The Last 3 Days of the Year

Well we knew it was too good to be true and very sadly, our Y6 bubbles "burst" at the final hurdle. This meant that all our final Y6 planned events- the Oscars ceremony, the Y6 Leavers' party and the Leavers' assembly had to be cancelled or move to zoom. What a sad end this has been for both our Y6 leavers' and the staff who have put their heart and soul into giving the children the best "send off" they could. Fortunately the Y6 will be left with the memories of the Y6 play which was absolutely fantastic- and we are thrilled we managed to pull this off the cases began to rise.

We still managed to do our Y6 Leavers' assembly and Oscars celebrations by zoom which allowed us to celebrate all the Y6 achievements as we wanted- just remotely! Well done to Helen Johnson, Y6 team leader who was interviewed live on BBC Berkshire to tell everyone how special our Y6 children and parents are!

Thank you so much to all the wonderful Y6 parents for their amazing support over the last week- the love and kindness you have shown to all our staff have really touched us and we thank you for all your kind words, cards and presents. For those families who have reached the end of their journey with us- we will miss you immensely.

Anna Clark, Mike Wallace and the Y6 team

Here are our prize winners this year:

Roller-Coaster Year draws to a close!

Wow! What a roller-coaster of a year we have had! This term in particular has been both the most challenging and exciting in equal measure! As you will see from the newsletter, we are extremely fortunate for all of our trips and most of our events to have actually occurred! Every week, we have had to plan for every eventuality. Schools all around us have had to close bubbles or cancel trips, and we have literally been on the edge of our seats wondering if all the hard work that has gone into the wonderful events of the final term would actually take place. We are one of the rare few schools who were bold enough to go ahead with the Y6 residential trip- and what fantastic experience this was for our children in a year where they have continually been disappointed. See more information in this newsletter along with all the other events and trips that have occurred - all in the last three weeks! These last two weeks have been incredibly frustrating as we have had 8 members of staff having to isolate- with some of our teachers back to zooming into their classes.

We also wanted parents to be a part of the end of term celebrations with our Year 6 leavers- we were thrilled to be able to put on the all-important Y6 play in our marquee which was absolutely fantastic! Such amazingly talented children (and staff for all the effort involved with creating the scenery, props and direction!). The marquee will also be used for our Y6 leavers' assembly on Wednesday morning.

Thank you for all your support during this crazy year. We wish our Y6 leavers all the luck in the world for their next stage of education. We are confident that FPJS has prepared you the best it can for your secondary educational life. Go forward, confident, full of passion for everything you do and with the resilience that you have shown over the last two years- we will miss you all!

For those who are returning in September, we look forward to welcoming you back with our new teams and a fresh start, hopefully without the "bubbles" and restrictions that have made life so uncertain for us all this year.

Enjoy the summer holidays everyone and thank you once again!

Mrs Clark

Message from our Governors

At the end of every school year, governors take time to reflect on what the schools have achieved and what we could have done to make things even better, both collectively and through our individual efforts. To say that this year has been a year that’s not been like any other is a cliché but it really hasn’t been!

Last September we returned to full time schooling in our bubbles and with new risk assessments and ways of working to be tested. We hope that you have been happy with those arrangements which have continued throughout the year when we were not “in lockdown”. As the Chair of Governors I’m proud of the way the leadership team reacted to change on an almost daily basis; they are an amazing team. Despite the challenges and for parents and carers, the challenge of children learning at home, it has been a really successful year for the Federation.

During our school visits (those now seemingly far off days) it was really inspiring to see a real hunger and enthusiasm among your children to learn. It is infectious and in no small part down to the great team of teachers. We have an exceptional staff team at both schools. They all go the extra mile to make the learning experience for the children the very best it can be. FPPF is a family and the work of the admin staff is equally important in making the school what it is. It amazes me that as a school we have achieved so much this last term to provide our children with the best transition possible.

Our continued thanks must also go to FPSA who provide that extra bit of funding to help provide the children with the best environment possible for the school. Fundraising this year has fraught with difficulty but the team has still delivered.

We hope that everyone enjoys their summer break however long or short it is. When we return in September hopefully we will be back to something that used to be considered normal.

Can I also on behalf of you all thank Mr. Wallace and the whole staff for the amazing way that they have adapted and risen above every challenge this year. It has been very special to watch them from afar and virtually.

We look forward to the new academic year with great hopes to continue the work of our schools.

Derek Moss, Chair of Governors

Classes for September 2021

As you will already be aware, we have some changes in staff for September (as reported in previous newsletters). Children had a chance to see their new teachers for September but unfortunately our transition day had to be changed slightly due to covid restrictions.

Our classes for September can be seen in the image below, with our new classroom names attached!

Y3 London Zoo Trip

On Friday 9th July, year 3 headed off to London Zoo.

The trip was originally linked to our rainforest topic but due to school closures and the trip being postponed, we just made the most of having a wonderful day out together, learning about the many different animals from around the world.

The weather was very kind to us, which meant we spent all day outdoors and were able to enjoy a picnic lunch together.

The children were beautifully behaved and thoroughly enjoyed all the amazing patterns, colours and shapes that nature had to offer. We were even able to walk inside cages with lemurs, monkeys, sloths...

A truly brilliant day that I hope the children won't soon forget.

See Year 3 News for photos.

Y4 Tudor Day

On Friday 9th, year immersed themselves in the past and experienced Tudor day in style!

In the morning, we spent some time learning about Tudor past times; playing chess, cards and badminton as well as creating our own coat of arms to represent our families. We also shared a Tudor banquet trying out a range of Tudor foods - some we liked, others weren't quite to our modern tastes. Thank you to all parents and carers for providing such a delicious feast.

In the afternoon, we completed some Tudor artworks, finishing off the other half of portraits of Tudor kings and queens. It really was a fantastic day and the children all looked wonderful in their costumes!

"My favourite bit was badminton because at the start I wasn't good but at the end I was excellent!" - Adam

"I really enjoyed the banquet because I tried new foods, my favourite was the ginger biscuits!" - Zoe

Resource Unit For September

The new Furze Platt Resource Provision coming soon… Building work has started on a brand new resource provision for children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on our site. It is hoped that the resource provision will be ready to open from October 2021.

The resource provision will support children with complex social communication difficulties and willbe part of the mainstream schools. The new facility will support children with EHCPs for complex needs including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The resource provision will be located on both the Infant and Junior school sites. We are delighted to announce that Miss Katie Thompson (currently a Year 2 FPIS teacher) has been appointed as the new Resource Base manager, across both sites.

The provision will enable us to continue to provide an inclusive environment for all our pupils and to further strengthen our sense of community across our schools. We will keep you updated with the building progress in September.

Mrs Endacott, Inclusion Manager

Y5 Kidzania Trip

After what can only be described as a "unique" year, we decided on an educational and also fun filled day out for the year 5 children to Kidzania.

We had a fantastic time with the children earning a salary for each of the different jobs they carried out over the course of the day. Favourites included the aviation academy, where the children used a flight simulator to become a pilot. The television studio was also popular, where a green screen enabled the children to present the weather along with a newdesk for the day's top stories. A surprisingly sought after job was that of a delivery person. For this the children had to ensure they took their parcels and letters to the correct addresses across Kidzania, without the parcel sustaining any damage. Some were more succesful at this than others!

A brilliant day was had by all. The children behaved fantastically all day and did a great job (no pun intended) of representing FPJS. Well done year 5!

Author zoom- AM HOWELL

Review written by Ethan HB, Tillie and Caitlin in Class KM

Are you a history and mystery lover? Well if so, Anne Marie's books are for you! Her latest book, "Mystery of the Night Walkers" is the latest historical mystery book by award-winning children's author A.M. Howell . The book is set in 1910 as Halley's Comet approaches its closest point to Earth leading to both trepidation and excitement among the general population.

We were lucky enough to see AM Howell by zoom and she was really inspiring as she has so many stories to tell- many of them based around history. In her writing, she produces so many twists and turns that it is really exciting to read. She also explained to us that her main characters always have a piece of herself in her stories which makes them so special.

She was really inspirational and it made us want to read more of her books in the future!

Hugo the "pets as therapy" dog

I am delighted to announce a new member to the Furze Platt family; meet Hugo the miniature schnauzer. Hugo has already been into school to meet all the children in their assemblies and he will continue to come to school once a week in the new academic year. Small groups of children will work with him in a separate room away from the classrooms.

While some children may have phobias of dogs, it is important to outline that Hugo the dog has been trained and only accepted to be of Pets as Therapy standard due to the fact he is well trained, calm around both children and adults and is incredibly docile. Alongside this he is well groomed and cleaned reducing any risk of allergies. We will be sending further details of his visits with consent forms in the autumn term.

Numerous research studies have shown the benefits of therapy dogs in schools. They have shown that they can help to provide a holistic and rich teaching environment developing cognitive, social, emotional and physical attributes for children. The evidence has shown that enjoying the companionship of a dog can help to stimulate memory, problem solving and to encourage playing games and turn taking. Alongside this it enables children to start asking questions and create discussions and encourages wellbeing and focused interaction with others. A school dog improves self-esteem, and lifts mood through fun and games. Playing and working with dogs can also teach compassion and respect for other living things as well as relieving anxiety. Most importantly for some pupils the biggest benefit will be that interacting with dogs can reduce blood pressure having a calming effect, and they can provide tactile stimulation for those who need it. It can also assist with motivation to encourage children to move, walk and stimulate the senses.

Mrs Endacott

Lion Club Swimarathon

Well done to all our pupils who participated in the Lion Club Swimathon! Our school entered 7 teams, all organised by Julie Parkinson. The children had a great time swimming together and the good news is this event also raised over £600 for the school. Each child below received a certificate for their participation:

Freddie & Pippa B in JF

Sam, Albert and Sky in KJS

Samuel and Andre in NH

William, Evie, Karina, Yazan and Daniel in JSF

Toby, Charlene, Zoe and Melinda in RL

Flynt, Remy, Edward, Katelyn, Elliott in CHJS

Anik in FK

Zack, Akram, Alex, James and Youssof in KM

Y3 on Radio Five Live!

If you missed it, two of our Year 3 pupils were interviewed live on 5 Live Breakfast on Friday 2nd July. Mrs Sweatman, who has been volunteering at the Euros as a steward, contacted BBC radio 5 live to share all the brilliant work the children have been doing on the countries taking part in the competition. Rushil from class KJS and Brownyn from class JF were interviewed live from their home at 7.20am to talk about their Ukraine projects. They both did the school proud in their interviews telling the nation some great facts about Ukraine and predicting the England vs Ukraine results; both predicted the England win but underestimated the goals scored!

Y3 on Radio 5 Live @ 1:17 into the programme

RBWM Active Travel Competition Winners!

Well done to all of our pupils who took part in a local competition to design a poster around the theme of road safety, air pollution and active walking/cycling to school. We are delighted to announce that the following children were selected as winners or runners up for their age group:

7-9Yrs Age Group

1st Place: Tijana in class KE- who wins a Frog bike, Frog Hoodie, Frog water bottle, spoke lights and bike lights- WOW!

3rd Place: Katie in class KE

10-11Yrs Age Group

2nd Place: Flynt in class CHJS

Runners up: Jessica in CHJS, Ellie in KM, Lizzie in KM and Edward in CHJS

Y6 Rhos-Y-Gwaliau Residential

What a trip ! The year 6's had a fantastic time in Rhos this year , taking part in an evening hill walk, canoeing, paddleboarding, a via ferrata , zipwire and gorge. Plus they had to make their own bed, tidy dorms , do chores and work together as a team. Hopefully since returning, they have continued to offer to vacuum the house and sort their own washing (!).

It was very different going in the summer as the night walk wasn't at night ( it was light) and we did not have the usual cold, wet and windy weather- although we did have to contend with an assortment of midges - some staff and children avoided getting bitten whereas others (Mrs Slyfield and Miss Johnson in particular) appeared to be incredibly tasty to the flying bugs. Luckily, we had a downpour on the last full day so the children got a taste of real Welsh weather just before they left.

We have been going to Rhos as a school for at least 40 years and this was nearly the first year group not to. We were very relieved with the Welsh Assemblies decision to change their laws at the last minute as the children go so much out of it. The staff at Rhos were amazing and they even purchased a giant outdoor screen and projector so we could celebrate the football together - memories they will never forget. The children were a credit to the school and a huge thanks to all the office staff for the mammoth effort in helping to organise this as well as all the staff who gave up a weekend to attend. A link with photos etc. will be sent to parents so they can share the memories . Roll on November - year 5 get ready.

YEAR 6 PLAY

Cue the music -light the lights - It's Robin and the Sherwood hoodies . Well what can we say - surely a career on the stage beckons for many of our year 6's after their brilliant performances. The play is so important in developing confidence no matter what part they play and this year the 6's have embraced the challenge with a fantastic attitude. In a year where I think they fully appreciated the opportunity to act, they learnt their lines promptly, worked hard in rehearsals and danced their socks off when asked.

The marquee added a unique element this year and it was fantastic to be able to welcome an actual audience to see how hard they had worked.

Thanks to all the staff who helped put on the show as it was a true behemoth of an effort this year.

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Stars of the week

Star of the week newsletter 16th July 2021

Well done to all our stars this week!

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.

Our stars are in a downloadable format if you want to print to keep!

TT Rock stars Update

Well done to everyone at FPJS who has made such a brilliant effort with their Times Tables this year! We are so proud of everyone's efforts- we have made it to 5th place out of nearby schools!

Well done to the top 10 fastest children in the school- particular well done to Yvan in Y6 who has held on to his number 1 spot nearly the whole year! Well done!

Sports Update

PE Lessons

Hello Everyone, what an end to the school year it has been! As we all know its been a challenging and difficult time in schools throughout this covid pandemic, but FPJS managed to make PE the best it possibly could be. Throughout the year we have covered many virtual games events, had different house competitions happening and of course tried to make our PE lessons for each class as fun for the children as we possible. Covering a numerous range of sports from Cricket, Netball, Basketball, Athletics, Rounders, Scatterball, Kickball, General Fitness and plenty more. Mr Kemp and Mrs Winter are exceptionally proud in how all the pupils handled such a drastic change in how PE was structured during this school calendar year. The children's participation has been exceptional throughout 2020-2021, so a big WELL DONE to every single pupil involved. We are already looking forward to the new start coming up in September 2021.

By Mr Kemp/Mrs Winter

FPJS SUMMER CAMPS

Will your children need something to do in the upcoming summer holidays. Then look no further, at FPJS we are running two weeks worth of summer holiday clubs for your children to be in a fun, friendly and safe environment. Plenty of sporting activities will be on offer as well as good quality childcare from our amazing school staff. Lots of socialising with fellow pupils and not to mention making new friends during the summer. The dates for the summer clubs are :

26th July - 30th July (week 1)

2nd August - 6th August (week 2)

For any information please get in contact with Mr Kemp via email on tomkemp@fpjs.org.uk

THE STAGE IS YOURS 2021...

Looking for something different for your child this summer then look no further. Launching in Maidenhead this August at Furze Platt Junior School! Spend a week of your summer learning dramatic scenes and dance routines from hit West End and Broadway musicals.
9th - 13th August
Furze Platt Junior School,
Maidenhead, SL6 6HQ.

9am-3:15pm daily (wrap around care available until 4:15pm*) Suitable for ages 6-11yrs.

Please see the link below for all the information you need!

The Stage is Yours 2021

Year Group Updates

Year 3 News

I can't believe that this is the last time I will be writing the newsletter. This year has flown by in a flash and as we look at the children, it's hard to believe they are the same cute, anxious children we met a year ago as they prepared to join the junior school. They have had an amazing year and we couldn't be prouder of how much they have grown in maturity and independence and the enormous amount they learnt. In many ways, it's been a strange year with several months learning having been online, but they have continued to show resilience and positivity throughout and I believe have come out stronger because of it.

Over the last few weeks we've done a combination of finishing off our curriculum for the year and more project based work. In English, the children have worked in groups to write a playscript based on their Ancient Egyptian learning and have also written and recorded their own Year 3 reports which they made into movies using KeyNote. In maths, we've revisited some learning e.g. measurement and data handling but also had some fun playing maths games and coming up with ideas to design and make our own.

In science, we have worked on a STEM (science, technology engineering and maths) project about Kite building. The children have found out loads about kites and had a go and making a prototype of a delta kite which they then had great fun flying. We also linked this learning to Guided Reading where we have been looking at the book, 'Night sky dragons'. In topic, they learnt how to mummify a body and created some fabulous booklets. We were also very lucky to enjoy the year 3 guitar assembly.

As we quickly approach the end of year 3, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to our year 3 parents for the incredible amount of support they have shown us this year. Throughout, we have been supported and encouraged by your positivity, kindness and little notes and emails of thanks and appreciation have made it so much easier for us to keep smiling and doing our best for your children. We would like to say well done to every single child!!! You have been absolutely brilliant and we have loved teaching you this year. We wish you and fantastic, happy and successful year 4 and we hope that you all have a safe and enjoyable summer.

By Mrs Fitzgibbon

Year 4 News

What a crazy, unpredictable and amazing year we have had.

In recent weeks, we enjoyed our trip to Hampton Court Palace which built on our learning about the Tudors. We spend the morning exploring Henry VIII's apartments and kitchens and couldn't believe how large the fireplaces were! After picnicking on the lawn, we then moved on to explore the grounds and gardens of the beautiful palace, soaking up the sun and taking in the impressive architecture. Thank you to all the parent helpers who made this trip possible!

As well as this, on Tuesday, we participated in STEM day which saw us finishing and decorating our wooden frames and building and testing floating platforms. The team work we witnessed was fantastic and one of the platforms built held a whopping 4700g! English and maths have seen us planning dream holidays, finishing off Charlotte's Web and spending some well deserved time saying goodbye to one another.

We are so incredibly proud of everything that the children have achieved this year. You have shown resilience, perseverance and determination in the face of so much change and have still managed to progress and develop. We hope that you will enjoy the last few days of term with your teachers and will treasure your memories of year 4.Thank you also to all parents/carers who have supported the children and the school this year, we are ever grateful for your enthusiasm. Enjoy your summer holidays, take a good rest and best of luck in year 5!

By Miss Lawrence

Year 5 News

What an unbelievable year we have had in year 5! It seems like a lifetime ago when we welcomed the children to us, started learning about the space race and began our rehearsals for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

More recently, our visit to Kidzania was a huge success, although the adults were quite jealous that they were not allowed to try out all of the different careers! Following our trip, the children went on to write job advertisements inspired by some of the careers they tried.

We have thoroughly enjoyed making our own maths board games. The children chose a theme for their game before making the board, creating question cards, making counters and even their own dice. They then went on to write a set of instructions to ensure others were able to understand how to play. Great fun was had by all playing the games with some sure to be destined for the shelves of WHSmith soon!

Our Natural Disasters topic has concluded this year with work on extreme weather and the impact humans can have. The children have spent some time considering the best way to help others change their ways for the good of the planet. From this, the children have created posters, information leaflets, news report and short films explaining the issues the world faces and detailing the ways we can help. The final results have been fantastic and very compelling!

The children have grown so much in their indepedence and resilience this year, especially when having to deal with the constantly changing world around them. We are proud of each and every one of them, and know they will do fantatstically in year 6. We hope that the children enjoy their last few days in year 5 and wish you all a wonderful summer holiday.

By Miss Moakes

Year 6 News

This year has been full of surprises - some not so good ( more lockdown) and some brilliant - Rhos on , then off , then ON - but whatever it has thrown at us the year 6's have coped admirably with everything.

This year we have managed to squeeze a lot into a shorter amount of time including studying light, the Maya people, the Battle of Britain, the effects of Palm Oil, Giacometti sculptures, Stanley Spencer, Jazz, Goodnight Mr Tom as well as Rhos, the play, the Oscars and the Maths business project - Phew !

The year 6 team have thoroughly enjoyed teaching and that is mainly to do with the smashing effort and behaviour of the year 6 children who have made this year so rewarding.

We all wish them every success as they move forwards to their new school and are incredibly glad we managed to give them the end of year experience they deserved. Take care year 6 and well done all of you.

By Miss Johnson

Books for the summer- GET AHEAD FOR NEXT YEAR

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. We cannot wait to open up our library next year when Covid restrictions are lifted. Many thanks to parents who have donated new books to our school- I was recently gifted a fantastic book called..... by Coral Rumble, a local author and I would definitely recommend this to our Year 5 and 6 readers (pictured).

All of our teaching teams have set their new classes reading challenges over the summer and I hope that they will find time to curl up with a book and get lost in a different world. If you are struggling for ideas for your children, here are a brilliant list of possible reads. Remember, you can often get these books from the library. Children love to browse and look through books too- so it is a great summer activity to get into! Try the library challenge too for an added incentive- click on the link below to see the RBWM library challenge video:

Library challenge RBWM video link

Year 3 suggested reads

Year 4 suggested reads

Year 5 suggested reads

Year 6 suggested reads

Housepoints: Vikings win the trophy this year!

Summer Reading Challenge

schools intro letter SRC teacher JK parent 2021.doc

Useful Information For Parents for the Summer Holidays

Musical summer.pdf

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