Dear Parents and Carers, 

Thank you so much to everyone who supported the HTPD Fun Run on Sunday. A huge thank you to the organisers who planned the event (not once, but twice!) and ensured everything ran smoothly on the day. We’re delighted to share that thanks to sponsorship and ticket sales, the event raised an over £4,500! Beyond fundraising, it was wonderful to bring our school community together — pupils, siblings, past pupils, parents, carers, dogs and sponsors alike. This event was a fantastic way to kick off the year and aligns perfectly with our focus this year on fostering a sense of belonging. 

As I mentioned at the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evenings, a key priority for us this year is developing a sense of inclusion and belonging for all children. We know playtime is crucial to this. It offers children valuable opportunities to develop social skills and imagination, learn cooperation and respect for differences, be active, try new things, and safely take risks and learn from mistakes. To improve playtimes, we have planned some further staff training during our INSET days and we’re making some changes to routines — including offering more choice during play. However, we need your help! Particularly at the juniors, we’re looking for donations of resources such as complete card games, board games, construction toys, and more. Each week, we’ll send a request for specific items and we’d be very grateful if you could keep an eye out for these. I’ve attached this week’s list to the newsletter. If you’re having a clear-out at home or want to learn more about our plans, please do take a look. 

This year, we’re also running a series of coffee mornings on a range of topics designed to support both children and families. Please do keep an eye out for any sessions that might interest you. Attached is a flyer for the coffee morning on 7 November, which will focus on Boosting Your Child’s Wellbeing at Home. These sessions are open to families from both the infants and juniors — the more the merrier! If there are particular topics you would find helpful, please do email me or our Home School Link Worker, Lucy Cray lucyc@htpd.surrey.sch.uk 

We’re excited to announce that our school will be celebrating the Harvest Festival in two weeks' time. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to learn about the importance of sharing and giving back to the community. The Pewley Down assembly will take place on Tuesday 7th October and the Holy Trinity assembly will be on Wednesday 8th October. As part of the celebration, we invite families to contribute donations of non-perishable food items, which will be donated to North Guildford Food Bank - a local organisation supporting families all across Guildford who struggle to make ends meet. If you are able to contribute to what is always a fantastic display of the generosity of our community, please send these in with your child on the morning of their assembly. Any plastic bags that can be left with us would be really useful in transporting it all too! This year the food bank have particularly asked for the following items:  

• Dried Noodles 

• Biscuits 

• Cereal 

• Rice 

• Canned/Instant Soups 

• Laundry liquids/powders/capsules 

• Any other non-perishable items are also very welcome! 

Thank you for your patience as we transition to a new lunch ordering system. There have been a few teething problems, but we appreciate your patience and support. Just a quick reminder for juniors: please remember to pre-order lunches. This helps the kitchen prepare the right number of meals and ensures every child can have their preferred option. Bookings close two days before the meal day (for example, by Saturday for Monday, or Wednesday for Friday). Here’s a link explaining how to select meals: https://parentpay.wistia.com/medias/cd0pwrbiiv. 

Finally, a heartfelt plea to help keep the roads and pavements around school safe for everyone — children, families, and neighbours alike. Please do not block residents’ driveways, and never park on zig-zag lines, bus stops, double yellow lines, or corners. Please avoid mounting the pavement with your car. Also, please do not stop in the middle of the road to let your children in or out of the car; it’s unsafe and sends the wrong message to the children. If cycling to school, please always ride with the flow of traffic — cycling the wrong way on one-way streets is dangerous and has raised concerns from local residents. We understand pick up and drop off can be busy and stressful, but by thinking of others, we can all help create a safer environment. Please do pass this message on to anyone else who collects your children, including grandparents and childminders — thank you! 

On the same note, enjoy the car-free day in Guildford town centre this Sunday — a great chance to walk or cycle in a safer, quieter space. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. 

Vicky 

Thought of the Week: Patiently Wait. Are you able to be still and meditate? 

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