As a result of all the training staff attended around attachment and trauma we now have received a ‘Trauma and Attachment Aware’ school badge. Thank you to all the staff for their hard work.

We have been informed that those who have caring responsibilities may now be eligible to receive their covid vaccination.

This applies to those who:   “you provide care for someone and they or you receive funding for that care”

            There will be a clinical assessment with a nurse as part of the process at the vaccination centre.

*At this point in the vaccination programme, to be eligible as a carer you will need to provide evidence at your appointment that you receive funding as a carer for example Carer’s Allowance or be able to evidence benefits for those you care for (examples include: Attendance Allowance, Disability Benefit, Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance). If the person you care for is a family member and receives funding you are still eligible for vaccination now, the provision of care does not have to be your main employment or occupation. If you are not able to provide evidence, you will not be able to have your vaccination.

 For more information, and to book appointments if eligible please visit :  https://www.healthierlsc.co.uk/CovidVaccination/appointment

Rebecca’s class have been following Barnaby Bear around Mexico. We enjoyed making and eating Huevos Ranchos which is a traditional Mexican breakfast.

Today Michael is exploring solids, liquids and gases with this Mentos and Coke experiment.

This term in class we have been reading the book “The Wizard of Oz” and deciding what words best describe the characters in the story. We have enjoyed acting out the different characters. In Design and Technology we made a Tin Man puppet from junk materials.

Some of us have been exploring Full and Empty in Maths when we were measuring volume of liquids using measuring jugs and beakers

In Science we enjoyed testing different materials to see if they were soft, hard, see through, bendy or stretchy.

Some of us have been taking part in drama sessions with Burnley Youth Theatre and we really enjoy doing all the fun activities!

The past three weeks in class we have been going on an Amazing Arctic Adventure. We have been learning all about the animals who live there, what the weather is like and creating some beautiful pieces of artwork. If you head to the art gallery page on the website you an see our wonderful pieces of work. For the rest of the term will be exploring in the Jungle we cannot wait to see what we will find!

In Rebecca’s class this term their topic is ‘Barnaby Bear’ and his travels. They travelled to London and visited the sights. They had lots of fun exploring what happens at different places around London. The children made a double decker bus to travel around and they even saw the Queen!

Here’s the video link for Samantha’s Arctic Yoga

https://youtu.be/Kw7K1FnoZJg

In Geography this week, in Danielle’s class, we have been focusing on ‘weather around the world’. The children enjoyed participating in a weatherman role play activity identifying the different types of weather. This week the children have been introduced to curling and had lots of fun playing this in the auditorium!

Here’s the link to Connor’s Catching P.E session.

Please click the link below for you and your child to watch Nick’s fabulous rendition of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’.

In Connor’s class this week we have been busy getting used to our new routine and topic. We were lucky enough to spend some time in the kitchen and make a special African dish, Jollof Rice.
It has been nice to have some of our class join us on Zoom and help with our online lessons. We have begun our new English topic following the wonderful adventures of the Deductive Detective, there was a very cheeky thief!

This week Jack’s class have been using the Seesaw app to access fun lessons online at home, or in school. On Tuesday the class were discussing the properties of materials in Science and children were assigned a scavenger hunt task.

Here are some of the items they had to find

Click here to learn Phonics with Kelly

Click here for the link to Connor’s PE lesson…enjoy!

From all the staff and governors at Holly Grove School we would like to wish you and your family a peaceful and happy festive break and a healthy and happy New Year. Please take care and stay safe.

School re-opens on Monday 4th January 2021.

Santa has send a special video message for the children of Holly Grove School and has read ‘A Night Before Christmas’ as a special treat for you all. Enjoy watching the video!

Over the last two weeks as part of our topic ‘special celebrations’ Aisling’s Class have been outside in the sensory garden having so much fun. All the children have had the opportunity to get wrapped up nice and warm and go and explore Christmas outside. We have all participated in a Christmas hunt and had to find all the objects, listened to Christmas stories in a tent we have made, drunk hot chocolate and eaten mince pies. We also did a twig hunt and made beautiful stars to hang in the classroom. Next week we cannot wait to make our own salt dough Christmas tree hanging decorations for home.

Advent Doors

Throughout the pandemic the many pictures of rainbows in windows and on school walls were a great symbol of hope and connectivity in a time of sadness and isolation. Holly Grove has taken part in he Advent Doors challenge and created beautiful door and window displays that will help spread some festive cheer and make our friends and families smile. We hope you like our pictures.

https://contact.org.uk/about-us/family-workshops/?fbclid=IwAR1Bp6wc3B2XjiWwimWYr8Vyj060B7dk-MgnbMv5zvhvCrIZ7mD3pVvt7LQ#

Children in Need was a little different at Holly Grove this year but we still had a fantastic day. Pupils and staff came into school wearing yellow or spotty clothing and took part in plenty of Pudsey themed activities. Unfortunately we weren’t able to hold our annual Pudsey bake sale but that didn’t spoil our fun. We ended the day with a virtual Holly Grove’s Got Talent via Zoom. Well done to ‘Covid Busters’ from Rebecca’s class who won in Key Stage 1 and Jack’s class won in Key Stage 2 with a wonderful autumn dance.  Thank you to everyone who donated we raised a fantastic £232.72.

This week in Aisling’s class, we have been working super hard after the half term and been learning all about Bonfire night. We have made our own fire work pictures by printing using a toilet roll and used lots of bright colours and sprinkled with glitter. We have also done some mark making on the interactive screens to make our own firework pictures. On the 5^th November we made our own pretend fire and sang camp fire songs whilst toasting our marshmallows and drinking  hot chocolate. We have also been collecting leaves and exploring them using magnifying glasses and cutting out leaves using cutters in the playdough.

Connor’s class have been talking about staying safe on bonfire night and have been talking about the rules regarding firework safety. The children wrote their own safety instructions to help others stay safe on bonfire night.

*Never throw fireworks

*Keep pets inside

*Keep fireworks in a box

*Wear gloves when using sparklers

*Never go back to a lit firework

*Keep your distance

A huge thank you to everyone who donated money for ‘Wear it Pink’ day. We raised a fantastic £154.20 for Breast Cancer Research. Thank you for your support.

We hope you all have a healthy and happy half term holiday. However, if your child does test positive for COVID19 please inform Karen Alty the Headteacher via email head@holly-grove.lancs.sch.uk immediately.
Thank you and Take care.

In maths, Jacks class have been learning all about fractions. They have been splitting whole ones into halves, quarters and thirds. Fantastic work Jack’s class.

Review and redesign of Lancashire’s Short Break Offer for children and young people

Have your say

Lancashire’s Short Break Offer – Parent/Carer Consultation Summer 2020

The feedback received from parents, carers, short break providers and children and young people as part of the review and redesign of Lancashire’s Short Break Offer has informed the design of the new proposed Short Break Offer. Responses received about the whole Short Break Offer demonstrated the diverse range of views and the challenge of providing short break services which meet everyone’s needs. There was no consensus in the feedback about the priorities for the new Short Break Offer. The aim therefore is to ensure that the new Short Break Offer meets the needs of as many families as possible.

Feedback identified that Lancashire Break Time met the needs of many families but that families wanted choice, flexibility and a quality service.  It also identified that there were significant geographical differences in the choice and availability of activities and the number of hours accessed by children across Lancashire.

This consultation is for all parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who are currently using Lancashire’s Short Break Service, have used it in the past or who haven’t used it before.

We would like your views on the proposed new Short Break Offer to inform the decisions made by Lancashire County Council. Please submit your completed questionnaire by 5pm on Wednesday 14 October. The responses to this consultation will be used to make final recommendations to Cabinet about the new Short Break Offer for children and young people with SEND.

To respond, please complete this online questionnaire.

If you have any queries about completing the questionnaire or would like a printed questionnaire please call 01772 531 597 or email cyp-shortbreaks@lancashire.gov.uk.

The questionnaire will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your time.

A huge thank you to all our Teaching Assistants at Holly Grove. We appreciate all the effort you put in everyday with our wonderful pupils. You really do go above and beyond so it’s a big thanks from us.

Love Karen, Eve and all the Teachers at Holly Grove.

Class 6 took part in a colour scavenger hunt in class. They had to choose a colour, which was written in French, and match it to objects around the room. The pupils loved this exercise and tried to match as many objects as they could within the set time.

Class 6 have been very busy this first week back. They have been learning all about the life cycle of a butterfly. The children used different types of pasta to show the different stages of the life cycle, from the egg, to the caterpillar, to the chrysalis and finally to the butterfly. The children then made butterfly suncatchers, I’m sure you agree that they look wonderful.

We are welcoming our pupils back to school today. We can’t wait to see you all we have missed you so much. Keep your eyes peeled for some pictures at the end of today…

I hope you are all well and enjoyed last week’s home learning visiting Australia and Japan.

We are now on our final week of travelling around the world on our Holly Grove ‘Magic Carpet Ride.’ I hope that you have enjoyed visiting and exploring all these wonderful countries. On our last trip we will be visiting:

• EYFS and KS1 – Florida
• KS2 – Brazil
• Sensory – Smuggler’s Cove

Please decide which lesson ideas are most useful for your child and remember there is no pressure for you to access these lessons. Please do email any photographs of your child exploring these activities to your class teacher. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

I hope you have found all these home learning activities useful and fun over the past couple of months. I would like to say a big thank you to all the staff for helping to create lesson ideas.

I wish you all a wonderful summer.

Take care and stay safe.

Animal Fact File Activity

Carnival Maths Game

Cinderella Sequencing

Cutting Skills

Layers Worksheet

Mardi Gras Masks

Rainforest Animals

Sequencing

USA Facts

What Shall We Do With a Lazy Pirate

The theme for this summer’s challenge is silly, funny and exciting books and everyone can take part. As part of the challenge we recommend your child read 1-2 books a week during the summer holidays.

Children’s reading can ‘dip’ during the long summer holidays if they don’t have regular access to books and encouragement to read them for pleasure so please encourage your child to take part in the Silly Summer Reading Challenge. If your child is not at the reading stage yet, let them listen to a story being read to them by a familiar person, as listening to stories is just as important.

You can access the books allocated to your child at https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk/login. Your child’s username is their first name (all lowercase) the password is ‘read’ and the school code is ‘cq7l.’ Click on ‘My Library’ and you can see a selection of books your child can read. If you have funny, silly books at home you can read these, just add them to your reading record.

Once you have completed a book fill in the reading record and bring this back to school with you in September or you can fill it in online and email it back to me at:

r.taylor@holly-grove.lancs.sch.uk

Everyone who completes the challenge will receive a certificate and will go into a prize draw to win one of 3 big prizes.

1^st Prize – An Amazon Fire Kindle

2^nd Prize – £15 Book Voucher

3^rd Prize – £10 Book Voucher

If you gave any trouble logging onto Active Learn please email your child’s class teacher and they will reset your child’s login details.

Have fun and enjoy reading!

Rebecca

English Subject Leader

Click here to download the reading record.

I hope enjoyed last week’s home learning visiting China, Pakistan and India.

We are now on our 4th week travelling around the world on our ‘Magic Carpet Ride.’

This week Holly Grove will be visiting:

*   EYFS and KS1 – Australia
*   KS2 – Japan
*   Sensory – Australia

Please feel free to look at them all and decide which lesson ideas are most useful for your child. There is no pressure for you to access these lesson activities.

Please continue to send any photographs as we all really enjoy seeing what the children have been up to. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

Have lots of fun exploring!

Anzac Biscuits

Barrier Reef

Didgeridoo

Parts of an Aussie Animal

The Story of Urashima

Tokyo

Volcano Labelling Activity

Who Lives Here?

Mr Bridges from Ridgewood has put together a ‘kitchen percussion’ video for you all to enjoy. You can do something similar with everyday objects in your kitchen, make sure you check with an adult before you start.

I hope enjoyed last week’s home learning topic on ‘The Magic Carpet Ride,’ and had fun visiting Kenya and The Netherlands!

We are into our third week of Holly Grove’s ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ around the world. Alison has worked hard to create all three.

Here are this week’s home learning activities:

• EYFS and KS1 – China
• KS2 – Pakistan
• Sensory – India

Please feel free to look at them all and decide which lesson ideas are most useful. Remember there is no pressure for you to do these activities.

We all really enjoy seeing what the children have been up to, so please continue to email class teachers with any photographs or videos. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

Have fun exploring!

Animal Patterns

India Pictures

Islam and Christianity

Map of Asia

Rameena’s Ramadan

Repeating Patterns

World Map

Yoga

My name is Nick and I am the family support manager at Holly Grove School in Burnley. On the last week of term I will be starting at the base of Pendle Hill and then ascending and descending THREE times and I aim to do this in under THREE hours! I am asking for donations of £3 or more and I would like to raise £300 for the Georgia Fourie Butterfly Fund. This charity does so much for the pupils of Holly Grove School and their families and I would like to do my part in helping to raise some money. The charity has previously provided grants for families in need, funded holiday clubs and residential trips and bought much needed sensory equipment for school.

(If I fail I will donate £3 for every 3 minutes I go over my 3 hour target)

Please give as much as you can to help this wonderful charity. Thanks in advance. To donate please click here

Nick

Mr Bridges the music teacher at Ridgewood, has made a special hello song for all the year 6 children moving to Ridgewood in September.

You can watch this video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_QLYDprQ3w

I hope you enjoyed last week’s home learning topic on ‘The Magic Carpet Ride,’ and had fun visiting France, Spain and Italy!

We are continuing our ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ around the world. Here are this week’s home learning activities:

There are three activities to choose from:

• EYFS and KS1 – Kenya
• KS2 – The Netherlands
• Sensory – Kenya

Please feel free to look at them all and decide which lesson ideas are most suitable. You may decide to do more than one.

Thank you to those who have sent in photographs of the children exploring these activities. Please continue to email your class teacher with them. We all really enjoy seeing what the children have been up to. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

I hope you find these ideas useful and you have more fun exploring these countries.

Take care and stay in touch.

African Animals Cut and Paste

Flag of Kenya

Sequence the Story

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain

African Suprise Cut Outs

Silhouette Cut Outs

Pinwheel Template

Handa’s Fruit Basket

I hope you enjoyed the ‘Seaside’ activities last week. Please find attached this week’s home learning. In this theme, Holly Grove will be visiting various countries on a ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ and this will run over the next few weeks.

Samantha has created EYFS/KS1 – France

Jack has created KS2 – Spain

Alison has created Sensory – Italy

Click here to see the holiday diary.

Please do remember that there is no pressure on you to access these lessons.

I hope you enjoy exploring these countries. Please continue to take lots of photographs and make you email them to class teachers.

Have fun!

Bear Themed Counting

Design Your Own Teddy Bear

Colour the French Flag

Picasso Portrait

Spain Fact File

British Passport

Picasso Powerpoint

Colour a Teddy Bear

Rainbow Colouring

Eve’s specialist e-learning videos are now available to watch, this week Eve was reading the story of The Gruffalo. There are also a variety of lessons for different abilities.

Click on the link below and enjoy!

https://classroom.thenational.academy/specialist/communication-and-language/building-understanding/

We have put together some resources that we think will help your child get ready for coming back to school and also transitioning into different classes from September. There is no pressure to do these activities we just think they may be helpful if you need them.

I Am Amazing Worksheet

My Top 5 Worries About Returning to School

Lockdown Time Capsule Workbook

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all keeping safe and well.

The change in weather is a bit disappointing, I hope you are still enjoying all the home learning we are sharing.

Just to update you all on the school opening situation. I have received a Bulletin from County today which states,

COVID19 BULLETIN – 8^th June 2020

Message from Edwina Grant OBE

Executive Director Education and Children’s Services

I am writing to let you know that our Director of Public Health has reviewed his guidance that schools should not welcome more pupils and has determined that it should not change.

That means Dr Sakthi Karunanithi is advising that you should continue to delay reopening to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils. It is still the case that he believes two of the five government tests are not being met in the county.

Although the number of new cases has decreased, Lancashire and the North West has a high number of cases compared to many other regions in the country.

They will review this again next week.

Please remember we are all still available if you have any questions.

Take care, stay safe.

Kind regards

Karen

Please find attached this week’s learning activities linked to the ‘Seaside.’

This week the ‘home learning’ has been created by:

Samantha – EYFS/KS1 – Commotion in the Ocean.

Jack – KS2 – What Happened on ‘D Day.’

Alison – Sensory – There’s a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea.

I Spy Seaside

I Spy Answers

I Spy Checklist

Maths Battleships

Normandy Landings Fact File

Under The Sea Counting

Please do remember that there is no pressure on you to access these lesson ideas and keeping yourself and child happy is what is important.

Please continue to send any photographs of the children enjoying these lesson activities. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

I hope you enjoy exploring these lessons on the ‘Seaside.’

I hope you all had a lovely half term week.

Please find attached this week’s ‘home learning’ activities. The theme is ‘Space’ and these ideas have been created by different members of staff.

Aisling – EYFS/KS1 – Whatever Next?

Julie – KS2 – If I were an Astronaut

Alison – Sensory – Space Songs

Space Activity – Ordering by Size

Feel free to use any of these resources and remember that there is no pressure on you to access these lesson ideas.

We all really enjoy receiving and looking at photographs that you send us, so please continue to email these to your class teacher. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

I hope you enjoy these lesson ideas on ‘Space.’

Take care, stay safe and stay in touch,

Holly Grove School would like to wish all our pupils, staff and their families a very happy Eid.

Please send us some pictures of how you and your families celebrate. Have a good weekend

I hope you enjoyed last week’s home learning topic on ‘Animals.’

Please find attached this week’s learning activities linked to ‘Journeys.’

This week te Holly Grove’s ‘Home Learning’ has been created by different staff members in school:

Rebecca – EYFS/KS1 – Magic Train Ride

Jenny – KS2 – Journey

Samantha – Sensory – Up, Up, Up

Counting Cakes & Creatures

Magic Train Ride Story

Paper Helicopter Instructions

Paper Helicopter Template

Sequence the Story

Please do remember that there is no pressure on you to access these lesson ideas and keeping yourself and child happy is what is important.

It is great to see photos of the children enjoying these lesson activities, so please continue to share these by emailing your class teacher. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

I hope you enjoy exploring these ideas on ‘Journeys.’

Take care, stay safe and stay in touch,

All the staff at Holly Grove have made a special video for you to show how much they are missing you…enjoy

We’re delighted to announce our next Virtual Quiz will be hosted by Clare Balding live on YouTube on Tuesday 19th May at 7.30pm!

At a time when our mental wellbeing and resilience is being truly tested, we think this is a great way to relax and enjoy some light-hearted fun. Get your family and friends involved and see who can get the best score.

It’s free to play but if players would like to make a donation to the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust after the quiz, we would be hugely grateful. Any contribution, large or small, will support us in helping people look after their mental health, which is so important at the moment.

It will be a family friendly quiz with a variety of topics, hosted by the wonderful broadcaster and author. We’d like to reach more people with our work so please spread the word amongst your friends and loved ones!

We’ve set up a Facebook event where you can register your interest.

For those not on Facebook, we’ve shared details on our website as well.

We hope to see you there!
The CWMT Team

Unfortunately due to lockdown the ‘VE Day street party’ that the School Council at Holly Grove had organised could not go ahead. But lockdown and Covid-19 did not stop Holly Grove’s staff and pupils from celebrating VE Day in their own special way. Holly Grove sent out activity packs to each pupil and a list of ways in which they could celebrate whilst staying safely at home.

VE Day on the 7^th May marked the 75th Anniversary of the surrender of Germany at the end of the Second World War in 1945. Staff and pupils were encouraged to hang bunting up and turn their streets red, white and blue, make Union Jack flags, have a 1940s style picnic, listen to old music, learn about their families involvement in WWII and raise a good old cup of tea to our heroes.

At 11am a 2 minutes silence was held to remember all the fallen heroes and reflect on the service and sacrifice given by so many.

At 3pm families were invited to clap on their doorstep and say “to those who gave so much we thank you.”

At 9pm the Queen gave a speech to the nation. The Queen said the message of VE Day is “never give up, never despair.” Click here to watch the Queens speech.

At 9.15pm the nation was invited to sing along in a rendition of Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again.’ To watch the video click here.

We have received some fantastic photos from all our staff and pupils. We hope you all had a fantastic day celebrating such a momentous occasion.

“Reo Has Really Enjoyed Making Bunting For Our V.E Day Party In The Garden And He Even Made A Scone And Tasted Some Of The Cream , He Also Loved Watching The Red Arrows On TV Doing The Fly Over.”

PE Coordinator

I hope you enjoyed last week’s home learning topic on ‘Amazing Authors.’

Please find attached this week’s learning activities linked to ‘Animals.’

This week the Holly Grove ‘Home Learning’ has been created by different staff members in school:

Aisling – EYFS – What the Ladybird Heard

Laura – KS1 – Farmer Duck

Danielle – KS2 – Commotion in the Ocean

Alison – Sensory – Animal Boogie

Book Review

Hen Life Cycle

Please feel free to look at them all and decide which activities are most suitable for your child. You may decide to do more than one. Please do remember that there is no pressure on you to access these lesson ideas and keeping yourself and child happy is what is important.

It is great to see photos of the children enjoying these lesson activities, so please continue to share these by emailing your class teacher. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

I hope you enjoy exploring ‘Animals.’

Karen has arranged a special Video treat for all Holly Grove children and staff. You can see more of Sochia’s singing on her Facebook page Sochia 🎤❤️

Click here to watch the video

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all staying safe and well. I finally plucked up courage to do a video message for all my children last week which is on our Facebook page and our website. I hope those that have seen it enjoyed it. I was very nervous.

I thought I would do something a bit different this week and got in touch with one of Holly Grove’s special friends, Sochia. I know how much all the children love listening to Sochia sing when she comes into school. So please check out our Facebook page or website and you will see a little message from Sochia and myself. Hope you enjoy.  Sochia has agreed to come in and help us all celebrate when we are finally back together safely. She is also going to be doing some music sessions with us in the new school year which your children will love I’m sure.

Please take care everyone, I miss you all.

Karen

🇬🇧🕊Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day 🇬🇧🕊

This Friday, the 8th May we are celebrating VE Day (Victory in Europe Day.) This is the anniversary of the surrender of Germany at the end of World War II in 1945.

As we are all unable to celebrate this momentous day together, let’s celebrate at home! Here are some ideas of how you can celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

Some gorgeous colouring bunting:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0036/1886/5187/files/VE_Day_printables_2020.pdf?v=1588242756&fbclid=IwAR2IbOO6KaKgNeO1uf2D2lZxKL0TP9kLVkEEnfEQ4Pmtrx0y9CtM3_Kt7Oo

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1ASiV52ZzLAoXYA8GG7-00q-w171VVrDW?usp=drive_open

You can have a 1940’s style tea party at home! Go to the link below for ideas:

https://ve-vjday75.gov.uk/plan-your-ve-day-party/

Here are some resources from Twinkl, some posters to colour in and some printable bunting.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/amp/t2-h-4813-ve-day-resource-pack

Timeline of the day:-

11am; A two-minute silence will be held to honour the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation and reflect on the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on so many lives across the world.

11.15am: The nation is invited to join in with the Royal British Legion’s (RBL) VE Day 75 Livestream. Grab a cup of tea and tune in as the generations of the Second World War and today are brought together to chat about their shared experiences. Hosted by TV presenter Sonali Shah, the 45-minute programme will feature stories from those who served and sacrificed, as well as recognising the difficulties people are experiencing today.

3pm: The Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of World War Two. Take part by cheering and clapping on your doorsteps and saying: “To those who gave so much, we thank you.”

9pm: A pre-recorded address by the Queen will be broadcast at the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address on May 8 1945.

9.05pm: Fancy a sing-along? After the Queen’s address, the nation is invited to come together in a rendition of Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again on BBC One.

I hope you all manage to enjoy this very special day! We would love to see pictures of how you celebrated so please email the to your teachers.

1. Early development – for sensory learners who mainly communicate through eye contact and body language.
2. Building Understanding – for pupils who are communicating using  single words either verbally, through symbols or signs.
3. Applying Learning – for pupils who are able to put words, signs and symbols together to communicate in sentences.

We hope you enjoyed last week’s home learning topic on ‘Rainbows.’

Please find attached this week’s learning activities linked to ‘Amazing Authors.’

There are three activities to choose from:

• EYFS and KS1 – for our younger children – Each Peach Pear Plum
• KS2 – for our older children – The Smartest Giant in Town
• Sensory – more suitable for our sensory learners – The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Please feel free to look at them all and decide which activities are most suitable. You may decide to do more than one.

It is always so lovely to see photographs of the children enjoying activities, so please feel free to share any photographs by emailing your class teacher. If we have your permission, we will share these in our school newsletter and Facebook page.

We hope you find these activities useful and enjoy working on them.

At home shouldn’t mean at risk. If you or someone you know is suffering from #domesticabuse, isolation rules do not apply. Police response and support services remain available.

Find support at gov.uk/domestic-abuse or call 999 if you are in immediate danger

#youarenotalone

We are very excited to launch our Wellbeing Challenge 2020.

This is a free interactive challenge that we usually send out to schools but we have adapted it for parents to do at home with their children in the current circumstances.

The idea is to encourage young people to think positively about their mental health; it’s based around the ‘Five Ways to Mental Wellbeing’: Give to others; Connect; Keep learning; Take notice; and Be active.

We are running the challenge for two weeks from next week (Monday 4th – Sunday 17th May) and you could be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize from Sharky and George – see below.

We understand the stresses faced by many parents and teachers at this time, so we have put together a whole pack of ideas so you can hit the ground running. Whether you’re a teacher looking for material to send to your pupils or a parent struggling for ideas, we hope we can help you out! There are two packs – one for primary aged children and one for secondary/sixth form age.

If you would like to sign up to receive your free pack then please complete our short form by clicking here. 

You can find out more information about the challenge on our website here.

The Prize!

Sharky and George have donated two of their amazing activity packs as prizes – a superhero pack for the primary aged competition and a survival activity pack for the secondary/sixth form one. Details of how you can win will be sent in our Wellbeing Challenge packs.

We also have runner-up prizes, as well as ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ window stickers for everyone that completes the challenge and submits their entry photos.

Sharky & George has one simple aim: to find the fun in everything. A creative events company that specialises in immersive experiences for adults and children. They have been busy ‘Finding the Fun’ in lockdown and now can’t think why they haven’t been offering virtual parties and activity packs all along.  Their awesome experiences are all about getting everyone involved in imaginative and energetic games and adventures, always involving a certain amount of mischief! 

Please find below some learning activities linked to ‘rainbows.’ We have provided activities for our younger children (EYFS and KS1) and our older children (KS2)  as well as activities more suitable for our sensory learners.

Please feel free to look at them all and decide which activities are most suitable or which you and your child will enjoy more.

Please feel free to share your activities or send photos to your class teacher and see if you can think of any more activities you could do linked to rainbows. We love seeing your pictures and the best ones will feature in our newsletter and Facebook page (if we have permission.)

Home School Learning EYFS/KS1

Home School Learning KS2

Home School Sensory Learning

Karen Alty

Headteacher

Click here to download a list of online educational resources from gov.uk

You can access lots of phonics games and activities at:

https://www.letters-and-sounds.com

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk

LPDS TV has been devised for teachers, parents and children, offering short and simple tips, games and activities to keep children engaged with home learning. Each episode lasts around 10 minutes and will be available for free on the Learning Excellence YouTube channel and Facebook page on a weekly basis. Episode one will go live at 9.30am on Monday 20th April and will feature ‘Super Sentences’ with Nicola Martin, ‘Maths Magic’ with Andrew Taylor, ‘History around the home’ with Steven Kenyon and ‘Quiz Time’ with Rob Musker: https://youtu.be/1-5Al-8pEBQ

I hope this message finds you safe and well in these difficult times. I just wanted to remind you that all the teachers and senior leaders are still working from home and are happy to answer any emails. You should have received your child’s teachers email address through School Synergy so feel free to email them with any questions you might have.

I hope you are managing to access our website and Facebook page. I know Connor our PE lead has been doing a live stream of his step class. Please keep checking School Synergy, the Facebook page and the website for new ideas.

Just a little reminder to ensure your children are safe when accessing things online. Any questions around online safety can be directed to our ICT lead Jack Duxbury. j.duxbury@holly-grove.lancs.sch.uk.

Next week we are hoping to start the newsletters up and these will be posted in the newsletter section of the website. These will feature examples of the fantastic home learning that has been going on. I am very impressed with the photos I have seen. Please feel free to share your photos with your class teacher. It’s a lovely way for us to keep in touch.

Please stay home and stay safe

Best wishes

Karen

Headteacher

Coronavirus Update 20.3.20

I am writing to thank you all for your patience and understanding during these very challenging times.  In my 37 years in special education I have never experienced anything quite like it!

As a school we all need to do our bit to reduce the spread of the COVID 19 virus.  The government has given clear guidance on self-isolation, social distancing and household isolation.  Please see the link below for the government guidance on social distancing and for vulnerable people.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people

The most recent scientific advice on how to further limit the spread of COVID 19 is clear.  If children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.  That is why the government has asked parents to keep their children at home wherever possible, and has asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.  The fewer children making the journey to school, and the fewer children in educational settings, the lower the risk that the virus can spread and infect vulnerable individuals in wider society “Government Guidance for Schools 20 March 2020”.

School have been asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children.  Children who are not safe to be at home, and children whose parents are critical to the COVID 19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.  Thank you to those parents who have taken the difficult decision to keep their child safe at home.  We would like to reassure you that this will be considered an authorised absence (you will not be fined).

 At Holly Grove we are striving to keep our school open for the families who are frontline critical workers.  The health and wellbeing of your child, your family, our staff and other pupils is paramount.  Please be aware that whilst we are taking every precaution possible to stop the spread of covid 19, social distancing in schools proves very difficult.  Staff and pupils are going home to their own families and you must be aware that this will increase the risk of further spreading the virus to your child and your family.

Please be aware that due to a shortage of staffing we will have to put classes together which further increases the risk of contamination.  Pupils will not necessarily be with their usual staff teams or with their friends and we are unable to follow our normal routines.  However, we will be providing structure for the children who remain with us.

If your child shows any signs of having an illness, please understand if we ask you to come and pick them up.  We are doing everything in our power to keep our staff and pupils safe.

Thank you again for all your support and thank you for helping us to keep everyone safe.

Kind regards

Karen & the Senior Leadership Team

UPDATE 2.4.20  The Senior Leaders will be closely following any advice from the government over the next 2 weeks. Any keyworker parents wishing to access care after the Easter holidays please contact the Headteacher by email head@holly-grove.lancs.sch.uk

In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, please click here to read the document that outlines how we will continue to ensure the safeguarding of all of our pupils during this time.

Today we celebrated World Book Day and the theme was ‘Myths and Legends.’ Classes shared their favourite stories with their friends and other classes and we had a big book reading session in the morning. The children took part in lots of activities throughout the day including a ‘Dragon’s Egg Hunt.’

We were also very fortunate to have Pendle Productions in school performing ‘The Dragon who lost his Voice.’

At the end of the day, the children took home a free book token to exchange in book shops in their local area. The children also took home a ‘Reading Record’ competition to try and do the ‘Share a Million Stories’ reading challenge.

Well done everyone for dressing up. The prize for the best costume went to Grace in Class 1 for dressing as Hermione from Harry Potter. Well done Grace!

This term we had a visit from zoo lab.  They brought in lots of different animals for us all to have a look at and gave us lots of information about them and their habitats.  We were allowed to stroke all of the animals they brought in.  There was a huge snail, a rat, a slithering snake, and a tortoise.  We all had lots of fun.

This week we are saying goodbye to one of Holly Grove’s longest-serving teaching assistants. Elizabeth has worked at Holly Grove for over 25 years and we are going to be really sad to see her go. Elizabeth is retiring to spend more time with her children and grandchildren. We hope Elizabeth will keep in touch and visit us regularly. We wish you all the best Elizabeth.

This half term Class 3 has been learning all about road safety. They have focused on the Green Cross Code and they put it in to practice on their trip out to Todmorden park. They enjoyed using the bikes on the bike track to practice their skills.

Today was Safer Internet Day and at Holly Grove we are committed to the safe and responsible use of the internet. We spent the day learning all about e-safety and how we can keep ourselves safe at school and at home.

Classes discussed all the good and bad things about the internet, their digital footprint, Key Stage 1 read a story about ‘Buddy the Dogs Online Safety Adventure’ and Key Stage 2 worked together to make a quiz all about staying safe online.

At the end of the day, all the classes came together for a special assembly and took part in an online safety quiz. The children held up YES or NO symbols when asked a question about staying safe online.

Holly Grove School Online Safety Rules:

• I will always ask the teacher before I use the Internet and I will be sensible whenever I use it.
• I will only use websites my teacher has told me about. 
• I will not give my name, address or telephone number to anyone on the Internet and I will tell my teacher if anyone asks me for my name, address or telephone number. 
• I will never agree to meet anyone I have spoken to on the Internet. 
• If a stranger talks to you online, be safe and tell an adult.
• I will be kind online and respect other people.
• I will always tell an adult I trust if I see anything that makes me feel scared, uncomfortable or confused.

If you would like any more information on how to keep your child safe on the internet please speak to your child’s class teacher or you can visit the following websites:

www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2020

https://www.e-safetysupport.com/

www.nationalonlinesafety.com

Class 2’s topic this term is ‘Italy’. They have been learning about the different food that comes from Italy and have been doing lots of activities, flag making, creating their own pizza for the class display, and exploring a range of Italian foods.
Our class word of the week this week is ‘Lasagne’

The Lancashire SEND Partnership was formed in 2018, following a joint inspection of special educational needs and disability (SEND) services in our local area by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The partnership brings together representatives from all agencies in Lancashire that provide SEND services for children, young people, their parents and carers.

One of the priorities for the SEND Partnership was to review Lancashire’s SEND Local Offer, which is the information, advice, support and services available across Lancashire, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Following an extensive review, work has been carried out over the last six months to revise the Local Offer website, which provides a central access point to this information.  You can find the revised SEND Local Offer website at www.lancashire.gov.uk/SEND

Please have a read, share this link and the attached flyer with anyone you think may benefit from accessing the Local Offer. The attached flyer can be reproduced and included in newsletters, social media or on your own website.

We will continue to share more about the changes taking place via regular updates on the SEND local offer website and  Facebook page.  In the meantime if you have any questions please get in touch with the SEND Partnership, SENDPartnership@lancashire.gov.uk.

Thank you,

Lancashire SEND Partnership

This week we wave goodbye to Angie Henney our communication leader who is leaving Holly Grove to relocate with her family in Hastings.

Angie has been a huge part of Holly Grove since we first began as a school and has worked with many of our pupils throughout the years. she has also been the heart of Merry Berries, holiday clubs and our residential trips. Angie you will be missed by us all.

We wish her the best of luck as she begins this new, exciting chapter in her life. Goodbye Angie!

Holly Grove choir paid a special visit on Thursday to Dove Court Care Home in Burnley. The choir sang a selection of Christmas carols and even sang a special song from our Christmas production ‘A King is Born.’ The residents were so pleased to see them and thought their singing was great. Thank you Alison and the choir for putting a smile on their faces.

We have had such a fun filled action packed week coming up to Christmas. On Monday we had the whole school Christingle service and we had a brass band come and play for us. Thank you to Bernard Kellow for organising this for us.   On Tuesday we had our Christmas Dinner and it was yummy! But the best part of the Week was Wednesday when we had a Christmas party and Santa made a special appearance and gave every child a present.

On behalf of all the pupils and staff at Holly Grove we would like to say a huge thank you to Christine Bancroft for her years of service as a governor at Holly Grove School. Christine is retiring after 4 years and has always been actively involved with school activities and she was also a trustee for The Georgia Fourie Butterfly Fund. Christine helped to make us an registered charity in February 2015 and since then has helped to raise a lot of money for our school. Thank you Christine for all your help and support over these past few years. Please come back and visit us soon.

Poppies group have been very busy creating their own recycle jingle as part of a local competition. Unfortunately they didn’t win but the judges were so impressed with their entry that they were awarded a £50 voucher to spend at Townley Garden Centre. Well done Poppies group this jingle was very catchy.

We had a super spotty day last week, all in aid of a good cause. To raise money for Children in Need, children came into school dressed in spots or yellow clothing in exchange for a donation. Classes baked yummy cakes for a bake sale at breaktime, we had a Pudsey hunt, lots of Pudsey themed activities and we finished off the day with Holly Grove’s Got Talent. All the entries were fantastic but the winners were Nursery/Reception and Class 6.

Yesterday the children took part in a Halloween Spooktacular Extravaganza in the sensory garden. Each class was timetabled to take part in various Halloween activities. The children (and staff) had so much fun as you can see from the pictures.

Class 7 have had a very productive week at Holly Grove. They have being doing some musical intensive interaction and also enjoying the Autumn sunshine in the sensory garden.