The Buzz

Dear Parents/Carers

This week the whole school has opened up discussions about mental health and well being to ensure all pupils, and staff, feel that they are equipped with a range of strategies to manage an array of emotions. We have focused on the importance of accepting that we all experience different emotions at different times - and that's ok! What we need to establish is how we successfully manage these emotions to ensure that they do not manifest into greater problems. The main activities have focused on physical well being, mental health and online safety. All pupils took part in an energetic crossfit session run by Karma Kids last week. This highlighted the positive impact that a healthy body can have on supporting your overall well being. Pupils have also engaged in 'Worry workshops' and lessons which help them identify personalised strategies for managing their thoughts. A large part of this work has also been around online safety and helping pupils keep themselves safe online.

If you haven't done so already, we would encourage as many parents as possible to complete the wrap around care survey published by the local authority. The link for this can be found in this edition of the Buzz. The local authority will then analyze this data and begin to highlight areas that increased provision is required.

Finally, I am sure you have read in the media about the Government's current concerns around school attendance. I am pleased to say that Hampton Junior School has outstanding attendance rates and a strong policy in place. Thank you to all parents that support our drive to ensure children come to school and take advantage of the excellent learning opportunities.

I hope you and your family all have a brilliant half term.

Mr J James

3D: Tyler M

3G: Anna M.B

3M: Isabella A

3S: Maks Z

4C - Kai J

4B - Amber T

4P - Nisha R

4S - Eris W

5S - Tajrian U

5D - Anisha K

5C - Eliza D

5A - Isabella G

6W - Evie B

6L - Romain C

6B - Oscar C

6GF - Laiba F

This week we are focusing on Writing Challenges. Well done to:

Bronze

3M - Oliver S

3S - Noah P

3G - Ellisa S

Silver

3S - Mila S

Gold

3S - Mila S

4C - Maia

Platinum

3M - Eva A, Ayden P

4C - Cece, Idris

The class with the best attendance last week was 3G

The class with the least numbers of lates last week was 6GF

3M- Evelyn B

3D-Yara M

3G-Poppy B

4C-Idris O

4P-Isobel S

4B-Oscar G-W

4S-Norah B

5A-Nia P

5C- Scarlett S

5D-Jacob K

5S-Harry B

6B-Freddie B

6GF-Olivia A

6L-Ada N

6W- Seb J

Achieving for Children's Mental Health Support Teams are delivering a series of webinars for parents of primary aged children. The "Helping Children with ..." series of webinars will cover a range of common difficulties experienced by children.

World Book Day 2024 is fast approaching!

We will be celebrating on Friday 8th March. The children will have the opportunity to dress up as a character from their favourite book (they could bring the book in and we might have a chance to read some snippets throughout the day) and will be completing a World Book Day related activity.

Are you tech-savvy with a knack for using applications such as Google Docs, have a tenacious attention to detail and a flair for administration and record-keeping?

We are a passionate, friendly and dynamic governing body supporting two fantastic schools in leafy Hampton (TW12) to ‘be the best they can be’ and are recruiting for a clerk to join the team.

You might have previous experience as a clerk, governance professional or as an administrator or PA supporting a board of trustees, directors or legal professionals.

Alternatively, you might be someone who is passionate about education, has strong administration skills and is looking for a role that fits around family and caring responsibilities.

For further information please click on the below "Eteach" button.

Hampton Infant School is a vibrant, friendly and successful four form entry infant school. We are looking to appoint a committed and caring person to join our highly professional team as a Lunchtime Supervisor. You will work as part of a team to oversee the school’s lunchtime arrangements.

Wraparound care is before and after school childcare for primary school aged children. The Wraparound Childcare Programme aims to increase the availability of wraparound childcare places, so that all families can access childcare between 8am-6pm and therefore allow parents to continue, increase or enter employment.

Achieving for Children acts as the children's services for Richmond, Kingston and Windsor and Maidenhead, and will be supporting officers to deliver the programme. We will use the results of this survey to prioritise certain locations, services and aspects of wraparound childcare in your area.

This survey should take 5 minutes to complete. Please forward queries/questions to laurie.davidson@achievingforchildren.org.uk

As we gear up for an exciting celebration of British Science Week, scheduled for 8 - 17th March 2024, we are reaching out to the HPP community with a special request.

In an effort to make this year's Science Week truly exceptional, we are seeking the valuable contributions of parents who work in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) or related scientific fields. Your expertise and passion for science could greatly enhance the learning experience for our students during this engaging week of exploration and discovery.

If you are a parent with a background in any STEM discipline and would like to share your knowledge, insights, or hands-on experiences with our students, we invite you to volunteer your time during British Science Week.

To express your interest or learn more about the various ways you can contribute, please email Miss de Beer via the office office.hjs@hpp.school.

Miss de Beer, HJS Science Lead

HJS met our new Child Wellbeing Practitioner, Jess, on Tuesday! She delivered a great assembly and used characters from Inside Out to help the children to consider the different feelings they may experience during the day.

Bigfoot Arts Education came in to run a whole school assembly on ‘Worries to Wellbeing’ as well as workshops for year 6 on developing strategies for improving mental health and wellbeing.

Children’s mental health week is run by children’s mental health charity Place2Be to raise awareness of the importance of children and young people’s mental health. This year’s theme is ‘My Voice Matters’. In PSHE lessons, we shared ideas on how school and people who are important to us can help us with our mental health and wellbeing.

We welcomed OpenView Education into school to run an assembly for year 3 and 4 on the theme of ‘One Good Choice’. This links in perfectly with our mental health week as it empowers children to speak up about uncomfortable situations they might encounter online and how to keep themselves safe. Year 5 and 6 will be taking part in workshops on the theme ‘The Power to Choose’. It aims to teach the children how to identify a range of ways to report concerns and access support both online and offline whilst promoting the safe and responsible use of technology.

For more information and guidance on supporting your child with online safety please click on the picture above.

On Tuesday, 6B attended a wellbeing workshop where they used freeze frames to depict a range of wellbeing strategies they explored.

6GF- took part in an online workshop and we had some good discussions surrounding social media platforms and age restrictions. We were also able to play scenarios and discuss strategies to help us keep safe online.

Say hello to the Spark! Mascot. Buzz, half-bookworm, half bee. He wants everyone to be buzzed about books as him!

This year HJS has the exciting opportunity to take part in Spark! book awards. Until now, Spark! have been working hard behind the scenes to shortlist 170 books down to the final 4 in each category (11+, 9+ and 7+ fiction, picture books for early readers and graphic novel for primary children).

The winning book will win a fabulous trophy at the end of the year. The best thing is, children make the decision as to which book gets voted the best! Over the next few months, we will be discussing and reading some of the shortlisted books. With exciting opportunities to hear from the authors of the books online.

Alongside this, Spark! will be running frequent competitions. The first competition of the year is starting this week - it is a poetry competition, taking inspiration from the title or cover of any of the 2024 shortlisted books (link below). The closing date is the 8th March. However, Miss Smith requests any entries be submitted by the 5th March to allow her time to read and submit a selection by the 8th. Please hand them to your teacher who can pass them along.

There will also be an overall prize for the school who engages and participates the most for the remainder of the year - who knows it could be HJS!

Email: office.hjs@hpp.school
Website: hpp.school
Location: Hampton Junior School, Percy Road, Hampton, UK
Phone: 020 8979 2545
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HamptonJuniorSchool