Dear Families,
Welcome back everyone! It’s 2025 and here at EHPS we are ready and raring to go. I hope you had a wonderful and restful Christmas time and thank you again for all of your kind words, cards and gifts. I know that my staff and I were very humbled by your generosity and we are excited for the year ahead.
Welcome Back Assembly
In the assembly on Monday, we held our traditional ‘Welcome Back’ assembly and reminded ourselves about our school values and expectations. During the assembly we met the Kindness Elves and also explored the Gift of Kindness from Ms Pennington’s new favourite book: The book of Gifts.
As it says in the book:
Kindness is the greatest superpower any of us possesses. It is knowing the light you give will help someone glow. It is helping a stranger in need find their feet. It is giving without expecting in return. I believe kindness can change the world. I know the smallest act of kindness can truly save a life.
Children have been tasked with thinking about what could be in their kindness café and how they can sprinkle kindness during 2025. Maybe at home, you could talk about what kind things could be in their Kindness Café.
Surprisingly, at the end of the assembly, Mr Foster (our brilliant new Site Supervisor) came in to share that a; ‘large gold box had fallen from the sky!’ which got us all very excited for our week of creativity.
It Fell from the Sky!
We have started the week with a creative BANG! As we have launched our writing invention week! We are all really excited about this as for the whole week the children have been developing their writerly skills based on the beautiful book: It Fell from the Sky by the Fan Brothers.
It has been a wonderful opportunity for the children to be the writer that they want to be and the outcomes have been phenomenal. It really gives our writing teaching purpose.
Mrs Robinson’s class in Year 5 also started the week with a whole day of drama linked to their Shakespeare learning. It is wonderful for us to be able to provide the children with so many opportunities.
Looking Ahead
As we look ahead, we have lots to look forward to from our Year 4 history unit All about Northampton to Year 1 learning about Mary Seacole and Edith Cavell - please see your child’s curriculum map for more information with regards to what they will be learning this term and if you ever want to know more, please do ask your child’s class teacher.
Attendance
Your child’s attendance is really important to their success at school – they need to be at school for us to teach them and absences can cause gaps in their learning. Please note, that a good attendance is 96%+ and please look out for our termly attendance newsletter coming out next week. Also, a gentle reminder that we cannot authorise holidays. If you want to talk more about your child’s attendance, please contact Karen Keay (), our Attendance Lead, and Lindsey York, Assistant Headteacher ().
Class Novels and reading!
Reading continues to be a priority for us as a school – especially developing a love of reading. Did you know that each class is assigned a class novel? This term they are:
Year 1 It's Grandpa Chatterji by Jamila Gavin
Year 2 George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl and Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure by Alex T Smith
Year 3 Beetle Boy by M G Leonard
Year 4 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis
Year 5 The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Ralph
Year 6 Orphans of the Tide by Struan Murray.
Don’t forget about our 100 Reads as well. Our class novels and 100 Reads are all there to ensure that your children get to experience a wide variety of rich and diverse literature. As Dr Seuss says: ‘The more you read, the further you will go.’ Please read with your child/ren and share books as much as possible at home. We have an amazing librarian, Ruth De Chastelain, who is also available to offer advice and guidance. Why not make 2025 your child’s year of reading!
Census
Next week, it is census day on Thursday 16th January – these days affect our school budget so, if you are in EYFS or KS1 (mainstream or SU), please order a school dinner – even if you usually bring a packed lunch (thank you!)
Contacting us
As a school, we pride ourselves in our open-door policy and being available for you. Here are the email addresses of our most Senior Leaders as you will probably need them before you need me:
- Lindsey York (Assistant Head Teacher and SENCo)
- Julia Fenton (Assistant Head Teacher and Year 5/6 Leader)
- Sarah Heavens (Assistant Head Teacher and Year 3 & 4 Leader)
- Lucy Boswell (Assistant Head Teacher, Head of the Specialist Unit, and Safeguarding Lead)
- Kelly Roberts (MHFA, Leader of the Nest)
- Louise Whaites (Chair of Governors)
- Me Kathryn Pennington
Your class teachers are also available via Class Dojo but I would ask that you contact them, whenever possible, between 7:30am-6pm, so as to respect and protect their time with their families at home.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone – see you on Monday.
Ms Pennington