11th February 2022

School Worship takes many forms over the year and each half-term we cover a  variety of subjects. Since January the theme has been Perseverance and the children have learned how to apply the value in their everyday lives as well as some of the Bible stories and fables that teach us about perseverance. In addition to this we have also covered Martin Luther King Day and learned about the Jewish festival of Tu B'Shevat. On Tuesday this week the subject of School Worship was Safer Internet Day, and it was a real eye-opener to share and understand what the children know about using the Internet safely. 

This year, as you know, we are having a drive to raise awareness amongst the children and our school families the importance of Internet safety. This is an area that is becoming more prominent on the safeguarding landscape and it is important that we educate ourselves how to make sure that children, even as young as 5, are safe when they are online. In school, we use National Online Safety for online safety lessons and for staff training. They offer small bite size sessions and webinars for parents as well as access to an app which gives weekly updates.  The login for NOS is on the class home pages but for ease I have pasted it below too. Please do take a look and see if you can make time for at least one of the sessions.

This morning Ladybird class taught us all about Perseverance, and they did a great job of listing all the ways in which they persevere in school and at home.  My thanks to Mrs Howarth and Mrs Green for all their hard work preparing the children for this super class worship.

Mrs Reynolds

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/marlow-c-of-e-infant-school

Next Week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Parent Helper Training

15th February

We have a number of parents who come in to school to help on a regular basis and we would like to thank them for their help. If you are not currently helping but feel that you would like to come in to class regularly to assist with displays, mounting work or reading with children for example then we will be running an online briefing for Parent Helpers on 15th February at 9.30am. 

In order to help regularly in school we do require that you attend a briefing in line with our Safeguarding Policy. We also need you to read a number of policies and we will apply for a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check. 

If you would like to attend the briefing then please sign up here  we will then send a link for the Google Meet, a link to read some policies and a request for some additional information. 

Waste Week 7th to 11th March - eWaste

The theme for Waste Week this year is 'eWaste' and during the week we will be getting the children to think about how much technology is thrown away and whether this is necessary. Do we need to replace technology as often? Can we reuse or recycle it when we no longer need it? 

In the UK we throw away 155,000 tonnes of small electrical items (tech) every year and most of it ends up in landfill. Many of these items contain toxic elements which can then leak into the soil. 

We will be relaunching two recycling programmes that we have running in school:

• Battery Recycling - we are part of the Big Battery Hunt and have a battery recycling container in the school hall. Any dead batteries can be sent into school at any time and the bin is emptied when it gets full.
• Recycle to Read - in the entrance to school there is a recycling box for any old or broken tech items eg phones, smart watches, tablets, digital cameras. When we recycle these we can earn points for the school which we can exchange for books. If you have any old tech items please out them in a small bag and then drop them in the box. There is also a box for recycling plastic toys which is in the barn. 

We will be working together with the other schools in Marlow during Waste Week to try to raise awareness of the issue of eWaste across the town. On Wednesday 9th March, we will be welcoming Eco Warriors from other Marlow schools and sharing with them some of the Eco initiatives we have at our school.

World Book Day 3rd March

This year, we have lots of events planned around World Book Day, details of some of these are below and more will be given over the coming weeks.

World Book Day Dress-up

On World Book Day, Thursday 3rd March, we would invite children to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. The costume does not have to be elaborate or expensive and there are ideas for simple homemade costumes here https://www.worldbookday.com/dressing-up-ideas/  We love seeing which books the children are enjoying, and it's a great way to get reading ideas from your friends by looking at their costumes. 

Mystery Reader

We usually finish our school day with a story read by the class teacher or teaching assistant. During the week of World Book Day we would like to surprise the children with some 'Mystery Readers'. If you would like to come into school for the last 10 - 15 minutes of the day to share your favourite story with your child's class then please sign up here to let us know.

https://forms.gle/hGiPg7GemVDmpSn39

We have a limited number of opportunities across the week for the Mystery Readers, so there is a chance that we will not be able to invite everybody in on this occasion. 

Story Potato Competition

We are also running a competition for any children that want a creative challenge. A 'story potato' is a potato decorated to represent a character from a story.  If your child would like to take part in the competition then they should bring their potato to school on Wednesday 2nd March, please ensure that it is clearly marked with your child's full name and class.

Online Book Fair

We also have an online Book Club running with Scholastic Books here https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/marlow-ce/digital-book-club

All the books in the Book Club are discounted, some by as much as 50%. For every £1 you spend the school receives 20p to spend on books. You can see the leaflet for the Book Club here

Year 2 Great Fire of London Day

Tuesday 8th March

To start their topic for next half term, The Great Fire of London, Year 2 will be having a WOW day on 8th March. History off the Page will be visiting to recreate the sites and sounds of 17th Century London. 

This is always a really memorable day and it is even better if the children can dress in 17th Century costume for the day. All parents in Year 2 should have received an email this week with details of the day and some ideas about costumes. If you have any difficulty with an outfit please let the school office know as soon as possible as we do have a small number of items we can lend. 

Headlice

As with all communities of children we do from time to time suffer from infestations of head lice. We would ask that you regularly check your child’s hair and treat as necessary. Once your child has been treated they do not need to be excluded from school.
Your child has as much chance of being infected as any other and this is in no way a reflection on a family’s standard of hygiene. To reduce the chances of infection as much as possible we suggest:

• Hair that falls below shoulder level should be tied up at all times for the child’s own safety as well as preventing the spread of head lice. Head lice can easily transfer from head to head in a school environment.
• Using conditioner when washing hair to help prevent the spread of head lice.
• Checking your child’s hair every week by combing after washing. For further information go to http://www.onceaweektakeapeek.com

Tissues

Each term we ask if every family in school could donate a box of tissues for use in class. This means that there are always tissues available to children in school without parents having to remember to put them in school bags each day. 

At this time of year there are a lot of colds and so lots of tissues being used and we are running very short of tissues. If you could add a box to your shopping this weekend and then bring them into school next week that would be very much appreciated.

Disco 26th March

The rescheduled disco is taking place on 26th March in a 2 session format.  The sessions will be identical and children will be given a hot dog during the event and a bag of sweets to take home.  Families who had already purchased a ticket for the Christmas disco should now be aware of the time slot they had been allocated. With the new format we can accommodate all children wishing to attend and so slots are available to purchase for the 3:45pm disco via Parentpay.  We thank everyone for their support and understanding around the timings for the 2 separate discos.  We do need parent helpers and will send an email next week about this.  

Quiz Night 2022

The planning is underway and the quiz organisers have some fun rounds in store!  You can still purchase tickets for the event.  Remember if you have team of 8 let us know, if not we can place you in a team as we do have some teams a few members short.  Email marlowcofepfa@gmail.com if we can help with team organisation. 

Donut Day

Donut day will take place Friday 18th February from 3pm.  Thank you to Annemarie Delaney for organising.  Donuts will be pre bagged and are offered for a small donation please.

Summer Fayre

The PFA usually organises a Summer Fayre on the school site but as we have not got a chair person in post we are seeking a few people who would be willing to commit to organising the event.  This would be best shared between a group of friends who would enjoy working together to organise fun stalls games and food. If you think you may be able to help please speak to a committee member or email marlowcofepfa@gmail.com