Dear Parents,

 

Welcome back after what I hope was a lovely half term. For part of the INSET day staff attended a training session with our cluster of schools. The training was led by a lady called Stephanie Davies who worked as a stand-up comedian with John Bishop and then took a degree in philosophy; she put the two together to create the company Laughology. The focus of the morning was happiness and engagement and the impact this has on learning. Whilst staff were working hard the children at the NSsport activity day were having a great time and I was delighted to see how well attended it was. I would like to thank NSsport for the wonderful service they provide.

 

It was great to see so many Chaffinch parents at our Brass Concert; I felt very proud of the children and of the comments made by James Baker. He complemented our music and could see that we are clearly 'a music school'. I hope Mrs Gan feels very proud too. Children are invited to continue learning the Tenor Horn through Berkshire Maestros and after seeing how well they have progressed it would be great to see this happen. Mrs Gan and Mrs Coulson are very busy preparing the choir for WASMA which takes place later this month; Mrs Gan would also like to lead a Music Achievement assembly on 14th March. Please write into the office by 12th March if your child would like to share their music achievements with the school.

 

On Wednesday afternoon Mrs Wirth and I had the pleasure of showing our new School Improvement Officer, Anne Stropforth, around our school. We spent the afternoon discussing the School Development Plan and the progress we are making. It is very clear how focused we are on improvement in all areas and the positive impact of collaborative working between all stakeholders.  Also on Wednesday Reverend Gemma joined Rosefinch for their afternoon learning; it was a pleasure to have her in school and we look forward to welcoming her each week.

 

Yesterday I sent home an Internet Safety letter following the assembly and the chat with parents on 9th February; I hope you found this information useful.  I also included some information on The Momo Challenge which you may have seen information about on social media/news.  I can now confirm that this has been a hoax.  It has been valuable to reinforce internet safety rules and procedures with the children and I thank you for reiterating the same messages.

 

The Year 6 children have now found out about their secondary school places; they have all seemed calm and happy today and I am pleased for them.

 

I wish to finish this update with thanks to FOFSA. When you look around our school the impact of the money raised by FOFSA is evident throughout. The children have enjoyed creating logos, drawings for tea towels and you will hopefully have seen the posters showing the committee members and also the up and coming events. Thank you FOFSA.

 

Next week will start with the excitement of a Science assembly and then we have our Church Service and World book day dressing up and learning to look forward to. 

 

There is a poster on the website, on Facebook and around school regarding the Science club which will follow on from the assembly on Monday.  I would also like to make you aware of a lady running dance classes on a Friday afternoon at the Memorial hall and has spaces if you would like to explore this option for your child.

 

Have a lovely weekend

Jacquie Vanstone