Newsletter Issue 14
FERNCUMBE FRIDAY
Friday 7th April 2017
Easter Service at Forest School
As the Spring Term ends I thought I would share with you a couple of photos from our Easter celebration at Forest School last Tuesday afternoon. Year 2 were extremely busy, along with Mrs Nicholls and her team of helpers, to prepare Stations of the Cross in advance of our Easter Service in the forest. Each imaginative station represented an image of Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion, and some members of Year 2 spoke eloquently and informatively about each depiction. Other Year 2 children led the service and, of course, the school sang an Easter song. It was a wonderfully unique way to reflect on and celebrate Easter!
Singtastic Concert
Thank you to the many of you who came and supported our 'Singtastic' concerts yesterday - the children certainly appreciated the two wonderful audiences. I'm sure you'll agree that they all did an excellent job!
A 'Thank you' from School Council
Celebrating our achievements, Comic Relief style!
To all of the parents that donated money to Comic Relief, we would like to say a big THANK YOU! We raised a whopping £168.15. We know that this money is going to go a variety of good causes.
Jake Dyke (School Council Treasurer) and Josh Tait
swimming gala success
A team of swimmers from Lowsonford and Wroxall classes represented Ferncumbe at the area Swimming Gala in Stratford-upon-Avon last Wednesday morning. They were all superstars and did a fantastic job against some stiff competition (almost 20 local schools were competing). Particular mention to Tom G, Tom M and Sophie who won their heats!
congratulations Honiley!
Congratulations once again to Honiley Class (Year 2) who have won the half-termly attendance award with a fabulous 98.56% attendance. This was well ahead of any other class! They will be celebrating next term.
Governor Update
Parent Governor: Angela Van Den Berg
Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote in our recent Parent Governor election. Angela Van Den Berg was duly elected and was welcomed to her first Board meeting last week.
As a result of a concern raised by one of our parents and a number of comments on the Parent Questionnaire. Governors are undertaking a review of our policies and procedures with regard to School Food. As an initial step, Governors would ask parents to consider providing a healthy swap or donating a book to the library rather than providing sweets to celebrate birthdays. Mrs Reid, our School Librarian, would be happy to provide titles of books to help expand the selection available to pupils.
The results of the Parent Questionnaire were discussed at our last meeting and we hope to have our response included in the first Ferncumbe News of the Summer Term.
Governors discussed and agreed the school budget. Although the school is nominally a loser in the revised funding formula, the three year forecast is a positive one, with the school forecast to stay in the black for the whole period.
From April 2017 Miss Morris will be leading the Warwick and Southam Consortium. The Consortium's function is to provide school to school support and raise standards. Ferncumbe has benefited from participation in the Consortium through the provision of training to staff and governors at a significantly reduced cost, collaboration amongst phase and subject leaders and providing a regular forum for headteachers to meet and support one another to the benefit of all children in Warwick and Southam. The time commitment is minimal and leadership of the consortium recognises the good work of Miss Morris and her team and raises the profile of our school across the county.
Adrian Sloan, Chair of Governors
message from 'the friends of ferncumbe'
A fantastic night was had all round at our Easter Bingo evening last Friday. We had 135 people on the night, which was fabulous. Not only was the evening a huge amount of fun for all, but we also raised an incredible £700 for Friends of Ferncumbe. A huge thank you to pupils, friends and families who supported the event and also to the companies who very kindly donated some really excellent raffle prizes.
Keep your eyes peeled to see how the School Council have decided to use some of the Friends of Ferncumbe funds this year, which will be revealed soon.
Our next event is the Summer Fête on 4th July. It's a big event and great fun for everyone. We'll be in touch after Easter to let you know how you can get involved. It's our biggest event of the school year and we rely on volunteer help and support to make it happen so if you can help, please do contact us at thefriendsofferncumbe@gmail.com.
Have a great Easter holiday and see you again in the Summer Term.
The Friends of Ferncumbe
As another busy term comes to a close may I wish you all a wonderful Easter break.
Staff look forward to welcoming children back to school on Monday 24th April.
Tracey Webb, Deputy Headteacher