Dear Parents and Carers 

It’s been a quiet week after the busyness of STEM week. The school looks a little bare without Fairyland; it’s rather akin to taking the Christmas decorations down. 

I am really enjoying our assembly series this term, which is based on St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in the New Testament, in particular the words in chapter 13 about love. Each week we have been exploring different aspects of God’s perfect love, explaining to the children that love is patient, kind, not proud, selfish or rude and eternal.  Do ask your children about Betty and Bernard (Helen and Tom at the juniors and Lilja and Kim at the infants) who are a highlight of each week and put a real-life perspective on each week’s theme. Alongside this, each week a staff member has been invited to learn a different musical instrument that they have never played before – all building up to a band. I am looking forward to hearing how it all comes together at the end of term! This has been supplemented with music demonstrations by visiting music peripatetic teachers to introduce the children to a wider range of instruments they might like to consider learning. 

At the Juniors, G live preparation is well underway, with a fantastic first rehearsal for the orchestra along with all of the other Guildford Primary School Musicians. Next Wednesday will be the choir rehearsal for our Year 5 and 6 choir, with the concert on Monday 31st March.  With so many children being part of our school choir, some were disappointed not to be chosen to sing at G-Live. We are going to host our own music showcase on Wednesday 2nd April at 2.45pm for all of the choir and the advanced recorder players to perform for parents/carers. 

It’s been wonderful to see Year 1 using the picture book, ‘When the Dragons Came’ as a stimulus for their writing. This book was written by ex-teachers from HTPD – what an inspiration!  On Wednesday, the infants were living out our value of ‘Imagining the journey in another's footsteps’ when the Stepping Stones charity delivered an assembly to build the school community’s awareness and understanding of Downs Syndrome. 

On Thursday, the Year 2 Eco Team visited Guildford Cathedral for their Eco Day. Throughout the day, the children learnt about CO2 emissions and how we can re-cycle and reuse more. The children were asked how they would like to see our planet and discussed what we can do collectively to work towards looking after God’s Kingdom on Earth. There were several ‘wow’ moments, such as watching a large block of ice melt slowly throughout the day to show what is happening to our planet. One of the aims of the day is to spread the word - we can look forward to an Eco Team infant assembly soon! 

There’s rarely a week without sport at HTPD! On Thursday, Laura took two teams to Tormead for the final Year 5 netball matches of the season. For some girls, it was their first netball match against another school; everyone really enjoyed the afternoon.  Whilst this was taking place, a group of Year 6 boys competed in the Year 6 Football Festival at HT. The boys represented the school brilliantly against four other teams from local schools. Whilst they didn’t come away with medals, they can be very proud of the way they conducted themselves and the sportsmanship they showed throughout.  

Whilst the uptake of school lunches can vary with seasons and fads, we have seen a slight drop in the number of children choosing to have a school dinner. We are always interested in the views of children and parents/carers and lunch is no exception. School Council are currently discussing school lunches, and we would like to invite you to complete this short survey to gather your views https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/holy-trinity-pewley-down-2025 

Next Friday, we will be marking Red Nose Day in school. The children can come to school dressed in red or wearing a red accessory - anything from a fully red outfit to a silly hat or even just a red nose. We would ask that those who would like to support Comic Relief this year donate £1 (or more if you would like to!). This can be brought in cash on the day or donated via Parent Pay. As part of the day, each class will have voted on a silly class competition to take part in to try and win a red nose. We will also be announcing a competition which some children may wish to carry on over next weekend to try and win prizes for the school.  

Have a wonderful weekend, it looks like the sun will continue to shine! 

Best wishes 

Vicky