Furze Platt Juniors 2026-27 Newsletter

Welcome to our first Newsletter of the new school year! We hope that our regular newsletters will give you a flavour of all the wonderful events and learning that happen at Furze Platt Juniors.

We have only been back for a few weeks but already we are incredibly impressed with how all of our children have settled into their new classes, working really hard and being so engaged in their learning- see our Year Group news pages for more detail for your child's year group. Every year, we remind our children of our core values- Passion, Well-being and Respect and we are so lucky that we have such brilliant children attending our school who consistently show our values through everything they do. FPJS is a joyful place to be for both pupils and staff alike and we really do look forward to another great year of learning and fun!

It was great to see so many parents attending the welcome meetings in early September- we really appreciate the opportunities for our teams to communicate face to face all of the things that will be happening in their year groups this year. If you did miss this, teams will be sharing slides and info via Seesaw.

Anna Clark

Head of School

Calling all inspiring parents and carers!

Do you have a career, interest or talent that would inspire our children? If the answer is "Yes!" we would love to hear from you! We are always looking for speakers to come into our assemblies to inspire our children. We plan our assemblies on a range of themes, but we would love to hear from people who have a passion for their career or hobby. Get in touch by contacting annaclark@fpjs.org.uk telling me what you can offer!

Diary Dates:

Tues 29th Sept: Y3/4 Poetry Party- Simon Mole and friends!
Fri 2nd October: Y6 Rhos Trip- final payment deadline
Weds 7th October: Harvest Festival- bring in food donations for Maidenhead Foodshare
Thurs 8th October: Nasal immunisations
Fri 9th October: Y2 parent talk n tour 9-10am (bookable for current Y2 parents)
Mon 12th October: Individual School Photos
Tues 13th October: Y5 class assembly 9.15am- Eagle class
Weds 14th October: Y5 class assembly 9.15am- Kestrel class
Thurs 15th October: Y5 class assembly 9.15am- Kite class
Thurs 15th October: Parents consultation evening 3.30-6.30pm in hall (must be pre-booked)
Friday 16th October: FPSA Quiz Night
Tues 20th October: Parents consultation evening 3.30-6.30pm in hall (must be pre-booked)
Weds 21st October: Term 1 ends. Pick up at normal time.
Thurs 22nd/Fri 23rd October: Inset days (no school for pupils)

Term 2 begins on Monday 2nd November and end on Friday 18th December at 1.30pm

Quick Links

Curriculum

Lunch Menu

Term Dates 25-26

Calendar

Who's who at FPJS

Website including housepoints update

FPJS School News & Staff updates

Congratulations to Mrs Morales!

Huge congratuations to the now Mrs Morlaes who married her partner Charlie on 13th August in a beautiful outdoor wedding in Cirencester. Although the wedding happened to be on the hottest day of the summer, Mrs Morales looked stunning in her beautiful wedding dress. Some of the FPJS staff were incredibly lucky to be in attendance to witness a such a perfect day!

Head Students for FPJS 2026-2027

Well done to all of our Year 6 students who put themselves forward for the position of "Head Student" last week. Year 6 pupils wrote and presented their vision for why they should be chosen to represent the whole school. The Year 6 team were very impressed with all of the speeches and the confidence shown by the pupils and had a difficult time deciding who would make the final shortlist.

8 children were made their final speeches to the whole school who then voted for their favourites.

We are delighted to announce that this year, our head students are Cici, Jonas and George

We are also very proud of all our remaining shortlisted candidates who will gain the honour of becoming our school ambassadors: James, Charlotte, Farrin, Emily and Monty.

House Captains at FPJS 2026-2027

Well done to the children pictured below who have gained the honour of being voted in for House Captains this year. These children will help run lots of different inter-house competitions throughout the year.

Our new Y6 Librarians

Meet our new Y6 librarians who will be organising the library, supervising and advising our children on all things books over the coming year! They will also be required to complete some "shifts" at the infant school to support our younger readers!

Well done to...

Olive (Y3) and sister Lily (Y5) who reached the summit of Mount Snowden over the summer! What a fantastic achievement!

Goodbye to our FPJS bus...

Sadly over the summer we had to wave a final farewell to our beloved FPJS bus. It lasted over 10 years at the school but it was time to say a goodbye due to increasing age, wear and tear! We are currently looking at different options to replace the bus.

500 Words competition- opening soon- 29th September until 6th November

We would love to encourage all of our brilliant writers to take part in this excellent competition which values creativity and the importance of a fantastic story idea!

There are very few rules for 500 Words but a few points to remember when writing a story.

ll 500 Words stories must:

Be 500 words or fewer (title is not included in the number)
Be written by an individual and not a group
Be a child’s own original idea
Be prose, not rap or poem

Stories must not:

Give any personal details of the child, including their name
Recount an historical event (but they can use a real person or historical character as a source of inspiration)
Be created, written or developed by AI
Contain unsuitable material, such as; graphic violence, bad language and offensive content. They must be suitable for a primary aged audience.

In every 500 Words competition, all stories are judged anonymously on the following criteria:

Characterisation
Plot
Originality
Language
Enjoyment

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words

FPJS Recommended Reads & SMaRt library

We absolutely love books at Furze Platt Junior School! We love reading for pleasure and we encourage all our children to love books as much as we do. Our teachers are constantly on the lookout for new and exciting reads and we regularly update our library with current reads. .

You can find the checklists for our current book lists here: How many can your children read this year?

Our library is also now up and running for this year. Children can visit at the times shown above. Don't forget parents can also pop into the library on Wednesdays after school if they wish to support their child in choosing a new book as our librarian will be there to support.

Year 3 book list

Year 4 book list

Year 5 book list

Year 6 book list

Homework at FPJS

For all year groups, the most important aspect of homework is daily reading. Your child should be reading daily (either aloud to you or a sibling or independently once they are a fluent, free reader). We would like Y3 and Y4 children to record their reading in a reading log. For other year groups, some children will continue with a reading log, although teachers will be regularly checking in with their class about their reading for pleasure habits. All children who are still learning to decode will be monitored closely and will receive additional support or interventions.

We also expect children to practise their times-tables (TT rock stars is brilliant for this!) for speed of recall, and work on any spelling rules.

In Year 3 and Year 4, we set one piece of formal homework a week, alternating maths and English. In Year 5 and Year 6, this increases to two pieces a week. This work will be set either on our online learning platforms such as Bedrock Learning (reading comprehension), Spelling shed (spelling!) or via good old fashioned pencil and paper homework- we use CGP books for maths. There will also be additional challenges set via either TTRS (Times tables rock stars) or other. The team leader will send weekly message on Seesaw to ensure parents are aware of what needs to be completed each week.

At times, there will be alternative homework to complete for variety- this could be practical tasks, handwriting or other more open-ended tasks- we normally set "topic" homework before half term.

Although homework can be frustrating for both children and parents, it is our duty to prepare children to be "secondary-ready", enabling children to get into good habits with completing homework tasks. If your child is struggling with any of the homework set, please DO let teachers know via Seesaw. The children should be able to complete most tasks without adult support- if your child needs your full support when completing the work it is too hard for them and needs to be adjusted, or they may need further support in class.

If you have any problems accessing any of the homework on- line due to issues with internet to access to devices, please speak with your child's class teacher who will be happy to support in any way possible.

All parents should be on Seesaw in order to get weekly updates from the team leader or teacher- please do let us know if you have any issues with this- Year 3 parents should be given a code which then lasts for their time at the junior school.

Stars of the week - Class Stars & PE Stars

Star of the week Newsletter 1: 25th September 2026

Well done to all our stars over the last few weeks:

Our stars are chosen from following the values of the school: Passion, Well-being and respect.

We also chose children who have made exceptional effort in their work or attitude to learning.

TT Rock stars- Top Ten

Well done to all our children who have started using TT rock stars regularly to practise times tables!

Keep up the daily practise everyone- it is scientifically proven that practising a little and often will ensure you master those times tables as soon as possible until they are automatically recalled from memory.

Here are our Top 15 children who have played the MOST in the last month:

Bedrock Learning

Well done to all our children who are regularly completing their homework tasks to improve their vocabulary! Here are our top 15 children who have earned the most points this month:

Sports Update

Bowls Festival

On Tuesday 22nd September, 20 students from swan class represented our school at the bowls festival at Desborough bowls club. Bowls is an inclusive sport where everyone can take part, making it a fantastic opportunity for all students to take part. they all really enjoyed themselves learning a new sport and developing their skills. well done everyone for taking part!!

Miss Gill and Mrs Tissaw

Online learning at FPJS

Digital Literacy & Online Safety at FPJS

This term, our Digital Literacy Computing lessons are focusing on one of the most important aspects of staying safe online: passwords.

Across KS2, children will be learning about why passwords are important, how to create strong and secure passwords, and how to keep their passwords safe. We are encouraging children to understand that passwords protect our personal information and should never be shared with friends or other people online.

This week, Mr Sawle has also delivered an assembly on E-Safety and Digital Leaders, reminding pupils about how we can all use technology safely, responsibly and positively both in school and at home.

Continue the learning at home

Parents, carers and children can explore these useful KS2 online safety tips for 7–11-year-olds, including advice about creating secure passwords and protecting personal information:

For Parents and Carers: Safer Internet Resources

For Children and Young People: Safer Internet Resources

Children can also put their digital literacy skills to the test by exploring Google's Interland. We would particularly recommend Reality River, where children have to make smart decisions and learn how to recognise what can and cannot be trusted online:

Play Interland – Reality River

FPJS Digital Leaders (See poster below)

We are also excited to be recruiting our new FPJS Digital Leaders!

Two pupils from every class will be selected to take on this important leadership role. Digital Leaders will help us to lead the way with technology across FPJS, supporting the responsible use and care of our iPads, headphones and new Chromebooks, as well as helping to promote positive digital literacy and online safety across the school.

We are looking for children who are responsible, enthusiastic about technology, willing to help others and ready to be fantastic role models.

How to apply...
Write a letter explaining why you would make a great Digital Leader and give it to Mr Sawle.

Applications close: Tuesday 29th September
Our new Digital Leaders will be announced in assembly on Friday 2nd October.

Good luck to everyone applying — we can't wait to meet our new team of FPJS Digital Leaders!

Many Thanks,

Mr Sawle

Year Group Updates

Year 3 News

What a fantastic start the children have all had moving into Year 3. We are so proud of how well they have all settled and how hard they are working already.

Over the past 2 weeks, the children have completed their establishment phase which included getting used to school routines, rules and staff. The children also completed a variety of artwork based around the story 'I am fabulous' which we have shared with the cohort.

As part of our writing topic, the children wrote some letters to their teachers which involved them imagining some extreme reasons for not being at school. Some of these included being recruited by NASA, joining dragon school and being zapped into computer games. This has been so much fun!

The children also had a recap on time as well as matching digits to words and partitioning numbers in maths. They have really enjoyed using the vast amount of equipment we have in Year 3 to help support their learning.

Our science topic this term is 'Forces' and the children looked at push and pull forces and how this works.

We finished our establishement phase with 'Dot Day' which the children throughly enjoyed and created more amazing art!

The children truly have had the most wonderful start and we know they will continue their journey in 3 with confidence and resilience.

Mrs Barry- Y3 Team Leader

Year 3- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks!:

How many tens are in the number 34?

What is a force?

Can you describe yourself using adjectives?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y3...

The boy who grew dragons - Andy Shepherd

I am fabulous - Nicola Bedenham

24 Hours in the Stone Age - Usborne books

Year 4 News

Welcome back!

We have been so impressed with Year 4’s return to school. The children have settled in brilliantly and made an excellent start to the year.

In English, they have been writing build-up paragraphs inspired by The Dream Giver. Each child has thought about their own dream world, using expanded noun phrases and adverbial phrases to describe its setting.

In Maths, the children have been introduced to numbers up to 10,000 and have thoroughly enjoyed using our interactive place value charts on the iPads.

The children have thoroughly enjoyed reading our class novel, Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties, particularly our lesson where they got to taste Auntie Uzma’s double-fudge chocolate gâteau!

In History, they have been placing the Anglo-Saxon period on a timeline and discovering how key events in history can happen at the same time.

In Science, the children have been learning all about electrical circuits and their different components. They are especially excited to apply this knowledge next half-term when designing and making light-up Christmas decorations in DT.

Well done, Year 4! What a fantastic start you have made to the year – keep it up!

Mrs Batchelor – Year 4 Team Leader

Year 4- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks:

What is 10 more and less than 6,973?
What must a single clause sentence have?
How would you describe Humza's personality?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y4...

Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties

By Humza Arshad & Henry White

The Boy at the Back of the Class

By Onjali Rauf

The Land of Roar

By Jenny McLachlan

Year 5 News

What a brilliant first few weeks it has been in Year 5! Our amazing pupils have settled into their new routines seamlessly and have risen to every challenge with great determination! It is wonderful to see them put so much effort into their learning.

We have jumped straight into our learning journey and begun our history topic on the Victorians. This connects to our class reading, where the children have been diving into the delightfully gruesome world of the Vile Victorians (from the Horrible Histories collection) alongside The Little Match Girl Strikes Back. In RE, we have been exploring the core beliefs of Sikhism, while in Music, we have been mastering song creation. In French, we have been learning all about pets; in PSHE we have discussed what friendship means; and in computing, we have been learning about video creation.

Our young writers are making incredible strides in English. Our first few weeks were focused on sentence control; the pupils have practised building grammatically accurate single and multiclause sentences. They have since begun writing to entertain and are using writing tools to build tension and suspense in a narrative.

Meanwhile, in Maths, we have been practising our place value knowledge, working with numbers all the way up to the millions!

Looking ahead, the children will soon begin learning their lines for our upcoming Victorian-themed class assembly alongside an upbeat song describing the changes in Maidenhead during this era.

Over the next weeks, in Science and Art, we will also be launching into the cosmos to explore space and create stunning ‘spacescapes’.

It has been a remarkably busy start, but Year 5 pupils have proved they are more than ready for the year ahead. Well done, everyone!

Miss Scott and Mr Sawle, Year 5 Team Leaders

Year 5- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks:

Can you order these numbers in ascending order? 23,567 23,675 230,765 23,765
Can you find the subject and verb pairs in this multiclasue sentence? The curious traveller wandered through the woods as bats circled in the sky above.
How can you say: 'I have a cat called Snowy' in French?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y5...

The Little Match Girl Strikes Back by Emma Carrol

The Vile Victorians by Terry Deary and Martin Brown

Year 6 News

What a brilliant start to Year 6! We are so proud of how well the children have settled into their classes and how hard they have all been working. It has been great to see them start the year with such enthusiasm.

We have started some very exciting topics, including our WW2 unit, which we have been exploring across our history, English, and reading lessons. This links closely with our class book, When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle. In this book, we have already met some fascinating characters, including a very defiant boy and a large silverback gorilla called Adonis.

In English, taking inspiration from this text, the children have written their own descriptions of evacuees arriving in the countryside. We are immensely proud of the empathy they have shown in their writing, as well as their rich, descriptive language.

In maths, we have been looking at the place value of numbers up to 10 million. We have also been sharpening our problem-solving skills, including tackling some very challenging cryptarithms!

In science, we have been investigating how light travels through various experiments using equipment such as periscopes and kaleidoscopes.

Finally, we are really enjoying our art unit on local artist Stanley Spencer, and we are looking forward to our upcoming trip to Cookham in the coming weeks.

Well done, Year 6!

Mrs Morales - Y6 Team Leader

Year 6- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt over the last few weeks!:

How does light travel?
What themes are in Stanley Spencers artwork?
Tell me 5 facts about WW2 that you have learnt.

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y6...

SEND updates

Sept Newsletter 2026.pdf

FPSA Update

Welcome back! - A new school year 2026-2027

A big hello to everyone at the Juniors, we hope you all had a lovely summer. We have a busy line up of fundraising events planned including our second biggest, the Christmas Fair on Saturday 5th December - please save the date!

2nd hand uniform sale

Thank you to everyone who shopped at our recent 2nd hand uniform sale outside the uniform shed, despite a bit of rain it was worth the effort with £135 raised.

Oakwood Estates boards for upcoming Pop Music Bingo Night

In November, we are running a Pop Music Bingo Night hosted by Mr Jeff Lloyd. Oakwood Estates are kindly sponsoring this event by placing advertising boards around the area. We get paid up to £10 per board so a great little earner. Boards go up outside your house ~2 weeks before the event and come down a few days after. A very simple way to help raise money for both schools.

-> Please sign up here: https://forms.gle/jGp7Xvi6EaJRnF7N9

Dates for your Diary:

Mr T's Quiz Night - Friday 16th October (8-11pm)

Our next quiz night is next month at the Juniors hall. Ticket sales have already started well so get yours soon! Some absolute bangers in the music round!

Ticket link: www.pta-events.co.uk/fpsa

Happy School Bags - Monday 19th October (drop off)

Our next collection of unwanted clothes and other items is on the 19th October. Bags will go out about a week beforehand so you can have a good clear out!

Pop Music Bingo Night - Friday 13th November (8-11pm)

Our 3rd Bingo Night will be in November but this is the first to be hosted by Jeff Lloyd who is the host of the popular Vinyl Frontier nights at Norden Farm as well as resident quiz master and host of HitMix Bingo nights at The Craufurd Arms pub. Bingo games will include '80's monsters', '90's dance bangers', 21st century, cheese and more! Lots of prizes including £100 cash prize for the final game. It promises to be a very fun evening with plenty of sing songs and laughter.

Christmas Fair - Saturday 5th December (11.30am-2.30pm)

Our 2nd biggest fundraiser of the year is back, please save the date! We will need lots of help with this event from donating baked goods (cakes, cookies, flapjacks etc.), tombola gifts, secrets room gifts as well as helping to volunteer on a stall.

Junior Discos - Thursday 10th December (4-5pm & 5.15-6.30pm)

DJs King and Sawle are back in action!

Useful Information For Parents

Bowls Buddies School- free sessions!

We are officially a Bowls Buddies school! Thanks to this exciting initiative, we’ve been gifted a full set of indoor bowls, and Miss Gill has already been introducing the sport during PE lessons.

Bowls is a fantastic, highly inclusive sport that’s all about having fun and learning new skills. To help encourage the next generation of players, our local club is offering free Saturday morning sessions from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM for ages 8 to 16. The club boasts a brilliant facility—complete with plenty of parking, a cozy bar, and top-tier greens that host national indoor competitions!

It’s a wonderful way for kids to try something new, stay active, and make new friends. Check out the flyer/photo for more details and come along this Saturday to give it a roll!

FREE Junior Bowls Sessions - Desborough Bowling Club.pdf

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