Dear Parents and Carers, 

With our first full week of term complete, I want to thank you for supporting such a positive start. It’s been wonderful to see children arriving promptly each morning, ready to learn. Just a reminder: children should be in their classrooms by 8.40am at the juniors and 8.30am at the infants.  This 10 minute staggered start allows time to drop off at the infants before the juniors. It’s been really impressive to see learning getting underway so quickly each day – I’m excited that our ‘zest for learning and love of life’ school value is being so enthusiastically embraced by all the classes!  

It was great to welcome the parents and carers at our ‘Meet the Team’ events. I hope you found the information helpful and not too overwhelming. We will endeavour to keep in regular communication as the weeks go by, both through the weekly newsletter and ‘just to let you know’ (JTLYK) pages, and by parentmail. Please do email though if something isn’t clear. And do ask us if you’d welcome further explanation especially if English isn’t your first language.  

One important aspect you heard about is our online safety message. We ask you to support your child in navigating this tricky area by closely supervising their use of the internet and by not allowing them to bring phones or other devices (including smart watches, or air tags) into school. Do speak to Tom Everard (tome@htpd.surrey.sch.uk), our online safety lead, if you would welcome further information or advice.  

PTA 

We are incredibly grateful to both FOPS and HTSC for their dedication in organising a fantastic range of community events and for raising additional funds for those valuable ‘nice to haves’ throughout the school year.  The community events last year were a huge success; we’d love to see events like these keep happening, and we’re sure you would too! However, we also learnt a lot last year and are planning to make things easier going forward with: 

• A combined PTA across PD & HT for more efficiency and simplified comms, since many events are jointly run. 

• Planning ahead for the whole year so people can more easily support without a last-minute rush. 

• Teams of volunteers from each year group happy to work together and have fun taking on small responsibilities to help pull together the bigger events. 

However, to fulfil legal requirements, we still need to fill the key roles of Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. Ideally, we’d love to see each of these roles shared between parents from both the infant and junior schools.   

I’ve received a couple of expressions of interest; however, if you are interested in getting involved or would like to find out more, please email me FOPS@htpd.surrey.sch.uk or HTSC@htpd.surrey.sch.uk. We will then set up a suitable time to meet. 

Coats and Naming Uniform 

With the mixed weather this week, please ensure your child has a coat in school every day – we like to get outside as much as possible and light drizzle doesn’t stop us. Please ensure all school uniform is clearly named so that the inevitable lost property pile can be returned easily.  

Finally, a couple of important safety notices: 

• Nut-Free School 
  To keep children with allergies safe, no nuts in snacks or lunches please. At the juniors, children should only bring healthy fruit or vegetable snacks for morning break (no crisps, chocolate bars, or items with wrappers). 

• Parking and Road Safety 
  Please avoid parking on yellow zigzags or near school gates. Where possible, park a short distance away and walk in. This reduces congestion and makes crossing safer. Two-hour bays are available nearby, and some families even enjoy walking across the Downs. 

  • At Pewley, please drive down Semaphore Road (from Pewley Hill towards Pewley Way). 

  • At Holy Trinity, follow Pewley Way into Addison Road and complete the loop instead of turning around. 

Please also park respectfully, keeping pavements clear and avoiding driveways. Thank you for helping keep our community safe. 

Thank you again for all your support in helping our children thrive. Let’s continue to live out our values — respecting one another, showing kindness, and thinking of everyone’s wellbeing and safety. 

Have a great weekend. 

Vicky 

Whole School Notice

Wednesday 22nd October – Early Finish PD pick-up at 1pm, HT pick-up at 1.15pm

Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th October – INSET days

Monday 27th –  Friday 31st October – Half Term holidays

Monday 3rd November – Children back to school

ParentPay – new starters Please check schools bags for www.parentpay.com activation letters.