Dear Parents and Carers, 

Another hot week! We’ve done our best to keep things as normal as possible, although "normal" and the end of term don’t always seem to go hand in hand! 

The hot weather looks set to continue next week, so we will need to continue being sensible about sporting activities and time spent in the sun, particularly from mid-morning onwards when temperatures become more challenging. Thank you for your support in ensuring children come to school with water bottles, sun hats and sun cream applied. 

On Monday, Reception enjoyed a fantastic hands-on visit to The Look Out Discovery Centre. The children explored, built and investigated using their senses, and thoroughly enjoyed a minibeast hunt in the forest. The playground after lunch proved to be a particular highlight too! 

Despite the heat, our rescheduled District Sports went ahead successfully. Children competed alongside pupils from six local schools in a range of running, throwing and jumping events. They all performed brilliantly, represented HTPD with pride and returned adorned with medals – with three children achieving the remarkable feat of winning three gold medals each! Within the year groups, Year 3 came first, Year 4 second, Year 5 first and Year 6 first, meaning that HTPD were crowned the overall winning school. A huge thank you to the staff who helped organise and run the event, and to all the parents who came along to help with transport and to support. 

There have also been plenty of opportunities for children to showcase their talents this week through the much-anticipated Infant House Talent Show and Junior House Music Competition. These events are always among the highlights of the year and never fail to reveal hidden talents. We are incredibly fortunate to have such creative, confident, and talented children across the school. 

I hope your child enjoyed meeting their new teacher this week and is beginning to look forward to the year ahead. While thoughts may be starting to turn towards September, there is still much to enjoy before the end of term. 

We look forward to welcoming you to our Celebration Afternoon on Monday 20th July as we come together to mark another wonderful year at HTPD. At the Juniors, the afternoon will begin with a musical performance in the Arena from 1.15pm–2.00pm. The Year 6 Great Exhibition in the Chapel will be officially opened at 2.00pm, and classrooms will be open from 1.45pm for you to view your child's work, discuss reports with teachers and visit next year's classrooms. At the Infants, classrooms will also be open from 1.45pm, giving families the opportunity to celebrate children's work, discuss reports with teachers and visit their new classes. We hope you will be able to join us for this special afternoon as we celebrate the achievements, progress and learning that have taken place across the school this year. 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Vicky 

Thought of the week: Finding hope - When have you been lost?