Fairfields Primary School

Dear Fairfields Community,

It has been lovely to see the children back in school this week, and to hear about their Easter holidays. The staff were busy on the INSET day completing health and safety, first aid and gymnastics training, all key to support the children in being safe in school.

Now we are back at school, it looks like the spring weather might have arrived (although I keep saying this and then it rains!) Please do however continue to send your child to school with a coat or fleece if the weather looks cold or rainy as we will continue to try and get outside whenever we can.

Thank you to the PTA for organising the Easter Egg Hunt which we could finally enjoy after school today. We hugely appreciate the support of the PTA, and parent support in these events, as the money raised goes towards improving our school with things such as our new playground equipment. The PTA have just donated £10,000 towards this which is amazing, so thank you everybody for your support!

Safeguarding

We take safeguarding in our school community very seriously. Please find attached a parent safeguarding update with further information on about safeguarding in school, and how to safeguard your child at home. Please come and speak to us if you have any concerns. We are here to support you and your children.

Eid Celebration 

Thank you for joining us on Tuesday for our Eid celebrations and thank you to Miss Harper and the parents who helped to make this an enjoyable event for our community to share together.

Playground Renovations

I am sure you will agree that the new playground is looking amazing. It is almost ready! We are sorry for the delay- the children have been very patient waiting and have been enjoying seeing the changes each day! We are hoping the playground will now be open fully later next week. We will be training the children on how to safely use each piece of equipment, and for the first few weeks whilst the new equipment is still very exciting, we will be having time slots for classes to use it at playtime and lunchtime. We will review this leading up to half term but I am sure you will appreciate that, with all the children wanting to have a go, it is safer for us to manage the use of the equipment in this way to certainly start with.

The equipment will not be in use at all before or after school. We appreciate that this may be disappointing, but please support our school staff by ensuring that your child is not on any play equipment before or after school. Many thanks.

Music lessons

There are still some places to be filled for violin and keyboard lessons for children who will be in years 3-6 next year) and for recorder lessons (for children who will be in years 2-6 next year).  There is a charge for these lessons. If you are interested in these for your child, please can let the school office know by Tuesday 23^rd April. 

Rugby

The cancelled rugby match from before Easter is rescheduled for next Thursday 25^th April. This means there is no rugby club for children in years 3 and 4. The match will be at Fairfields Primary School, parents do not need to attend but are very welcome to if they would like! Your child should have bought a letter home about this today, please return them to the school office by Tuesday at the latest. We apologise for the late notice about this match! Miss Bradley and Mr Mardell

PTA Updates

Creativity Evening: A Grown Ups Night Out - Friday 26th April (from 7pm)

Next Friday sees the exciting parents night out hosted in Proteus (next door to school) which everyone is welcome to attend and at only £5 a ticket this is one not to miss. This will be an evening filled with fun and creativity and hosted by one of our very own parents and where you can let your imagination run wild. There will be snacks, drinks, cocktails, mocktails and more - an opportunity to let your hair down with other parents and hopefully teachers too. For more details and to buy tickets on-line please visit our website: https://fairfieldspta.uk/product/creativity-evening-grown-ups-night-out/

Children's School Disco - Thursday 23rd May

Thank you to everyone who has signed up to help with this event so far - we almost have the minimum number of helpers required for the event so far but need a few more volunteers. Full details including a volunteer sign-up sheet can be found here on the PTA. website: https://fairfieldspta.uk/

Updates from year groups

FS

Foundation Stage have settled back into school brilliantly for summer term! They have started their new topic 'growing' by planting their own sunflower seeds and observing plant life around the school grounds. They have also been gardening over at our Forest School allotment by digging out the old weeds ready to do some growing there too! Well done, Foundation Stage. Please remember to come to school in your PE kit on Monday for our very first PE session of the year! Have a great weekend! 

Year 1

Year 1 have had an exciting start to the term, looking to match up different parts of the inside and the outside of our school with pictures we have looked at.

Please remember that our PE day has changed for this term. It will be outdoor PE on a Wednesday.

Year 2

Well done children on a great week back in school. We hope you enjoyed our hook morning on Wednesday, and that your team managed to survive! A reminder that our PE day has now changed to Wednesday. This will be outdoor P.E on the field for the rest of the school year. 

If you have any plastic containers (e.g. drink bottles/milk bottles) that you don't need, please send them into school as we will be using them as part of our maths lessons in the week beginning Monday 29^th April. Thank you! 

Year 3

Well done on a great first week back. Year 3 had an amazing hook day where they tired themselves out using all the school’s PE equipment, and then created life-sized skeletons and working lungs! They have also worked super hard on their first swimming lesson this week. Well done year 3!

Year 4

Year 4 have had an exciting start to our new term, with our new theme 'innovation'. The children enjoyed our hook day, when they met a scientist, made AI pictures of themselves, and made catapults. They've also enjoyed the start of our new book- 'Cogheart'- especially the phrase 'mechanical porcupine'!

Our PE day is Monday - the children have cricket outside on the field. Have a great weekend.

Year 5

Year 5 had a fabulous week discovering how the Industrial Revolution changed Britain and we enjoyed making our pop-up cards. Our PE days have changed, we have two sessions a week now, cricket on Monday and dance on Wednesday. Please ensure your child comes to school in the appropriate P.E. kit. Thank you to all those parents who have already returned their trip letter. Please may we ask that all forms are returned and payments made on Arbor by Friday 3^rd May.

Year 6

Year 6 have started back for their final term very well. We have introduced the Ancient Greeks and we have been preparing for our exams. Please find the Summer Term newsletter sent to you via email and it will be on the Year 6 website pages. A reminder, that Ottawa class will be attending Costello to take part in a badminton PE lesson on Monday and should come to school in their PE kit as normal. 

Sunflower Café

The café is open to come and meet other parents and to chat to our Home/School Link Worker, Tracey, every Monday from 8.40am, and on a Friday from 2.50pm until 3.10pm.

Other Information (attachments may not be able to be viewed on some devices through the Jotter app, but can be seen on Arbor)

Please find attached the summer term newsletter from JAG, our breakfast club and afterschool club provider.

Dates:

Thursday 25^th April: Ankara class parents and carers school library visit (2.30pm- 3.00pm)

Monday 29^th April: KS1 Parent Maths Visit 2.10-3.00pm (FS-Year2)

Wednesday 1^st May: KS2 Parent Maths Visit 2.10-3.00pm (Year 3- Year 6) 

Friday 24^th May: Last day of the summer 1 half term

Monday 3^rd June: School closed for INSET day (staff training)

For other key days, please look at the calendar on the website or the School Jotter.

PE Days are as follows (please notes some changes for the summer term):

FS: Monday

Year 1: Wednesday (outdoor PE)

Year 2: Wednesday (outdoor PE)

Year 3: Thursday (indoor PE)

Year 4: Monday (outdoor PE)

Year 5: Monday (outdoor) Wednesday (indoor PE)

Year 6: Monday (indoor) and Wednesday (outdoor PE)

Start and finish times are as follows:

Foundation Stage, Year 1 and 2: 8.40am- 3.10pm

Years 3- 6: 8.45am- 3.15pm

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Mrs Vicky Hopkins