Horbury Bridge CE J&I Academy
Living by our Christian Values: Together in Faith, Hope and Love
10th December 2021 : Newsletter 13
You will have received an email from the Governors today to let you know that I will be retiring at Easter. This school has been such a big part of my life-and my family's-for over 18 years and so it has been a huge decision for me to make. It was hard telling the children in assembly this morning so I'm not sure how I will even leave the building when the time comes!
The new head, when appointed, should consider themselves very privileged. I know I have always felt this. I have always been so proud of this school and have loved being a part of it.
If you have missed the email, please find a copy of it here: Link to Letter
Christmas Performances
It has been so lovely to be able to have families join us again for Christmas performances this week. Moments like these are very special and are an important part of developing a child's self-confidence as well as making special memories for you and them.
They children have worked so hard practising their songs, actions and words and were a real delight to watch. Well done to each and every one of them for being such stars!
A huge thank you goes to all the staff who have also worked so hard, both in front of and behind the scenes, to make this possible.
We are sorry that we were unable to have as many of you in the audience as usual but hope the whole family will enjoy watching the recordings.
'Whoops-a-daisy Angel' (Foundation ) is attached here and and 'The Nativity' (Class 1) will be sent out after this afternoon's performance.
We are now looking forward to Christmas music workshops and performances by Class 2 and 3 next week.
The protective measures we are putting in place mean that: tickets are limited to 2 per family; the door will be open for ventilation so wrap up warmly; please wear a face covering and do not attend if you have any symptoms or are feeling unwell. We would also appreciate you taking a lateral flow test on the morning or evening before.
We thank you all for co-operating with these measures so that we can share the performances whilst helping to protect our children, staff and yourselves
Christmas Raffle
After being lost by the courier, re-printed and unbelievably lost again, we are now expecting delivery on Monday. As this doesn't give us very long to sell tickets, we are asking that you sell them and we will send them out retrospectively. We have sent home a form for you to collect names and payment and then we will issue the tickets to you. We thank you for your continued support.
We have some exciting prizes including £100 cash prize, Christmas hampers, Meal at Casa Peri Peri, Body Shop basket, Darling Reads gift bag, free haircut, Whisky and lots more. Please support us by encouraging family and friends to buy as many tickets as possible.
Christmas Dinners
We will be having our Christmas Dinner on Wednesday 15th December and Christmas Party Lunch on Friday 17th December. If your child is normally on sandwiches but would like to have a school dinner for either of the special days , please inform the office via email enquiries@horburybridgeacademy.co.uk .
On our final day of term, children will be having class based celebrations. Party Lunch will be individual portions of party style food and children can wear Christmas jumpers to add to the festive feeling.
Please find the link to next week's dinner menu. CLICK LINK
Christingle
We held our Christingle Service yesterday to remind us of the important message of Christmas. Year 3 performed a Nativity in the service which included readings, songs and a blessing from Father Christopher. Thank to everyone who has sent in donations for the National Children's Society who support children whose lives are very difficult and different to our own. As we lit our Christingles, we thought about how Jesus can bring light and hope into our world.
See all our photos here: Christingle photos The video of the service will be sent out next week
Discos
See our video clips and photo links to see how much fun we had at the discos last night!
Photo links: Foundation and Class 1 Class 2 and 3
PXL_20211209_175131447.mp4PXL_20211209_183905215.mp4
Class 3's Christmas Shop
Class 3 would like to invite you to their Christmas shop which will be open on Tuesday the 14th of December from 3pm!
This half term, the children in Class 3 have worked in small groups to set up their own businesses. Each of our young entrepreneurs were given £5 to buy what they needed to design and build their products.
After lots of hard work, Class 3 will be trialing their businesses and selling their products next Tuesday after school!
There will be lots of hand made Christmasy goods available that would make great Christmas presents and stocking fillers!
Will they make a profit? Come along and find out!
Foundation Stage
Nursery children who usually go into school through the right hand side door, please use the left door from Monday. Their coat pegs have moved rooms as they get ready to move to the next classroom and we prepare for new starters joining us in January.
In January, Nursery children will also be ready for their next step of independence to leave their adults on the playground and go into school with the staff.
In case you missed it....
Congratulations to Miss Painter who is expecting her second child in April. Mrs Thompson will be covering her maternity leave.
Below is the link to the Winter edition of Raring2go! family magazine.
If you or a young person you know, are experiencing difficult emotions, the Council booklet Managing Difficult Feelings includes self-care tips, coping strategies and links to support services Managing Difficult Feelings. It can also be found on the wakefield.gov website.
Class News
Class 2
This week, the children welcomed Fr Christopher to talk to us about mass and Holy Communion. Following on from his church assemblies throughout this term, the children remembered the key parts to this special service and discussed why each is important.
Fr Christopher told us that he would be holding a special mass service for school in the new year and he wanted the children's help to find suitable songs to sing. He told us that the service would be thinking about 'Epiphany'; the time when the Three Wise Men travelled to visit the baby Jesus after he was born. The children then thought of songs about the three kings and esus being the light of the world. We all listened to the songs and voted on which ones we should sing.
Class 3
Class 3 have been working hard this week towards their 'Grow £5' challenge. They have been split into small groups and given £5 each to set up their very own Christmas gift business!
After budgeting and sourcing their resources online, our entrepreneurs have spent lots of time to produce high-quality products to sell at their very own Christmas shop.
They have thought carefully about pricing their items and their advertisement campaigns too! What's more, their profits will go towards buying new books for the whole school.
Make sure to come and see the children's fabulous creations next Tuesday!
Achievements
Foundation Stage
The whole of Foundation Stage
Well done for amazing Christmas performances this week
Class 1
All Class 1
Well done for amazing Christmas performances this week
Class 2
Year 3
A super Nativity performance in the Christingle Service
Class 3
Eva- Always working hard and trying to be the very best you can be! You really are a Horbury Bridge role model.
Molly- For helping other children complete their Christmas cards and having a great attitude
Headteacher's Award
Annabel W: An amazing xylophone performance to the whole school. What a talent and such confidence!
Important Dates
Diary Dates can be found below.
Term Dates can be found on our website https://www.horburybridgeacademy.co.uk/diarydates/