Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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End of the Summer term 2021
Tue 20 Jul 2021Dear Parents and Guardians,
We have made it! It has been an incredible year for our school and I feel proud of all we have achieved. We faced the Autumn term with clear Covid procedures but a huge amount of anxiety to go with it. Bubble restrictions in the Autumn term especially put great strain on each member of staff. We then had the uncertainty of will we, won't we open in January and then changed between the two overnight. Our staff responded in an organised, proactive and professional manner and the teamwork was admirable. To me it felt like when we had the call for Ofsted; we were ready, expecting it but it still sent us into momentary, organised panic!
It was of course an absolute pleasure to support our Key worker children but we missed our school being together. As parents, I hope you feel proud of the support you gave your child, as I said at the time, that support will have looked different in every household but I know every family did their best and that was absolutely good enough.
The 8th March reopening couldn't have come quick enough but we were then thrown back into that feeling of greater anxiety. As we have moved through the summer term, we have gradually and safely expanded our provision, the pressure has eased slightly and the learning opportunities were wonderful to see.
It is important to reflect on the year and I am sure you will do so at home. For me, whilst we have learnt so much, our vision has led us through. As a school we have worked with high aspirations and hope and with the positivity and care of our pupils, staff, parents and Governors.
No doubt, next year we will do more of the same but hopefully with a lot more 'normality' in the mix.
Now for my thank you's and goodbyes to our wider school community
We have finished the term with the Leavers show, parties and treats and at last the sun is shining. Fofsa had great success this weekend with their Summer auction raising over £800. Kelly Price has led the Fofsa committee with great focus and determination and I thank them all for their hard work and time.
My thanks goes to our wonderful school community who have gone above and beyond this year, great thanks to NSsport, Beehive and our Church community. Mr and Mrs Fox have shown such enormous commitment with their assemblies and their leavers service was lovely to be part of. Mr O'Reilly has been busy today setting up for Holiday club which I hope some of our children are able to access and enjoy. NSsport have adapted their provision all year with clubs in bubbles and excessive cleaning of equipment, thank you so much to them.
Today we are saying goodbye to our Year 6. Whilst there has been limitations, I am so pleased with the experiences they have had. I wish them every happiness for their futures and I hope they work hard and make the most of all that comes there way.
Finally Mrs Stangroom is leaving us after 2 wonderful years. She has done the most incredible job, especially with her technical support. Mrs Stangroom will be missed but we wish her a happy future in her new home.
It leaves me to wish you all a happy summer holiday. Stay safe and I hope we can enjoy lots of sunshine! Lockdown led me to take on a crazy challenge and in October I will be running the Virtual London Marathon. I have no idea how I will achieve this but I am determined! I will running for a charity called Place2Be which is a charity that supports children with their mental health. So that is my summer planned!
Thank you once again for your incredible support and our wonderful school team.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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16th July 2021
Fri 16 Jul 2021Dear Parents & Guardians
I think my emails this week will have given you a picture of how challenging the week has been. I would like to thank you all for your support and kind emails and to the staff who have taken on roles that certainly do not appear on their job description!
We have a wonderful team at school and it is a pleasure to work with them all, I am so grateful to them.
Yet again, this week the learning has been full of excitement and new experiences. It has been a pleasure to see what is going on in each class and the smell from the Goldfinch cooking has been amazing. Chaffinch have enjoyed digging up their potatoes and some of the other vegetables they have grown, we have many budding gardeners thanks to Mrs Gan's dedication and passion.
Today we walked over to thank the ladies selling strawberries for their wonderful hard work for the benefit of our community. We also treated our School Council to a cake and strawberry! They have worked hard and contributed a great deal in a very difficult year.
Next week we have just 2 days but lots to do! The year 6 will have a leavers assembly outside the church on Monday (just for year 6 children) and a treat afterwards. We then have the Leavers show on Google classrooms at 7.30pm for you all to enjoy. On Monday we will be sending home some completed books and other bits and pieces, please be assured we are doing this in a Covid safe way.
Collection on Tuesday should be 2pm but please follow these timings to enable us to stagger collection.
Rosefinch 1.50pm
Bullfinch 1.55pm
Chaffinch 2pm
Goldfinch 2.05pm
Please arrive at the time for your youngest child but do not come early.
I will be sending a final newsletter on Tuesday but in the meantime I wish you a lovely weekend. Please stay safe as it feels that Covid is all around us. I will monitor my emails over the weekend so if you have any concerns, please be in touch head@finchampstead.wokingham.sch.uk
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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9th July 2021
Fri 09 Jul 2021Dear Parents and Guardians,
I wanted to begin by thanking so many of you for your kind emails this week. I had my second vaccine on Saturday assuming I would be well for the week but sadly, this was not the case. I am well again and I am delighted that whilst I was behind schedule for reports, they were all sent out by the end of Thursday. I hope you are pleased with the reports and found them informative. We appreciate you taking time to complete the reply slip.
This week, as so many are, was filled with so much enrichment. Chaffinch enjoyed such a wonderful trip up to church. They explored the history of the church, made rejoice art out of nature, walked back via the lavender fields and this was just to mention a part of their trip. Thank you to all the staff who made it possible, it just shows how special our locality is.
Year 6 had the big job of filming their Leavers show on Thursday. I can safely say that Mrs Stangroom, Mrs Wirth and the children all worked with resilience and determination! Well done to all of them and good luck now to Mrs Stangroom, who has the task of editing!
We finished the week with a wonderful Key Stage 2 Sports day. Mr O'Reilly had done an amazing job as always in organising it and Mr Sheikh led the afternoon so successfully. It was never going to be the same as having the parents watching but the children cheered each other on and it was a great afternoon. We will announce the scores and present the trophy next week.
The realisation that we are almost at the end of term is difficult for some of our Year 6. This week we have also had Reception children learning that their buddies will be leaving, there has been tears. Goldfinch were told today that Mrs Stangroom will be leaving us at the end of term to move back to Wales. The staff are as sad as the children are but we are excited for her. I am delighted to announce that we have appointed a teacher to work with Mrs Wirth in Goldfinch and we look forward to welcoming Mrs Pasha to our school from September.
With just a week and two days left of school, we need to remain incredibly careful regarding Covid. The number of cases in Wokingham is growing rapidly and I can see this reflected in the daily emails I get regarding Wokingham school cases. Please take care, I would love to keep our bubbles open, until we are allowed to pop them!
I wish you all a lovely weekend, enjoy the football on Sunday. Our school day will be starting as normal on Monday; it will be another exciting and busy week. On Monday I will send out a final list of events before the end of term for your information.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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2nd July 2021
Fri 02 Jul 2021Dear Parents and Guardians,
What a week we have had!
I am absolutely delighted that on Monday our Year 6 children all went to PGL and had the most wonderful week of fun, teambuilding and challenge. They will have learnt so much both from the experiences and just being away from home. With Covid, this has been an enormous achievement and a big commitment from the school. Thank you to the governors in supporting it so wholeheartedly, Mrs Lawrence for handling all the paperwork and the staff. It is exhausting for the staff and is time away from home and whilst they want to do it for the children, it is a big ask, especially this year. I cannot thank them enough for their care (especially with hayfever being so bad this year), their time and their dedication to the week. I hope they now have a good rest this weekend.
Whilst they were away, we had lots going on in school too. It is not every day that we see a cow in School! We had a visit from the Newbury Education Team along with Buttercup. Rosefinch and Bullfinch really enjoyed their session and the learning was fun, engaging and memorable. The children loved milking Buttercup, the pretend cow!
We ended the week with a fantastic Sports Day for Key Stage One. Mr O'Reilly led it brilliantly and the children had a wonderful afternoon celebrating sport. It was so strange not having parents watching but Fofsa gave the children a well earnt treat part way through, which they loved. I would like to thank Adele Baker for organising this. I have added a few photos and we will share lots after Key Stage 2 have had theirs. The Key Stage One scores were added and so far we have the Yellows in 4th place, Blues in third, Greens in second and the winners are the Reds! This is wonderful for me! I know it could all change next week with Chaffinch and Goldfinch, we can't wait.
Fofsa has been incredibly supportive this year and the books we have as a result are having an impact already. We do have some books missing from the sets. Please could you check at home and if you find any ReadWriteInc books, please return them so we can finish the year with a full set ready for September.
Whilst this and much more wonderful learning has been taking place, we have also had much frustration felt by many parents. We have sent a lot of children home this week and many more have been off with a cough being the main symptom. Parents have then needed to access a PCR test. I am relieved that these have so far all come back negative and I understand how frustrating this is but we need to remain cautious and proactive. So many schools have huge numbers of children isolating due to positive tests and we are desperately hoping to remain open to all bubbles until the end of term. Thank you to everyone who is supporting us and for your patience.
If you have any concerns over the weekend regarding Covid within your household, please email me and I will be in touch.
I wish you all a lovely weekend, Year 6 and staff - sleep well!
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
