Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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24th February 2023
Fri 24 Feb 2023Dear Parents,
I hope you all had an enjoyable half term break; the children have certainly come back refreshed and ready for learning.
We have new lunch clubs starting this term, led by Goldfinch children. It is lovely to see the younger children engaged in different activities; dance club is quite a hit.
We have also purchased new playground equipment and storage for it. It is now ready to use as of Monday and we will have Goldfinch Playground leaders running games and helping to look after the equipment.
Our plans are progressing well to install a new ballcourt and trim trail. The design should give us two ball courts, one for Key Stage One and one for Key Stage Two. We will reconfigure the area to add a new trim trail in part of the existing car park. We are excited about the work and I look forward to sharing more details and timings with you once finances and plans are more secure.
As you know our guinea pig Bingo died on Thursday. He has been the loveliest of pets to care for and I know he will be missed. Today the children have shown even greater care for Moo to make sure he hasn't been too lonely!
Next week is the second of the teacher strike days. We plan to remain open to all classes. We also have World Book day on Thursday which will be celebrated in classes. We have already had some 'book boxes' in school and they look amazing. Please can the children bring them in from Monday so we can share and display them. If you have missed communication about this, please read my previous news update, information is also on Facebook.
Our Learning reviews will take place in two weeks time and hopefully you have been able to book on Parentmail. If you have any problems with this, please let us know.
I wish you a lovely weekend
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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10th February 2023
Fri 10 Feb 2023Dear Parents,
This week has been Children's mental health awareness week and we have celebrated this through our work in the classrooms and in Collective Worship. On Wednesday, Danny read a poem about togetherness as the theme this year has been connecting together. Feeling connected is so important and we have discussed different ways we can safely connect with friends, family members and people in our community. We have so many children in our school who make such an effort to connect and I certainly value this as I welcome children in the morning. Hopefully after our focus on it this week, these simple actions will be noticed and valued even more (a smile, an act of kindness, a wave).
Mrs Martinez has certainly had a busy week! On Tuesday she accompanied some Chaffinch children to the Eagle House Spelling competition. They were well prepared and worked with confidence and we are delighted that they came 9th out of 32 schools.
On Wednesday Mrs Gan, Mrs Coulson and Mrs Martinez along with WASMA children attended their first group rehearsal. This takes a lot of organising and I am very grateful for everyone's hard work. WASMA is a wonderful event at The Hexagon which brings schools together through music and I am always proud of the contribution our school makes.
As we now reach half term, I wanted to share information regarding World Book day. We will not be asking the children to dress up this year and instead we would like to invite the children to make their favourite 'book in a box' or 'a character in a roll'. They can be brought into school on week of 27th February for a whole school display. I have added some photos for inspiration!
I hope the children enjoy the half term break. It has been great to see the progress the children are making and also those moments when they just want to keep learning! I thank the staff for their hard work this half term and wish them all a good rest.
NSsport are running the holiday club at school. Bookings can be made via their website. The number of children attending Breakfast club and after school club have been great and increasing week by week. I am sure the holiday club will be just as successful.
I wish you a lovely half term.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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3rd February 2023
Fri 03 Feb 2023Dear Parents,
What a wonderful week for sport and music in our school.
On Tuesday afternoon Berkshire Maestros were in school for a brass concert. It was such a privilege for the children and staff and it certainly left an impression. In the past we have had many children take up music lessons through Berkshire Maestros within school time and we hope this concert may create some interest for this again. Mrs Gan is always quick to spot our musically talented children and it is wonderful to see what they can achieve. Thank you for organising such a fantastic concert for us all to enjoy Mrs Gan.
This week the boys' football team played against Gorse Ride and the 2-0 win takes them through to the quarter finals. It was brilliant to watch them play with teamwork, kindness and dedication. Noah scored both goals and Alfie made some great saves. Mr Cundy was watching with me and we both felt very proud.
On Wednesday I had the pleasure of teaching in Rosefinch. It was great to see them learning with so much focus, determination and creativity.
Mr O'Reilly has gone from success to success this week with two of our teams achieving 2nd place and being awarded silver medals, another coming third with bronze medals and our advanced group showing such wonderful talent and coming 6th in their very competitive event. The children all represented our school beautifully and many of us have commented on how smart they looked in our PE kit. Thank you Mr O'Reilly for taking so much time to prepare and teach each of the teams and manage the paperwork for so many events at the same time!
How else to finish the week than with a disco! Thank you so much to FOFSA and to all the helpers. It is lovely to see the children enjoy themselves so much and they have loved the build up to today. A treat for them all, thank you FOFSA. A school disco evening can feel like a long evening as a member of staff but tonight was a pleasure. The children behaved very well with noticeable manners and care. Having so many helpers made a big difference and I thank everyone for their support. Harley said it was the best night ever so I would call that another success for this week.
Next week will be a calmer week in the run up to half term and I look forward to spending more time with the children.
I wish you a lovely weekend.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
