A new term!

This term our topics are:

‘People Who Help Us’ & ‘Down on the Farm’

These topics will provide us with an ideal opportunity to get out and about in our waterproofs and wellies, and find out more about our wonderful woodland and surrounding countryside, and to engage in Forest School activities. We will also be looking further afield and finding out about animals from other countries and the environments they live in, and maybe even going on safari or exploring a rain forest! We will also be exploring some technological toys to introduce the idea of sequencing and very simple programming.

You can see more detail in our topic tree here.

Arc Pathway is our online system for sharing observations, making assessments of children’s progress and sharing reports. You can also use this to share key moments from home.

If you have not yet signed up to use Arc, please use the link here to do so. Please let James Davis know if you have any questions.

For all absences, please complete the absence request form via the Parent Portal. Please see the guide here on how to request an absence for your child.

Please ensure your child is well enough to attend school each day. If they’ve required Calpol in the morning, they aren’t well enough for school, so please don’t send them in. If in any doubt, please contact Matron to discuss your concerns.

If your child will need any prescribed or over-the-counter medication administered during the school day, please complete the following form here. No medication can be administered without this form.

A reminder children may be brought to the Honey Pot between 8:15am – 9:00am for registration. Children arriving earlier should please be booked in for breakfast from 7:30am or join our Early Birds in the Beehive from 8:00am.

Parents have the flexibility to choose whether to collect their child before lunch, at 12:00pm, or to have them stay for lunch and be collected at 12:30pm. If you are collecting your child at midday before lunch, we ask that you collect your child from the Beehive in the Pre-Prep building. The Honey Pot children staying for lunch will join the Beehive children to eat in the Pre-Prep Hall before returning to the Honey Pot for collection at 12:30pm.

The afternoon session finishes at 3:00pm, please wait at the Honey Pot front door and we will bring your child and their belongings to you.

From 3:00pm, Honey Pot children are invited to join classroom club, with quiet games, drawing and an opportunity to rest before going home or joining an extended day club or care.

• Classroom Club (free) in the Honey Pot 3:00-3:30pm
• Care until 4:00pm (charged) in the Honey Pot 3:30-4:00pm
• Care until 5:00pm (charged) in the Pre Prep Hall with Beehive & Reception 4:00-5:00pm
• Supper Club (charged) in the Library/Dining Room 5:00-6:00pm

Please note Honey Pot and Beehive children will now be provided with a hot supper at 5:00pm in the Dining Room in the main building.

As well as your pocket-sized diary, parents can also view the Spring Term calendar via the website and Parent Portal.

Please do have a look through and pop important dates in your diary.  Of course, sometimes plans need to be updated, and so any changes will be updated on our electronic calendar and communicated to you as soon as possible.

The key events for our Honey Pot parents can also be found in Mr Murray’s Start of Spring Term Letter here.

Our brilliant Friends of Pennthorpe, as always, will be doing lots to support our school and community this term. Key things for you to watch out for include:

• The Spring Term Friends of Pennthorpe meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 14 January at 8:30am. Everyone is welcome to attend to help develop upcoming FoP plans.
• Bags of Support Collections on Thursday 30 January and Friday 28 March.
• Pop Up Treat Shop on Friday 14 February from 3:00pm
• Friends of Pennthorpe Second Hand Uniform Shop & Blueblood Sports Pop Up Shop on Tuesday 11 March.
• ‘A Night in Bloom’ Ball on Saturday 22 March 2025. For further information and to book your tickets click here.
• The Friends of Pennthorpe Mother’s Day Shop will open its doors on Tuesday 25 March.

Honey Pot uniform remains much the same in the Spring Term, a Pennthorpe sweatshirt, polo shirt, jogging bottoms or shorts. We ask that the children wear white socks and black shoes. Please also ensure that your child has a named pair of wellies, waterproofs, and a play coat in school at all times.

Please make sure that children have spare clothes in school, including pants and socks, as there will be lots of opportunities for the children to get messy! These can be kept in a drawstring bag on your child’s peg. Please name everything clearly!

Any nappies and wipes that the children need should be stored in their cubby hole.

Uniform is available to order online, for further information please click here.

Please do not park in the drop-off lanes at the front of school if you are coming past the gates to drop your child into school, or collect them from outside of the Honey Pot. These lanes are intended for dropping-off only!

Instead, please park up in the car park, or find a safe place to park on the neighbouring roads (being considerate of our neighbours, especially with regards parking near to junctions or driveways).