Autumn 1 2024

Autumn Term

It was a busy summer break at Honilands and some of the changes you might be able to see and some won't be so obvious. You might have noticed the lovely new furniture that we have added to the outside area of Reception - part of our ongoing work to update some of our learning spaces. We also put a more robust fence around the pond in our conservation area as we are hoping to develop this area of the coming academic year, getting the children to use the space more often as well as looking into the possibility of becoming a 'Forest School' at the end of the year. 

Our application to academise is still ongoing and is currently with the Department for Education. When we have more information we will share it with you so you are aware of when we will officially join the Children First Academy Trust (https://www.childrenfirsttrust.co.uk/) . 

A new year and a new election for class councilors. The election process went very smoothly, 3 candidates were put forward for each class and then the class voted. They filled out their ballot papers and posted their choice in our ballot boxes. The winners were announced on Friday's celebration assembly. We look forward to hearing their ideas on how we can make Honilands even better. 

Can I also remind you that we are a Smoke Free Zone - this is both cigarettes and vapes. We support the mission in Enfield to protect children from the harms of smoking and ask that you do not smoke or vape near the school - children should not have to walk through 'clouds' of smoke to access the school or while lining up waiting to get into school. 

Uniform

Thank you for your efforts with school uniform, our children look fantastic. Please do remember to make sure school shoes are black, as there are still a few pairs of non-black shoes or trainers still being worn at times. 

With the change in the weather please make sure that your child has a suitable coat to wear to school and that has a hood - especially as it often seems to rain at home-time. 

Finally, please make sure your child's name is inside their clothing. This allows us and your child to identify their clothing if it is left around the school. We have a constant pile of lost uniform but we do not know who to give it to as the clothing often has no name inside. 

Road Safety

One of the issues that concerns you most is pupil safety on the roads around the school. We have been talking with the council on getting further support to ensure the streets around the school are kept safe. 

Currently, the council are looking at putting in no-parking zig-zag lines outside the school gates in the infant playground so that there is a clearer line of site for parents crossing the road with their children in the morning and at the end of the school day. 

We are also exploring implementing a 'School Street' on one of the streets around the school to make is safer for our children. This would mean that access would be restricted to this road for residents only during the opening and closing time of the school. Ideally, this will be somewhere along Kempe Road which can get very busy in the morning and after school. 

As always, where possible, we encourage you to walk to school with your child as this is best both for your health and for the environment. October is International Walk to School Month - see the Living Streets website for more details

Parent Coffee Morning

Thank you to those parents who attended our Coffee Morning on Wednesday 2nd October. We would like to attract more parents to these events. The Coffee Mornings are an opportunity for us to meet with our community to support them and to share important information about what is going on in school or how you can help your child. 

Please complete the questionnaire on the below link to feedback and help us to improve what we are doing, it is good to hear your opinion. 

Harvest Celebration

We will be having our annual Harvest Celebration in school on Friday 25^th October. In the past our families have been very generous in supporting this and once again we are asking for donations of food to be sent into school starting on Monday 14th October. Tinned or packet food is useful but please check the sell-by date.

Types of Food

Dried food - pasta, rice, beans and lentils, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, biscuits, tinned foods, cartons – milk, custard, soft drinks, juice – cartons, diluted juice.  Please do not bring in perishable fruit and vegetables.

All donations will be given to the Enfield Food Bank for distribution in the local area. Last year the table of food displayed was wonderful. We are so grateful to all of you for your continued support.  Your contributions do make a difference.

This is always a lovely occasion that our school community looks forward to.

Enrichment

As well as having high expectations for our pupils achievement in school, we also want them to get excited about their learning and to enrich their time in school with different learning experiences. 

Some of the things we have planned for this half-term are:

Year 3 & 4  -  ZooLab visits to support science topics

Year 6 residential trip

National Poetry Day workshop with a poet

Year 3/4/5/6 Black History Workshop

Visits to Bullsmoor Library

Parent Governor Vacancies

We’re looking for two parents to join our Governing Body as Parent Governors. This is a great chance to help shape the future of Honilands and make a real difference for our children. As a Parent Governor, you’ll work with school leaders and other governors to support the school’s goals and help improve learning for every student. Your views and ideas as a parent are so important to us! If you care about our school and want to be more involved, we would love to hear from you!

Parent Governors are representative parents rather than representatives of parents. You will not be
expected to gather the views of other parents and take them to Governors meetings or to personally
become involved in individual concerns. You will need to be able to present a balanced and impartial
view, based on the benefits for all children. 

In the Spring term the commitment will be one evening a term to discuss  and challenge the school on how it is meeting its priorities for the year.

If you are interested in the role then please email [email protected] 

Arbor

Please make sure that you have added our Arbor app to your phone. 

One of the great benefits of parents using the Parent App is that you will
receive messages directly within the app itself. These will operate just
like you would receive a text message but they will be free for us to use
and it will help you access any previous messages you have received
from the school. Whilst we don’t want to become a school that
bombards parents with messages, the in-app messages will be great
to keep you informed about your child’s life at Honilands. 

We are no longer using Text2Parents so to receive information you will need the Arbor app. Please see the School Office for support if you are struggling to access it and they will be more than happy to help you. 

Please note that we will also be using the app for bookings for Parent Consultation. Please keep an eye on your messages for updates as we will be letting you know soon what you need to do to book a slot on Arbor. 

Safeguarding

The following staff lead the safeguarding in school and are a point of contact for staff,
students and parents / carers who wish to raise concerns:
Mr Irvine - Designated Safeguarding lead

Ms Newport - Deputy Designated Safeguarding lead

Ms Maisary - Deputy Designated Safeguarding lead

Ms Menezes - Deputy Designated Safeguarding lead

 Ms Eden- Deputy Designated Safeguarding lead

The school's approach to many of the issues that are raised are explained in our Safeguarding Policy that can be found on our school website.

Vault (secret) Apps
Have you heard of Vault Apps? They are basically secret apps that are concealed by looking like a normal,
less conspicuous app. For example,one of these apps looks and works like a working calculator when opened, but when a passcode is entered, it reveals photographs, videos, documents and contacts. One way to prevent your child from using these apps is to ensure parental controls are set up so you can review all app purchases. You can find out more here:
• https://www.bark.us/blog/findhidden-apps/ 
• https://www.safes.so/blogs/vaultapps/ 

Dates for the rest of the Autumn Term