Castle Hill Primary School

Mr Martin's Message

• Last day of term is Friday 20th December and it is a whole school mufti-day. A donation of £1 would be very much appreciated as every penny goes towards the School Hardship Fund. This can be paid via Scopay or cash on the day (handed to the teacher).

• Arbor - We are excited to announce that we will move our Management Information System (MIS) from Pupil Asset to Arbor on the 6th of January 2025. Adopting Arbor will allow us to communicate with you more efficiently and bring all core school data and workflows into one system. We will be sending out a 'Welcome to Arbor letter' to parents in the new year with all the information needed on how to set up your login. Please look out for this information and register your child when prompted.  For parents with children at Castle Hill Infants currently using Arbor, instructions will be sent out regarding adding additional children to their current account. We look forward to getting started with Arbor and invite all our parents to familiarise themselves using the link below before this date.

Getting started - Log into the Parent Portal and the Parent App.

• No sweet rule - please remember we do not allow children to bring sweets or chocolate for snacks or in their packed lunches. Thank you.

• School Hardship Fund - We know that within our school community, some families may be 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 want to talk privately to a team member, please email admin@chjs.net. If you would still like to contribute, you can donate online via ScoPay.

• Parking - Please park safely and responsibly when dropping off and collecting your children. Please do not block our neighbours' driveways, garages, or carports.

• HCC is recruiting to find School Crossing Patrol Officers at Greenbank and Rooksdown. The vacancy can be found on our vacancy page - https://www.castlehillprimary.net/job-vacancies

What has Been happening in School?

Time to Shine

Year R Nativity

Year 6 Time to Thrive (Greenbank)

In September, we introduced Time to Thrive as a way for all children to build on the Castle Hill 4C's and their emotional resilience and readiness to learn. In Year 6, the children have been working on collaborating. They made board games, and they all had different roles to play. This week, they got the chance to play each others' games and test the skills they've been working on all term. 

"It's my favourite time of the week! It's a great way to learn!" - Liam 

"Thrive has helped us to work together and talk to people we wouldn't usually socialise with" - Adam and Isla

This is a weekly session for all children in every year group, and so far, it has proved to be a fun and exciting new way for the children to develop skills that are so important to other parts of the curriculum. 

Year 6 certainly can't wait to see what they'll learn next term!

Year 3/4 Christmas Performances

A huge well done to all our Year 3 and 4 pupils for their fantastic hard work, acting, and singing in the play Hooray in a Manger. Your dedication and hours of practice truly paid off, and you brought the story to life with enthusiasm, energy, and talent. From learning your lines to mastering the songs and perfecting your stage presence, you all showed incredible commitment and teamwork. It was a joy to watch you perform and see your confidence shine on stage. We are so proud of every single one of you!

We would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the parents for their invaluable support and help with costuming and learning lines in this busy time. Also, a special thank you to Mrs Anishchenko for creating the incredible Greenbank stage backdrop (see picture below).

We hope everyone enjoyed the show as much as we did!

Christmas Dinner Day

House Day 🎁🎄🧑‍🎄☃️❄️

The children took part in 4 activities based on around our Castle Hill 4C's -

• Confidence - took part in a quiz

• Creative - created new posters for our new 4C's 

• Compassion - created Christmas cards for external agencies (care homes, other schools etc.)

• Collaboration - created houses using spaghetti and playdough.

Christmas Jumper/ Christmas Lunch Day

The children were thoroughly excited to be in their Christmas jumpers; there was a real buzz around the school. The children entered our festive hall and sat down for Christmas dinner. Thank you to all the lunch team, cooks, teachers and PTPs, who organised and helped serve our annual Christmas lunch. 

Attendance

Attendance Updates

Thank you for working with us to improve attendance at Castle Hill Primary this year. Our overall attendance is 95% (nationally, it is 94%). Our persistent absences (those pupils who are below 90%, equivalent to missing half a day a week) are down to 10% (versus 16% nationally). 

Our pupils with good attendance are making good progress throughout the school, and we look forward to seeing them attend every day in September. Thank you again for sending your pupils regularly to school so that we can teach and develop them to be better learners and citizens of the future.

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

Our current percentage is 96%. Well done!

The classes with the best attendance this half term are:

Rooksdown

KS1 – Year 2 Miss Simpson  = 97.9%

KS2 – Year 5 Miss Harding/Mrs Gomarsall = 97.86%

Greenbank

Year 3 Miss Edwards = 97.4%

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

RD Year 5/6 Girls Football

GB Year 5/6 Girls and Boys Football

RD Year 5/6 Boys Football

RD Skipping Contest

Holiday Camps / Clubs

In other News.....

Fundraising Friends NEWS!

eSafety

Keeping Your Children Safe Online This Christmas

The festive season is upon us, and many of our pupils will be receiving exciting new gifts, including smartphones, tablets, and games consoles. While these devices can provide hours of entertainment and learning opportunities, it's crucial to prioritise online safety.

Here are some tips to help your child enjoy their new gadgets safely:

• Open Conversations:

  • Start early: Discuss online safety with your child from a young age, even before they have their own devices.

  • Make it age-appropriate: Tailor your conversations to your child's age and understanding.

  • Use real-life examples: Discuss online safety in the context of everyday life, such as news stories or personal experiences.

  • Listen actively: Pay attention to your child's concerns and answer their questions honestly and openly.

• Device Settings:

  • Parental Controls: Utilise the parental control features on devices and gaming consoles. This allows you to:

    • Limit screen time: Set daily time limits for device usage and consistent bedtimes.

    • Filter content: Block inappropriate websites and apps, including those with adult content, violence, and hate speech.

    • Monitor activity: Track your child's online activity, such as websites visited and apps used.

    • App Store Restrictions: Restrict downloads and in-app purchases to prevent accidental or unauthorised spending.

  • Privacy Settings:

    • Review and adjust privacy settings on social media platforms and gaming accounts.

    • Explain the importance of only sharing personal information with trusted friends and family.

    • Encourage using privacy settings to control who can see their posts and photos.

• Age-Appropriate Content:

  • Research games and apps: Before allowing your child to use a new game or app, research its content and age rating.

  • Play games together: Play games with your child to understand the content and gameplay.

  • Use age-appropriate content filters: Utilise age-appropriate content filters on streaming services and gaming platforms.

• Passwords:

  • Create strong passwords: Encourage strong passwords that combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

  • Avoid using personal information: Discourage the use of personal information like birthdays or pet names in passwords.

  • Use a password manager: Consider using a password manager to help your child create and remember strong, unique passwords for each account.

• Online Predators:

  • Warn about the dangers of communicating with strangers online. Explain that people online may not be who they claim to be.

  • Teach your child never to share personal information such as their full name, address, phone number, or school name with strangers online.

  • Encourage them to report any suspicious or uncomfortable online interactions.

• Cyberbullying:

  • Explain the impact of cyberbullying: Discuss how cyberbullying can hurt others emotionally and socially.

  • Teach your child to be kind and respectful online.

  • Encourage them to report cyberbullying to you, a teacher, or a trusted adult.

  • Block and ignore bullies: Teach your child to block and ignore bullies online.

• Screen Time Rules:

  • Establish clear rules about device usage.

  • Designate screen-free times: Create screen-free zones and times, such as mealtimes, bedtime, and family time.

  • Encourage outdoor activities: Encourage physical and outdoor play to balance screen time.

• Family Time:

  • Engage in family activities that don't involve screens.

  • Play board games, read books together, have family dinners, and go on outings.

  • Model responsible device usage: Be a role model for your child by demonstrating responsible device usage.

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, we 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 to you in your financial planning. We are looking forward to some exciting experiences. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries. 

Year 3 Church Visit (both sites)

Year 3 visited St Thomas of Canterbury Church for their new RE topic Special Places. The children were able to explore the church, find special areas within the church and discuss what they are used for. John and Maggie (the Vicar and his wife) helped the children to understand why parts of the church were so important and told them some stories from the Bible. 

Year 1 Geography Rooksdown Walk Around

In Geography, we have been learning about our local area. We have learnt how to follow maps, recognise symbols and create symbols of our own. We went for a walk around Rooksdown using our own created symbols to spot local features. The children were so well behaved and enjoyed every minute of the experience. Thank you to our volunteers for helping! 

Year 4 Christmas in a Box (Greenbank)

Year 4 participated in a ‘Christmas in a Box’ Workshop run by the Church of the Good Shepherd. The children received their own paper box and learnt about the Christmas story from the aspect of different ‘characters’. They were given an item to replicate each part of the story, which they decorated and could take home with them.

Year 6 Dance Workshop & WW2 day (both sites)

The Year 6's concluded their Conflict topic with a World War 2 day. The children learnt about Morse code, Alan Turning and the Enigma Machine, which helped the Allies win the war! They then participated in a dance workshop, where they learnt the lindy-hop and jive. Despite some of the children not being confident dancers, they all gave it a go and by the end of the class they were loving it! We finished the day with our DT Air Raid Shelters, where the children worked in groups to design and build model shelters suitable for an air raid. Some of them were stronger than others! We have loved our Conflict topic and have learnt so much in the past term.

Our School