Dear parents and carers,
I need to start this newsletter with the sad but exciting news that Mrs Smythe is starting a new job after half term. It is of course sad that this means she has to leave us, as we will all miss her very much, but we wish her lots of luck for her next job with the Warwickshire SEND team and keep our fingers crossed that our paths will still cross. It is very short notice as it was not fully confirmed until very recently, but Mrs Smythe has been busy meeting with the pupils she works with this week to support them and Miss Wood will support as much as she can after half term with these pupils. We will be recruiting again after half term and we know they will be very big shoes to fill but hopefully there is someone out there with the special magic that is needed to be part of our wonderful AFJS family!
We are looking forward to our AFJS Diwali Day to end the half term tomorrow - make sure you have completed your permissions on Arbor if you would like your child to have Henna on their hand on the day. I would also like to extend the warmest Diwali wishes to all our families that have been celebrating this week. It has been lovely to hear the children sharing their stories of how their families celebrate this special time of year.
I would like to thank you all for all your support in this first half term, which has just flown by! We have fit so much in to one half term and the children have all made a great start to this academic year. It has also been an absolute pleasure to welcome so many of you through the doors for parents evening this week and to see so many adults and children also leaving with a book in hand from the Hunts Book Fair! I can't wait to see what next half term brings! I hope you have a lovely half term, whatever your plans.
Mrs Webb :)
Farmers Forever Moments
It is our aim to fill the children's time at school with as many memorable moments and experiences that will stick with them as possible, so that they leave us after 4 years with hearts and minds full of learning and joy - that's where our motto LEARNERS FOR LIFE, FARMERS FOREVER comes from! Here are a few of the Farmers Forever moments the children have experienced in the past few weeks...
Year 4 got to explore the castle and lots of Anglo-Saxon artefacts on their recent trip to Tamworth Castle. They enjoyed acting out battle scenes, exploring different historical evidence and much more!
Year 5 had some visitors come in to school to see them this month. The wonderful Loudmouth Theatre came and delivered their 'Helping Hands' programme which included a performance to the children followed by workshops. The children were all excellent role models for our school and demonstrated maturity and respect when discussing sensitive subjects, so we are very proud of them.
Miss Wood's life skills group have been out and about round the local area recently looking at Road safety and understanding traffic signs.
The adventures of Chase
We now have 6 members of staff trained as Chase handlers and he has been very busy getting to know the new year 3 pupils and helping them to understand how to help create a calm, settled environment for Chase in school that also helps the children have a calm, safe environment for learning.
He has been practicing lots of tricks and learning new ones; teaching the children about patience, rules and routines, respect and much more! He has also been enjoying all the outdoor learning taking place and likes to run around with the children in our forest areas.
Chase is also a source of calm for many children (and even some adults) in moments of worry or sadness. He is always happy to sit on someone's lap for a reassuring cuddle, even if he is a bit too big for it really! He has even joined in many of Mrs Webb's meetings with parents, staff and outside professionals who all leave with a smile on their face (and sometimes a bit of Chase hair all over their trousers!)
Sport and HEALTHY BODY & MIND activities at AFJS
Sport and physical activity is an integral part of every school day here at AFJS and we are taking this even further this year with our PLAYTIME REVOLUTION and 1000 HOURS OUTSIDE CHALLENGE, to prioritise one of our school values: HEALTHY BODY AND MIND. We provide as many different opportunities as possible for children to get active throughout the school day, as well as opportunities to understand positive mental health and healthy habits, find ways to seek help when needed and much, much more. This is another way of us filling the curriculum with FARMERS FOREVER moments too! Here are a few of the HEALTHY BODY AND MIND opportunities that have been happening since we came back:
- A group of year 6 children have had the opportunity to become Play Leaders this term and have attended some training from the Harris School Sports Partnership to get them started.
- A small group of children attended the "Change for Life Festival" at Harris School and learnt to play different adaptive games with pupils from other schools across the town.
- The whole of year 6 attended the tag rugby event at St Andrews Rugby Club and were true superstars in every sense of the word - another school even came over to our staff to share praise for a particular Abbots Farmer who had shown outstanding respect and sportsmanship, which is the proudest thing ever for the teachers to hear!
- Our year 5/6 football team played their first matches last week and did brilliantly! They won 2 out of their 3 matches and showed excellent respect and sportsmanship.
Awards aplenty!
We were very proud to have been awarded not 1, not 2, but 3 different awards this past half term! 2 Rugby in Bloom awards and the Eco-Schools green flag award with merit! This is down to each and every child, staff member and parent of our school community that supports us with our outdoor learning ethos and our development of children who respect and enjoy the outdoors and the wonderful world around them! Special thanks also need to go to the Eco-Committee and Gardening Club and the adults that support them in these extra-curricular activities! Such an incredible effort!
The AFJS 1000 HOURS OUTSIDE challenge
Thank you for the photos from home - keep them coming! Why not try exploring the many wonderful local parks in Warwickshire this half term? There are lots of great activities on offer and lots of them are free? Click the link below to find out more...
Rugby Parkrun
The AFJS attendance at the local Parkrun is going from strength to strength and Mrs Saunders in the office even braved a chilly Sunday morning with her children to join in this week. We have now become an official JUNIOR PARKRUN PRIMARY!
Supporting Charities
Our charity support got off to a great start this term with a huge harvest donation and an incredible £345 raised for MIND through our Hats on for Mental Health Day - this is almost double what we raised last year which is a brilliant achievement. Huge thanks to everyone that donated.
We also donated £557 from last year's Beach Disco to local charity Pawprints and they are coming in to school after half term to deliver an assembly to thank the children and show them where their money goes and how it helps the dogs in their care.
And finally, we donated this huge haul of goodies to Rugby Foodbank from our Harvest celebrations.
We have some exciting plans for Children in Need next month so watch this space! Thank you for everything you do to support our charitable efforts and help to instill social responsibility and empathy for others in our pupils. You are all wonderful!
Pupil Safety
We had a near miss after an after school club collection a week or two ago, where a parent nearly hit a child that was crossing the road because cars were parked all along the yellow lines, including near where the road narrows for children to cross.
Please remember that the yellow line parking rules are in place until 5 pm to help protect our children, staff and families whatever time they may be in school till.
We also had more than one near miss reported to us just today where parents are not parking sensibly because it is raining. Please just pack a raincoat or umbrella, park a safe distance away and walk them to school - our children are more than happy to go out in all weathers with their wellies and raincoats on during school time so they can do it to walk to school too.
Finally, especially if your child walks to school by themselves or a little distance ahead of you, please remind them about:
- looking before they step into the road
- not walking too close to the kerb
- being extra careful when they have their hoods up
- not walking along looking at their mobile phone
- taking extra care when crossing Abbotts Way or walking across the entrance to our staff car park, where cars parked up can really restrict visibility
Keeping your child off school
Injuries such as pulled muscles, sprains, cuts and bruises etc are not authorised reasons for children taking time off from school. As long as they are able to listen and join in, they should be in school. If they need anything special to help them throughout the day, you just need to speak to the office and they will help to ensure they are still able to come in to school for their learning.
Quick step-by-step: reporting an absence at Abbots Farm Junior School
1. Decide whether your child needs to stay home. If your child is unwell and you are in doubt about whether they should attend school, please see NHS guidelines: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/. If they’re genuinely unwell or cannot attend for an unavoidable reason, please follow this procedure.
2. Notify the school before 9:00am on the first day (and on each subsequent day of absence). Call the school office and leave a message on the dedicated absence answer machine or email the admin address.
3. Give clear information - Child’s full name and class/year, reason for absence (please give details if your child is poorly, not just ‘unwell’), expected return date, if known.
4. Update the school daily while absence continues. The policy asks parents to notify the school each day of ongoing (unplanned) absence until your child returns.
5. If the school asks for proof — provide it. For repeated or unexplained illness absence the school may request medical evidence (appointment card, prescription, GP note). Keep appointment cards/letters handy. The school will only request this where needed.
6. For medical/dental appointments during school time. Notify the school in advance, show proof of appointment to the office (by email or in person), and keep the time out of school to the minimum necessary. Where possible, book appointments outside school hours.
7. For planned term-time leave (holidays etc.). Term-time leave is only granted in exceptional circumstances. To request it, please email details to the office as far in advance as possible. The headteacher decides whether to authorise the leave.
8. If your child will be late / punctuality rules. Pupils should arrive in good time for the start of the school day (the policy states children should be in school by 8:50am and registers are taken at the start of the day). Arriving after registers close will be coded as late. Keep lateness to a minimum.
9. What the school will do if you don’t explain an absence. The school will email guardians on the morning of any unexplained absence. If they cannot contact anyone and there are safeguarding concerns, they may carry out a home visit or involve external services. Repeated unauthorised absence will be referred to the Local Authority.
Diary Dates
UPCOMING EVENTS - more information will be shared closer to the time but keep these dates in your diary
- Friday 24th October - AFJS Diwali celebration day for all pupils
- Wb 27th October - HALF TERM
- Monday 3rd November - - training day - SCHOOL CLOSED TO ALL PUPILS
- Tuesday 4th November - NHS team delivering nasal flu spray immunisations in school
- Monday 10th November - School Photos Day
- Wednesday 12th November - whole school author visit
- Wb 24th November - open afternoons (see further details below)
- Tuesday 25th November - Year 5 RAF STEM day
- Monday 1st December - Year 5 Fire Safety sessions
- Wb 8th December - IEP meeting for parents of pupils on SEND register - appointments to be booked through the Arbor app - details will be sent closer to the time
- Wednesday 10th December - year 3/4 Christmas Play performances (2pm and 6pm)
- Friday 12th December - PTA Christmas Fair after school
- Wednesday 17th December - AFJS Christmas jumper and lunch day
- Wednesday 17th December - year 5/6 Christmas Carol evening (6pm)
- Thursday 18th December - whole school theatre visit to Albany Theatre - Beauty and the Beast
- Friday 19th December - break up for Christmas
- Monday 5th January - training day - SCHOOL CLOSED TO ALL PUPILS
- Tuesday 6th January - all pupils back to school
- Wednesday 7th January - Young Voices
Term dates for this academic year
Class assembly dates
All class assemblies start at 9:05am this term - just come to the hall door and we will let you in as soon as we are ready. All welcome!
- Tuesday 21st Oct - Mrs Bostock's class
- Tuesday 4th Nov - Mr Evans' class
- Tuesday 11th Nov - Mrs Thomas/Mrs Macauley's class
- Tuesday 18th Nov - Mrs Hartwell's class
- Tuesday 2nd Dec - Miss Neel's class
Open afternoons - wb 24th November
Our open afternoons are a great opportunity for parents to come in and complete some activities with their children linked to their learning this term. You can also have a look through all of their books and chat to year group staff. If you would like to come along, they start at 2pm and you can come straight to the hall doors to sign in. We look forward to having many of you join us.
Messages from the PTFA
Don't forget to send in any donations of old Halloween costumes that your children have grown out of or don't want to use anymore by Wednesday 22nd October. The PTA will be running a second hand costume stall on the playground on Friday 24th after school.
Others ways you can help us to fundraise...
If you shop at Asda, please make sure you sign up to their 'Cashpot for Schools' initiative - they will donate much needed funds to us every time you shop with them. Literally money for nothing! :)
You can also sign up to EasyFundraising and elect to allocate funds to our school - again, this is literally money for nothing! You just need to log in via EasyFundraising to do your online shopping at any of their many retailers they work with and they will donate much needed funds to us every time you shop. If you have joined us from another school that uses this initiative, please log in and swap the cause you are supporting to ABBOTS FARM JUNIOR SCHOOL :)
And finally...you can also play the Rugby Lotto and raise money for our PTA at the same time - we had several wins within our school community last term so it is worth a go! You can just log on and opt for it to automatically charge you to play each month.
Mrs Webb :)
Credits:
Created with images by Profotokris - "Pumpkins and squash." • Esabella Designs - "Three lit diyas on deep red background with festive string lights diwali festival of lights" • bravissimos - "Gradient abstract background blue, sky, ice, ink, with copy space" • MSF - "A stack of books explodes with knowledge isolated on white background" • Corner Photography - "Yellow Zig Zag lines indicating to motorists to keep clear no parking taken outside school entrance UK" • wladimir1804 - "Attendance Mark Business School Concept.,Registration of absent.,Analysis attendance report." • obpia30 - "clock time alarm clock" • Tierney - "Halloween pumpkin ghost with bat and spiders - flat lay"