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Newsletter - 20th October 2023
Half Term is Here!
Half Term is Here!
It does seem incredible to think that we are already half way through the Autumn term! We have had such a happy and busy few weeks, but I am sure that the children (and grown ups!) are now very much looking forward to the half term break.
We were delighted to welcome Wayne Dixon to lead our Harvest Assembly last week, giving us all the opportunity think about those who may not always have enough food to eat everyday. We also were so grateful to receive so many donations of food items to pass on to FoodShare Maidenhead - please read on for more details...
I have been impressed recently by the number of children remembering that we walk around our school site, rather than ride on scooters and bikes - thank you to those parents who are helping to remind their children about this too! If your child is bringing their bike or scooter to school, please use the scooter pods just outside Bumblebee classroom entrance if you are leaving them on site during the school day. We cannot take responsibility for bikes and scooters that are left outside on the driveway by our main entrance gate. It is great to see so many more families walking, scooting and cycling to school - and because of this, we will be extending the scooter pod parking spaces very soon to accomodate this increase! More details to folllow...
As you hopefully know, we are passionate about books and reading here at FPIS. To help and encourage our children to develop their love of books we would like to open our school library from 3:15 pm until 3:30pm. However, in order to do this, we need to have some very kind parent volunteers to run these sessions. If you feel you could spare about 15-20 minutes after school on one or more days, I would be very grateful if you could make contact via the school office. Parent volunteers will be required to have a DBS check prior to starting. Training will be provided.
The next half of our Autumn term is looking to be just as busy as this one, so please keep checking our diary dates for events in school. Information about booking a meeting with your child's class teacher for our Autumn Term Parents' Meetings has been sent out this week. Dates for our Christmas Performances and other festive events in school are also in the school diary as well.
We hope that you have a restful and enjoyable holiday. You will find some safety tips for Halloween and Bonfire Night included at the end of this newsletter as well as some important advice from Thames Valley Police. Have lots of fun and stay safe if you are joining in with these events over half term!
We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 30th October :)
With very best wishes
Jane Indge
Head of School
Quick Links
Quick Links
Diary dates - coming up soon!
Diary dates - coming up soon!
Here is a look at what's going to be happening in school during the next few weeks...
Friday 20th October - Term Ends
Monday 23rd October - Friday 27th October - Half term holiday
Monday 30th October - Term Starts
Monday 30th October - Parents' Meetings booking system opens @8:00 am
Friday 3rd November - Parents' Meetings booking system closes @ 4:00 pm
Monday 6th November - Parents' Meetings: 3:40 pm - 7:00 pm
Wednesday 8th November - Parents' Meetings: 3:40 pm - 7:00 pm
Friday 10th November - INSET day: school closed
Tuesday 14th November - Asthma Information Coffee Morning: 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Tuesday 14th November - Happy Bags School Collection
Friday 17th November - Children in Need (non-uniform day)
Friday 24th November - Non-uniform day (FPSA tombola cups)
Monday 27th November - Pantomime 'Jack & The Beanstalk' at FPJS: 1:30 pm
Friday 30th November - Early Years Busy Learning Afternoon: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Saturday 2nd December - FPSA Christmas Fair
Friday 8th December - Christmas Jumper Day - children can wear Festive jumpers instead of their school cardigan/jumper
Friday 8th December - Early Years Christmas Performance: 2:00 pm
Monday 11th December - KS1 Christmas Performance - babies and younger children welcome: 9:30 am - 10:30 am
Monday 11th December - KS1 Christmas Performance - adults ONLY: 2:00pm - 3:00 pm
Tuesday 12th December - KS1 Christmas Performance - adults ONLY: 9:30 am - 10:30 am
Tuesday 12th December - KS1 Christmas Performance - adults ONLY: 2:00pm - 3:00 pm
Wednesday 13th December - Christmas Lunch
Friday 15th December - Non-uniform day - Children's Christmas Parties
Friday 15th December - Term ends
School Attendance
School Attendance
SAM - our School Attendance Mascot, is our FPIS teddy bear who helps our children think about why it is so important to attend school every day.
Our children are busy learning right from the start of the day, so being in class on time each morning matters just as much too. Registration begins at 8:50am and we expect all children to be in class by 9:00am.
Each week, during our Celebration Assembly, the attendance figures are shared. The class with the best attendance overall gets to look after SAM until the following week.
This week, SAM will be going to Caterpillar Class who had a very impressive overall figure of 99.7%! Well done!
Our latest school attendance figures for each class are shown in the table. Our school attendance target is: 97%
You can read our full Attendance Policy here.
Caterpillar 99.7%
Dragonfly 99.4%
Silver Birch 98.7%
Bumblebee 97.7%
Willow 97.3%
Hazel 96.6%
Oak 96.3%
Holly 96.0%
Beech 95.2%
FPIS SEND Signpost
FPIS SEND Signpost
PARENTS' INFORMATION SESSION – SAVE THE DATE!
On Tuesday 21st November, Mrs Singh will be holding a Parents' Information Session entitled 'Managing Behaviour - providing consistency between home and school'. This will be at 9.15am in FPIS school hall and all parents and carers are welcome.
This is a repeat of the sessions held previously and outlines FPPF's Behaviour and Relationships Policy and how it is implemented in school, providing some helpful strategies to use at home.
Please sign up here if you plan on attending so we have an idea of numbers:
Slides are available on the school website if you are unable to attend.
Some positive comments from parents who have previously attended are:
"I want to congratulate and thank you on building this workshop which is going to touch and make many lives better."
"It is a great initiative as its not just going to help kids for their future but parents too, helping establish emotional connection with their children."
"The workshop was well thought out and extremely positive."
Early Years Brilliant Beginning- Guess Who?
Early Years Brilliant Beginning- Guess Who?
Early Years launched their 'Me and My Family' project with a giant game of 'Guess Who?' Our Bumblebees, Caterpillars and Dragonflies all disguised themselves using their choice of dressing up items ready for a real life 'Guess Who' game! The children also enjoyed trying to recognise their teachers who also joined in the fun.
Early Years
Early Years
Our Bumblebees, Caterpillars and Dragonflies have been continuing with their project, 'Me and My Family'. Following on from their learning about what makes them unique the children have begun to learn more about families and what makes their friends and their own special. We have been sharing non-fiction texts and stories from our key project texts and the children have been able to make links to their own lives and experiences. The children have enjoyed sharing their 'All About Me' posters and creating their own family pictures, which led to some lovely conversations about why their family is so wonderful.
We have focused on the story of 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' by Michael Rosen. The children made their own story map of the Bear Hunt and they used it to retell the story in the woodlands. During Busy Learning time, the children also had the opportunity to create their own small world of the Bear Hunt story, using a range of different materials to support key language.
This week, we have been learning about what a home is and the different types of places we can live. The children discussed how their house looks and if it was similar or different to their friends. They had the chance to create a model of their house using their own choice of construction materials. Some children built their home independently whereas others decided to work as a team. They challenged themselves to create windows, doors and even a roof! We are so impressed by our brilliant builders!
We have also had our first Inspirational Artist afternoon and our Bumblebees, Caterpillars and Dragonflies explored a range of media when creating their own masterpieces that have been displayed in their special spaces. Look out for these when you visit for parents evening after half term!
Early Years Talk PANTS
Early Years Talk PANTS
With the help of the friendly dinosaur Pantosaurus, this term our Early Years children have been discussing the NSPCC’s Underwear Rule, using the ‘PANTS’ acrostic:
Privates are private
Always remember your body belongs to you
No means no
Talk about secrets that upset you
Speak up, someone can help
If you would like to know more about the NSPCC’s campaign and see how you can help keep your child safe in partnership with our school, more information can be found at:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/
A super-duper Brilliant Beginning for KS1!
A super-duper Brilliant Beginning for KS1!
The Key Stage 1 children had a fantastic day launching our 'Super-Duper Heroes!' projects with our superhero dress-up day for our Brilliant Beginning. It was great to see a fantastic range of superheroes and we loved coming together in the hall for our superhero parade, with the staff joining in too! It was a great way to launch our new projects and inspired some brilliant learning!
Year 1
Year 1
In Year 1 we have had a busy few weeks solving some veggie related crimes! We were taking the register when suddenly Miss Pocock came running in to the classroom. “Quick, help! A crime has been committed! We need to get to the hall as quickly as possible!”. We hurried into the hall to discover that there were some vegetables who needed our help! We became detectives and tried to help Supertato solve the crime. Evil Pea had come to FPI and caused some trouble! We have been busy searching for Evil pea using our reading, writing and drawing skills to help us!
We have been busy exploring tuned and untuned instruments. We have had the opportunity to play tambourines, rhythm sticks, hand drums and shakers as we sang, I hear thunder in the Woodlands using the untuned instruments to accompany us. We then got to experiment with glockenspiels, bells, triangles, and cymbals to hear the different notes that could be made. We have had so much fun exploring all the different sounds that can be made with both tuned and untuned instruments.
We have also been looking at the work of Andy Goldsworthy and exploring the patterns he creates using natural materials. We identified the shape, colour and repeating patterns in his work and during Outdoor Learning, we have used Andy Goldsworthy as inspiration to create our own masterpieces using natural materials found in the woodland and learning garden.
We have been working on our paired reading which is a key part of our Phonics programme too. We find a comfortable spot in the classroom and read our new book with a partner. One person points whilst the other one reads and then we swap roles. It is great for developing our confidence to try and read new texts together.
In maths we have been continuing our work on place value by thinking deeply about the numbers 0-10 and how they relate to one another. We have been working out one more and one less than a number and giving reasons to prove how we know we are correct! We have learnt the mathematical symbols > (greater than), < (less than) and = (equal to) in order to compare numbers. Throughout this half term we have also been busy learning the names of the most common 2D and 3D shapes as well as explaining how we know which shape it is.
Year 2
Year 2
What a busy Autumn term it has been in Year 2! We have loved being superheroes, particularly during our superhero dress up day! As part of our Brilliant Beginning we went out onto the playground to take part in a superhero school activity! We had to say and act out different onomatopoeia words to prepare us for our superhero duties! We have also become comic strip authors thinking about a problem which our superheroes needed to solve. They were fantastic with a range of creative and imaginative ideas!
We have also been busy thinking about the purposes and suitability of different materials and have been using this knowledge in different ways. One of our Lanyard Challenges over the past few weeks has been to explore different materials and select an appropriate one to design and make our own superhero objects. We have created a range of brilliant objects thinking carefully about which material would best suit its purpose. We also tested this knowledge when we learnt about the Jewish Festival of Sukkot. As part of this learning, we worked in teams to create our own Sukkah shelters using different materials and tested them against some strong winds (a hairdryer!!) to see which shelters could survive! It was a tense and exciting moment testing our shelters!
NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe
NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe
Our 'Speak out. Stay safe' Assembly this term helped our Year 1 and 2 children to understand that they always have a right to feel safe, and that they can speak to a safe adult or Childline if they ever need help or support.
If you would like to know more about the Speak out. Stay safe. programme activities for home, please visit:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/safety/activities-safety-kids/
NSPCC Workshops: Year 2
NSPCC Workshops: Year 2
Following on from our NSPCC 'Speak out, Stay safe' assembly delivered by Mrs Indge two volunteers from the NSPCC came in to school to deliver some workshops to our Year 2 children. They introduced Buddy to the children and discussed different scenarios when it would be important to remember to speak out. We then completed an activity thinking all about safe people we could talk to in school and at home.
Year 2 Netball Sessions
Year 2 Netball Sessions
Our Year 2 children enjoyed a fantastic netball taster workshop recently, kindly organised by Mrs Swaffield. Neil Day from Eagles Netball Club came to run some taster sessions to introduce the Year 2 children to some games and skills used in Netball. The children had a great time learning how to pass and catch the ball as well as playing some exciting games. We were also joined by some of the Year 6 children who are in the netball team at FPJ. Thanks to all involved who organised it and ran these exciting sessions!
Year 1 and 2 Busy Learning Afternoons
Year 1 and 2 Busy Learning Afternoons
In Key Stage 1 we had two brilliant Busy Learning afternoons for both Year 1 and 2. It was great to see so many different family members supporting us! The Key Stage 1 children loved sharing their new classrooms and learning opportunities with their grown-ups. Just a reminder that all information shared from the two sessions can be found on Seesaw.
Our next Busy Learning Afternoons are scheduled for:
Year 2: Wednesday 31st January 2024
Year 1: Thursday 1st February 2024
Thank you for your continued support!
KS1 Harvest Assembly
KS1 Harvest Assembly
Last week we held a very special assembly to celebrate this year's Harvest. We were joined by Wayne Dixon from Christian Connections in School who led the assembly. He captivatingly retold the story of the five loaves and two fishes from the Bible which highlights the importance of sharing. The children joined in enthusiastically with the story! Wayne was very excited to see all of the different food that had been kindly donated throughout the week. We look forward to welcoming Wayne back to our school soon.
Foodshare Donations
Foodshare Donations
We were proud to support our local foodbank again this year as part of our learning about Harvest. We are very thankful for all of your generous donations which we know will be gratefully received by Foodshare Maidenhead and all those who use their much needed service. Thank you!
Nurture Group
Nurture Group
Our nurture room is now looking fabulous with new 'Marvellous Me' posters which include face portrait collages of the children, autumn coloured paper chains and our autumn board featuring arty hedgehogs and squirrels. We have also been leaf printing and made stained glass window pictures, for the door.
We planted out some daffodil bulbs in the large planters close to the school entrance and look forward to seeing them grow in the spring next year. The large sunflower heads that we saved in September, have now dried out and we have harvested some of the seed ready to replant in spring.
We had fun exploring the new cycle track in the early years woodland area and enjoyed riding the new bikes whilst learning about cycle safety including wearing protective headwear.
In line with the KS1 superheroes topic, we have been decorating superhero masks with coloured tissue and exploring onomatopoeia superhero words.
We've had a few afternoon treats this week as it's the end of term and the children have filled their treats jar so we have been decorating cup cakes and biscuits.
School Council
School Council
Meet our new School Council Team! After finding out about how important having a School Council Team is at FPIS, every class had a vote to elect our new School Councillors for this academic year.
Every School Councillor proudly received their new badge and our new representatives were introduced to the whole of FPIS.
Our School Councillors can't wait to get started on all the exciting things we have planned for the year ahead!
Eco Team
Eco Team
We are really pleased to be back and welcoming our new Eco Team. Each class had a class vote to elect our new team for this academic year. Our representatives met and we started to discuss our plans for the year ahead.
Recycling and looking after our school environment are areas that our new team are keen to develop further in our school. It was super to see the passion that the children had.
Watch this space to find out what happens next!
Wonderful Wildlife!
Wonderful Wildlife!
The very talented Mr Vogel has produced a 2024 Calendar which has some incredible images of wildlife in and around our local area that he has captured on camera. Calendars are £12.50 each with all proceeds donated to Elizabeth House, Cookham.
If you would like to order a calendar, please speak to Mr Vogel directly or contact him via:
https://www.facebook.com/MickVogelPhotography1
If you would like to order a calendar, please speak to Mr Vogel directly or contact him via:
https://www.facebook.com/MickVogelPhotography1
Awesome achievements!
Awesome achievements!
We love finding out about and celebrating our children's achievements outside of school!
If your child has an achievement that they are very proud of and would like to share with us all, they will get the opportunity to do so during our Celebration Assembly on a Friday.
Congratulations to Jessica who received this gymnastics certificate! "I had to try to do cartwheels and I hadn't done them before." Well done Jessica!
Emilia proudly shared this wristband she has been awarded for completing 21 Junior Park Runs. "This is lots of different Junior Park runs which is the same as running a marathon!" Well done Emilia, we are super proud of you!
Well done to Lilianna who has been awarded a gymnastics certificate. "I got it because it was my first day. I had to do cartwheels, handstands and a bend over bridge." Great job Lilianna!
Oleksii is very proudly displaying his football medal that he was awarded for all of his hard work. Well done Oleksii!
Well done Violet on receiving your football medal for working hard on your skills! Congratulations!
Congratulations to Frances for being awarded a Blue Peter badge for drawing an amazing picture! Well done!
Congratulations to Sienna for swimming 1000m using all four strokes in under one hour! Wow, we are very proud of you!
Sapphira received a medal for good listening at gymnastics. She has been learning to do backflips! What a superstar!
Isabelle was doing amazing handstands and listening really carefully to her coach. She received Star of the Week and got a certificate. Well done!
Congratulations to Sasha who is proudly sharing her medal! "I got it for listening carefully to what the leaders were saying". Great job Sasha!
Barney has been an incredible athlete and has got not one, but two medals for scoring tries during his rugby matches. Great work Barney!
Daisy has been working really hard at gymnastics and was awarded Star of the Week for her back flips. Amazing work Daisy!
Adora has successfully achieved her Kickboxing certificate and been awarded a yellow stripe.
Ellie received a medal for completing the summer reading challenge. She also received a certificate for doing cartwheels during gymnastics.
Bonnie is proudly displaying her medal for completing the Summer Reading Challenge! Well done Bonnie!
Raffy is proudly sharing his medal he was awarded at Rugby. "I got it for helping my team mates to improve and getting a tag off someone." Well done Raffy we are very proud of you!
Matthew received a medal for completing the Summer Reading Challenge. Well done reading superstar!
Frank worked hard over the summer and received a certificate for completing the Summer Reading Challenge. Great job Frank!
Well done to Zac who has been awarded Level 1 in his Swimming. Great job superstar!
House Points
House Points
Draco win the House Cup!
Draco win the House Cup!
Congratulations to everyone in Draco for earning the most house points overall this half term. 523 in total - well done!
Head of School Awards
Head of School Awards
Every Friday, during our whole school Celebration Assembly, Head of School awards are given out to a child or children in each class. The certificates are presented by Mrs Indge to those children who have consistently demonstrated excellent behaviours for learning.
Head of School Awards 20th October 2023.pdfSuperPoWeR Awards
SuperPoWeR Awards
Miss Dexter pops on her Superhero cape each week during Celebration Assembly to present our SuperPoWeR awards. The awards are given to children who have been demonstrating excellent behaviour through our school values of Passion, Well being and Respect.
Book Bingo
Book Bingo
Every week, during our Head of School Assembly, a bingo ball is selected from our special red bag. The bingo balls are numbered 1 - 30. Each child in Year 1 and 2 with the corresponding register number to the ball chosen will have the opportunity to bring their Maths book and Project scrapbook to share with Mrs Indge and Miss Dexter later that week. During the Book Bingo session, the children spend time looking through the books together with the adults, whilst discussing and explaining what they have been busy learning about.
FPSA update
FPSA update
Early Years Tea Party
The Early Years Tea Party was back on Saturday 30th September for families that had a child starting the Infants recently. The weather was kind meaning that people could mingle outside in the courtyard and play area as well as inside the hall where there was a pop-up play village. The FPSA would like to thank all of the kind parents who baked some cakes for the event which has raised £320 for the school.
Mr T's Quiz Night
The FPSA Quiz Night was back last Friday as 21 teams (comprising 118 people) packed in the Juniors hall for another night of fun. The mystery round turned out to involve tasting 10 different flavours of crisps and trying to identify what they were from 15 possible options. 2 teams managed to get full marks on this particular round!
The evening finished with a live performance of Irene Cara's 1980 smash hit 'Fame' with several members of the quiz joining in the entertainment.
Congratulations go to 'Quizy McQuizface the second' who won the quiz (with 132.5 points), runners up were 'Stab in the dark' and 'Guess who's back' (featuring none other than Furze Platt Primary Federation's Chair of Governors Louise Axford) came in 3rd place taking home the Kellogg's variety pack.
The best team name went to 'Put a wet paper towel on it' and the Infants TAs team narrowly beat the Infants teachers team at Family Fortunes.
A huge thank you to everyone who supported the event and the FPSA would particularly like to thank Roberto and the team at Palmieri's for providing us with the lovely food. The quiz will return in March 2024!
Dates for your diary:
Happy School Bags - Tuesday 14th November (school drop-off)
Bring your bags with filled unwanted clean clothes to help raise money for both schools. Bags can be left outside the Infants main gates between 08.00 and 09.00.
Christmas Fair - Saturday 2nd December (11.30am - 2.30pm)
Our 2nd biggest fundraiser of the year is back. Spread across both schools, there is fun for all the family including Tombolas, Secrets Room, Raffle & Silent Auction and much more!
Look out soon for details of how you can support the fair by having an estate agent board outside your house 2 weeks before the fair date - this collaboration with Oakwood Estates helped us raise £500 at this year's summer fair.
Junior School Discos - Friday 8th December (4pm-5pm & 5.15pm-6.30pm)
It's time for the Juniors to get down and boogie!
Useful Information for Parents and Families
Useful Information for Parents and Families
t-t-24073-halloween-safety-tips-poster-_ver_1.pdfHalloween - If you see this poster please do not trick or treat.pdfHalloween 2023.pdft-t-239-fireworks-bonfire-night-safety-posters_ver_3 (2).pdfcoffee morning flyer Furze Platt Infant School.docxNOS ea-sports-fc.pdfFinal Forest Fun Halloween club 2023.pdfHalf Term & Christmas Gymnastics & Trampolining Oct 2023.pdf
October Half Term Maidenhead.pdfGEMS - Q3 2023 Bear Cubs - 08092023.pdfRBWM Recovery Service Poster Short.pdfBM RBMHRS Guided Self Help Poster.pdfHAVE A GO READING 2023.pdfFurze Platt Infants School - Flu Uptake Poster 2023.pdfGeneric2023.pdf
Berkshire Music Trust School Parent Newsletter October 2023.pdfTrack Start Multi-Activity Holiday Camp (A5 leaflet).pdf
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