Dear parents and carers,
Given how Easter falls this year, this is a combined March and April newsletter. There are lots of things to celebrate as well as lots of information for the upcoming summer term, which is always the busiest but most fun too here at AFJS! Most importantly, there are some key dates for your diary such as class assemblies, open afternoons, sports day, Y6 leavers play and much more. Further details and specific timings will always be sent out closer to the time.
Thank you as always for being such a wonderful part of our whole school community and for working with us to support your child in any way we can. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter break, whatever you are up to. School starts back on Monday 28th April.
Mrs Webb :)
Changes ahead
We have some staff changes coming up in the next month or so to update you all on.
- Firstly, we have a new member of staff joining us in the office after half term. Mrs Saunders will be taking on a new role of 'Office Manager' and brings a wealth of experience from her previous roles in schools. (Not to be confused with Mrs Saunders who is a TA in year 4!)
- Mrs Warneck is also leaving us shortly after Easter after many, many years as a TA at AFJS. She has also been the driving force behind our PTFA and led that team in many successful fundraising events over many years. She is relocating with her husband to Wiltshire.
- Mrs Watson-Tate will be leaving for maternity leave shortly after Easter too as her baby is due mid-May and we are all very much looking forward to meeting the new arrival when the time comes.
- Finally, Mrs Bull will be leaving her role as School Business Manager after May half term to enjoy term-time holidays in the sunshine and pottering in her garden with her dog Bert. Mrs Bull has been at AFJS since 2019 and has worked hard to improve our school catering offer and to implement the Arbor system among many other things in her time here.
As you know, we had our long-awaited visit from Ofsted this term. Unfortunately, at this time, I am not yet able to provide details of the outcomes but I am delighted to share with you some important information about the process and findings.
I am always proud of our children, our staff and our Farmers Forever community, but never more so than during our OFSTED inspection, when everyone came together to share with the inspectors their reflections about our school and all the amazing things that happen here every single day. Thank you to all the parents that shared their views on the OFSTED parent view website and those of you that spoke to inspectors at the start or end of the day when approached. It is an absolute privilege to be the headteacher of this fabulous school, filled with such wonderful staff, children and parents.
Here are some of the notes I made from discussions with inspectors about our school, to give you an idea of some of the wonderful things they saw and that our children talked to them about, that make our school such a special place to be:
Of course, there will also be recommendations for further development that come from our inspection, but we are reassured that they are in line with specific areas in school that we had already identified on our school development plan and have already been working well towards.
I will send you a copy of the final report as soon as we have it to share and as always, will continue to update you on our progress and our strengths by sharing comments from our school improvement partners Mr Watts and Mrs Nyman in newsletters.
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.
World Book Day
We had a great time celebrating World Book Day again this year, with lots of book themed activities going on throughout the day. Mr Evans even managed to get some book-themed maths into the curriculum for the day, using the book "How Many Mice Make An Elephant?"
Look at all the wonderful book character spoons we had submitted for our World Book Day competition too...
Open Afternoons
It was wonderful to see parents and wider families in school joining in learning activities with their children a couple of weeks ago. Year 3 made the most of the weather and shared the joys of our very own orienteering course with their parents, year 5 created some fascinating rainforest creature models and described what their habitats in the rainforest would be like, year 6 created quizzes with their parents and year 4 created some lovely sketches linked to their Egyptians topic.
Here are some of the final creations from the year 5 open afternoon...
Fire safety
Year 5 had a visit from the local fire service a couple of weeks ago to learn some important fire safety messages and to think about how they can help keep themselves and their families safe from the risk of fire.
Joseph Production at Bilton Grange
Year 5 were also very lucky to be invited to Bilton Grange School last week to see their production of the musical Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, which they all enjoyed very much.
CHARITY WORK
Bingo Event for pupils
The Eagles Bingo event was a lovely evening for all the children that attended - who knew crossing numbers off on a bingo card could cause such excitement! They raised £129 which they are intending to donate to a local wildlife charity but they still haven't decided which one! We will keep you posted.
Rugby Foodbank
We are continuing to collect donations for the Rugby Foodbank in our office foyer and would love some extra donations next week to boost our collection before we deliver it to them. Here is a list of things that they are currently in need of but any donations will be gratefully received.
Healthy Body and Mind
Road Safety
We have been significantly concerned this week by the number of children seen in cars at drop off in the morning not wearing seatbelts. Please make sure that your child does not take their belt off until your car has come to a full stop and you have parked somewhere safe and sensible. The sudden braking whilst parking or negotiating the traffic on Abbotts Way could be a significant hazard for children with no belts on. It has also, in some cases, led to children opening car doors and trying to get out before the car has actually stopped. We are all busy and I know that the morning school run can be a stressful one but an extra minute or two to keep your children safe is more than worth it!
Online Safety
No doubt many of you will have seen the recent Netflix TV series 'Adolescence'. If you've not seen the series, it's a difficult watch but provides quite an insight into problems experienced by young people seeking to come to terms with a world dominated by social media. In response to the concerns raised in the seies, a local safegaurding team have shared this really useful resource (click link below), which provides a guide to the meaning of some of the Emojis used by many young people in their day to day online communication with each other that you may find useful.
Sporting activities
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
The Panathlon and the Change for Life festival
A small group of pupils attended the Panathlon at Houlton and another attended the Change for Life festival at Paddox this month. Both events allowed pupils to experience a wide array of different sporting activities alongside pupils from other local schools and the children that attended had a great time trying out new things!
Cross Country
Swimming
The arrival of the pool on our playground caused much excitement last week and the children in year 3 and 4 have finally had the chance to use it this week. The swimming teachers have been very impressed by their behaviour and also with their progress over the last few days. They are confident that we will have 2 whole year groups of conifdent water-lovers by the end of next week!
Pastoral updates
The Mental Health in Schools Team
If you would like to find out more or liaise with school for us to refer your child, please contact the Children and Families team by email at pastoral2421@welearn365.com
In addition to their direct work with school and individual pupils, the team also share wellbeing resources with schools. This month's wellness theme is BE ACTIVE and below you can see their top tips for keeping your family active.
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/
Attendance Updates
While we understand that sometimes absence is unavoidable, we also need to work together as a whole school community to ensure our school's attendance data falls in line with, if not above, national averages. We really appreciate our wonderful parents and families here at AFJS and the efforts you make to work with us to ensure school is a happy, safe place for your child where they feel listened to, and with so many misconceptions around thanks to news reports that seek to sensationalise attendance guidelines, I have added an attendance page to our school website to share key points with you all and keep you informed.
You can also find our AFJS Attendance Policy on our website or by clicking the button below.
Appointments, holidays and extended family visits abroad are the key areas impacting the attendance of our pupils here at AFJS. We understand your frustrations and reasons why - as staff we are also bound to the same days/times as you are and all struggle with the same issues as you do regarding costs of holidays or flights and we know that in the current climate, trying to get a medical appointment at all is difficult enough, let alone trying to get it outside of the school day or in school holidays. However, we ask that you consider the impact low attendance can have on not only a pupil's academic development but also their social and emotional development and try to keep such instances to a very minimum.
Need some help or support with your child's attendance? Do not hesitate to get in touch with Mrs Smythe by email at pastoral2421@welearn365.com or by calling the office and asking to speak to her.
Diary Dates
UPCOMING EVENTS - more information will be shared closer to the time but keep these dates in your diary
- Fri 12th April - break up for Easter Holidays
- Mon 28th April - pupils back to school
- Mon 28th April - year 5/6 G&T PE day
- Tues 29th April - year 4 trip to Leicester Museum
- Thurs 1st May - school used as a polling station but still open to all pupils
- Mon 5th May - BANK HOLIDAY - school closed to all
- Tues 6th May - Y5 parents meeting for Gullivers residential trip at 5pm
- WB 12th May - year 6 SATs week
- Thurs 22nd - Fri 23rd May - year 5 residential trip to Gullivers
- WB 26th May - half term - school closed to all pupils
- Tues June 10th - year 6 trip to Bletchley Park
- WB 16th June - Sports Week
- WB 23rd June - Art Week
- Fri 20th June - Rugby area athletics championships
- Fri 20th June - year 4 overnight camp (weather permitting)
- Mon 30th June - sports day in the morning followed by family picnic lunch (weather permitting)
- Weds 2nd July - transition day - pupils move to new classes/schools for the day
- Thurs 10th July - choir performing at the Temple Speech Rooms in the evening (will attend rehearsals during the day)
- Fri 11th July - end of year reports out to parents
- Fri 11th July - PTA Summer Fair
- Thurs 17th July - year 6 leavers play in the afternoon and leavers BBQ in the evening
- Fri 18th July - break up for Summer Holidays
- Tue 2nd Sept - all pupils back to school
Term dates for this academic year
Term dates for next academic year
Class assembly and open afternoon dates for next term
Class assemblies will be held in the mornings this term, at 9:05am:
- Tues 20th May - Robin class (Mr Wolsey)
- Tues 3rd June - Goldcrest class (Mrs Bostock)
- Tuesday 17th June - Starling class (Miss Neel)
- Tuesday 24th June - Sparrow class (Mr Evans)
- Tuesday 1st July - Chaffinch class (Mrs Hartwell)
- Tuesday 8th July - Wren (Mrs Berry/Mrs Thomas' class)
Open afternoons will take place wb 9th June:
- Monday 9th - Year 3
- Tuesday 10th - Year 4
- Wednesday 11th - Year 5
- Thursday 12th - Year 6
Credits:
Created with images by Rawf8 - "Spring flowers, yellow daffodils on blue sky background" • Eakrin - "Hand choose wooden doll stand out first the group concept of relationship or HR human resources officer or business team and personnel management job performance." • hd3dsh - "Yellow backpack with alarm clock and school equipment. Back to school concept on green background 3D Rendering, 3D Illustration " • WavebreakMediaMicro - "Woman wearing a high visibility vest and holding a stop sign" • tamayura39 - "PTA" • Rasim - "Easter decorations enhance the charm of a cup of tea on a wooden table, creating a delightful setting with blue and beige accents that evoke a festive atmosphere for tea lovers." • obpia30 - "clock time alarm clock"