Well it's all doom and gloom in the news with regards to covid, but here at FPJS we have much better news- we have currently have virtually no cases in school and at present we are able to run so many exciting events in the lead up to Christmas. The Christmas season officially kicked off with a fantastically bright, modern and upbeat performance of "Cinderella"- which the children (and staff) thoroughly enjoyed!

The Year 3 children are currently rehearsing with gusto for their Christmas performances. If you are a Y3 parent, you are in for a treat! Having popped in to a few rehearsals, the standard of singing and acting is incredibly high- but most importantly, their enthusiasm and passion for performing is second to none.

Also this week, we will be giving out our annual Christmas Homework to all children across the school. This gives children a little break from their "normal" homework and allows them to tap into their creativity a bit more! Year groups have sent this via Seesaw but you can also find a copy at the end of the newsletter. Children can enter as many pieces as they like and each class will choose an overall winner where points will be earned for this inter-house competition.

Two weeks until we break up for the holidays, but lots of exciting things to enjoy!

Anna Clark, Head of School

Cinderella performance started our Christmas celebrations at FPJS!

Diary Dates... Coming Up Soon

Tues 7th Dec: Wren Class Xmas Play performance 9.15am
Weds 8th Dec: Robin Class Xmas Play performance 9.15am
Thurs 9th Dec: Finch Class Xmas Play performance 9.15am
Fri 10th Dec: Christmas Jumpers Day for Daisy's dream (see info below)
Mon 13th Dec: House Christmas singing practice for inter-house competition
Weds 15th Dec: Christmas Lunch, film afternoon and staff carol singing at school pick up
Thurs 16th Dec: Guitar concert (invited parents only) 2.30pm
Fri 17th Dec: Non-uniform day and End of term (normal ending time)

Viking Day for Y4

On the 22nd November, Year 4 participated in a Viking Day! The children came to school dressed up and enjoyed participating in some very exciting activities.

Using aluminium wire, the children crafted Troll Crosses. These were amulets worn by the Vikings to ward off malevolent magic! Afterwards, we created Viking longboats. These took a lot of concentration and perseverance, but the finished product looked great!

The most exciting part of the day was having a visitor from the Viking times! Astrid came to FPJS to tell us all about how her people rowed in a longboat all the way from Denmark to Lindus Farm in the UK. As well as this, she taught us all about Viking gods and goddesses and even told us the story of how Thor, a Norse God, tricked a giant into giving him his hammer back.

It was a really exciting day in which the children learnt lots about the Vikings. Well done Year 4!

Y6 Residential to Rhos-Y-Gwaliau

Rhos is an integral part of Year 6 and we are glad that so many children got a chance to visit this iconic centre. As a family run business it really is unique in the field of outdoor centres. The children were a credit to the school and had a fantastic time. They threw themselves into the activities and came back with loads of brilliant ideas and anecdotes. They should now be more independent - let them make their lunch!

The striking Welsh countryside allowed them to experience going down a slate mine , gorge walking , canoeing and even a hill trail without adults - most found their way back to the centre!

Huge thanks to all the staff and parents who went on the trip - without them it just wouldn't happen and it is hard work for them as they are on call 24/7 during the trip.

There will be a meeting very soon for Year 5 parents to tell you all about it and hopefully lots more children will get to experience this wonderful trip.

Y3 wows school with samba performance!

This week, Year 3 concluded their samba workshops with a fantastic musical performance for Y5!

The children have used a range of instruments to improve their rhythm, dynamics and tempo, carefully following the directions of a 'conductor' to keep them in time. They've had loads of fun learning about the history of samba and how it is used in Brazil as festival music. The improvement from week one has been phenomenal and we are very grateful to Berkshire Maestros for facilitating the experience.

We have been so impressed by how well the children have listened to one another to stay in time with their part. Please see your child's seesaw for a recording of the performance.

School Council Update

Our school council have been busy with their first meetings of the year. Each elected member met to discuss key issues that the children feel need to be tackled this year in school to make our school even better! The main topic was how we can become more eco and we discussed different aspects of this. Our future meetings this year will mainly focus on working towards being accredited with the eco-school green flag award.

not too late to order books...

On Wednesday 24th November, we enjoyed the inspiring PHILIP REEVE talking about his new novel UTTERLY DARK AND THE FACE OF THE DEEP.

and on Wednesday 1^st December, we enjoyed GREG JAMES and CHRIS SMITH! Radio 1 broadcasters and bestselling authors of KID NORMAL, talking about THE GREAT DREAM ROBBERY!

Both books are still available to purchase, with the added bonus of being signed by the authors! Click on the links below:

Greg James and Chris Smith book order

Philip Reeve Book order

FPJS wins four trees!

Congratulations to our fabulous pupils Lucas, Phoebe and Amelia (Y5) and Shreya (Y6) who won our school four trees to be planted. Also pictured is Cameron (Y2 FPI). The eco-friendly pupils entered the Maidenhead Advertiser competition to win trees by explaining why we need more trees in Maidenhead. The trees the children have won are all native species – crab apple - malus ‘Evereste’, flowering cherry – prunus ‘autumnalis rosea’ and mountain ash – sorbus ‘aucuparia’ and are being supplied by specialists at Stubbings Nursery Ltd, Maidenhead. Well done!

We have also recently gained a further free tree via the Queen's Canopy Charity which encourages different schools and community groups to plant a tree ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

By planting all of our new trees, FPJS is doing one small step towards being more eco-friendly, and enhancing our environment.

Help us raise funds for Daisy's Dream

On Friday, 10th December we would like all children to swap their usual FPJS school jumper for something more festive! Come to school in a Christmas jumper and in exchange make a donation to Daisy's Dream, our nominated local charity which supports bereaved families. The charity has supported a number of children linked closely to the school over the years and relies on donations from the community to support children who have lost a special person. You can donate here by clicking on the link below:

Daisy's Dream donation

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Stars of the week

Star of the week newsletter 5 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 Rockstars Update

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

The photos in this edition show the current leaders from Years 3 to 6 and the top 3 children who have made the biggest improvements in the last two weeks from each year group.

Also well done to Skye, Yusuf, Lily and Nikhil in Year 3 who have all achieved Level 10 of their cracking times tables. Fantastic effort!

Sports Update

PE News!

A freezing cold and wet few weeks in PE lately has certainly challenged and tested a lot of our pupils. With lots of heavy rain and a snowy Monday, our PE staff have had to adapt the sessions accordingly. With plenty of Netball still being played amongst different year groups, we have also used big circuit stations on the playground to get all the children moving and keeping warm. Each station consisted of a different sport or particular skill, so a range of movement and coordination could be occurring at different times. Skills inclucded netball shooting, hockey dribbling, on the spot skipping and even some sports hall athletics relay running.

A HUGE thank you and well done to Mrs Winter and Mr Sawle for helping out last minute and filling in for the PE sessions due to Mr Kemp being absent. It is not easy when you have to make last minute changes to any lesson, especially in terrible weather conditions and very limited indoor spacing. These two members of staff certainly showed what working as a team looks like, we salute you!

By Mr Kemp/Mrs Winter

y4/5/6 rbwm Cross Country RESults...

On Wednesday 10th November, a team of pupils took part in the annual Cross Country competition held at Altwood School which included 14 other school teams from the Borough.

I am happy to report that the results for this competition were received last week and FPJS did brilliantly. We took two teams to this competition and they both placed in the top six. Out of 16 teams who ran in this event, FPJS finished an impressive 2nd and 6th place. This wonderful achievement meant that FPJS team 1 picked up a silver medal position! Well done to all participants again who took part in such a challenging cross country course. A special mention to Mrs Tisshaw for taking all the children involved in this competition.

PE Stars of the Week

Class Swan - Harry D, Lucas

Class Heron - Archie, Adam

Class Comorant -Katelyn, Alfie

Class Kite - Amelia, Alexa

Class Eagle - Liam D, William B

Class Kestrel - William G, Alice

Class Swift - Roman, Cleo

Class Kingfisher - Joseph T, Sophia

Class Skylark - Albert, Aiden

Class Wren - Ilyana, Rosie

Class Robin - Skye, Lily T

Class Finch - Henry B, Berna

Well done to all the PE stars over the last few weeks!

Year 6 Football Match

On Wednesday 24th we took on Braywick Court in our first league fixture of the season. It was a tough test for the team considering they had all never played together before. Braywick started strong and scored early on the clock to make the first half a tight 1-0 lead to the away side. FPJS certainly had chances in the 2nd half but unfortunately could not prevail. Then sadly late on towards the end of the match Braywick made a quick counter and slotted the ball away for a 2-0 victory. A big well done to all the boys involved. There were lots of positives to take into our next game which will be held on Thursday 9th December at home to All Saints.

Year Group Updates

Year 3 News

2 weeks left of term and we can't quite believe how much we have done. Our afternoons have been filled with play rehearsals including costuming, singing and practicing our acting - we definitely have some budding performers in our year group! We hope that parents are ready and excited for our Christmas performances because we're very much looking forward to showing you our hard work!

In English, we have been learning about the poem The Sound Collector and writing our own versions thinking about what sounds could have been stolen from school. Our maths learning has seen us continuing with multiplication and using written methods to solve multiplication sums. In topic, we have been learning about map skills; identifying the points of the compass, finding the names of key cities and counties and plotting a route on a road map. In computing, we have been using spark video to record our sound collector poems so keep an eye on seesaw in the coming weeks.

Mrs Lawrence-Davis Y3 Team Leader

Year 3- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt:

What instrument did you play in your samba performance? Explain what rhythm you played and the best way to hold the instrument.

What are the 8 compass points you have been learning about in topic?

our current reads we are enjoying in Y3...

Below are some of the texts that Year 3 have been enjoying as part of their comprehension lessons and for pleasure:

Year 4 News

Year 4 have been working so hard over the last few weeks. We have been writing story build ups using the Dream Giver for inspiration. Our children have worked so hard to build up suspense! As well as focusing on the content of our writing, Year 4 have also been working hard to improve and join their handwriting. A special well done to Rares, Marni, Katherine, Tawana, Arthur, Sky, Maria, Farhan and Samaira for being the first children to achieve their Pen Licence!

In maths, we have moved onto learning about converting measurements and measuring perimeter. Last week, we used measurement conversions to draw a timeline and plot important points in history!

We have been continuing to learn about the digestive system in science and, in particular, the food pyramid. We have learnt all about balanced diets and why we need to eat a variety of food from different food groups.

Our Anglo Saxon pots are finally back from the kiln and we are looking forward to glazing these over the next few weeks.

Mrs Barbosa Y4 Team Leader

Year 4- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt:

Can you explain how to use multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 to convert beween millimetres, centimetres, metres and kilometres?

Why do we need to eat a balanced diet?

Why are some parts of the food pyramid bigger than others?

our current reads we are enjoying in Y4...

Below are some of the books that Year 4 have been enjoying, as part of their book talk lessons and for pleasure!

Year 5 News

Over the last two weeks year 5 have been busy with a whole host of activities! The children have been working very hard on their figurative language and have created some excellent poems inspired by the work of Adisa the Verbaliser. By the time you read this the children will have had the opportunity to perform their poems as part of the Year 5 poetry slam!

As part of our design and technology work, we have been investigating pulleys, levers and gears. The children are now well on the way to designing and making their own drawbridge using their learning.

The children have been developing their historical research skills by analysing a wide variety of primary and secondary sources to learn about the history of our school. There were some familiar (if slightly younger!) faces along with some interesting discrepancies in the sources which have led to some excellent discussions into the challenges facing historians.

Having watched the Year 3's fantastic samba performances, we are very excited to be starting our own unit of samba after Christmas!

Miss Moakes Y5 Team Leader

Year 5- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt:

Name two different types of figurative language and give me an example of each one.

What is the difference between gears, pulleys and levers and where might they be used?

How has FPJS changed since it first opened?

our current reads we are enjoying in Y5...

The Year 5 children would like to recommend the following books:

Year 6 News

It is that time of year when you want to settle down with a bowl of vegetable soup and that is what Year 6 are learning about at the moment. This week they have been writing the recipe and looking at why it is such a nutritious meal and great value to make and comparing homemade with shop bought varieties. Hopefully, by the end of the unit, they will know how they can rustle up this tasty treat and it will be something they can make when they are students in the future!

The Battle of Britain was a key turning point in the war and we have just started learning about why the war started and main events before we find out about the very important work of Hugh Dowden and why "The Few" were so highly valued. Watch this space as we are hoping a trip linked to this topic will soon be happening.

We have had a lot of fun thinking about our future selves in English and writing our very own biographies of our lives to come. There have been some hilarious future careers and relationships and lots of great ambitions for the future - if their writing is anything to go by, the class of 2022 from FPJS are going to solve most of the world's problems - good to know!

Miss Johnson Y6 Team Leader

Year 6- What are we learning?

Ask your child the following questions to see what they have learnt:

What can you tell me about Judaism?

When was World War II and what can you tell me about why it happened and who was involved?

What is a common denominator - how do you work them out?

our current reads we are enjoying in Y6...

It's all about war stories in year 6 at the moment:

We are just starting Goodnight Mr. Tom by Michelle Margorian all about evacuation in World War II and another pupil recommended "Wave Me Goodbye" by Jacqueline Wilson which is also set in the war.

For something slightly different try Michael Morpugo's - When Fishes Flew

Housepoints:

Useful Information For Parents

fpjs Christmas Homework Inter-House Competition 2021

Christmas homework competitions 2021.pdf

Raring2go! Maidenhead & Windsor.... win books for fpjs in 1 click!

If you are looking for great ideas for your family to have fun, get out and about, make things and generally enjoy the Winter season, we’re sure you will find the following online magazine useful to keep the kids entertained during the Winter months…

Plus, they are running a Book Bundle Competition specifically for Schools in this edition and we would really like FPJS to win! All you need to do is just click on the advert on page 25!

Thanks for your support!

https://magazines.raring2go.co.uk/maidenheadandwindsor/winter/

Share your experiences of accessing GP (General Practice) services in the last six months

Healthwatch East Berkshire (Slough, Bracknell Forest, Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead) want to hear about your experiences accessing GP services in the last 6 months, so that they can help the NHS understand what is working well and what could be better.

You can help by completing the following survey, and sharing your experiences:

www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/GPaccessEB/ The survey is anonymous and is open until 31st December

2021.

The survey asks for feedback on how you contacted your GP practice, how you booked an appointment and how your appointment went.

If you need this form in another format or version, please contact Healthwatch East Berkshire on 0300

0120184, email chaia.dechen@healthwatchslough.co.uk or enquiries@healthwatchslough.co.uk or visit www.healthwatchslough.co.uk

Please do share this far and wide!

34b34c69973f68a3131854c63ec9f840.pdf