Dear Families,

It is December and beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our schools.

The first of our Nativities will be at Warthill next week. We are so looking forward to this being in church with all of you. The children are impressing me with their incredible singing but I have managed to not see the production yet so I am looking forward to seeing it for the first time on Wednesday with you.

The Sand Hutton Nativity will be the following week. Both schools have two performances so as to ensure that as many family members as possible can make the event. We try to make the evening performance early enough to not impact on bedtime and ask you to try to get your children to both so that other children aren’t having to step in to cover roles at the last minute. This means everyone will share the same performance quality. Thank you.

I believe that the tickets for the Sand Hutton raffle will be available from next week and I know that there are some great prizes. I hope to see many of you on Friday evening at the Christmas fair event.

On Monday we have a theatre company coming to Sand Hutton for the whole federation. Warthill pupils will be back in time for usual pick up but it will be the whole school travelling over on Monday and not just the Junior children.

And finally, (not Christmassy) a date for your diaries. An additional bank Holiday has been announced for the Coronation of the King on Monday 8^th May. Schools will be closed on that day. However, those of you with pupils in Year 6, may have realised that this clashes with the KS2 SATS. These are national tests and all pupils take these tests on the same day, nationwide. It has been decided that all tests will be postponed by one day and so the Spelling and Grammar will now be on Tuesday, the Reading on Wednesday and the Maths tests on Thursday and Friday mornings.

Wishing you a lovely weekend and hoping you have Christmas fun in the planning,

With every best wish

Beverley Pawson

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,

Welcome to another newsletter. These seem to come round faster every week somehow. Maybe it is because we seem to be packing in so much in the approach to Christmas.

We were all very disappointed at Sand Hutton this week when the visit from the Bird of Prey Centre was postponed. I know how excited the children were about this (and the adults) and it was such short notice. Bird Flu restrictions affected their plans but they will rearrange as soon as regulations allow. We are looking forward to hearing from them.

Years 3 and 4 at Warthill enjoyed a sporting outing at Archbishop Holgate. Dodgeball was the order of the day. Mrs Naylor and Mrs Porritt took the group of 10 children who came back full of their morning. They also returned victorious! Well done Team Warthill!  Also at Warthill this week there was a reading meeting. In this meeting Mrs Wilson and Mrs Liston were able to talk through the ways in which we use phonics to teach early reading.  I hope that it was helpful to all those who attended.

We are of course busy planning for all manner of Christmas events. Both Sand Hutton PTA and FOWs have events pending; please don’t miss out on these. We will be sending more information about the Nativities planned in both settings so look out for information about these.

This is also the time of year when I look forward to my TWO Christmas dinners! This is quite a perk! Christmas Dinner is a fine spread and we make the meal special by decorating tables and in past years buying crackers. We have decided that we won’t buy crackers this year partly as a money saving move but more on an environmental level. Crackers create an immense amount of waste for no real purpose/impact and so we have decided that children will make party hats from recycled/waste paper and the older children will be responsible for generating jokes. We do hope you understand and support this decision.

Finally, I must finish with Congratulations to Alice for her wonderful performance in Oliver. Mrs Naylor, Mrs Jones and I thoroughly enjoyed watching her have the time of her life on stage. We know that it is the end of the run this weekend but we know she will back for more. Well done Alice!

And on that happy note, have a great weekend.

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,

How is it possible that we are heading into the latter half of November and preparing for Christmas? While we are on the subject of Christmas, could I ask that you have a little chat with older children, fresh with new found knowledge regarding ‘Santa Truth’, and ask them to remember to keep the magic for our younger children. Thank you.

This week has seen the turn of Sand Hutton to have Parents’ Evening. It was a very enjoyable evening and a great chance to catch up with families. Thank you to all those who attended.

I have a couple of links to share with you. Our Ofsted report is now live on the Ofsted website and we are every proud to have featured in the York Press this week too.

https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/121523

https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/23124077.warthill-school-rated-good-ofsted-14-year-wait/

Warthill Infant Class chose a VERY rainy, miserable day for their woodland adventure. It certainly didn’t dampen their spirits though! They returned full of their morning and smelling like a bonfire…..toasted marshmallows had been on the menu!

This week coming, Class 1 at Sand Hutton are looking forward to the Bird of Prey Centre visiting with a variety of birds. I know that they are very excited about this. Finally, where visits are concerned, we are expecting a visiting theatre group on Monday 5^th December. The group will be performing for both schools at Sand Hutton and a bus is booked to take the whole of Warthill School over on that afternoon. I think this will mark the start of our lead up to Christmas. We can’t wait! (And that’s just the adults!)

Can I also take the opportunity to remind anyone at Warthill who wants to understand more about phonics and blending, that Mrs Liston and Mrs Wilson are holding a meeting at Warthill on Tuesday next week at 9am.

We hope you have a good weekend and that the weather is kinder than of late,

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson,

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,

Sorry for the delayed newsletter from last week. Just before it was due to go out, I received a phone call from Ofsted to say that Warthill’s report was no longer confidential and I wanted to include this news in the letter. The report isn’t yet live on the Ofsted website; this should be the case next week. However, as it is no longer confidential, should you wish to see a copy there will be a hard copy in each school office or you can request one be sent via email if you would prefer. We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the inspection and I will send the link to the Ofsted report page once it goes live.

Further to this news, we had a busy week in our schools last week. On Tuesday evening at Sand Hutton, we enjoyed a film night with Halloween themed decorations following a competition organised by the PTA. It was a lovely evening, with ‘meddling kids’…a Scooby reference linked to the film there!

Class 2 at Sand Hutton went to York Chocolate Story and had a fabulous time. Many thanks to the parents who accompanied the staff on this visit. Class 3 have a visit this week too. How exciting!

Children in both schools  spent time putting together over 30 boxes for the shoebox Christmas Box appeal. As always it was a heart-warming event, with children making considered choices about what they put in their boxes. (I think before next year, we could do with a session on wrapping though, this proved to be the hardest part!) The boxes have had their blessing in church this weekend and are already on their way to families who need them most.  I am sure these families will appreciate their well chosen contents. Thank you to everyone who donated items for these boxes

We had our first Parents’ Evening of the year at Warthill too. It was so wonderful to welcome families into school for face to face meetings. I enjoyed the chance to chat with families and look forward to the same when we have Parents’ Evening at Sand Hutton on November 16^th.

With every best wish

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families.

Happy Half term!

Is it me or has it seemed a long one?

What wonderful church services we had this week. Harvest ended our focus on Generosity. We know you gave your time and the children gave their enthusiasm to what was a lovely celebration in both church settings.

Many thanks to all those who contributed so generously to our collections for the local food bank. I don’t have an overall figure as yet, but the total that I am so far aware of exceeds two hundred pounds which is amazing. Thank you!

While I know I am asking for further donations, I would like to ask for your help in a project we have supported for many years now. After half term we would like to put together our Christmas shoe boxes, please could you send in items, they don’t have to be new, as per the leaflets. We hope to prepare these as in the first days back after half term

Congratulations to Alice and William, one representative from each school, achieving a place in the top eight of the Cross Country this week. We are all so very proud of you! Well done!

Finally, enjoy half term and return safely a week on Monday….Sand Hutton Children, don’t forget your paper plate Halloween decoration. I can’t wait to see your creativity!

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

There is a great deal of research showing how low attendance affects children’s achievement which in turn impacts their life chances. Children who are unwell will finding learning difficult but those who take time out for other reason are missing out on valuable education. If your child’s attendance is below 90% it will be affecting their attainment and progress.

If you are aware that your child’s attendance is low, please contact school to make an appointment where we can support you. You may also be contacted by school if your child’s attendance was below 90% last year which is classed as persistence absence under current legislation. Obviously, we don’t want sick children in school. However, we would encourage pupils to return to school as soon as they are able following a period of illness.

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/the-link-between-absence-and-attainment-at-ks2-and-ks4

Beverley Pawson