Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• KCSP Trust online science day

  Fri 10 Mar 2023

  The KCSP Trust ' online science day' took place today and saw over 20 KCSP primary schools join an online presentation lesson and then take part in practical experiments in class.
  
  Year 4 built a seismology experiment - does the ground move in our classroom? This saw lots of jumping up and down and monitoring!

  
  KS1 and EYFS were given the chance to understand more about how a bird builds a nest with the opportunity to then build their own with materials collected from the school field. They also had an amazing time experimenting with dyes and absorbent material to see diffusion in action.

  
  But did year 5 and 6 have the best day of all the classes? They were digging up worms to categories the different species with the chance to then build a wormery in the afternoon! A fascinating day for all concerned.

  

• Ideas for Easter Half term and HAF detail

  Thu 09 Mar 2023

  Aylesford Priory - Easter Egg hunt - £3 book in advance or £4 on the day

  https://www.visitmaidstone.com/whats-on/easter-egg-hunt-p305341

   

  Maidstone Museum - arts and crafts events

  https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/whats-on/events/

   

  Maidstone Leisure Centre - activites

  https://www.maidstoneleisure.com/school-holiday-activities/

   

  HAF detail and booking information - See Photos

  https://www.holyfamily.kent.sch.uk/reconnect-and-haf-activities-information/

   

  Coding Giants - free coding workshops online:

  Coding Giants — coding for children

   

  Maidstone Libraries service - activities in all libraries - see picture:

  https://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/libraries 

   

  

• Parents meeting - 22nd and 23rd March

  Wed 08 Mar 2023

   

  Parents’ Evening Term 4 2022-2023 - Online Appointment Booking

  Wednesday 22^nd March 3pm – 5.30pm

  Or

  Thursday 23^rd March 3pm – 5.30pm

   

  I would like to invite you to attend our Parents’ Evening on 23^rd or 24^th March. This is an important evening and provides you with an opportunity to discuss your child’s educational journey, their current attitude to learning and how, as parents, you can continue to support this journey at home. 

   

  All Year 6 children are expected to attend with their parent/ carer as part of the secondary ready process.

   

  The school has introduced a new and easy to use online appointment booking system. This allows you to choose your own appointment times with teachers and you will receive an email confirming your appointments. We are confident this will be an improvement to the previous system and welcome any feedback.

   

  Appointments can be made from 6^th March at midday and will close on 21^st March at 3pm. Should you wish to make any changes after this date please contact the school office.  

   

  Use this link to book your appointment: https://thfcps.schoolcloud.co.uk

   

  If you do not have access to the internet or have difficulty logging on please contact the school office.

  Yours sincerely

  Mrs Underhill

  Academy Principal

• How to support reading at home with your child

  Tue 07 Mar 2023

  Reading At Home With Your Child

  It is vitally important to your child’s education to get into the habit of having your child read to you every day. Here are some top tips:

   

  • If it’s a new book, always start by having a look at the book’s cover, title, pictures and characters.
  • The book your child is sent home with will be of the correct level for them, whether it’s a phonics book or one from the Accelerated Reader library. Struggling with a book with lots of unknown words is pointless for your child. Flow gets lost and meaning can’t be understood.
  • With a phonics book, when your child tries to 'sound out' words, please remember to use phonetic letter sounds rather than 'alphabet names'. So for ‘cat’ you’d say c-a-t; not CAT.
  • Don’t pressurise if they’re reluctant. If your child loses interest, then do something else and come back to it at a better time.
  • Maintain the flow. If your child mispronounces a word don’t interrupt immediately. Instead allow opportunity for self-correction. Use the pause, prompt, praise technique. If they make a mistake, pause for a few seconds to see if they self-correct, then prompt by asking: “Does that makes sense?” Or give the sound they’re struggling with, or help them sound it out. Then praise them for finishing the page or trying hard.
  • Be positive. If your child says something nearly right to start with, that’s fine. Don't say “No, that's wrong,” but “Let's read it together”, and point to the sounds/words as you say them. Only help if they’re really stuck and boost your child's confidence with constant praise for even the smallest achievement.
  • Remember, there’s more to being a good reader than just being able to read the words accurately. Always talk to your child about the book; about the pictures, the characters and ask them what their favourite part was. You’ll then be able to see how well they’ve understood and help them develop better comprehension skills.
  •  

  If you would like any further help with understanding phonics or reading at home in general, please don’t hesitate to talk to Mrs Baker, Mrs Harris or your child’s class teacher.

• World Book Day

  Mon 06 Mar 2023

  World Book Day (UK & Ireland) was an amazing day in school. 'Reading is King' at Holy Family and everyone celebrated this year with the theme of 'Kings and Queens' (princes or princesses) in literature. We met Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elsa, Ana, Queen Lucy, Queen of Hearts, Queen Bee's, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent, Titania, Cleopatra, the King of the Chessboard, King Arthur, Prince Charming and some wonderful traditional dress costumes, the list goes on!
  
  Several parents were able to join us in their child's class to read their favourite children's picture book which was wonderful for the children to experience; adults read books too!
  
  It was so hard to choose a class winner and it is important to acknowledge the effort and subsequent fun every child had in dressing up and talking about their chosen character. Thank you to all parents for supporting their child at home; it is truly appreciate

  

• World Book Day - library visit

  Thu 02 Mar 2023

  We were delighted to meet Fiona Batchelor today from KCC Library services in a fascinating school assembly about Maidstone Library, the books available and the mobile library service.  

   

  Did you know that the KCC mobile library service visits our local area every two weeks to allow members of the public to visit? Today, year 6 pupils had the privilege of attending with the intention for other year groups to take part in coming weeks.

   

  It was fascinating to see the van pull up in the church car park and year 6 were able to join the library, on a class ticket, and choose a book to take home, for free! Even our members of staff, accompanying the class, had the chance to join and take their own book! They then have the opportunity to exchange this again in two weeks time.  

  

• Online Safety Newsletter - March 2023

  Thu 02 Mar 2023

  Please use this link to find this months online safety newsletter:

  https://www.holyfamily.kent.sch.uk/online-safety/

• Fusion Centre - events in March 2023

  Thu 02 Mar 2023

  We are delighted to support the Fusion Centre again by sharing detail of their events for March.

  

• Breakfast with the Easter Bunny

  Fri 24 Feb 2023

  We are delighted to confirm the Easter Bunny is able to spare time to visit Holy Family school for breakfast on Friday 31st march 8am - 8.45am.  The Easter bunny has confirmed that he has time to meet 100 pupils and is liaising with the PFA now to ensure he arrives on time.

   

  Parents are now able to book a space for £3 per child via Parentpay.

   

  Please note that the regular breakfast club is suspended on this day.

  

• Look and Learn - work along side your child in class

  Thu 23 Feb 2023

  We are pleased to offer another ‘Look and Learn’ for parents of all year groups on Monday 6^th March.

   

  This takes the form of a 1 hour session working alongside your child in class at 9.15am -10.15am or 10.45am – 11.45am on Monday 6^th March.

   

  We are able to support up to 15 parents at one session so can accommodate every parent should you all wish to attend?  However we do ask that no younger children accompany you too this session.

   

  Please email the school office or call into the school office to confirm the best time and book your space.

   

  We look forward to seeing you!