Furze Platt Juniors 2024-25 Newsletter

We love all things Christmas at FPJS and have really enjoyed celebrating over the last 3 weeks! As you will see from our newsletter, the fun began with the FPSA Christmas fair, where our fantastic choir peformed, and culminated in our final Christmas assembly today where all children took part in the interhouse singing competition and the staff performed a very entertaining version of the 12 days of Christmas.

We are so proud of all of our children at FPJS and in the last 3 weeks, it has been wonderful to see children flourish: All of our Y3 children confidently took to the stage to sing and peform their nativity plays and our Y6 house captains had to organise and run sessions for the younger children to create decorations for the Christmas trees and choreograph dances to accompany the inter-house singing peformance. Alongside this, our Y4 children have been learning more about the Christmas story at St Peter's church, our Y3 children made lanterns and took part in a parade in Maidenhead. Well done to all of the children who took part in our annual Christmas homework competition, showing their passion and creavity skills off- you can find out who are winners were below!

It has been such a busy term at FPJS and our staff have worked incredibly hard to ensure that children not only make good progress in their learning but that they also have time for fun too- I am sure you can see that from our 12 days of Christmas performance!

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday and remember:

"Christmas isn't about the gifts we bring, it's the gift we are to people.

The happiness we share, the love and how we show we care

There is nothing you can buy that can't be given freely from your heart.

Remember that..."

Unknown author

We look forward to welcoming our children back to FPJS on Tuesday, 7th January 2025

Anna Clark

Head of School

Mr Wallace's Christmas message

The Furze Platt Primary Federation’s 12 days of Christmas!

At the end of this term we have enjoyed; an epic Christmas Fair (thank you FPSA and volunteers), three pantos, seven Nativities, six fabulously decorated trees, two guitar concerts, two Christmas lunches, two choirs (including a brand new FPIS choir!) numerous festive assemblies, Christmas Jumper day, staff 'singing' carols on the playground, Carol Concerts, 90 Early Years children singing Christmas songs, a visit from Father Christmas and Christmas jumpers and adornments galore. I am not sure even the great Father Christmas has as much festive fun leading up to Christmas Day!

That is just some of the recent events at Furze Platt Primary Federation in our lead up to the Winter Holiday. It has been another action-packed term with so many events, activities and trips packed in for the children to enjoy and be immersed in. I look back over the past 2 terms with immense pride and joy. The children have achieved so much and their passion for learning is evident in the amazing work that they have produced and learning that they have shown.

With all that in mind, I do want to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff. Our children get an amazing time at both FPIS and FPJS and the staff do all that they can to make each and every child's time here a perfect mix of striving for academic excellence alongside a nurturing environment to help support our children to flourish in many different ways. Thank you to all the staff who make both schools amazing places to work and to learn.

That just leaves me to wish you all a relaxing, enjoyable and safe break and I look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Thank you all for supporting our schools and a Merry Christmas everyone!

Mike Wallace

Executive Head

Diary Dates:

Monday 6th January- INSET day
Tuesday 7th January- Term 3 starts
Friday 9th January- Y4 Road safety sessions
Friday 24th January- TT rockstars/maths day (dress up as a rockstar!)
Monday 27th January- Y4 Talk by Al Sylvester
Thursday 30th January- Maths workshops for parents- timings TBC
Thursday 6th February- Y5 parent information evening - Rhos-y-Gwaliau trip November 2025
Monday 10th February- Friday 14th February- Enrichment & Well-being week for all classes

Quick Links

Curriculum

Lunch Menu

Term Dates 24-25

Calendar

Who's who at FPJS

Website including housepoints update

FPJS School News

Year 3 "Fleece Force" plays

Well done to all our fabulous Y3 children for their wonderful performances of "Fleece Force" last week. Each class took to the stage to delight us with their singing, acting and comedy skills and wowed us with how many lines and songs they had to remember! Well done to the Y3 team for all their effort with staging, costumes and directing!

Year 3 Lantern Making Workshops

The children were so lucky to have a visit this term from Norden Farm to make some exciting lanters. This year it was 'The Carnival of Animals' and the children made swans. The children worked together to make the structure and then add on the detail. This was such a wonderful day and the children enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, the parade was cancelled due to the weather but the children still had a fantastic time making the swans. There is always next year!

Year 4 Christmas Unwrapped at St Peters

Year 4 had a lovely time at St Peter's Church taking part in their 'Christmas Unwrapped' sessions. They loved decorating biscuits, completing quizzes and tackling some challenging puzzles.

We discovered common misconceptions about the nativity (Mary and Joseph did not ride into Bethlehem on a donkey nor was Jesus born in a stable!), and learned fascinating facts about this time of year.

Well done to the children in sewing club who produced these wonderful wreaths as part of their after-school activities!

Christmas Lunch in pictures!

We hope the children loved all the staff serving them lunch on Wednesday, complete with entertaining dancing and singing from the staff!

FPJS Choir singing at the FPSA Fair

Well done to our fantastic choir, made up from children from Y3-6 who sang their heart out at the opening of the Christmas Fair on Saturday 30th November. They sang a mix of styles including "Silent night", "Jingle-bell rock" and finishing with a lively rendition of a new song, Sing Up It's Christmas!" Thanks to Mr King, our new choir-master, who gave up lots of lunchtimes to support our fantastic Christmas choir!

FPJS Christmas Carol Concert

As part of our Christmas celebrations, FPJS held the annual Christmas Carol concert on Monday afternoon. As part of the concert, the staff took on the roles of the Shepherds to narrate the Christmas story, and the children and choir sang songs to accompany, ranging from the traditional carols of Once in Royal and We three Kings to the more modern songs including Shepherds' song, Behind every door and Sing up It's Christmas! Thank you to David Short, vicar of St Peter's church who gave an address to the whole school as part of the concert.

Christmas Guitar Concert

Well done to all our guitarists who played a fantastic Christmas concert for the whole school on Tuesday afternoon! As usual, we were treated to many Christmas classic tunes, guitar style accompanied by the brilliant Mr Hastings, our resident guitar teacher.

What a lovely festive treat for all our children too!

FPJS Inter-house singing competition

Well done to all of our children who sang their hearts out in our final assembly of the year- each house had a randomly allocated song to sing and the house captains were in charge of choreographing the performance. The winning performance was by Normans Y5/6. You can watch a bit of the fantastic performance here. The judges (Mrs Slyfield, Miss Morales, Mrs Barry and Mrs Batchelor) were wowed by all of the children who made such a fantastic effort with this fun competition!.

The Normans won overall, with Romans 2nd place, Vikings 3rd and Danes 4th.

FPJS Inter-house tree decorating competition

On Friday 13th December, all of the children took part on our annual tree decorating competition. Organised this year by Mr King and the house captains, each house had a strategy to make their tree look the best! The winning house was Normans (red) with their inventive candy canes and coffee cup designs with the wonderful star on the top and second came Vikings with their unique minions decorations!

FPJS Christmas Homework Competition- winners...

Well done to everyone who put efforts into the annual Christmas homework competition. We saw a huge range of entries, with wonderful pictures, poems, cakes, videos and writing! We celebrated the top 3 winners in assembly, who are be pictured below. We totted up the scores and the winning house overall was Romans with 775 points, followed closely by Danes 750, then Vikings and Normans.

You can see below our winners from each year group:

Well done to:

Year 3 overall winner, Rose, with her wonderful pop up book creation!

Year 4 overall winner, Alex E with his film about how the BFG made Christmas even more fizz-whizzing

Year 5 overall winner, Sophia W with her video showing her making a BFG style drink

Year 6 overall winner, Priyah with her stop-frame animation

Stars of the week - Class Stars & PE Stars

Star of the week Newsletter 4: 20th December 2024

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 and Bedrock Learning

TT Rockstars- Most Progress this term

Well done to our superstars below who have been working really hard to make amazing progress with their times tables knowledge. The pictures below are the top ten most progress since September!

Bedrock Learning- Top 8 of the term!

Well done to all of the children below who have scored the most points for their bedrock learning sessions this term. Particular mention to Edward R in Y4 who has racked up so many points since September and is way ahead of everyone!

Sports Update

PE update

The children have really excelled in PE this term! Year 3/4 have completed 12 weeks of gymnastics and developed their ball skills and fundamental skills this full term. Year 5/6 have completed 12 weeks of dance, yoga, sportsHall athletics and fitness. Moving on to spring term 1 year 3/4 will be doing Dance, fitness basketball for year 4. Year 5/6 will be doing Gymnastics, OAA and Netball.

Over the Christmas break, please try to get your children as active as possible. It is advised that children need to do 60 active minutes a day- I know this is hard over the festive period but if they do any physical activity it will help with their well-being! The children have all learnt activities they can do at home. In their P.E. lessons they have created yoga/fitness routines they can do. If you are unsure you can't go wrong with a Joe Wicks fitness workout- great for the whole family!

When the children come back after the Christmas break, can you please make sure they are wearing appropriate clothing for their P.E. lessons. They will be mostly ge outside for their lessons so please ensure they have warm enough clothes- e.g. jogging bottoms and a warm top as well as a coat. Don't forget that earrings must be taken out before they come to school if they are unable to take their own earrings out and put them back in.

Have a lovely Christmas break- I look forward to the new term with lots of different sporting activities and events coming up!

Miss Gill

Football news

Furze Platt A Team have had two excellent games against Courthouse and Holy Trinity this term. The first game against Courthouse was one of the highest quality Y6 matches I’ve seen with end to end football and excellent defensive displays. Unfortunate for FPJS we came away with a narrow 2-1 defeat which definitely wasn’t deserved. However, the team bounced back quickly with some good training and focus. The match at home against Holy Trinity showed off their capabilities with an excellent 4-1 win. A very exciting start to the season and hope for more good things to come in the new year.

Thank you to all the support the team has had so far.

Mr Sawle

Year Group Updates

Year 3 News

What a truly fantastic few weeks we have had this term and have finished with some wonderful Nativity plays from all of the classes. We are so proud of all of the children and their hard work and commitment to learning lines, songs, dances and acting!

In English we have been creating our own superheroes and using 2A sentences to describe them. The children used word classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and conjunctions to support their writing.

In maths the children have been learning the 3, 4 and 8 times table facts and using the equipment to help support multiplication and division. They have enjoyed games and number stories related to this using the inverse operations.

In RE the children have been using their nativity knowledge to discuss the birth of Jesus and what Christmas means to Christians. We have also looked at how we celebrate with our families and friends at different parts of the year.

In DT the children have been planning and creating their own pop up books. They have learned the different folds and which materials are best to use to create these. The final books look amazing and the children have thoroughly enjoyed showing these to the children and adults in school.

The children also enjoyed a fencing taster session.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas break and enjoy family time. We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

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 folds can you remember from our pop up books?

What adjectives would you use to describe yourself?

Can you remember the 8 times table facts?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y3...

Planet Omar - Zanib Mian

The Iron Man - Ted Hughes

Fantastic Mr Fox - Roald Dahl

Year 4 News

What a busy last few weeks we have had leading up to Christmas.

The children have been working incredibly hard finishing off their excellent Christmas ornaments in DT. They have been so resilient with the fiddly sewing aspect, which has impressed us all.

In English, we have created some fantastic leaflets all about Oaken Grove Park, as well as lovely Christmas poems for you to enjoy at home via Seesaw.

We have covered all of our times tables in maths now, so we hope the children will continue to practise these at home as often as possible to ensure they can remember and recall them in other areas of maths moving forward.

In RE, we have been learning all about the Nativity and creating Christingles. We have been exploring commercial Christmas vs traditional Christmas and how Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus.

We hope you have a lovely Christmas break, and come back refreshed and ready for the new term. Merry Christmas!

Mrs Batchelor - Year 4 Team Leader

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y4...

Apes to Zebras: An A - Z of Shape Poems

Poems by Liz Brownlee and others

Sky

Holly Webb

The Night We Got Stuck in a Story

Ben Miller

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 a simile?
What are the different types of human teeth?
What does 'ostinato' mean?

Year 5 News

Wow – we have had such a busy few weeks in Year 5! Well done for all your hard work!

In English, we have completed a non-chronological report about our fictional planets. Then we created a plan for creating the perfect Christmas or winter celebration.

In Maths, we have continued to work hard on fractions, including adding and subtracting fractions.

For Science, we have explored levers, pulleys and gears.

In Geography, we have investigated life in the mountains, including the climate.

For RE, we discussed the Christian story of the Nativity.

For French we have answered the questions - as-tu un animal?

We have been busy in DT designing fairground rides and making them. The children have brought their final projects home to share with you.

We would like to wish all Year 5 children a very Merry Christmas! And we look forward to welcoming you back in the New Year!

Miss Scott & Mrs Slyfield, Y5 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:

What is 5 1/2 as an improper fraction?
Explain the postives of living in a mountain region.
How do you say I have a dog in French?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y5...

Year 6 News

What a festive end of term we have had!

In the build up to Christmas, Year 6 have enjoyed making their toy CAMs. Their brief was to create a toy with a working automata that could be displayed in a toy store shop window. They look brilliant!

English this year ended with the children choosing what they wanted to write. They had four pictures given to them as a stimulus and they were able to decide what to write based on the picture. There has been a brilliant range of writing from detailed setting descriptions, parts of a novel and persuasive letters from gnomes! It has been lovely to see the children have such passion for learning and independence in their writing.

In maths, we have been delving into fractions and decimals with a little bit of Christmas co-ordinates! After Christmas, we will be focusing on percentages.

In Geography, we have been answering the question 'What is it like to live in the UK?' and the children have created a final piece of work to showcase what the UK has to offer from its varied landscapes to job opportunities.

In the build up to Christmas, we have had Christmas tree competitions, fun whole school asemblies and lots of singing. We hope these jolly festivities continue over the Christmas holiday.

On behalf of the Year 6 team, we hope you have a restful, relaxing and wholesome Christmas holidays.

Miss 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!:

What are the 3 joints you learnt in DT?
What are the key job opportunities in the UK?
How would you turn a fraction into a decimal?

Our current reads we are enjoying in Y6...

SEND updates

Eighth SEND Local Area Newsletter September 2024 (3).pdf

4143_W_M_SEND_Christmas_holiday_activities_brochure_25_Nov_24.pdf

Christmas can be a particularly stressful time for autistic people and their families and this guide may provide some useful ideas and strategies for families to put in place over the festive period:

https://www.attwoodandgarnettevents.com/blogs/news/preparing-for-christmas-with-autistic-children-a-guide-for-families

FPSA Update

Christmas Fair

Our annual Christmas Fair was back on Saturday the 30th November and both schools were busy with lots of families attending. Entertainment was provided from the Junior School choir singing carols in the Infants shelter before the fair opened and from St Sebastian Wokingham brass band who played carols next to the Infants hall.

The FPSA would like to thank all of the wonderful volunteers who helped set up the fair, ran a stall for 1 hour (or more!) and cleared up at the end. Overall the fair has raised around £7,500 profit which is fantastic.

The giant doggy (called Terry!) was won by Alex from year 2 and the 100 Board was won by Mohsin in year 5.

We hope all parents are very happy with their Secrets Room gifts!

Happy Bags

The recent Happy Bags collection raised an impressive £150 for both schools. Thank you to everyone who dropped off a bag or two.

Junior Discos

The Junior Discos were back yesterday with DJs King and Sawle on good form once again. There was plenty of great dancing in the hall at both discos, we hope all the children enjoyed themselves. A big thanks to all the Juniors staff who stayed behind to help.

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

One of our supporters won £250 recently on the lottery!

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.

Dates for your Diary in 2025:

Adult Disco Night - Friday 28th February
Mr T's Quiz Night - Friday 21st March
FPSA AGM - Wednesday 2nd April (TBC)

Useful Information For Parents

E-Bike Leaflet.pdf

E-Scooter Leaflet.pdf

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