5th November 2021

Welcome to the second half of the autumn term! 

We have started the half-term off with some wonderful enrichment and learning for the children, linking Parliament Week to Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night. The icing on the cake has been the 'Taste of Democracy' event which has really helped the children begin to understand the British Value of Democracy and the importance of having fair and managed elections. The Town Council have been a massive support with this and have really brought the subject alive in a creative and inspiring way.

We have set out our plans for the Christmas activities towards the end of the term and some of the details are given below. There are a lot of dates in the calendar already and some of those are shown in this newsletter. You can always look at the calendar in more detail on the school website which shows all the dates to the end of the term. We will be sending out a 'Christmas Special' Newsletter on 19th December to summarise all the events and dates for Christmas.

Thank you for your cooperation with wearing face coverings at drop off and pick up - it is reassuring to see the support that our parents are giving us. We want to be able to go ahead with all our plans for the term and to keep our staff and families safe. This is one small measure that hopefully will help!

Mrs Reynolds

In School this week - read more in our News Stories

Report from School Council

The School Council met this week and have been talking about how we can help other people. They have been selling poppies, wristbands and slapbands for the Royal British Legion - if anybody still wants to buy one they will be selling them up to next Thursday which is Remembrance Day. 

We were thinking about people in other countries who do not have a toilet we would like to sponsor a toilet for them. We would like to ask parents when they come to watch the Nativity Plays to donate some coins to help them. Also people who live on the street and do not have a home. We will also be having a Christmas Jumper day. 

Arche, Eva & Lily from the School Council 

The retiring collections at the Nativity Plays will be split between Wycombe Homeless Connection, The Children's Society and Toilet Twinning to twin our school toilets with a block in Africa. 

Next Week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Switch - Off Fortnight 8th - 19th November

Next Monday the Eco Warriors will be launching Switch Off Fortnight with a special worship. They have lots of things planned for the week to make us think about how much energy we use and they will report on that next week. 

Year 2 Remembrance Day Visit to All Saints & War Memorial

On Tuesday 9th November Year 2 will be walking down to All Saints Church. They will visit the war memorial on The Causeway and then spend time in the church looking at the memorials there and doing some activities around Remembrance Day. 

Please ensure your child has warm clothes and suitable shoes for the walk down to the church on this day

Year 1 & 2 Cookery Club

We have a new Cookery Club starting next Wednesday 10th November for children in Year 1 and 2. Places are limited and details for booking can be found on their flyer here 

Week Commencing 15th November

This week is a very busy one at Sandygate it is:

• Anti-bullying Week
• The second week of Switch off Fortnight and
• Walk to School Week

More details about the activities planned for these will follow in next week's Newsletter but we wanted to let you know about one of the activities for Anti-Bullying Week

Odd Socks Day Thursday 18th November

Odd Socks Day is organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance as part of Anti-Bullying week. It is a way of celebrating what makes us all different and unique. All you have to do is wear odd socks to school on that day!

Year 1 Curriculum Information Evening Weds 17th November

Year 2 Curriculum Information Evening Weds 24th November

We are holding Curriculum Information Evenings for Year 1 and Year 2 parents next half term. The aim of these evenings is to give parents information on the curriculum expectations for their child's year group and also to help you in supporting your child's learning at home. 

We would love to see as many of you at these Information Evenings as possible but in order to prepare resources we do ask that you sign up before the date. To sign up please click here

Nativity Plays

We are very pleased to be planning our Nativity Plays for this year and inviting parents to come along to watch them. An email has gone out to all parents today with details of how to book tickets for the Nativity Plays. We do have to limit spaces due to the size of our school hall but we are able to offer 2 tickets per family.

We have separate plays for Foundation Stage and KS1 and the dates for these are:

Reception

• Tuesday 14th December 9.15 am
• Wednesday 15th December 9.15 am

KS1

• Monday 13th December 2.00 pm
• Tuesday 14th December 10.30 am
• Wednesday 15th December 10.30 am

Help Needed with Filming

We have always given parents the opportunity to purchase a DVD of the Nativity Plays to keep for posterity or share with grandparents and family members unable to attend. 

In previous years we have been very lucky to have parents with the technical ability and equipment to produce a very 'professional' recording. Is there a parent/grandparent/family friend who has some experience in this field and would be available to record the plays and edit them into a file to be copied onto a DVD? 

If you think you, or someone you know, could help please contact the school office.

Old Christmas Cards wanted

If you have any old Christmas Cards kept from last year then Year 2 would be very grateful for them for a Christmas Art project. Please drop them in to the main entrance of school. 

Recycle to Read scheme

We have joined a 'Recycle to Read' scheme whereby we can collect broken hard plastic toys and working tech items and collect points for these which can be exchanged for books for school.

There is a toy recycling box in the barn so please drop in any broken hard plastic toys - they will not accept plushies,  clothing/accessories, blow-up plastic, electronic toys (eg anything that is powered) or bag or boxes.

The tech collection box is in the main entrance to school and can be used to recycle working phones, cameras, smart watches, tablets, wireless speakers etc they will accept these with or without leads and will take cracked screens. They do not take leads without a device, broken items and batteries should be removed unless they are part of the device eg mobile phone battery.  

Home Pages & Home Learning

The Class Home Pages have now been updated for the new half term to show what the children will be learning between now and Christmas. Please log in and take a look.

The topics for this half-term are:

• Reception 'Our Wonderful World and Me'
• Year 1 'Kings, Queens & Castles 
• Year 2 'Heroes & Villains'

Home Learning is live, as usual, every Friday on Google Classroom for KS1 and there will now also be weekly Home Learning loaded on Tapestry for Reception.

This Home Learning is not compulsory, it is posted up to help parents support their children at home and to provide ideas for activities that you may wish to do with your child. Reading and practising Key Words should be done every day however.

The first week back to school has gone quickly and the countdown to the festive seasons begins.  Thank you for all your Christmas cards orders via Parentpay so far.  You have until 12noon on 12th November to place your orders.  Sadly we will be unable to accept late orders due to the lead time in delivery from the company that produces the items.

Wreath Making Workshop

The PFA are excited to offer a fun and festive wreath making workshop in the school hall on the evening of 29th November 2021, 7:30pm-9:30pm. With mulled wine and mince pies it will be an evening of creativity and calm in the hectic run up to Christmas.  The cost of a ticket is £25 per person incl. of all materials necessary and the obligatory mulled wine and mince pie! Available on parentpay from today.

Christmas Event

We will not be holding the Christmas Bazaar this year due to a variety of factors including a lack of volunteers available to run such an event.  Instead, a Christmas disco will be held for the children on 4th December at 3pm.  Tickets will be on sale via parentpay next week.  As well as hot dogs, sweeties and a boogie with Dave The Disco, the children will all get to meet Santa is his grotto and a professional digital image of the meet will be sent home via email to every parent. 

Can you Help?

The PFA committee is still looking to recruit additional help either for specific events or for allotted periods of time to help with things such as tea and coffee serving at nativity shows, selling of produce at late night shopping and the collation of information that is circulated to our school family.  If you do have a spare half hour and would be interested in finding out more please get in touch marlowcofepfa@gmail.com