Castle Hill Primary School

Mr Martin's Message

Dear Parents and friends of CHPS,

As another year draws to a close I reflect on the many successes that your children should be very proud of. They have worked as a real team supporting each other and indeed supporting all of us day in and day out. They turn up looking smart and on time each day and as always they are incredibly polite. 

We know you do a huge amount of work at home and this partnership is incredibly important to all of us. Thank you to all of those who were able to help, either as 'Friends' of the school or by volunteering each week. If you would like to be involved in the future (and are time poor at present) the door is always open because we fully appreciate you have incredibly busy lives.

To get my usual Christmas cracker of a joke please watch the spontaneous video where you can enjoy not one, but two "high quality" jokes. More new jokes to come in 2024, parental contributions welcome and may even be added to the next "one take" video...it may just include the occasional glitch but that makes it all the more fun!

Merry Christmas from myself and all the team🙂🧑‍🎄

Regards

Mr Martin and The CHPS Team

• We hope everyone is finding the new 'CHPS Weekly Noticeboard' helpful. If you have any feedback regarding our communications please email admin@chjs.net.

• Rooksdown parents - all decodable reading books will be collected for Christmas so we can do an audit for new books. We will also be introducing a new system for our reading scheme books. Your child will still have their library book.

• A reminder that dogs are not permitted inside the school gates. This includes dogs on leads and those being carried. 

• HCC is now recruiting to find a new crossing patrol at Greenbank and Rooksdown. The vacancies are now live and be found via the following links School Crossing Patrol - Winklebury Way, Basingstoke HCC612642 (newjob.org.uk) and School Crossing Patrol - Park Prewett, Basingstoke 

• We are recruiting for a Receptionist and Lunchtime Assistant. For more information visit - Job Vacancies

• Once again we need to ask all parents to be courteous and safe when driving and parking around our schools. We hate hearing members of our community complaining tirelessly to us about inconsiderate parking and dangerous driving. Please, please be mindful of others. There is now an online reporting service from HCC. If you have any parking issues connected to the school please use this system visit: https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/parking/parking-contravention, this will help direct enforcement where it is needed. 

• For September 2024 main round admissions into Year R (Rooksdown) and Year 3 (Greenbank) applications open on Wednesday 1 November 2023 and close on Monday 15 January 2024. 

Visit https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/admissions for further information.

• School Hardship Fund - We do understand that within our school community, some families are struggling financially. We would like to make you aware that we have access to some funding for certain situations to help those in need. We use the mufti-day donations and other school events to keep our school hardship fund topped up. If you would like to talk privately to a member of our team, please email admin@chjs.net. If you would still like to contribute you can make an online donation via ScoPay.

What has Been happening in School?

Year R Nativity

CHPS Christmas Lunches

Year 3/4 Production of Santa's on Strike!

"We had SO much fun showing our parents our Christmas play. It felt like dreamland! We could not imagine anything better to do! There was comedy in the play, there were some very serious parts and there was quite a bit of singing. It was just... FANTASTIC! We had to prepare lots for it because it took time to learn everything we needed to know. We practised and collaborated when rehearsing to make this the best Christmas Production we could! We really enjoyed it and cannot believe it's over already. The Year 4s worked really, really hard on their lines and we worked hard on the actions for all of our songs. It took a long time to make this perfect but it was worth it! We felt nervous with so many adults in the audience but we worked together to produce something which was better than we imagined".  Written by Year 3 (Miss Scarles class)

We have received some lovely emails from families saying how much they enjoyed the performances and could see how much hard work had been put into the shows by the staff and the pupils.

Check out our Instagram page (@castlehillbstoke) on Friday afternoon for some wonderful audio clips from our Rooksdown performance!

Friendship Bench

Rocking Out

The Rocksteady bands were amazing! Well done to everyone involved and thank you to the parents who were able to come and support. To sign up for Rocksteady visit our club web pages - Greenbank Extra-Curricular Clubs and Rooksdown Extra-Curricular Clubs

Christmas Elves

Thank you to our Christmas Elves who have been helping to deliver the Christmas cards to all the classrooms. Great job!

Pizza Making Fun!

Year 5 has had a pizza-tastic time this half term, with our Design and Technology (DT) project focusing on the art of pizza making for European Space Agency astronaut, Tim Peake. We have embarked on a journey of exploration, creativity, and deliciousness, learning the ins and outs of pizza-making from scratch.

Our pizza-making adventure began with a taste test session, where students had the opportunity to sample various types of pizzas, from classic pepperoni to vegetarian and vegan options. This experience allowed them to explore the vast array of flavours and toppings that make pizza so popular worldwide.

Year 5 mastered the art of kneading dough, slicing vegetables, rolling out bases, and arranging toppings with precision. Armed with newfound skills, we embarked on the exciting task of planning our pizzas. They considered various factors, such as flavour preferences, nutritional balance, and unique design ideas. Each pizza became a reflection of their culinary creativity.

The classroom was filled with the wonderful aroma of freshly baked pizza, creating an atmosphere of excitement. After their creations emerged from the oven, students indulged in their hard work, eagerly tasting their pizzas. We hope that this pizza-making experience has ignited a passion for cooking in our Year 5 students, as they continue to explore the culinary world and create new masterpieces. Bon appétit!

Attendance Updates

Our target for this year is 96% or over, and last year’s attendance was 95.2%. 

Our current percentage is 95%. Well done!

The classes with the best attendance this half term are:

Rooksdown

KS1 – Year 2 Miss Hopkins  = 96.84%

KS2 – Year 4 Miss Chennells = 97.54%

Greenbank

Year 5 Miss Jones 96.84%

Here is a useful link to the NHS website which might help you decide if your child is too ill for school - 

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Sports Reports & Team Photos

Tag Rugby

The tag rugby season began as Castle Hill aimed to defend their league championship from last year. A few first-game 'jitters' led to mistakes in our opening 3-2 loss to St Bedes. However, the team went from strength to strength to overwhelm Southview and Park View to gain two valuable victories. 

Football

On the 20th of November, Rooksdown boys kicked off their league campaign against Bishopswood. The boys were superb and battled throughout the fixture and managed to earn themselves a 1-0 victory. They showed superb quality, resilience and teamwork to support them on their way to a winning performance. Thank you to all who came to support the boys!

Last week the boys played their first football match away at Great Binfields. The quality of football shown by the boys was exasperating at times. The final score was 18-1. The team showed excellent sportsmanship, energy, and skill yet, displayed an admirable humbleness in their victory.  

Well done team: Callum, Kane, Osborne, Fin, George, Rudy, Luca and Leo.

The girl's football team played their second league match three weeks ago versus Bramley. Having kept a clean sheet in the first match, the girls successfully repeated the feat with an impressive 5-0 win. It was a fantastic team effort. 

Well done to Sophia, Annie, Keira, Deanna, Jaspreet, Kenya (2 goals), Mya (2 goals), Jynelle (1 goal), Poppy and Daisy. Player of the match Kenya added, "Our girls played excellently and we had a lot of fun!"

Holiday Camps / Clubs

MAGNA Xmas Holiday Camp - https://www.castlehillprimary.net/news/2023-11-20-magna-xmas-holiday-camp

SCL Xmas Holiday Club 10% Discount using SSHols10 - https://www.castlehillprimary.net/news/2023-11-08-scl-christmas-holiday-club and HAF funding for the SCL Christmas Club using code HAFCasHillXmas23! 

In other News.....

Fundraising Friends NEWS!

eSafety

Trips & Workshops

We have been planning some exciting trips and workshops across all year groups this academic year. These trips are planned to complement and reinforce learning on key curriculum topics. We are aware of the financial challenges that everyone is facing at the moment and so to help with budgeting have set an annual maximum figure of £40 per child, and where possible lower than this. 

Trip amounts are calculated assuming that every child takes part and makes a contribution to ensure we have raised sufficient funds. Please note, that should there be insufficient voluntary contributions the school reserves the right to cancel or postpone the trip or workshop. 

We hope that this is helpful for your financial planning. We are looking forward to some exciting experiences. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries. 

Year 6 Stubbington Residential

"Stubbington was really fun because you get put into houses and you can earn points for your house. I loved how everything we did was outside unless it was REALLY raining. We got up close to nature and even held a mouse! You go home from Stubbington with something new, a skill or a memory and you will never forget it". Written by Aubrey B (Yr 6 GB)

Year 1 Diwali Workshop

The children loved learning about the Diwali!  They took part in some traditional Bollywood dancing, they learnt new movements and even performed to each other. In the afternoon, the children made their diva's out of clay. They then painted them and took them home. Happy Diwali.

Year 6 Dance Workshops

The Year 6s enjoyed a World War 2 dance workshop in December. The children were taught the basic steps for a Lindy Hop and they enjoyed working with their partner to create new movements and finishing poses. It was lovely to see the children try something new and experience the joy of dancing like they were in the 1940s. The children have already said they want to continue practising!! 

After that, we came back to class and continued our WW2 day. The children wrote letters from the perspective of an evacuee or soldier during WW2 and then made Anderson Shelters. 

Year 3 Church Visits

Our School