Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
What a busy week!
On Tuesday we welcomed six candidates for interview for Head of Sixth Form and were amazed and delighted and learned a lot from the field. We have made an appointment and I will let you know as soon as I can – just a few more ‘i’s to dot and ‘t’s to cross. Of course, we involved our lovely Year 11s in the process and they were invited for their feedback after a pizza lunch with the candidates – their voices are really important to us. More anon!
On Wednesday and Thursday, we were really delighted to welcome over 50 prospective Year 7 students for September 2023 entry. They had a fabulous day and enjoyed a pizza lunch (theme running through here…). The feedback is really overwhelming – parents appreciating the true values of Hollygirt; the nurture, friendliness and family feel. My thanks to the whole team – it’s been a busy time and everyone has worked long hours this week!
It has been Sparkle Week and we celebrated in an assembly today all the different acts of kindness from holding doors (plenty of opportunities for that this week) to lending a pen to feeding cats on the way to school. We do think that every week should be Sparkle Week because kindness is very important to us at Hollygirt and it certainly makes you feel good!
Over the next couple of weeks, we will be training hard with our new communication system to bring you the parent app sooner rather than later – we are hopeful that after Easter we can launch our new parent portal and accompanying app and that reports, timetables and all merits and sanctions will be visible in one place.
Have a lovely weekend!
Dr Helen Barsham
Head
Message from the Head of Prep School
Good afternoon,
This week is Sparkle Week, and in addition to their sparkly accessories, the children have been demonstrating acts of kindness. The children will have the opportunity to share these in assembly on Monday.
When I visited Kindergarten and Reception earlier this week, it was lovely to hear the children describe the ways in which other children had been kind to them. These were written on leaves and added to their Kindness Tree. They also made thank you cards to give to someone in their family. Years 1 and 2 have been thinking about how small acts of kindness, when put together, can make a big change. They made a kindness paperchain, setting a target to see if they could do enough acts of kindness to make a chain long enough to join up the two classrooms, and succeeded! Additionally, they created ‘Happy Posters’ which will be taken to Nottinghamshire Hospice. The children thought about what makes people smile and words they could use to make people happy.
Years 3 and 4 have been very busy creating compliment cards, a unique handprint artwork and writing letters to the doctors and nurses of the NHS, which Miss Cooper hand delivered on Friday morning. The children in Year 5 have made soaps to thank the support staff for all the incredible work they do behind the scenes. They look and smell amazing! Year 6 delivered hand-decorated cakes to members of staff, along with a lucky dip of ‘kindness comments’; this was all devised to induce positivity at the start of the week!
It was the Year 7 Entrance Day on Wednesday and our Year 6 children, joined by many other children, enjoyed a day in the Senior School. They experienced a range of different lessons and team building activities and all had a great day.
Unfortunately, the football match on Wednesday against Repton Prep was cancelled due to a frozen pitch, however, this will be rearranged soon.
A reminder about the spelling meeting on Wednesday 25th January at 5.00pm in the Senior School Hall. Please arrive a few minutes early to sign in.
I am aware that some of you have not received the form to book onto Someone Special Days. The dates are as follows and sessions will run from 2pm to 3:15pm. If you have not received the form, and wish to book a session, please email Form Teachers to let them know. For the Kindergarten to Year 4 sessions, you will need to sign in at Reception on arrival, and for the Year 5 and 6 sessions, please go straight to the Year 5 and 6 building to sign in there.
| Tuesday 31st January | Kindergarten, Reception, Year 1 |
| Wednesday 1st February | Year 2, Year 5 |
| Tuesday 7th February | Year 4 |
| Wednesday 8th February | Year 3, Year 6 |
Before Christmas, the children in Prep and Kindergarten drew pictures of themselves and the staff to create a tea towel. I am pleased to say that these have now arrived – they look fantastic! The Friends of Hollygirt will be selling these for £8 each, two for £15 and three for £20; Mrs Maher will be emailing out a form for you to complete if you wish to purchase some of these.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wright
Head of Prep School