11th March 2022

On Wednesday, we hosted the Marlow Schools Eco Conference at our school, and you can read more details about it in the article below. There were 60 children and young people attending the conference between the ages of 5 and 17 as well as their accompanying adults. It was so exciting to see how engaged they all were in discussing their thoughts and ideas about what they could do to help with saving the planet. The atmosphere was incredible. I often say to the children in our school - 'Just because you are 4,5,6,7 years old, it doesn't mean that you can't make a difference' and on Wednesday our Eco Warriors and Tidy up team definitely made a difference. They stood up in front of a room full of people, many much older than them, and shared the full  range of actions that form our Green Flag work. To say that I was proud of them is an understatement! 

I wrote to parents and carers yesterday about the school worship that I had led about the crisis in Ukraine. The children came up with so many ideas of what they could do to help the people of Ukraine and you will find full details below. What I didn't tell you was that one of their suggestions for how to raise money was for me to sell my house. It didn't stop there though - they were going to sell all their houses too!

The Bee class worship this morning was another highlight for me this week. I would like to thank Mrs Burkitt and Mrs Chaney for working with the children to share such an inspiring time for us.  The Bees led us to think about the importance of thankfulness and they sang so beautifully too. They reminded me of the importance of thankfulness and with so many troubles around us at the moment, finding something to be thankful for, no matter how small, really helps to keep us going.  For the experience of watching and hearing Bee class in school worship today, I am truly thankful!

Mrs Reynolds

Reading & Book Week Round-up

Following book week last week we wanted to thank everyone who has purchased a book from our wish list. This has really helped us to make a start on refreshing the non-fiction section of our library. The wish list can be found here https://amzn.eu/3epujzK

We also want to say well done to everyone who took part in the Reading Challenge and thank you to those that also raised some sponsorship money. We had 66 children take part and they read for a total of 24,931 minutes or 415 hours across the two weeks of the challenge. Grasshopper class read the most with 6,105 minutes closely followed by Bee class with 5,688 minutes. So far we have £295 of sponsorship money and we will be using this for more books for the library. 

Finally, we would really appreciate if you could take a couple of minutes to complete our Reading Survey with your children. Last year the responses helped us to understand which authors and types of books the children enjoy reading and how to let them know they are doing well with their reading. The more responses we get the better we can understand how to encourage a love of reading for pleasure in the children. The survey can be found here  https://forms.gle/bt2GJtWJhAyNn2BS6

Year 2 Visit to All Saints Church

This morning the children in Year 2 walked down to All Saints Church. This was to support their RE learning this term on Salvation and why Easter matters to Christians. They took part in various activities organised by the All Saints team around the themes of Easter.  

Next Week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Supporting the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

As we feel that selling our houses would then put us in need - we will instead be holding a bake sale next week in aid of Save the Children's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Can you please send in baked goods (shop bought or home made) on Monday morning. We will then have a sale at drop off and again at pick up on Tuesday. If there are any cakes left we will sell them again on Wednesday.

If you could please remember to bring cash on Tuesday we will have buckets out for your donations.  You can donate direct to the Save the Children Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and find out more information about it here

https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/ukraine-appeal

Year 2 Science Week

During next week's science week, Year 2 will be growing cress seeds. Could every child please bring in a small container, such as a yoghurt pot, on Monday for this?

History Day 

Friday 1st April

On the 1st April we will be holding a History Day in school. Volunteers from Marlow Museum will be coming in to talk about the history of Marlow and show the children some local artifacts. 

We would also like the children to dress as a historical figure, this can be anyone from any period that interests them.

If there are any grandparents, or family friends, who would like to come in and share with the children any interesting stories from their past then please get in touch to let us know as we would love to have them come in and share their history with the children. 

More details about the day will follow. 

Easter Competitions

The details for the competition for each year group are shown below. We are planning to have an Easter bonnet/hat parade on the last day of term at which the Year 2 children can show off their headgear.

We would like the children to bring their entries in to school on Wednesday 6th April so that we can judge them and then they will be sent home on Friday 8th April

The categories are -

Reception - Easter Basket 

Create an Easter basket using recycled materials and using some of the symbols of Easter that you have been learning about.

Year 1 - Easter Garden 

An Easter garden is a traditional way of remembering what happened on Good Friday and usually includes a hill, as the bible says Jesus was crucified on a hilltop, three crosses, a stone to represent the stone across the entrance to the tomb. Some simple instructions for a garden are shown below or can be found here. 

Year 2 - Easter Bonnets 

An Easter bonnet is any new hat worn traditionally on Easter Sunday. It is the tail end of an English tradition of wearing new clothes for Easter and is in keeping with the spirit of renewal and redemption at this time of the year.

For our Easter bonnets, we would like you to take the theme of renewal further by reusing and recycling materials for your hat. 

Class Worship - register for Ant & Grasshopper Class Worship

We would ask that parents register if they would like to attend class worship using the links below. We also ask that you wear a mask when on school premises and if you are able to take a LFD test before attending that would be appreciated. 

The remaining Class Worship dates are as below and parent sign up will be communicated in the school Newsletter 2 weeks before each date. 

• Ant Class Friday 18th March https://forms.gle/gED8vbgMDnFGLbdo6
• Grasshopper Class Friday 25th March https://forms.gle/EHiAfV2q4TAhq5zv6

For class worships our COVID risk assessment applies and we would ask that:

• face coverings are worn at all times on school premises
• attendees take a lateral flow test before attending if possible
• you do not attend if you have any COVID symptoms

School Disco 26th March

The school disco is fast approaching and you will have received an email providing further information about food and sweets. Please can you email marlowcofepfa@gmail.com with allergies and other information we need to know.

Quiz Night 2nd April

The Quiz Night has 2 tables of 8 left for purchase. Family and friends can purchase directly from the PFA if they don’t have access to ParentPay. Again please email your requests.

Summer Fayre

The Summer Fayre will be on 21st May 11-2pm. Thank you to all of you who have offered to own and run a stall so far.  A WhatsApp message was sent this morning with the stalls still needing owners and if you have any new ideas we would love to hear them. We are also looking for donations to the raffle and /or silent auction if anyone is able to offer a prize.