Latest News
This section gives brief news reports which we hope are informative and useful.
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Potential NEU Strike Action
Mon 23 Jan 2023January 2023
Dear Parent/Carer,
 
Planned NEU Industrial Action
 
As you will be aware from the media, some colleagues in the National Education Union (NEU) will be taking industrial action on 4 days across February and March, the first being Wednesday 1st February.
The full list of dates for the West Midlands are:
Wednesday 1st February
Wednesday 1st March
Wednesday 15th March
Thursday 16th March
 
This will affect different schools in different ways as teachers can belong to a number of different Unions. The action will result in partial or whole school closures across the country.   At Hamstead Juniors, we are expecting some teaching staff to take strike action. In light of this, the school may not be able to function as it would normally as it would not have enough teachers to cover all classes and ensure acceptable supervision levels. 
I am aware that any school closures inconvenience parents and carers and so I am writing to give you advance notice of this industrial action and the possible repercussions of whole or partial closure. This is particularly concerning given the fact that we were forced to close during last week due to a major heating fault. We are currently working on all possible options to enable the school to remain open fully or partly and I will write again this week once the full impact on staffing is known.
 
I apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you and for the possible effect that this may have on your child’s learning, though as you will appreciate, these circumstances are beyond our control.
 
Thank you for your continued support.
 
Yours sincerely,
Mr Fowler
Headteacher
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Silver Artsmark Award
Thu 10 Nov 2022Dear Parents/Carers,
We have achieved an Artsmark Silver Award!
I am delighted to inform you that we have been awarded the Artsmark Silver Award for our continued work to support our children with learning experiences and opportunities within the Arts.
We received many positive comments from the review team highlighting the impact of the work of both our staff and pupils. I would like to share some of these comments with you.
'The Arts are valued at Hamstead and you have found ways to continue your work in developing the Arts during COVID restrictions such as watching online performances. Art and music have a much higher profile and these, along with drama are used across the curriculum.’
‘Artists from a range of cultures, times and gender have been allocated to every topic. Each year group also studies designated composers so that by the end of their time at Hamstead, children will have studied four classical and four modern composers. Music links with other subjects are made wherever possible, for example listening to Vera Lynn whilst studying WW 2 in history or carnival music when studying Brazil in geography.’
‘Building on this work where pupils express their views on what has been covered and what more they would like to experience could involve pupils with the planning and delivery of arts and cultural experiences.’
‘It feels like staff and pupils are very excited and motivated by the Arts…. Keep up the good work and we look forward to hearing more about your next journey.'
I would like to express my thanks to all of the pupils, staff and Governors for their continued commitment towards the Arts. This pleasing report highlights the range of quality experiences we offer our children. A special thank you to Mrs Clayton and Mrs Harding who organise many of these experiences in and out of school.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Fowler Headteacher
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Continents Day
Wed 12 Oct 2022October 2022
Dear Parents/Carers,
On the last day of half-term, Friday 21st October, we will be celebrating Continents Day in school. Staff have planned activities to help enrich your child’s Geography curriculum.
During the day, each year group will be learning about different aspects of a continent – including countries, physical landmarks, cultures and tourism. Each year group will be learning about the following continents:
Year 3 – South America Year 4 – North America
Year 5 – Asia Year 6 – Africa
As part of our celebrations, your child can come to school dressed in the colours of one of the countries within their chosen continent. If you child has PE on this day, please ensure the chosen clothing is appropriate for PE – including footwear.
We hope the children enjoy this Geography enrichment day!
Yours sincerely,Mr Fowler
Headteacher
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Autumn 2022 Event Dates
Mon 03 Oct 2022September 2022
Dear Parents,
We are sending out the following key dates to share with you for the Autumn term so parents are aware of what will be taking place in school.
Year 3 Stone Age Day Wednesday 12th October
Year 4 RSPB Visit Wednesday 12th October
Parent Consultation (1) Tuesday 18th October
Year 4 Harvest Assembly (9.15am) Wednesday 19th October
Parent Consultation (2) Wednesday 19th October
Continents Day (Whole School) Friday 21st October
Children in Need Day Friday 18th November
Year 4 Ukulele Performance (2.30pm) Thursday 1st December
Year 6 Rockband Performance (2.30pm) Thursday 8th December
Christmas Jumper Day Friday 9th December
Year 3/5 Christmas Play (9.30am) Tuesday 13th December
Year 3/5 Christmas Play (2.00pm) Wednesday 14th December
Christmas Party Day Thursday 15th December
Candlelight Assembly (9.15am) Friday 16th December
Additional information and details on some of these events will be sent out by staff nearer to the event taking place.
We look forward to some of you joining us at some of the above events!
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September 2022
Wed 21 Sep 2022September 2022
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back to the new school year! As ever, it is great to have had all of the children back over the last two weeks and they all seem to be settling in with their new teachers and enjoying being in their new classrooms. I wanted to write with a few reminders so that all families are kept up-to-date at the start of the year.
Firstly, it is really pleasing to see all of the children looking very smart in their school uniforms. I wanted to reinforce the expectation that all pupils are to wear correct school uniform in order to develop a sense of belonging and pride amongst the children. School uniform is: blue jumpers or cardigans, white/blue polo shirts, grey or black trousers/skirts and suitable school shoes (not trainers). In addition, we will continue to ask pupils to come to school dressed in the agreed PE kit on their PE days – plain white/blue t-shirt and black shorts (grey or black tracksuit). If parents have purchased a ‘house’ colour t-shirt these can also be worn. Thank you to the families already supporting this. Staff in school have noticed a handful of children wearing hooped earrings and some necklaces/chains. This is a reminder that children should not be wearing additional jewellery to school for Health and Safety reasons. Stud earrings and watches are allowed; however, necklaces/chains and bracelets should not be worn.
Secondly, we aim to ensure high attendance and punctuality amongst our children. Therefore, it is important that pupils attend school and are on time every day wherever possible. This is to ensure that they benefit from accessing all of their learning. Please remember, that the school gates open at 8.40am to allow 10 minutes for children to enter their classrooms to start the school day at 8.50am. Any children arriving after this time, must report to the School Office. The school day finishes at 3.25am, when pupils should be collected or walk home (if school has been informed). Persistent late pick-ups by parents will be monitored and these will be followed up with individual families.
Finally, please ensure your child completes all of their home learning and return it to school on the agreed days. Reading forms part of daily practice within school and we ask that parents support reading at home. All pupils should aim to read daily at home (even for 10mins) and they will benefit from reading to adults and discussing their reading. School has provided Reading Records that we ask to be completed by pupils and signed weekly by parents. These will be checked by staff and any pupils who complete the Records will be entered into our ‘Reading Champions’ prize draw each month. All reading books and diaries can be kept in the school reading bags also provided by school. Other home learning – TTRS, Spellings, English and/or Maths will be provided and log-ins given to the children.
Everyone at HJS looks forward to working with you over the next year. If you have any queries, please contact your child’s class teacher or the School Office for further support.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Fowler Headteacher
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Plans for September 2022
Thu 14 Jul 2022July 2022
Dear Parents/Carers,
The end of the academic year is fast approaching and we have been busy making plans ready for September.
Unfortunately, Mrs Mercer will be leaving us at the end of term. She has been a valuable member of staff since she joined us as a newly qualified teacher back in 2011. We would like to thank her for all she has contributed to HJS and wish her all the very best in her new role. Mrs Jackson and Miss Ellis, who have worked with us during the last 12 months, will also be leaving us and again we would like to wish them well for the future.
We are pleased to inform you that we have appointed Miss Haywood as one of our Year 4 teaching staff ready for September. Miss Haywood has been working within school for the last 12 months.
Children will get the opportunity to meet their new class teacher, in their new classrooms, during the morning of Tuesday 19th July. The classes will be taught by the following members of staff:
Year 3:
3FC Mrs Clayton
3JB Mrs Bartholomew
Year 4:
4CB Mr Baines (current 3FC)
4BH Miss Haywood (current 3JT)
Year 5:
5JC Mrs Curley (current 4CB)
5CP Miss Prescott (current 4JB) Year 6: 6SK/SH Mrs Kaur (Mon and Fri); Mrs Hinkley (Tues, Wed and Thurs) – current 5MH
6MH Mr Hiley – current 5JC
Mrs Tudor will be supporting the teaching of Year 3, 4 and 6 throughout the week.
Thank you in anticipation of your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
Mr N Fowler Headteacher
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School uniform donations
Wed 13 Jul 2022July 2022
Dear Parents/Carers,
Following on from feedback from Parents Forum and the recent School uniform survey, we are asking parents for any kind donations of school uniform that is still in good condition that may be able to be used by other families and pupils within our school community.
We will then aim to support families who may be struggling to purchase uniform for different reasons, by hopefully making some uniform available to them. If you are a position to donate any used school uniform (blue jumpers/cardigans; trousers; summer dress, white polo shirts) ready for next year, we would be extremely grateful if this could be sent into school during the remainder of the term or at the start of the new term.
Finally, any parents who feel they may need support with uniform and would be interested in some of the used uniform, please contact the school office on 0121 357 1557 to discuss this further.
We thank you for your support in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Fowler
Headteacher
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Deputy Head Appointment
Tue 07 Jun 2022Dear children, parents and carers,
We are delighted to announce that Mrs Kaur has been appointed permanent Deputy Head Teacher with immediate effect.
Mrs Kaur joined us in 2015 as class teacher and Phase Lead and has been a much valued member of staff ever since. She has supported school in many different areas during her time with us.
We are delighted therefore that she has chosen to continue to the next stage of her career with us rather than elsewhere, and we look forward to working with both Mrs Kaur and Mr Fowler as we continue to move ever forward.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Lynn Howard
On behalf of the Governors
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Year 5 Clarinet Concert
Mon 23 May 2022May 2022
Dear Parents/Carers,
We are writing to invite you to a Year 5 Clarinet concert on Thursday 23rd June at 2.30pm. The children have been working hard each week in their music lessons with Mr Smith to learn new skills and some different songs. We would like to invite you to the concert so that the children can share their talents and learning with you.
Mr Smith and the children will perform a small selection of songs for you to enjoy. We anticipate that the concert will last around 45mins. We hope that many of you will be able to attend the concert. To support us with making arrangements, we would ask that you complete the proforma below and return it to school no later than Friday 10th June.
We look forward to seeing many of you there!
Yours sincerely,
Mr Hiley and Mrs Curley
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Queen's Jubilee Day
Tue 17 May 202217th May 2022
Dear Parents,
As a school we will be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday 27th May. We want to make it a memorable day for our children - one they will remember in years to come!
During the build-up to the day, our children will be completing different activities within their classes to find out about the life of our Queen and her reign. Class teachers will post any additional details on Class Dojo.
In addition, as part of this special occasion, we would like the children to come to school dressed in Red, White or Blue or a combination of these colours. We are also planning to hold a whole school picnic during lunchtime on the last day of half-term (Friday 27th May). Therefore, on that day we would like all children to bring their own picnic lunch or order a school packed lunch.
We hope the children will enjoy the celebrations in school and we hope for sunshine to help us celebrate our picnic together.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Fowler
Headteacher
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