9th September 2022

Welcome back to the new academic year! To see the children and families again this week has been really heart-warming and yesterday, the Reception children had their first day at school, and they came in confidently. 

You will find today's newsletter to be a bumper issue, there is so much to share this week as it is the beginning of term. Please read carefully as there are a lot of links to forms that we need you to complete. 

I would like to welcome all the Reception families to the Sandygate family, those who have never been part of the school family before and those returning. I would also like to officially welcome Miss Madziwa and Mrs Snell to the staff team at Marlow Infants, they have already settled into the school routine. We also welcome Miss Rogers who is joining us for the year as a trainee teacher from the Chepping View SCITT.  She will be working with Mrs Browning and Grasshopper class.

Sadly, while welcoming so many people to the school, we are going to have to prepare ourselves to say goodbye to Mrs Beckett who will be leaving us at the beginning of October. Mrs Beckett is moving on to pastures new and will be an incredible loss for the school. She has been part of the Sandygate family for 15 years and worked in school for almost 12 years. Mrs Beckett has made a huge contribution to the school over the years and her knowledge and experience of the school and the daily routines have been invaluable to me, especially when I first became Headteacher. We are, of course, advertising for the position which will be vacant and if any of our parent body thinks they might be interested or knows someone who would be interested, the details are here.

As we mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we have spoken to the children in Key Stage 1 today about her life well lived and the service that she gave the country.  As it has been our Spirituality Day today, it fell well to reflect about her and her life. 

Mrs Reynolds

Her Majesty The Queen

Following the announcement of the death of Her Majesty the Queen, the Bishop of Oxford has issued the following statement:

Her Majesty the Queen has been a cherished presence in all of our lives and for the whole of our lives. She has been our example and a rock for the nation and commonwealth. Her devoted service has given stability to the nation throughout this Elizabethan age. Her deep, personal Christian faith has been an inspiration to many, including me.

The whole nation will be united in mourning for our beloved Queen in the coming days. We will need time to grieve and to share our grief with others. We pray at this time for the Queen’s family and especially for Charles as he prepares to become King. This will be a season for deep reflection in the life of our nation as we look back in thanksgiving and forward in hope. 

This United Kingdom has deep foundations in Christian faith. A key part of our faith is the distinctive hope of resurrection from the dead: that our life in Christ endures beyond death and for eternity. As we grieve and pray, we also look forward together in hope to that new and eternal life with God. 

We have prayed through all of our lives: God save the Queen. We now entrust Her Majesty to her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and commit ourselves afresh to his service and to God’s eternal kingdom. 

Report from School Council/RRSA/Eco Warriors/Arts Council

The children in Years 1 and 2 have voted this week for their representatives on our various Pupil Voice bodies. The results are:

School Council

• Year 2 - Ella, Savannah, William & Sadie
• Year 1 - Jessica, Artie, Theo & Willow

Rights Respecting School Ambassadors

• Year 2 - Victoria, Oliver A, George J & Frankie
• Year 1 - Jake, Isla, Leo Y & Wilbur

Eco Warriors

• Year 2: Ege, Molly, Seraphina & Henry
• Year 1: Joey Y, Lara, Miller & Esme

Arts Council

• Year 2: Ariana, Kyle, Hope & Reuben
• Year 1: Persis, Oliver T, Ada & Henry A

Science Council

• Year 2: Alexander, Ameliya, Celestine & Leo D
• Year 1: Sarah, Isaac, Tom & Albie

During the school year, these children will work with the member of staff responsible for that area of school life to plan special events and to represent the pupils in planning what we do within school and in the wider community.

Meet the Teacher Years 1 & 2

Monday 12th September 6.00pm

Meet the Teacher is held at the start of each new school year for parents in Years 1 and 2. It is a chance for the class teacher to introduce themselves to parents and tell you all about classroom expectations, the curriculum they will be teaching this year and some of the topics and activities the class will be doing. 

The meeting will last around 30 minutes and will be held in your child's classroom. We regret that this is not an opportunity to have conversation with the class teacher about any specific issues regarding your child.

In order to enable us to resource accordingly and ensure that we know how is on site in case of emergency we would ask that parents sign up before 12 noon on Monday if you are going to attend, this will allow us to set up a quick sign in for the evening.  Please register here https://forms.gle/WMvjCMj7nXEK3tNg8

Reception Curriculum Evening

Wednesday 14th September 7pm

We will be holding an information evening for parents of children who have just started in Reception next Wednesday. The meeting will be in the school hall at 7pm

We will be outlining the Foundation Stage Curriculum and explaining how the children will be learning this year and giving you some ideas on ways to support your child's learning at home.

In order that we can set up resources we do need to know how many people will be coming, so can we ask that you register for this meeting by the start of school on Monday? Please register here

Harvest Festival Thursday 6th October 9.00

We will be holding our Harvest Festival Service in school on 6th October. The service will be led by  Year 2 worship leaders and each year group will be singing a song  that they will have practised over the preceding weeks. 

 In the past this has always been a very popular service and, as space in our school hall is limited, we have had to hold the service twice to accommodate everyone who wished to attend.

We would like to ask all parents who would like to attend this service to register here by next Friday 16th September and we will then decide whether we will have one or two services. Once that decision is made a link to an Eventbrite booking form will be in next week's Newsletter for parents to book their places. 

Year 1 Walk to the Woods - Helpers needed

On Tuesday 11th October, the children in Year 1 are planning to walk to Hunts Woods and in order to make this possible they will need some parents to walk with them.

They are planning on leaving school at around 10.30 and will return for lunch at 12.15pm. If you are able to come in on that day and walk with them could you please register here https://forms.gle/3fpaYEAyGLkbmnnE6

Parent Helpers

We are very grateful to have parents who are willing to come into school on a regular basis to help out.  We ask that parents commit to a regular day and time to come in and help for around an hour and a half and the tasks they undertake include listening to children read, preparing resources, working on classroom display boards or helping with art activities.

We will not be asking parent helpers to come into school until after the October half term break to allow children to settle into school routines.

If you wish to come into school to help on a regular basis then you will need to attend a parent helper training session, even if you have attended one before. We will be holding two of these on Tuesday 18th at 9.30am and Thursday 20th October at 2.00pm. The meetings will last around 30 minutes and will be online. You only need to attend one and we would ask that you register below :

 https://forms.gle/mrjZAaJ8ffCVKB167 

On the registration we would like you indicate which days and times you are able to make a regular commitment to, this is to help us plan a rota and we will confirm the days with you before the end of the half term. 

Once you have registered we will send a link for the meeting and also a number of policies for you to read.

Please note you do not need to attend this training if you only intend to come and help on school trips or on ad hoc special days. 

Clubs 

Following the email sent to Year 1 and 2 parents earlier this week with the details of extra curricular clubs offered this term, we have been informed by a number of the club providers that they do not yet have sufficient numbers of children registered to be able to run this term.

If you would like your child to attend a club but have yet to register we would ask that you do so immediately or the club may not run.

We would also be interested in any feedback from parents as to why they have not registered children for extra curricular clubs as this would help us, and the club providers, in planning for the future.  Please email us if there is a specific reason why you have not signed up. 

We have 2 school run clubs which will start next week - Recorder Club for Year 2 children will be on a Tuesday lunchtime and Sandygate Stars for Years 1 & 2 on a Monday lunchtime. Sandygate Stars is run by volunteers from All Saints Church and each week there is a Bible story and a craft activity. Recorder club is run by Mrs Phillips and the children learn to play short pieces that they will perform at events and in school worship.  If your child would like to attend one of these please register here https://forms.gle/CGQ1wFnwMc8RnrfY6

There will be other clubs added after October half term so please keep an eye out in the Newsletter 

PE Days, Library Days, Outdoor Learning Days

Each year group has specific days each week for PE, Library and Outdoor Learning. On PE days children should come to school dressed in their PE kit and on Library Days they will need to bring their library bag and book. On Outdoor Learning days please ensure that your child has a warm/waterproof coat as neccessary.

PE Days

• Reception - Monday
• Year 1 - Wednesday and Thursday 
• Year 2 - Tuesday and Friday

Library Days

• Reception - Friday
• Year 1 - Monday
• Year 2 - Thuirsday

Outdoor Learning days

• Reception - Welly Thursday 
• Year 1 - Forest Friday
• Year 2 - Muddy Monday

Coats

Please ensure that your child has a coat in school every day. We try to get the children outside during playtime and lunchtime as much as we can and with the current changeable weather a waterproof coat is essential. 

Please remember to check that all coats are clearly named.

School Website - e4education

Those families who are new to our school will have received an email this week with log in details for our school website, which is provided by e4education.

Please follow the instructions to activate your account as soon as possible as the link expires after about a week. You will need to use this log on to access your child's Class Homepages - these will be live next week and will have information on what the children will be learning this term, links to resources and information on special days they may be having.

The log in will also be needed for booking Parent Consultations later in the year and for other secure access items we might put on the website such as trip sign ups. 

Log in details for other services such as Google Classrooms and Parentpay will be sent home next week in your child's bookbag so please look out for those. 

Sickness & Absence

At the start of the new term we are taking the opportunity to remind parents of our school policies regarding sickness and absence. All of the school policies can be found on our website here https://www.marlow-infant.bucks.sch.uk/schoolpolicies and there is also a list of FAQ's and other information in our How to Guide for parents here https://www.marlow-infant.bucks.sch.uk/how-to-guide

Sickness 

If your child is absent from school through illness we ask that you call before 9.30am on the first morning of their absence and leave a message on the voicemail option 1. If your child is likely to be absent for longer than 3 days we would ask that you remain in contact with us to update us

If your child vomits or has diarrhoea then they must not return to school for 48 hours after the last episode.

There is a list of common childhood illnesses with details of any exclusion periods at the bottom of the How to Guide page on the school website. 

Absence for Medical Appointments

Our Attendance for Learning policy states:

When making medical appointments, every effort must be made to ensure appointments are outside school hours but we acknowledge that this is not always possible when the medical need is urgent. Medical appointments must be accompanied by an appointment card or other written confirmation. Absence for routine dental/medical/optical appointments during school time will not be authorised. By ‘routine’ we mean check- up appointments that can be planned for out of school hours (not ones that are allocated by the medical profession such as hospital appointments with a consultant)

We ask that you inform as as early as possible of your child's expected absence due to a medical appointment. This should ideally be by email with the confirmation attached.

Absence for other Reasons eg family holiday

From September 1st 2013 the government amended the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 to remove references to family holiday and to make clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

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 which can be downloaded on the school website here or you can request a copy from the office. This form must be received by us 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. In these instances the absence would be authorised.

Press Release from Buckinghamshire Council regarding Sustainable Travel to school

Buckinghamshire Council have issued the following press release at the start of the new school term. If you would be interested in joining our School Travel Plan team and helping lead sustainable travel initiatives please let us know. 

We hope all your children are happily settling back into school, or starting for the first time. 

Welcome coffee morning 8th Sept

We had a successful coffee morning and welcome after the first official school day for the new reception parents so thank you to those who came. Don't worry if you missed it, there will be many more opportunities for everyone to meet up. 

PFA meeting 22nd September

Our next PFA meeting will be on Thursday 22nd September at school.  We would like to welcome anyone interested to attend and welcome new reception parents as well as anyone from Year 1 or 2 who would like to get involved this year. We are a small team at the moment so if we want all the wonderful events to continue this year, we will need more support so encourage you to come along and find out more. 

Back to school BBQ 24th September

We are planning a back to school BBQ on Saturday 24th September 12-2pm on the school field. Food and drink will be available to buy. As an ECO school we are looking at way to reduce our waste so encourage everyone to bring their own beer/wine cups with them if possible. It is a cash only event so remember to bring some money with you.