Newsletter Issue 13
Ferncumbe Friday
Friday 19th April 2024
WELCOME BACK to a busy summer term!
It's wonderful to see the school buzzing with energy again as the children return with enthusiasm and excitement following the Easter break. The first couple of weeks of term are always incredibly busy - within the newsletter are just a few examples of the recent learning taking place and also some important dates.
afternoon and evening concerts - Thursday 23rd May 2024
The iSingPop team will be leading an exciting 4 day transformational teaching, rehearsing & performing event (week beginning Monday 20th May) which will bring the whole school together in song. The rehearsals will culminate in two whole school concerts at Holy Trinity Church during the afternoon and evening of Thursday 23rd May, at which all pupils are expected to attend. Further details have been sent out this week - please do put the date in your diary!
Sports day - FRIDAY 5TH JULY 2024
We look forward to welcoming you to Sports Day on Friday 5th July 2024.
KS2 will hold their races in the morning and Reception/KS1 in the afternoon. Timings of the morning and afternoon races will be confirmed nearer the date, but do please note that there will not be an early finish for KS2 children after the picnic lunch. They will remain with their classes and under the supervision of their teachers.
Reception and KS1 children can be signed out early if their races finish before the end of the school day. Any KS2 siblings will of course be able to accompany siblings at that point too.
Children should come to school in their PE kit on the day.
WHOLE SCHOOL FAMILY PICNIC - FRIDAY 5TH JULY 12PM
We would love all families to join us on the school field at lunchtime for a picnic at 12pm with their child/ren. Deli bags will be available for children who would normally have a school lunch. The office will be in touch next half term regarding the uptake of a school lunch on the day as we know that some parents prefer to provide their own picnic for their child.
OPEN AFTERNOON - WEDNESDAY 17TH JULY 2024
We will hold our Open Afternoon on Wednesday 17th July 2024 from 1.30 - 4pm. This is a chance for parents and carers to visit classrooms and look through child/ren’s books with them. On this occasion there will be the opportunity for an early finish if you wish to collect your child/ren following this event.
Lowsonford class
Lowsonford Class have been lucky enough to have 2 STEM visitors recently: Dr Rachel Edwards, an ultrasound engineer from the physics department at Warwick University and Dr Anne Straube, a medical professor from the biomedical department. Dr Edwards talked to the class about how she uses sound waves in her job, to find and fix problems and Dr Straube helped the class to isolate banana DNA and build Lego DNA. This was very tricky science but Lowsonford rose to the challenge!
Wroxall class
Chila Kumai Singh Burman is a mixed media artist born in Liverpool and is described as a South Asian pop artist. She enjoys exploring different textures and medium to explore her ideas. Wroxall class took inspiration from this to develop their own self portraits using mixed media. We started the process by creating a poem portrait. This involved sketching a self portrait and then adding words to it. We then developed these by adding colour and texture. The children had photos taken at different angles to then explore shape, texture, colour and emotion through their portrait. They created some masterpieces that they were all really proud of, every one of them unique and telling us something about each child in our class.
Rowington Class
We are so lucky to have Mrs Grier helping us in Year 3 Science this half term. She is quite the expert on rocks and has begun the term by teaching us about the rock cycle and how different types of rocks came to be. We got to use magnifying cards to look at the texture and details of the rocks. Slate had so many layers but sandstone had a lot of holes. We used a key to identify 6 types of rocks and became experts too!
Miss Forbes
Honiley Class
This summer term, our new topic will be, Let’s All Go To Mexico! During this week’s art lesson, we began learning about the infamous artist, Frida Kahlo. We were so inspired by her life story and art work that we decided to have a go at our own self portraits.
Miss Blackwell
Hatton Class
Hatton Class have started a new topic called ‘Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots’. We have had great fun looking closely at plants in the Forest and in exploring stories linked to this theme. We even created a giant in the forest and enjoyed clambering up the beanstalk too! We are going to start planting some seeds next week and we will observe them closely as the term progresses. If anyone has any seeds, compost or seedlings that they no longer need at home, Hatton Class would appreciate any donations.
Haseley Class
What a busy couple of weeks we’ve had in Year One! Last week we were spring time detectives. We spent some time looking around our school grounds to look for clues that spring has sprung! We saw lots of daffodils, tulips and bluebells. We even spotted birds nests in some of our trees. We also noticed that there is lots of blossom on some of our trees. Great job Year One!
CLASS PAGES ON OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE
Please do refer to the school website for all the information you need on the learning taking place in classrooms this term. Your child’s class page can be found under the ‘Class Pages’ tab.
SEND resources
Just a quick reminder from our School SENDco Victoria Irvine who encourages parents to take a look at the resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities SEND on the school website.
Find this information by following the link to our website - https://www.ferncumbefamily.co.uk/ statutory info on top menu and then click on SEND.
Message from Rev Ann
Hi everyone,
Hope you had a lovely holiday. It was great to see many of you at our Easter services and Good Friday Activities morning, at Hatton Church and Hatton Park Village Hall. Just to let you know we have our Breakfast Church at Hatton church every 3rd Sunday at 10 am - next one on 19th May - Pentecost Sunday. We’d love you to come along.
Also we have the Alpha course starting on Wednesday 1st May at 7.30-9pm, at St Laurence’s Rowington. This aimed at grownups and is a great place to work out answers for those questions about faith and God that you and your children sometimes ask. All welcome - we’d love to see you there. If you’d like to know more please get in touch with me at revannpeachey@gmail.com.
Looking forward to seeing you and praying for a wonderful term for all of us.
God bless,
Rev Ann
With best wishes for a lovely weekend,
Tracey Webb, Head of School