Newsletter 20 - 6th February 2026

It's been a swashbuckling kind of week in Early Years! Thank you for your wonderful efforts with the children's costumes; they loved Pirate Day. 

The fun has continued throughout the week with the children enjoying activities such as creating maps for friends to follow, crafting parrots, pirate accessories and painting or drawing pictures for a pirate themed gallery. They've explored the composition of numbers to 10 through sorting pirate treasure and have taken great delight finding and reading buried treasure coins in the sand. What an adventure its been! 

In KS1 this week the children have been exploring weaving in Art. They explored what ‘warp’ and ‘weft’ meant to help with their understanding of how weaving works, and then they had a go at using paper strips to create a paper loom. The children are very proud of their paper looms and we hope you enjoyed seeing them too!  

We are currently quite short of volunteers for the KS1 trip to SeaCity Museum on Thursday 26th February. If you have a DBS with us and would like to help, please get in touch with the office - even if your child is not on the trip! Unfortunately, the trip may be cancelled due to the lack of volunteers

💃Well done to the first classes that completed the sponsored Zumbathon this week. They all did amazingly. It is the turn of Year 2 and Orange Class next week. 

Thank you to everyone that has brought their sponsorship money in already, the deadline for this is Friday 13th February. If any of the children would like to join Zumba, Janine runs this as an after school club on a Wednesday she would love to see the children there!

✨Today is the day of the school disco! Put Your Hands Up DJ Services will be playing the tunes for the children, we hope they have a fabulous time!

🌙 After Dark: 90s & 00s Adult Disco - 6 March

Back by popular demand! After the fantastic success of last year’s event, we’re thrilled to welcome back our ‘After Dark: 90s & 00s Adult Disco’.

This will again be held at Hedge End Village Hall and is a bring‑your‑own event. Families and friends are more than welcome — it’s not limited to Infant School parents, so please spread the word! No under 18s!

Tickets are on sale now.

🎟️ Buying Tickets

All event tickets can be purchased easily through our ticket platform:

👉 https://buytickets.at/fishes

🐰 Easter Fayre - 21st March

We are currently in the process of planning the upcoming Easter Fayre. If you are able to spare any time we would really appreciate you completing the form:  https://volunteersignup.org/RP8JY 

📚 World Book Day – Celebrating the Year of Reading!

We are very excited to announce that this year is officially The Year of Reading, and what better way to begin than with one of our favourite events… World Book Day!

On World Book Day, children are invited to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. We can’t wait to see the amazing creativity, colour and imagination that the day always brings.

Bridging the Gap – Online Sessions (February 2026)

These sessions are designed for parent carers of young people aged 14–25 with mental health needs, offering information and support around transitions. All sessions are online and free to attend:

• 11 February, 12.30–1.30pm – Developmental Language Disorder (with Afasic)

• 13 February, 11–12pm – Understanding Masking (guest speaker Ellie – Lived Experience Trainer, Autism & ADHD)

• 27 February, 11–12pm – Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (guest speaker Ellie – Lived Experience Trainer, Autism & ADHD)

Booking link: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/hpcn

HPCN Get Togethers – February & March 2026

Our Get Togethers provide informal, welcoming spaces for parent carers to:

• Connect with other parent carers

• Share experiences and local issues

• Give feedback on services

• Access information and support from visiting services

Sessions are held both in person across Hampshire and online, with some dates attended by Hampshire SENDIASS and Hampshire Local Offer/FISH teams.

(Please see attached flyers for full dates, times, and venues for February and March.)

Annual HPCN SEND Survey – Please Share Widely

We are also asking for your help to promote our annual SEND survey as widely as possible to:

• Parent carers

• Young people with SEND

• Professionals working in education, health, or care

This survey is anonymous, and responses feed directly into Hampshire County Council and Hampshire ICB’s combined self-improvement form, which is reviewed by OFSTED and the CQC. This is a real opportunity to influence what is said about SEND services locally. Key points:

• Professionals can complete it from a work perspective or about a young person

• Young people can complete it themselves

• The more responses we receive, the stronger our collective voice for change

Prizes for taking part:

• 1st prize: £150

• 2nd prize: £100

• 3rd prize: £50

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HPCN2026

What YOU must do:

Try to telephone the school before 8.30am each day of your child’s absence.

Tell the school in advance, of any medical appointments and bring in appointment cards/letters.

If you are not sure whether your child is well enough to attend school, send them in anyway as they often perk up on arrival.

If you and your child are experiencing difficulties with school attendance then talk to us as a first step so we can help!

What WE will do:

Check your child’s attendance every day.

Phone home to discuss your child’s attendance with you.

Invite you into school for attendance meetings if we are concerned.

If we cannot establish a reason for absence, then we may make a welfare home visit.