Newsletter Issue 8
Ferncumbe Friday
Friday 10th January 2020
Happy new year!
our new year shakespeare focus!
Our Shakespeare Ambassadors welcomed us back to school, and to the new year and our new term by holding a special assembly to update us on plans for a Shakespeare focus over the next few weeks. All classes will be studying ‘The Merchant of Venice’ through a variety of creative activities, including lots of drama and plenty of fun! You may have already seen photos tweeted throughout this week which shows how the topic has already got off to a flying start. Yesterday, we were lucky enough to welcome two actors from the RSC, who were in role and able to answer the children’s questions about their characters.
An utterly enraptured audience as one of the RSC actors suddenly becomes Shylock. Stunned silence.... he’s not happy!
parents’ evenings amd progress folders
If you haven’t done so already, please do sign up for a Parents’ Evening appointment to talk to your child’s class teacher(s) next week (Monday or Wednesday). Feel free to contact the school office if you encounter any problems with signing up online.
Progress Folders will be coming home with your child after school today (Friday 10th January). Please bring them with you, to return them, when you come in for your appointment next week.
Ferncumbe Choir
Our Ferncumbe Choir had a wonderfully successful evening just before the holidays, singing Christmas songs at The Hatton Arms. They raised just over £72. Many thanks to Miss Forbes for rehearsing the choir, and also to the adults who supported on the night.
spring term class news
Please take some time to read the updated Spring Term news on the school website class pages. The pages are found under the curriculum tab on our website homepage...
Friends of Ferncumbe quiz night!
The Friends of Ferncumbe Quiz Night will take place during the evening of Friday 7th February at Hatton Park Village Hall. Full details can be found on the link below.
Gather your team members and join us for a fun-filled evening!
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thenewfriendsofferncumbeschool1997/263491
PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOURS
This term the whole school will once again be following the Taking Care scheme, the aim of which is to improve the safety and well-being of children in Warwickshire by teaching them to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations. Protective Behaviours is a practical, down to earth approach to personal safety and is a process that encourages self-empowerment, alongside the skills to raise self-esteem and to help avoid being victimised. This is achieved by helping individuals to recognise and trust their intuitive feelings (Early Warning Signs) and develop strategies for self-protection.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
You will know that Ferncumbe has successfully adopted a Restorative Justice approach to behaviour in school. As a reminder, and for those parents new to Ferncumbe, the following summarises what lies at the heart of Restorative Justice practices.
The aim of the restorative approach is to develop our community and to manage conflict and tension by repairing harm and building relationships. This is shown in restorative school values, which are:
● RESPECT – WE VALUE, SUPPORT AND EMPATHISE WITH EACH OTHER
● RESPONSIBILITY – WE ARE RESPONSIBLE OUR OWN ACTIONS
● REPARAir – WE TRY TO PUT THINGS RIGHT AND DISPLAY THE VALUE OF FORGIVENESS
● REINTEGRATION – WE CAN ALWAYS MAKE A FRESH START
For effective teaching and learning to take place, we believe that there should be good relationships within the school. The restorative approach puts repairing harm done to relationships at the heart of the school. This allows us to build, nurture and repair relationships.
The restorative approach gives us two main opportunities.
● It primarily provides those who have been harmed (victim) with a forum to ‘have their say and be heard’, which is vital to the healing process.
● Secondly, it presents the offender (harmer) with an onus of responsibility for their actions, an opportunity to make some form of retributive acknowledgement.
The main tool in the restorative approach is the Restorative Conversation. This is the place where the two parties are able to discuss the situation with the intent of restoring things to a good learning environment. The conversation takes the form of a series of questions. In school we use the questions during these conversations:
1. WHAT HAPPENED?
2. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING/FEELING AT THE TIME?
3. WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO PUT THINGS RIGHT?
4. WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?
The conversations show that actions have consequences to how people are feeling which has an influence on how they are able to learn. Discussing these will encourage people to accept responsibility and repair relationships.
Restorative Justice forms a major part of our school Behaviour and Anti-Bullying Policy, which can be found on our school website following this link… https://www.dropbox.com/s/y0h0mref7m92go2/2018%20%2019%20Behaviour%20and%20Anti-Bullying%20policy.pdf?dl=0
Friends of Ferncumbe Spring Ball 2020 – Save The Date!
The Friends of Ferncumbe are excited to be holding their Spring Ball again in 2020! It will be taking place on Saturday 16th May at Hatton Village Hall. This year, we are raising money to rejuvenate the Sports Provision and Playground Facilities at school, following the completion of the building works. A great cause, we hope you will agree.
We will send out full details closer to the event, but it promises to be another evening full of great music, good food, fundraising and a lot of fun! This event is just for the grown-ups, so make sure you save the date in your diaries and get your childcare arrangements booked!
Tickets will go on sale after the Easter Holidays. The capacity of Hatton Village Hall means that there are a limited number of spaces, so make sure you book early to avoid disappointment.
In the meantime, a quick reminder that Match Funding makes a huge difference to the amount of money we can raise from any of our Friends of Ferncumbe activities. We are a registered charity and can provide you with any details you may need to support an application. If you work for a company who offers ‘Match Funding’, for which the Spring Ball would be eligible, we’d love to hear from you.
Similarly, if you work for or own a company who may be able to donate raffle prizes, auction lots or who might even be interested in sponsoring the Spring Ball 2020, please do let us know. You can email us at: thefriendsofferncumbe@gmail.com.
We’re really looking forward to a great evening on 16th May and further details will be coming soon.
With very best wishes for a lovely weekend,
Tracey Webb, Deputy Headteacher