by admin | Mar 21, 2025 | Latest News
Dear Families,
It has been lovely to have seen some sunshine this week!
Following Parents’ evening at Sand Hutton last week, it was lovely to see so many of you at
Warthill.
I wanted to mention a small change to sharing assemblies for the next term. I want to give
children who undertake hobbies in or out of school an opportunity to perform, where
possibly (obviously swimming would be tricky!) I am aware that children have instrumental
lessons for example and might want to have the chance to share their progress. We would
need to be made aware in advance so that we can share these performances out and not
make sharing last a full morning. If your child would like to do this, please let school know
what it is and what would be needed for us to facilitate this. I can then decide which sharing
this could happen in.
We have been looking at our diaries heading up to Mothering Sunday. We would like to
invite mummies to attend both our settings for refreshments at 2.45 on Friday 28th March.
We hope to have a small informal gathering and spoil a few mummies. Please join us if you
able.
Can I also just leave a reminder for next Tuesday please. A scheduled power cut to work on
the line means that the children from Warthill will be accommodated at sand Hutton for the
day. This means that breakfast club may be a little busier than normal and those children
who attend Tiny School will be collected from Sand Hutton at the end of the day. Please be
aware that for everyone, drop off and pick up will be busier than usual and please don’t stop
on the yellow zig zags in front of school. This has been observed as a cause for concern by
traffic enforcement officers previously and remains under random checks. I wouldn’t like
anyone to be given a ticket.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend and make the most of the nice weather.
With every best wish,
Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools
by admin | Mar 14, 2025 | Latest News
Dear Families,
I hope you have had a good week. It was super to see so many Sand Hutton parents this week for Parents’ Evening and I am looking forward to the same at Warthill next week.
A couple of questions came up which I thought I could share answers to in a newsletter so that there is no continued need to try to guess. Pupil numbers for next year are predicted to be relatively similar to this year, across the federation. This is despite a really low national birth rate situation. For this reason, the current structure of our schools will be remaining the same; two classes at Warthill and three at Sand Hutton with additional nursery pupils in each setting. How staff will be deployed in each class hasn’t yet been decided.
The Reading Ambassador roles at Warthill have begun to have an impact. Their next task is to set up the adult swap reading trolley. This is already in pride of place at Sand Hutton and it was fabulous to see adult visitors ‘borrowing’ books when they came for their appointments this week. It was also really pleasing to see the arrival of the buddy stop, paid for by FOWS, ready for the new playleaders. I know how excited you are about your new jobs!
Please see below a reminder for a couple of dates in the near future:
Parent’s Evening at Warthill – Thursday 20th March
Warthill Junior Class trip to Ripon Justice Museum – Tuesday 1st April
Easter Service at Sand Hutton Church – Wednesday 2nd April at 2pm
Easter Service at Warthill Church – Friday 4th April at 9.00am
Both schools finish for the Easter Holiday on Friday 4th April at 2pm
I hope that you have a wonderful weekend,
With every best wish,
Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated School
by admin | Feb 14, 2025 | Latest News
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 6th 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 24th February.
With every best wish,
Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools
by admin | Feb 4, 2025 | Latest News
Dear Families,
First of all, an apology for a couple of dry weeks newsletter wise. The week before last you received your online safety update for the month and last week was quite a Friday! Thank you for your understanding.
We continue to face some weather associated challenges at Sand Hutton and our children and staff have been very accommodating while the ceiling was fixed. Furthermore Mrs Haseltine, our new cook, served lunch under a leaking ceiling in the kitchen. What a start!
Last week, Class One had been learning the importance of re-cycling. They really enjoyed doing this and labelled all the bins in our carpark. It was part of our science learning about materials.
This week fun in Class 1 has continued and I was lucky enough to be invited to their Chinese New Year party.
At Warthill, we have avoided power cuts although it did impact our lunches. I know I sent an email at the time but I wanted to express my gratitude again at the response from parents to bring in lunch and extras for other children (and staff!). It was incredibly kind and embodies the very ethos of our federation, so thank you again.
At both schools we are very fortunate to welcome two trainee teachers who have been getting to know our settings and pupils. These are Mrs Bassett at Sand Hutton, Class 1 and Mrs Graham-Brown, Junior Class at Warthill. I know that they have already been working alongside out children and that you will make them feel very welcome.
Children’s Mental Health week begins next week, 3rd February. The theme is ‘know yourself, grow yourself’ making links to the film Inside Out 2. We will be participating in activities related to the film to support this. In addition there is also Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 11 Feb. With the increasingly easy access children have to online materials, we will be taking this day very seriously and also communicating and sharing materials with home.
Wishing you all the very best weekend,
Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools
by admin | Jan 13, 2025 | Latest News
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
