Dear Parents and Carers.

Traditionally the school takes part in the Ganton Christmas tree display every year.  Each child makes a decoration which is then displayed in Ganton church over the festive period.  

If you would like to see the Hertford Vale tree as well as all the others on display, they can be seen over the Christmas period in Ganton church which is open every day 10:00am - 4:00pm between now and Christmas Eve.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is our December Online Safety Newsletter.

It is also on our website and if you would like a paper copy, please contact the school office.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Some of you will have seen our Facebook posts advertising the available places in school.  Feel free to tell anyone you know who might be looking for a Reception place for September as we have capacity to take 18 children in each year.  There are also spaces in the current Reception year group if you are aware of anyone who would like to come to Hertford Vale.

The advert below is on the Facebook page as well as on our website.

Thank you.

Reception Places for September

We have Reception places available for September 2024. If you would like your child to attend a school where Ofsted say Pupils at this school are very happy, positive and welcoming members of the school’s ‘family’, then Hertford Vale may be the place for you.

Our values of Love, Peace, Kindness, Respect and Resilience run through everything we do here at Hertford Vale.  Every individual is treated with respect and we care for the whole child to ensure they and their family feel valued.

We are perfectly located in Staxon just off the A64 and offer wrap around care from 8:00am till 5:30pm every school day.  Our breakfast and after school club is run by dedicated staff who offer a calm, nurturing environment at either end of the school day.

The deadline for parents to apply for a Reception place is January 15th 2024.  If you would like to guarantee a place at our lovely school, please call the office for a chat on 01944 710273.  You are also more than welcome to come and visit the school, meet the staff and see what we have to offer your family.

Dear Parents and Carers.

We have funded nursery places available for three and four year old children from January 2024. 

All 3 and 4 year olds in England currently receive 15 hours a week government funded early education. If their parents are living and working in England, 3 and 4 year olds may be entitled to 30 hours funded childcare, which is up to 1,140 hours per year in total.

If eligible you will be entitled to access the 30 funded hours from the beginning of the term following your child’s 3rd birthday.

More detailed information, including how to find out whether you’re eligible, can be found via the Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare

If you know of anyone who might be interested please pass our details on or direct them to our website or Facebook page.  

If you would like to talk to us or visit the school please call 01944 710273 for more information and we will be happy to help.

Thank you.

On Thursday we had a visit from the Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary. We learned all about the different animals that the sanctuary rescues including foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, birds, rabbits and lots of pigeons.

The children had the opportunity to ask plenty of questions such as, “What do deers eat?” and “What was the first animal you rescued?” The children particularly enjoyed the two soft toys who also visited our classroom. 

The sanctuary currently has a new project where they are raising funds to build a new pigeon loft due to the high demand of animals they take in.  Around 200 volunteers help out at the sanctuary rescuing over 600 animals per year. A donation bin is situated at Four Oaks Pet Supplies just outside Seamer where old newspapers, cat and dog food and bird seed can be given to help care for the animals. 

Thank you

Mrs Kenyon

Dear Parents and Carers,

Attached is a letter from Mrs Kenyon about the nativity performance taking place on 12th December.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Our choir - Hertford Harmonies - will be performing alongside other schools in a Christmas carol concert on Saturday 9th December.  The concert begins at 2pm at St Martin's Church in Scarborough and everyone is welcome.  

The event is free to attend and will be a lovely way to begin the Christmas season.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Thursday 30th November, Mrs Kenyon is having an open morning in her classroom from 9:00am to 10:00am.

You are most welcome to visit the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classroom to see what the children are doing and to talk to the staff.  

As some of you will be aware, we are opening to three and four year olds from January 2024.  If you have any questions about the provision, Mrs Kenyon and Mr Barber will be happy to talk to you about this and what we can offer your child.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a letter from Miss Higgs about our special visitor from yesterday.  There are plenty of photographs from the day and the children are still talking about Paul and having him in school.

Thank you to Miss Higgs for arranging Paul's visit as it is something we will all remember for many years to come.

On Monday morning the children and adults had a lovely walk up to the church, as we had been asked to help decorate it for Christmas.

The children were all involved in putting up the Christmas tree and setting out the Nativity scenes on the window sills.  At the end we had an exciting Christmas light switch on and we were amazed to see the church become illuminated with twinkling lights.  An enjoyable and successful morning was had by all!

Mrs Kenyon.

Dear Parents and Carers.

If your child is in Mrs Kenyon's class or Mrs Boyes' class, there will be a phonics workshop tomorrow from 3:30pm.

The workshop will last about half an hour and will explain how phonics is taught in school as well as showing you some of the resources.

Everyone is most welcome and hopefully you will find the information useful so you can help your child at home.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

It has been a while but we have had reports that some children in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 have head lice.  The attached leaflet gives advice on how to treat them and what to look for.

If in doubt, please go to the NHS website for further details. 

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice-and-nits/

Thank you

Dear Parents and Carers.

All schools in England have been conatcted by Dame Rachel De Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England.  

Dame De Souza is conducting a survey called The Big Ambition.  She says 'The Big Ambition aims to hear from children across England on what they think is important! In the lead up to the next General Election, the Children’s Commissioner wants to take children’s thoughts, opinions and ideas to decision-makers, to make sure that the Government hears young people’s voices on what they think needs to be done to make children’s lives better in England.'

Children or parents can complete the survey here: www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/thebigambition. Further resources are available on our website.

It is really important that the pupils at Hertford Vale Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Staxton have participated in The Big Ambition survey and had their say.

I want to ensure that the voices of all children in North Yorkshire are fairly represented in the findings so that I can share their views with the most senior members of the country.

I must reiterate that it is vital that all children have their voice heard through this survey because, as Children’s Commissioner for England, I have a statutory duty to protect and promote the views and interests of children. The Big Ambition provides a much-needed opportunity for the children of England to tell political decision makers what is important to them ahead of the General Election. I will be sharing their responses with Government to ensure that children’s voices are heard.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

The children have had a fun day dressing in their colourful & spotty clothes.  Our Celebration Worship this afternoon was a chance to appreciate the different outfits and to celebrate the children’s achievements from this week.  

As you will have seen we had a visit from Power Down Pete - a superhero in a green cape.  It is safe to say that he definitely put in the hours by going round all the classes to share his knowledge on carbon reduction.  His whole school assembly was also full of facts and figures which enlightened us all as to how we can change our habits to reduce energy consumption.

Thank you to everyone who sent in a donation for Children in Need.  We raised a total of £88.30 which will be sent to the charity to add to their grand total.  Some of the children’s outfits were very colourful and they were very happy to show them off.

Next Friday is our Christmas Fair.  It will be a wonderful way to start the festive season and to buy some gifts from the various stalls.  We hope to see you there from 3:30pm.

Have a lovely weekend and we will see you on Monday.

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a letter from Miss Higgs about the Power Down Pete visit from earlier this week.  Fun was had by all and it really got the children thinking about energy use in school and at home.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is Children in Need Day.  We have been given some Pudsey badges, temporary tatoos and stickers to hand out today.  Children will bring some of them home at the end of the day for you to use if you wish.  The children are dressing up in colourful or spotty clothes tomorrow but please don't go to any expense and buy something special.

If you wish, you can send a donation of £1 and we will forward it onto the charity.  

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

We have attached our new Online Safety newsletter which will come out each month.  It will help keep you up to date with the latest news on internet safety and what to be aware of in terms of games and apps.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

We are delighted to be able to offer an 18 place pre school from January 9th 2024 with sessions running every morning and afternoon during term time. We offer 30 hours for three and four year old children. The sessions are 9:00am to 12:00pm and 12:00pm to 3:00pm.

We are committed to providing high quality pre school education led by a highly skilled, qualified teacher. Working closely with parents and carers, our aim is to provide the very best platform to enable children to fulfil their potential in a secure and caring environment, immersed in the Christian values-based ethos and aims of Hertford Vale Church of England School. 

In order for your child to begin with us, please contact us to register your initial interest.  For places in January, we need the parental agreement form returned by Friday 24th November.

We look forward to working together in the coming years, to enable life in all its fullness for our children.

We have attached the parental agreement form to this message as a Word document but if you would like a paper copy please come into the school to collect one.  You can also access these documents on our school website under the 'Parent Info' tab.

For more information please email or telephone the school office.

Our telephone number is 01944 710273.

Our email address is admin@hertford-vale.n-yorks.sch.uk

Dear Parents and Carers.

As some of you are aware, we now have a Facebook page for school.  We are keen to raise the profile of the school in the local area and would appreciate your help in sharing what we do here at Hertford Vale.  

Some of the information we send on the school app also is beginning to appear on the Facebook page.  Not everything we send on the app will need to be on the page, just some of the highlights to let people in the area know we are here and what goes on.

If you have time to look at the page and share it with people, we would really appreciate it.  To find the page on Facebook, search for Hertford Vale C.E Primary School Staxton and you should see our school logo.  For some reason there are two other pages with our name but they are not ours.  If you see the school logo on the Facebook page, you have found the right one. 

Feel free to share and tell people about us as we really do want to show what wonderful children we have and how well they do.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Friday is Children in Need Day.  

All the children are welcome to wear colourful or spotty clother for the day.  There is no obligation to do so and there is no need to buy a special outfit for the day.  A voluntary donation of £1 can be brought in if you wish and it will be donated to the charity.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Children from Mrs Fardoe-Elliott's class have made a Remembrance Display.  The board will be in St Peter's church over the weekend as part of the Remembrance Service if you would like to read the poems and look at the display.

Mrs Fardoe-Elliott's class will also be attending the Remembrance Service at the cenotaph in Staxton tomorrow morning.  The service will take place from 10:45am if you would like to join us.  The service will be led by Liz Kitching and some of our children will be reading poems they have written as well as placing crosses at the base of the cenotaph.

Dear Parents and Carers.

We have put some calendar dates on the app with a few events on the run up to the Christmas break.  We have had some technical difficluties with this section of the app but hopefully you will be able to see the events at the moment.

The school website has had the current term dates available since last academic year so if we lose the calendar aspect of the app you can always visit the website for the key dates for the rest of the school year.  They can be found under the Parent Info tab on the school website.

As we get closer to the end of term (Thursday December 21st) we will send out some additional information about the theatre trips, Christmas dinner and Christmas Jumper Day.

Thank you.

Some of our older children entered a national writing competition earlier this term.  

We received a letter from the editor at Young Writers to say that their work was so good it was being entered for publication in a book entitled ‘This Is Me - Through Our Eyes’.  The book will be published in January 2024 and a copy will be kept in the British Library archives.

Congratulations to our winners as it’s not every day our children have their work published in a book!

Dear Parents and Carers.

Today will be the last session for Miss Higgs' netball club for the time being.  Miss Higgs will start the club again next year when the weather allows and the nights are longer.  

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Thank you to everyone who donated some chocolate today.  It will all be put to good use on the Chocolate Tombola stall at the Friends of Hertford Vale School Christmas Fair on November 24th.  We hope to see you all on the day from 3:30 to 5:30pm.

Despite the rainy weather, some of the children made it outside today for rugby training with Tom.  The rest of the children had to have their training in the hall but they still enjoyed their sessions.  There will still be plenty of sport taking place after the half term break so please remember to send your child’s P.E kit in when we return in November.

We have had some bookings for the after school club which opens next half term.  Some children are very excited about the chance to stay at school for a further two hours so if you would like to make use of the club, please let us know. 

We hope you have a good half term break and that it doesn’t rain for the whole week!  We will see you all again on Monday 6th November when the breakfast club opens at 8:00am and the school gates open at 8:50am.

Take care,

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Just a reminder that tomorrow is non uniform day.  The Friends of Hertford Vale School are hosting a 'Wear your own clothed day' in exchange for a small chocolate donation.  The chocolates will then be used at the Christmas Fair which will take place on November 24th from 3:30pm to 5:30pm.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a flyer for our after school club which starts after the half term holiday.  If you would like your child to come to the club, please contact the school office to book them in.

We are very excited about the club and are looking forward to being able to provide child care until 5:30pm every school day.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a football tournament report from Miss Higgs.  Yet again, our children were amazing and showed great spirit during the whole event.  Well done to you all!  

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last week was busy with our Autumn walk which included a ramble up to St Peter’s church to decorate it for Harvest.

Thank you again to Mrs Barbara Archer for inviting us to help decorate the church, the children were very busy with all the green foliage and then setting out the food.  We had hoped to visit the church on again on Friday but the weather meant we had to stay in school.  

Hopefully we can visit the church again soon.

Mrs Kenyon.

Dear Parents and Carers.

This is a reminder that we are going to be opening our after school club from Monday November 6th.  This means that there will be provision until 5:30pm every school day during term time.

The after school club will be hosted in the portakabin and will cost £8 from the end of school until 5:30pm, or £4 for the first hour.  The club is open to all children in school and there will be activities such as arts & crafts, baking and a chance for children to catch up with homework.  If the weather is nice, the children will also be outside in the school grounds making the most of the fresh air.

If you are interested in using the facility, there will be a chance to speak to the staff running the club tomorrow (Wednesday 25th October) from 3:30pm.  The portakabin will be open if you would like to pop in and ask any questions you may have.    Alternatively, if you would like your child to attend the after school club please get in touch with the school office with the days you would like to use.

We are looking forward to opening the after school club and to being able to offer wrap around care.  It is something our families have wanted for some time and we hope the club will be a great asset to our school community.

Thank you,

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached are two news items from the Friends of Hertford Vale School.  They are also on the school website.  If you would like a paper copy, please get in touch with the school office.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Today was our harvest festival.  We had planned to go to St Peter’s church but the weather meant we decided to have the service in school.

Reverend Liz Kitching and Mrs Barbara Archer came into school for the service.  Reverend Liz led the service and despite us not being in church, it was still a lovely traditional harvest worship.

We were treated to a performance by the Hertford Harmonies.  Mrs Green had prepared the children to sing a harvest version of the famous George Ezra song ‘Shotgun’.  The words were cleverly altered to be relevant to the harvest season and the children even sang without any musical accompaniment.  A big thank you to Mrs Green for organising the choir and song as it was a wonderful performance.  A photograph of the choir is attached.

We also need to thank everyone who donated something for the Westway Open Arms charity.  We had many bags of food that will be put to good use and the donations will make a big difference to local families over the next few weeks.  A photo of the choir, Mrs Archer, Reverend Liz and other children is attached showing some of the produce you donated.

We hope you have a good weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a letter from North Yorkshire Council about applying for a school place for Reception age children wanting to start in September 2024.

Please pass this information on to anyone you know who is wanting a place for their child in September 2024 as we have capacity to take up to 18 children in each year group.  If anyone would like to have a look round the school to decide if they would like their child to come here from September 2024, we are more than happy to do so.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a report from Miss Higgs about the recent netball and cross country events.  Well done to everyone for taking part and thank you to the staff and parents who help these events happen.

Dear Parents and Carers.

We will be taking the children to St Peter's Church on Friday for a small harvest service.  The church are collecting donations for the Westway Open Arms social action centre based in Eastfield to help families in need.

If you have any dried food or tins that you would like to donate, they can be brought into school and we will take them to church with us on Friday.  

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

We are excited to let you know that we are going to be opening an after school club from Monday November 6th.  This means that there will be provision until 5:30pm every school day during term time.

The after school club will be hosted in the portakabin and will cost £8 from the end of school until 5:30pm, or £4 for the first hour.  The club is open to all children in school and there will be activities such as arts & crafts, baking and a chance for children to catch up with homework.  If the weather is nice, the children will also be outside in the school grounds making the most of the fresh air.

If you are interested in using the facility, there will be a chance to speak to the staff running the club on Wednesday 25th October from 3:30pm.  The portakabin will be open if you would like to pop in and ask any questions you may have.    Alternatively, if you would like your child to attend the after school club please get in touch with the school office with the days you would like to use.

We are looking forward to opening the after school club and to being able to offer wrap around care.  It is something our families have wanted for some time and we hope the club will be a great asset to our school community.

Thank you,

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

The attached letter from Miss Higgs has a write up and some photographs of the children attending the Scarborough Science and Engineering event at the Scarborough Spa.  As you can see, the children had a great time and thank you to the staff for taking them.

We also wanted to say thank you again for supporting us this week in our fundraising for National Burn Awareness Day.  The £122 raised will help support families affected by serious burns and will make a difference.

We hope you have a good weekend and will see you on Monday.

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Thank you for supporting the National Burns Awareness day this week.  Due to your generosity, a total of £122 was raised for the charity which is an amazing amount.  

Thanks again,

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Just a reminder that next Wednesday will be a non uniform day in support of National Burn Awareness Day.  The children car wear their own clothes for the day and if possible bring a donation of £1 to give to the charity.

We hope the day will be a success and that we can raise a good amount of money to give to the charity.

There is a cross country event on Tuesday 10th October at Scarborough Rugby club.  Details went out on the school app on Wednesday and thank you to those parents who have confirmed their child’s attendance already.  Please look at the website or the app for the timings of the event and get back to us if you would like your child to take part.

On Thursday 12th there is a Year 5 and year 6 netball event at St Augustine's School.  The details for this are in the same letter from Wednesday and the children involved should know who they are.  If you have any questions though, please get in touch.

We hope you all have a good weekend and will see you on Monday.

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a letter from Miss Higgs with some of the upcoming sports fixtures this month.  It is also on the school website and if you need a paper copy, please contact the school offoce.

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a message from Mrs Fardoe-Elliott about a visit to Filey Secondary School that took place yesterday.  The children had a great time and enjoyed every minute of their visit.

Dear Parents and Carers.

It has been a busy week in school and the days have flown by very quickly.  The publication of the good Ofsted report yesterday is a nice record of what happens here in school and everyone involved definitely deserve all the positive comments from the inspectors.  

We have had two trips out this week including a netball competition for the older children.  A report from Miss Higgs is attached to this message so a big 'well done' to the netball team and the adults involved.

The total raised during the Macmillan coffee morning this week now stands at just over £230, which is a fantastic amount of money.  An article on the Macmillan website reported that the coffee mornings last year raised over £12 million so everything you do to help does make a difference.

We hope you have a good weekend and thank you again for your support.

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

We are delighted to be able to share with you the result of our recent Ofsted inspection.  The inspectors have judged our school to be ‘Good’ in all areas.  This is a fantastic achievement and recognition of how Hertford Vale School is on a daily basis.

The support from all our families during the inspection was wonderful and although your kind comments are not in the report, the inspectors shared a few with us on the second day.  Thank you for all the lovely things you said about the school as they really did mean a great deal to us.

The staff have worked extremely hard to achieve our Good grading.  The report reflects some of their efforts but it needs to be recognised that their unwavering dedication to the children is something we see every day.  A big thank you to all the staff for everything they do.

The governors have also been instrumental in keeping the school going through some difficult times over the last few years and have been a great support throughout.  They really are there for us and although their time and effort is not always acknowledged, the report does hint at how they have worked very hard behind the scenes.

Finally, we need to say well done to all the children for their input during the inspection.  The two inspectors were impressed by how polite, calm and purposeful the classes were and how the children conducted themselves.  They are a credit to you all and we are lucky to have such wonderful children in school.

The report is attached and is also on the school website.  Feel free to pass it onto friends and family as it is definitely something we need to be proud of.

Thank you again,

Andrew Barber.

We wanted to say a huge 'thank you' to everyone who supported our Macmillan coffee morning earlier today.  It was a great success and so far the money raised for the charity is just over £210!

As always, the families and community around Hertford Vale have made a big effort and ensured the morning was an event to remember.  

There are a few cakes left so Mrs Graves will set up a table outside at home time.  If you would like to make a small donation in return for a cake or two, we will add that to the money already raised.

Thanks again,

The Hertford Vale team.

We would like to send our apologies to the parents and carers of the children in Reception.  The letter that went out for the parent/carer meetings had two dates on, which was very confusing.  The actual date is Thursday 12th October, not Wednesday 11th October.

Please use the letter you were given as the time slots remain the same but they will be on the Thursday instead.  If you have any issues or cannot make the date please get in touch with us and we will do our best to find a time and date that works for you.

Thank you.

Thank you for all the donations of baking in readiness for tomorrow's coffee morning.  If you have any other donations, please feel free to bring them in tomorrow morning.

You will be able to visit the children in the classes before or after you have had a drink and cake but the children will be stopping in the classrooms during the event.

We will see you when the doors open just after 9:00am.

The Hertford Vale team.

Dear Parents and Carers.

Attached is a letter from the Scarborough NHS Immunisation team about the annual flu vaccinations taking place here in school.  The date for the vacciantions is Wednesday 22nd November. 

The consent form details are on the attached PDF and all the information you should need is on the leaflet.  If you have any other questions, please ring the Immunisation Team on 01723 331506 or email them on Scarborough@v-uk.co.uk

Thank you.

Dear Parents and Carers.

This Wednesday will see the return of our ever popular Macmillan Coffee Morning.  

Each year we welcome the local community in to raise money for the Macmillan charity as it is a wonderful way to start the school year.  

If you have any donations for the event, please bring them into the school office and we will put them all together for Wednesday morning.  The more donations we receive, the more successful the event will be.

We’re looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday morning from 9:00am until 10:00am as you will also be able to have a look in the classrooms before or after you have enjoyed a drink and cake. 

See you soon,

The Hertford Vale team.