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- 25 Oct 2024
Autumn 1 Newletter - 24 May 2024
Summer 2 - NewsletterDear parents and carers
The year is moving on so quickly, our year 6 children have worked very hard all year and they did their very best with the SATs – we are so proud of them! I know year 1 and year 4 are gearing up for their phonic and times tables checks which will take place in June. Our end of year reports will be sent out in July.
Our attendance continues to be a focus – please do not book any holidays during term time as I have no authority except under exceptional circumstances to grant them. Forms can be requested from Mrs Hodkinson at the office.
Here are just some of the great things our children have experienced -
Our school trip programme continued with Year 4 going to St George’s Chapel, Reception to Manchester Airport, Nursery and Reception / year 1 to Cockfield Farm and year 5 to the Jorvik Centre in York. The children will also be visiting a place of worship in the summer term. Thank you to the staff for arranging them and to the PTFA for subsidising the transport costs.
Our children took part in “Walk to School Week” - as you may know from September 4th, 2024, the streets directly around the two schools will become a “School Street” – this means that any unauthorised vehicles on the streets between 8:15am – 9:15am and 2:45pm to 3:45pm (after the Grapes pub) will be issued with a fine. I am in the process of securing parking for parents so that they can park and walk a short journey to school. I will send a questionnaire that will assess the interest in the possibility of an early morning club and an after school homework club to avoid the drop off and pick up times, please fill these in as soon as possible so that we can begin to put things in place. The School Street is for the safety of our children.
The NSPCC provided workshops and information to our children on how to keep safe.
The year 2 children continue to take part in the Harmony Project and are planting and gardening to ensure we attract wildlife.
We have had Man City in school who have conducted sessions with our children on resilience!
Saddleworth Olympics will begin soon, and the children have been encouraged by a presentation to take part – watch out for information.
The wonderful PTFA will be holding their Summer Fair on Saturday 15th June, come along, enjoy the fun and if you can help out for an hour or so please sign up! https://www.facebook.com/heywithzionptfa/
Please search for our Instagram page, this and Google Classroom/ Tapestry take the place of the old blog.
Sports Day is on Friday 14th June. Nursery and reception in the morning and reception/year 1 up to year 6 in the afternoon - you are welcome to watch!
Wednesday 19th June is the EYFS open evening. Nursery @ 6pm then Reception at 6.30 pm – more details to follow.
Thursday 4th July is Move up day when the children will experience a short time in their new classes with next year’s teacher. If you or your child have any preferences or requests in terms of September, please let Mrs Patterson or Miss Holt know.
This summer half term competition is to design a poster for St John’s summer fair which is on Sunday July 7th and we are also excited to announce the final joint church service in school on Saturday 29th June at 2:30pm – all are welcome.
The good weather will hopefully continue to improve and so we ask that your child brings their sun hats, sun cream and water bottles after the break.
Finally have a wonderful half term holiday!
See you on Thursday 6th June!, Warmest Regards
Sara Machin - 28 Mar 2024
Summer 1 - NewsletterDear Parents and Carers,
Here are just some of the great things our children have experienced this spring.
Our school trip programme has continued with Year 2 visiting Eureka with Miss Taylor. The children learned so much and were extremely well behaved!
We have celebrated “Science Day” with some fantastic practical experiments and lots of excellent costumes! Year 6 experienced “Chemistry with Cabbage” and loved the science lessons!
“Victorian Day” was a roaring success, and I was amazed by how much fun and knowledge the children had acquired. Some classes even stood up as I entered their classrooms as a sign of respect!
World Book Day was another success! It was very hard to pick the winning hat in each class and there were some very worthy runners up. Well done to the winners!
Other events include –
• Year 5 had a workshop led by the Man City coach Amy - “No Room for Racism.”
• Our half termly VIP Lunch recognised the children who have shone out during lunchtime. Thank you to the staff, especially Mrs C and Joanna for the fabulous treats.
• Saturday Church was well attended and was led by Zion and St John’s Churches together, exploring Palm Sunday.
• We had an agape meal together – which was a special time for all.
• Epworth Education Trust welcomed our children into a inter school competition on TT Rockstars -times tables – I was very proud of our first Epworth competition and hope we can enjoy more of these in the future.
• We held our termly awards celebration, with our teachers choosing three pupils from each class who have worked so hard this term. Thank you, children, for being amazing.
In other news-
Academisation into the Epworth Trust is set for May 1st. You may see school signs being replaced in the coming weeks.
We are in the process of moving our food bank into a new wooden shed which will be called “The Pantry.” We hope this will be up and running after Easter, with food, toiletries, and clothing for children.
I would like to say a big thank you to Sally Maher and Community Wardrobe who have kindly organised local businesses to provide all our children with an Easter egg or Easter treat – the children’s faces were priceless!
If you are on Instagram – look out for Hey with Zion’s new account, we are hoping this will take over from the blog page which has been sorely missed. Class information will continue to be posted on Google Classroom and Tapestry.
Thank you for all your support and I am sure you would like to share my thanks to the super Hey with Zion staff who have worked hard to make learning so much fun!
Finally have a wonderful Easter holiday! See you on Monday 15th April.
Warmest Regards
Sara Machin - Co Head - 16 Feb 2024
Spring Newsletter 1Another fantastic half turn has been and gone! I am amazed at how quickly we are moving through the year and how our wonderful children are progressing so well!
I am very pleased to announce that I will be the Headteacher of Hey with Zion from September 2024. I am thrilled and honoured to have been interviewed and selected by the governors. I will endeavour to make our school the best it can be, and I am looking forward to working with you all!
As you are aware, Mr Clowes is on a phased retirement and will sadly leave school in the summer. The governors have agreed that Mr Clowes can reduce his days at Hey with Zion after Easter, to support other schools in the Epworth Trust where his expertise will be most welcome. He will be in school for one and a half days each week and will continue to work hard for Hey with Zion.
Please listen to your child read each day! We are aware that some of the Key Stage 2 children can read but are not being extended at home to discuss vocabulary, plot, and characters. Please spend just five or ten minutes each day and support your child as much as you can.
Our attendance has dropped below the expected target, please do not take holidays in term time as your child will miss out on valuable learning and fall behind. The government have now approved new substantial fines that will be issued. Children need to be in school for 9 o clock – remember doors open from 8:50am.
Here are just some of the great things our children have experienced:
Year 6 boys and girls represented the school in football and gave their best! The girls were commended for their resilient and positive attitudes, not just by the coaches at Manchester City but also by the teams they played against. Miss Farrar, Mr Clowes, and I are very proud of them.
Our school trip programme has started with Year 3 and year 3/4 visiting Manchester museums. Thank you to the staff for arranging them and to the PTFA for subsidising the transport costs.
Our children took part in the “Love Your Shoes” competition and decorated their shoes or bicycle helmets. These photos will be sent on to Oldham transport department and all entries are in with the chance of winning a scooter. Please walk to school if you can and keep our roads safe.
Our St Valentine celebration has brought about a marvellous response and your donations to the school’s food bank are very much appreciated.
VIP lunch time treats have been awarded this week. A big well done to the children selected by the lunch supervisors! House captains have also inspired their teams in their “House Lunch Date!”
We are very sad to announce the death of Mrs Coutts whom some of you will remember. Mrs Coutts worked at Hey with Zion for many years as an administrator, lunchtime supervisor and highly respected colleague. She loved our school. She will be missed. - 22 Dec 2023
Autumn Newsletter 2What a wonderful term it has been!
Here are just some of the great things our children have experienced:
• Our first ever joint church service, with St John’s and Zion Methodist.
• Robinwood Adventure Weekend was a roaring success! A big thank you to Mrs Patterson, Mrs Light and Miss Clarke for organising it.
• Our year 5 won a creativity award at Hulme Grammar Poetry day – this is a promising link between the two schools and further science workshops are planned throughout the spring term
• The Scholastic Book fair raised £456.27 to spend on new books for the children – Thank you!
• The Christmas Fair raised an enormous £1308.57! Thank you!
• Christmas Jumper Day raised £120 which will be split between two charities – Action for Children and Save the Children.
• The PTFA held another successful disco and Santa Dash! Please become active members of the PTFA as the work they do is amazing. Special thanks to Rebecca and Emma! https://www.facebook.com/heywithzionptfa/
• Christmas dinner was wonderful and we held our second VIP lunch - well done to the children who were very important people. We also celebrated with our Christmas term prize winners, nominated by their class teachers. Well done to everyone who came and for the hard work you have put in over the last few months.
• Christmas Nativities were brilliant again thank you to the children, the staff and to you as parents for making the performances so special! Nursery sang and acted superbly at Zion church and the congregation loved it. Heidi from Nursery won the D.T. poster competition and received a prize from St John’s church – well done!
• Year 6 boys and girls represented the school well in football and gave their best!
• Year 6 as a treat, experienced Manchester City Winter Wonderland event. The children’s behaviour was exemplary and as a result a great day was had by all and to top it off those that went received a City goody bag!
• Choir sang beautifully at the churches and the local care home.
• Isaac our World Children’s Parliament representative was amazing, he gave his opinion on climate change and called for action, speaking with passion and conviction to his honourable members. Isaac will be working with our school council, Head Boy and Head Girl as well as our year 6 prefects to continue the vision for change!
• We are in the process of booking school trips for all of the classes from Nursery to Year 6 - we will need some parent helpers to volunteer on the day of the trip – parent mails will go out soon.
• We continue to work with the Council and the Department for Transport to make our school street safe. Please walk to school if you can. Meetings will be arranged after Christmas with parents to discuss the way forward.
• Our planned academisation with the Epworth Trust has been approved by the DFE - we are looking to finalise this on the 1st of April 2024. Mr Clowes and I agree that this will be a positive move for the school and the children.
Finally, we are very sad to say goodbye to Miss Slater but we wish her well on her new chosen career path of working with children as a mental health practitioner. She will be missed!
We welcome Miss Taylor who will be a wonderful year 2 teacher and is known to the school already. She is an excellent teacher and she can’t wait to get started!
Have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year!
See you on Monday 8th January! - 20 Oct 2023
Autumn 1 NewsletterWe have had a very productive and exciting half term!
Harvest
I was thrilled to see forty or so children and their families worshipping and singing at St John’s Church Harvest Festival. They were fantastic and sang beautifully. We have plans to do this again very soon with a joint church service in November. Watch this space!
Play For a Day
Our year 5 classes enjoyed “Play for a Day!” I was amazed at the talent and acting ability of the children- we have some budding actors in the making.
Collective Worship
This term has seen some positive changes to the school week.
Collective worship has changed to include an opportunity for each class to lead the worship and for parents and families to watch and enjoy as well as participate in. I hope you agree, that this has been wonderful for the children, the parents and the rest of the school community. I for one, have loved watching the children shine like stars!
VIP House Captain Lunch
On Wednesday this week, we had our first ever VIP and House Captain Lunch.
The house captains talked with the children and supported them as they ate as well as bonding and getting to know them a bit better.
The children enjoyed being VIPs and were rightly chosen by our wonderful lunch supervisors as a reward for being a great example to others at lunchtime. These VIP lunchtimes will occur every half term.
School Prefects
We have some very capable and proud year 6 children who have been amazing in their new roles.
Each year 6 child is a prefect and in addition we have our Head Girl and Head Boy, our House Captains, Buddies and School Council. Keep up the super job you have started – we are so proud of you!
A special mention must go to Isaac who was elected to represent the area of Oldham in the UK’s Childrens Parliament. Isaac will meet with politicians and members of the House of Lords to develop COP28 in making the world a greener and healthier place for future generations! All of Hey with Zion are proud of you! - 21 Jul 2023
Summer Newsletter 2As we look forward to the summer holidays and a new school year we would like to thank staff, children, parents and governors for their hard work and dedication to Hey with Zion. Sadly, we are saying goodbye to one member of staff; Mrs Farrelly as she is retiring after 25 years at Hey with Zion. We would like to express our thanks to her for her dedication and hard work, you will be missed by staff and children alike.
We would like to say farewell to our year 6 children. They have had a very successful year and we would like to thank Mrs Patterson, Mrs Light and Mr Atkin for all their hard work. Our best wishes go with the children as they move on to a new and very exciting stage in their education. We are very proud of you!
We also warmly welcome Miss Povery in to Reception/Year 1 covering Miss Tammi’s maternity leave (Miss Tammi welcomed a beautiful baby girl on Wednesday), Miss Slater in Year 2, Mrs Goodwin-Hardman, Mrs Midgley will be joining us as teaching assistants and Mr Fletcher as our HLTA. Enjoy your first term with us
Finally, we hope that everyone has a fantastic summer holiday and that we all return in September refreshed and ready to do our best again!
