Dear Families,

Welcome back to the second half of the Spring Term.

Thank you for your understanding this week at Sand Hutton over the burst pipe. After their visit on
Wednesday, they have managed to partially fix the heating with the exception of the Classroom 3
space. We do have portable heaters although these are struggling to make a difference in the
current temperatures and therefore Class 3 are in the hall for the time being. We are hoping that
they will be able to fully remedy the situation very soon but this will involve the taking up of some
flooring.

I am very pleased to announce the naming of Reading Ambassadors at Warthill in the junior class
this week! These children will have a number of duties in the field of promoting reading. I was truly
touched by the way in which pupils applauded their friends’ selection. All children also know that
they have a role in suggesting reading material for the reading ambassadors to promote. Watch this
space!

Talking of reading, I am looking forward to next week and World Book Day. I know that Miss
Heffernan set an exciting challenge and I can’t wait to see the creative ideas that you have had for
this!

Just a reminder that it will be class photos on Monday and this is also the time when the photos are
taken for the Year 6 leaving gifts. This will take place in both schools during the morning.
At Sand Hutton, the Parents’ Evening appointments have been sent out. If you haven’t received
yours, please could you contact the school office. At Warthill, a date has been agreed and you will be
receiving a letter about this in due course.

Dates: March 7th Sharing at Sand Hutton. March 14th Sharing at Warthill.
Sand Hutton Parent Appointments: Thursday 13th March
Sand Hutton Easter Service: 2pm Wednesday 2nd April
Finish for Easter: 2pm Friday 4th April
Please find attached the monthly safeguarding newsletter for March.
I hope that you have a wonderful weekend,
With every best wish,
Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated School

Dear Families,

February Half term seems to have come around fast! I hope you are looking forward to some family time. It always feels like the days are getting longer and we can feel the beginnings of Spring.

We have had a busy half term and we are mindful that World Book Day will be upon us almost immediately as we return. As those of you who have been with us over time will know, we find other ways of marking this day than dressing up. We choose ways which encourage children, and families to really think about books and spend time on an activity together. For this reason, Miss Heffernan would like to share this year’s challenge as I know some of you might like to work on this over the holiday.

Dear Families, 

Soon after we return from half term, World Book Day will be upon us. This year it is Thursday 6^th March. In schools, staff and Reading Ambassadors are busy planning lots of fun events and activities which will help to further instil a reading for pleasure for all.  One of these events is a ‘Story Show’. All families are invited to create something for this show which all pupils will be able to view on the day in the hall. We thought many of you may want to do this over half term.

We would like you to use recycled or junk materials you have at home to create something which represents a story. This could be a prop used by a character, a setting that a story takes place in or a model of a character.  These should be brought to schools on the Thursday morning. We encourage pupils to write a short text to explain what they have created and which story it is from too. All children who contribute will receive a little token of our appreciation for helping to make the day enjoyable.

As ever, we look forward to seeing your wonderful creations. 

Miss Heffernan 

Thank you to the PTA at Sand Hutton for organising our ‘Wear What You Love’ day for today. There are some very varied outfit choices in school today.

You should have already received this month’s internet safety update. I hope this continues to be useful and may have arrived at a useful time as we head into a school holiday.

Stay safe over half term and enjoy whatever you have planned.

We look forward to seeing everyone well and rest on Monday 24^th February.

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,

Happy New Year and welcome back to the start of the Spring Term. We all hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas break.

Already busy busy busy on the first week back starting with a mid-week trip to Sheffield Arena for Young Voices 2025! This is an incredibly long day and it is hard work for the children. They were an absolute credit to school and to you. Their behaviour and engagement were outstanding and that made the whole experience so much more fun for everyone. We were fortunate this year to have a position close to the action on the stage and so we really felt part of every single aspect of the action. Those of you who attended as audience members will have had a fabulous evening too. It really is magical and one of those stand out moments that will stay in memories for ever. Thank you for trusting us with your fabulous children. Thank you too to Mrs Roughley for all the planning that goes into the event before this week and to both Mrs Roughley and Mrs Naylor for their hard work on the day.

Just a couple of health and safety updates, that we have focused on in our training this week, to share with you.

The yellow zig zag lines in front of our school are keep clear lines and at Warthill cover the fire access points. Please avoid pulling up on these. There have been complaints about the buses pausing on these at Sand Hutton from a member of the public and therefore I am aware that these are being monitored. In addition, at Sand Hutton, children walk, sometimes unaccompanied, along the street into school. Their route takes them across the entrance/exit to the school car park. Could I politely request that parents don’t pull into the car park or use it to turn around as this adds additional risk to pedestrians, particularly at busy times.

Office hours for both schools differ. Thank you for informing us of changes to arrangements for bus and after school club with as much notice as possible. Please be aware that the office at Warthill may not be manned after 1pm and therefore the phone may not be heard and messages not received if you are calling after this time. Staff do their best but when they are teaching it is not always possible to pick up phone calls.

As part of a recommendation from the LA, we will be practising an invacuation procedure as well as a fire drill with pupils. We will make sure not to scare children but we will be showing them how we would get children off our playgrounds as quickly as possible in an emergency. We have always had a procedure for this, but we haven’t practised it previously with pupils. It involves a slightly different signal and no lining up. The scenario we are given is getting children inside should there be a dangerous dog unleashed. I thought it useful for you to be aware of what this is, should the children mention it at home.

Finally, I am looking forward to taking Warthill and Sand Hutton swimming together for the first time ever this term.

Have a super weekend, whatever you have planned.

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

We have made it! The end of term has arrived and I hope that you are all looking forward to a happy festive family time with loved ones.

Thank you for your thoughtful and generous gifts, for the staff room and for individual members of staff. It is extremely kind and definitely appreciated!

So, this week has been busy, as we expected. Warthill delivered their fabulous Nativity twice on Tuesday. We were joined by our lovely ex-pupils. Mrs Madge and Benji also came to enjoy the fun at the evening service too. It was lovely to be able to chat with many of you over refreshments afterwards. The singing, dancing and musicianship were outstanding. Well done everyone!

I must also share the news of Pippa and her trip to the Tower of London to the RSPCA Young Photographer of the Year Awards. She managed to book a beautiful sunshine filled day. We were able to drop into the award ceremony on a live stream and everyone at Sand Hutton cheered as she went up on stage and collected her certificate. Congratulations Pippa! We are all very proud of you!

This week also came with a tinge of sadness as we said goodbye, at Warthill, to Mrs Wilson. She will be greatly missed but we wish her all the very best in her new job and hope that she will visit us and tell us all about it. Mrs Slater will be stepping into her shoes. Knowing the children so well, as she does, this will allow us to have continuity; and of course, Mrs Liston will continue to do her days.

It seems madness to be already thinking ahead to January, but it has to be done! We will be returning on Tuesday 7^th January at the usual time and then it will be almost time for this year’s Young Voices event! For those going to Young Voices, we will leave school just before lunch. As you are aware, the details for those attending have been sent out and if you do have any questions, please contact the Sand Hutton office and ask Mrs Roughley. She knows EVERYTHING!

Over the holidays, please could you have an extra big hunt for any school reading or library books which may be lurking in dark corners. We are missing a few and would really appreciate them returning to our shelves. Many thanks in advance for any you manage to locate.

All that remains is for me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a healthy New Year.

See you all safe and well in January.

With festive wishes,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Dear Families,

We are racing towards Christmas now and I feel that it has fully started.

Monday evening saw the Warthill children enjoying a Christmas themed cinema night. Thank you to FOWS for arranging this and providing snacks for the children to enjoy.

The next Christmas celebration event was to go to the first Nativity at Sand Hutton. What a truly magical evening it was. I could hear every word from the narrators, the singing raised the roof and the instrumentalists accompanied the sings with great musicality. Those children with ‘roles’, played their parts beautifully and the evening was brought to a close by a blessing from Rev Nigel. Thank you too to the PTA for providing refreshments at the end of the afternoon performance.

I am already looking forward to the Nativity next week at Warthill. I have been lucky enough to have had a sneak preview of the singing and I can assure you that you are in for a bit of a treat! At Sand Hutton we welcomed ex pupils and I am looking forward to catching up with our ex pupils at Warthill as our honoured guests!

Yesterday was Christmas dinner at both our schools. I joined the children at Warthill for theirs this year and was joined by a senior adviser from the Local Authority. She enjoyed the opportunity to talk with staff and pupils and was very complimentary regarding the atmosphere and sense of team she experienced. Thank you to any of you she spoke to at the gate yesterday morning and anyone she caught on her recent visit to Sand Hutton.

This evening is Christmas Fair night at Sand Hutton. This is a special, mainly outdoor event and I have it on very good authority that Santa has packed up sacks of toys for well-behaved children and Rudolph is preparing to lead him into his grotto. I also know that he is making a special trip to Warthill in the not too distant future too.

Today we have Riding Lights visiting us with their Christmas Performance which will delight adults and children alike. If you were planning on sending in a voluntary contribution towards this, and haven’t already done so, this can be done through Parent pay and it really would be very much appreciated!

Next week will be full of Christmas cheer. We have Warthill’s Nativity of course, but also Christmas party food, craft day and a Christmas party game or two. Just a reminder that we do finish at 2pm on the final Friday of the term and this includes buses collecting from Sand Hutton.

I know that children are getting tired now at this stage in the term, not to mention unwell with all manner of nasty coughs and colds. If they are too unwell to bring, with temperatures etc, we would encourage you to keep them wrapped up at home and return them to school as soon as they are able to attend (see additional letter attached).

With every best festive wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools