March 2021 Newsletter

Spring is definitely in the air and the school grounds have burst into bloom - there are even a few bluebells down in the Forest School. Hopefully along with the flowers, we will also be blessed with some warm sunny weather so that we can truly enjoy our Easter Holidays. 

My garden at home beckons me. There is a lot to tidy and even some painting to be done before the garden furniture can be reinstated for the summer. I love this time of year and can't wait to get stuck in to some seasonal chores around the home. 

Have a wonderful Easter break! We all deserve it!

The governors of Holy Cross are happy to announce that they have appointed Miss Travers to the role of Deputy Head at the school. She will continue her teaching commitment in Willow Class but will also support Mrs Dart in leading the school.

I'm sure you will all want to extend your congratulations to Miss Travers and wish her well in her new role.

We are very proud to share the exciting news that one of our own Cherry Class pupils at Holy Cross was chosen to meet the Duchess of Cornwall on 30th March.

Naomi presented the Duchess with flowers, while she was visiting Uckfield's Kamsons Pharmacy and Warehouse.

Please see the news article on Uckfield News by clicking HERE.  

Well done Naomi, you did amazingly well.

Holy Cross are currently looking for a Part time Cleaner.

If you are interested in this vacancy or know anyone who may be looking for a similar role, please have a look at the job advertisement via the link below:

Part Time Cleaner Advertisement

We would like to welcome Mrs Williams to Holy Cross. 

Mrs Williams is an experienced teacher who specialised in dance and PE.  She has experience of teaching across the primary phase from Early Years to Year 6.

Miss Williams will be teaching Cherry Class on Thursdays and Fridays from Monday 19th April.  

Please join us in welcoming Mrs Williams to our lovely school.

Holy Cross have been planting trees during lockdown.  Our forest school teacher Steve and the Uckfield Ranger Neal, have worked with the key worker pupils to plant 16 new saplings in our school grounds at Holy Cross.  The children had a lovely day planting.  After taking part in their usual thankfulness circle, they went onto the field where Neal explained the main principles of tree planting. As our school field has been a field with grass for many years, the soil was not brilliant for growing, so Neal brought some fungal material and compost. The children also collected some soil from the woodland to add in, as this is much richer.
The children decided where they wanted their trees to be, dug holes and planted them, along with a wish or prayer written on paper birch buried in the soil. They labelled the trees with their names and there were 6 different species; Dogwood, Bird Cherry, Lime, Douglas Fir, Beech and Hawthorn. The children planted 16 trees in total and protected them from the wind and animals with a plastic sleeve, which was held in place with a stake, hammered in on the South West side as this is the main direction of the wind.  The forest school group gathered at the end of the session to wish our little children’s forest to grow big & strong so that the children’s children can enjoy them in the future.

https://www.uckfieldfm.co.uk/2021/the-guide/tree-planting-at-holy-cross-ce-primary-school/?fbclid=IwAR16hf-qIcJzwwoMNmYv9TV0M7bdSbxObqcIHgC8nfT-JK_FLEf19eXMZcw

Our annual celebration of Book Week has been slightly different this year!

Our wonderful teachers created videos of themselves reading their favourite stories for the Holy Cross children. We also sent out daily book quizzes and to end our celebrations of Book Week, we dressed up as our favourite book characters!

To catch up on the stories read by our teachers, please visit our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0yQOwPbsKQZ2iWmkSJJStg

We are delighted to announce Holy Cross has won an award for outstanding mental health and well-being provision.

Our SENCO, Mrs Griffin, has led the school to achieve the Silver standard School Mental Health Award delivered by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools.

https://uckfieldnews.com/uckfield-school-scoops-pioneering-mental-health-award/?fbclid=IwAR1Ofv0gcmOPxcR7wGl1kVAkJvfmSDRUyz4-awjpjanlG_MdYylsoU2c7mo

Yesterday we celebrated Inside Out Day during Children’s Mental Health Week. It’s an awareness campaign that aims to enable young people to start talking about their mental health in a meaningful way. 

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How someone looks on the outside doesn’t necessarily reflect how they are truly feeling on the inside, so it is important to always be kind and think of others.

We turned our clothes inside out to get important conversations started. No one should be embarrassed about how they feel.

Pupils at Holy Cross have been inspired by our annual Campaign Against Plastic. Even in a Lockdown, they are as motivated as ever to change the world for a better future.

Our Key Worker and Vulnerable Bubble at school have been litter picking every day along our driveway, down in our forest school patch and near the Luxford park.

Some pupils learning remotely completed the Plastics Challenge and designed (and some even created) products for people using recycled plastic. We had bird feeders made out of milk cartons and plastic friendship bracelets! They then created a ‘plastic’ self portrait of themselves using the plastic they have at home.

“An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world”

Safer Internet Day united millions of young people, schools and organisations across the UK, to spark conversations around online safety and what to trust online. Over 2,000 organisations, including Holy Cross, took part in joining young people in conversation.

Our pupils took part in Safer Internet Day and learnt how to stay safe online. Some pupils created posters to share with others on how to keep safe.

The whole bright world rejoices now:
with laughing cheer! with boundless joy!
The birds do sing on every bough:
Alleluia!

Then shout beneath the racing skies:
with laughing cheer! with boundless joy!
To him who rose that we might rise:
Alleluia!

God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
with laughing cheer! with boundless joy!
Our God most high,our joy our boast:
Alleluia!