Dear Families,

I hope that you have managed to withstand the arctic blast this week! The children in Class 3 at Sand Hutton had a more tropical feel to their classroom with some fascinating visitors:

This visitor was able to answer many excellent questions about the creatures he brought for the children to see at close hand.

On an altogether different not, we have been reviewing some of our safeguarding measures in light of legislation called Martyn’s Law

https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/03/martyns-law-factsheet/

This may affect us when we use the churches for events and when we access other venues for visits such as Eureka for example.

This also led us to revisit our evacuation procedures in the event of a fire. In both settings, should the fire alarm sound during an event in church or in sharing assembly, we would ask that parents vacate the building and school staff will supervise the children’s exit, handing your children over to you once we have taken registers and ensured that it is safe to return your children to you. We ask this of you, knowing that you may be anxious about your own children, but to minimise confusion in the moment and so that there is a specific process for knowing that all children are accounted for. We thank you in advance for your understanding in this matter.

At Sand Hutton:

Sharing Assembly: Please leave the hall via the kitchen/back exit door and congregate on the car park. The children will leave with staff and will be registered on the school playground.

Church: Please leave church by the main door at the back and congregate at the end of the driveway near the road. The children will leave the building through the vestry door at the front and collect in the old graveyard at the back where they can be registered.

At Warthill:

Sharing Assembly: Please leave the junior classroom by the main door and congregate on the pavement. The children will leave through the cloakroom and will be registered on the yard or on the field depending on the situation.

Church: Please leave church by the main church door and congregate on the pavement outside the church gates. Staff will lead the children out of the same door and register the pupils so as to ensure everyone is accounted for.

It is difficult to believe that next week is the last week of November already. Preparations are already in place for the last few weeks before we break up and so I have some dates for your diaries:

Wednesday 26th Nov: Flu Vaccinations at Warthill

Monday 1st Dec: Wreath making at Sand Hutton

Tuesday 2nd Dec: Classes 2/3 at Sand Hutton to The Chocolate Story

Friday 5th Dec: Sand Hutton Christmas Fair

Wednesday 10th Dec: Sand Hutton Nativity 9am and 5.30pm

Thursday 11th Dec: Christmas Dinner both schools

Tuesday 16th Dec: Warthill Nativity 9am and 5.30pm

Wednesday 17th Dec: Christmas Craft day both schools

Thursday 18th Dec: Christmas Party Day Sand Hutton

Friday 19th Dec: Christmas Party Day Warthill and schools close for Christmas at 2pm

Tuesday 6th Jan: Schools open for the spring term.

We look forward to seeing many of you at these seasonal events.

As always, should something be concerning you, please feel able to contact me for support in confidence. Christmas is an exciting time but can present a variety of challenges.

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,
Welcome back after the half term break. I do hope you enjoyed some family rest time. You will remember that before the half term, the children spent time putting together their Christmas gift boxes. These have been blessed and are beginning their long journey. Many thanks again for your generous donations. We have also received a video of thanks from Nathan at L.A.B. Charity in Madagascar, showing the children how the money raised has been spent and also sharing some information about the island of Nosy Be and its flora and fauna. Yesterday we were incredibly happy to welcome Richard O’Neill MBE back to our schools. The day was filled with fun and laughter as he shared his hilarious stories and explained to our children how he worked as an author and how similar this was to the writing process we follow when writing fiction in our classrooms. He also encouraged children to share their ideas for stories (Look our for Twin Teachers, as Mrs Smith appeared at both schools yesterday and it gave him an idea for a new story).

Have a great weekend, With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,
Following a half term where we have focused on the value of generosity, we have experienced this
in abundance from our whole school community. As you know, the combined total to send to
Nathan at LAB Charity was £200 and we were also able to send items to the York Foodbank. This
week, we packed our Christmas boxes. As always, our children got so much from this activity,
carefully packing gift boxes, with love, for families much less fortunate than us. As a result of this
event yesterday, we were able to send more than 40 boxes, combined, from both our schools. These
gifts will be blessed before they begin their journey. Thank you so much for your kindness.

Another act of kindness we would like to give thanks for are the actions of one of our parents who
spent numerous hours tidying up the front of the school for us. They have also offered to fill the
spaces with more plants and I am sure you will agree it looks so much better – thank you!

As Christmas approaches, you may be managing requests for technology from your children. As
technology continues to advance, we are forced to keep reviewing our processes in terms of
managing privacy. Smart watches and mobile phones present challenges. We don’t allow children to
have mobile phones in school and we have measures in place to control the use of smart watches.
Children should not be wearing watches in school which allow them to make or receive calls or texts.
They should also not be able to make recordings, audio or video. This also extends to adults in the
school setting, no recording of events, meetings etc should take place without the permission of all
involved. I thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter.

Before we begin a new half term, I thought this would be a good opportunity to issue a reminder
about the timings of the school day. We register our children, in both schools before 9am as lessons
begin promptly at 9am. This is frequently a reading or phonics-based activity. As this often involves
children moving classrooms for group work, if a pupil is late, it not only affects their learning, but the
progress of the group. In both schools the gates are open at 8:45, giving ample time for the admin
matters to be taken care of. At Warthill, the school day ends at 3:15 and at Sand Hutton 3:20. If
children leave Sand Hutton on buses, please also be reminded of the need to be at the bus stop to
collect at the time issued by the transport provider.

Thank you to everyone who attended Parents’ Evenings this week. It is always a great chance to
catch up. Thank you too, if you made a purchase at the book fair. If you haven’t had a chance to look
at the books, it will still be available before or after school on Monday 3rd November. Commission
on the book fair means that our children benefit in school long after the book fair has left. Many
thanks!

Thank you to all pupils who entered the competition to win a Scholastic Book voucher at
Sand Hutton. Isaac and Ellery shared the prize with a wonderful idea to enjoy a book and
give back to school. Well done to both boys for making a shining example of our Collective
Worship theme of generosity.

Just a little something to get excited about for the week we return to school. Some of you
may remember our previous visit from Richard O’Neill, (now MBE), the Romani Storyteller.
We enjoyed his entertaining storytelling and his books.

As such a highly respected published author, we are really privileged to be inviting him to
return to our schools. He wrote us the most moving letter of praise for our children and the
inclusive ethos of our schools when he visited before and he is looking forward to his return.
This will be taking place in both schools on Thursday 6th November. Be excited! It will be
fabulous!

Thank you to Sand Hutton PTA for a super disco on Wednesday night and please look out for dates
for the Christmas Events in a separate communication.

Please stay safe over half term and enjoy whatever you have planned.
We look forward to seeing everyone fit and well on Monday 3rd November.

With every best wish,
Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools