
Myla (3) said ‘I’m a good friend to Lexi and she is to me – we help each other’
Logan (5) said ‘Charlie was a good friend to me when I joined the school. I was really nervous and he introduced me to everyone.’
Following that, we separated into classes and shared our RE and other learning with our buddies. When we came back together, there was lots to celebrate:
Koko and Albie told us all about their number learning – using number blocks to help them to count.
Ollie, Scarlett and Theo told us all about their RE learning – Ollie had learnt all about parts of a church, Scarlett had celebrated Harvest by printing using fruit and Theo had completed a beautiful painting all about the 6th day of Creation.
In Foxes Class, Alexandra impressed us with her science learning – she told us about magnets and that she has learned that 2 north poles will repel each other but a north and south pole attract and come together. Jake told us about his history learning and interesting facts about Thomas Edison.
In Owls class, Lotte shared Jess’ fantastic writing where she had used lots of description. Jess had been impressed by Lotte’s self-directed research about Crime and Punishment in the Victorian times.
We finished the session by reflecting on Wellbeing day and looking at a checklist to make sure we leave each day feeling positive. Well done everyone for a fantastic term of learning!
End of Term Celebrations
Throughout the week, each class has taken to the playground stage at 2.45pm and performed a song they have learnt over the term. The videos from each performance will be on the website under the ‘curriculum events’ tab.
On Monday, Owl Class kicked the week off by transporting us back to the Victorian era with a rather hearty rendition of ‘Oom-Pah-Pah’ from Oliver
Twist.
On Tuesday, the Hedgehogs treated us to a range of different songs, singing the classics such as ‘Old MacDonald’ and ‘Five Little Ducks’.
On Wednesday, the Ducklings and Rabbits sang ‘The Bear went over the Mountain’, complete with actions and gusto!
On Thursday, Fox Class were a singing sensation! They performed ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘A Million Dreams’ – songs they had been practising with Miss Lewis and they completely blew everyone away!
On Friday, the Squirrels sang ‘Shotgun’ and they sang and signed Toy Story’s ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’. The children performed this incredibly well and you could tell they had practised this to perfection!
About the FPTA
The Comittee
Our FPTA committee are a group of parents who meet regularly to arrange events, which bring our school and community together. These events support and raise funds for our school.
Who is in the committee?
- Co-chairs – Dee Gibbons & Michelle Mackmin
- Secretary – Danni Thatcher
- Treasurer – Cathy Collins
- Teacher Link – Miss Denney
Whilst there is an elected committee of volunteers we are also lucky to welcome other parents and family members to join the meetings, share ideas and be part of our events.
What have our FPTA funded this academic year?
- Funding towards an Olympic Athlete for Sports Week.
- New monkey bars for the outdoor trim trail.
- Christmas Pantomime for all pupils.
- Prizes for British Values cake sales
- Prizes for Road Safety Competition
The FPTA have supported and provided refreshments at the following events:
- Harvest Festival
- Christmas Productions
- New parents open evenings.
Our regular events include:
- Christmas Fairs
- Christmas Cards, Tea towels and aprons.
- Termly cake and healthy alternative sales – Including snacks made by each class.
- Alternate termly Disco’s and Movie Nights.
Please see the dates list for our upcoming events including the Spring Fete and Family Fun Run!
FPTA Meeting Minutes
Singing
To celebrate the end of term, we are sharing our music learning from the term by performing to parents on the playground! Owls kicked off our week of singing performances by taking us back in time to the Victorian era with a rousing version of ‘Oom Pah Pah’ from Oliver!
Nursery Worship
Miss Lewis sat in the Nursery garden with the children to read the next part of the story of Adam and Eve.
We found out that Adam and Eve broke the rules that God had given them and did not make good choices.
We talked about what the rules were in nursery and Leo, Paige and Lucas remembered that our rules are “Love, Strength, Wisdom and Truth.”
Term 2 Adaptations
Friendship
On Tuesday, the Hedgehogs were treated to a story from the Bible, read by Reverend Phil.
Ezra said “In the story, the man couldn’t walk and they had to dig a hole to help Jesus get to him and help him.”
Reverend Phil and the children talked about the theme of friendship—which is our topic for the term!
Albie said “Friends help each other.”
Chloe said “Everybody is important, we should help them.”
Sorrel said “God wants us to be safe and good to our friends.”
What incredible lessons to take away from such a lovely story!
Thank you for sharing
Forest School Update 15th October
At forest school this week Owls class went into the woods.
The class took the toolbox with them and with that, they were able to drill into conkers to create conker necklaces.
The Owls also enjoyed a game of capture the flag which is great for team building.
Our Church School
Forest School Update 9th October
At forest school this week Owls class had lots of fun in the woods.
We found slow worms and beetles, noticed bat boxes on the trees and wondered whether bats make nests. We worked as teams during an epic game of capture the flag.
Lottie and Daisy put their creative minds to work and created some beautiful natural art representing our new school values of Love, Trust, Strength and Wisdom.
Thank you to Mrs Gibbons and Mrs Mackmin for joining us, as always if you want to join us for an afternoon connecting with the natural world, please contact the school office.
Adam and Eve
Recommended Reads – A Place Called Perfect
School Values
In Forest School this week, children in Year 5 and 6 chose to re-create the school’s 4 new values on the Forest floor. They recalled the 4 values – Love, Strength, Wisdom and Truth – and created designs using the symbols we associate with them.
It was great to see the children engaging with the new school values in such a creative way!
Hedgehogs Gardening
On Wednesday 7th October, the Hedgehogs spent some time in their gardening area. They used lots of gross motor skills to lift, pour, push and pull the bark to make our area look new and fresh!
Vision and Values
We look forward to using some stories from the Bible to help us to explore the vision and values further later in the term.
Vision and Values Update
September 2020: We are currently renewing and revising our school vision and the values that lead and support policy and ethos within the school.
On 12th September 2020, our school Ethos Committee met to discuss the vision and values and how we can ensure they are clear, succinct and fully endorse the ethos of East Hoathly school. Our Ethos Committee consist of Miss Lewis (Head of School), Mrs Healy (RE Lead and Assistant Head), Reverend Phil, Lindsay Wiggens (Governor), Jan Gough (Governor and experienced SIAMs inspector), Mandy Watson (Governor and Senior School Improvement Advisor for the Diocese of Chichester) and the role of the committee is to promote the Ethos vision and values of the school.
During the meeting, the committee agreed on the teaching from the Bible that we wanted to capture in order to create new values for the school, and then defined these using quotes from the Bible:
From this point, SLT within the school began to consider the wording of the federation. For this, we considered what was most important for us to ensure is clear about the vision for our school. We used some wording from the current vision and took inspiration from the Church of England’s vision for education. The vision for East Hoathly then became:
In our Church school, we learn through our values of Love, Strength, Wisdom and Truth. We aim for the highest standards and believe that by building a strong community, we can take care of everyone’s wellbeing, achieving fullness of life.
“With God all things are possible” Matthew 19:26
On Tuesday 29th September 2020, Mrs Healy introduced the new draft vision and values to the parents. Parents were invited to comment on how well the vision and values support the ethos of the school, how they thought the vision and values could be introduced to children, and how they thought links to the Bible could be further explored.
Recommended Reads – Tom Gates: Family, Friends and Furry Creatures
Harvest Festival
Harvest Festival
See our Harvest Festival in the local press:
- uckfieldnews.com/east-hoathly-pupils-hold-virtual-harvest-festival
- www.uckfieldfm.co.uk/2020/local-news/primary-school-celebrate-harvest-festival-virtually
Watch our video:
Contingency Plans
Recommended Reads – Demelza and the Spectre Detectors
Recommended Reads – Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers
Forest School Update 25th September
It was a rather soggy forest school session this week but that didn’t stop Owls class having fun.
Work continued on the bug hotels with Freya and Daisy creating the Woodland Ritz. Florence constructed a fabulous hedgehog house and Spencer worked tirelessly to make spider web starters. We also took a closer look at our pond and were delighted to spot some pondskaters!
Thank you to Mrs Gibbons for joining us and supervising the apple picking – the children will be enjoying school grown apples at snack time this week.
We are welcoming parent/carer volunteers at our forest school sessions, so if you are interested and available on Wednesday afternoons from 1:15pm please contact the school office.
Friendship – A Favourite Son Becomes a Slave
This week, some children in Owl Class performed in their own ‘Open the Book’ assembly for their class mates!
Before the pandemic, all of the children in the school looked forward to Wednesday assemblies as they were invited to watch and take part in a dramatised Bible story every week. It is lovely to see the children still taking part in acting out the stories for each other—even if the circumstances are a little different!
The children acted out the story of ‘‘A Favourite Son becomes a slave’ while focussing on the theme of friendship. The children discussed who was a friend to Joseph in the story. Owl Class said “We’ve learnt from the story to be kind and try and be happy for people around you and support them, rather than be jealous.” The children then discussed how the story could impact their lives and how the story could help them to be better friends.
Protocol for Suspected and Confirmed Cases
Forest School Update 18th September
Owl Class took on a challenge this week in forest school. After such a long time away, our field forest school area was in need of attention. The fire circle began its revamp and lots of old wood was repurposed into the most creative bug hotels, it was lovely to watch the sharing of ideas, creativity and team work. We are also planning another repurposing project involving wellies. Before we get started on it, we need to be sure that we only use old wellies. So, if you know that your child has wellies in school, please speak to their class teacher so we can ensure they don’t end up as Welly planters!
Friendship
This term we are learning about the Christian Value of ‘Friendship’. We had a virtual assembly welcoming everyone back to school and have added to our spiritual journals by reflecting on what makes a good friend. Some of the ideas included supportive, kind, caring, understanding, fun and helpful!
Full Reopening for All Children on 7th September 2020
Recovery Curriculum
Coming Back to School
Wellbeing Award for Schools
We are pleased to confirm that East Hoathly school has achieved the Wellbeing Award for Schools. This award celebrates all that the school does to promote positive mental health and support the wellbeing of everyone in the school community. The report demonstrates some of the school’s specific strengths, including support for staff, development of the Thrive Approach, the ethos of care within the school and the teaching of mental health and wellbeing within the school.
The award is valid for three years and we will be looking to continue to develop the work being done in school during that period.
Mindful Moment
Staying Safe Outside Your Home
School Reopening Letter V3
Government abandons plans to reopen primary schools to all pupils in England before the summer holidays.
Dear Parents/Carers,
Gavin Williamson has abandoned government plans to reopen primary schools to all pupils in England before the summer holidays.
Instead, the education secretary said schools will be asked to take in whatever children they can while sticking to the rules on maximum class sizes of 15 pupils and social distancing.
I will be working with the leadership team and Governors to look at best and fairest way of organising the remaining weeks of this year for our pupils, whilst still keeping everyone safe.
We will research any new guidance, adapt our action plans/risk assessments and will be in contact with our plans as soon as possible.
We would all like to thank you for your continuous support and patience.
James Procter
School Reopening Letter V2
School Reopening Photos
Reception
Year 1/2
Year 3/4
Year 5/6
Education Guidance from Public Health England
New AMAZE Support for Parents
Amaze has a brand new section on our website all about Coronavirus and children and young people with SEND in Sussex.
The Amaze SENDIASS team worked closely with the local authorities in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove to get accurate information about the way services are running during the pandemic and give advice about some of the complex questions and decisions that parents and carers may need to face. The sections include education, health and wellbeing, social care and safety, money and essentials and getting support from Amaze. We’ve also got a section just for young people that focuses on their needs and worries.
The new SEND Coronavirus advice section is here: amazesussex.org.uk/
School Reopening Letter V1
Safe Reopening Arrangements
Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope you are all well. Thank you for your patience & understanding whilst we have been working on the arrangements for how we will potentially reopen the school.
Please refer to this letter detailing the measures being taken at East Hoathly School to ensure, as much as possible, a safe reopening could occur from June 1st 2020, provided the government confirm their 5 tests have been met.
We appreciate that this letter contains a great deal of information, but please do read this carefully so that you are aware of the measures being taken in school to keep pupils, parents, staff and the wider community safe.
The detail in this letter is applicable for the first phase of the reopening, only. Subsequent information about any changes that we need to make following further government guidance will be sent out in the same format, with changes clearly highlighted. You will see the letter is called ‘Version 1’ and any subsequent letters will be numbered so it is clear for you to see changes or updates. Click here for the full action plan.
Also available is a guide for children aimed at preparing them for the changes they will see in school, allowing them to be part of the risk assessment for opening and ensuring they are clear on boundaries before they come into school. If you are choosing to send your children to school, please share this with them to help them understand what school will be like. In addition, there are a number of stories and animations that are great for helping children to understand the pandemic which you may find useful to share:
- nosycrowcoronavirus.
s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ Coronavirus_ABookForChildren. pdf - nursedottybooks.com/
dave-the-dog-is-worried-about- coronavirus-2/
We ask that you email the school office by Monday 25th May to let us know if you are planning to send your child to school in the week beginning 1st June so that we can prepare for numbers and registers.
Please do not hesitate to get in contact if you have any questions or concerns about the potential reopening of the school and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
We hope you have a lovely half term,
Mr Procter and Miss Lewis
School Reopening Update
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you and all your families are keeping well and staying safe during these challenging times.
The Government have said that schools may reopen as early as the 1st June to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children if we are able to do so.
I just wanted to reassure you that although we all want your children back in school as soon as possible, we only want this if it is safe for your children, your families and our staff. Yesterday we received more guidance from the government and we are in the process of planning how we can open safely to those year groups in the coming weeks.
I also wanted to let you know that when we do open to those year groups, it will be up to you to decide whether you wish to send your children in or not. You know your family situation best and if you decide to keep your children at home, we will support that decision. We will keep you updated with all our preparations for making sure the school is as safe as possible so that you can make an informed decision.
We would all like to thank you for your continuous support in helping your children to learn from home. I hope you all continue to remain safe and well and we look forward to welcoming you all back when it is safe to do so.
Yours sincerely,
James Procter
East Hoathly School Assembly – Rev Phil “Easter Hope”
Possible Reopening in June
Dear Parents/Carers,
I am sure many of you will have seen or heard the Prime Minister’s message to the nation yesterday, encouraging people to return to essential work if they are not able to work from home.
In the same speech, Boris Johnson suggested that primary schools could potentially reopen to children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from Monday 1st June, after the half term break.
We will need more detail from the government about how it plans for schools to operate during any phased return and we plan to communicate this to you as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
James Procter
East Hoathly School Assembly – 6th May 2020 Lockdown Special
Children’s Guide to Coronavirus
What Key Workers’ Children Did at School
The sun shone and there were Key Workers children at Chiddingly School this week.
The children started their Thursday with breakfast club and the spent an hour on online work on the laptops.
All the staff and children then took half an hour with a workout in the hall following ‘Joe Wicks’ with his daily online PE session. It was tiring, but a great start to the day. Everyone then worked hard for over an hour with their set work from their class teachers.
We then all went painting and drawing. Easter cards, dinosaurs, birds and portraits. We explored paint and chalk pastels before heading out to the sunshine for lunch.
After lunch there was time to explore the trim trail and then explore the garden. The children started by weeding and cutting back dead herb growth from the flower beds. We collected the dried herb stalks to be good kindling for fire lighting for future forest School sessions.
The children tried tasting a few of the herbs growing. The gardening escalated and by the end of the day they had weeded a whole flower bed, dug up roots, shrieked at massive spiders, spotted tiny snails, made muddy holes and replanted lots of plants which were kindly donated to the school in January.
It was a great afternoon of engagement, learning and fun.
Children with Speech & Language Needs
Dear Parents of children with speech and language needs,
To support your children’s speech, language and communication needs, Speech Link and Language LInk have fast tracked the launch of their new Parent Portal to help with this. The site will be live from Friday 20th March and will provide parents with FREE speech and language advice, resources and activities.
Parents can be reassured that the support for their children, who have SLCN, doesn’t have to stop once their school closes.
The site can be found at https://speechandlanguage.info/parents
Education for Children of Key Workers
Dear Parents/Carers,
We have now received further guidance from the government around which children will still have education provided for them.
Parents whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response include those who work in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined below. Many parents working in these sectors may be able to ensure their child is kept at home. And every child who can be safely cared for at home should be.
Please, therefore, follow these key principles:
- If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be.
- If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.
- Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.
- Parents should also do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in a way which can continue to spread the virus. They should observe the same social distancing principles as adults.
- Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings continue to care for children wherever possible.
The first question that must be considered when making a decision about where your child should be as of Monday 23rd March
is outlined by the government. They are recommending that:
If it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be. We ask that you consider this carefully so that no child, adult or family is put at risk.
The list of ‘Key Workers’, as defined by the government, is as follows:
Health and social care: This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare: This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.
Key public services: This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.
Local and national government: This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.
Food and other necessary goods: This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).
Public safety and national security: This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.
Transport: This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and financial services: This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.
We appreciate that this is a concerning and rapidly changing landscape and so will aim to keep you as updated with school arrangements as we can. Please inform your child’s school office if you are not receiving emails. Updates will also be posted on all schools’ websites.
If your child is eligible for Free School Meals (not including the Key Stage 1 provision), please contact your school to indicate whether you would like this service to continue throughout this closure period. We are liaising with Chartwells (our catering provider) about their plans to be able to provide food packages which can be delivered to you.
The arrangements for Chiddingly and East Hoathly are: If your child currently attends one of these schools and you require provision for them, these children will all be based at Chiddingly School. Please ensure they arrive at school for 8:50am and are picked up no later than 3:15pm. There will be a catering team on site if your child requires a hot meal and you should inform staff as soon as possible if this is the case. School uniform is optional during this closure period.
The arrangements for St Mary the Virgin are: From Monday 23rd March – Friday 27th March, the children who require provision should attend the school from 8:50am and should be picked up no later than 3:15pm. Please note, there will be no catering team on site so your child will need a packed lunch. The continunation of this arrangement very much depends on the advice we receive from Local Authority. The likelihood is that, over the coming weeks, children from smaller local schools will be asked to attend another larger school in the locality and we will keep you as up to date as we can with details of this. School uniform is optional during this closure period.
We would ask that you continue to refer to the government’s advice that children should be at home where it is at all possible, and that you regularly review your situation regarding your child(ren).
Staff across the Federation are working extremely hard to ensure that we play our part in fighting COVID-19 and it is a difficult time for all. Thank you for your continued support, understanding and patience at this time.
Stay safe and we look forward to welcoming you all back to school soon.
School to Close after 20th March
We are writing to inform you that we have been instructed to close the school due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) to the majority of pupils. The school will be closed at the end of Friday 20th March and most pupils should not attend school until further notice. We will let you know when the school is fully reopen via a message through ParentMail and on the school websites.
The pupils who the government have said could attend school are listed here:
- Children of ‘Key Workers’ who need to be at work to support the country’s fight to tackle the Coronavirus – please note we are awaiting a full list from the Government but this is the information we have so far:
- NHS staff
- Police officers
- Supermarket delivery drivers
- Vulnerable children – please note we are awaiting a full list from the Government but this is the information we have so far:
- Those with Educational Health Care Plans (EHCP)
- Those who have a Social Worker
If you, or your child, are in one of the listed categories, please could you inform us as soon as possible and by 9am on Friday 20th March whether you will be sending your child into school so we can plan ahead for this.
Please refer to the letter sent out on Wednesday 18th March regarding pupils’ activities and work set over the closure period.
Staff emails have been set up specifically for the closure so that you and children can contact staff during this time. Staff will be accessing their emails during school hours. These email accounts will be deleted when the school reopens.
The staff email addresses for the closure period are as follows:
| Reception | Miss Denney and Mrs Smith | eh-reception@pioneerfederation.co.uk |
| Year 1/2 | Miss Williams, Mrs Pattenden and Miss Hillier | eh-year12@pioneerfederation.co.uk |
| Year 3/4 | Mr Lulham, Mrs Pattenden and Miss Roberts | eh-year34@pioneerfederation.co.uk |
| Year 5/6 | Mrs Healy and Mrs Thompson | eh-year56@pioneerfederation.co.uk |
| Inclusion Manager | Mrs Levey | senco@easthoathly.e-sussex.sch.uk |
| Thrive | Mrs Smith | eh-thrive@pioneerfederation.co.uk |
Wellbeing and Support
Safeguarding continues to be a priority, especially when the school is not open to pupils. If you have any worries related to welfare or safeguarding issues, please contact us using the email addresses above.
There are a number of organsiations that can support families in a variety of ways:
- www.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/familysupport
- www.eastgrinstead.foodbank.org.uk
- www.hailsham.foodbank.org.uk
- www.eastbourne.foodbank.org.uk
We appreciate that a closure is going to have an impact on you and your family and it’s a far from an ideal scenario. We will keep in touch with any updates as the situation develops. Please continue to check the Coronavirus tabs on each website. If you want to get in touch to share any concerns, please don’t hesitate to do so via the Office email, as usual.
Please use NHS 111 online if you or your child feels unwell and you want to know what to do next. For government updates: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
Thank you for your continued support.
Stay safe and we look forward to welcoming you all back to school soon.
Possible School Closure
Dear Parents/Carers,
If we need to close the school due to the Coronavirus, we would like to provide clarity now about how we plan to support pupils in their education during the closure period.
Your child’s learning is important to us, so, during the closure, we’ll continue to support pupils as follows:
- You will find work set for them on the class pages on the school websites. See specific details below for each class.
- There will be staff emails set up specifically for the closure so that you and children can contact teachers during this time. These email addresses will be sent out soon. Staff will be accessing their emails during school hours. These email accounts will be deleted after the closure. If we don’t hear back from you, we will assume that you are giving your consent for email correspondence during the closure period.
- Leahy & Mrs. Levey (the Federation Inclusion Managers/SENDCOs) will also be available to contact through their emails: sleahy@pioneerfederation.co.uk & senco@easthoathly.e-sussex.sch.uk
- Each child will receive an exercise book to be used to record work in.
Nursery
There will be a weekly updates for activity ideas and websites on the Nursery website.
Reception
- Each week, the Reception teams will upload a weekly planner of activities to the website for you to complete with your child. This planner will be updated on a Friday for the following week. We have suggested a timetable with daily activities, however these can be carried out in any order and whenever you have time to complete them.
- We have tried to include activities using resources that you are likely to have at home. We will also supply each child with a small home learning kit to support these. There are a range of activities to include daily household resources and clips of short learning, and all of these activities are designed to be short and manageable.
- Please use your home learning book to record any written tasks. We look forward to seeing these as soon as we can. Feel free to email us photos or messages to the class email address and we will respond between 8.40-3.15, Monday to Friday. It would be great to receive a weekly update from the children so we can share their home experiences!
Year 1-2
There will be weekly PDF files to cover learning in Maths and English which will be put on the class pages on the website. From these, daily tasks will be set which will be linked to Purple Mash or work to be completed in their exercise books. The tasks will be across the both Year 1 and 2 grouped in challenges from cool to spicy for the children to access.
There will be ‘2Do’ challenges on Purple Mash and a home learning task sheet which will cover other subjects.
Year 1: Phonics tasks will be sent home alongside the sound mat and common exception words which the children are working on daily. You will find these in their exercise books and they will also be on the website. Please have a go at a section a day and practice reading and spelling a few common exception words each day.
Year 2: SATs question sheets will be sent home in their exercise books which help the children to revise all the learning they have covered so far and keep their new knowledge fresh in their heads. The children can do 10 mins a day on these sheets; please remember the children can use objects to count and draw their learning if they are stuck. They will also have a common exception word sheet for them to continue spelling and reading the words.
Year 3-4
- A document with suggested activities for curriculum areas will be uploaded to the class page on the school website. Children should choose 2 activities for each area of the curriculum to complete at home over a three week period. These can be brought back into school (once the school reopens) for sharing with their teachers and other children.
- Maths will continue to be set through MyMaths with a task being uploaded daily. There are also plenty of ‘lessons’ that can be accessed for assistance if the children are finding a task difficult to complete at home. Children should continue to practise times tables regularly (at least 3x weekly) and the times table challenge that the children use in class will be uploaded to the class page on the website.
- For the first two days of a school closure, Literacy will be set through ‘2Dos’ on PurpleMash and extension tasks will be uploaded onto the class pages. After this, a weekly powerpoint will be uploaded detailing grammar and a writing task to be completed over a week. All Literacy work completed should be put into the exercise book that we have sent home with the children, or they can be emailed into the class teacher for some feedback.
- Spellings patterns that would be the whole class focus are already on the website for the rest of Term 4 and children should continue to learn their weekly spellings. There are a variety of resources on PurpleMash under English – Spelling Resources and these are then listed by year group.
Year 5-6
- A suggested daily timetable will be provided on the website class page.
- A document with suggested activities for curriculum areas will be uploaded to the class page on the school website. Children should choose 2 activities for each area of the curriculum to complete at home over a three-week period. These can be brought back into school once the school reopens for sharing with their teachers and other children.
- Maths will be set via MyMaths the expectation is to do a daily lesson and the task and aim to achieve a green percentage score before moving on. Pupils should also complete arithmetic practise on MyMaths – this is on the home screen.
- Literacy will be set via a weekly PowerPoint uploaded to the website class page detailing a writing task to be completed over a week. All Literacy work completed should be put into the exercise book that we have sent home with the children. There is also a separate grammar & punctuation PowerPoint on the website class page, of which children should use to complete one of the activities a day.
- Daily reading tasks will be based on ‘The Explorer’ – on the website class page you can find PDF of each chapter and accompanying questions.
- Pupils should also continue working their way through the Year 5&6 statutory spelling list – recognising patterns, understanding definitions and using them within a context.
- Pupils can also use the back of the exercise book provided to keep a journal, giving them the opportunity to share how they are feeling, how they are keeping healthy, what you have achieved each day, what are you grateful for, what problems have you solved today etc.
- Year 6 – continue working through their CGP books regularly and you can also find a link to previous SATs papers and answers on the website class page.
If you need reminding about the logins for any of the programmes mentioned, please see your child’s Class Teacher as soon as possible.
The links below also have a range of free resources:
We appreciate that a closure will have an impact on you and your family and it’s a far from an ideal scenario. We will keep in touch with any updates as the situation develops. Please continue to check the Coronavirus tabs on each website. If you want to get in touch to share any concerns, please don’t hesitate to do so via the Office email, as usual.
Please use NHS 111 online if you or your child feels unwell and you want to know what to do next. For government updates: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
Thank you for your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
James Procter
Executive Headteacher
Recommended Reads – Where’s Wally
World Book Day
On Thursday 5th March, East Hoathly celebrated World Book Day. There was an incredible range of characters in the school and it was lovely to see Elsa chatting with the Cat in the Hat, Woody playing with Spiderman and Tracy Beaker working with Horrid Henry and the Fantastic Mrs Fox.
The children took part in different activities linked to World Book Day. Reception created a finger puppet version of their characters after making bookmarks and role playing as their characters.
Year 1 and 2 had fun roleplaying as their characters and create a character profile of who they were dressed up as. The children searched different themes in stories, for example which stories had witches in them. The children also used their character’s names to come up with an acrostic poem.
Year 3 and 4 designed bookmarks and enjoyed creating character profiles for who they dressed up as. The children also had fun playing ‘Guess Who?’ by putting a book character’s name on their head and asking yes or no questions to find out who they were.
Year 5 and 6 analysed their character’s stories and talked about the art and themes of their books. They took turns hot-seating as their character and answered questions about the story they came from. In science, the children learnt about Marie Curies and looked into the biographies of scientists.
The staff even joined in with the theme of ‘Women Who Changed the World’ and it was really interesting to learn about Anne Frank, Coco Chanel, Marie Curie, Rosa Parks, Sacagawea, Jane Austen and Amelia Earhart and how they changed the world.
Recommended Reads – The Young Bond Series
PALs Assembly
On Thursday, all children from East Hoathly gathered for a PALs assembly in the church. They took their work books, sat next to a learning partner from a different year group and shared pieces of learning they were really proud of.
Darcy reflected on her work from the start of the year, “At the start of my book, it wasn’t neat but towards the end I have worked really hard to improve that.”
Delilah in Year 2 said “my answers have longer and more information.”
Sara in Year 2 and Alfie in Year 5 were looking through Alfie’s topic book and Sara commented “I like Alife’s Australian picture because of the colours and patterns.”
Alongside sharing work, the children also discussed the term’s collective worship theme; justice.
Holly L in Year 5 talked about how justice can link to Fairtrade. “We learn about fairtrade and how it means items are fairly sourced.”
Charlie in Year 2 spoke about how he can show justice when playing football with his friends. “I can show justice by making sure the teams are fair.”
International Day 2020 – Australia
On Tuesday 11th February, the entire school came together dressed in green and yellow to celebrate Australia for their International Day. Throughout the day, the children worked in groups trying different activities.
Reception and Year 5 and 6 made their own Lemington cake (a traditional Australian dessert), created boomerangs and listened to traditional aboriginal music made with digeridoos. Years 1, 2, 3 and 4 worked together and created some beautiful aboriginal art, made rain sticks and triagramas to show the different habitats of Australia.
After an Australian themed lunch, the children celebrated their learning in the church with each other and their parents. Thank you to all who joined us for this celebration!
e-Safety Day
On Wednesday 12th February, East Hoathly celebrated National e-Safety Day! We had an assembly dedicated to Online Safety then the children, in their individual classes, had a workshop from Andrew Gunn, an ICT and e-Safety expert.
Mr Gunn said that there are good things about being online but sometimes very dangerous things, some apps like Whatsapp and Snapchat have age restrictions to keep you safe online. Mr Gunn also said that it isn’t good to be on the internet before you got to bed because of the blue light—it can be a struggle to get to sleep. – Holly L in Year 5
Year 5 and 6, additionally, had e-Safety Ambassadors from Kings Academy Ringmer come to talk to them about Online Safety. They showed the children a video to allow them to understand the importance of being safe online.
Forest School Update 7th February
Year 1 and 2 have been doing forest school this term with Mrs Smith. They have had the most amazing time, and have got extremely muddy at times! During their time in the woods they have been making dens, playing in what they called a dinosaur toilet and exploring all things nature. There learning during their time in the woods has been great linking to their topic plants, with Dennis in Year 1 saying ‘I have found a root’ and Delilah Rose in Year 1 clearing leaves to discover new stems coming through, we think they might be bluebells!
Though they have also linked their learning in the forest to their English work Max M in Year 2 wrote:
“Once there was a mole who went on a food hunt. He first went to holey berries. Next he went on a twig, a rasbre-leef and he also ate blackberries and pomegranate seeds. The he went pop and anuver mole then the same thing happended!”
Thank you so much to the adult helpers who have with us to forest school in all weathers, without you this amazing learning would not have been possible!
Reception’s Fire Station Visit
On Wednesday, Reception from East Hoathly and Oak class from Chiddingly hopped onto the coach for a trip to Uckfield Fire Station.
The children were very excited for their first trip on a coach and the children had great fun spotting different objects from their windows.
When the children arrived, the first thing they noticed was that the fire station was covered in foam and quickly found out that the firefighters had been training that morning. The children went inside to the special firefighter cloakroom and learnt all about what firefighters do.
The most exciting part of the morning was when the children got to go into the fire engine and spray the hose!
Reception were brilliantly behaved and thoroughly enjoyed their experience! Well done! Thank you to all of the adults who came along and supported the trip!
Wellbeing Week
Recommended Reads – Riding Skills
Recommended Reads – The Beast of Buckingham Palace
Gymnastics Workshop
All the children took part in a gymnastics workshop run by Gymnasts from Fun Abounds Gymnastic centre in Uckfield. The children learnt and practiced a range of skills and movements singularly and in groups and pairs. They also watched videos of the types of movements and routines that competing gymnasts often complete.
Kallie in Reception said, “I got really good at doing a rolypoly – you had to really tuck your head in your legs.”
Recommended Reads – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Reading
We have a developed a dedicated reading time during our school day. From 1.05-1.20pm each day, all children across the school (and lots of the grown ups!) will be spending time enjoying a book. This time allows the children to have a calm and peaceful start to the afternoon and also provides opportunity to develop their love of reading. Some children might be sharing a book with a partner, some might be reading with an adult and some will be reading independently.
Recommended Reads – Wave Me Goodbye
Reception’s Motorbike Visitor
Reception started their new topic with a very noisy visitor! On Tuesday they were greeted with a loud horn and the revving engine of a motorbike!
The children looked at and even got to try on all of the safety equipment and clothes that bike riders wear, including a helmet and jacket and talked about the safety features such as padding and non-slip sections.
Then, was the best bit of the whole morning, they got to inspect the motorbike, we counted the number of lights, looked at the numbers and letters on the number plate and then found the warning horn! Some of the children were brave enough to sit on the motorbike and make the engine roar.
Kallie says “I liked going on the bike and the noisy beeping, the jacket has got special pads in to keep Mitchell safe and stop him from getting hurt.”
Forest School Update 10th January
During the last week of Term 2, the whole school took part in a festive forest school session on the school field over 2 days.
All of the children, staff and parent volunteers had a great time making Christmas decorations and wreaths from natural materials, exploring our creativity, developing new skills and using our growth mindsets to overcome the challenges that learning something new presents us with.
It was a wonderful opportunity for us to connect as a group and fully embrace the outdoors as a learning environment. Having the whole school on the field in December meant the we had to develop our resilience in terms of the weather; it was cold, wet and very very muddy, which meant lots and lots of fun, jumping, splashing, slipping, sliding and painting ourselves in mud!
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![IMG_7008[1]](https://i0.wp.com/easthoathly.pioneerfederation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_70081-scaled.jpg?ssl=1 "IMG_7008[1]")
![IMG_7015[1]](https://i1.wp.com/easthoathly.pioneerfederation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_70151-scaled.jpg?ssl=1 "IMG_7015[1]")
Recommended Reads – Little Bear’s Friend
Christingle
Thank you for coming along to the Christingle service! It was a delight to hear the children sing and read the prayers with such confidence! It was a beautiful service as always! Miss Lewis commented that “it is the best Christingle we’ve done yet!”
Thank you for your donations, the money will be counted and sent to the Children’s Society in the New Year.
Well done and thank you to the adults who organised the service and a special thank you to Mrs Dobbs, who organised the Year 4 children to sing in Latin.
Forest School Update 20th December
This week, the entire school took part in some very muddy Forest school! Everyone had a lot of fun in the mud and enjoyed making Christmas arts and crafts. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped and a big thank you to Mrs Smith for organising the best Forest School yet!
Gingers Dance Workshops
Reception & Year 5 & 6’s Carol Service at Lydfords
On Monday 16th, both Reception and Year 5 and 6 classes walked to Lydfords Care Home to sing some carols to the residents.
The children sang ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’, ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Away in a Manger’. The residents enjoyed listening to the children singing and they enjoyed seeing the teachers joining in too.
This is an example of how the children are developing their knowledge of their local community and increasing their knowledge about cultural capital. We hope to visit Lydfords again later in the academic year!
Sports Crew and Play Leaders
8 children – mainly Year 5s have recently been trained to deliver games at break times & lunchtimes in a fun, safe and enjoyable manner for all children. They have all demonstrated a Growth Mindset to enable them to challenge themselves and support each other throughout their training (often referring to the 6Bs) to help them to succeed.
Mr D says that they could be the best group of Play Leaders that he has trained over the past 12 years and was full of positivity about the children. They were polite, respectful, focused, keen to learn and were great ambassadors and role models for the school.
In fact he said they were ‘Outstanding’ – a huge accolade.
Santa Visit!
Santa took time out of his very busy schedule to pop into East Hoathly school and Nursery and give them some yummy treats!
The children were very excited to see Santa and were incredibly thankful for the treats he gave them. Some of the staff were quite excited as well!
Thank you Santa for coming down from the North Pole to see us before your busy night! Thank you to our FPTA for supplying those lovely selection boxes and for supplying the Christmas crackers for the school’s Christmas dinner!
Chiddingly Christingle Service
Thank you and well done to the children from East Hoathly and Chiddingly schools who read Bible readings and prayers at the Christingle service at Chiddingly Church on Sunday evening. Sienna, Jesse, Jake, Dylan, Jake and Freya did a fantastic job. So many of the congregation commented on how brilliant they were.
It was lovely to see a number of other children from the schools attending the service too. What a lovely way to start the Festive season!
Uckfield Late Night Shopping
A huge thank you to all of the children who attended the Federation Choir’s late night shopping performance in Uckfield on Friday. We took the biggest choir of the night and had the audience joining in and clapping along!
Miss Lewis was extremely proud of all the children! Thank you, too, to the many staff members who came to support the choir.
The performance was broadcast live onto Uckfield FM and you can listen back here:
We received the following message from the organisers of the event:
“Thank you all for the tremendous amount of time and commitment from the staff and pupils both prior to and on the evening.
From my experience, over many years, it was also the highest number of children on stage and also the number of people who were standing in Post Office Square, at least 2500 and more over the evening.
Fortunately, the rain mostly stayed away and it was a relatively warm evening for December. Thank you once again for making Friday night so special.”
Year 3 and 4’s Trip to Hever Castle
Year 3 and 4 from East Hoathly and Willow class from Chiddingly went on a trip to Hever Castle, as a part of our topic – the Tudors.
After a very excitable coach journey, we set off and explored the castle. We looked at all its features including: silver armor, sculptures (some of the sculptures were dogs). There were tapestries and paintings, there was also a moat with swans and there was a big maze that we completed. Also there were swords and other weapons and we even got our photo taken with Anne Boleyn.
Later, we had lunch in the Think Tank. Then there was this Tudor house that you could play inside. It had lots of fun games and challenges. It had the biggest slide I’ve ever seen! In the garden there was a zip line and swings it was so fun.
Written by Jack Calpaldi, Year 4.
Big Sing
Year 5 and 6 travelled to Eastbourne to take part in the Big Sing.
It is an event the children look forward to every year. They love practicing and performing the songs and every year, there is always something different! Unfortunately, we were unable to take photos of the children on stage, but we managed to get one of the children exploring backstage.
This year the children sang some traditional songs, like ‘silent night’ and ‘white Christmas’. A firm class favourite this year was ‘I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!’ We have not worked out how Santa would fit one in his sleigh yet, but we will let you know what we come up with!
Well done everyone! You sang beautifully and you looked incredible on the stage!
Wellbeing Day
Wellbeing Posters
FPTA Christmas Fair
The East Hoathly FPTA held their annual Christmas Fair in the village hall and what a fair it was!
There were a range of activities for children and adults to have a go at, like ‘drop the penny on Rudolph’s nose’, Christmas arts and crafts and ‘Christmas Pong’ – where you had to throw ping pong balls into cups to win a marshmallow snowman.
The children got to sign up to read a story with Santa and they could have their faces painted.
The highlights of the evening were the Christmas sing along and the announcing of the raffle winners! It was incredible to see so many prizes being won! Thank you to those businesses who donated prizes to the FPTA.
It was a really successful evening and it was great to see everybody working together to ensure the event ran smoothly, whilst still having fun, of course!
In total, the Christmas Fair made just under £1800, which is the most the FPTA have ever made at the Christmas Fair. Well done everyone who took part in such an incredible evening!
What a lovely way to start the Christmas season!
Reception’s Owl Day
On Wednesday, Reception visited Chiddingly for the day. They spent the morning with Oak Class, exploring different Owl themed provision, making woodland animals, nests and meeting new friends.
In the afternoon, we had a special visitor called Rusty. Rusty is a Tawny Owl, who was rescued after falling from a tree. The children got to feel how fluffy Rusty was and ask his handlers, Ben and Sophie, lots of questions.
All of the children loved having a picnic lunch and spotting all of the things in Chiddingly’s playground that were the same as East Hoathly’s. Miss Denney and Mrs Smith were very proud of how confident and well behaved the children were.
