Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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31st January 2020
Fri 31 Jan 2020Dear Parents,
I can't believe we are at the end of January already. Unfortunately I have been unwell this week but it has been great to be back in school today.
On Monday we had our first visit back at Warren Lodge since Christmas; it was such a pleasure to see the joy our children bring to the residents and how confident, gentle and caring our children are.
As I mentioned in last week's newsletter, we would be delighted to welcome more parents into school to support with 1:1 reading. It was fantastic to walk through the hall to see Mrs Wearing and Mrs Dodds teaching dance together to great effect. We really value the support you can offer.
It has become noticeable to me in the past couple of weeks that some children are coming to school with an incomplete or incorrect uniform. We expect all children to wear a tie; if you need to purchase a new one there are forms in the lobby. Please also ensure that skirts and trousers adhere to the school policy and that shoes are worn to school each day. Finally hair bands and bows should be discreet and all hair shoulder length and longer should be tied back. I hope that you will support me in teaching the children the importance of being and feeling smart and proud of a uniform as well as respecting the standards that are set. If we notice children with incomplete or incorrect uniform I will be asking them to reflect on the importance of having the correct uniform at playtime.
Having said this about uniform, on Wednesday we will be asking for the children to make a slight change! Next week is Mental Health Awareness week and on Wednesday we would like the children to come into school with an item of clothing inside out. This is to encourage us to talk about how we feel on the inside and how this can be very different to how we present ourselves on the outside. We will try to post information throughout the week linked to mental health and Mrs Dodds will be sending home a letter on Friday to share more about her new role.
I wish you a lovely weekend
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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24th January 2020
Fri 24 Jan 2020Dear Parents,
We have had a very exciting week with the opening of The Lind Room on Wednesday. Each class had worked hard to prepare a song for the assembly and the children were excited and proud of our new room. It was a wonderful afternoon; the children enjoyed performing their songs which were all linked to wellbeing and our sense of self. Rosefinch sang colours of the rainbow, Bullfinch sang Love is something if you give it away, Chaffinch sang This is me and Year 6 sang One little voice. The Year 5 children spoke clearly and reflected on the hard work that had gone into the build.
Our Lind Room is a beautiful nurture space and will provide a calm, comforting environment which is exactly what I had hoped for. In April 2018 Fofsa and in particular Mr and Mrs De Meyer, organised a walk to raise money for Sue Ryder and our school. Sue Ryder had provided great support for The Arlon family and it was incredible how much money was raised. I soon realised that this would never be enough money to create the nurture space I wanted but with the wonderful generosity of The Barley family, we have the room and have used the money to furnish it. Lind is an Arlon family name and we are delighted to name the conservatory with Jamie, Penny, Meg and Tom in our thoughts. As part of the conservatory build, The Barley family put in a new patio and we were delighted to celebrate our new Ingwe Garden. Ingwe Garden will be developed over the next two terms as a continuation of the nurture space. It will be a reflective, contemplative bible garden. We are very excited about this next development; if you have any knowledge or skills that would help I would love to hear from you! The garden is a named Ingwe as a celebration of Honour Nyasha Mareya and we look forward to seeing it thrive.
We had a fantastic number of parents and guests at the opening and I wish to thank you all for your support. Mr Barley was proud to cut the ribbon.
Rosefinch and Bullfinch were delighted, nearly as much as Mrs Guillaume and Mrs Metcalfe with the installation of new Smartboards in the classrooms yesterday. They have been lowered so the children can have easier access and better use. Half of the cost of the boards will paid by school and half through FOFSA, thank you Fofsa for making these developments possible.
Following the visit from Anne Stropforth, our School Improvement Partner, today I spent the afternoon with Robin Sharples our Diocesan Advisor. It has been wonderful to develop our vision and launch it last Friday with Phlippa Hanna. Following my work with Anne, Robin and our governors I am delighted to share with you that Mrs Dodds will be taking on a new role of Wellbeing and Aspiration Leader. Much of the role will be a continuation of what Mrs Dodds already does but with the vision leading us forwards Mrs Dodds will be working to ensure positive mental health and well-being enables our children to learn with high aspirations. We look forward to sharing more information about the role but I am sure you can see that it all links brilliantly with The Lind Room, Ingwe Garden, our vision as well as the positive feedback on our teaching and learning from our Learning walk last week. It is an exciting time for the school.
We have some parents coming in each week to support with reading; this makes an enormous difference to the children and we would be delighted to extend this. If you are able to come in, even just for 15 minutes, we would be incredibly grateful of your support.
Mrs Martinez took 4 Year 6 children to the Eagle House Maths Challenge on Tuesday; it is a great experience which they enjoyed. The football team are playing this evening against The Colleton and I wish them luck! Mr O'Reilly has sent home leaflets about the Holiday club and it is great to see people booking spaces already. It is open to children from any school so please feel free to pass on the information to friends and family; it is great value and the children always have so much fun.
For 18 months I have been writing my newsletters directly on the website and the same has been done for the office updates. We are aware that a reminder on a Friday, when this is published, would be helpful and we currently do this on Facebook. Today we have set up a new email account for the parents. We would ask you to send an email to the account if you wish to receive a weekly link to the newsletter and office updates. Please use this email address to inform us of absence and other communication with the office or teaching staff. We hope you find this useful Finchparents@finchampstead.wokingham.sch.uk
I wish you a wonderful weekend
Jacquie Vanstone
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17th January 2020
Fri 17 Jan 2020Dear Parents,
We have ended a busy week with a wonderful assembly from the Christian singer Philippa Hanna; it was great to see how much the children enjoyed it and I hope all her powerful messages of self-belief are taken on board. Enormous thanks to Mr and Mrs Fox for organising the afternoon. We started the assembly with a focus on our school vision and I hope to share our video with you all soon!
We are looking forward to you joining us on Wednesday for the conservatory opening, the children will all take part in the assembly and then there will be refreshments afterwards. Please could you sign up if you will be coming so that we have an idea of numbers.
We were delighted this week to welcome 5 Wellington College students who came to do some gardening for us; they will be coming each week this term and I am sure they will make a big difference to our grounds. I asked last week if any parents were able to give some time on Saturday afternoon to carry out some gardening at school. We would be very grateful of any help between 2pm and 4pm, please bring tools.
This Thursday I had the pleasure of carrying out a learning walk with our School Improvement Partner. We spent time in each class and discussed the developments we have made. I felt very proud of our school; Anne could see how hard working and committed the staff are and how the children were taking ownership of their learning.
Along with this strong focus on learning we have much enrichment as well. We have the Eagle House Maths challenge coming up and a football match on Friday.
We have set up a 100 square board (£1 per square); we have 4 day vouchers for the NSsport holiday club for February half term allocated to numbers. Please support us and your child may get a free activity day this February. This will be available before and after school next week.
Finally, I have just watched the Christmas Play DVD and I will order the DVDs on Wednesday next week. Please send £5 in a named envelope, by Wednesday, if you wish to buy a DVD.
I wish you a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you next week.
Jacquie Vanstone
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10th January 2020
Fri 10 Jan 2020Dear Parents,
I would like to begin by thanking you for your kind wishes, cards and gifts at Christmas; we are all incredibly grateful and touched. I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year. We have been delighted to have 5 new children this week; I am sure you will join me in welcoming them and their families.
The teachers began the term with a morning with some of our cluster schools at an English training session; it was inspirational and we look forward to bring in some of the ideas into the classroom.
Whilst the teachers were training NSsport led a well-attended, fun day for many children. We are excited to launch a holiday club led by Mr O'Reilly from February half term; information is available if you would like to book and booking is now open. Please note that this is open to children who attend other schools as well.
I have been pleased to see the children focusing quickly to their learning following the holidays and I would like to reinforce the importance of your support regarding home learning; reading with your child, checking times tables etc. everyday can make a big difference to progress.
On Thursday we had our Epiphany service at church. The children who read, did so beautifully and many of the answers to questions from our children made the staff and parents proud. It was a good job most of the children had wellies; the path was so muddy but it was a lovely walk and no-one fell in the mud!
We have two exciting assemblies planned for the next fortnight. Firstly, on Friday 17th January the Christian singer Philippa Hanna will be leading an assembly for the school to launch our school vision to the children:
" This is the day that the lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118 24.
Philippa has been to our school on a few occasions and it will be wonderful to celebrate our school and our children with a focus on being positive and having high aspirations. Philippa's songs fit perfectly and I can't wait to welcome her back. I would like to thank Mr and Mrs Fox for organising this with me.
Today you should have received your invitation to the official opening of our conservatory. We would love as many of you as possible to join us for an assembly and the official opening with The Barley family, followed by refreshments. I feel incredibly fortunate to have the support of The Barley family and what they have done for our school is wonderful. If you can join us at 2.30pm on Wednesday 22nd January, please sign up on the sheet in the lobby. I will be coming into school on Saturday 18th to tidy up the side of school in preparation for the opening. If you are able to help between 2pm and 4pm please join me; I would be very grateful. Please could you let me know if you may be able to help.
It is amazing to think that it is only week one but we are working hard and achieving so much.
Wishing you a lovely weekend
Jacquie Vanstone
