Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
-
29th September 2023
Fri 29 Sep 2023Dear Parents and Guardians,
We have had a super and incredibly busy week celebrating learning both inside and out.
On Monday our Year 6 left for their residential at PGL Liddington. The children have made us so proud. They have been enthusiastic, caring, supportive and committed. The staff have enjoyed looking after them and seeing their independence and confidence grow. I visited on Wednesday evening and whilst the children were keen to show me their tidy bedrooms, I needed convincing to say they were tidy! My enormous thanks go to the Goldfinch team who give up their time, show such love and fun towards to our children. The children will be tired but they have memories to keep and achievements to feel proud of.
In school, I have spent lots of time with the children. It has been great to see as their learning behaviours continue to develop. Learning has been described to me as exciting, creative, fun and so cool which refers to Geography, Science, Art and Maths. I finished the week with the Year 5s with Art and calm music, it was such a treat.
Next week we have our Harvest Church service on Tuesday. I sent an email with the list for harvest gifts. Please bring the children to the church centre at the normal drop off time and in normal uniform for that day. Breakfast club will still run and staff will walk the Breakfast club children up to the church.
I wish you a lovely weekend
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
-
22nd September 2023
Sun 24 Sep 2023Good morning,
I am looking forward to another exciting week at school. Last week I had the pleasure of spending a lot of my week in classrooms seeing the children working confidently, enjoying challenge and most importantly enjoying their learning. This coming week, I will be doing the same and I look forward to joining in with their learning.
On Wednesday, I took four children to Bohunt Wokingham for a Kurling event. This was our first time participating in this event and it was great fun. The children represented the school brilliantly. They performed to the best of their ability and demonstrated wonderful behaviour.
Our Grounds day after school on Friday was a great success. I am so grateful to all the parents, children, staff and governors who gave their time. It has made a huge difference and was lovely to work together to enhance the school grounds.
I know our Year 6 pupils are very excited about their week at PGL Liddington from Monday. They will have a wonderful time and I look forward to visiting them on Wednesday evening. My thanks go to all the staff involved including Mrs Lawrence for the enormous admin job! The week away will provide the children with the opportunity to challenge themselves, support each other and be independent. I wish them great weather and a fun week. Whilst they are away, I know our Year 5 children will step up as the oldest children in school.
I wanted to draw your attention to our calendar with all diary dates showing. We have now confirmed a date for our Harvest church service (Tuesday 3rd October) which I will email out information to you on Monday with a list of possible food bank donations.
I wish to finish my update with the wonderful news that Mr O'Reilly and his wife are expecting a baby in October. We wish them well at this exciting time.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
-
15th September 2023
Fri 15 Sep 2023Good afternoon,
We have had another busy week and our Reception children have enjoyed and survived their first full week of school! I hope they have a restful weekend.
There has been a focus on leadership this week with so many children wanting to help and lead within our school. Many children were keen to take the role of School Council representative for their class. It is wonderful that so many children have ideas to pursue and have the confidence to articulate them. There was a lot of children keen to organise a Colour Run after the fun we had in the summer!
Mrs Wirth and I had the pleasure of interviewing our Year 6 for the role of Prefect. We both felt so proud listening to them speak with such commitment to and love for our school. I thought I would share something that Bella said which sums up the feeling the children gave us in the interviews.
'If you are willing to help, it not even a job.'
On that note, I wanted to share that next Friday we will be having a Grounds day from 3.15pm. Any help, for any length of time up to 6pm would be gratefully received. Please bring tools that maybe helpful.
On Monday, I shared the dates for the Reception 2024 tours on facebook. Please share them if you know of families who are looking for school places. We are aware that some people still do not know about our extended catchment. The first tour is on Thursday which I very much look forward to.
Today, I have emailed a document regarding communication. We review this each year and I hope you find it helpful. The infant staff have asked me to remind parents that all Rosefinch and Bullfinch children should be bringing a book bag to school each day. They are practical in school and they keep our books in better condition than with the use of a rucksack. A final notice is to ensure that parents do not park on the zig zags. I am aware that delivery vehicles etc. have obstructed the front of school and I thank you for your patience as fencing work has been carried out. Please ensure, for the safety of all our families, that you do not park or stop on the zig zags.
I wish you a lovely weekend. I look forward to spending time in classrooms next week. Our NSsport clubs begin on Monday so please ensure you have booked online ahead of the session.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
-
8th September 2023
Fri 08 Sep 2023Dear Parents and Guardians,
It has been such a lovely week welcoming back children and welcoming new children. The Reception children have shown such fun and resilience and I hope they feel proud of their first school week. We focused our Collective worship on new beginnings and the opportunities a new beginning can provide. The children chose superpowers of kindness, determination, confidence, compassion to name a few. A great focus for the start of our new school year.
It has been so hot this week, we are fortunate to have a lot of shade and it has been such a pleasure to be outside with the children at lunchtime. Learning behaviours within the classroom and when learning outside have been pleasing to see. Goldfinch have made a wonderful effort for the Greek day. They all looked fantastic and it is wonderful to see the time and commitment they have put into their presentations. Thank you, Mrs Pasha and Mrs Martinez, for organising the day and thank you for parent support.
Next week, Mrs Wirth and I will be interviewing the Year 6 children who have applied to be Prefects. It is always a pleasure to hear them reflect on children who have been role models in the past and share how they wish to serve the school in the role. Letters have gone out today for Sports Leaders roles and Subject Leader roles for Goldfinch. Within school next week, we will discuss School Council with each class and Librarian roles for Year 4.
NSsport clubs will begin on Monday 18th September and bookings can be made via the NSsport website. Breakfast club and Afterschool clubs are running and I have attached a photo for your information. The children love the clubs and often do not want to leave! I have also attached information regarding NSsport parties which can take place in the school hall if you wish.
On Tuesday this week our Governors held their first meeting of the year. Mr Cundy has been Chair of Governors for over 20 years and has made the decision to step down from the role. We look forward to thanking Mr Cundy properly and celebrating the contribution he has made to our school. Mr Cundy will continue as a governor and we are delighted that our Vice Chair, Nigel Kennington has taken the role of Chair of Governors and Samantha Khan is now our Vice Chair. I would like to take the opportunity to thank them for their service to our school along with all our governors.
During our Governor meeting, I shared the information I have regarding Racc. During the Summer term the DFE carried out a building survey and identified no concerns regarding Raac. The Oxford Diocese also carry out routine condition surveys on our building which includes visual checks for Raac and again no concerns have been raised. Wokingham are undertaking visits to all their schools in the near future which will provide further reassurance.
We also discussed attendance at our meeting. Ensuring we have strong attendance is a high priority for me and our school. Mrs Lawrence and I are monitoring attendance on a weekly basis. It is vital for both the wellbeing and education of each child that their attendance is at or as close to 100% as possible. If you are concerned your child may not be well but are unsure, please send them in as we will always contact you if they are not well enough to remain in school. We also monitor children arriving late. If a child arrives 5 minutes late each day, this equates to 3 days absence a year. We pride ourselves in making every moment of learning count so arriving promptly can make a difference to how your child settles to their learning for the day and therefore impacts progress. Thank you so much for your support.
I must inform you that there are going to be roadworks near school commencing on Monday 11th September on behalf of Gigaclear Ltd. You can still access school but this may cause delays so please allow for this. We will update via facebook if we have any further information.
I will finish by sharing links to our class webpages which will give you the information you need from your child's class teachers. If you have any questions after looking at them, please ask.
https://www.finchampsteadschool.org/rosefinch/
https://www.finchampsteadschool.org/bullfinch-1/
https://www.finchampsteadschool.org/chaffinch-1/
https://www.finchampsteadschool.org/goldfinch-1/
I wish you a lovely weekend in the sunshine and look forward to seeing you next week.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
