Weekly Newsletter 24 January 2020
Dear Parents
My wife began Parkinson’s Awareness Week with an assembly on Monday. She was joined by Valerie Box from the local branch of the Parkinson’s UK charity to inform the children of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s and in particular those that affect Mrs Oldroyd.
During the week, each class was visited by Mrs Oldroyd, Valerie and other volunteers from Parkinson’s UK in which the children were provided with age appropriate information of what it is like to live with Parkinson’s and how the children can help. This involved trying to stand on wobble boards, taking money out of a purse whilst wearing gloves and having restricted leg movement. The children were very interested and interacted with enthusiasm and empathy.
Today, the children and staff came to school wearing an array of amazing, weird and wonderful headwear to support the charitable campaign Use your Head for Parkinson’s. Mrs Miles’ Year 3 class gave an assembly to show what the children had learnt over the week. On a personal note, Mrs Oldroyd and I would like to thank the volunteers and the whole school community for embracing the themed week and donating to the charity which is working towards finding a cure for Parkinson’s.
Yesterday, I spent much of the day with Year 1, joining in their lessons, play time and lunch time. It was fabulous to watch and support them at PE, with their literacy (which included phonics, reading and writing) and their topic lesson on Victorian toys. The highlight of the day, though, for most of the children seemed to be having my dogs Amber and Toby to play with them at break time!
The week has been jammed packed with other activities and visits, too. I went to Charterhouse on Tuesday for a tour and meeting with the Headmaster. Having been shown round by a former pupil, it is reassuring to know that a Barrow Hills education certainly prepares the boys well for the School. It will be interesting to see the impact of their decision on going fully coeducational!
Yesterday we were treated to a superb Chinese feast at lunchtime to celebrate this weekend’s Chinese New Year. The children tucked into spring rolls, lemon chicken, stir-fried beef, Chinese mixed vegetables, egg fried rice, chow mein and the obligatory prawn crackers and gave a big ‘thumbs up’ to our wonderful chefs.
On a more adventurous note, we wish our Marketing Manager, Tiffany Buirski, the best of fortunes in her quest to scale the heights o f Kilimanjaro, next week. She is trekking and climbing with a team and raising money for Alzheimer’s. It sounds like it will be a fantastic experience and we hope that the unseasonably bad weather at the summit for this time of year doesn’t adversely affect their expedition. We look forward to hearing her stories and seeing some photos on her return.
Please also note this week’s e-safety guide to parents.
Kind regards
Phil Oldroyd
Head
Awards
Pre-Prep
Reception Pre-Prep pencils: Sophie, Margeaux, Maxx, Henry, Poppy, Charlotte, Reuben, Eleanor, Leopold
Junior Prep
Bronze: Oliver (3R), Louis (3R), Lexi (3R), Tobias (3R), Luke (3R),
Middle Prep
Lauren (5R), Florence (5R), Beatrix (6G), Sophie (6G), Matilda (6G), Nathaniel (6G), Theodore (6G), Emilia (6G), Jack (6G), Alexander (6G).
Upper Prep
Bronze: Florence (7G), Cade (7G), Louis (7G).
Safer Food Essentials
Level 1: Beatrix (6G), Toby (6R), Rosie (6R), Matilda (6G), Verity (6R), Theodore (6G), Leonor (6R), Anastasia (6R), Raymond (6R).
Level 2: Rupert (8G), Thomas (8G), Matilda (8G), Max (8G).
Barrow Hills Community Committee
TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
For one night only; Friday 6th March from 7.30pm, ‘Ultimate Elton’ will be performing at Barrow Hills in the school hall. Come and join us for the irresistible songs of Elton John. Some tribute artists look like their idol, some sound like their idol. Paul Bacon as Elton John does both! Close your eyes and you won’t believe your ears, open your eyes and you won’t believe them either! You simply won’t find a closer tribute to Sir Elton John. Tickets are £10 each if purchased by Friday 14 February and after this £14. A pay bar will be available including a Sandhills Gin tent (£5 per G&T!).
Tickets are on sale from today at Reception or Mr Shreeve. If you would like to pay by bank transfer or paypal please use the details below.
Please use event/childs surname as the reference.
paypal@barrowhills.org (use family/ friends for no fees)
bank transfer to RBS | 16298894 | 16-00-15
We will also be selling tickets every Friday at the Bacon Buttie stall. The Committee also supports the School to fund new facilities that may fall outside the existing future development plans of the School itself. These additional funds can help with the purchase of practical and exciting facilities sooner rather than later.
All profits will go towards the BHCC commitment to purchasing. We are very much looking forward to seeing you on 6th March.
Please also save the date for the annual school Proms is on Sunday 14th June from 1.00 -4.00 pm on the back lawn of the School and the Headmaster’s Summer Ball, the last event of the year, is on Saturday 27th June from 7.00 pm
Cake Sales
Cake SalesJanuary 31st – Year 2 and Year 5; March 6th – Reception and Year 6; May 15th – Nursery/Kindy and Year 7.
If you shop online, please sign up to easyfundraising to support Barrow Hills School. Easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into free donations for your favourite cause.
It’s a really easy way to raise money for us – you just use the easyfundraising site to shop online with more than 3,500 well known online stores like Amazon, Argos, John Lewis, ASOS, Booking.com, eBay, Boden, and M&S and when you make a purchase, the retailer sends us a free donation, at no extra cost to you, as a ‘thank you’. As well as shopping online, you can donate directly or create your own fundraising page to raise money.
Please visit our easyfundraising page here and click ‘support us’.
Never miss a free donation with the Donation Reminder (this only works on MACs and PCs). If you think you might forget to shop each time via easyfundraising then the Donation Reminder will help you. It provides a little reminder every time you shop online.
Small World Play
Do you have any unused Lego, small dinosaurs, small soldiers or small cars at home? If you are having a clear out, please consider donating these to our ‘small world’, used for quiet play outside during break times. Please contact Mrs Miles, Year 3 form tutor, lam@barrowhills.org.
Please like and share the posts on our Barrow Hills Facebook page.
