December 13, 2019

Weekly News – Friday 13th December

Message from the Headmistress

Dear Parents,

It is very nearly Christmas and we may be getting fat (but not oven ready) – on chocolates and festive fare.

In our last full week of term, we have packed it with exciting things but the teaching and learning has carried on much as normal. Thank you to all our readers, choir members and most impressively our soloists who took part in our formal Carol Service on Monday.  If you were not able to be there, you can share some of our festive joy by re-listening to the singing on the Carol Service playlist on our YouTube channel.

On Tuesday, we had our senior Christmas lunch, thank you so much to Chef Julie and the catering team for making a lovely lunch for us. We have had our Year 9 Parents’ Evening this week to enable parents to catch up with their son/daughter’s progress and to begin the discussions about likely KS4 option choices. Today, we are all in our Christmas jumpers and are jingling and ho-ho-ho-ing around the building. I quite like being an elf. Very warm and comfortable.

This afternoon I am looking forward to attending the Junior School Christmas Productions at St Jude’s; I know they will be fantastic.

Moving into the action for next week, on Tuesday afternoon the Senior School is open to parents and friends from 1.30pm to 3.30pm for our annual Christmas Fair – where I can guarantee there will be delicious things to see, win and eat. Please come if you can and send your children in with a little bit of money to spend. We will be drawing the Christmas hamper raffle at 3.00pm. Please return the stubs, cash and any unsold  tickets to school by Tuesday morning at the absolute latest. The chair of the Friends of Hollygirt, Jodie Filshie, and I are making the hampers up on Monday afternoon. The more stuff, the more hampers there will be there to win! So if you haven’t already donated something to the pile, there is still time to bring things in.

Our term ends at 12.30pm on Thursday 19th December. This is a non-uniform day in Senior School and we ask that for the privilege of wearing own clothes, you send in a donation to our St Ann’s Food Bank appeal. Tins and packets of ordinary food stuffs (non-perishable) are good.

I wish you all a wonderfully happy and restful Christmas, a positive and upbeat start to the new year and we will see all the pupils back in school on Wednesday 8th January. (If any staff are reading this, I will see you on Tuesday!)

Mrs Hutley
Headmistress

Message from the Head of Juniors

Dear Parents,

As we approach the end of term, there are lots of wonderful Christmas events happening. This week started with our annual Carol Service and what a lovely occasion this was.  Well done to all children who attended and represented the school so well.

Yesterday, Chef Julie cooked us a delicious Christmas lunch. For children in Years 1 to 6, this was followed by a trip to the pantomime. Thank you to parents who accompanied the children; I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as they did!

This afternoon, we are looking forward to the Christmas Productions. Children and staff have been working so hard to prepare the children for this. A huge thank you to Miss Purchase for the time and effort she has put into these; I am sure we will see some amazing performances later. Thank you also to all parents who have helped with learning lines and songs whilst creating some spectacular costumes.

On Monday, EYFS are going to watch Pinocchio at Nottingham Playhouse and I am sure this will be a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. The children will return by the end of the school day and should be collected from here as usual.

On Tuesday, it is the Senior School Christmas Fair and all juniors will be taken across for the afternoon. If you are coming along, please collect children by 1.20pm from the Junior Playground. If, however, you come during the afternoon, please ensure you let Form Teachers know that you have collected your child. At the end of the school day, any children who have not been collected will be taken back across to Junior School and After School Club will run as normal. Please could I remind children to try to bring coins to spend (rather than notes!) and a shopping bag is always useful. Children are permitted to wear their Christmas jumpers on this day (over their uniform) with a contribution of £1 to Save the Children.

As we have done in previous years, on Wednesday, we are singing in the Victoria Centre.  We will be situated near the tree by John Lewis. Approximate timings are as follows:

Reception, Years 1 and 2 – 11.00am to 11.20am
Years 3 and 4 – 11.20am to 11.40am
Years 5 and 6 – 11.40am to 12.00pm

Please do come and support us should you be near the Victoria Centre on Wednesday.

During the afternoon of Wednesday, there will be Christmas activities including a visit from the magician, Peter Presto, for EYFS and KS1. After school, the Friends of Hollygirt are hosting a disco for KS2. Children should bring their clothes to school to get changed into.  They need to be collected from the Senior School building at 6.00pm.

Thursday is, of course, the end of term and children can come dressed in their own clothes, donating £1 for charity. School finishes as 12.30pm and children need to be collected at this time; there is no After School Club.

As always, thank you for all your support this term. I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I hope you have a lovely break and look forward to seeing you in January.

Mrs Wright
Head of Juniors