December Update

What a busy term it has been so far! And there are so many more exciting things to come in the final two weeks as we lead up to Christmas! Our Year 6 children and staff returned from safely from Rhos-Y-Gwaliau last week, exhausted but elated by the experiences they had up in North Wales. For parents who have younger children, the Y6 residential is simply one of the highlights of Y6- it promotes independence and a chance to develop team working skills at the same time as trying out new experiences in a very different environment to Maidenhead. you can read all about it in this newsletter!

We have already begun our Christmas events- the panto this week was brilliant- and our staff were very involved too- well done to Mr Bowen, Mrs Keating-Bell, Miss Morales and Mr Sawle who were picked out to do some dancing on stage! We have also been practising Christmas songs, Y3 are busy finalising their Christmas plays and making lanterns, we have also had a brilliant house quiz and cross-country event and a fantastic poet into school. You can read more about all of these events and find out what each year group has been learning later in the newsletter.

We look forward to seeing you all at the FPSA Christmas Fair on Saturday- please come along and support this event to help us raise much needed funds for all the brilliant things we do at FPJS. Our wonderful choir, led by Mr Bowen will be singing at the start of the event to get us all in the Christmas spirit!

Anna Clark

Head of School

Website including housepoints update

Curriculum

Lunch Menu

Term Dates 22-23

Well-being

Calendar

Quick Links

Coming up soon:

Saturday 3rd December: FPSA Christmas Fair
Tues 6th December: 9.15am Y3 Wren Class Christmas play
Weds 7th December: 9.15am Y3 Robin Class Christmas play
Thurs 8th December 9.15am Y3 Finch Class Christmas play
Thurs 8th December-Y4 at Christmas Unwrapped- St Peter's Church
Fri 9th December: Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children
Fri 9th December: Y3/4 Disco 3-4pm; Y5/6 Disco 5.15pm-6.30pm
Weds 14th December: Christmas Lunch & Christmas Homework competitions due in
Thurs 15th December: Guitar assembly 2.30pm (invited parents only)
Fri 16th December: End of term (normal finish time)

Adisa the verbaliser- poetry performance

Last week, we had the fantastic Adsia the Verbaliser join us for a whole school performance and discussion about his poetry. The interactive session involved the children thinking carefully and discussing the meaning behind his poems alongside considering the language choices he has used. Adisa talked to the children about his inspiration and how he much preferred writing poems for children as they were more honest about his work! The children greatly enjoyed the laugh out loud session and now know why he calls his book a "bookie"!

Following this, the year 5 children were very lucky enough to spend the afternoon with Adisa in poetry workshops. For the last two weeks, the children have been writing their own poems based on Adisa's work, The Barbershop Blues. They took the opportunity to share their writing so far and developed their work further with the help of Adisa. If you are a year 5 parent or carer, look out for these on Seesaw in the near future.

Adisa' book of poems, Lip Hopping with the Fundi-Fu, is available to purchase online. However, if you would like a signed copy, please contact Adisa directly via email and he will organise payment and for a signed copy to be sent to your address:

adisapoet@googlemail.com

Oh Yes It Is! Christmas Panto Comes to FPJS!

A magical and hilarious time was had by all the children when they watched Aladdin, the Christmas pantomime this week. The moving sets enabled us to explore the streets of Agrabah with Aladdin and his best friend, Abu before diving into the Cave of Wonders and meeting the singing genie with his cosmic powers. All of the children got involved with the traditional thigh-slapping comedy whilst also enjoying the more up-to-date musical interludes and songs. The brilliant costumes and lighting added to a thoroughly enjoyable performance that captivated the children and had them in stitches! Notable highlights included a mischievous camel, a singing carpet and some surprise audience participation dancing from Mr Bowen, Miss Keating-Bell, Miss Morales and Mr Sawle.

Year 6 Residential Trip to North Wales

WOW! What an incredible week Year 6 had in Wales. All the staff are so proud of the resilience, team work and courage all of the children showed throughout the week.

All of the children took part in a range of activities including: mountain climbing, rock climbing, canoeing, gorge walking, orienteering and much more! It was fantastic to see what the children are capable of and many of them surprised themselves with the amazing activities they accomplished. They had to face freezing waters, steep uphill walks, heights and put their trust in others. No matter what the children faced, they all came back smiling and excited to share their achievements with their peers back at the centre.

Throughout the week, they were given lots of chores such as making their own packed lunch, tidying their dorms every morning (ready for a strict dorm inspection), hoovering and even making their bed. We hope they have demonstrated some of these skills back at home!

It really is one of the highlights of the year and we hope the children made lots of fond memories that will stay with them forever. We look forward to taking Year 5 on this trip next year!

Stars of the week - Class Stars & PE Stars

inter-house fun: quiz of the year

All the children been putting their knowledge to the test over the last few weeks, taking part in our annual inter-house quiz competition. This year, our quizzes were completed using our ipads, where the children were given points not only for getting the right answer, but also for being the fastest too! There was a lot of excitement in all of the year groups and our final winners overall were:

Y3/4: Vikings 1st, Romans 2nd and Normans 3rd (Top team Y3 was Romans table 2/ Top team Y4 was Normans table 3

Y5/6: Normans 1st, Vikings 2nd, Danes 3rd (Top team Y5 was Romans table 4 / Top team Y6 was Normans table 3

INTER-HOUSE FUN: CROSS COUNTRY

All of our children took part in a fun cross country running event over the last few weeks, supervised by Mr Wallace. The children really showed energy and determination in the long-distance race and there were some super performances. The final results were:

Y3/4 Overall: Romans 1st, Normans 2nd, Danes 3rd

Y5/6 Overall: Normans 1st, Vikings 2nd, Danes 3rd

Well done to the following children who came top 3 in their year:

Star of the week newsletter 2nd Dec

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.

TT Rock stars Update

Well done to all our children who have started using TT rock stars regularly to practise times tables! Here are our top 10 for each year group and those who have made the most progress in the last 2 weeks.

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.

Year Group Updates

Year 3 News

We have had another wonderful couple of weeks in Year 3!

The children have really enjoyed completing our poems this week and creating videos to accompany these in English.

We have also enjoyed learning our 3, 4 and 8 times tables over the past 2 weeks. The children have used the manipulatives and knowledge of doubling to help them.

We were very fortunate to have some visitors from Norden Farm Centre of Arts this week, who helped us to make some bunny lanterns. The children made the frames and then covered these before adding detail. They all looked wonderful and the children were so pleased with their results!

We have also had a a panto and some dress down days which have been so much fun!

We have also been practising so hard for our Christmas play which takes place next week!

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!:

What words start with the prefix re?

How can you use the 4 times tables to help with the 8 times tables?

What features of a poem can you remember?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y3...

Matilda - Roald Dahl

The Iron Man - Ted Hughes

The magic box poem - Kit Wright

Year 4 News

Another great few weeks in year 4. We have enjoyed some dress down days, a Christmas panto and have spent this morning doing an inter house quiz and cross country! It has been great to see some of the children's hidden talents!

In English, the children have published their leaflets persuading people to visit Oaken Grove park. In the new year, some of the best leaflets will be sent to RBWM and these will be displayed in the park. Keep an eye out to see our fabulous work!

We completed maths assessments this week which have shown that our children have made such huge progress already this year. We are seeing a great improvement in children's times tables knowledge. This is something that we are going to continue working on over the next few weeks. Keep using TTRS!

DT has been very hands on over the last few weeks. The children have been involved in making their own steady hand games using their knowledge of circuits from our science lessons last half term.

Mrs Barbosa Y4 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 are some of the reasons that a river may flood?

Why must we use conductors in our steady hand game?

Can you explain how to find the area of a shape?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y4...

Skygazing - Anna Claybourne

Arthur and the Golden Rope - Joe Todd Stanton

I am the Seed that Grew the Tree - Fiona Waters and Frann Preston-Gannon

Year 5 News

Another full on few weeks in Year 5! It is that time of the term where all of their learning is coming together and the children are building up knowledge in all areas of the curriculum.

In writing, Y5 have been inspired by Adisa the Verbaliser and his poetry workshop. They have now published their poems on Seesaw using iPads and I really hope you enjoy reading your child's poem. Can you guess which task they loathe doing? Some children have had the opportunity to showcase their poems in our Poetry Slam this afternoon. It was brilliant to see their hard work.

In maths, we have completed all 3 assessments and I have been proud of how Y5 children have undertaken them. There was a lot of papers to complete, but they did them all sensibly and maturely. Well done! The assessments also show just how much progress the children have made which is always pleasing to see.

In DT, we have been continuing to make our lever and pulley systems which has kept the children very busy and engaged. They have used their knowledge of forces to help with the making of their prototype.

We are very much looking forward to a busy lead up to Christmas and all the fun we are going to be having.
Keep up the great work, Y5! Not long to go now.

Miss Edwards, Y5 Team Leader

Year 5- What are we learning?

Can you name some monster body parts in French?

What is a modal verb and how can you use it in a sentence?

How do you measure the perimeter of a 2D shape?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y5...

Katherine Johnson A Life Story - Leila Rasheed

Strange But True - Kathryn Hulick

The Violet Veil Mysteries - Sophie Cleverly

Year 6 News

After recovering from Rhos, we have got back into the swing of the curriculum with some festive fun beginning along the way. This week we had a chance to watch the Aladdin pantomime and soon we will be watching the Year 3's perform their Christmas play.

In English, we have fast forwarded to the year 2052 and have been writing our own biographies. These have highlighted some of the children's aspirations as well as some rather humorous challenges they encountered along the way. We are now moving onto our persuasive writing unit!

In maths, we have been learning to multiply and divide fractions which has brought us to the end of our fraction unit. The children have done really well to keep up with the various methods needed to work out a range of questions using the four operations.

In Geography, we have been exploring the UK. In particular, we have been looking at famous landmarks and the most well known human and physical features in each country. In DT, they have observed the methods needed to make a healthy, seasonal soup and next week we will be putting their cooking skills to the test.

We look forward to rounding off these units and bringing more festive fun to our school day and learning.

Miss Morales, Y6 Team Leader

Year 6- What are we learning?

How have industries changed in the UK over time?

What does K,C,F stand for when dividing fractions - can you show an example?

Give 3 formal words you discovered this week and their meaning.

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y6..

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S Lewis

The 1000 Year Old Boy - Ross Welford

Great Adventures - The incredible expedition of 20 explorers - Alastair Humphrey

Sports Update

Football Update

Furze Platt B vs Holy Trinity B

Furze Platt kicked off their first home game of the year to Holy Trinity on Thursday 24th November. With the sky looking like it could pour with rain at any minute, the players warmed up for what could have been a very, very wet game - which of course, it was!

Furze Platt started well with Luca B and Rishaan V starting to pass the ball around nicely. It wasn't long before Furze Platt started knocking on the door for the first goal making the Holy Trinity goalkeeper make quite a few saves, all being tipped round the corner of his posts to go out for corners. However, Furze Platt's determination was relentless and soon enough they broke the deadlock with a fine goal from William B.

It wasn't long however before the heavens opened and the rain came pouring. Nevertheless, Furze Platt was now firmly in the driving seat. Passes were being strung together nicely and we quickly sneaked another well worked goal from Harrison F, who was fresh off the bench and clearly eager to make an impact. Then with 3 minutes to go until the half time whistle, captain Archie C unleashed a first time rocket of a shot from 20yds out, which nestled perfectly into the Holy Trinity net, hopefully earning himself £7.50 from his Dad for scoring in his first game for the school.

The second half was no different for Furze Platt. More and more passes were being played and more and more rain was falling, causing the pitch in some places to form massive puddles. The team looked like a group of players that had played with each other for years and even with the ball getting stuck in the puddles, the team continued to try and pass the ball to each other and dribble through the Holy Trinity defence. It wasn't long before the score line changed with the next 3 goals coming from Luca B, Rishaan V and Liam D.

The game ended 6 - 0 to Furze Platt B. A special mention to Max J for not only playing up a year against Yr 6s but also for standing in goal, freezing cold, soaking wet and only getting to kick the ball 3 times. Other mentions to William G and Harry W for playing incredibly well in defence and dealing with any pressure from Holy Trinity efficiently and effectively. Man of the Match went to Liam D for his tenacious nature while covering every blade of grass on the pitch as well as getting himself on the scoresheet.

Goal Scorers -

1. William B

2. Harrison F

3. Archie C (C)

4. Luca B

5. Rishaan V

6. Liam D

Well done to everyone involved.

Mr King

Netball squad update

Over the past couple weeks, our Netball team have continued their fixtures against other schools in the Borough.

On Wednesday 9th November, Furze Platt hosted Courthouse school. This was a great game after a slow start, Furze Platt settled into a good, steady rhythm. It was great to see everyone rising to the challenge and showing encouragement to others. A special mention to Will C who led the cheerleading throughout the whole game. Unfortunately, because of the slow start we were playing catch up during the game. This was a Courthouse win 13-5. On Thursday 10th November, Furze Platt were again hosts but this time to St Edmund Campion who came to play us. This was an extremely competitive game with both teams working hard to get the win.After a tense final quarter, the game finished with a 3-3 draw.

After a week away on their residential trip, the squad were ready to face Cookham Dean on Wednesday 23rd November, this was another very competitive game. With great shooting from Alice G & Rosie H, we won the game 4-3.A special mention to Tijana who kindly agreed to play for Cookham Dean as they were one player short. She also had a great game, thank you again Tijana!

Our final game this year was an away fixture at Holy Trinity school on Wednesday 30th November, this was an extremely challenging game. We didn’t win this fixture but I would like to say that all of the Furze Platt players can be so proud of themselves for the restraint they showed and their determination to continue to play in the true spirit of sport.They played as a team and tried their hardest right to the final whistle.

WELL DONE TEAM!

Mrs Winter

Useful Information For Parents

72a48b1fd6d2236950fa5c47e60cbb41.pdf

efe32ae0e6ea9f5475660c70848eb07e.pdf

RSV(RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS)

NHS Frimley are asking for help to cascade an important message to parents and carers in your communities about a surge in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases in our area.

The message, which signposts them towards NHS guidance on how they can help their child/ren, is below.

The message

RSV is a common virus causing colds and coughs but can be more severe in some children.

Cases in our area are rising. Be prepared by knowing the symptoms to look for in your child.

See our clear guide, along with NHS traffic light system guidance on what to do and where to seek medical help, if required.

https://frimley-healthiertogether.nhs.uk/parentscarers/worried-your-child-unwell/bronchiolitis-and-rsv

Reading Football Tickets!

Over 5,000 tickets were sold for local children, parents, teachers and coaches for our 1^st Schools and Grassroots fixture of the season when we beat Huddersfield Town on Saturday 1^st October.

As our manager Paul Ince said after the match: "We won’t always win games. But I hope these kids keep coming again and again and that we see them here again for the years to come!"

With that in mind, we would be delighted if you could join us for our 2nd schools and grassroots fixture of 2022-23.

When?

Reading vs Coventry City

Saturday 10^th December 2022, 3pm

Where?

Select Car Leasing Stadium

What’s happening?

This will be our first fixture back after the World Cup break, so a great opportunity to welcome the team back to league football with a bumper crowd and invite all your all your friends and family, your school teachers and your club coaching staff for just £1 for all those aged 12 and Under and only £10 for adults!

12 and Under: £1

17 and Under: £3

18 to 24: £5

65 and over: £5

Adult: £10

That’s right, with this special offer your children can come to watch our Championship match against Coventry City for just £1!

How many tickets can we purchase?

There is no limit on the number of tickets you can buy using your unique code: #FurzePlattJuniorSchool And, for every ticket which is purchased by your School, you will receive one entry in a prize draw for a chance to win the School a series of ‘money can’t buy experience’ prizes!

Important! This offer applies to tickets in the Eamonn Dolan Stand blocks and Y19/Y20 of the Sir John Madejski Stand. Coupons codes are valid up until 4 hours before kick-off and availability is limited, so please act quickly to avoid disappointment.

We hope to see you all on Saturday 10^th December!

Come on URRRZZZ!