Dear parents and carers,
It has been a great few weeks back in school since the Easter holidays, despite the frustratingly rainy weather for most of it. But the sun is showing its face more now and the children (and the chickens) are enjoying the field in this lovely weather.
In addition to all the usual great curriculum lessons, there have been many Farmers Forever moments happening this term already too. The whole school enjoyed our 'No Outsiders Day' a couple of weeks ago, Year 3 have been using our school grounds to explore co-ordinates, Year 4 have been on a trip to the Leicester Museum and started their STEM sessions, 5 have been enjoying their forest school sessions and Year 6 are working really hard to prepare for their SATs.
I look forward to seeing our wider AFJS community in school for the many events we have coming up this Summer - see diary dates further down for more information. In the meantime, do not forget that we are here if you need us. There is always a member of SLT on the gates in the morning, staff are on the playground at the end of the day and you can contact us via the admin email - no question is too silly or problem too small!
And finally....a very big GOOD LUCK to all our year 6 pupils who will be sitting their SATs tests next week. They have been working so hard and have made us very proud already with their RESILIENT and AMBITIOUS attitudes, so whatever they achieve next week will be well-deserved and something to be proud of, regardless of the score. Plus, a huge thank you to Dylan and Sidney and their Mum, who have donated these amazing wish bracelets for every child in Year 6 from their Mum's Etsy business 'Mint Violet'. Such a thoughtful and generous gesture that I know will be a 'Farmers Forever' memory for many of the pupils and hopefully a little symbol of support and encouragement when they need it most!
Mrs Webb :)
I know that pick up and drop off has been made more difficult since the pub have implemented their new parking system, but please remember that it is not safe to park on our yellow lines. PLease see some information below from our local PCSO
Attendance
Attendance at school is really important to a child's wellbeing as well as their academic achievement. We are receiving increased numbers of requests for leave of absence for family holidays and visits to families abroad during term time, as well as an increase in Friday afternoon appointments and requests for leave to attend weekend sport tournaments. Please note the following:
- We do not authorise holidays during term time and only authorise a limited amount of time for significant family events such as weddings.
- Any requests for leave for medical appointments must be accompanied by proof of the appointment and we do ask that wherever possible, for routine appointments such as optician or dentist check-ups, you try to make these out of school time.
- For weekend sporting tournaments, we will only be authorising the Friday afternoon absence from now on as many of these events do not actually begin until the Saturday.
However, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us regarding leaves of absences for special circumstances - we will always work with you where we can to ensure children are able to have the wider experiences that some of these events bring for them.
Equally, if ever your child is struggling to come in to school or you feel that attendance at school is actually impacting on their mental health in some way, please do not hesitate to call us and let us know. Sam and Lois in our Children and Families Team will always do whatever they can to help, even if it is just a listening ear.
The quality of education at AFJS
Previously, I have shared with you comments from our School Improvement Partner Mr Watts. This time, it was the turn of Mrs Nyman to come and see what we have been up to. Here are some of her comments:
The learning environment was ‘live’ and current to the learning being undertaken in school this half term.
There is a whole school approach to the quality of the learning environment and a ‘low arousal’ style approach with elements of the ‘Hygge’ principles.
Pupil engagement during the learning walk was high and there were no disruptive behaviours in evidence. The staff were sharing and discussing effective learning behaviours with pupils.
The pupils described the school as a ‘safe place, you can be happy, be yourself and the teachers listen to you. It is inclusive’. The children were able to describe what inclusive means.
The pupils with complex needs were receiving effective support and there was a consistent whole school approach to the use of additional adults. There were good relationships in evidence between staff and pupils.
AFJS sporting achievements
We were very proud of a group of 10 pupils who attend the level 2 Panathlon event at Houlton Sports Centre recently and were then invited to the level 3 event for later in the term due to their excellent behaviour, enthusiasm and sportsmanship! Well done all!
Mr Corbett took a large group to a girls football festival recently too. They had a great time and, of course, represented our school brilliantly with their behaviour and attitudes! The year 5/6 team also came 3rd in their tournament! Congratulations girls!
I have seen the school calendar filling up with lots of other sporting events for after half term too, so keep an eye out for any emails inviting your child to these! We also have our sports week themed open afternoons coming up too for parents to get involved in! See the dates further down.
Thank you PTFA and parents!
Thank you for all of your donations to our Bag2School collection - we collected a total of 240kg and raised £82 which isn't bad for a collection of old clothes! :)
We also raised just over £200 at our family Bingo night, which was really well attended and enjoyed by all.
The PTFA have contributed funds recently to some new books for our library and games, crafting materials and toys for our Den, which is a smaller, quieter space for pupils to use at lunchtime if they find the playground a little too much to cope with or just want to do something more relaxed. Mr Issit has also worked hard to help us redecorate this space and make it a calm, welcoming environment for pupils. Thank you for all of your contributions towards this!
Transition
Whilst the Summer term is a wonderful time in schools, full of celebrations, fun in the sun and for us at AFJS, many Farmers Forever moments, it is also a time of worry and stress for many pupils as they face the prospect of the changes ahead. For year 6, this is the move to secondary and maybew away from friends, and for other year groups it is the thought of moving up to a new year group, a new teacher, maybe a new group of classmates.
Please bear in mind that these worries can often result in a change in children's behaviours or emotions. We find that there are a lot more friendship fall-outs at this time of year, lots more anxieties about coming to school and some tears at bedtime when it all gets a bit too much! If you are worried at all, just come and talk to us, but also remember, and reassure your child, that it absolutely normal to have big feelings as the school year comes to an end. Sam and Lois can be contacted on pastoral2421@welearn365.com and they can chat to you over the phone or you can come in for a meeting and they will make you a cup of tea as a bonus!
There are lots of useful links to support pupils and families with transition on the Warwickshire website at https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/transitions and the Education Psychology team at Warwickshire have also produced some super videos that you can find here https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/educationalpsychology
Year 6
After SATs, Miss Ingle will be supporting identified Y6 pupils to prepare for the transition to secondary school and there will also be whole class sessions taking place to support all pupils with some of the key worries and concerns that we know children have at this time. We also have a Loudmouth production coming in to school and a 'preparing for change' workshop for all year 6 pupils booked in with our Mental Health in Schools Team a.k.a. the fabulous Sue, who many children now know well! Again, do not forget that Sam and Lois can also be contacted on pastoral2421@welearn365.com
Looking ahead for years 4 and 5
While it may sound like it is so far away, it will not be all that long until it is time for year 4 and 5 pupils and their parents to start planning for the next stages of their adventures after Abbots Farm! Scary I know! But being prepared and as informed as possible does help - as secondary schools start to share details of their open events with us, we will pass these on to you. Here is the first one...
Rugby High School’s Open Evening for year 4 and 5 students
Rugby HIgh School would like to invite year 4 and 5 students and their parents/carers to visit the school for their Open Evening this June: www.rugbyhighschool.co.uk/openevening There is no need to register, just go along on the night.
Diary Dates
UPCOMING EVENTS - more information will be shared closer to the time but keep these dates in your diary
- week beginning 13th May - year 6 SATs week
- Monday 20th May - Y4 parents residential trips meeting at 5:30
- Tuesday 21st May - Y5 and 6 out all afternoon - Warwick Arts Centre Big Sing
- Wednesday 22nd May - AFJS Maths Day
- Thursday 23rd May - Loudmouth theatre transition production and workshops for year 6 - for more information click here to visit their website
- Friday 24th May - Break up for half term
- week beginning 3rd June - book fair in school
- week beginning 3rd June and 10th June - year 4 Times Tables Checks
- week beginning 10th June - open afternoons (see details below)
- Tuesday 11th June - Year 4 trip to Cotswolds Wildlife Park
- week beginning 17th June - Sports week
- week beginning 17th June and 24th June - year 6 swimming
- Friday 21st June - training day - school closed to all pupils
- week beginning 24th June - Rugby School Festival on the Close - different year groups involved in events across the week - TBC
- Monday 1st July - Sports Day - events in the morning followed by a family picnic on the field, weather permitting!
- Wednesday 10th July - Warwickshire transition day
- Friday 12th July - Pupil reports out to parents
- Friday 12th July - PTA Summer Fair
- Thursday 18th July - pm - Year 6 leavers play to parents
- Friday 19th July - break up for Summer Holidays
Term dates for next academic year
We can now confirm our training days for next academic year, after consulting with the Infant School to help our families who have pupils at both schools.
Class assembly dates
Just 2 classes left to go this term - Miss Neel's and Mrs Hartwell's - see dates and times below
Open afternoon dates
Don't forget your trainers - these open afternoons will be active sessions, planned to fit in with sports week, which is the week after, and also to promote our school value of HEALTHY BODY & MIND!
Messages from the office
Thank you for all of your patience whilst Mrs Bowcutt has been off poorly - Mrs Bull has been working hard to keep everything running smoothly and Mr Issitt and myself have been enjoying answering the phones to help out too! We are hoping to see her back very soon but please accept our apologies if things haven't been responded to quite as quickly
Year 5 parents - please remember that Condover needs to be fully paid by half term.
In the Summer term, we are migrating to a new Information Management System in school to try and streamline messages, payments and admin tasks such as trip permissions and updating contacts into one app. The only thing that will remain separate will be lunch ordering, which will still be via Stir. This should hopefully make things much simpler for parents as well as us, but there may be some teething problems to begin with. We will be sending out further information to you as and when needed, so just keep an eye out for communications from us and act on any updates that we need you to complete so that we can hopefully have a seamless start to the new academic year in September :)
Medication - if your child needs to take a regular dose of medication within the school day for a short period of time for any reason, you need to complete a form at the office and hand in the correct daily dose to the office ladies for safe keeping. Do not put it in your child's bag. Please note that we are unable to refrigerate any medication.