Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Good news we now have heating in school. Thank you for your support.
Mon 28 Jan 2019 -
Heating - we currently have no heating in school. Engineer will be with us ASAP. Hopeful we will be able to remain open. Update at 10.30
Mon 28 Jan 2019 -
25th January 2019
Fri 25 Jan 2019Dear 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
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18th January 2019
Fri 18 Jan 2019Dear Parents,
Another week has flown by and it has been great to celebrate all of the things that have taken place.
On Tuesday Goldfinch visited Winchester Science Museum; they had a great day and the children have enjoyed talking about it back in school. We had parent and governor support for the trip and I thank them for their time. Mrs Wirth has lots of plans to use the experience in their learning which I look forward to seeing. Goldfinch also had a visit from a lady called Sandra Pullen, this was linked to their topic and the children were asking some great questions.
On Tuesday evening the governors had a meeting. One of the discussion points was interventions and the value of staff having 1:1 time with the children to address misconceptions on the same day. This enables us to consolidate learning and move the learning on during the next lesson. This approach has proved very positive for Goldfinch and we are now going to roll it out throughout the school.
From this week I am also taking three English books from each class, each week to reflect on the handwriting and presentation and hopefully to celebrate it. This we hope this will encourage the children to have consistent high expectations of themselves and their learning.
On Thursday Kelly from the NSPCC visited the school to lead an assembly for both Keystage 1 and Keystage 2. Goldfinch then had a workshop. The key message within the sessions was to always ask a trusted adult to help if you have worries and to not give up asking different people until you recieve the help you need; this is valuable life lesson for our children and I hope it is one they remember and follow.
Today started with Collective Worship followed by a beautiful frosty run. As you will see, today we have sent home information regarding adverse weather; I have always enjoyed snow but decision making as a Headteacher makes the prospect much less appealing! Please keep the letter sent out tonight for future reference.
I wish you all a lovely weekend.
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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11th January 2019
Fri 11 Jan 2019Dear Parents,
It has been a great week to be back in routine with the children all working very hard; I have given lots of Headteacher stickers out which is always a pleasure.
I attempted Collective Worship on Monday morning but the hall was far too cold and and we were still awaiting the pump to repair it. We therefore had to cancel our Epiphany Church Service. Staff worked together to plan some Epiphany art work which was completed in their colour teams so each classroom had children from Reception to Year 6 children working together. This is always special and was a great learning experience. Mr and Mrs Fox had their Collective Worship today with the children and this was a fantastic way to bring our learning together.
On Tuesday afternoon Melanie from Warren Lodge came to meet with Chaffinch to reflect on the experiences so far and to plan future visits to the Dementia care home. This was perfectly timed with the children across the whole school being awarded their Dementia Awareness badges based around learning in school.
We also had four children leading the story and craft at Fledgelings, the Church toddler group. It was a pleasure to take them, to see them enjoying the experience and to reflect on what they had learnt and gained from it as we walked back to school. This will be a link for Goldfinch to have and will develop the children's leadership skills even further.
I have been aware of many issues this week with the school lunches and I would like to reassure you that we are addressing the issues with Caterlink.
There have been a few letters sent home today but I would like to draw your attention to one in particular which is regarding Mrs Weston's decision to retire at Easter, a letter went home with your eldest child.
Every year, as a thank you, the governors cook a beautiful meal for the staff and governors. It is always a lovely evening and a celebration of all our hard work. Staff have this to look forward to this evening.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend
Jacquie Vanstone
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Update
Fri 04 Jan 2019As you may be aware one of our families experienced a house fire during the Christmas holiday. Thankfully they are safe and well but are now having to deal with such a traumatic event. The family and I urge us all to have a fire extinguisher in our home and to check smoke detectors regularly. We are so thankful that they are safe and offer strength and support in anyway we can.
Jacquie Vanstone
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4th January 2019
Fri 04 Jan 2019Dear Parents,
Welcome back and Happy New Year! The Christmas holiday is always so busy; it has been great to come back towards the end of the week to get us all back into routine gradually. Next week I will be starting with a Monday assembly focused around resilience and determination. Encouraging the children to challenge themselves and be challenged is vital for their learning and we will be revisiting strategies and tools to support the children with this.
Yesterday we had the pleasure of welcoming 5 children into our school, I am delighted to hear that they have all enjoyed their first few days. Mrs Osmond has also joined us and is teaching Goldfinch on a Thursday afternoon and a Friday; I am sure you will have the opportunity to meet her soon if you haven't already.
Finally I am delighted to share the news that Miss Parish is expecting her second baby later this year; the Chaffinch children are so excited!! I am sure you will join me in congratulating Miss Parish and her family. I will inform parents of the teaching arrangements for maternity leave as soon as I can.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend
Kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
