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

Dear Families,

I can’t believe that we have already reached the end of November. Where has this term gone?

Please see attached the December Safeguarding newsletter.

We know that 2 classes at Sand Hutton enjoyed some outdoor visits away from school this week. They were a great success. Thank you to everyone involved in planning and supervising those.

The Sand Hutton PTA wreath making went down a storm. Thank you for my beautiful wreath! That looks exactly like the one looked ‘only in my head’ last year!

As we head into December, both our schools have post boxes should your child wish to send Christmas cards.

Following the success of last year when we were able to host The Riding Lights Theater Company at Sand Hutton for their Christmas production, we are pleased to announce that we have been lucky to secure a return booking.

This year they will be performing A Christmas Cracker in Sand Hutton hall. They use music, puppetry and innovative props and scenery. The children absolutely loved their production last year.

This will take place on Friday 13th December when all children are at Sand Hutton anyway. We will ensure that the Class 3 children are back from swimming.

We appreciate that this is an expensive time of year but know that having a theatre company come to school is significantly less expensive than booking a visit out to one. However, we would be grateful for a contribution towards the cost.

A voluntary contribution of £5 option has gone live on Parentpay and we would really appreciate donations.

Flu vaccines were given to the children at both schools on Wednesday. For anyone who missed these and would like their child to have one, please see the attached poster for details.

Here are some diary dates as reminders:

Wednesday 4th Dec FOWS Wreath-making

Monday 9th Dec FOWS cinema night

Wednesday 11th Dec Sand Hutton Nativity 2pm and 6pm in Church

Thursday 12th Dec Christmas Dinner at both schools

Friday 13th Dec Riding Lights Theatre

Tuesday 17th Dec Warthill Nativity 9am and 5.30pm

Friday 20th Dec Finish at 2pm

Tuesday 7th Jan Return to school for the Spring Term.

Don’t forget to redeem your vouchers for free holiday activities and food this Christmas.

On Monday 25th November we issued vouchers to all families whose children/young people are eligible for free places on FEAST activities this Christmas. You should have received this via email or text, from a platform called Holiday Activities. Follow the link in this email/text to redeem your voucher and book your child’s place on some of the fantastic activities on offer in our area.

Don’t worry if there’s a waiting list – it doesn’t always mean that an activity is full. To ensure that a wide range of families get to take part in FEAST, providers to wait a number of days after vouchers are issued before accepting any bookings. Please request a place and you should receive a notification from Holiday Activities if your place is confirmed.

If you believe your child is eligible and you have not yet received your voucher, or you have lost it, please contact the school office.

To learn more about FEAST, and for information on activities, eligibility and how to manage your bookings, visit the website.

Thank you for your support

Hope you manage a restful weekend before the Christmas madness begins in earnest…

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools

Do you need suggestions on age appropriate games? You could use either of the following websites to search suitable games. Remember, PEGI rates the gameplay so whilst it is important to review age ratings, you must also check if it has a communication feature as this might mean you decide a game is not suitable for your child.

Dear Families,

We have had a really lovely week this week and we have positively noticed lots and so have the children in one another. They may come home with coloured bands attached to their book bags etc, so that you know what they have been noticed doing well. Wednesday was a special day!

After such a busy half term, this week has been a little quieter. However, we have had the Sand Hutton sharing this morning and we enjoyed the same at Warthill last week.

We made sure that all our children were involved in marking Remembrance Day on Monday in a variety of different ways. We showed our respect in a silence, in classrooms, on the school yard and in Warthill Church.

At Sand Hutton we are currently working on the decorations for the tree which will go in the Minster from Saturday 30^th November. This is on a woodland theme and celebrates the work in Forest Schools Learning as well. Should you wish to view this in situ, you can visit throughout December or attend the launch event as explained below.

“ Experience York Minster’s popular Christmas Tree Festival, set inside the medieval Minster, with 70 trees on display in the cathedral’s stunning Nave, Chapter House and Lady Chapel. Explore the trees, which will be decorated to individual themes by local businesses, schools and charities, and add your own Christmas message to a tag on the festival’s prayer trees. The festival will open on Saturday 30 November at 10am with a light switch-on at ‘Minster Mash-Up’, York Minster’s special service for children and families. The festival will run during general admission times until Sunday 5 January. Entry is free with general admission.” 

Just a reminder that there is a non-uniform day at Sand Hutton on Monday, organised by the School Council. There is also a trip going ahead in Class 1 linked to Countryside Learning.

It seems difficult to believe that we are already more than half way through November. Time passes so quickly!

Have a lovely weekend….

With every best wish,

Beverley Pawson

Headteacher

Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools