Newsletter 8 - 25th October 2024

Learning This Week

EYFS

This week the children in Early Years have been exploring different foods in the home corner as part of their learning connected to harvest. They enjoyed scooping out the pumpkin and thinking of different recipe ideas they could make. They were encouraged to write down their recipes using the phonic knowledge.   

Year 1

Year one have had a great time this week learning all about Diwali. They have read the story of Rama and Sita, and learnt that this Hindu story reminds people of good triumphing over evil. They then designed their own rangoli patterns, and made Diya candle holders. The children particularly liked painting them in bright colours and decorating them.  

Year 2

This week has been full of excitement and discovery for Year 2! They kicked off with the very first school trip of the year to the Vedic Temple, where the children were fascinated by the beauty of the surroundings. They explored, asked lots of thoughtful questions, and even had the chance to draw their favourite things from the temple.

Back in the classroom, the fun continued with Maths. The children have been diving into multiplication, focusing on 2s and 10s. They explored different, efficient methods like grouping and using arrays to show their working. It’s been amazing to see their confidence grow as they tackled new challenges!


After half term, year 2 will be making moon buggies and space rockets - they would be very appreciative of cardboard boxes and toilet / kitchen roll tubes! Thank you.

Farewell, Mr Southern!

After 11 years as Site Manager, Mr Southern is hanging up his keys for the final time, and retiring! Mr Southern takes such wonderful care of our school and grounds, including bringing our pond back to life, and helping to install numerous wildlife boxes around the site for bats, squirrels, owls & hedgehogs. He also regularly donates his time to help at events like the Christmas / Easter / Summer Fayres - usually helping to keep everyone fed, and he stays late so the local Brownie pack can use our hall.

Mr Southern goes above and beyond for our school community, and we're sure you will all join us in wishing him all the best with his retirement - it certainly won't be the same without him here! 

Some Important Reminders

Dogs on Site

Please kindly note that you are not allowed to bring dogs on to the school site - this includes the car parks as well as the playground. If you bring your dog to school and leave it unattended and tied up somewhere, please consider the effect this may have on the dog should it be approached too closely by other people. There was an incident last week where a child was bitten on the face by a dog who had been tied to our railings. This should also serve as a reminder to please ensure your children do not approach dogs they don't know.

Parking

We are sorry to keep bringing this up, but we are continually receiving complaints from other parents and neighbours about the way cars are parked at drop off and pick up. There are plenty of safe parking spaces locally - please consider leaving home a few minutes earlier to walk a few minutes further, rather than block driveways or park on double yellow lines. There is no excuse for verbal or physical aggression around this issue, and it is everyone's responsibility to park in a safe manner to help to protect our children as they walk to and from school. 

Only cars displaying a Disabled badge should be using the school car park - the fewer vehicles on school lane at peak times, the safer for everyone. 

Donor Drive

Edward Poster Final_A4.pdf

Please consider attending the local donor drive in November, to see if you could be a match for Edward, a child at Freegrounds Junior School who needs a stem cell donor.

Please register at www.dkms.org.uk/ if you are able to.

Parents Evenings

Booking for Parent's Evenings is now open through Arbor for Thursday 7th and Tuesday 12th November. Please see the office if you are having difficulties making an appointment. Bookings must be made by 10am on Monday 4th November.

Please note there is one slot per child. Separated parents are strongly encouraged to share an appointment, but where this is not possible it will be down to the availability and discretion of the class teacher as to if a second booking may be made.

Yellow class will see availability for Mrs Rigby on Thursday 7th, and Miss Emery on Tuesday 12th. Green class will see availability for Mrs Henderson on both Thursday and Tuesday, as well as Mrs McGillivray on Friday 8th. Please only book one slot, to see one teacher, as any duplicates will be cancelled.

Scholastic Book Fair

Thank you so much to the families who came along to support the book fair. We were overwhelmed to have sold over £1000 of books and stationery, which means we have over £500 to spend on new books for the school! We are so appreciative!

Harvest Festival

I just wanted to officially say thank you to you all for your continued support of The Food Centre, Kings Community Church it really is appreciated and really needed.

 

The Harvest Festivals are such a great way of increasing our stock levels ready for the winter and it is always a delight to interact with our Community.

Thank you and God Bless you.

 

Alasdair Duncan

Food Centre Kings Community Church (Manager)



After School Clubs - now open to Year R!

Theatre Kids (Mondays)

Zumba (Wednesdays)

Lego Club (Wednesdays)


Theatre Kidz.pdf
Zumba.pdf

Multiply Free Family Fun Days

Multiply is thrilled to host several free upcoming October half term events for families. Families can choose one event from the following:

Additionally, if a family member does not have a Maths Level 2 qualification (e.g., GCSE Maths Grade 4/C and above, or an equivalent qualification like Level 2 Functional Skills in maths), they may also register for the Marwell Zoo Event which is taking place on Thursday, 31st October 2024.


The Multiply team at Hampshire County Council is also collaborating with Better with Money to offer a FREE 40-minute online session for parents, aimed at transforming their family’s financial future.

 

This session is designed to equip parents with the skills to help their children become financially savvy and to support them in managing their family’s finances effectively.

 

Registration link below.

https://forms.office.com/e/MGG9NPF0YR


Eastleigh Lakeside Family Fun Day 30.10.24.pdf
Marwell Zoo 31.10.24 (1).pdf
Milestones - 29.10.24.pdf
Beaulieu 1.11.24.pdf
Better with Money Parental online session.pdf

FISHES News

Laser Show

We are lost for words how much you helped us to raise at our first ever laser show. We have received some really lovely feedback and a lot of people asking for the event again next year. Needless to say planning is underway along with a few tweaks of things we have learned from this event to enable to us to make it even better next year!


Wine and Wrapping night

Every year we hold a Christmas shopping event for the children. This is their opportunity to come along and buy some presents for their family members/friends. We usually have a number of parents that share the presents out and take them home to wrap, however, this year we thought we would turn it in to more of a social event. On the evening of 7th November if you want to listen to Christmas music, escape bedtime and have a glass of one wine or two please come along to Emerald Class with your scissors, tape, a bottle and a glass and help us to wrap some presents!  Please let us know if you are able to come along. 


Christmas

We are on the hunt for raffle prizes for the Christmas fayre. If you have a company and would like to donate something or the you know the company you work for would be able to donate something please either put them in contact with us or let us know so we can get in contact with them. Thank you! 


Please see attached the Christmas to do list!!

If you wish to book tickets to see Santa at the Christmas fayre please that via our ticket platform: http://buytickets.at/fishes


If you have not already and you are able to spare some time to volunteer at the Christmas fayre please do so via the following link: volunteersignup.org/YF4Q9 

With only 4 weeks to go until the event we only have 19 out of 109 spaces filled so this will either mean us having the drastically scale back the event or having to cancel it altogether. You do not need to volunteer for the whole time as we know people still want to be able to enjoy the event with their families. 


Wreath workshop tickets are on sale if you wish to join the evening please purchase a ticket here: http://buytickets.at/fishes


Advertising boards - We now have enough addresses for this, thank you to everyone that has signed up to have one. 


We are in need to cuddly toys and tombola items for the fayre, please bring your donations along to the school office. 

Nut Free School

We would like to remind parents that we are a nut free school. We have members of both the staff and student community who are anaphylactic to nuts of all varieties. This includes obvious things like hazelnut spread in sandwiches, but also many types of cereal bars and biscuits also contain nuts. Please check the ingredients list of all food items that you send into school. 

Year Group Home Learning Newsletters

Please see links below to the most recent home learning newsletters.

EYFS

Year 1

Year 2


Attendance This Week

If you are struggling to get your child/ren to school on time each day, please do get in touch so we can try to help.



Attendance Guide for Parents / Carers

What YOU must do:

Try to telephone the school before 8.30am each day of your child’s absence.

Tell the school in advance, of any medical appointments and bring in appointment cards/letters.

If you are not sure whether your child is well enough to attend school, send them in anyway as they often perk up on arrival.

If you and your child are experiencing difficulties with school attendance then talk to us as a first step so we can help!

 

What WE will do:

Check your child’s attendance every day.

Phone home to discuss your child’s attendance with you.

Invite you into school for attendance meetings if we are concerned.

If we cannot establish a reason for absence, then we may make a welfare home visit.


Dates for Your Diary


Class Assemblies

All class assemblies will be in the school hall @ 9.00am.




Parent Lunches (EYFS only)

Letters have been sent out with more information



FISHES Dates



Aspens, our school caterers, will be selling Cinnamon Swirls for £1 if you would like a snack before the class assembly.


INSET Days 2024/2025


You can view Hampshire term dates at any time here.

Head Teacher Awards

Blue Class - Leo for Respect & Teamwork, Evelyn for Thinking & Independence 

Red Class - Reo for Independence & Thinking, Abigail for Independence 

Yellow Class - Sean and Isabel, both for Resilience 

Green Class - Nylah for Teamwork, Sophie for Teamwork & Respect

Orange Class  - Joshua and Madison, both for Creativity

Purple Class  - Ella for Respect, Bea for Resilience 

Scarlet Class  - Rory for Independence & Thinking, Jackson for Resilience 

Turquoise Class  - Olivia for Thinking & Resilience, Martha for Respect

School Spotlight

Mutual Respect and Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs