Key Dates
Monday 8th & Tuesday 9th October
School photographer in for individual & sibling photographs
Wednesday 10th October
Phonics workshop for Reception parents, 9.00 - 10.00 in the Small Hall
Friday 12th October
Year 4 Trip to Butser Ancient Farm
Saturday 13th October
Gardening Day 10.00 am - 2.00 pm
Tuesday 16th October
Green mufti day
Wednesday 17th October
Parent Consultations, 4.00 - 7.00 pm
Thursday 18th October
Parent Consultations, 2.30 - 6.00 pm
School closes at 2.00 pm on this day
Friday 19th October
PSA Dads' Breakfast, 8.00 - 8.45am in the Large Hall
Friday 19th October
Year 4 cake sale
Friday 19th October
School closes for the half term holiday at the usual time
Monday 22nd - Friday 26th October
Half term holiday
Monday 29th October
INSET day - children not in school
Key dates for the Autumn term are available on the website here.
Reminders
Pupil Photographs
On Monday 8th October and Tuesday 9th October, the school photographer is coming into school to take photographs of the children, either individually or together with their sibling(s). The children should come into school wearing the correct school uniform, including a school jumper or cardigan and, if they are in Years 3-6, a school tie.
Bikeability
A reminder for the Year 6 children following the Bikeability programme next week: don’t forget your bike and helmet, you’ll need them every day! You can leave your bike in the one of the bike racks when you get to school but make sure you lock it and keep the key safe. You will be outside for the length of the course so do bring a coat. If you are attending the course in the afternoon, you’ll need to be at the school office by 1.00 pm so grab an early lunch at 12.30 pm. Finally, an important message for parents and carers: if you haven’t already completed the on-line registration, you MUST do it before Monday.
Illness
If your child is unwell and has vomiting or diarrhoea, they should not return to school for 24 hours after their symptoms have gone. This will help stop the spread of bugs across the school. Please support us with reminding your children how important it is to wash their hands with soap regularly throughout the day and not just rely on the hand sanitisers available around the school.
Awareness Weeks
At Fern Hill, we see awareness weeks as a great opportunity to recognise and better understand the differences we all have. This week is Dyslexia Awareness Week and the children have shared a short animation in class celebrating how our brains all work differently.
You can watch ‘See Dyslexia Differently’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11r7CFlK2sc
Next week is Equalities Week and across the school, children will be exploring a range of topics around what makes us unique, for example, differences in culture, families and religion. Ms. Linch, Head of Art at the The Kingston Academy, will be speaking to the older children in KS2 about gender equality and the history of women's rights.
Attachments
Year Group Newsletters
Gardening Day Poster
KMS Come & Play Day
Our healthy hedge is on its way!
We are delighted to say that we’ll be taking delivery of our new environment enhancing hedge on Monday 15th October; planting will begin straight away in front of the infants’ playground on the Richmond Road. The children will have the opportunity to dig in their own ‘class’ plant on Tuesday 16th October and parents are very welcome to come and lend a hand too, between 9.00 – 11.00 am on that day. To mark the occasion, Tuesday 16th October will also be a green mufti day - children may come to school dressed in green (but no football kits please!). At school, the theme for the week and focus for assemblies will be around developing the children’s understanding of how important it is to care for the environment they live in.
Our hedge is an evergreen called ‘Oleaster’, designed to cut pollution from the Richmond Road and improve privacy for children using the playground, making the school a happier and healthier place to be. It will be planted as a mature hedge along the full length of the playground fence so we’ll reap the benefits right away.
From a seed of an idea to achieving an aspirational target of £7,000, this has been a wonderful community project, involving so many of our families and truly reflecting the Fern Hill values of inspiration and collaboration. Thank you to all the parents and carers who have donated to the Healthy Hedge fund through the crowdfunding page and to all the children who have raised money in such imaginative ways, both at school and at home. A thank you too to our local community who have also supported this project, including a former parent whose landscaping company is planting our hedge for free!
Garden Gang News
The lovely, warm summer we have had this year has given us the best vegetable crop we have ever had! Beautiful, home-grown tomatoes, runner beans, potatoes and carrots, harvested by the Gardening Club, were prepared and served to the children by our lovely kitchen staff. The Secret Garden is heaving with wildlife and, despite the squirrels munching on the sunflowers and a badger digging up the carrots, there was plenty left to sell at the garden produce sale held by the Gardening Club after school this week. The children were very excited to be selling the results of all their hard work! Thanks to your support, we raised over £50 which will be used to help maintain our wonderful garden.
Saturday 13th October is our termly Gardening Day and all families are invited to come along anytime between 10.00 am – 2.00 pm to help get our Secret Garden autumn-ready. It’s a lovely opportunity for the children to be at school and not in the classroom, be active and make new friends. Refreshments are provided by our amazing PSA. Please do come along, even if it’s only for an hour.
Parent Governor Election - Voting
Thank you to the parents who nominated themselves or another to stand for election as parent governor. The deadline for nominations has now passed and next week, on Tuesday 9th October, each parent or carer who has a child at the school will receive a letter with a ballot paper and further information on how to vote. The letters will be sent home with the children so please check in their school bags. Voting will be open from Tuesday 9th October 2018 until 9.00 am on Wednesday 17th October 2018.
Sporting News
Year 4 girls took to the football field this week, playing in a festival at Kew AFC with a number of other local schools. An equal number of wins and losses - but smiles all round. Well done, girls!
The England Lionesses are playing an international match in London for the first time since 2014. The Lionesses against Australia will be held at Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC on Tuesday, 9 October. Kick-off is at 7.00 pm. Tickets are £10 for adults and just £1 for the under 21s. To book tickets please go to: https://ticketingcontent.thefa.com//England%20Women%20Vs%20Australia%20Women
The overall winner this week is COOMBE
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Kingston
236
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Coombe
264
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Richmond
160
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Hampton
229
Kingston Music Service 'Come & Play' Day
Kingston Music Service are running a 'Come & Play' day on Saturday 13th October from 2.00 - 4.30 pm at All Saint's Church in Kingston. It's free entry and a fantastic opportunity to try out a range of musical instruments and speak to one of their experienced tutors.
Orchestra Club
Calling all musicians! If you child is learning to play an instrument and has been having lessons for more than two terms, they are invited to a free taster session of Orchestra club in the Music room next week on Friday 12th October, 3.30 – 4.30 pm. The children play lots of games and discover what it means to play musical parts in a fun setting. Type ‘the benefits of playing in an ensemble’ into your internet search engine for more information about what your child can learn from becoming a member of an orchestra. Unfortunately there is currently no space for additional piano players but your child’s name can certainly be added to the waiting list.
PSA News & Events
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Thanks to your donations, we raised a fantastic £850 at our Macmillan Coffee Morning last week! The teachers ran their own Coffee Morning during their break too which raised over £160. This is a wonderful effort and we’re so grateful for your generous support for this very worthy cause. Thank you.
New Parents’ Welcome Evening
It was lovely to meet so many new Fern Hill parents at our recent welcome evening. Thanks for coming along and we look forward to seeing you at lots of school events over the coming year.
Dads’ Breakfast
One of our most popular events, the Dads’ Breakfast, will be held on Friday 19th October from 7.45 to 8.45am in the Main Hall. This is a great opportunity for dads to come along and enjoy a delicious breakfast with their Fern Hill children. Grandads, uncles and other significant men also welcome! This is a free event, funded by the PSA, with cereals, toast, pastries, tea, coffee and juice all on the menu.
To help us cater for the correct numbers, please book your places via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dads-breakfast-tickets-50861959490, letting us know how many adults and children will be attending. You will receive a confirmation email once you have booked your places. There is no need to print your tickets as names will automatically be added to a guest list. Please RSVP by Monday 15th October.
Due to space restrictions, only school age Fern Hill children (Daisy Class through to Year 6) can attend. No babes in arms or buggies please. Thank you for your understanding.
Fireworks Night
Our fabulous annual fireworks display will be on Wednesday 7th November from 5.30 to 7.30pm in the KS2 playground. As well as a stunning professional fireworks display, there will be stalls selling mulled wine, beer, hot dogs, popcorn, toffee apples and other refreshments, as well as a brilliant selection of glow sticks. This is always an extremely popular event so please remember to get your tickets in good time!
As in previous years, the PSA will be selling tickets outside school before and after drop off during the week commencing October 15th. Tickets are priced at £6 for adults and £3 for children. Under 3s are free but need to have their own ticket.
Thank you
Fern Hill PSA
Weekly Attendance
Well done to Year 5 who had the best year group attendance for this week.
The Attendance Cup is awarded to Sycamore class who had the best class attendance with 100%
| Year | Attendance % | Star Year ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Reception | 97.5% | |
| Year 1 | 96.9% | |
| Year 2 | 96.5% | |
| Year 3 | 97.6% | |
| Year 4 | 94.4% | |
| Year 5 | 97.7% | Well done! |
| Year 6 | 95.4% |
Inspiration 