6th May 2022

Headteacher's Report

I have enjoyed my headteacher day. I led worship and I went round the school to see what the children were doing - there are some pictures below. Reception have been learning about the festival of Vesak and made lotus flowers. Year 1 have been learning phonics. Year 2 have been doing English about Tiddalik the thirsty frog.

I hope you all have a sunny weekend

Miss Burns, Headteacher

Report from RRSA

At the RRS meeting on Tuesday, Mrs Howarth shared the outcome of the meeting with Marlow Refugee Action.  The children were excited to learn that their ideas had been listened to and they are looking forward to sharing with the whole school the plans for 'Refugee week' over the next few weeks.

Next Week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Year 2 Visit to Mop End Monday 9th May

Please make sure children are in school promptly on Monday 9th so that we can get on the coaches as soon as possible.

Children do not need school uniform on this day but should come to school dressed in suitable outdoor clothing. They will need a pair of sensible outdoor shoes plus named wellington boots in a named bag and a waterproof coat.

If you did not order a packed lunch from Dolce on the Parentpay consent form then you will need to send a packed lunch - all children will need a bag that they can carry for their lunch and will need to bring their water bottles. 

We would also suggest that the children have suncream applied before they come to school and we will be taking their school sunhats with us.

Year 1 Recycling  t-shirts - Monday 9th May

On Monday 9th May Year 1 will be doing an upcycling project with Neil Wragg from Ragsto Bags. The children will all need to bring in an old t-shirt which they will be cutting up to make into something new which they will be taking home. 

Key Stage 1 SATS

SATs are Statutory Assessment Tests that officially test how children achieve in Maths and English at the end of Key Stages. Although they are formal tests, the tests at the end of Key Stage 1 are done in a very relaxed way and most children are unaware of why they are doing the tests and enjoy doing the 'booklets'. May is the month when the end of Key Stage 1 tests take place and these tests inform the teacher's judgements to what depth the children have learned the Key Stage 1 curriculum. Children in Year 2 in our school will be taking these tests towards the end of the May, and they have done some practices this week to familiarise themselves with the format of the questions. It is worth pointing out that the teachers assess the children throughout the year, and it is their judgements that determine the final assessment.

Jubilee Celebrations 27th May

We will be celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in school on the last day of term, Friday 27th May, and we have lots of fun planned for the day.

This will be a non-uniform day and we would love the children to come in wearing Red, White and Blue for the occasion. They will be taking part in lots of activities during the day and at lunchtime we will be having a street party on the school playground.

Street Party Lunch

We would like all children to book the picnic lunch from Dolce on the 27th May and this will then be laid out on tables in the playground at lunchtime for our street party. The lunch will consist - sandwiches, sausage rolls, pizza bites, potato wedges, carrot & cucumber sticks, celebration cake and fruit. 

If you are unable to book the picnic lunch because of your child's allergies please email the school office and we will notify Dolce separately to ensure that alternatives are provided for your child. 

If you do not have a School Grid account as your child has never had Dolce lunches please let us know as soon as possible and we can order the lunch for your child. If you have any queries about this please contact us as soon as possible.

If you had already booked lunches for the rest of this term you should have received a notification from SchoolGrid that lunches booked on 19th and 27th May have been cancelled. This is because Dolce had a Jubilee picnic lunch planned in for 19th May, which is our census day please see below, we have asked them to switch this menu with that of the 27th May. 

After School Family Picnic 3 to 5pm

We would like to invite all Sandygate families to join us on the school field after school on the 27th for a Family Picnic.  This will be a lovely opportunity to come together with other families at the end of the term to celebrate the Jubilee. You will need to bring your own picnic and a rug!

Cake Competition

Buckinghamshire Council are running a Cake Competition for all schools to celebrate the Jubilee. If your child would like to take part then they need to bake a Jubilee Cake and bring it to school on Monday 9th May. They must also bring with the cake a list of the ingredients and a description of why they think the cake is fit for a Queen.

The school council will choose one winner, and we will then submit a photograph of the winning entry along with the list of ingredients to Buckinghamshire Council. All cakes will then be sent home to be enjoyed.

The schools in each Liaison group will all judge the best cake to put forward for the shortlist from their group and shortlisted entrants will be invited to present their cake at The Gateway council offices in Aylesbury in June when the final winners will be announced.

The overall winner will receive £150 of vouchers, 2nd will receive £100 and 3rd will receive £75.

So, get baking, and your creation could be a joyful and delicious part of the first ever Platinum Jubilee.

Walk to School Week 16th to 20th May

May is National Walking Month, and the campaign this year is encouraging people to #Try20 – and walk for 20 minutes each day. As part of the month-long celebration, we have  Walk to School Week, which is just a few days away,  taking place 16-20 May.

As a WOW school, we know the walk to school is already very important to you, but why not take it to the next level and walk/wheel to school every day during the week of 16 May? To make it extra fun, pupils can use the free five-day activity diary to keep them engaged and motivated to travel actively to school each day.

Download the diary here

Sunday Regatta Festival Sunday 12th June - Year 1

As part of the Sunday Marlow Regatta Festival we have been invited to take part in a massed school choir concert with the other Marlow schools. The children will all be learning and pracitising the songs in school over the coming weeks, and we would love as many of them as possible to join the concert. It will be around noon on Sunday 12th and if your child would like to take part then please sign up here 

Coats

Although the weather this week has been lovely, and we are glad to see warmer days coming, it can still be quite cold at this time of year. Please ensure that your child has an outdoor coat with them every day as we try to spend as much time outside as possible. 

Suncream

Although it may be chilly and children need a coat, the sun is also quite strong and you may want to ensure that your child has suncream applied before they come to school.

Children can bring suncream in but they must be able to apply it themselves and they should be made aware that they cannot share their suncream with their friends. 

Term Time Leave of Absence

We have received a number of requests for Term Time Leave of absence for family holidays this term and would like to remind parents of the procedure for this which is laid out in our Attendance for Learning Policy which can be found here 

Before considering applying for leave of absence for their child or children, parents/carers must apply using the ‘Request to authorise term time leave of absence due to exceptional circumstances’ form (see Appendix 1) which must be obtained from the school office, at least 30 days before the planned leave (no less than a month). Parents are strongly advised to discuss the proposed absence with the school before completing the form. The school does acknowledge that in some instances, such as funerals, it may not be possible to complete the form 30 days before the absence. 

We are not permitted to authorise absence due to holiday except in exceptional circumstance and, whilst we appreciate that many family holidays have had to be rescheduled due to the COVID pandemic, this is not considered an exceptional circumstance.

SUMMER FAYRE 21^st May 11am-2pm

Calling all bakers!

There will be a cake stall and baking competition at the Summer Fayre on 21 May.  We know there are lots of amazing bakers out there after the Ukraine fundraiser. If you'd like to be involved there are two options:

1) bake a cake, biscuits, flapjack etc which will be sold at the fair; or

2) bake and decorate a show stopper to be entered into a competition. There will be two prizes; one for entries by children and one for entries by adults.  The theme is Jubilee and entries will be judged on their decoration, link to theme and originality.

Please bring all cakes (cake stall and competition entries) into school on Friday 20 May.  We will need your name, the type of cake and a list of ingredients for all cakes (cake stall and competition entries).

Please email marlowcofepfa@gmail.com by Friday 13 May if you intend to submit a cake in either category so we can get an idea of numbers.

Jubilee Picnic 27^th May 3:15pm

Instead of the usual donut sale at the end of the school day, the PFA will be selling jubilee themed cupcakes, alongside tea and coffee to those that wish to participate.  We thought this would fit well with the planned school picnic that afternoon.

Camp Night 9th to 10th July 4pm onwards

The Sandygate Camp Night returns for the first time in 3 Years. This is an opportunity for us to all have a relaxed and fun afternoon and evening together, camp, eat, drink and be merry. We open the gates at 4pm and welcome families to bring their tents/sleeping bags/camping gear to spend the night on the school field. The PFA have decided that as this is the first and only time our Year 2 cohort will be able to attend the event, we will be offering pre-sale pitches to them 48hrs before general release.  This opportunity will be offered next year to the current year 1 families. Tickets for year 2 will go on sale on Monday 23^rd May at 8am.  Reception and Year 1 families will be able to purchase their pitches from Wednesday 25^th May.  Spaces are limited to 70 pitches only (due to limitations in numbers of people allowed on the school grounds).  This is usually a popular event and we envisage tickets/pitches will sell out.

PFA Annual General Meeting

The PFA AGM is taking place on Thursday 14^th July at 8pm in the school hall.  As a charity regulated by the Charities Commission, it is mandated that an annual AGM be held. We would like to encourage as many people as possible to attend.  Please come along for the last meeting of the academic school year.

Volunteers Needed - One Can Trust

One Can Trust are in need of volunteers to help at their Supermarket food drives in Marlow, High Wycombe and Beaconsfield. Volunteers hand customers a list of our most needed items as they enter the store and collect donations as they leave. The goal is to have enough volunteers so they may be aligned to a supermarket and volunteer for a 1 or 2 hour shift once every 4 - 8 weeks. 

They are also in need of volunteers to drive their van to collect the donated food and take it back to their warehouse in Duke Street. 

If you can help or want more information please get in touch with Angela Dacre at One Can angela.dacre@onecantrust.org.uk

Help Needed - Lighthouse Marlow

Lighthouse is hoping to open registration for children on 14th May, however we still have nowhere near enough volunteers to be able to run. If you are able to help, even for just a day or two, please register on our website https://lighthousecentral.org/forms/leader-registration or contact us for more information on marlow@lighthousecentral.org

Lighthouse is a wonderful week of fun for the children every summer and we really want to be able to offer the opportunity this year but we cannot do it without volunteers.