Dear Parents and Carers, 

It’s been a wonderful first week back of the summer term, full of smiles! There is such a feeling of optimism in the air, and I hope your child has enjoyed returning to their classroom. How lovely it is to be looking ahead to a full term of opportunities, learning and adventures. 

This is a very busy term, so please do refer to the summer term dates list, which has been sent separately to this newsletter. I hope this helps you to plan ahead and enables you to join us for some of the celebrations later in the term. 

There have been many signs of spring around the school this week. On Tuesday, seven eggs arrived in an incubator in Reception, and there was great excitement as the children eagerly awaited the hatching of the first egg. Some children made welcome posters and cards for the chicks, while others thoughtfully suggested names for them. When we arrived at school on Thursday morning, there was great excitement to discover that three chicks had hatched during the night, with another busy hatching. A fifth chick joined them towards the end of the school day. The children have loved observing the chicks and listening to all the cheeping! We are looking forward to holding them next week, once they are a little bigger and stronger, and the children will then be doing some writing inspired by them. 

Elsewhere in the school, Year 1 have been busy planting seeds and plants and have begun investigating what they need to grow. Year 4 launched their new topic, Grow with the Flow, with a delightful walk to see the bluebells in Chantries Wood. They spent time reflecting on the sights, sounds and smells they encountered, making notes and sketching the abundance of flowers around them. They represented the school beautifully and were clearly appreciative of being able to visit such an uplifting and exhilarating place. This feast for the senses will be used as inspiration for their art and poetry work. 

Next week will be our wonderful Outdoor Education Leader, Paul Horsfield’s, final full week with us before he embarks on new adventures. We would like to thank Paul sincerely for all that he has done to create such rich and exciting outdoor learning opportunities for our children. I have certainly learnt a great deal from him — who knew you could make soap from conkers?! While we will still see Paul on occasional days such as FLUFFY, we wish him every success in his future endeavours (and hope he enjoys those term‑time holidays!). As a school, we remain fully committed to outdoor learning and will be developing a plan to ensure this valuable enrichment continues to be a central part of life at HTPD. 

With the start of a new term, we have also begun an exciting new assembly series called It’s a Puzzle. This term, we will be using the parables that Jesus told to help us explore how to build our lives on firm foundations. What better place to start than with the story of the wise and foolish builders — one building on rock and the other on sand. The children laughed out loud at Emily’s and Jo’s renditions of the foolish builder at Pewley and Holy Trinity respectively. Each week, we will also be linking a fable to the parable, alongside puzzles for the children to solve. Do ask your child if they can explain the meaning behind both the parable and the fable. 

The totals are in! During the spring term, an incredible £5,300 was raised through the Easter Bunny Hop party, Easter discos, bake sales and the sponsored read. A huge thank you to the Friends of HTPD for organising these fantastic events, and to all the parents and staff whose support helped make them such a success. 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Best wishes,  

Vicky 

Thought of the Week: Good foundations – what are you building your life upon? Why did Jesus say “I am the Rock”?