Date 8th September 2017

The Head’s update Dear Parents

A warm welcome to you and your daughter(s) as we begin the school year. I hope that you have had an enjoyable and restful summer holiday. A special welcome to all our new girls who have joined our Howell’s family. I have an open door policy and I am more than happy to meet with your whenever necessary. I would like to remind parents that our two Deputy Heads are Mrs Matthews and Miss Gardner. It is very important that you are kept fully informed of your daughter’s development and welfare. I do hope you found the ‘Meet the Teacher’ meeting useful on Wednesday evening. Curriculum letters outlining the work that will be covered this term were shared at the meeting, but can be found on Firefly if you were unable to attend. Uniform Girls should wear a navy school coat. With the winter uniform please wear navy knee length socks or tights and with the summer dress please wear white ankle socks. If your daughter has hair which is long enough to touch her shoulders, please ensure that it is tied back with a plain blue/black or white band in the winter and a pink/white band in the summer. No jewellery, apart from a wrist watch is allowed to be worn to school. Illness Please be reminded that we have a 48 hour policy following the last bout of diarrhoea or vomiting, as we try our very best to reduce the risk of spreading illness. Birthday Cakes and Party Invitations

A reminder that, with regret, no birthday cakes or treats are allowed to be sent into school with your daughter. This is due to the increasing numbers of girls with allergies in the Junior School.

If your daughter is inviting all the girls in her class to her birthday party she may distribute the invitations in school. However, if she is inviting a smaller number of girls, I would be grateful if the invitations could be posted home or given out discreetly to parents in the playground. Thank you for your co-operation.

Late Arrival

If you arrive after the specified start times (8.35am for girls in Years 3 to 6, 8.45am for girls in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and 9.00am for Nursery), please ensure that you take your daughter to Mrs Hatcher (Junior School Secretary) and sign the late book. Nursery girls can be taken straight to the main Nursery entrance.

Walking Bus You may drop your daughter at our Pencisely Road entrance between 8am and 8.25am to be walked over by school staff to the Junior School. Medication If medication needs to be brought in to school during the day for your daughter, a medical administration form must be completed. Year 1 go 'Into the Woods' Year 1 had an exciting start to the topic when they received a letter from 'Julia Donaldson'. Some of the girls recognised the name and knew she was an author. She needed the girls' help in finding all the missing characters from one of her stories, 'The Gruffalo'. The girls decided that as the story was set in the woods that they would search in the Green Garden and they were so excited to find all the characters including a very large Gruffalo! Luckily the Gruffalo was kind and invited us to stay for a while to share some hot chocolate and enjoy listening to the story! What a super start to our topic this term!

Year 2 Fire Station Trip Click here for all the news of Year 2’s trip.

Toot Holiday Club Toot will be available during the October half term, Easter and Summer holiday. Toot will no longer be running during the February or May half term, or though the Christmas break. Club Fair Wednesday evening saw the Junior Hall full and there was a real buzz for the first Junior School Club Fair! It was lovely that so many parents came to find out about the extensive range of extra-curricular clubs on offer. We do hope that you found it helpful to chat to the club providers directly and gather information to select the right clubs for your daughter. We appreciate at times it was busy in the hall and have already been thinking about ways to make the evening a little more manageable next year. Thank you for making it an exciting start to the term!

The clubs below will start on the following dates:

Week beginning Monday 11th September

All music clubs

Sports clubs

Gymnastics

Chess

Forest School

Laughter Yoga

Computer Club

Philosophy

Mandarin

Newspaper

Cookery

Week beginning Monday 18th September

Speech and Drama

French

Spanish

Ballet / Jazz

Yoga and Film club will begin later in the term.

Swimming A reminder that ALL girls from Nursery to Year 6 need a white swim hat marked their first name in permanent pen on the front of the hat. Thank you. Supporting Reading (Reception)

There will be a meeting with Miss Davies for Reception Class parents on Tuesday 17th

October at 3.30pm in the Reception classroom. Howell's Summer Chess Triumphs! Several Howell's girls achieved major successes over the chessboard during the summer holidays, representing their country, winning UK-wide titles and reaching finals with children way above their own age. The Glorney Faber Cup is an annual team competition held between Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and France. No fewer than 5 of the Welsh squad were Howell's. Now while the senior girls in the school have been achieving great things in British Chess for several years already, a little less has been heard from the younger ones for a while, but in this year's UK Schools Chess Challenge Isabella C finished equal 2nd out of 46 in the under 7s section of the Southern GigaFinal to reach the UK-wide TeraFinal - a terrific achievement! Alongside various other junior girls now playing regularly in competitions like Lara O, Anika K and Suhaani P. We hope a new generation of talents is emerging!

End of Term

On the last day of the Autumn Term, Thursday 21st December, Howell’s will close at 1pm. This will also be the case on the last day of the Summer Term, Friday 13th July. There will not be any after school care available on these days.

Parent Blog

The first instalment of our weekly Parent Blog, Back to School, is available to read by clicking here.

Junior School Dates

Thursday 14th September 8.00am to 9.00am & 3pm to 5pm Second Hand Uniform Sale in the Hub

Thursday 28th September Open Afternoon from 1:30pm to 3.30pm for prospective parents

Thursday 28th September Individual School Photographs – Winter Uniform

Friday 29th September ‘Big Maths’ Curriculum Afternoon for Parents at 2pm-3pm

Tuesday 17th October 3.30pm Meeting for all Reception Parents with Miss Davies an evening for supporting your child with reading.

23rd October to 3rd November

October Half Term

Wednesday 8th November Thursday 9th November

Parents’ Evenings 3.30pm to 6.00pm

Thursday 21st December School finishes at 1pm. There will be no After School Care.

TOOT Autumn Half Term 2017

23rd October – 3rd November (2 weeks)

If you are looking for childcare during the 2 week Autumn half term, email TOOT@how.gdst.net to book and for more information.

TOOT is open to girls aged 3 – 9 years and their siblings, male and female. We also offer taster sessions for those thinking of joining Howell’s.

There will be lots of themed activities including arts and crafts, games, cookery, gardening, swimming (Mondays and Fridays), dance, outdoor exploration and a visit off site each Thursday.

Look out for the posters and more information on Mrs Ashill’s newsletters!

Cost £200 per 5 day week (Mon – Fri) or £45 per day. This includes all meals (breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea), activities and trips.

Future 2018 dates Easter 26th March - 13th April (3 weeks) Summer 16th July – 17th August (5 weeks)

EARLY BOOKING IS ADVISABLE

Diary Dates

Second Hand Uniform Sale There will be a second hand uniform sale next Thursday, 14th September, at 8-9am and 3-5pm in the Hub @ Howell’s. There is a wide range of uniform available at very reasonable prices, from Nursery through to College, so do pop in and browse the selection.

Open Doors at Howell’s Howell’s will once again open its doors to the general public on Thursday 14th September as part of the nation wide Open Doors programme, which is a celebration of architecture and heritage. Refreshments will be served at 10am which will be followed by a guided tour of Howell’s at 10.30am. Everyone is welcome to join us.

Open Afternoon and College Fair Our next Open Afternoon for prospective students and parents will take place on Thursday 28th September from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, followed by our College Fair from 4pm until 6pm. Please do pass on the information to anyone you think might be interested in visiting Howell’s. For further information please email admissions@how.gdst.net or telephone 02920 261832.

Annie We are very excited to be presenting a whole school production of the classic Annie for three nights from Tuesday 17th until Thursday 19th October. Set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression, young Annie is forced to live a life of misery at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage but her luck changes when she is chosen to spend a Christmas with famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. With lots of memorable songs including It’s The Hard-Knock Life, Easy Street and Tomorrow it really will be a production not to be missed. Look out for further information in the coming weeks.

Christmas Fair The festivities will begin in style with our Christmas Fair on Friday 1st December and will be a lovely afternoon for all the family. Look out for further information after the half term holiday.

The Great Hall Crystal Ball On Friday 8th December 2017, Howell's will be holding The Great Hall Crystal Ball, organised by the Parent Pyramid, in the magnificent surroundings of the newly restored Great Hall. Tickets will be available in the coming weeks.

Carol Services Llandaff Cathedral will once again provide the perfect setting for this year’s Carol Services which will take place on Tuesday 12th December. More detailed information will be available after the half term break.