Parent Questionnaire - Anonymous Responses by Friday 31st May

We invite all HPS parents to provide us with feedback and help shape the future of our school.

Over the past few years we have distributed an annual paper questionnaire to every family in our school and we received many responses. These responses are discussed at School Management Team Meetings and considered when compiling content for the School Development Plan. 

We really value your input and invite you to complete this year's questionnaire. The time you give to this is much appreciated by staff as developing strong links with parents is a very important part of the educational experience we aim to give your child. We would estimate that it will only take between 5-10 minutes to complete.

In an effort to continually improve the way we interact with you, we are introducing a new, online questionnaire this year. We trust that you will find this modern, ECO-friendly method easier than completing a paper form and having to return it to school. Your responses are treated in confidence and are completely anonymous. At the end of the questionnaire there is an opportunity to provide your name if you prefer, as this allows us to follow up on your comments.

Please complete the questionnaire by Friday 31st May. It must be completed in one session and before you can begin, you will need the password that was sent home today with your child (why?).

Edinburgh Trip

Some of our children and teachers are off to Edinburgh this week on a school trip. We've set up a temporary Edinburgh Trip page so that parents can follow their activities during the four days. We hope you'll find this helpful and interactive.

Clean sweep in Holywood Art Competition!

We were delighted that 6 pupils from Holywood Primary won prizes at the Merry May Day Art Competition in Holywood.

Age 8 - 12 years old category

1^st Maya Kelly    2^nd Taylor Jordan     3^rd Jasmine McAllister

Age 4 - 7 years old category

1^st Martha Baker    2^nd Molly Bond   3^rd Georgie Wilson

2nd May was Numeracy Day

It was Numeracy Day at Holywood Primary on May 2nd and all classes were involved. The children played maths games, learning about money and how to manage budgets. Some of the P6 children were even helping Mrs Stewart with her requisition for next year! Check the gallery to see all of the practical activities than children were doing.

Term 3 Curriculum Notes

This term we have decied to put the Year Group Curriculum notes online. Please check the new Curriculum page for all the information. There are links to download the information sheets by year group.

We hope you enjoy reading what each class will be doing this term.

Many thanks.

Pedal For A Pancake!

As part of our structured programme of cycling presentations and activities, our main P1- P4 Bike It event for this term is Pedal for a Pancake.

On 30th April and 1st May, the children took part in a range of activities. The boys and girls also enjoyed pancakes and juice or water! It is so encouraging to see the school grounds filled with children using their scooters and bikes.

More photographs are available in the Gallery.

HPS Receives Bronze Bike It Award

As you are probably already aware, our school is participating in the Bike It programme in association with Sustrans, a UK Charity. The Sustrans Education Officer, Pamela Grove-White recently visited the school along with members of T13 in Belfast to present us with our Bike It Bronze Award.

This term we are looking forward to our Bike It Days. More details can be found in the letter sent home.

Children Enjoy Interactive Music Workshop

Beyond Skin came to visit HPS. Beyond Skin is a cultural diversity organisation that uses music as a medium of demonstrating what different cultures and communities have to offer. All P1- P7 boys and girls really enjoyed the workshops, listening to and participating in many different styles of music.

Our successful application to the Integrated Education Fund PACT project funded this event, and we were delighted to welcome all the pupils from St. Patrick’s Primary School to join us for the workshops.

You'll find some photographs of the event in our photo gallery.

Hoodwinked DVDs Available

Following our school production of Hoodwinked, a DVD is now available for purchase at the low price of just £5. This year, families with Blu-ray players can also opt to purchase a high-definition version at a slightly higher cost.

If you would like a disc please ensure your order arrives in school by Thursday 18th April*. Order forms can be downloaded and printed from here, or are available from the school office until 17th April.

DVDs are now sold out.  

You can view a trailer for the DVD below:

HPS Cycle and Scoot into Term 3!

Please support us in Term 3 as we continue to promote a pro-cycling culture both to and from school. We would love to see more children using their bikes or scooters on a regular basis. Please remember it is school policy that well fitted cycle helmets must be worn.

Hoodwinked Lights Up Holywood

The children and staff have worked extremely hard over many weeks to make our school production 'Hoodwinked' a success this week.

The show would simply not have happened if it wasn't for the support of our parents, commitment and enthusiasm of our pupils and the hard work of our staff. Thank you to all our Teachers, Classroom Assistants and Non-Teaching Staff who worked so well to produce the show. Together they have nurtured the talents and built confidence in the boys and girls of HPS.

Mrs Crookshanks

Hey Ewe! DVDs - Last Few Days of Availability

DVDs of our Nativity Musical 'Hey Ewe!' are available for purchase until Wednesday this week (20th March). If you would like a DVD and have not already ordered one, please send your order to the school office in the next couple of days. Your order should be accompanied by the correct money or a cheque payable to Holywood Primary School PTA. An order form can be downloaded here.

The DVD includes the full performance by our P1, P2 and P3 children and is £5 per copy. 

Photographs are still available online here. Photos are shipped directly to you by post and cannot be ordered through the school.

You can watch a watch a few segments of the video below. 

Comic Relief Friday 15th March 2013

Our school has always enjoyed supporting this great Charity Event. On Friday 15th March, our children are asked to come to school wearing anything red, coloured wigs or silly hats! A suggested donation of £1 would be greatly appreciated. Parents are more than welcome to dress for the occasion too!  

Are you doing your bit to make it safer outside our school?

In February there have been some unfortunate traffic incidents outside our school. When bringing your children to school, please observe these simple rules.

 Don't drive into the school grounds. No vehicles, except those with prior agreement with the school, are permitted inside school grounds.

 Don't block driveways, entrances or access roads.

 Don't stop in the middle of the road to drop your children off, even for a few seconds.

 Don't stand in front of school gates - stand either side of the gates to allow safe passage for authorised vehicles that are entering the grounds slowly. 

Keep your speed low. At the entrance gates and inside school grounds it is vital that drivers adhere to the speed limit of 5 mph. On the roads outside school, the maxmimum speed is 30 mph.

Give the right of way to pedestrians at all times.

Let children out of your vehicle onto the pavement - not the road.

Check for pedestrians and cyclists before opening your car door.

Always stop for the school crossing patrol.

Keep dogs on a lead and under control.

Set a good example to other drivers and your children; they will learn from you.

Park further away from the school to reduce the congestion around the school.

By parking a little further away you can start to practice road safety skills with your children.

Each one of us has a responsibility to care for the HPS community. Thank you in advance for supporting our road safety strategy, which has been endorsed by the SEELB and PSNI.

Eco-Schools Bring a Bag Week

This week is Bring a Bag Week. The aim is help pupils minimise their usage of single use carrier bags and raise awareness of the Carrier Bag Levy coming into place for Northern Ireland from the 8th April 2013.

In Northern Ireland we use around 250 million carrier bags a year, that’s too many!

During the week 4th March to 8th March the Eco-Schools Bring a Bag Week campaign will encourage a change in attitude within pupils who will take the message home and into the wider community.

Reusing carrier bags has a positive impact on saving energy, reduces the impact on landfill, saves natural resources and saves money, as the majority of single use carrier bags will cost 5p each from 8th April 2013.

Some tips to get started:

• Keep a bag tucked in your school bag, handbag, or jacket pocket 
• Perhaps set reusable bags near your front door as a reminder 
• Set up a used bag dispenser in classrooms to encourage re-use.

World Book Day Thursday 7th March

Hey Ewe! DVDs Now Available

DVDs of our Nativity Musical 'Hey Ewe!' are now available for purchase. The DVD includes the full performance by our P1, P2 and P3 children.

DVDs are £5 each. 

If you would like to order a DVD, please send your order with the correct money or a cheque payable to Holywood Primary School PTA. An order form can be downloaded here.

Photographs are still available online here. Photos are shipped directly to you.

Note: Photographs cannot be ordered through the school

School Production Early Closures

As in previous years, during the week of the school production SCHOOL WILL FINISH AT 2.00 P.M. FOR ALL CHILDREN ON TUESDAY 19TH, WEDNESDAY 20TH AND THURSDAY 21ST MARCH.

Pupils Preventing Poor Parking

The PSNI Pupils Preventing Poor Parking programme is at Holywood Primary this week. The PSNI and some of our older children are at the school entrances to ask drivers to slow down and encourage parents to park 2-3 minutes walk away from the school to reduce congestion. 

Please support us, we need your help.

To see further photos of the P7 children catching motorists exceeding the speed limit outside our school, see our gallery.

Can you help us with props?

As you are probably aware we are working hard on our school production, "Hoodwinked". We are gathering up props but need help with some of them. If you can help us with any of the items we need, please bring them in to Mrs Robinson. Our list is on the Hoodwinked page.