Dear Parents,

It is hard to believe that next week will be the start of February.  We had great excitement over the snow falling on Tuesday but I was pleased that it caused no disruption to school.   On Tuesday evening the staff and governors met to discuss subject leadership; the meetings were helpful in reviewing current provision and in sharing and developing our subject action plans further.  

There has been much learning enrichment this week. On Wednesday Chaffinch had a visit by two volunteers from Newbury Showground; their learning was active, fun and so important, I have shared some photos below.  On Thursday six girls from Chaffinch and Goldfinch represented the school at a gymnastics competition. They came fourth and I was very proud to watch them; they performed with confidence and had a great time.  At the beginning of the event we had the privedge of watching two world class gymnasts and the whole school enjoyed seeing the videos I took. Four Goldfinch children represented the school in the Eagle House Maths Challenge; Mrs Martinez accompanied them and again they did well and enjoyed the afternoon.  Last but by no means least four Goldfinch children were leading at Fledgelings at the Church playgroup.  They reiterrated the messages from our own Collective worship and I was told they did a fantastic job.

I was pleased to send home a letter to Chaffinch yesterday to inform parents of the staffing arrangements for Miss Parish's maternity leave.   Mrs Dodds will extend her working week to the Thursday lunchtime, Mrs Coulson will teach on a Thursday afternoon and Mrs Gan on a Friday.  We are so fortunate to have such dedicated staff and when I told the children yesterday they gave a big cheer.

I wish to share my concerns regarding attendance.  As I mentioned after our recent OFSTED, attendance figures have a big impact on judgements made on our school.  I know at the moment there are many children unwell with coughs and colds and these absences are authorised and we sympathise.  Unfortuately if a child has a holiday as well as time off with illness, a pupil can quickly become deemed as persistently absent.  I cannot emphasis enough the importance of school attendance and this year I have been frustrated seeing some children strugggling to catch up on learning following a period of holiday.  Soon I will share more information and statistics regarding pupil success and attendance; I appreciate the price differences between taking holidays in term time although some fines issued this year make this difference less significant.  Please always bear in mind the large impact absence can have on your child's learning and progress.

Finally I wanted to inform you that next week Goldfinch and Chaffinch will have new Smartboards installed; Goldfinch have been very patient as we processed this replacement.  The cost of the boards is being shared between FOFSA and the school budget, so a big a thank you for your support of FOFSA.  We will also be having 4 new PCs installed, one in each classroom.  This will ensure that the speed and efficiency will enhance the use of the new boards.

I wish you a lovely weekend.

Jacquie Vanstone