Living by our Christian Values: Together in Faith, Hope and Love

Friday 13th January 2023

Horbury Bridge CE J&I Academy

Good afternoon all,

Halfway(ish) through January and I've just found a snowman hanging on the tree in my office...well, I suppose it is almost Christmas 2023 seeing as Easter eggs are already on sale!

School Blessing

On Wednesday Fr Christopher led our weekly Church Collective Worship with a special twist as it was the occasion of the annual blessing of the school as part of our Epiphany celebrations. The process involved 'Chalking' the school entrance, which you will be able to see when visiting the school.

While we are on the subject, our next School Mass will take place on Friday 3rd March and will be for Candlemas. As always, you are more than welcome to join us for this service which will start at 9:15am.

Calling all illustrators

This week we were invited to take part in a competition to help Gareth Jackson, a local author, illustrate his next book. This is a great opportunity for our pupils and I know they are really excited to take part. I sent all the information on Parent Hub this week, but if you need any spare copies of the drawing template, we have loads in school so please just ask your child to pick one up from class.

Parking and the safety of pupils

Finally, while I understand the constraints and difficulties with parking around the school, our utmost priority must be the safety of our pupils. Please can I remind you that it is neither safe nor legal to park on restricted areas outside the school grounds. I appreciate how busy everyone is, but it is that split-second, one-in-a-million incident that can have a devastating impact and we really can't take that chance. I have also had several complaints from local residents regarding inconsiderate parking and we have recently had a visit from the Council Parking Enforcement Team.

Children speak the truth and have a way of summing things up far better than I, so this week I will leave you with a thought made by a pupil in Mrs Windle's class recently who, while looking out of the window during the day said:

"Why is everyone going so quick today, they could hurt someone?"

Have a lovely weekend and please stay safe.

Mr Tuddenham

Awards and Achievements

Team Point Winners

Weekly Team Points Winners!

This week's Team Point Winners are: TEAM FIRE!

Termly Team Points Leaders!

The termly leaders are: TEAM FIRE!

Nursery Star of the Week

⭐️ Well done, Emily!

Reception Stars of the Week

Well don, Rory & Adriana ⭐️ !

Class 1 Stars of the Week

⭐️ Well done, Adam & Reuben!

Class 2 Stars of the Week

⭐️ Well done, Ben & Poppy!

Class 3 Stars of the Week

⭐️ Well done, Ollie & Daniel!

Diamond Dash Certificates

💎💎💎Well done, !

Upcoming Events and Dates

Friday 3rd February - Cinnamon Lounge Buffet Evening

PARENT HUB

We have added a channel to the Parent Hub called Office. On this channel you will find links to the following forms:

Breakfast and After School Club - use this to book any sessions in addition to regular bookings already confirmed.

General Enquiry - use this to submit a general enquiry to the office

Uniform Order- use this to submit a uniform order

Leave of Absence - complete this for any absence from school including medical appointments and holiday requests.

To subscribe to the channel, please go to manage channels and select the office. You will be able to open the form via Parent Hub and return directly to the office.

Safeguarding

Online Safety

As we approach Safer Internet Day in February, please see below for some useful advice on how to support your child/ren when online.

Online Safety with Google

As part of Google Families, Google has a hub of resources that you can use including conversation starters with links to additional tools and advice and information about parental controls. Google also provide you with resources to help your children build healthier habits and stay safe online. There is also a selection of ideas on how to use technology as a family in a fun and engaging manner such as exploring the world and learning how to code.

You can access the hub here:

https://families.google/intl/en_uk/

Being Kind Online

It can be very easy online for children to behave in a way that they wouldn’t if they were face to face with each other. Talk to your child about how they are speaking to others online and encourage them to talk to people online with respect and kindness, like they would if they were face-to-face. Dr Linda Papadopoulos (Internet Matters Ambassador) provides tips on how you can help your child to be kind online in this YouTube video such as teaching them how to be inclusive and think about how they would like to be treated online themselves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BqKi3J7g6Q&t=9s

Ensure that your child understands that if they receive unkind messages (or see something that worries them) then they should not reply or engage in conversation with them, but that they should tell a trusted adult. You can use the tools within an app to report any offensive or hurtful content as well as block people so they cannot contact you again in the future.

UNICEF have a comprehensive area on their website, that talks about what Cyberbullying is and how to stop it:

https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying