Key Dates
Next Week is history week - celebrating 20 years of Fern Hill!
Mon 18th Sept - Year 6 Parent Meeting
Tues 19th Sept - Reception parents meeting
Fri 22nd Sept - Jeans for Genes Day Year 6 day trip to France
Weds 27th - Nursery parents meeting 9am & 2.45pm
Year 2 trip to West Wittering
Thurs 29th - PSA Macmillan coffee morning 9am
Attachments
- Year Group Newsletters
- Year 5 School Journey Letter
- Secondary School Application Guides
- Parent Council Letter
Introducing Year 5 Teacher Mr Scott
After working in a temporary post at Fern Hill earlier in the year, I'm really excited to be a permanent member of the Fern Hill team as teacher in Ash Class.
A Plea for Tissues
With the year 6's moving on last term we lost our regular supplier of tissues from a pharmacist parent. We are always in need of extra tissues for the classrooms, so if you are able to provide a box every now and then we would be VERY grateful. Thank you.
Don't Forget!
We are a nut free school as we have pupils with severe allergies to nuts. Please ensure you do not give your child any form of nut in their lunch boxes or snacks for after school and any clubs held in our school. This includes cereal bars containing nuts and Nutella spread in sandwiches. Thank you.
Secondary School Applications
If you have a child in year 6, you will need to apply for your child's secondary school place by October 31st 2017.
Letters have been sent home with all year 6 pupils and booklets from Kingston borough have been given to Kingston based pupils. Please see the attached flyers for Kingston & Richmond schools listing all key dates relating to secondary transfers in 2018.
Waitrose - Community Matters
If you are in Waitrose Kingston this month we would be very grateful if you could support us by asking a member of staff for green tokens to drop into our charity box. There are two sets of boxes, one located by the fruit and veg department near the exit to the car park and one by the escalator near the main entrance. The more tokens in our box the more money we will receive and you don't even need to spend in store.
Baby News
We are excited to announce a new Fern Hill baby will be arriving in January 2018! Mrs Etherington is expecting her second child. Many congratulations from all of us.
Parent Council
Thank you for those of you who expressed an interest in the Parent Council at the Year Group Meetings this week. There are still spaces available and we would value gaining representatives for each class. Please see the attached information and contact Alan Waterman if you would be interested in participating in the forum. The Council will have a vital role to play in school life over the next few years and this is a great opportunity to be part of the initiative. We are looking forward to meeting all those involved on the 13th October.
School Council News
Congratulations to the School Council members from last year who were awarded the highly commended prize for their projects on ‘Behaviour in the Bathroom’ and ‘Good Manners’ by the Speaker’s School Council Awards. This year, the competition received hundreds of entries so it is significant to receive this special recognition from the judges. To celebrate the children’s achievement we have been awarded a digital badge which will be on the school website and on all of the School Council communication.
Letter from the Speakers School Council Awards Team:
'We are pleased to inform you that the judges of this year’s Speaker’s School Council Awards have selected your school council’s project as highly commended. This year, the competition received hundreds of entries so we would like to congratulate your students on receiving this special recognition from the judges.
On behalf of the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Rt. Hon John Bercow and the Speaker’s School Council Awards team we would really like to thank you and your school council for participating in the competition and taking the time to tell us about all the hard work that has gone into making your project great. We wish you every success with your future projects and look forward to hearing about them in next year’s competition!'
We are now recruiting members for the School Council for this year. Children in Year’s 2-6 have been encouraged to think about participating in the elections, which will take place in class next week. We look forward to announcing the members of the School Council for 2017-18 in the next few weeks.
Earrings in School
We have noticed that some children are still wearing earrings to school. It is the recommendation of the Surrey County Council that earrings are not worn to school for the safety of the wearer. Fern Hill expect parents to adhear to the expectations of Fern Hill and ensure that children are not wearing any jewellery in school. This includes all types of earrings, including studs. If ears are recently pierced then they must be taped at school until the studs can be removed. Staff at Fern Hill will request that the child removes their earrings if they're seen wearing them in school. Thank you.
Jeans for Genes
As a result of Sophia (Oak class) writing to Mr Scott earlier this year to request that Fern Hill support a charity event that had moved her. We will be taking part in this year’s Jeans for Genes Day on Friday 22 September.
1 in 25 children has a genetic disorder that makes their life very difficult. That’s one in every class. Simply by wearing our jeans and donating, we will change the lives of these children.
All children and staff are invited to wear their jeans (with school uniform on top half) on Friday 22 September. We’d like everyone to take part, so please send your child into school on the day wearing their jeans and with a £1 donation for the charity. Thank you.
Please visit jeansforgenes.org/getinspired for more information.
Nursery Places Available
We have a number of places available in both morning and afternoon Nursery.
We are now looking to offer these places to our parents who would like all day childcare. If you are interested in finding out more about the provision and costs of this new facility, please contact Mrs Nash Office Manager - office@fernhill.rbksch.org.
Please feel free to share this information with friends who maybe looking for Nursery places
Club News
All clubs have started back this week
If your child tried a new club for the first time, we hope they really enjoyed it and want to carry on – if not please do let us know.
Payment must now be made for all clubs. This can be done online via ParentMail which lists all the clubs available, or by cheque or cash which must be given to the office where a receipt will be issued.
- If your child does a sports club they must remember to bring their PE or sports kits to change in to.
- If your child is doing football they must wear shin pads.
- Year 1 children will be taken from their classrooms to their clubs by a member of staff. Instructors will help them to get changed where necessary.
- Your child may bring a snack to eat before the club starts – please remember it must NOT contain nuts. Children doing a lunchtime club must bring a packed lunch.
- Collection Points for after the clubs are shown on the school reception door.
The following clubs still have spaces:
Aerobics, French, netball, rugby, sewing on Wednesday.
Application forms are available on the website and outside the office
School Journey – Deposit payments
Payment of the £40.00 non-refundable deposit should be made through ParentMail, although cheques made payable to Fern Hill School Journey and cash will also be accepted at the School Office where a receipt will be issued.
Letter with full details attached below.
Could Your Company Help Fern Hill?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Corporate Social Responsibility is the social or charitable activity a corporate organisation chooses to engage in. This could include working in local communities to support social and environment practices, philanthropy, or volunteering. We would would be very interested to hear from you if you work for an organisation that supports CSR.
We would also like to hear from you if your organisation actively engages in Community Engagement projects to see if there is a possibility for those firms to look into making charitable donations or giving time for Fern Hill school enhancement projects. This organisation commitment helps local community services to further their commitment to making a positive impact to the society in which they operate and fulfil their Social commitments with Fern Hill School.
Please get in touch with the school office if you think you may be able to help office@fernhill.rbksch.org
Parent Meetings Presentations
Thank you to the parents and carers that attended the year group presentations this week. We have attached the presentations to the year group area of the website for those parents who were unable to attend the meetings. Year 6, reception & nursery meetings will take place next week and the week after.
Inspiration 