Family Information and FOPHS News Friday 21st July 2023
Family Information and FOPHS News Friday 21st July 2023.
What a month July has been and a lovely end to the 2022-23 school year? There was the MOVE Fest, Carnival, Prom, 70th Anniversary party, countless trips out, transitions and finally the Leaver’s Assembly on Tuesday. I left that till last; apart from the fact that it was the last big event it is an emotional one for all involved. For the young people leaving PHS, it is a chance to celebrate their time here with their parents/carers & family and for staff to share achievements and memories. It is scary, as it is for most young people of the same age in mainstream schools nationwide but also exciting as they look to the future. I wish all our leavers all the very best for the future. It was also lovely to talk to many of you on Tuesday. Please remember that, as far as I know I’ll still be here in September and happy to take a call or email if you need a little signposting or to pick my brains. I have loved working with you.
As we break for the summer here is a link to the school term dates for 2023-24.
Students return to school on Tuesday 5th September.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the photos of Prom last Friday. Staff really do go above and beyond to make this special and this year was no exception. Thanks to those of you who supported the Enterprise Fayre, which helped with the cost of the Prom. I don’t know of many schools who don’t charge for Prom and I know you appreciate it. There are lovely photos on the facebook page, with numerous positive comments.
Online Safety:
This week’s blog from Maria is about:
Keeping children safe online during the summer holidays.
Safeguarding update:
This letter was sent home today, but here is the link for those who may not receive it, or whose children were not in school today.
Sun Safety
It doesn’t feel like summer today, but I am optimistic that better weather is on the way. It is a good time to remind parents of our sun safety guidance. When we return in September, please do send sunscreen (labelled with your child’s name), sun hat and sunglasses if they wear them. The letter sent out earlier in the term is below:
Information:
Special Needs ex Demo Equipment.
A parent passed this on and thought other parents might be interested:
“This Group has been created at the request of Parents with children with Special Needs. The purpose of the page is to show ex demo products which I have at much reduced prices. Many items are “ex demo” but some are “new” but a few years old but were stored and never used. These products are NOT” second hand” or “pre loved”. All items sold will be thoroughly checked over, serviced, and cleaned.”
The link to their Facebook group is here:
Activities:
SEN friendly Activities
Northumberland Parent carer Forum has produced the attached brochure. Some will be Northumberland only, but there are others open to all. Thanks to the parent who forwarded it to me.
Thomas the Tank at Jesmond Dene
The Thomas Train is making a return to Jesmond Dene this summer
Available daily from 22 July across the holidays. No need to book.
Check timings and find out more about visiting Jesmond Dene here:
Screen on the green:
A whole summer of free films at Old Eldon Square, these are sure to be a hit. There will be 2-3 films shown each day of screening with a mix of films to suit as wide a range of people as possible.
Please see the link below for full details:
Free or low-cost meals for children.
Taken from “Money Saving Central” here is a link to places offering free or low-cost food for children during the school holidays. Holidays are an expensive time for all of us, so this may help.
I’ve also seen them advertise other money saving tips, so it may be worth following their page. Here are links to the Facebook page and website:
South Lakes Safari Zoo
Half price summer offer.
I can’t see any information on accessibility, but their telephone number is: 01229 466086.
Book on the link here:
National Trust access information.
Thanks to a parent who shared this with me.
FoPHS News:
Meeting. On Wednesday we held our final meeting of the year and much of it focused on preparations for the Autumn Fayre. Do put it in your diary; Saturday 30th September 10.00-14.00
Lots of you ordered the school photos, taken by Beth, one of our engagement teachers. I’ve heard lots of lovely comments from parents and staff, and this initiative went down well. You appreciated the “pay as you feel” offer and we are pleased to let you know that we raised over £600. Amazing.
We had enquiries from some of you. Photos were only taken where consent was signed and when I sent the text reminder on Wednesday it was simply too late for photos to be taken as Beth was on a training day. However, the good news is that she will be at the Autumn Fayre and would be happy to take photos then. She and Hannah are planning something special for the day. With a Christmas backdrop, photos will be taken, again offered digitally on a “pay as you feel” and you will have lots of time to use these for Christmas gifts, photos, mugs, framed photos and more. Those who missed out on photos this time can have them done there.
On Tuesday, we attended the Bayvox summer concert in Whitley Bay. This is Hannah’s other choir. You may remember the school choir, Songbirds. We performed a couple of songs. The choir generously donated te proceeds of ticket sales and a raffle to FoPHS. With some donations via just giving and a generous one from the husband of one of the choir members we raised in the region of £1000. We are very grateful for their support, and it was a wonderful night out.
Just giving:
FoPHS has a QR code, which enables supporters to donate to us via this method. The page is a Percy Hedley Foundation one, but all donations via our QR code go to our “basket”. How cool? It had its first outing at the concert on Tuesday night and we had £47 donated, with a further £100 form the husband of one of the choristers. The link is here:
MOVE:
You know that FoPHS supports the MOVE events in school to the tune of £1200 per annum. We know that MOVE; Movement Opportunities via Education supports all students.
I had a message today from Mary Ingram which I thought I would share with everyone:
“Thank you very much to all of you for supporting the growth of MOVE within PHS. We have excelled this year and looking forward to achieving centre for Excellence, hopefully next school year! Thank you very much for all your contributions and help to bring the MOVE days to life, we could not do it without you!! Here’s some pictures of some of the students enjoying themselves.”
100 Club Winners
The remaining 6 draws were done at the last meeting and the winners will receive cheques to the value of £47. This is slightly more than the last winners as we had some additional people join. These will be posted to you. The winners were:
Number: Name:
58 J Suggate
80 L Finlay
21 J Thomas
5 P Kinghorn
12 P Kinghorn
59 D Jones
This year the 100 club raised £546 for FoPHS. That’s the most and we got close to 100. Next year, I hope we reach that target. Thank you to everyone who supported.
Facebook page:
This is a closed group for family and friends of Percy Hedley School, where you can share news and updates about school life. It is not for external professionals who may be working with families. To join, you need to answer the question stating your link with school.
Please note: this group is for sharing news and updates about school life and is not intended to discuss any issues around individual students, and as such all comments are moderated. If you have a particular issue or concern, please contact school directly on 0191 216 1811.
I wish you all as good a break as you can have and look forward to seeing you all in September. Remember we re-open to students on Tuesday 5th September. The office will not be open during the summer and calls will be picked up on Monday 4th. This is a full training day for staff, with mandatory training for all staff and there will be limited time for them to take/respond to calls. If urgent office staff will email them.
I quite like to finish my blogs with a thought for the day and here’s a personal favourite:
Contact details
Eileen Robinson: Family Liaison Officer
Email: e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk
Telephone: 0191 2161811 ext. 3260.
