1st August 2023

Next week we will welcome you back to school for the new academic year! To see the children and families again will be really heart-warming, and the Reception children will have their school visit on either Tuesday or Wednesday, then their first day of school on Thursday.

I would also like to officially welcome Miss Cubbage to the staff team at Marlow Infants, she will be teaching in Grasshopper class; and Mrs Earnshaw who will teach classes across the whole school each Friday. We also wish Mr Creese all the best in his new role of Assistant Headteacher and teacher of Bee class.

Mrs Reynolds

First Day Arrival – Whole School

Reception

When entering the school grounds, Reception families should use the footpath to the left-hand side when facing the school, and follow the path to the gate nearest the school building. They should follow the path down the side of the building for the Reception staff to come out and welcome the children.

KS1

Children should use the front door, where they will be guided to their new classrooms.

Hot Meals – Whole School

We would like to remind parents who would like to take up the option of hot meals, to set up an online account to pre-order meals for your child prior to their first day. This is done through a system called SchoolGrid. All parents should now have received instructions to activate your account.

Please make sure your child has their lunch ordered before their first day, and we would advise that parents order meals at home with your child so that they know what has been ordered for them. This can be done a week or a term at a time in advance.

Morning Fruit Snack – Whole School

We ask parents to send in a small fresh or dried fruit snack for their child to eat at break. For example, a small banana, a box of raisins or a pot of sugar snap peas. Please don't send in fruit winders, sweets, chocolate or anything containing nuts. If grapes are sent in, please make sure these are cut in half.

PE/Library Days: 2023-2024 – Whole School

Below are details of the PE and library days for each year group starting next week, this means the Year 1 children will come into school in their PE uniform on their first day.

On PE days, the children come dressed in their PE clothes (please see details on the school website of what is the school PE uniform is). On library days, the children bring in their library bags with their library book in it that they have taken home the previous week.

PE Days

Year R: Monday

Year 1: Tuesday & Wednesday             

Year 2: Thursday & Friday

Library Days

Year R: Friday

Year 1: Tuesday

Year 2: Thursday

Outdoor Learning: 2023-2024 – Whole School

We are very excited to announce that for the academic year 2023-2024, we will be expanding our outdoor learning curriculum. Each week, every class will have an outdoor learning session on top of the existing lessons. The additional sessions will be led by an external company Wildness and Wonder who are Forest School specialists. Learning will be focused on objectives provided by our teachers and which fit into our curriculum.

To start with, from their first day in school in September, each child will need to bring in a pair of wellies to leave in school.

When the weather starts to change, we will be looking at children bringing in over trousers to wear. You do not need to do anything about this now. We will advise you exactly what will be needed at the beginning of the autumn term.

The days that the classes will be having their Wildness & Wonder lessons are as follows:

Year R: Wednesday

Year 1: Tuesday

Year 2: Thursday

Welcome Coffee & Cake: 7^th September – New Reception parents

The 2023-2024 Reception children will be starting school for the first time on Thursday 7^th September. We would like to welcome the children's parent & carers to a 'coffee morning' to meet other parents/carers. This will take place in the school hall between 9.00am and 10.00am.

We would like to ask a few of the existing parents/carers to come and help serve the drinks. If you are able to stay and help, please click here. Thank you to those who have already offered.

Back to School BBQ: 23^rd September – Whole School

This will be our first whole school event of the year, and it is a great opportunity to meet new school families in a relaxed atmosphere. The PFA committee are coordinating the event and would be glad of any help, from setting up, to shopping for provisions to cooking the food. Please click here if you are interested in helping, and you will be contacted by a member of the PFA committee at the beginning of the new school year.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC)

You may have seen recent media coverage regarding Reinforced Autoclaved
Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and its use in educational settings. RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete; because it is weaker than regular concrete, concerns have been raised about its long-term durability. Department for Education (DfE) has recently changed its guidance to education settings on the management of RAAC to take a more precautionary approach and as a result areas in affected spaces will be vacated.

We wanted to inform you that we are not affected by this decision as we do not have RAAC in any of our buildings, and therefore they will continue to function as normal.