Newsletter – 14-Jun-24

KS2 Performances

Years 3 and 4:  Wednesday 10th July in the afternoon.  Timings TBC.  (Dress rehearsal on Tues 9th July)

Years 5 and 6:  Tuesday 16th July in the afternoon.  Timings TBC. (Dress rehearsal on Mon 15th July)

JUNE - Festival of Sports 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

Forthcoming Author visit for Y2-5

We are delighted to announce that children’s author Kerry McIntosh is visiting us on  Monday 1st July 2024. Kerry has written a truly inspirational book entitled ‘Rory Green, Secret Agent to the Queen’, which highlights how every child can play a part in saving the planet. This is a topic that is really close to our hearts at the Priory.

 Kerry is going to read a chapter of her book to pupils in Y2-5, hold a question-and-answer session straight after and even sign copies of her book for us.

If you would like to purchase a copy of ‘Rory Green, Secret Agent to the Queen’, please send the exact money to the school office in a named envelope by 28thth June 2024. 

Then, on the day, Kerry will personally sign each copy and distribute them at the end of her session. How exciting!

A copy of Kerry’s book is just £6.99 and this is a wonderful opportunity to get her autograph, making it a fantastic keepsake or gift. 

Posters about this exciting event will appear around school shortly, so keep your eyes peeled!

Sports Day: 20th June

Start time : 9.30am.
If you would like to take your child home after the sports events have finished, you will be able to do so from around 1.15pm.

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Monday… saw children braving the showers to enjoy an energetic and fun session with the coaches from the youth team up at Ramsdell Cricket Club. They learned all about stumps and wickets and LBWs and lots of them showed developing skills – the coaches were impressed! The club are looking to extend their youth team and provide cricketing opportunities for local young people of all ages, so do get in touch with them if your child enjoyed the sessions.

Wednesday… saw the launch of the first part of our new look Sports Day with a longer distance running event. There was a great turnout of supporting parents and an even better turnout of children running to earn points for their team. There were some hotly contested races, masses of effort from children across the school and even more smiling happy faces! Everyone enjoyed the impromptu practise round by Years 1 and 2 – that’s the sort of memories that great school sports days are made of! It was super fun and really positively received by parents and children alike – we’ll definitely be keeping this new initiative next year.

Thursday… saw a double sports bonanza with Mrs Adams and Coach Zack taking our awesome Tag Rugby Team to a local schools all day rugby festival. It was an incredible end to an amazing inaugural season, read all about it in Mrs Adams’ match report below.

Team try-outs for 2024-25 will be in September for Years 5/6!

Meanwhile back at school everyone picked up their foil and shouted “Enguarde!” as children in all classes enjoyed a fencing taster session with Coach Max. Sometimes in school you get to say the weirdest things and they are perfectly normal in context but hilarious on reflection – “Don’t slap him with it, poke him with the pointy end, ” one teacher was heard to cry. Definitely one for the book of funny school quotes.

…And so it’s Friday and by the time you read this we will have had the first in our series of Inspirational Sports Assemblies with Swimmer (and Priory auntie) Verity Lemm.

The KS1 Quad Kids Inter-Schools Athletics (for selected pupils) was postponed due to bad weather, we will keep you posted once a new date has been confirmed. Be sure to check in next week for all the details.

In other news, Sports Day fast approaches – start time 9.30am on Thursday 20th June (weather permitting!).  As usual we are hoping for a sunny picnic on the field at around 12pm and children will be allowed to go home with parents afterwards.  You’ll receive an electronic programme with running order and a useful information guide on Monday.

That’s all for now, have a super sporty weekend!

Basingstoke TAG Rugby Festival – Thursday 13th June

On Thursday this week The Priory Primary Rugby Squad of 2024 took part in an area wide TAG rugby festival held at Chineham RFC in Basingstoke. The structure of the day played out with the children competing in an initial group of 6 schools, with the top 4 in that group going through to the knockout stages against the top 4 in the second group. As always, our team displayed their fantastic skills and team work which resulted in them coming away with 3 wins, a draw and a loss against a range of strong team. This meant that we had qualified for the quarter finals. In a nail-biting match the full-time score was a draw – in extra time our team showed real grit and determination and just got ahead by 1 try to secure the win and to send us through to the semi-finals! By this point I could barely watch and was elated when the final whistle went!

Out of the 12 teams in the competition we had made it to the final 4 – the team were thrilled and even more determined to do their best. In the semi we came up against a strong team from North Waltham Primary school and again in a close game, which could have gone either way, the team worked incredibly hard, demonstrated great skills and teamwork and were just defeated by 1 try in the final seconds of the game.

Despite the disappointment of that game and being knocked out of the competition, overall I could not have been more proud of their stunning achievements in making it that far in the tournament. For many of the team they had not picked up a rugby ball before this school year and today they were amongst some of the bast TAG rugby teams for our area. This was testament to their hard work and commitment to their squad whilst having a great time along the way. Well done to our Priory Rugby Squad of 2023 – 24 – you are amazing!

Once again, huge thanks to Coach Zack for all of his efforts with the squad, to the parents who have supported the squad throughout the year (especially Mr and Mrs Candy who are my official squad support crew) and finally to Mrs Marzetti who has enabled our participation in all of the games and the competitions this year. I can’t wait for next year when we can continue with our existing team and look forward to our upcoming year 5s as they start their rugby journeys!

Mrs Adams

Star of Wonder Awards

YEAR R: Hannah, Hallie and Freddie

YEAR 1: Mason, Maty and Jago

YEAR 2: Rosie, Theo and Charlotte Clay

YEAR 3: George, Finley, Gracie and Jasper

YEAR 4: Sophia, Alex, Jolie and Keira

YEAR 5: Poppy, Matilda, Robert and Adam

YEAR 6: Erys, James and Casper

Achievement Award for Piano

YEAR R: Victoria

YEAR 1: Neave

Safeguarding and Wellbeing

Spotlight on Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing

As we continue through the summer term we will be focussing on the Growing and Changing Unit for PSHE. As part of this the children’s mental health is just as important as the physical changes that we teach them about, alongside the discussions and learning around healthy relationships. Whilst we have a constant focus on the children’s mental wellbeing at school, this week’s section aims to help you to spot any changes in your child’s mental health from a home perspective.

Recognising the signs that your child may be struggling with their mental health…

Mental health should be treated with the same level of importance as physical health. We all possess it, and it is our responsibility to care for it. This involves being able to identify when something isn’t quite right, as well as implementing preventative measures to ensure our children’s mental health is in good condition.

Initiating Discussions with Your Child About their Mental Health

Taking care of a child’s mental health is a continuous process. Having conversations with them from an early age can make a significant difference in the long run. Starting with a daily check-in about how they’re feeling is an excellent way to begin these talks. These conversations can also encourage your child to engage in healthy activities that can further support their mental well-being. Below is an example of a check-in you could use.

Tips for Nurturing Your Child’s Mental Health –  some helpful tips to prevent potential mental health issues from arising and promote a healthy well-being for your child.

The importance of sleep – Children are developing physically, intellectually and emotionally and their development is aided by good quality sleep. Children who have poor sleep will find it harder to cope with daily life and may suffer with poor mental health.

Tips for improving sleep:

• Have a set bedtime everyday and create a calming environment 30 minutes before bedtime
• Have a routine during the 30 minutes so the child knows what to expect. This might include having a bath and reading a story
• Put electronic devices away 30 minutes before bedtime.
• Have good eating and exercise habits during the day

Young Minds-A Charity Committed to the Mental Health of Young People

Young Minds is a charity that offers assistance and resources to both young individuals and parents. Their website has plenty of valuable guidance and advice,including a helpline for parents and children in need of support.

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/            

Reporting concerns

Key actions to take if you have a concern that a child is in danger, may suffer harm and maltreatment…

MAKE A REPORT IF…

• If you fear that a child is in immediate danger CALL 999 and report the concern
• IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS AND YOU ARE NOT SURE WHAT YOU SHOULD DO – report your concerns to the DSL and team at school

Alternative options – as a member of the public you can report a concern to Hampshire’s Child Protection Services directly – information about the services is available here – this site provides useful information and learning about a range of abuse as well as what will happen when concerns are reported –

https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/childrenandfamilies/safeguardingchildren/childprotection

If you are a member of the public and wish to report any welfare/safeguarding concerns DIRECTLY TO CHILDREN’S SERVICES:- you can complete Hampshire’s online form here: online enquiry form

You can report a concern over the telephone and via email –

Phone 0300 555 1384   
Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5pm
Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm

Email childrens.services@hants.gov.uk     Please note: Emails are dealt with during normal office hours Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. At other times phone our out of hours number.      

Out of hours – Out of hours contact telephone number for Children’s Services Phone 0300 555 1373 

REMEMBER – SAFEGUARDING IS  EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY

Summer Clubs

Please note that there will be two new summer camps running at The Priory this summer and The Oaks will continue to run their summer club at Mortimer St Mary’s.

• 22nd – 26th July:  Summer Camp with Mrs Enticknap

  (a Priory parent and qualified teacher) . Please click here for full details and then click here for the booking form and email to zoe@hillyardmail.com

• 29th July – 16th August: Curveball Summer Camp with Coach Zack

  Please click here for more information and click here to book

• 5th – 23rd August:  The Oaks at Mortimer St. Mary’s

  Please click here for details or email office@theoakschildcare.co.uk for more details.