5^th January 2024

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and we are happy to welcome all our families back to school.

The first few days have been filled with learning about the school vision and values. There are more details below, but there has been lots of creativity involved. Making crosses from other parts of the world, making displays for the school hall, and exploring the meaning of all the school values are just some of the activities that have taken place.

Looking forward to next week, each year group will be starting its new topic for this half-term and, as it is a very short half-term, there is lots to pack in! Next week, our class home pages will go live, which will give you details of the areas of learning that will be covered over the next 5 weeks.

Mrs Reynolds

Walk to School Week 8-12^th January – Whole school

This is an opportunity to blow off those Christmas cobwebs and get moving again. The school Travel Plan committee have organised a Walk to School Week during the first full week back at school.

Walk to School Week actually means walk/bike or scoot to school and, for those living further afield, you can park and stride.

The theme for the spring term Walk to School Week is 'Bling your Wheels' where we are asking children to decorate their bikes or scooters before riding them to school. We would like a photo of the decorated bike to be brought in to school or emailed to the school office. 

There are 2 categories:

1. Creative use of colour 
2. Eco-friendly decorating

There will be prizes awarded for each category!

We will also be tracking each classes' walking/wheeling to school and awarding a trophy to the class which has the most improved number of active trips to school.

Parent helpers & Clubs – Whole school

We would like to invite our parent helpers back to school starting next week.

Our new spring term clubs will also begin next week. We still have a few spaces in the foillowing clubs: Tidy Up Team, Mindful Colouring, Art, Bible Bricks and Sandygate Singers. If you are interested in registering your child, please click here.

Reception Curriculum Evening – Thursday 18^th January

On Thursday 18^th January from 7pm-9pm, this session will be a follow-on from the one we held in the autumn term. It is open to all Reception parents who would like to find out more about how and what their children learn in Reception. We will be covering end of year expectations, the next phase of learning in phonics, as well as giving further hints on how to support children at home. We do need to know how many parents will be attending so that we can prepare resources. Please click here if you would like to attend this information session.

Class-Led Worship

We will be holding class-led worships over the next few months. Each class will be basing their worship on their class value and we would like to invite parents/carers to join in with the worship. Each class worship will be from 9am-9.30am. We are limiting 2 tickets per family. To book your tickets, please complete the Google form here.

Dragonfly Class: Forgiveness – Thursday 18^th January

Grasshopper Class: Respect – Thursday 25^th January

Ladybird Class: Perseverance – Thursday 1^st February

Butterfly Class: Service – Thursday 8^th February

Ant Class: Kindness – Thursday 29^th February

Bee Class: Thankfulness – Thursday 14^th March

Safety Week – Saddle Safari

During Safety Week, Saddle Safari visited school to talk to the children about looking after their bikes.

They also ran a colouring competition and received a lot of wonderful entries. The entries have now been judged, and the prizes have been awarded as follows:

• 1st prize: Mila (Dragonfly class) Helmet
• 2nd prize: Eloise (Grasshopper class) Bottle & bottle cage
• 3rd prize: Knox (Butterfly class) Bell

The prizes are to be collected from Saddle Safari.

Many thanks to Saddle Safari for their support and for running the competition.

Christmas nativity memory – Whole school

Thank you to those who ordered a Christmas nativity memory of your child. We are hoping to email these bundles out next week.

Junior transfer deadline – Year 2

This is a gentle reminder to submit your application for your child/ren's transfer to Junior School by midnight Monday 15^th January.

Wellies – Whole school

Please remember to send in your child's wellies, if you haven't already. Your children will also need to bring their waterproof trousers in for each outdoor learning session. We will keep the wellies at school, but the trousers will come home each week.

A reminder of the outdoor learning sessions are as follows:

• Year 1 – Tuesday
• Year R – Wednesday
• Year 2 – Thursday

Wycombe Wanderers Football Event 

Our football event was a sell out within hours of it going on ParentPay before Christmas. However, we have managed to find 3 more spaces for football fanatics. If you would like to book one of these spaces, please contact us on the PFA email pfa@marlow-infant.bucks.sch.uk, and we will allocate the spaces on a first come, first served basis (and explain how to pay once the spaces have been allocated). More details below:

On Monday 15^th January, straight after school, we will be running a football training and skills event run by some of the real-life professional Wycombe Wanderers players. The event will start with a meet and greet with the players before the children spend 30–40 minutes learning pro-skills with the different WW players (goal scoring, ball skills etc). We will end the session with photo opportunities and the players signing autographs. Spaces are limited, and we can only offer this to children attending Sandygate school. We also ask that a parent stays for the duration of the event, and we will be serving teas and coffees in the barn.

Family Bingo Fun

Tickets are available to buy for our Family Bingo event. Come and join us in the school hall on the afternoon of Saturday 3^rd February from 3.30-5.30pm for some family-filled fun! Bingo boards, bar, tuck shop, pizza and raffles (adults and children). There are lots of prizes for the bingo winners and a chance to get together with some Sandygate families for fun, games and a catch-up. Tickets are now available to purchase on ParentPay (£15 for a family ticket, maximum 2 adults with children, and £5 for additional individual tickets) along with pizzas (£15 each for a large pizza) to pre-order for supper on the night. 

PFA Feedback & Ideas

The PFA work hard to put together fun events for the Sandygate community and to try and raise essential funds for the school. We are always looking for ways to improve how we do things and what we do. We welcome everyone to attend our meetings on a half-term basis and are making hybrid options available when we can, or read the published minutes afterwards for more details on discussions. 

We would also really value individual or group feedback if you have any, or suggestions for events or offers of support in whatever way you can give - either email pfa@marlow-infant.bucks.sch.uk or speak to one of the committee members to feed back (Rachel Bourdillon, Claire Robinson, Lauren King, Caro Robinson, Mandy Rooney or Charlotte Thomson) – thank you. 

Standing Orders

If you would like to support us and the school but don't have time to give, for those that are able, there is always the option to financially support us and the school, by setting up a monthly standing order. Every little helps! Our bank details are below, and please let us know if you'd like a gift aid form to fill in alongside it. Thank you!

• Account Name: Marlow C of E Infant School Parents & Friends Association
• Sort Code: 20–40–71
• Account No: 80031992

Coming up…

• Second Hand Uniform: Friday 12^th January
• Wycombe Wanders Football Event: Monday 15^th January
• Family Bingo: Saturday 3^rd February
• School Disco: Saturday 2^nd March
• Wine & Cheese Tasting Evening: Saturday 16^th March

Spanish Club – Reception

There are still a few spaces left in the Reception Thursday lunchtime club. If you would like to register your child, please contact Caireen directly. Contact details are in the flyer below.