Habs Weekly Junior School Edition Friday 2 February Spring Term
Head of Junior School’s message Over the last two weeks, girls from Year 3 to Year 6 have had the opportunity, along with the Boys’ Prep, to watch live theatre productions in the West End. Years 3 and 4 saw ‘The Lion King’ at the Lyceum Theatre. The girls were captivated by the musical performances and stunning costumes, which made for a magical experience.
Years 5 and 6 enjoyed ‘Wicked’ at the Apollo theatre, based on The Wizard of Oz. The vivid colours and intricate details of the stage design evoked a sense of wonder as the girls were transported to the magical land of Oz. The children were filled with laughter at the humour and wit of the characters, while moments of heartbreak touched the soul.
Inspired by these phenomenal West End productions, our students are now very much looking forwards to showing off their own performing talents this term: Year 4 Play ‘Peter Pan’ on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 February at 2pm Year 3 to Year 6 Junior Performing Arts Evening on Tuesday 19 March at 7pm Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Mrs Claire Brown Head of Junior School
Cornflower Assembly Friday 26 January Friday afternoon assemblies are always a time of joy and celebration in the Junior School. Our weekly Cornflower Assembly celebrates individuals who have particularly demonstrated ways in which they have embodied our school values: Courage, Curiosity, Community and Ambition. We cherish our Cornflower Assemblies and hope that you enjoy celebrating with us too.
Ambition
Community
Curiosity
Diya (Rainbow Blue) Sitara (1 Orange) Sadie (1 Purple) Avni (2 Alpha) Talia (2 Ansuz) Sophie (3A) Spriha (3 Alpha) Amyra (4 Aesc) Jia (4 Aleph) Iris (5 Aesc) Ari (5 Aleph) Alice (5 Aleph) Amber (6 Aesc) Aradhya (6 Aleph)
Vani (Rainbow Red) Avni (1 Purple) Iona (2 Ansuz) Arya (3A) Anoushka (3 Alpha) Arya (4 Aleph) Esha (5 Aesc) Aggie (6 Aesc) Trisha (6 Aleph)
Azra (2A) Eva (2A) Harriet (4 Aesc)
Courage
Rainbow to Year 6 Information Lunch Menu
NEW
WEEK COMMENCING 5 FEBRUARY Please click here to view our Rainbow and KS1 lunch menu. Please click here to view our KS2 lunch menu.
IMPORTANT REMINDER Please take some time to look at the menu with your child, in advance. If your child has any food intolerances, please ensure they understand the food choices for each day. Pupils have been reminded that there are always Allergy Champions in the serveries who they can speak to if they are unsure about appropriate food choices for them.
Snacks IMPORTANT REMINDER Please kindly remember that, in line with government guidance, grapes or olives should be cut in half and cherries should be de-stoned if these foods are brought in for snacks. A full list of permitted breaktime snacks can be found in the Parent Information Booklet.
Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show 2024 COMPETITION Please click here to view the letter.
Cold Weather - Uniform Reminder REMINDER With the winter weather now in full swing, please may we remind all families that all pupils will be outside before school and for breaktimes and lunchtimes and as such, need to wrap up warmly, remembering that long socks or tights should be worn with winter uniform. Only school uniform colour (matching the version of uniform your child is wearing) hats, scarves and gloves should be worn; all items must be clearly named. Please click here to review the information about the new uniform phasing in plans.
Wraparound Care BOOKING LINK Please click here to book your daughter into Wraparound Care.
Parent Handbook REMINDER Please click here to review the Parent Information Booklet for 2023/24.
RAINBOW TO YEAR 6 INFORMATION CONTINUED
Family Friday Once again, we look forward to welcoming all families into school for our Spring Term Family Friday events, giving an opportunity for your daughters to share their work and learning environment with you. Key dates:
Friday 9 February 2024 (8am to 8.30am)
Rainbow, Years 1, Year 3 and Year 5, followed by Parent Talks
Friday 22 March 2024 (8am to 8.30am)
Rainbow, Years 2, Year 4 and Year 6, followed by Parent Talks
Classrooms will be open from 8am and you are welcome to pop in any time up until 8.30am, when we will revert to normal registration and lessons. In line with our safeguarding policy, no taking of photos or filming is permitted during the Family Friday sessions. On arrival at school, please use the car park, as opposed to the drop off lanes, and walk to the Junior School. The middle doors will be open from 8am and, from there, you will head to your child’s classroom, where you will sign in. If you have more than one child involved in the event, older siblings will collect their work and meet you in the classroom of the younger sibling. Should you be unable to join your child, they will have the opportunity to bring home some of the work to share with you the evening before. If you would like your child to bring work home because you are unable to attend, please contact their class teacher.
Family Friday teacher-led workshops We are continuing to offer a range of short teacher-led workshops . These will take place between 8.30am and 9am, straight after Family Friday class-based time; these will consist of a short talk followed by an opportunity to ask related questions. The workshops will be repeated in both halves of the term, and you are welcome to attend even if your daughter’s year group do not have Family Friday on that date. The programme for this term is below:
Spring Term (Friday 9 February and Friday 22 March 2024)
• Using Devices to Complement Learning • Developing a Curious Mind • Negotiating Friendships
Please use this form to indicate if you wish to attend this term. The form will remain open until Monday 5 February, and then reopen again after the half term holiday.
RAINBOW TO YEAR 6 INFORMATION
Inside Out Day
NEW
WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY Inside Out Day calls for children and adults alike to wear an item of clothing ‘Inside Out’ as a way of making us all stop and think about how someone may look fine on the outside but inside, they may be feeling sad or worried. It is a day to remind us to always be kind and think of others as no one knows how someone else may be feeling. This will take place during Children’s Mental Health Week on Wednesday 7 February. We are asking all pupils to wear a piece of school uniform inside out. Pupils will also take part in associated discussions in their classes and during an assembly. These discussions may prompt questions and discussions at home. We would encourage you to engage in these conversations, helping your child to acknowledge and understand their own feelings and those of others. If you would like further ideas and resources the Place2Be website offers a number of helpful activities and suggestions. As ever, should any discussions raise any issues that you wish to share with the school, please do not hesitate to contact your daughter’s class teacher or Ms Elliott, Acting Assistant Head Pastoral.
Art Prefect Competition
NEW
DEADLINE – MONDAY 26 FEBRUARY This competition is open to all year groups on the theme of mythical creatures, please click here for more information. The winners’ work will be displayed in the Junior School and featured in Habs Weekly.
Year 1 to Year 6 Performing Arts Spotlight
NEW
FRIDAY 8 MARCH We are excited to hold our next Performing Arts Spotlight on Friday 8 March at 3.45pm in The Sime Hall. This informal showcase is an opportunity for girls from Year 1 to Year 6 to perform a piece of music, dance or drama to an audience of family members. There is no minimum standard required to perform, but we do request that pieces are ‘performance ready’. In order to keep the running time to approximately one hour, places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Please submit your child participation using this form, which will open at 8pm on Sunday 4 February and close at 8pm on Tuesday 6 February. Please ensure that all fields are completed, especially the piece duration field, as this will allow us to plan the programme accordingly. Please also note that you must be able to attend the performance to submit your daughter, as these events do not form part of our wraparound provision. You will be informed if your child is performing by Friday 9 February – if you do not hear from us, then your daughter will not be performing this time. Priority will be given to girls who were submitted for last term’s Performing Arts Spotlight but who did not perform due to the event being oversubscribed. If your daughter was submitted last term but did not perform, then please still submit the form by the deadline, so we have all submissions in one place. Next priority will be given to new performers who have not yet performed in a Performing Arts Spotlight. We cannot accept submissions via email.
Spring 1 Curriculum Overviews IMPORTANT INFORMATION It is with apologies that these curriculum overviews were not shared with parents in the last Habs Weekly publication before we broke up for Christmas. The curriculum overviews below, for Years 1 to 6, outline the curriculum areas that have and will be covered in Spring 1. Learning in Rainbow will continue to be led by the children’s interests and key events.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Rainbow Rainbow and KS1 Production 'Super Star’ Recording Please use this link to view the recording of the production.
Rainbow Family Fridays SPRING TERM The dates for Rainbow Family Fridays for the Spring Term are as follows: Friday 9 February 2024
8am – 8:30am
Friday 1 March 2024
3pm – 3:30pm (Rainbow only)
Friday 22 March 2024
8am – 8:30am
Please note that on Friday 1 March 2024, you will be able to take your child home from the classroom. On Friday 9 February and Friday 22 March 2024, there will be the opportunity for you to sign up to a variety of teacher-led workshops that will run from 8.30am to 9am (more details on page 8 of this publication). In line with our safeguarding policy, no taking of photos or filming will be permitted during the Family Friday sessions. We hope that you will enjoy this opportunity to spend some time with your child and enjoy their learning environment.
Year 1 Rainbow and KS1 Production 'Super Star’ Recording Please use this link to view the recording of the production.
Year 2 Rainbow and KS1 Production 'Super Star’ Recording Please use this link to view the recording of the production.
Year 3 Netball Workshop with Georgia Lees
NEW
THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY We are very much looking forward to Georgia Lees (Vice Captain for Mavericks) visiting the Junior School. Georgia will be leading netball workshops for all students in years 3, 5 and 6 on Thursday 8 February. Students will not require their swimming kits on this day, please ensure they have their PE kits in school.
NEW
Year 4 Year 4 Play 'Peter Pan’ WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2PM AND THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2PM We have had another fantastic week of rehearsals for 'Peter Pan' and we are so excited about welcoming you all in to watch. Tickets for the performances can be reserved online using the box office from Friday 2 February at 9pm. A direct link can be found here. There is a limit of 2 tickets per child per performance for this production. The booking form will close on Wednesday 7 February at 8am. Thank you again for all the support and encouragement with line-learning and songpractising, click here for song link, that you continue to show your daughters through the rehearsal process. It has such a huge impact on their progress and is much appreciated.
PE Spring Term 2 2024 IMPORTANT INFORMATION All students in Year 4 will need to have football boots and football socks (any colour) for their football lessons after half term. These will be required for the duration of the Spring 2 Half Term.
Year 5 5 Aesc Class Assembly
NEW
MONDAY 26 FEBRUARY 5 Aesc will be delivering their class assembly on Monday 26 February from 8.45am to 9.15am in the Performance Space, which parents and guardians are warmly invited to. Attending parents should park in the visitor's car park and walk round to the Dining Hall doors, where you will be registered from 8.30am. We kindly ask attendees to wait outside until a member of Junior School staff arrives to welcome you in.
Netball Workshop with Georgia Lees
NEW
THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY We are very much looking forward to Georgia Lees (Vice Captain for Mavericks) visiting the Junior School. Georgia will be leading netball workshops for all students in years 3, 5 and 6 on Thursday 8 February.
YEAR 5 INFORMATION
5 Aleph Class Assembly
NEW
MONDAY 4 MARCH 5 Aleph will be delivering their class assembly on Monday 4 March from 8.45am to 9.15am in the Performance Space, which parents and guardians are warmly invited to. Attending parents should park in the visitor's car park and walk round to the Dining Hall doors, where you will be registered from 8.30am. We kindly ask attendees to wait outside until a member of Junior School staff arrives to welcome you in.
Year 5 and Year 6 Performance Opportunity Once again, we are pleased to offer our Year 5 and Year 6 girls the opportunity to audition to perform a solo or a small group piece in our forthcoming Performing Arts Evening. Girls are invited to submit themselves via video audition which should be uploaded to the folder entitled 'Performing Arts Evening Auditions' in their Performing Arts Showbie folder. Pieces should be limited to 3 minutes in length and be 'performance ready' at the time of submission. We are keen to welcome drama and dance performances in particular, as well as music, as the evening is a celebration of all the performing arts. The deadline to submit audition videos will be 5pm on Monday 26 February and girls will be notified whether they have been chosen to perform or not later that week.
Jazz Summer School 2024 Please click here for more information.
Habs Indian Music Course 2024 Please click here for more information.
Year 6 Netball Workshop with Georgia Lees
NEW
THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY We are very much looking forward to Georgia Lees (Vice Captain for Mavericks) visiting the Junior School. Georgia will be leading netball workshops for all students in years 3, 5 and 6 on Thursday 8 February. Year 6’s session will take place first thing, please can all Year 6 pupils come into school in their PE kits and with their uniforms in their backpacks to change into after the session.
Year 5 and Year 6 Performance Opportunity Once again, we are pleased to offer our Year 5 and Year 6 girls the opportunity to audition to perform a solo or a small group piece in our forthcoming Performing Arts Evening. Girls are invited to submit themselves via video audition which should be uploaded to the folder entitled 'Performing Arts Evening Auditions' in their Performing Arts Showbie folder. Pieces should be limited to 3 minutes in length and be 'performance ready' at the time of submission. We are keen to welcome drama and dance performances in particular, as well as music, as the evening is a celebration of all the performing arts. The deadline to submit audition videos will be 5pm on Monday 26 February and girls will be notified whether they have been chosen to perform or not later that week.
YEAR 6 INFORMATION
Year 6 Production – Planned Weekend Rehearsal Sunday 9 June
NEW
IMPORTANT INFORMATION We will be announcing details of this year's Year 6 production later this term. In the meantime, in order to decide on the timings of the planned rehearsal on Sunday 9 June, we would ask parents to complete this form to indicate their daughter's availability by 9am on Friday 2 February. A Sunday rehearsal is a regular feature of the Year 6 production process. As the rehearsals are so intensive and condensed into a short space of time, this extra day provides invaluable time to build on the progress made during the initial week of rehearsals, and sets the cast up for production week without losing momentum over the weekend. As such, it is expected that as many girls as possible attend in order to make the most of the time spent as an ensemble.
Jazz Summer School 2024 Please click here for more information.
Habs Indian Music Course 2024 Please click here for more information.
Tuesday 5 March (after drop off)
Habs Giving Day 2024 MiniDash Attention all Junior and Prep School parents and guardians! Get the silly hats ready, get set and go! Join your child(ren) on the morning of Tuesday 5 March for our annual fun run in support of Habs Giving Day. Click on BOOK NOW to run with your child(ren). Click here to view photos from last year’s MiniDash in which over 300 parents took part – it was a lot of fun. Every parent/guardian and child who runs (or jogs, or walks…) in the MiniDash unlocks extra cash from our challenge donors, meaning more funding for Bursaries and Community Service Partnerships, the schools’ top priorities this year. Habs Giving Day is all about celebrating community, philanthropy and taking part. We will share more details on Giving Day in the coming weeks. If you have any queries please contact Mrs Sonal Dhadphale, Alumni and Development Officer at foundation@habselstree.org.uk.
SAVE THE DATE
Year 3 to Year 6
Junior Performing Arts Evening Tuesday 19 March at 7pm in The Prevett Hall You are warmly invited to our Junior Performing Arts Evening, which will take place on Tuesday 19 March at 7pm in the Prevett Hall. The evening is entitled 'A Celebration of Music, Dance and Drama through the Ages', and will feature the following: KS2 Chorus - this involves every pupil from Year 3 to Year 6 Junior Orchestra Junior Choir Senior Choir Brass Ensemble Guitar Ensemble Super Saxes Recorder Consort (formerly Descant Recorders) Year 3 Recorders Golden Bones Junior Chamber Strings Fabulous Four-Stringers KS2 Performing Arts Club Joint Year 5 Performance Squad Flamenco Dance There will also be solo and small group items interspersed in the programme, provided by performers from Year 5 and Year 6. Please note that girls in the ensembles and the Year 5 and Year 6 solo/group performers will need to bring their instruments into school for a rehearsal on the day of the concert. For the concert itself, instrumentalists should arrive at the Prevett Hall no later than 6.15pm, and the rest of the pupils who are taking part should arrive by 6.30pm. Pre-concert refreshments will be available for the audience in the Prevett Hall foyer. We expect the concert to end by 8.20pm. Tickets for the evening can be reserved online using the box office from Friday 15 March at 9pm. A direct link to the box office will be shared closer to the event date. There will be a limit of two tickets per family, priced at £5 each. Students taking part in the concert do not need tickets. The booking form will close on Tuesday 19 March at 8am. The dress for the evening is all black: plain black trousers or leggings and black top (with no embellishments) and plain black shoes and socks (school shoes are fine). We look forward to seeing you at the Performing Arts Evening which promises to be a varied programme and a real showcase for all involved.
Rainbow to Year 6
Co-Commercial Partnership Spring Camps & Activities Please click here to find out about our co-commercial spring term camps on offer at Habs Elstree Schools. For all weekday activities available, please click here.
JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORTS FIXTURES SPRING 1 2024 SATURDAY 3 FEBRUARY
* Year 6 HSAA Cross Country Championships
SUNDAY 4 FEBRUARY
* Year 6 Gymnastics Trio Regionals
WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY
* Year 6 Netball vs Manor Lodge
*Invite only via Evolve
SPORTS FIXTURES SPRING 2 2024 CONTINUED TUESDAY 27 FEBRUARY
* Years 3, 4, 5, 6 Gymnastics vs Maltmans Green at Habs’ Boys’
WEDNESDAY 28 FEBRUARY
* Year 5 & 6 Netball vs Orley Farm
THURSDAY 29 FEBRUARY
* Years 4, 5 & 6 Swimming Division 10 Gala at Habs’ Boys’
SUNDAY 3 MARCH
* Year 6 ISGA Gymnastics (5 piece)
WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH
* Years 5 & 6 Football vs Berkhamsted (AWAY)
FRIDAY 8 MARCH
* ESSA Divisional Round at Woodside (AWAY)
*Invite only via Evolve
JUNIOR SCHOOL CALENDAR DATES SPRING TERM 2024
WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY Year 4 Online Safety Workshop Year 5 Online Safety Workshop Year 4 Play Performance THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY Year 4 Online Safety Workshop Year 6 Online Safety Workshop Year 4 Play Performance FRIDAY 9 FEBRUARY Family Friday – Rainbow, Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5 Family Friday Parent Talks
MONDAY 12 FEBRUARY TO FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY Half Term
FRIDAY 1 MARCH 6 Aesc Forest School Family Friday – Rainbow Only MONDAY 4 MARCH 5 Aleph Class Assembly TUESDAY 5 MARCH Giving Day WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH Year 1 to 6 Author Visit – Holly Webb FRIDAY 8 MARCH 6 Aleph Forest School
MONDAY 26 FEBRUARY 5 Aesc Class Assembly Parent Information Evening – Dr Kathy Weston
The reminder dates above cover the next four school weeks, if you require further information beyond this time frame, please refer to the school calendar on Firefly.