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Newsletter - 29th November 2024
It's beginning to look (a lot) like Christmas at FPIS...
It's beginning to look (a lot) like Christmas at FPIS...
With the half term holidays now a distant memory it has been back to school and back to Busy Learning for our children here at FPIS. We have had some exciting visits, visitors and memorable moments that have continued to bring our Autumn Term projects to life - and provide some wonderful learning opportunities. Please read on for more information about what has been happening in each Year Group below...
This week it has also started to look and feel a little festive in and around school. Our Early Years children, parents and families all enjoyed a Busy Learning Afternoon creating decorations for our Christmas tree - which is beautifully displayed in our school hall. The lights were officially turned on during our Celebration Assembly this afternoon - causing a lot of excitement indeed! (There is a glimpse of the tree below in our School Attendance photo!)
We have also made a start with our preparations for our Christmas productions. Dates for all performances are below. Please note, there will be four performances of our Year 1 and 2 production of 'A Miracle in Town!' but due to the limited space available we ask that parents and family members attend one performance ONLY. We also request that babies and younger siblings come along to the first performance on Monday 16th December @ 9:30 am, as our other performaces are for adults only. Thank you in advance for your support with this.
Dates for all our Christmas events in school have been sent out - and are also on our school website calendar. We are all looking forward these special and magical moments with our young children over the next few weeks of term - and maybe a surprise or two along the way as well!
We would also like to thank everyone who came along to our recent Parents' Meetings. Our Class Teachers really do value the oppprtunity to discuss children's progress and share their achievements, successes and next steps. We hope you found these conversations useful and would also like to say thank you for the many positive comments and helpful feedback, particularly around how well the children have settled into school so far this year. As always, we are very appreciative of your support.
We hope to see you all tomorrow at our FPSA Christmas Fair!
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 brief look at what's going to be happening in school during the next few weeks...
Saturday 30th November - FPSA Christmas Fair: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Monday 2nd December - Christmas Post Boxes OPEN
Friday 13th December - Christmas Jumper Day (wear uniform plus a Christmas jumper)
Friday 13th December - FPJS Christmas Guitar Concert
Friday 13th December - Early Years Christmas Performance @ 2:00 pm - All Welcome
Monday 16th December - KS1 (Year 1 and 2) Christmas Performance 'A Miracle in Town' @ 9:30 am - Babies and young children welcome
Monday 16th December - KS1 (Year 1 and 2) Christmas Performance 'A Miracle in Town' @ 2:00 pm - Adults ONLY
Tuesday 17th December - KS1 (Year 1 and 2) Christmas Performance 'A Miracle in Town' @ 9:30 am - Adults ONLY
Tuesday 17th December - KS1 (Year 1 and 2) Christmas Performance 'A Miracle in Town' @ 2:00 pm - Adults ONLY
Wednesday 18th December - Children's Christmas Lunch
Wednesday 18th December - Last day for Christmas Post Boxes
Thursday 19th December - Christmas Assembly with Wayne Dixon (Christian Connections in Schools)
Friday 20th December - Children's Christmas Parties (non-uniform day)
School Attendance
School Attendance
For those who don't already know, 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 8:45am 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. SAM will be spending next week with Beech Class who had an overall attendance figure of 97.1%! 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.
Beech 97.1%
Bumblebee 96.8%
Silver Birch 96.3%
Oak 95.4%
Caterpillar 95.3%
Hazel 94.6%
Dragonfly 94.3%
Holly 91.7%
Willow 90.6%
FPIS SEND Signpost
FPIS SEND Signpost
BBC Children in Need 2024
BBC Children in Need 2024
It was a very dotty and spotty day at FPIS recently as we proudly supported BBC Children in Need.
Thank you to everyone who has been able to make a donation to Children in Need via our Children in Need 2024 JustGiving page. At the time of writing, the total amount raised across FPPF is an incredible £1073! THANK YOU!
James Campbell Author Visit
James Campbell Author Visit
On the 6th November James Campbell visited our school to talk all about his sustainable lifestyle and his books. He did two different assemblies: one for the Early Years children and one for Key Stage 1, where he told us some of his stories which had everyone laughing. He also told us how he became an author and story-teller and shared some of his top tips. He also shared a few of his published books, particularly focusing on "Don't Panic! We CAN save the planet!". He read some of this book to us and explained how he is working hard in his own life to do little things to help save the planet. It gave us lots of inspiration to consider in our own lives too.
FPIS Pantomime!
FPIS Pantomime!
On Monday all of the children enjoyed the pantomime Beauty and the Beast... oh no they didn't... oh yes they did!!!
All of the children were immersed in the story line, costumes, lighting and music! Mrs Wytchard and Mr Thompson got called up on stage to perform some funny dancing with the characters while the children all clapped and laughed along!
It was a fantastic afternoon enjoyed by all and a brilliant way to kick off our Christmas festivities!
Early Years
Early Years
Our Early Years children have been making the most of the Autumnal weather with some sunshine, rain, fog, wind, ice and even some... snow! Each day they have been so excited to be outside, exploring and observing the natural changes that take place during Autumn!
The Bumblebee, Caterpillar and Dragonfly children have been learning about different celebrations and events that take place in Autumn such as Bonfire Night and Diwali. They were inspired by their own experiences of Fireworks and created some fabulous Firework art, made Firework ribbons and even performed a dance using their ribbons and bodies to pretend to be a Firework in the sky! The children absolutely loved performing the dance to the song 'Firework by Katy Perry'. The video / photo's have been shared with you all on Seesaw!
In maths we have been learning how to subitise to 5! The children have been using their "fast eyes" to say 'how many' they can see and they have even had a go at showing the amount on their fingers too. We have been challenging the children's subitising skills by counting things that we cannot see. The children were great listeners and had to count the number of beats on a drum that they could hear before saying and showing the final amount using their fingers! The children have also been learning about comparison. They have been using mathematical vocabulary 'more than' 'fewer than' and 'equal'. They have also been beginning to use stem sentences to help answer questions e.g. "........ has fewer than ......."
We have been particularly lucky this term to have had some professional visitors who have come into our school to speak to our Early Years children about being healthy and looking after our bodies! We were incredibly grateful to Dr Cowie the Dentist who came into school to speak to the children about Oral Hygiene and the importance of dental care. He showed the children how to brush their teeth and spoke about different foods that are good /not so good for our teeth. Following this, the children were thrilled to take home their very own toothbrush, toothpaste and 2 minute toothbrush timer. We have been SO impressed with the amount of seesaw pictures we have received of the children taking on our 2 minute toothbrush challenge! They sure are expert brushers - keep it up children!
As well as this, we were really appreciative of Dr Irvine the GP, who also came into school to speak to all of the children about how look after our bodies and what happens when we go for a visit to the Doctors. She showed the children a few of the real Doctor tools that she uses, explained what they are called and how they are used. Dr Irvine also played a healthy / unhealthy food game with the children, as well as giving our school role-play baby a bandage on his arm and leg!
The children have been incredibly inspired by Dr Cowie and Dr Irvine and they have got very involved in our Dentist and Doctor role-play surgery during busy learning. They are taking on the role of the professionals and patients as well as making notes, lanyards to wear and writing prescriptions!
Early Years take on Balanceability!
Early Years take on Balanceability!
The Bumblebee, Caterpillar and Dragonfly children have been wrapping up warm and have begun their weekly Balanceability sessions! During these sessions the children have been developing their fundamental movements focusing on Static and Dynamic balance, postural control and symmetry which will help the children to develop basic skills for all future physical activity! They have been challenging themselves on the balance bikes and are gaining confidence, co-ordination and control each week! After these taught weekly sessions, the children will be able to continue practicing their Balanceability skills on our school bikes and track!
Nursery Rhyme Week!
Nursery Rhyme Week!
Our Early Years children had great fun taking part in our 'Magnificent Middle!' They thoroughly enjoyed dressing up as a character from a nursery rhyme! We were so impressed with the children's costumes and dedication to Nursery rhyme week. Most importantly, the children were SO brilliant at getting into character and they showed confidence when performing their nursery rhyme to their class on stage. They also had many opportunities during the week to get involved in nursery rhyme based activities.
Year 1
Year 1
In Year 1 we have been busy being creative, marching like soldiers, learning new traditional dances and even becoming castle builders!
Recently, we celebrated our Magnificent Middle after learning about the Hindu and Sikh festival of Diwali. We used clay to create our own diva lamps and then gathered in the hall as a year group to light our lamps together. We also enjoyed a Diwali workshop where we learnt about the story of Rama and Sita and had a chance to practise some traditional South Asian dance moves to music. It was lovely to be able to come together and learn something new!
We have also been excitedly preparing for our trip to Windsor Castle which is fast approaching for our Excellent Ending!
Last week, we set ourselves an enormous challenge… to build Windsor Castle from scratch! Each class tackled a different part of the castle and made lots of soldiers to guard the entire place! We used our designing, painting, cutting and sticking skills and had so much fun! This has really supported our understanding of the different features of a castle, as we have been studying different castles around the world and why they are built the way they are.
We have also been busy learning about the role of the guards at Windsor Castle. We have been learning about the different companies of guards that look after the sovereign and their royal residencies. We made our own bearskin hats and chose the coloured plume we wanted to wear which represented: the Coldstream, Grenadier, Welsh, Scots or Irish guards. We studied the changing of the guard parade and practised marching like soldiers. We then assembled in the hall with our newly made bearskin hats and proudly marched around the castle!
We are very much looking forward to our forthcoming visit to Windsor Castle and the chance to see the features of a real castle up close and the seeing which guards might be standing on duty! Look out for how we got on in our next newsletter. Phew...we are going to be Windsor Castle experts by the time we have visited!
In Maths we have been adding and subtracting! We have been making our own first, then and now stories using a range of equipment and looking at different ways we can represent our thinking. We have also been looking at length and height. We’ve had lots of fun comparing our heights with our friends and measuring classroom items.
In Outdoor Learning we have started to notice some seasonal changes and have been using our senses to discuss the environment around us and how the weather is constantly changing. We have had lots of fun investigating fossils, drawing nature pictures, listening to the birds and cloud watching. We’ve also enjoyed practising some of our maths skills outdoors too!
Year 2
Year 2
The Year 2 children have been busy learning all about the role and importance of different real-life superheroes from the past and the present. Part of our Sticky Knowledge for this half term has been to learn about Sir Nicholas Winton and the important role he played in the Kindertransport mission. We have been thinking about how he is remembered as well as other real-life superheroes. This has inspired us to design our own memorials for Nicholas Winton and others. We also learnt about the real-life superheroes we remember for Remembrance Day, this included humans and animals including Sergeant Stubby who we all thought was a real-life superhero for looking after soldiers during the Second World War.
This has also given us inspiration to think about different representations of our world and our School Values. We have been exploring different techniques that we can use with clay to help us design and create our own representations of our School Values. Look out for the results in our next newsletter!
We have also been thinking about how we can be real-life superheroes getting inspiration from the 3R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle). We created our own mind maps about how we can look after our local area including litter picking, promoting the idea of reusing old materials, walking, scooting, or cycling to school rather than using a car and recycling the correct materials.
In Maths we have been exploring addition and subtraction focusing on using our knowledge of number bonds to 10 to support us. This has helped us solve a range of addition problems to 10 and across 10. We have enjoyed using the concrete objects during our maths lessons to show our working out!
Year 2 Trip to Oaken Grove Park
Year 2 Trip to Oaken Grove Park
Inspired by all our learning about real-life superheroes we decided to brave the chilly weather and become heroes ourselves! After wrapping up nice and warm and wearing our wellies we took a walk along to Oaken Grove Park where we had three challenges to complete! The first challenge was to explore the nature we could spot in our local area. We loved looking at the autumnal changes (with some snowy winter additions too!!) which are occurring. We had a list of things to find and got very excited when we spotted some huge mushrooms, different coloured leaves but the highlight was spotting a squirrel! The second challenge was to visit the Sir Nicholas Winton memorial garden. It was a great opportunity for us to explore how Sir Nicholas Winton is remembered and how the Kindertransport has been represented in different ways. Lots of us had seen this before but it was exciting to go and visit it with our newly learnt knowledge. The third and final challenge led us to the picnic area in the park, where we put on some gloves and went to investigate how much litter we could find. We couldn’t believe how much there was and so transformed into real-life superheroes and completed our own litter picking challenge! The picnic area looked amazing once we had given it a good clean!
Despite some chilly and wet weather the grown ups were SO impressed with our enthusiasm and commitment to completing all three challenges even with some heavy, sleety downpours and a VERY chilly breeze!
We are very lucky to have such fantastic real-life superheroes representing our school! 😊
School Council
School Council
Our School Council team did an amazing job at helping to sell poppies for Remembrance Day! They were excellent at enticing people over to come and buy a poppy for a great cause - The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
Well done School Council for all your hard work and helping to raise lots of money!
Eco Team
Eco Team
Eco Club are very excited to share that the wheat seeds we planted have germinated and began to grow! Some of the shoots have even reached 18cm tall! We can't wait to keep you updated on how they continue to grow!
We have also been busy sowing more wheat seeds in the planting beds by Hazel class and hope to see these germinate before the Christmas holidays!
Top Eco Tip: Even though it is cold outside, it is still important to go outdoors and get fresh air, even if it is only for a few minutes!
Nurture Group
Nurture Group
In nurture, we have had been carrying on with some fun art activities. Using masking tape to create the children's first initials, we painted horizontal lines with water colours before peeling the tape away to reveal their letter which stood out beautifully. We were very impressed at their creations and it was fun to see the variety of paintings from them all. We have also made some winter paper chains to decorate the room as well as stained glass pictures to go on our side door.
We were busy making sandwiches a few weeks ago which was a good way for them to follow some simple instructions one by one. It's always enjoyable to make sandwiches and we love it when they are adventurous to try a bit of marmite on their sandwich!
During snack time, we have listened to a new story each week and we often finish the afternoon with a game or two of Bingo!
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.
Sebby and Freddie have been amazing athletes by practising tackles, never giving up, and running fast in rugby. Great job, boys!
Isabelle has been working hard with her swimming and was awarded with a medal for practising lots of different strokes. What an awesome athlete!
Khalifah has been showing determination and courage in his swimming lessons and was awarded a medal for his hard work. Well done you superb swimmer!
Freddie received a medal for taking part in a rugby tournament for Windsor RFC. Excellent work!
Alexandra has been working especially hard at her swimming and has not one, but two, awards for her water skills. Well done!
Seamus has been having a great time at rugby and was awarded for his excellent skills in dodging tackles and scoring tries. Great job!
Bonnie has received a medal for doing a brilliant tackle during football and always trying her best. Well done!
Eva received a certificate for completing athletic activities such as long jump, running 100m and 300m, howler and vertical jump in the holidays. What an awesome achievement!
Sophie is proudly sharing her medal she was awarded during football. "I got my medal for being a good team mate and helping people up when they fell over." Well done Sophie!
Matthew is sharing his football medal with pride. "I had to be a great goalie and now a great team mate over the weeks as well." Well done Matthew, we are very proud of you!
Sophie has also been awarded a 15 metres swimming certificate. "I had to do front paddle for 15 metres." Great job Sophie!
Congratulations to Esme who made her Rainbow Promise! She is proudly sharing her badge and certificate. Well done Esme!
Congratulations to Som who received his medal for football. "I got it for good work and for helping others." Well done Som!
Harriet has received a certificate and a medal for passing her gymnastics test. Well done!
Seth has been working really hard during swimming and has received a certificate for his efforts. Well done!
Congratulations to Zac who is proudly sharing his medal he was awarded at football. "I was a good team mate on my team and also kind to the other team as well. I was a good listener too." Well done superstar!
Fergus was so happy to achieve a certificate in swimming! He got it for jumping into the water, sinking and floating! "I love it because I can swim all by myself now!" Well done Fergus!
Lilly is proudly sharing her award from gymnastics. "I wasn't that good at my gymnastics and now I'm really good!" Well done superstar!
Well done to Adela who is sharing LOTS of badges and certificates from Rainbows. "I have been kind and helpful and have been making new friends. I have learnt my rainbow promise too." Great job Adela!
Mara proudly shares her certificate for completing Level 4 in swimming. Well done!
House Points
House Points
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 29th November 2024.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 Miss Dexter, Miss Edmondson and Mrs Indge 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
Christmas Fair (Saturday 30th November, 11.30am - 2.30pm)
The Christmas Fair is back tomorrow!
We look forward to seeing lots of you tomorrow at the fair. Here are a few key points:
FREE ENTRY FOR ALL
Enter via the Infants to get your programme showing locations of our seasonal stalls across both schools.
ENTERTAINMENT
We have plenty of fun for all the family with the return of festive favourites such as Reindeer Coin Drop, Secrets Room, Hook a Christmas Duck, Beauty Room and of course the legendary Santa’s Grotto on the big red bus!
Pick up some gifts at our Nearly New Stall and shop from local sellers at our Christmas market stalls.
Stock up on pre-loved uniform.
Enter our Silent Auction and Raffle for the chance to win some fabulous prizes!
Enjoy all this with hot dogs, mulled wine and cakes whilst listening to merry music provided by:
Furze Platt Junior School Choir
St Sebastian Wokingham Brass Band
BRING LOOSE CHANGE
Please bring cash with you if possible as only certain stalls have card readers.
DONATIONS OF NUT-FREE CAKES, NEARLY NEW TOYS, BOOKS & CDS, UNIFORM, CHRISTMAS JUMPERS, SECRETS ROOM GIFTS etc.
Please bring any final donations to the Junior School hall between 9am and 10am tomorrow.
Christmas Cards update!
The Christmas Card orders have started to arrive at school and items will be coming home with your child this week. Remaining items will follow in the next delivery. We hope you are happy with the goods. Thank you for helping us raise just over £450 for the Infant school!
Personalised name label stickers
We have an updated discount code for buying school uniform labels and labels for water bottles etc. from the 'Easy2Name' company. Simply order from the following site: https://www.easy2name.com/stickeasy, quote code 'FR-FPIS-72' and not only will you will get free delivery, the FPSA will receive 20% of the order value. These labels will help the schools return mislaid uniform and will help cut down on the lost property.
Windsor & Maidenhead Community Lottery
This is a weekly lottery that raises money for good causes in the Royal Borough including the FPSA. Tickets for the lottery cost just £1 and from that 60p goes to good causes including 50p to the FPSA. Each ticket has a 1 in 50 chance to win a prize each week with a top prize of £25,000! So please sign up and buy a weekly ticket or two using the following link: https://www.windsorandmaidenheadcommunitylottery.co.uk/support/furze-platt-schools-association
Copas Farm Shop
Copas Farms have a PTA cashback scheme. Please visit www.copasfarmshop.co.uk and they will donate 5% of the order value to the FPSA. Ideal for your Christmas turkey!
Please use the following code: FPJS24PTA.
Date for your Diary:
Junior School Discos - Thursday 19th December
DJs Sawle and King are back playing the tunes for the Juniors to boogie. As usual, the years 3 & 4 disco is first (4-5pm) followed by the years 5 & 6 disco (5.15 - 6.30pm).
Tickets will be on sale next week at www.pta-events.co.uk/fpsa
Useful Information for Parents and Families
Useful Information for Parents and Families
Christmas-childrens-book-gifts-2024-Age-3-5.pdfChristmas-childrens-book-gifts-2024-Age-5-7.pdfCinderella a5 schools.pdf
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