Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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30th November 2018
Fri 30 Nov 2018Dear Parents,
Christmas play rehearsals are now in full flow and it is lovely to see the children working so hard and so well together. The tickets have now gone home and we look forward to the performances.
The Christmas fair was such a success and I thank you for supporting the event. The atmosphere in the hall was fantastic and the money raised will provide wonderful enrichment for our children. The FOFSA team worked so hard to ensure the event was such a success and I thank everyone who helped before, during and after the fair. Events like these always lead me to feel incredibly grateful to be the Headteacher of our school.
On Wednesday I led our Achievement assembly based around sport. The girls who attended the Madejski tournament last Friday proudly shared how much fun they had and their team spirit was clear for everyone to see. The Chaffinch children who attended the Sportshall athletics were proud to hear that they came 8th out of 17 schools. That included them coming first in the chest push and the 4 lap relay. The Goldfinch children who attended the same event on the Wednesday, came 7th out of 20 schools and came in the top 5 places for 6 of the events.
Today we have another 17 children attending football matches at Aldrynton Primary School and I wish them luck.
This week our Goldfinch class have attended a Cyber crime theatre production held at Lambs Lane Primary School; the children enjoyed the afternoon it reinforced some key safety messages for the children to remember.
Mrs Weston has kindly summarised the end of term dates for you and this has gone home as a paper copy; these dates are also on the calendar. We are aware of how busy the diary gets at this time of year and we are incredibly grateful for your support. Please can I take this opportunity to remind all parents and visitors to the school that we need to show great consideration to our neighbours. Please do not block or partially block any driveways as this causes great stress and frustration for residents.
The children are all excited that tomorrow is the 1st December; I wish you a great weekend.
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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23rd November 2018
Fri 23 Nov 2018Dear Parents,
It has been a great week and I have spent so much of it with the children. Christmas play rehearsals in classrooms are in full flow and I love hearing Rosefinch singing Away in a manager through the wall to my office.
We have taken 36 children to compete in a sportshall athletics competition and both the Chaffinch and the Goldfinch children have represented the school brilliantly. The Year 5/6 girls in their track events were particularly exciting to watch as they won each of their heats. We now await the results but I am delighted with their sporting attitude, determination and their behaviour at the event.
Our school was busy on Tuesday evening; Slimming World were in the hall, Governors in School House and a Wellbeing, Anxiety workshop was led in the Chaffinch classroom. The ladies running the session were delighted with the number of parents and I am pleased that so many of you found the evening useful. I will make sure we take up any similar opportunities for parent support in the future.
The Christmas Fair is always a wonderful occasion and I hope to see many of you tomorrow. The FOFSA committee have worked so hard and I am incredibly grateful to them for their time and commitment. FOFSA funds are used to further enrich the education of our children. The positive impact FOFSA has on the school was clear for our Ofsted inspector to see which should make us all very proud. Thank you for your support, let Christmas now begin!
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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16th November 2018
Fri 16 Nov 2018Dear Parents,
I am delighted with how quickly we received our Ofsted report and that we were able to send it out to you on Monday. I would like to thank so many of you for taking the time to congratulate us and to share how pleased you are with the report and the outcome. On the 20th November the Governors have their first meeting since the Ofsted feedback; this will be an opportunity to discuss the strengths and areas for improvement in great depth. I will pass on parent feedback to the governors.
It was wonderful to see so many families at the Remembrance Parade on Sunday. The school was well represented at such an important occasion; it is always lovely to see so many of our children proudly wearing their School, Cubs, Scouts, Rainbows and Brownie uniforms. On the Friday Mr and Mrs Fox had led our Collective Worship with a focus on soldiers from our community so we decided on Monday to bring our acts of remembrance together with some reflection. Mrs Sheppard made a wonderful soldier silhouette and as a whole school we took part in silent and shared reflection.
I am very aware that we have sent out so many letters over the past 10 days. We do give parents as much notice as possible and staff in school as well as in other organisations work tirelessly to organise opportunities which we do not wish to the children to miss. I would like to thank you for your support and swift responses. The next month will be exciting with many sports competitions and events for the choir. It was great to see Chaffinch go off on their trip to the Madjski Stadium today with such excitement. I look forward to hearing all about it.
The children have enjoyed coming in with their Children in Need accessories and in Mufti today. The Christmas Fair is fast approaching and I look forward to seeing many of you next Saturday. FOFSA still require help on the day so if you are able to give a little of your time we would be very grateful. There is a sign up sheet at the front of school and one on Facebook.
We have had a positive response from parents wishing to attend the Wellbeing evening this Tuesday. This should provide parents with an opportunity to learn and ask questions relating to your child's wellbeing, even if you have not replied you are very welcome to attend and details are on the calendar on the website. The session will be held in the Goldfinch classroom so you will be able to enter through the Fire door in the front carpark. Slimming World will be in the school hall so please don't get confused!!
I would like to finish by wishing the boys luck in their football match this evening and to wish you a wonderful weekend.
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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9th November 2018
Fri 09 Nov 2018Dear Parents,
It has been a quieter week in school; it has been lovely to spend time in classrooms. Keystage 2 created some wonderful art pieces linked to remembrance and also their topics. I am sure you will agree that the front gate looks beautiful and I hope many of you will join us for the Remembrance parade on Sunday afternoon, details are on the calendar.
As we are over half way through our first term it is very important that children are coming into school independently. We have asked for two Goldfinch children to wait by the door to help any children in and we would be grateful for your support with this. The children are so proud to come in by themselves and it is an important milestone to encourage your children to reach.
The FOFSA committee are working tirelessly on preparations for the Christmas Fair and I would like to thank them for their time and commitment as we look forward to the event.
There is a lot on the calendar so please keep a close eye on it and we hope the children will enjoy all the enrichment opportunities that are coming up.
With kind regards
Jacquie
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2nd November 2018
Fri 02 Nov 2018Dear Parents,
What a week it has been! On Tuesday I was busy helping at lunchtime cleaning tables when Ofsted phoned. The inspector, Clive Close was in school on Wednesday and Thursday; it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to discuss our school in such depth and the process will support us to continue our development. You will be advised of the outcome in roughly a months time. I would like to thank those of you who took the time to complete Parent view and those who spoke to Mr Close on Thursday.
Today we had a fantastic run; it was frosty and cold and the sky clear blue; I have added some photographs of it with this letter.
I wish staff a restful weekend after such an intense week and I thank you again for your ongoing support.
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
