Newsletter 

19.01.24

Principal's Message

This week we had two school trips linked to our class inquiries. Oak and Juniper class had a fantastic time exploring Bedgebury and looking for signs of the changing season. Beech class visited the Natural History Museum where they got to explore the volcanoes and earthquakes gallery, the fossils gallery and the dinosaur exhibition. The classes thoroughly enjoyed their trips and showed excellent behaviour. I would like to say well done to them for being fantastic representatives for our school. All classes will have an opportunity to go on at least one trip during the academic year which will be linked to their inquiry. We look forward to sharing news of upcoming trips with you soon. 

EYFS and Key Stage 1 also had a visit from the Kent Road Safety Team this week, who taught them the importance of how to keep themselves safe when crossing the road. The children were taught about the dangers and the key steps to follow so as to keep themselves safe. 

We have lots of exciting activities coming up over the coming weeks such as more library visits, visits to the Heritage Centre, Mental Health week, Internet safety day and whole school karate workshops. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

Mrs H Penning

Monday 22nd January 2024 - KS2 Boys Football Marden vs Brunswick (Home)

Wednesday 24th January 2024 - 4ACACIA Library Visit

Friday 26th January 2024 2.45-3.15pm - EYFS Storytime (parents invited)

Wednesday 31st January 2024 - 3BEECH Marden Heritage Centre Visit

Wednesday 31st January 2024 - 4ACACIA Staplehurst Trip

Thursday 1st February 2024 - Whole School Karate Workshops

Monday 5th February - Friday 9th February 2024 - Mental Health Week

Tuesday 6th February 2024 - Safer Internet Day

Thursday 8th February 2024 - Last Day of Term 3

Friday 9th February 2024 - Staff INSET Day (no pupils in school)

Thursday 22nd February 2024 - Girl guiding World Thinking Day. Any members of Rainbows, Brownies, Guides or Scouts are invited to wear their uniform to school. 

Office Messages

World Book Day - Parent Feedback Required!

We will be celebrating World Book Day 2024 in school on Thursday 7th March. During the day, the children will do a range of reading and writing activities linked to a key text. We would also like to create a competition for the children to take part in. We are aware of the rising costs, so we would like to receive your views on how you think it would be best to celebrate this event. 

We would really appreciate it if you could complete a short Google Form to help us in finalising our plans.  We will need all responses submitted by Friday 26th January 2024.

National Online Safety 

According to Ofcom, 69% of under-18s use a smartphone as their main method of going online. Additionally, 49% of children use them for online gaming – putting smartphones only behind consoles (59%) as the device of choice for playing games on. Most people won’t require such statistical evidence, however, to acknowledge the huge importance of phones to young people.

Given that Santa’s recent visit is likely to have bestowed smartphones on an even greater number of young people, it’s a particularly opportune moment to ensure that children are able to use their handsets responsibly – and, above all, safely. From passcodes to parental controls, and from screen time to scams, our #WakeUpWednesday guide has the essential advice.