Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Football Club Friday 1st December is cancelled
Thu 30 Nov 2017 -
Whole School Advent Service
Mon 27 Nov 2017The Advent Service on Tuesday 28th November 2017, will take place in school and not at St James' Church. Everyone is welcome to join us for the service. -
24th November 2017
Fri 24 Nov 2017Dear Parents,
Thank you to those of you who have fed back regarding the Newsletters last week and I am pleased so many children were keen to read their version.
The completion of our Boite à Livre caused lots of excitement and it has been wonderful seeing more children reading in the playground. Please give and take from the Parent box at the top and enjoy the opportunities it creates for reading new books. I am sure you will agree the box is beauitfully painted by the very talented Mrs Sheppard.
School is starting to feel very Christmasy with play rehearsals and preparation for our Advent Service next week. Even the guinea pigs have decorations in their cage now!
FOFSA are working incredibly hard in preparation for the Christmas Fair. Thank you for your support in buying raffle tickets and bringing in donations. The Jarbola competition looked wonderful and I am so pleased not to have had to judge! We to see lots of you at the Fair on Saturday 12 - 3pm.
The Silent Auction online bidding began on Monday 20th November and will finish at 2pm Saturday 25th November. Bidding at the Fair closes at 2.30pm. You are also able to email to place an upper bid if you wish. Dickson.J@outlook.com. There are some wonderful items to bid for so good luck!
On Friday the girls are having their first away match and we are taking them on the minibus. I am not sure what they are more excited about, the journey or the match! I wish them luck and hope they enjoy the experience.
Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing lots of you at the Fair
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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17th November 2017
Fri 17 Nov 2017Dear Parents,
I would like to begin by thanking you for your support regarding the children not running in the front carpark; there has been a marked improvement, we are very grateful.
Last Sunday it was lovely to see so many children and families at the Remembrance Parade.
On Monday morning the Link to Hope Shoe boxes were collected and some children enjoyed loading them into the car. Thank you to those of you who supported this worthy cause.
The children all looked great today in their mufti and spotty clothes; it made for a very colourful, frosty run this morning. I willl let you know how much we have raised next week.
On Thursday after school 8 children attended a Hockey Tournament at Sonning Hockey Club. The team improved with each match and drew their last. After the match they enjoyed a friendly which we proudly won!! It was a pleasure to take them and it was a wonderful opportunity for them. I would like to thank Mrs Weston for giving up her time to attend with me.
Next week we are excited to have a match in Windsor and for this we will be using a minibus for the first time. Letters went out today to the chidlren who will be playing.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate NSsport on their recent OFSTED of their Holiday club. They are Outstanding in all areas. We are delighted with the sport provision we have through NSsport; their impact on Finchampstead school sport is wonderful. On the 3rd January we have an Inset day. Children are welcome to come in for an NSsport day; information will be sent out in a couple of weeks.
As you will be aware we have a new teacher joining the staff in January to work in Chaffinch on a Thursday and Friday. We are looking forward to welcoming Laura Parish. Laura will have sometime in school before Christmas so you may have the opportunity to see her.
On Monday evening Mrs Dodds and I attended a meeting at a Finchampstead Care home called Warren Lodge. We are very excited to be in the early stages of setting up links between our school and Warren Lodge. I am in the process of developing a clear plan to ensure that this community link is a success for everyone involved.
As well as this 'latest news', I have also sent home a paper Newsletter with each family today. I hope you find it informative and I would be grateful for your feedback. Each child has also recieved a letter, if your child is lower down in the school they may need your support in reading it.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend
Jacquie Vanstone
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10th November 2017
Fri 10 Nov 2017Dear Parents,
Before I begin celebrating the wonderful week we have had, I would like to remind parents that children should not be running around the front carpark. We are concerned that an accident will happen and staff are also very concerned that their cars may get scratched. We would appreciate your support with this.
It has been a wonderfully busy week with so much enrichment for the children.
On Monday Chaffinch went to Rushall Farm for a river study. Many got wet but they all had a great time and learnt so much; a day they will hopefully always remember. We were delighted to receive the following feedback from Rushall Farm:
'I am so pleased you enjoyed the day. They are a lovely bunch of children and I genuinely meant it when I said how impressed I was with their knowledge and a willingness by so many of them to give questions a go. They were much more engaged than many much older classes that I've taught and far more upbeat even having got wet.'
On Thursday Goldfinch had a very exciting trip to Wellington College for a Chemistry Spectactular. They loved all the experiments and could describe them in wonderful detail. In a theatre full of excited school children our staff were delighted with the outstanding behaviour each of our children demonstrated.
Shortly after returning from Wellington College some Year 5 and 6 children were showing Prospective Parents around our school. Listening to the children talk with such enthusiasm and pride was heart warming. The parents were again extremely impressed with how happy, engaged and confident our children are.
As you will have seen on the Calendar the amount of competive sport we are participating in is increasing. I would like to thank Mr O'Reilly for organising a Tournament at Finchampstead this afternoon and I wish the boys luck. After school today we have a netball match on the netball courts; good luck to them as well. It will be a tense afternoon!!
I am sure those parents who were with us this morning for our Remembrance assembly will join me in thanking Mr and Mrs Fox for leading such a beautiful assembly. Again behaviour was outstanding. A two minute silence is a long time especially for the younger children but they demonstrated complete respect for the ocassion. I would like to thank Thomas Stockton for diligently leading the selling of Poppies every morning over the past two weeks showing great respect and responsibility each day. I hope many families will join us for the St James' Remembrance Sunday Parade from the Memorial Hall to the Memorial Cross. Please could children come in school uniform.
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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3rd November 2017
Fri 03 Nov 2017Dear Parents,
I hope you all had a very enjoyable and restful Half Term. The children have been pleased to be back and have especially enjoyed seeing Bingo and Nibbles again. Thank you to the Allcock family for looking after them so attentively over the holiday.
During Half Term St James' Church led a Lantern Parade. It was a lovely walk and the whole event was incredibly well attended. Thank you for those of you who were able to join in.
Before Half Term the Year Five children worked with me on an IKEA Bedroom Design Project. The winning group would receive prize money to spend at IKEA, for school items. Meg and Safiya were the winning pair and they enjoyed a trip to IKEA during the holiday. At the end of our Monday assembly the children were delighted to see the wonderful things they had bought; the Infant Circus tent was a big hit! Thank you Meg and Safiya.
Thank you for ensuring that your child has come back to school in their winter uniform. Please can I remind you that we need all uniform, coats and shoes to be labelled. We are continuing our daily run and need the children to come into school in school shoes and have trainers to change into. If possible we would like your child have a spare pair of socks in case it is a wet morning.
I had the pleasure this week of carrying out a Learning Walk with our School Improvement Partner and Mrs Runciman. It was wonderful to see the children so engaged and focused on their learning.
Today we have our first football match for the girls and we wish them luck. They will be wearing our new Premier Stars Kit which the boys are very jealous about!
Next week is another week full of enrichment with Chaffinch going to Rushall Farm and Goldfinch to Wellington College.
I would like to wish you a wonderful and safe weekend and Bonfire night.
Jacquie Vanstone
