19th November 2021

This week started off with Sandygate hosting some wonderful volunteers from SoftCat. The team spent the morning in the school grounds, tidying up the Wildlife corridor and the Wild World. They also planted some new trees. They worked hard and managed to complete everything on our list. It was great to welcome them and their donation of 'time' was generous and appreciated.

We held our Year 1 curriculum session on Wednesday and feedback from the parents who attended was extremely positive. The aim was to respond to parent requests to understand how and what there children are learning in school, and to understand the expectations of the curriculum, so we had been expecting greater numbers. Next week sees the Year 2 curriculum session which we hope will be as equally useful to parents but we do not have many people signed up yet.  Please see the article below for more information and link to sign up.

Shhhh it's a surprise! Next week we are looking forward to the arrival of some reindeers on Wednesday! The Reindeers are coming from Riverways Farm and the children will be learning about their naturally habitats and how they are adapted to it. Each year group will have its own session with the reindeers and this will form part of their science learning.  All funded by the PFA, this visit is, I am sure, going to provide not only valuable learning for the children but also great excitement! Remember to keep it secret from the children as we really want it to be a surprise.

Mrs Reynolds

Report from RRSA

This week was Anti-Bullying Week and on Thursday we had an Odd Socks Day to help us think about how we are all individual and different. The Rights Respecting Ambassadors led our school worship on Thursday. They introduced themselves to the school and told us why they wanted to be a Rights Respecting Ambassador.  They reminded us about our playground charter and that we need to include everybody and we should be kind, respectful and remember to smile.

Next Week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Year 2 Curriculum Information Evening

There is still time to register for the Year 2 Curriculum Information Evening on Wednesday 24th November. The Year 1 evening this week was very well received, even if not all those that had signed up were able to make it. 

The Year 2 evening will cover the main areas of the curriculum and how these are taught and give you some practical advice on how to support your child's learning at home. 

Unfortunately at present we do not have enough parents registered for the Year 2 evening to make it practical to run so we would encourage all Year 2 parents to register if they can.

If you would like to attend please register here, if you have registered and find that you can no longer attend we would appreciate if you could let us know so that we only prepare the correct amount of resources for the evening. 

Sandygate & Minims Concert

Saturday 11th December

On the 11th December children from Year 1 & 2 at Sandygate are invited to take part in a concert with the Marlow Town Band Training Band - the Minims. 

The concert will be at Marlow Methodist Church at 2.30pm and will last around an hour.

They will not be selling tickets but donations on the door would be appreciated and any monies will be shared between the school and Marlow Town Band.

We do not have many children registered as yet and so we are extending the deadline. If your child would like to take part please register here

Nativity Costumes

The Nativity plays have been cast and your child should be bringing home a note today with details of any costume requirements for their part. We have most costumes in school and try to keep any requests to parents as simple as possible. If you have any problem with anything you have been asked to provide please come and speak with us.

All costumes need to be in school by Friday 3rd December and need to be clearly named and in a named bag.

Holiday List 2022/23

The Inset Days for the academic year 2022/23 have now been agreed and the term dates are on the school website. You can also download the list here

This week we wanted to share with some ways in which you can raise funds for school without donating directly from your own pocket.  When shopping on-line, as I am sure many will be as Christmas fast approaches, some companies will donate a percentage of your spend to charity, and that charity can be nominated as Marlow CofE PFA. There are also some bonus donations to be earned as black Friday sales begin.  It doesn’t cost you anything more than the cost of the items you are purchasing.  Please see below details of how our school can benefit.

Easyfundraising.co.uk

How it works

You do your online shopping as normal via their website/app and they donate a proportion of the amount of money you spend to our school. Thousands of companies including John Lewis, Waitrose, Ebay, booking.com etc take part and, thanks to the 124 parents and friends who have already signed up, we have raised over £4,470 (as of November 2021). 

How to sign up

1. Go to our fundraising page - Click here
2. Click ‘Support this cause' and create an account.
3. Enter the shop you want in the ‘Search for a retailer’ box.
4. Click ‘Go shopping and raise funds’ to start raising money!

Then...an even easier way – via the app for mobile and tablet!

1. When you have registered, download the Easy Fundraising app and sign in.
2. Search for the retailer you want in the app and click on their logo. This will automatically take you through to their site and donate a portion of your spend (as detailed in the app).

    

AmazonSmile

How it works

By shopping on Amazon through AmazonSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of your net purchase price to your chosen charity. As of August 2021, we have raised over £443.

How to sign up

1. Click on smile.amazon.co.uk and log in (this is the same login as for Amazon if you are already registered). The first time you log in it will ask you to choose your charity.
   • OR…if you already have a charity, click on ‘Account’ and then ‘Change your charity’ (under Shopping Programmes).
2. Enter Marlow C of E Infant School in the ‘search for a cause’ box.

Then…an even easier way – via the mobile app!*

1. After you have created an account online, download the Amazon app.
2. Go to Settings in the main menu ☰ and choose AmazonSmile. Type in  Marlow C of E Infant School.
3. Shop! Your donations should automatically be recorded.

*For tablets and other devices, Smile cannot be added to the app. Please use smile.amazon.co.uk.

Company Matched Funding

This is where companies or businesses pledge to donate an amount of money to a charity relating to the amount that an employee donates or fundraises for us.  This can be as simple as volunteering to man a stall at an event for a certain amount of time.

If you think that your employer has a matched giving scheme already in operation, or if you would like some more information about charity matched giving or setting up a scheme in your workplace, please talk to one of the PFA Committee or ask in the school office.