NEWSLET TER Issue 12 - 2nd December 2022

From the Executive Headteacher... This week, we welcomed the final two groups of prospective parents and carers to Hillyfield. So far, over 200 parents have had the opportunity to tour and find out more about our school and our curriculum. We’ve highlighted the opportunities that are open to Hillyfield pupils including our specialist teaching teams, specialist facilities, whole class instrumental programme, residential programme, Hillyfield 6 and the new Hillyfield Challenge Programme. At Hillyfield, we have teachers for dance, art, music, computing, sport and design technology. We also have a specialist programme that means every child, from Year 2 to 6, learns to play a musical instrument. Our Year 2s play the ocarina (a very child-friendly, handheld pre-woodwind instrument) progressing to recorder in Year 3, ukulele in Year 4, brass (trumpet, trombone) and woodwind (flute) in Year 5 and, finally, samba drumming in Year 6. Residential opportunities are also a very important part of our curriculum. Year 6 will have their activity weekend (as many schools do) in the summer but, at Hillyfield, to prepare children for this experience we offer activity trips with a night away in Year 5 (Suntrap) and Year 4 (Gilwell Park). In Year 3, to help prepare our children for these experiences, we run a school sleepover with games, activities and songs around the campfire. Building confidence, independence and resilience is important for every child’s development and, year on year, we like to ensure the opportunities on offer enable children to develop in a safe, supportive and very fun way. As always, if you’d like to find out more about our curriculum at Hillyfield, please browse our website, school magazine, newsletters and Twitter feed. Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Enjoy the weekend. David Worrall

Hillyfield at the Park attendance:

Overall attendance for this week:

Hillyfield on the Hill attendance:

95.2%

94.6%

93.8%

School News

Tweet of The Week

End of Extra Curricular clubs This week was the last week of after school activity clubs this term. We hope the children enjoyed taking part in clubs this term and are looking forward to starting again in the new year. Maths Morning Maths Morning (Reception- Year 5) Day: Tuesday 6th December Time: 8.35 - 9.05am Location: Your child’s classroom You are invited to join your child for a maths morning on Tuesday 6th December at 8.35 - 9.05am. It will be a great opportunity for your child to share their learning with you and for all to take part in a range of fun maths activities together. We look forward to seeing you at the maths morning! Thank you for your continued support. The Maths Team The Winter Fair Just a reminder to parents and carers that tokens for the winter fair (Friday 9th December) are only available until Tuesday 6th December on Parent Pay. You will not be able to pay any tokens on the day of the fair. Tokens are 50p each, their is a limit of £2 per child. Items on sale at the winter fair will cost either 50p or £1. The Year 6 team.

Attendance Stars of the week Tan Class - 99.0%

Upcoming dates for your diary... Tuesday 6th December 2022 - Arts Winter Exhibition - Park site (3:45pm - 4:00pm) Tuesday 6th December 2022 - Maths morning 8:35am - 9:05am (both sites) Wednesday 7th December 2022 - Reception Nativity - Park Site (9:30am) Thursday 8th December 2022 - Arts Winter Exhibition - Hill Site (3:45pm - 4:00pm) Thursday 8th December 2022 - Young Scientist Centre Trip - Sennett Thursday 8th December 2022 - Christmas Dinner & Jumper Day Friday 9th December 2022 - The Winter Fair Monday 12th December 2022 - Year 1 &2 Christmas Concert - Park Site (9:30am & 1:45pm) Tuesday 13th December 2022 - Year 3 & 4 Christmas Concert - Park Site (9:30am & 1:45pm) Tuesday 13th December 2022 - Nursery Christmas Concert - Both Sites (9.30am) Tuesday 13th December 2022 - Years 1, 2 & 3 Christmas Concert Hill Site (9:30am & 1:45pm) Wednesday 14th December 2022- Year 5&6 Christmas Concert - Park Site (9:30am & 1:45pm) Wednesday 14th December 2022 - Years 4, 5 & 6 Christmas Concert Hill Site (9:30am & 1:45pm) Thursday 15th December 2022 - School Nurse Drop In Session Thursday 15th December 2022 - Last Day of Term (No Teatime club) Wednesday 4th January 2022 - School Reopens For All Children

Brilliance in Every Child Excellence Every Day

Love history and animals? Then why not visit the Grant Museum, which is home to over 68,000 zoological specimens. Notable specimens include the world’s rarest skeleton, the quagga; thylacine specimens; dodo bones and a collection of models. Click here to find out more about how to visit for free!

25 Healthy Christmas Snacks Adding Christmas cheer to snacks and party foods for kids can be simple and fast- and not filled with sugar! Just the way you plate up raw vegetables or a tray of fruit can elevate ordinary fruits and vegetables to merry morsels. We have 25 ideas for healthy holiday themed snacks and party foods that your kids are going to love! https://www.superhealthykids.com/25-healthychristmas-snacks-party-foods/

Brilliance in Every Child Excellence Every

News From Year 3 Last week Year 3 had their termly art day. This term we focused on the skill of using colour and practiced mixing primary colours to make secondary. We made incredible art using shapes and using string to mimic the art of Jackson Pollock.

Brilliance in Every Child Excellence Every

We’re taking part in Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day on Thursday 8th December! It doesn’t matter where we are - at home, work or school – on Christmas Jumper Day all you need to do is get your silliest, most festive jumper on and donate to Save the Children. By pulling on our festive knits and donating, we’ll be transforming the future for children. Just £2 could pay for a bottle of hand sanitiser to help fight coronavirus in a Save the Children medical clinic, whilst £20 could pay for a back-to-school kit for a child in Indonesia. Please donate and wear a Christmas Jumper on the 8th December. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hillyfield-primary-academy11?utm_source=copyLink&utm_ medium=fundraising&utm_content=hillyfield-primary-academy11&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_ term=e19b079d53754a63a32019dde6d8ff9e

Science at Hillyfield

In science, Year 3 are learning about light and dark. They planned an investigation to see if a shadow would change size if the light source moved. They also looked at opaque and transparent objects to see how the light travelled through them.

Year 6 have had an incredible time visiting the Royal Institute and taking part in a DNA extraction workshop. We took some of our cheek cells and used them to make jewelry, working in a real Science laboratory and with equipment such as micro-pipettes and ethanol.

Brilliance in Every Child Excellence Every Day

Betty’s Blog Hello everyone! I’ve heard lots of adults and children talking about the countdown to Christmas this week. There has been so much singing happening around the school. I’ve been very good and resisted joining in. This week I joined Reception at the Hill site at the end of their nativity performance. They were wearing the most fur-tastic outfits, some of them looked super snuggly. I decided I should join them in looking festive so I put on one of my Christmas jumpers. The hall was full of parents and grandparents who were very paw-roud. They had the biggest smiles on their faces and were giving their children hugs and lots of praise. I sure love a hug and I was lucky enough to enjoy one with a few children who told me they were shepherds and some kind of fluffy white animal (who was very cuddly). I will ask the children next week what they might be. I’m so excited for the rest of the concerts and the other Christmas things we have coming up. Have you got your Christmas jumper ready? There were some paw-some parents in the playground this week handing out Christmas jumpers that had been kindly donated. The children who walked out of the gates with them looked very excited. I can’t wait to see everyone wearing them. This week I had a special visit from Layla in Shackleton class. She had written a story about me called ‘Lost Betty’. Miss Nafeel was very paw-sitive about it and Mrs Casbolt gave Layla a special golden sticker. Keep up the fab work Layla. Looking forward to more festive fun with everyone next week.

Hillyfield at the Park Aveling Park Road, London, E17 4NR T: 020 8498 4920 E: [email protected]

Hillyfield on the Hill Higham Hill Road, London, E17 6ED T: 020 8527 7934 F: 020 8523 3868 E: [email protected]

www.hillyfieldacademy.com