Key Dates
Monday 29th May - Friday 2nd June
HALF TERM HOLIDAY
Monday 5th June
CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL
Tuesday 6th - Thursday 8th June
Year 6 visits to the Kingston Liberal Synagogue
Thursday 8th June
Ash class parent assembly at 9:00 am in the Large Hall
Friday 9th June
Sports Day at YMCA Hawker Centre
Tuesday 13th June
Reception visit to Chessington Zoo
Year 2 & 5 visit to the Rose Theatre author events
Wednesday 14th June
Year 2 African Dance & Drumming workshop in school
Thursday 15th June
Sunflower class parent assembly at 9:00 am in the Large Hall
Saturday 17th June
PSA Summer Fair - Fern Fest
Tuesday 20th June
Nursery visit to Bocketts Park Farm
Author visit from Cath Howe in school
Thursday 22nd June
Poppy class parent assembly at 9:00 am in the Large Hall
Fern Hill Careers Fair in school
Monday 26th - Wednesday 28th June
Year 6 School Journey
Monday 26th June
Year 1 visit to Windsor Castle
Tuesday 27th June
Nursery Sports Day
Wednesday 28th June
New Parents' Welcome Evening at 6:00 pm
Thursday 29th June
Bluebell class parent assembly at 9:00 am in the Large Hall
Usborne Book Fair after school
Monday 3rd July
Year 6 Richmond Schools transition day
Tuesday 4th July
Fern Speak Summer Festival Finals
Wednesday 5th July
Year 6 Kingston Schools transition day
Reminders
Lunches
Lunches for the second half of the summer term are now available to order on ParentPay. Lunches for Monday 5th - Friday 9th June must be ordered by midnight on Sunday 28th May; if you miss this cut-off time, please ensure that your child has a packed lunch from home. The full menu is published here.
Sports Day - Friday 9th June
If you have a child in Years 3 to 6, please don't forget to complete the collection arrangements form linked here to let us know whether we will be dismissing your child to you from the Hawker Centre or from school. Please note that children will NOT be permitted to walk home alone from the Hawker Centre. All children will need a packed lunch on the day and should wear school PE kit with a t-shirt representing their Fern Hill House colour - please see this letter for further information.
Author visit & book signing
Acclaimed author and former Fern Hill teacher, Cath Howe, will be visiting our pupils in June to speak about her latest books: 'My Life on Fire' and 'Call the Puffins'. Copies of both books are available for purchase via ParentPay and will be delivered to school and signed by Cath Howe on the day of her visit. All payments must be made by Monday 5th June at the latest.
Your year group weekly news is published every Friday afternoon on your child's Home Learning Google Classroom.
This week's Times Tables Rock Stars class winners are BEECH, CHESTNUT, LIME and OAK. Well done!
Next half-term's Home Learning Grids for children in Years 1 to 6 are being published on the Google Classroom today. Work should be completed in time for the Home Learning Showcase on Friday 14th July.
Fern Speak Summer Festival 2023
We are delighted to announce the Fern Speak Summer Festival! Fern Speak has been running for many years at Fern Hill and is a wonderful opportunity for children in Years 3 to 6 to take part in performance and public speaking. The festival is all about developing the children’s self-confidence. They learn how to speak in front of an audience, how to express themselves and most importantly, have a great deal of fun along the way!
Heats and auditions will take place after the half-term break with the Final on Tuesday 4th July. Parents and carers of the children performing in the Final will be invited to attend.
Mrs Davies launched Fern Speak this week with the children, and we hope, with your support, that many of them will choose to take part. Details of the categories the children can enter and tips for performers are linked here.
Careers Fair
A last call for volunteers for our Careers Fair, planned for the afternoon of Thursday 22nd June. We hope to showcase a varied range of careers and would welcome volunteers from our parent community at the Fair, to talk to the children about the jobs that they do. If you can help, please let us know by completing this linked form - thank you. You can find all the details in the letter linked here.
Our own Mrs Vincer is running creative writing classes for children in Year 3 and up! Click here for further information.
Half-term recommended reads!
‘The Thief of Farrowfell’ by Ravena Guron
As the youngest thief in a notorious family of criminals, 12-year-old Jude Ripon is always excluded from the family heists. In an attempt to prove herself, Jude breaks into the Weston Mansion to steal some rare magic from a powerful magic family. What Jude doesn’t realise is that there is a curse on the item she stole and her family will suffer bad luck until she can break the curse. In order to break the curse, Jude must team up with the decidedly non-criminal Weston children to find their missing parents.
Farrowfell is an inventive new world of magic, monsters and edible spells and Jude is a feisty and determined protagonist - brave and loyal, despite her criminal tendencies.
‘The Thief of Farrowfell’ is a fantastically funny and fast-paced story about friendship, family, finding your courage and learning to stand up for what is right.
'Rumaysa Ever After' by Radiya Hafiza (Spark! School Book Awards 7+ Shortlist)
‘Rumaysa Ever After’ is the sequel to Radiya Hafiza’s first novel ‘Rumaysa’, in which Rumaysa escaped a tower using her hijab, defeated the evil witch Cordelia who kidnapped her as a baby, and has two other adventures with her friends Cinderayla and Sleeping Sara. But now all Rumaysa wants is to find the parents she never had a chance to know, and go home.
But on the way, Rumaysa saves a prince from a terrifying beast, and is invited to a golden castle by his sister, Queen Saira White, to thank her for her heroic actions. There Rumaysa hears the story of how Saira’s evil stepmother was jealous of her beauty and tried to have her killed, but instead she hid in the woods with the Seven Outcasts and eventually returned to kill her stepmother. So far, it is the story we all know. But Saira White is hiding something and once again Rumaysa’s magic necklace leads her to someone who needs her help. Little does Rumaysa know that her parents are still desperately searching for her in the meantime, but there is someone who is determined to stop them from finding each other.
I love Radiya Hafiza’s take on the traditional fairy tales, in particular her feisty and determined protagonist who doesn’t wait around for a boy to save her, and her happy endings that are about finding family and being true to yourself, rather than falling in love and getting married. Another inspiring and empowering Rumaysa adventure!
Year 6 Book Club
Our Year 6 Book Club are enjoying 'Nic Blake and the Remarkables' by Angie Thomas, a new middle grade fantasy novel, kindly gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. (Honest opinions to follow after half-term!)
~ Mrs Rouillard, School Librarian
TEAM POINTS
The overall winner this week is HAMPTON
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Kingston
167
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Coombe
183
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Richmond
136
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Hampton
185
PSA News & Events
Summer Fair Raffle - prize donations needed
We are still looking for prizes for our Summer Raffle. If you have any contacts who would be happy to donate a prize please email Jen at: jenniferbraithwaite@hotmail.com. Thank you!
Love our Planet Photography Competition now open!
A reminder to get your camera out over half-term and enter your best photograph in our competition. Open to adults and children, just complete the entry form and then email your photograph to fernfestevent@gmail.com by Wednesday 7th June. Happy snapping!
Summer Fair - preloved toys and children's books
If you are having a sort out over the half-term break, please set aside any clean, good quality second-hand toys and children's books. We are looking for donations of these items for our pre-loved children's book stall and lucky dip at the Fair! You will be able to drop items off at school during the week of 12th June so please start saving your unwanted items now. Thank you!
Summer Fair - we need your talent!
Are you a brilliant Bollywood dancer, an expert in martial arts, or a queen of capoeira? We would love some more performers to grace our World Stage and show off their skills and talents to a captive audience! Please email fernfestevent@gmail.com if you would like to be involved.
We are also looking for someone from our parent community who might be able to do henna tattoos at the Fair. If you have this skill and are willing to help out please email fernfestevent@gmail.com. Thank you!
Inspiration 