Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
The first point today, sadly, is about parking. Please do not pull onto the pavements as it is dangerous for pedestrians and this includes Hollygirt students We kick-started the week with the promised assembly on retrieval practice. We shouldn’t be getting worried about exams – we should see them as learning opportunities. Mistakes and feedback are brilliant forms of learning and it’s not about the grade but what you do with the information afterwards. If only we could start thinking of tests as positive experiences -recall aids recall – it would help us all to feel more confident.
Thank you to the D of E team last weekend – a great time was had by all and an invaluable experience created.
We had an open morning on Wednesday and the Hollygirt tour guides were amazing – nearly the whole school volunteered to tour prospective parents -testimony to how the students feel about their school. Students who didn’t get a tour will be prioritised next time! It poured with rain but it didn’t dampen the Hollygirt enthusiasm – newcomers to the school were very impressed -by our warmth and educational expertise.
We had an open morning on Wednesday and the Hollygirt tour guides were amazing – nearly the whole school volunteered to tour prospective parents -testimony to how the students feel about their school. Students who didn’t get a tour will be prioritised
next time! It poured with rain but it didn’t dampen the Hollygirt enthusiasm –newcomers to the school were very impressed -by our warmth and educational expertise.
Today, it was my absolute pleasure to start the new Year 11 prefect interviews with Year 10; they have some amazing ideas for sports prefects, well-being prefects, junior and events prefects as well as the usual prefect roles. The Head ‘persons’ interviews/speeches will be organised shortly too. I am really looking forward to working with the new team and thank the outgoing Year 11s for their hard work too. Friends of Hollygirt also met on Monday (you can possibly feel what a busy week it has been!) and we have the Year 7 and Year 8 Pj, Pizza and Popcorn party to look forward to next Friday (letters were sent home today). We agreed that the secondhand uniform shop’s new hours of opening will be the last Thursday before half term 3:30 pm to 5 pm. There is also a Facebook group you can join if you have requests for specific items: https://www.facebook.com/groups/584436805263159. Donations of clean uniform in good condition are always very welcome. Please drop off any donations you may have at reception.
The Friends of Hollygirt are also planning a Summer BBQ to bring our community of parents and alumni together for a celebration in the (fingers-crossed) sunshine while raising funds which will directly benefit our students, through the purchase of equipment. The proposed date for the event is Friday 24th June, 4-8pm. The proposed ticket price is £10 per adult, £5 per child, which will include a choice of
burger or hot dog. To help us ascertain how many members of our community are likely to attend the event and to aid our planning, we would be very grateful if could take a moment to complete the very brief survey below:
A reminder about our Jubilee concert on Friday 27.5 from 2.00 pm -3.30 pm and a thank you to Ms Howlett for her lovely assembly where we started to learn more about the Queen’s exceptional reign. At our curriculum meeting this week, we were discussing report cycles and content, we look forward to sharing with you some of the improvements to this system from September 2022. On that note, Mike Casey (our new Deputy Head (from Sept 2022) was with us today (Repton spared him for a few hours) as we start the handover process for September.
I am at the dentist this weekend so I hope that you are all enjoying something more fun than that!
Best wishes,
Helen Barsham
Head
Message from the Head of Juniors
Good afternoon,
What a lovely sunny afternoon! Another great week in the Junior School. Earlier in the week, EYFS were visited by Mr Hassanali who came to talk to the children about being a dentist. This links in with their topic of ‘people who help us’ and he brought in some interesting models of teeth for the children to look at as well as explaining how to brush your teeth properly. Our thanks to Mr Hassanali for giving up his time.
Year 1 have been discussing their feelings as part of Mental Health Awareness week. Year 3 have created some passionate posters about animals in captivity in India. All year groups have been working hard rehearsing the Summer Production which they are very much looking forward to performing.
Next week will be revision week for Key Stage pupils. Over the course of the week, the children will revisit topics covered this year and learn some valuable revision techniques. They will be very well prepared for their tests.
This week’s Stars of the Week can be viewed here.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wright
Head of Juniors
Key Dates for the Week Ahead
| Monday 16th – Friday 20th | Junior (KS2) revision week |
| Monday 16th May | GCSE Exams Start |
| Wednesday 18th May | Junior and Senior School Photographs |
| Thursday 19th May | Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) |
| Friday 20th May | Friends of Hollygirt Pj, Pizza and Popcorn Party for Years 7 &8 |