January Newsletter

Farmers Forever Moments

Here's a few of the wonderful things that have been happening around school this month and don't forget to check Seesaw each Friday for the year group learning newsletters that the House Captains and Ambassadors put together to reflect on the learning that has happened that week and then share this in our celebration assembly.

Dogs Trust Workshops

It was a pleasure to welcome Sarah back from the Dogs Trust last week to work with our older children this time on how to be safe with dogs and how to recognise their feelings through their behaviours. This is something that we continue to work on with the children too through having Chase in school. If you have a dog at home and are looking for some help or advice, there are lots of useful resources on the Dogs Trust website. Click the button below to head straight to their 'Dog Advice' page.

Young Voices

This event was fabulous as always! Such an exciting event that the children really enjoy, as do the staff! :) The children were all impeccably behaved, sung their hearts out and fully enjoyed themselves. Thank you also to all the parents who came and formed part of the huge audience at the BP Pulse Arena in Birmingham. For those of you that didn't

Y5 Pizza making day

As part of their offer, our catering company Stir offer some curriculum enrichment activities and this week, year 5 were lucky enough to take part in their pizza making day! I had the chance to sample one at lunchtime and it was delicious. I was also very proud of the children for their behaviour in the sessions and I had an email from our area manager Amy this morning in which she said "myself and Uli (the chef) had a great time yesterday and your children are a real credit to the school." I don't have any pictures yet but keep an eye on our school website for a blog post coming soon.

CHARITY WORK

When we returned back to school after Christmas, House Captains got started on planning their house charity events. Each house is planning a different event to raise money for a different charity of their choice. The children shared their plans in an assembly, where we also discussed the importance of supporting charities. Keep an eye on your messages for details of the events planned, coming soon.

The Adventures of Chase

We have all been learning about how the brain works this term, with the help of Chase and a few of his 'doggy friends'. The children are really working hard to recognise when maybe their 'Scooby brain' is taking over as well as identifying ways to calm their 'Scooby brain' so that they can make better choices.

We linked this learning to the 'Zones of Regulation' which we use in school to help children recognise where they are with their emotions.

Then we used this picture to talk about using deep breathing and visualisation as calm down techniques when we are angry, anxious or sad. We discussed how they could visualise stroking Chase and how soft he feels and how that makes them feel but we also talked about the sea and the waves in the background of this picture and how, if Chase is not a calm or safe space for them, they could think about the sea, the waves, the calming noise of the ocean or the joy of being at the beach instead.

"Chase breathing" is something we use in school to help regulate a whole class ready for Chase to pop in and visit them - we explain how Chase needs to feel calm and safe so that he will want to go back and that equally, if they are a bit nervous about Chase being in their room, that Chase breathing will help them calm too.

Healthy Body and Mind

Sport and physical activity is an integral part of every school day here at AFJS! That is why HEALTHY BODY AND MIND is one of our school values. We provide as many different opportunities as possible for children to get active throughout the school day and it is our aim this year to try and get the School Games GOLD award. Here are a few of the HEALTHY BODY AND MIND opportunities that have been happening this half term

A team of boys and a team of girls from year 6 headed to the level 2 competition at Harris last week. The girls came 2nd in their competition and the boys absolutely stormed into a 1st place victory, so we are very proud of them all. Both teams will now go forward to the level 3 competition and compete against schools from across Coventry and Warwickshire next month.

The y3/4 speed stackers attended the level 3 competition this week after their victory at the level 2 competition at Harris earlier in the month. Want to know what it is all about? Take a look at this video and maybe give it a try yourself.

Our school football team also gave what Mr Corbett described as their "best performance ever" last night winning 2 matches and drawing 1. They also only conceded 1 goal across all the matches!

Our continued push to get children outside in any weather and engage them in different outside activities is going from strength to strength. Thanks to all parents for supporting us in our bid to get outdoor footwear in school - look how full our welly racks are now....

And look at our forest school area, which is going from strength to strength... Lots of children now choose to pull on their wellies and head down to forest school at lunchtime and the behaviour has been excellent.

THE CHICKENS

Our flock of 5 is now fully settled and although there is still some rivalry between Meggy and Peggy and the other 3, they are happily sharing the coop and enjoying life in their extended living quarters round by the pond and raised beds. Thanks to Mr Issitt for all his hard work on this! :)

The mental health benefits that these birds bring to our school community are genuinely more than we had ever imagined and the children are so good at keeping them safe and helping to keep their coop clean and their food and water topped up.

WORKING WITH OUR MHST TEAM

We are really lucky to have a strong relationship with Sue and Sam, our allocated NHS Mental Health in Schools Team practitioners. If you think you or your child may benefit from a conversation with them, please speak to Mrs Smythe in our Children and Families Team for more information.

The FAMILY INFORMATION SERVICE

The Family Information Service phone line is a freephone number to enable anyone to contact them for support. You can call them on 0800 408 1558 with anything - even if they can't help, they may be able to point you in the direction of someone who can! You can also search their webpage for useful advice and links to places that can help with many areas of family life from debt and housing to SEND and family relationships. https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/children-families and you can follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WarwickshireFIS/

Diary Dates

UPCOMING EVENTS - more information will be shared closer to the time but keep these dates in your diary

• Tues 4th Feb - Y5 rainforest explorer day in hall
• Mon 10th Feb - Y5/6 cross country heat 1 at Hart Field
• Fri 14th Feb - Mid-year reviews are sent out to parents
• WB 17th Feb - HALF TERM
• Wb 24th Feb - Hunts Book Fair in school all week
• Tues 25th Feb - year 6 rowing teams at the level 3 competition
• Weds 26th and Thurs 27th Feb - parents evenings (Book Fair out in the hall)

Term dates for this academic year

Class assembly and open afternoon dates

Please remember that this term, class assemblies are at 2:50pm on a Tuesday.

• Tuesday 4th Feb - Mr Wolsey's class
• Tuesday 11th Feb - Mrs Watson-Tate/Mr Corbett's class
• Tuesday 24th Feb - Mrs Berry/Mrs Solomon's class
• Tuesday 4th Mar - Mrs Hartwell's class
• Tuesday 11th Mar - Mr Evan's class
• Tuesday 25th Mar - Mrs Beech's class

Open afternoons will be week beginnning 17th March on the following days.....

MONDAY = Year 4 TUESDAY = Year 6 WEDNESDAY = Year 5 THURSDAY = Year 3

Here are details of some local activities we have had shared with us recently that may be of interest to you.

There are so many great things on offer for this coming half term holiday, including some free local activities to get involved in at the Rugby Art Gallery and even closer to home, some woodland sessions taking place in the Bluebell Woods, led by the RBS play rangers, who also come into school to work with children on a Friday lunch time. Please remember that we cannot vouch for any of these providers, we are just sharing information that might be of use or interest to our families that has been sent to us.