Key Dates
Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th November
Christmas tree sale outside school
Wednesday 2nd December
PSA collecting Christmas jumper donations outside school
Friday 4th December
PSA Christmas Jumper Sale outside school
Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th December
Christmas tree sale outside school
Monday 7th December
Flu immunisation catch-up session in school
Thursday 10th December
Whole school Christmas lunch
Friday 11th December
Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children
Last day for Christmas cards to come into school (for handing out on Tuesday 15th)
Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th December
Christmas tree sale outside school
Thursday 17th December
Class Christmas party day - mufti (non-uniform) day
Virtual pantomime performance in school
Friday 18th December - last day of term & mufti (non-uniform) day
SCHOOL CLOSES AT 1:30 PM
Saturday 19th December
Christmas tree sale outside school
Monday 21st December - Friday 1st January
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY
Monday 4th January
INSET Day - children are not in school
Tuesday 5th January
Children return to school
Reminders
Parking
We would like to remind our families about the need to park considerately, and legally, in the surrounding roads. Please observe the parking restrictions in place and avoid blocking, or parking too close to, driveways. As a school, we very much value the excellent relationships we have with the wider community, including our non-Fern Hill neighbours, and would appreciate your support in minimising any inconvenience to them at the busy times of drop off and pick up. Thank you for your understanding.
Attachments
Year Group Newsletters
Christmas Lunch Menu
COVID-19 Guidelines
We would like to remind families about our COVID-19 guidelines and what to do if your child or a member of your child's household is ill or isolating. A quick reference guide for parents and staff is available in the COVID-19 Guidelines section of the school website here. Information about the control measures we have in place, our remote learning offer and Google Classroom is also posted in this section.
School Photographs
Although the deadline for free delivery to school has now passed, your child’s school photographs are still available to order online. A £3 delivery fee will now apply to prints however digital downloads are free once purchased. If you have lost your proof card and need the personal login details for your child's photographs, or for any other queries, please contact our school photographer, Kans, directly by email at: info@inTime-Photography.com or by telephone on 07931 593 169.
Fern Speak - Celebrating the Performing Arts
Fern Speak is Fern Hill’s annual festival of the performing arts run with Cath Howe, a teacher, author of children’s books and Fern Hill’s own writer in residence. Fifty children from Year 4 and Year 6 have been working with Cath since September on their public speaking and monologue performances. After the heats last week, fifteen went through to the Finals which were held on Wednesday. The performances were filmed and every child from Year 4 through to 6 will have the opportunity to watch them next week from their classroom bubble. This year, the children will be the judges! We’ll announce the winners soon.
Congratulations and a huge well done to all our finalists!
Public Speakers: Silvia (Willow), Poppy (Willow), Anna (Chestnut), Mia (Yew), Arun (Yew), Olive (Yew), Luka (Larch), Leila (Larch)
Monologue Performers: Alex (Oak), Maya C (Oak), Kalpana (Elder), Zara (Elder), Lucy (Elder), Richard (Elder), Emmy (Willow), Amelie (Willow)
"The standard of performance this year was very high and the children's commitment has been really amazing. I had a huge number of Year 4 Public Speakers and, in Year 6, the largest ever number of children learning Monologues. Speaking on your own and learning how to perform to an audience are lifelong skills which can really boost your confidence for whatever you do. I have been so proud of our performers this year.- they have worked hard for many weeks to craft the best performance possible and it was genuinely so hard to judge them in the heats. It's exciting to run filmed finals for other children to share and vote. Huge congratulations to every child who was bold and brave in Fern Speak this year!"
- Cath Howe
On Thursday 10th December, children and staff will enjoy a whole school Christmas lunch together. Please be aware that ParentPay shows the standard menu for Thursday 10th December and not the special Christmas meal that will be served - see the attachment below for further details of this. We are offering a main and vegetarian option only and will not be serving pasta or jacket potatoes on this day.
If you have already ordered a hot lunch for Thursday 10th December, please make sure that you have selected either the main or vegetarian option. If your current selection is pasta or a jacket potato, you will need to amend your choice before the usual lunch order deadline: midnight on Sunday 29th November.
If you have selected the MAIN option, we also need to know in advance whether your child would like the pork sausage wrapped in bacon. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the way we serve lunch at this time, children will not be able to choose on the day. Please complete the short form available here. If you do not complete a form, your child will not be given the pork sausage.
There is still time to place your order for your child's Christmas lunch if you haven't already done so but be quick! The order deadline is midnight on Sunday 29th November.
Your child can of course bring in a packed lunch from home – they will eat their lunch with everyone else and take part in the celebrations.
TEAM POINTS
The overall winner this week is COOMBE (again!)
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Kingston
225
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Coombe
287
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Richmond
230
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Hampton
216
PSA News & Events
If you are taking advantage of the Black Friday & Cyber Monday offers this weekend, please don't forget to sign up to the two online shopping platforms that we are registered with – easyfundraising and AmazonSmile. Friends and family can register too so spread the word!
The children had a wonderful time this week decorating their pottery stars. These are now being glazes and fired and will be sent home during the week of Monday 7th December.
Christmas Jumper Sale * NEW DATE *
Give your pre-loved Christmas jumpers a new home! We’ll be supporting the school’s Christmas Jumper Day with a Christmas Jumper sale on Friday 4th December. The sale will be held at collection time, outside the school site, on the grass verge along the wall of The Kingston Academy car park. We'll be collecting donations of pre-loved jumpers to sell on Wednesday 2nd December, again outside school. All the money raised will go towards our purchase of class digital cameras.
Virtual Christmas Market
Instead of a Christmas Fair this year, the PSA will be running a Virtual Christmas Market throughout December to raise money for the school. The Virtual Market will be hosted via a dedicated Facebook group page and details of how to access it will be shared next week.
Within our school community we have many talented parents and carers who run small businesses that we would like to support while also creating a platform for the rest of us to purchase some unique or handmade Christmas gifts. If you have a hobby and ever wondered if your creations would sell, this is the perfect opportunity to test out your product and get a feel for the potential market! We will be offering a virtual stall in exchange for a £10 donation to the school via our PSA JustGiving page.
If you are interested in having a stall please email the PSA directly at: fernhillpsa@gmail.com for further information.
Christmas Tree Sales – at the school
Due to a relaxation of the rules around selling Christmas trees during this national lockdown, Niki and her team will be outside school THIS WEEKEND to start the annual Christmas Tree sale. They will also be selling trees over the weekends of Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th, Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th and Saturday 19th December. Pre-orders are still available to families and friends of Fern Hill Primary School - order by email at: nikicochrane@hotmail.com and have your tree delivered directly to your home this weekend! Don't forget to state the size of tree required, full name and address and a contact telephone number. An email confirmation will be sent along with a delivery time slot. Payment can be made by bank transfer prior to delivery or by cash or contactless card on delivery. If you have any queries, please contact Niki directly on 0788 458 9930.
The Nordman Fir trees are priced as follows:
3-4ft = £30; 4-5ft = £35; 5-6ft = £40; 6-7ft =£45; 7-8ft = £50
Inspiration 