World Food Day

World Food Day is celebrated each year on 16th October to promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. Events are organised in up to 150 countries across the world, making it one of the most celebrated days of the United Nations calendar. You can find out more about World Food Day here.

At Fern Hill, we will join this day of action to broaden the children’s knowledge and understanding of diet in general, as well as providing them with an insight into dietary challenges not only globally, but also within our own local community.

On Friday 18^th October we are working in collaboration with Sainsbury’s Sury Basin to support CREST, a local food bank, and would be very grateful for your donations of non-perishable food items. There will be a collection point at both the infants’ and juniors’ playground gates in the morning for you to leave donations. The children are welcome to bring donations directly to their classrooms too. We will be displaying the items in the Large Hall for the children to see before they are collected by the food bank. 

Volunteer Readers in School

At Fern Hill we greatly value the strong home-school partnership we have with our parent and carer community and, in particular, the contribution many of you make by coming into school to hear the children read. This not only strengthens our relationship with you, but also significantly increases the rate of progress that the children can make with their reading. Reading is fundamental to a child’s academic success and to the growth of their life and learning skills.

This year we would like to grow our volunteer programme and invite parents and carers from all year groups to come into school to read with the children. We are particularly looking for your help to develop our younger children. If your child is in Years 3-6, you are of course welcome to read with their year group or class, but we would very much appreciate your support reading with Reception, Year 1 or Year 2.

Typically, you will work one-to-one with a child or small group of children, spending 10 minutes with each child talking about the book they’re reading, listening to them read and reading to them. You will work with the same children each week; getting to know them and watching them progress. You may also be asked to help the children change their books in the school library or get involved with a particular classroom activity.

If you would like to volunteer your time, please complete the attached reply form and return it to the school office as a paper copy or complete it online and return by email to office@fernhill.rbksch.org.

We are running two introduction sessions for Volunteer Readers: Thursday 17^th October at 9.00 am for parents and carers who would like to read with children in Years 3-6 and Friday 18^th October at 9.00 am for those of you who would like to read with the younger children. This meeting will last 30 minutes and cover responsibilities and expectations, confidentiality, how to support reading and phonics and DBS checks. We hope to see you there! 

Lots to read this week!

We've kicked off the new school year with a number of events - and these are just the start:

Early on in the term, we took a squad to the Swimming Gala at The Malden Centre. Competing in solo and relay races, the children from year 6 threw themselves (literally!) into the pool and showed their speed and skills. A couple of medals came back to school, and a huge well done to the team.

Then the Hockey players took to the field - in a new event for the younger Year 4's. Some hadn't played hockey before, which was in the spirit of the festival, but showed their enthusiasm and sporting attitude as they tried out this new-for-some sport. Great team work to the whole squad.

Girls football returned - with Year 4 being the first to compete this year. The weather was not particularly kind, but they all played well - representing the school for the first time in some cases. Smiles and cheers were the order of the day.

On Tuesday this week, we have had the Year 6 girls football team, hoping to follow in last year's success and represent Kingston at the London Youth Games. On a very damp afternoon, the girls played 6 games at Chessington School; close scores but losing the first three games, they then won their last three - not a bad result for their first outing this year. Lots more good matches to come, I'm sure.

A timely event considering the RWC2019 in Japan, the Year 5/6 took part in a tag rugby festival on Wednesday. Hosted by Old Emanuel Rugby Club, the mixed team entered the event with excitement. For some, it was their first time playing with the 'proper shaped ball' (a little biased, Mrs Lawn?) but this didn't stop them. As it was a festival, scores were not recorded, as the point was for enjoyment and a chance to try a new activity - with some asking about playing rugby at weekends as a result, which is great news. I look forward to being able to select those children for a future competition.

​With cross country running, basketball and more football - this time for the Y4 boys - it's a busy half term at Fern Hill School. As always, a big thank you to the staff who take the children, and to the parents who are there to support. Thank you.

And let's not forget the start of the Daily Mile across the school. Every class is timetabled to participate at least 3 times per week as part of this national initiative. Research has shown that daily activity helps boost mood, increases the feel-good endorphins as well as helping the brain be more receptive to learning. Additional research by the Chief Medical Officer has also highlighted that children are not as active as they need to be to stay healthy, and that they should be doing at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Whilst this can include break times and walking to school, there are still a number of children who may not be reaching this goal. The Daily Mile will help with this - and hopefully encourage children to be more active. Jogging, or walking at a brisk pace for up to 15 minutes 3 times per week, the children are raising their heart rate, as well as being in the fresh air. 

You can find out more about the Daily Mile here. 

Getting changed into PE kit is not necessary. However, we are suggesting that some children may be more comfortable running in their trainers rather than their school shoes. Please be aware, however, that the children do need to change back into their school shoes when they return to class.

We will be trying to continue the Daily Mile throughout the winter months - by walking instead of running, and wearing a coat. However, there will be instances when it is not safe for the children to participate; on these days, they will be doing more physical activity in their classrooms, using music and online resources to ensure that they are still getting the benefits the outside mile would have brought them.

Finally, a couple of admin bits - if you child is interested in being part of a team, they need to keep an eye out for trials. They also need to then come to the trials - we have had a few instances recently where children have not turned up for the trials, and then got a little upset that they were not in the team.

We are always looking for help taking our squads to sporting events. If you can help, please indicate on the permission reply slip so that we can provide you with all the details.

More updates later in the term.​​

Thanks for all the support.

- Mrs Lawn, Sports Lead