The Buzz

Welcome to October! I'm pleased to see that the children have really settled into the routines and understand the expectations of school. Drop off is becoming much smoother and the reception children are taking the transition in their stride - bravo!

This week, children in Reception, Year 1 and 2 all enjoyed a Castles, Knights & Princesses Workshop, this was provided free of charge by Perform, a local theatre company.

Yesterday the children also attended a harvest assembly with The Real Food Project who were very grateful for the huge donation of food that families of HPP have given - thank you so much for your generosity and it will support local families in need.

Today was school photograph day, the day was carefully planned to ensure we managed to do all of the individual and sibling pictures and I hope you are pleased with the images when you receive them, please look out for the email.

I would like to remind all adults that we are a phone free zone, please make sure that your phone is away when you are dropping off or collecting the children. Children should also walk with their scooters on the school site.

Next week we start HPP school tours which have proven very popular, the tours of the 9th and 13th October are fully booked, there is space on other dates - visit HPP website to book your tour. Parents of children in year 2 should book a HJS only tour. See details below for HJS tours.

Have a great weekend when it arrives.

Helen Lockey

Executive Headteacher

The Real Junk Food Project

This week, as part of our ‘Harvest Assembly, we were delighted to welcome Penny and Jeremy from ‘The Real Junk Food Project’. They spoke to the children about what happens to all the donations and how grateful they were. We also had some interesting questions from the children on how much food they distribute. A big thank you to all the parents/carers who donated cans, cereal, pasta and numerous other items.

Friday 10th of October is World Mental Health Day. Every year, thousands of schools, companies and communities come together to make World Mental Health Day that little bit brighter by wearing something yellow.

On World Mental Health Day, children will come in wearing school uniform but can add some yellow! This may include smaller items such as socks, tights, hair bands, ties, a hat! etc to show our support for this day. There is no donation request for this awareness day!

If your child is moving up to Year 3 in September 2026 and you would like to book a tour of HJS please book via our website HPP website

Tours are running on the following dates:-

Thursday 6th November 9am
Thursday 11th December 9am

The tours will last approximately 1 hour and are for parent/carers of current Year 2 children only.

HPP School Fund Contribution

As most of you will be aware, school budgets nationally have been reduced in real terms and many schools are being forced to make difficult funding decisions (for example, reducing school hours, closing school libraries, or cutting support staff). We are pleased to say that due to the careful financial planning of our senior leadership team and business manager, Hampton Primary Partnership are not facing such dire financial circumstances.

However, the budget continues to be tight and is an on-going concern. While we can meet the essentials, we would like to invest for the future. For example, improving the outdoor spaces is a high priority for the schools and such equipment is extremely expensive.

As a federation we are continuously looking at funding sources. At a meeting of the Executive Committee, we agreed to introduce a voluntary contribution of £10 per child per term. This will be applied to a maximum of two children across HPP.

This contribution will cover the costs for food technology, arts week, and various additional incidental activities that enhance your child’s learning. School visits, swimming and other larger ticket items will still be charged per activity, to cover the costs. At HPP we are a cashless school therefore all payments are made via Arbor.

We hope you will understand the need to introduce this fee to cover the costs of these extra activities. This will enable us to continue to provide a broad and creative curriculum that children enjoy.

1C had the best attendance last week with 99%

1D had no late students last week

Every October, people in the UK learn about and celebrate Black history and heritage. At HISN the children will be learning about 4 inspirational people and their achievements following this year's theme of standing firm in power and pride. The children will look at one person each week, thinking about which HPP principles are shown in their story.

Autumn

Nursery

The children have settled in well and have learnt the nursery routine amazingly. They are able to find their coat pegs and colour boxes for their bookbags independently and enjoy self registering with their own photos when they come in.

They are accessing the outdoor area (regardless of the temperamental weather) and have been getting very messy with the moon dough this week!

In maths we are focusing on the numerals 1-5 and have been experimenting with different representations of these.

The playdough table is always very popular and a lovely area for friendship building and interesting conversations. Our focus book has been the "Big Bad Mood" and the children have focused on making monsters with the playdough.

Reception

The children are settling in to their stride as the mid- point of the half term has passed. They know where their classrooms are, whether they are choosing inside or outside and when it is their turn to go on the climbing frame.

The Autumn weather has been golden and the children have been enjoying playing in the small playground, in the sand and water trays and in the afternoons, riding around the track on the bikes.

We have had our first tastes of school lunches and puddings; perfecting the art of collecting a full plate and transporting it back to our seat without spilling the contents.

Forest School Fridays have been a hit, with Denzel the Dragon leaving his woolly “breath” around the tree. The children drew some imaginative chalk portraits of Denzel around the playground.

Please check your child's jumpers and cardigans when they come home to ensure they have your child's name in them. We have a number of children who have lost their jumpers and cardigans whilst at school. Remember to name all clothing, this will help us to return lost items to the correct person.

The lost property box can be found outside the office. Please put any messages out for lost property on Classlist.

On Sunday 9th November Mrs Gale, accompanied by Mr James, will be taking part in the annual remembrance day parade from the Methodist Church in Percy Road to the Oldfield Road Memorial Garden. If your child is in Year 1 or Year 2, and they would like to accompany Mrs Gale on this day, please do email the school office. The children will need to meet Mrs Gale at 11.50am at church on the Sunday for a 12pm start. The parade finishes at approximately 1.15pm and children will need to wear full uniform.

Perform Workshops

We were very pleased to receive a visit from Perform on Monday 29th September. The children had a wonderful time exploring the theme of Castles, Knights and Princesses and using drama, dance and singing to help develop their confidence, concentration and social skills.

To complement the workshop, there is a free educational app for iPhones and iPads based around the theme of Castles, Knights and Princesses. It contains fun games, creative tasks and videos of the themed songs and dances. Click here to download it free or here to find out more about the Castles, Knights and Princesses theme.

Perform run regular weekly classes in the local area and they are offering a special introductory discount to all parents of Hampton Infant School and Nursery if they come along for a free trial session before Tuesday 18th November.

To claim your discount, just call Perform on 020 7255 9120 quoting HIMN181125 or book a Free Trial Session online at perform.org.uk/try.

Election of Parent Governors

Reminder that the should you wish you to nominate yourself for parent governor, please ensure your nomination is received no later than 12 noon on Monday 6th October via email to the Clerk of the Governing Body : bhemphill@hpp.school.

Lost Property

Please make sure that your child's water bottle, sweatshirt or cardigan is named; lost property will be put in the box outside the office reception area. Please communicate to other parents via Classlist if you have trouble locating lost cardigans/sweatshirts.

Mobile Phones

Parents should end their phone calls before they enter the school site so that you can greet your children without any distractions and with a smile.

Parking

A reminder to all parents to be considerate to our neighbours when dropping off in the morning and collecting at the end of the day. We do have parking enforcement officers regularly in attendance so please do not park on zigzags, double lines, corners of roads, across neighbours driveways. Ripley Road is a School Street zone and is closed to traffic Monday-Friday 8.30am-9.00am and 2.45pm-3.15pm.

Arbor Medical Information

If your child has a medical condition, please make sure that you update their Arbor record. This information is very important and will be used by our Welfare Medical Officer, Miss Bissett.

Arts Richmond Young Writers Festival 2025/26

Arts Richmond young writers festival is open to all pupils who live or attend schools in Richmond upon Thames. It would be amazing to see as many writers form Hampton as possible!