Fern Hill Primary School Newsletter
Newsletter 9 - Autumn Term - 29th November 2024
Kay Dates
Saturday 30th November
Community Litter Pick at 10:00 am
Tuesday 3rd December
Year 5 Science Dome in school
Wednesday 4th December
Maths workshop for KS1 parents 9:00–9:45 am
Year 2 visit to Cornerstone Church
Thursday 5th December
Year 2 visit to Cornerstone Church
Friday 6th December
MUFTI DAY for PSA Festive Hamper Raffle
Reception local walk to Canbury Gardens
PSA Festive Discos for Years 3-6
Wednesday 11th December
Maths workshop for KS1 parents 9:00–9:45 am
Thursday 12th December
Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day
Christmas Lunch for children & staff
Eco-Refill Shop at 3:00 pm
Friday 13th December
HOME LEARNING SHOWCASE
Nursery & Reception Festive Concert at 9:00 am in the Large Hall
PSA Year 1 cake sale after school
Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th December
PSA Christmas Tree Sale
Monday 16th December
Year 1 Festive Concert at 9:00 am in the Large Hall
Year 2 Festive Concert at 2:30 pm in the Large Hall
Wednesday 18th December
Year 3 & 4 Festive Concert at 9:15 am at The Kingston Academy
Year 5 & 6 Festive Concert at 2:30 pm at The Kingston Academy
Thursday 19th December
Class Christmas parties (mufti/party dress up day) and pantomime performances
Friday 20th December - last day of term & mufti (non-uniform) day
SCHOOL CLOSES AT 1:30 PM
Monday 23rd December – Monday 6th January
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY
Monday 6th January
INSET Day - children are not in school
Tuesday 7th January
Children return to school
Key dates for this school year are published here. Some of these dates are provisional, and all dates are subject to change — please refer to this newsletter and communications via ParentPay for the latest information.
Click here for term dates for the current and 2025/2026 school years, including INSET days.
Reminders
School lunches
Please don't forget to place your child's order for lunch through ParentPay by 8:00 am on the day.
Home Learning
This half-term's Home Learning activities are posted on your Home Learning Google Classrooms. Work should be completed in time for the class Home Learning Showcases in school on Friday 13th December.
Tree Tops
If you plan to use Childcare Vouchers or Tax-free Childcare (TFC) payments to pay for Tree Tops sessions next term, please ensure that you arrange for their transfer before Friday 6th December to ensure that they reach us and can be processed before the end of term. The school is closed over the holiday period and any vouchers or payments received during this time will not be processed until January, when school reopens.
School photographs will be delivered to school next week and sent home with the children. If you have not ordered a photograph but would still like to do so, please contact the photographer, Kans Bahara, directly on 07931 593169.
Our whole school Christmas Lunch for children and staff will be held on Thursday 12th December. If you would like your child to have lunch on that day, please order in the usual way through ParentPay where you will be able to make a choice from the menu.
Maths Workshops
Over the coming two weeks, Mrs Lawn, who is our maths subject lead, will be running key stage specific maths workshops for parents and carers to learn the different calculation methods used in school for the four main operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). She will also cover how these calculation methods change as the children move up through school.
There will be two workshops: Wednesday 4th December from 9:00–9:45 am for Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) and Wednesday 11th December from 9:00–9:45 for Key Stage 2 (Years 3–6).
To help us with planning and logistics, please complete this linked registration form if you plan to attend one, or both, workshops. Each adult attending should complete a form. Thank you.
Community Litter Pick
Our last community litter pick of this term will take place tomorrow, on Saturday 30th November. These community events are run by Miss Evans and our Eco-Schools Committee and all are welcome! The litter pick will take place from 10:00–11:15 am; we meet at school at 9:45 am.
Fern Hill Eco Refill Shop
Our Eco-Committee are very excited to announce the launch of the Fern Hill Eco Refill Shop! Following the success of a trial run this week, with the shop open to staff only, they have decided to open it to all families earlier than planned. The first shop will be held on Thursday 12th December, after school. Run by Fern Hill pupils, the shop will sell a range of affordable, ethically sourced, cruelty-free and environmentally friendly cleaning and beauty products on a refill basis, including washing up and laundry liquids, hand wash, and soap, shampoo and conditioner bars.
Scholastic Book Fair
A huge thank you to Mrs Rouillard, our school librarian, for organising the Book Fair this week - and to the TKA students who helped. We took £507.43 in sales, which means that we have earned £228.17 in rewards to spend on books for the school. Thank you to the families who have supported this.
School Clubs
This week was the last week for the Film Academy. Next week is the last week for both Chess and Athletics. All other clubs end the week of 9th December. You can find the term dates for clubs on the website here. Booking for spring term clubs will open on 5th December. The schedule will remain the same as this term except for Choir, which will move to a Thursday.
Festive Celebrations
Autumn end of term celebrations will begin at Fern Hill on Thursday 12th December with our Christmas Jumper Day. Children are invited to join in the festive fun and show their support for Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day by wearing a Christmas jumper instead of their school uniform jumper or cardigan. Please don't feel you have to buy your child a Christmas jumper if they don't already have one - a decorated school jumper is perfect! This is not a mufti day, so children should still wear their school polo shirt or shirt and tie and school skirt or trousers. We will be setting up a JustGiving page for any donations you would like to make to the Save the Children charity and further information will be sent out nearer the time.
Thursday 12th December is also the day of our whole school Christmas Lunch for children and staff. The meal is available to order through ParentPay and orders can be placed anytime up to 8:00 am on the day as usual.
Friday 13th December is the first day of our Festive Concerts with Nursery and Reception children performing for their families. Please see the Key Dates section for details of each year group's concert. If you have a child in Years 3–6, you will receive a letter regarding arrangements for their concert at The Kingston Academy.
If your child would like to give Christmas cards to their friends, please send them in by Monday 16th December. The children can post them in their class post boxes, and they will be handed out during the last week of term.
Thursday 19th December is our Christmas Party Day. It is a mufti (non-uniform) day and the children may wear party clothes to school. Each class will have a party lunch in their classroom, and the kitchen will be providing sandwiches and hot buffet food. We will be asking families to donate (non-perishable) party food and table decorations that will be shared by all the children. Please look out for further information next week.
Children in Reception through to Year 6 will also enjoy a very special performance of the pantomime Cinderella and Nursery children will be entertained by Froggle the Magician. Thank you so much to the PSA for funding this.
Friday 20th December is the last day of the autumn term. It’s a mufti (non-uniform) day and school will close at 1:30 pm. Tree Tops will run a full session from 1:30 – 4:30 pm only and must be booked in advance through ParentPay.
Thank you to everyone who came along to our Inclusion Coffee Morning this week - we were delighted to see so many of you and hope you found the information from ADHD Embrace useful. Our next Coffee Morning is on 10th January and will focus on strategies to support your child with their emotional regulation. Mrs Stephenson will share best practice on zones of regulation, routine and consistency. If you would like to join us, please let us know via this linked form. We hope to see many of you there.
Book of the Week
‘The Girl Who Couldn’t Lie’ by Radhika Sanghani
Priya is so used to bending the truth to suit those around her that she doesn't realise that she's living a lie and hiding her real thoughts and opinions. Until the day she tries on a bracelet given to her by her grandma, and suddenly she can only tell the truth. Priya is compelled to tell her parents that she can't sleep due to their fighting, to tell her dad that she hates his cooking and to tell her longtime crush, Dan Zhang, that she likes him. Can Priya learn how to be honest without destroying her relationships with her friends and family?
I loved this concept and Priya does get herself into a terrible tangle before she figures out how to deal with her new enforced truthfulness. A heartfelt, funny and engaging coming-of-age story - perfect for children in Years 5 & 6.
Team Points
The overall winner this week is KINGSTON
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Kingston
505
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Coombe
307
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Richmond
423
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Hampton
416
PSA News & Events
Click here for Fern Hill PSA's weekly newsletter.