Weekly Newsletter

Headteacher - Mr J Parkinson

Associate Assistant Headteacher - Miss L Whale

Associate Assistant Headteacher - Mr K Reynolds

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a wonderful start to the Summer Term at Larks Hill, and we hope all of our families enjoyed a restful Easter break. Pupils have returned to school in a fantastic manner - positive, focused and ready to learn - which has been lovely to see across all year groups.

Over the Easter break, many pupils took part in the Times Table Rockstars ‘Battle of the Bands Mega Easter Challenge’. This competition aimed to see which pupils could complete the most times tables, with house points awarded to the top three performers. A huge well done to:

• 1st place – Harry J (30 House Points)

• 2nd place – Jacob B (20 House Points)

• 3rd place – Monroe D (15 House Points)

This is a brilliant achievement and a great example of pupils continuing their learning outside of school.

On Wednesday afternoon, pupils from Years 5 and 6 took part in their penultimate PAT football fixture at Northfield. There was some strong competition, but our pupils showed excellent teamwork, determination and sportsmanship throughout, representing Larks Hill brilliantly as always.

It was also lovely to hear about the recent in-class poetry competition in Year 2. Pupils have been exploring Kenning poems linked to their class text, focusing on animal descriptions. The creativity and imagination shown by the children has been fantastic, and we would like to congratulate all of those who took part, as well as the competition winners.

This week has also seen the exciting return of our after-school clubs, with a wide range already up and running. Guitar club, led by Mr McIntyre, has got off to a brilliant start, with pupils already practising a mixture of well-known pop and rock songs. Miss Jones and Mrs Smith have begun preparations with pupils in drama club for the end-of-year performance, which we are very much looking forward to following last year’s success. In baking club, Mrs Taylor and Miss Honeyman-Smith have been busy making rice crispy cakes, while gardening club, led by Mrs Thorley, has begun work on their exciting project to create a school pond, as well as planting potatoes in the planters. In arts and crafts club, Miss Sharp and Miss West have started creating collages with pupils.

In addition, KS1 rounders (Monday) and KS2 tennis (Thursday) clubs have also begun this term, and there are still places available. Please contact the school office if your child would like to take part.

You may have seen increasing use of Apple AirTags by parents when children are out independently. Whilst this may seem like a sensible safety measure, there are some important safeguarding considerations to be aware of.

AirTags can be detected by other devices, which means a child could potentially be identified or tracked by others nearby. They can also create a false sense of security, as they do not provide real-time communication or prevent risks. In addition, location data may be accessible if accounts are compromised, and in some cases, tracking devices have been misused.

We encourage parents and carers to consider these factors carefully. A full guidance poster is attached for further information.

Lottie - EYFS

Chloe - Year 1

Rory P - Year 2

Bronte - Year 3

Jude - year 4

Devon - Year 5

William - Year 6

Millie B - Year 6 - For some excellent diary writing!

Olivia C - Year 5 - For great work in English!

Maddie M - Year 4 - For exceptional Science work!

Harry - Year 3

Nico - Year 5

Jacob - Year 3

Monroe - Year 4

Leo - Year 4

Tuesday, 21st April - First Aid in Schools Workshops - Year 1 - Year 6

Monday, 27th April - Wednesday, 29th April - Year 5 Bikeability

Thursday, 7th May - Polling Day - School Open as Normal with limited School Lunch Options

On Thursday 7th May our school hall will be used as a Polling Station from 7am until 10pm.

On this day, all staff will park on the school field leaving the car park free for members of the public to come and vote. Please be extra careful around the car park area during the school drop off and pick up times.

As the school hall is out of bounds, breakfast club will be held in the year 1 & 2 shared area. Children attending breakfast club should come through the main entrance.

There will be no hot dinner option for this day. Instead, pupils will be offered a school packed lunch option or alternatively, you may choose to provide a packed lunch from home. Lunches will be eaten in the classrooms, shared areas or if the weather is nice, on the field.

The lunch options will be:

Ham Sandwich or

Cheese Sandwich or

Tuna Sandwich

A choice of a sausage roll or cheese and onion roll

Fruit and a cookie.

If your child usually has a school lunch, please complete this brief form to order the option they would like. https://forms.gle/u97PqoA7zyZVLCDp6 Please complete this form by Monday 20th April.

Don't forget to nominate your child for the CATS spotlight for any recent achievements!

We will be attending Junior Park Run again this Sunday, 19th April at 8:45am.

It has been fantastic to see so many pupils achieving milestones and personal bests in recent weeks. Mr Reynolds, Miss Whale, Miss Jones & Mrs Smith will be there to show their support.

Junior parkrun is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. Junior parkrun is 2k in length, dedicated to 4-14 year olds and their families and friends of all ages. Junior parkrun is positive, welcoming and inclusive, there is no time limit and no one finishes last. Everyone is welcome to come along and you can attend every week or just whenever you can.

You must register in order to take part. You can register for parkrun for free here - www.parkrun.org.uk/register/ or scan the QR on the poster below.

Further information about the course, rules & guidelines and facilities can be found here. home | Pontefract junior parkrun | Pontefract junior parkrun

We hope to see and many families there as possible on Sunday 19th!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. It has been a fantastic start to the term, and we look forward to the exciting opportunities and learning experiences the term ahead will bring.

Yours sincerely,
Mr Reynolds

Next week we will be on Week 2 of the new Summer menu.

Are you having a New Year clear out? Have the children grown AGAIN?

We are pleased to be running a clothing collection to support The Clothing Bank and our local community in Pontefract.

We would be grateful for donations of clean, good-quality women’s, men’s and children’s clothing that you no longer need. All items should be bagged and can be brought to the school office or taken directly into your child’s classroom.

Donations will be accepted throughout this half term and next half term. Your generosity will help support families within our local area, and we thank you in advance for your continued support

Please follow this link if you would like to find out more about The Clothing Bank. https://theclothingbank.org.uk/mission/

Due to a recent increase in demand for our Wraparound After School club, we have taken the decision to increase our capacity from 15 to 18 children per day. We hope this will help out those families that need childcare either on a regular or ad hoc basis.

If you haven’t used our Wraparound After School Club before, please drop in to the office to sign the agreement form.

The Club runs from 3.15pm-5.45pm Monday-Thursday and costs £12 per session (or £10 each for siblings).

Children can take part in games, activities, crafts and more! We also offer a selection of snacks and light bites for them to enjoy.

From next week we will also be launching our new Friday offer! Friday club will run as the rest of the week but at a discounted price of £8 for the full session, or £5 for a 4.30pm pick-up. This could be an opportunity for parents to get ready for the weekend, do some shopping or run any errands that need doing without the children there.

Places should be booked on MCAS by Friday of the preceding week, please give us a call if you need to book after this deadline and we will see what we can do.