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Friday 3rd November 2024

Fri 03 Nov 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you all had a good half term. The children have come back demonstrating fantastic learning behaviours which has been great to see.

On Wednesday the Year Ones and Twos enjoyed a music workshop from a group of American visitors. The children really enjoyed it and I know the visitors were impressed with the behaviour and engagement of the children. They will return for a final session next week.

This morning, we had a special assembly led by Mr Roberts, Isaac's dad. Mr Roberts is a musician in the Irish Guards. He shared a powerpoint presentation with the children which led to some great questions. We then followed Mr Roberts to the Memorial Cross for a poem and The Last Post. We will celebrate Remembrance day next week as well but having Mr Roberts with us makes it incredibly special, not just for the children but the staff as well.

We have finished the week on a high! The boys won their football match 4-2 against Polehampton. They played well with Noah, Evan and Elliot scoring and Evan being voted Player of the Match. Thank you Mr O'Reilly and thank you to the parents who helped to take the goals down.

Next week is another busy week of sport with netball on Wednesday and a football match for the girls on Friday. We will also be holding our Reception Bible Assembly on Friday at 9am. Reception parents are welcome to join us.

We avoided the stormy weather this week and look forward to hopefully a brighter one next week. I wish you a lovely weekend.

With kind regards

Jacquie Vanstone

20th October 2023

Fri 20 Oct 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I wanted to finish this half term by thanking you for your support. The children have had a fantastic half term and we have been impressed with transition throughout the school.

This week we have given out badges for various leadership roles within the school and more will follow next half term with Sports leaders and Subject Leaders. The School Council have held a number of meetings and enjoyed organising and running the Cake sale yesterday. £108 was raised which will be used to buy resources for Chess club and then saved for further club ideas later in the term. Lucca in Chaffinch was keen to have a chess club and it is wonderful to see how one person's idea can lead to such a positive team achievement. The cakes looked delicious and I thank all those who contributed.

Next half term will be the exciting run up to Christmas but with so much exciting learning first.

This term has been filled with trips, visitors, creations and a lot of hard work. I have spent time in each class, each week and the love for learning shines out. Strong attendance is so important for the children and I am pleased that our overall attendance has risen over the half term. Governors and staff are monitoring attendance closely and I am hopeful that by us working together with parents, we can ensure this improvement continues. I have noticed that parents are more willing to send their child in even if they are not feeling 100%. This is important for their learning and their understanding of commitment and resilience and I am pleased that parents trust that we would be in touch if a child needed to be at home. This slight shift in approach, however small, can make the difference between a child being persistently absent or not, as well as how much progress they make.

I wish you all a lovely half term. We have an Inset day on Monday 30th October. NSsport holiday club will be running through next week and also on the Inset day.

I encourage you to look at the calendar for key dates next term. I will send a Christmas diary sheet summary in the first few weeks as I know this can be helpful in the run up to Christmas.

Once again, thank you for your support and have a safe and happy half term.

With kind regards

Jacquie Vanstone

13th October 2023

Fri 13 Oct 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Dear Parents and Guardians,

What a fantastic week we have had! It began with Chaffinch enjoying a day of learning at Rushall farm. I know the staff felt very proud of the children, not only for their behaviour but for the way they responded to questions and tasks. They were commended for their knowledge, vocabulary and positive attitude. Thank you to all the staff and parents who supported the trip.

Our Fofsa AGM was an opportunity to celebrate the hard work that takes place to support our school so well. The committee have exciting plans and lots of new projects. The cookies and second hand uniform sale was a great success this afternoon.

Tuesday gave us the challenge of finding something yellow to wear to celebrate Hello Yellow for our mental health! We focused on resilience and understanding that we need to develop three types of resilience; emotional, mental and social resilience. I enjoyed working with Goldfinch to explore this in greater depth. The other focus was on us mattering, knowing and understanding that we all matter.

Also on Tuesday Mrs Metcalfe had organised for a talented artist to meet with each class and share her work and some of the skills and techniques involved in her art. It was inspirational and I have seen some children showcasing their art since the visit. If you wish to look at her work please search for her - Just Bee.

Thank you to all the staff for their time and hard work leading up to and at the Learning review meetings. It was a pleasure to see parents and I hope you found the meeting supportive and informative. This week has given me the opportunity to be in every class and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Learning reviews have hopefully given you a glimpse into this.

On Thursday afternoon Mr Fox led an assembly for the children using his and our favourite songs and videos. It was such a treat, especially to see Reception children dancing and singing confidently and with such enjoyment.

I want to say a huge well done to our football boys today. They attended a tournament at Cantley Park and got through to the Semi-final with 12 goals scored and just one conceded. It was fabulous to see them play so well as a team, showing care towards their opponents and showing determination to achieve. I am so proud of the team and grateful to Mr Sheikh for coaching the boys.

I know you will join me in congratulating Mr and Mrs O'Reilly on the arrival of their baby boy, Sonny. Isaac thought he would be called Baby O! According to Alfie Finn, (our player of the tournament) the success in the football was to honour their baby, apparently he has brought us luck!

I look forward to a great final week before half term and wish you a lovely weekend.

With kind regards

Jacquie Vanstone

6th October 2023

Fri 06 Oct 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Good afternoon,

I hope you are well.

This week began with me having the opportunity to meet with our School Improvement Officer. It was great to celebrate our Summer results from Early Years through to Year 6. It is rewarding to see how the changes we have made in specific areas of the curriculum have already significantly impacted the progress of our pupils. The leadership of staff both in the classroom and in the curriculum areas in which they lead, ensures we are always looking ahead with a desire to improve and confidence in what we deliver. This meeting was also an opportunity to reflect on our behaviour policy. As staff and governors, we are proud of how we manage and support behaviour in school and our strong vision and values lead us.

We were very lucky with the weather on Tuesday to be able to attend our Harvest service at church. The readers were confident, the quality of singing made Mrs Gan very happy and the donations will make such a difference to families needing the Crowthorne foodbank. Thank you for your support.

On Tuesday afternoon, we held our first Prospective parent meeting for Reception 24. It was wonderful to hear the feedback from the tours of how inviting and exciting our school is. The children who led tours, did a fantastic job at representing our school.

Next week we begin with Chaffinch going on a River trip which I know they are very excited about. I have enjoyed seeing snippets of Geography and PE lessons which have demonstrated their enjoyment in the Rivers topic as well as fantastic understanding and use of technical vocabulary.

On Tuesday next week, the children are asked to come in yellow clothes or in uniform with yellow accessories, either is equally supportive of the mental health messages focused upon on this day. The day is Hello Yellow which celebrates us supporting our children with their mental health. There will be a focus on this in classrooms with some extra exciting things through the day. Rosefinch and Bullfinch will still have PE so if they are in yellow non uniform, please make sure it is appropriate and safe for PE.

I would like to make a change to drop off and pick up from NSsport clubs. For Breakfast club and Care club, please use the pedestrian gate to access the white door and for parents and children to leave along that path as well.

For sports clubs, please enter through the carpark to wait for your child and once they are dismissed, please walk along the pedestrian path to exit the school site. To ensure there is no vehicle movement whilst parents wait, we will close one of the car park gates. We have changed this to ensure it is as practical and safe as possible and we will review it at half term. Thank you for your support.

I have thoroughly enjoyed time in all four classrooms this week. Throughout the school the children are working with determination and focus. I look forward to seeing parents next week both at Learning Reviews on Tuesday and Thursday and at the FOFSA AGM on Monday evening. So much of the learning, enrichment and school environment is strengthened by the contribution FOFSA make. Please support us at our AGM, it would be great to see lots of parents there 8pm-9pm in school.

Finally, a huge well done to the boys who played football tonight. It was a hard match against a good team. Thank you Mr O'Reilly.

I wish you a lovely weekend

With kind regards

Jacquie Vanstone

29th September 2023

Fri 29 Sep 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Dear 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 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Good 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 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Good 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 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Dear 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

14th July 2023

Fri 14 Jul 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you are well. It has been lovely this week to catch up and meet with parents at Open evening. Open evening was a great success, the children enjoyed sharing their learning and the classrooms. The french cafe was brilliantly run by our waiters and waitresses; they all worked hard and my thanks go to Mrs Baker and Mrs Martinez for overseeing. It was great to have some parent help too.

Year 6 have had a fun week preparing for their leavers show next week. On Monday afternoon, they enjoyed Footgolf in Wokingham followed by pizza and for the transition morning today, they had a morning of sport with Mr O'Reilly. The rest of the school have enjoyed their transition time in classes which will hopefully ensure we have a smooth transition in September.

On Tuesday, we were able to access and share Year 6 SATs results and we have another year of pleasing results. The children have all worked hard and we are all proud of them. It is wonderful for the children to see that with our shared high aspiration, they can meet their potential and this is reflected in the external testing results throughout the school.

On Monday I will send an email to share any information regarding the final week and the new term. On Friday, we finish at 2pm but there will be a 1.15pm assembly which you are welcome to join.

I wish you a lovely weekend.

Jacquie Vanstone

7th July 2023

Fri 07 Jul 2023 Jacquie Vanstone

Dear Parents,

What a week we have had! It has been wonderful to have so much parental support this week. Rosefinch and Bullfinch celebrated their Fire of London learning. They shared their learning and performed songs and a dance. It was such a treat and was wonderful to see them so passionate and excited to share.

Goldfinch have provided the school with beautiful cooking smells for the beginning of the week. Again, it was lovely to welcome parents in, not only to help, but also to taste test. It is great to hear some of the children are keen to use the recipes at home.

Mrs Dodds, Sam Khan and Mrs Wirth enjoyed an ECO club transition session for our Year 6 boys and what a great afternoon they had. They compared themselves to trees. 10/11 year old trunk, strong roots from school - they hold us steady, give us nutrients, reach deep - and then the leaves that we show the world. What leaves do your friends show? They shared three values they show regularly:

They shared words such as happiness, forgiveness, fun, imagination, kindness, creativity, imagination and love.

What a special way to spend an afternoon towards the end of their Primary years.

Chaffinch have been learning about Finchampstead and I was delighted to have a visit from Finn and Jaspah to share their persuasive writing. I have attached the photos, what super writing!

On top of all of this we have had our new Reception children for a morning, reports have all been emailed home and we have had a brilliant Sports day.

Sports day is organised by Mr O'Reilly and is a big and complicated event to organise. He does it brilliantly and I am so grateful for all his hard work. The Sports leaders were fabulous, organising the children and helping Mr O'Reilly. The children showed fun and determination. It was a great competitive afternoon supported by past pupils, governors, staff and parents. A great afternoon with a proud win for the Reds, well done! Thank you to FOFSA for the raffle and sale which was a great success. Please keep your numbers until the hamper is claimed by the lucky Blue 503.

We are looking forward to celebrating the children and their learning at Open Evening next week. Goldfinch will be running the French Cafe in the hall and then books will be available in classrooms. The children have their first transition session within school on Monday whilst our Prefects will be having a thank you trip to Wokingham Family Golf!

It is wonderful to have so many opportunities to come together and I thank you for your support and commitment. The effort that goes into all we do is tremendous and I am grateful for everyone within our community who enables us to achieve what we do.

Our governors had a meeting on Tuesday last week which was the last this academic year. They have a questionnaire for parents which we would be grateful if you could complete, it should only take a minute, here is the link:

https://forms.office.com/e/JzDpEL7mpa

I wish you a lovely weekend.

With kind regards

Jacquie Vanstone

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