27th January 2023

It has been the first week of our Great British Schools Birdwatch this week and the Reception children have led the way. Next week Year 1 and Year 2 will be taking part, so hopefully they will be able to spot lots of different kinds of birds so that we can send the information on to the RSPB!

Next week, on Friday, the Explorer Dome will be visiting school. This is a huge inflatable dome which will be put up in the school hall. Reception children will be visiting the dome in the morning when they will be learning more about space. In the afternoon, it is the turn of Year 1 whose will be focusing on embedding their knowledge of herbivores, carnivores and habitats.

Last week, I mentioned the Teacher's strikes. The first strike day is next Wednesday 1st February. I would like to confirm that we will be opening the school to all classes as usual. With regard to the other dates (Wednesday 1 March; Wednesday 15 March 2023; Thursday 16 March 2023), I will communicate with you nearer the time what we are able to do for each date.

I'm sorry to say that one of midday supervisors, Mrs Gunn will be leaving us at the end of half-term. She has been with us for nearly 10 years. She will be missed by the rest of the staff and the children. If you know of anyone who would be interested in this type of role in the school, please see the advert below or on the school website.

Mrs Reynolds

The Great British Schools Bird Watch - Reception

As part of their Welly Walk yesterday, Reception children were spotting birds in the school grounds. They had a fabulous time. They even made some 'cakes' for the birds - they are hoping that they will see even more birds now when they go out for their Welly Walk next week!

School Council Charities

The school council would like to give you a final update on the money that was raised over the Christmas period. They are thrilled to tell you that altogether over £1000 was raised!

Through the retiring collections at the nativities £654 was raised. This has been divided equally and donated to the Children's society, Water Aid and Wycombe Homeless Connection (£218 each).

£79.75 was raised through the Big Sing which has been donated to Christian Aid; £79.23 was donated to Save the Children, the money being raised as result of Christmas Jumper Day

Our Children in Need Day raised £157.57!

The school council would like to thank you all for your generous donations.

Next week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Curriculum Information Session - Reception

Wednesday 1st February 7.00pm

This session will be a follow on from the one we held in the autumn term. It is open to all Reception parents who would like to find out more about how and what their children learn in Reception. We will be covering end of year expectations, the next phase in learning in phonics as well as giving further hints on how to support the children at home. We do need to know how many parents will be attending so that we can prepare resources. Please click here if you will be coming along.

Class-Led Worship - All year groups

We will be holding class-led worship over the next few months. Each class will be basing their worship on their class value. We would like to invite parents/carers to join in with the worship. Each class worship will be 9-9.30am. To book your ticket via EventBrite, please click the link below.

Ladybird Class (Thursday 9th February) Click here

Butterfly Class (Thursday 23rd February) Click here

Bee Class (Thursday 9th March) Click here

Ant Class (Thursday 16th March) Click here

Candlemas: Thursday 2nd February - Whole school

We will have a special school worship to celebrate the feast of Candlemas on Thursday 2nd February.  Candlemas is also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Christ and celebrates the presentation of Jesus at the temple, as described in Luke 2:22-40, and is one of the oldest festivals in the Christian church. In many countries it marks the end of the Christmas festivities and is when decorations are taken down. It is called Candlemas as this was traditionally the day when all the church candles for the year were blessed.

We would like to invite parents/carers to join in. Due to the size of our hall, we are limiting tickets to 1 parent/carer per family.

To book your ticket via EventBrite, please click here.

The Big Garden Birdwatch 27-29th January - Whole school

As mentioned last week  we are currently taking part in the Big Schools Birdwatch. Children will be exploring the school grounds, identifying local birds and collecting data for the RSPB.

At home, you can do your bit too. The Big Garden Birdwatch will be taking place between the 27-29th January. You don't even need a garden, you can count birds and identify them from your balcony or at the park. The information you send the RSPB can help them identify how the bird population is faring and as a result, help them to protect birds. You can sign up here for a free guide and also find out how to attract birds to your garden.

NSPCC Number Day 2023 - Wednesday 8th February - Whole School

We are excited to be taking part in the NSPCC Number day again this year. There will lots of fun Maths based activities taking place in school on Number Day, and we will have some Year 6 pupils from Holy Trinity to help us with this!

This is a fundraising event for the NSPCC, and we would like the children to come to school wearing a number themed outfit. This does not have to be an elaborate outfit, and it should be fit for wearing indoors and out. It can be something as easy as attaching your child's favourite number to their jumper or a representation of a number ie not the digit.

Donations to the NSPCC can be made via the specially created Just Giving page or by using the QR code below. 

Visit to Woolley Firs - Friday 3rd March - Reception

Next half-term the Reception children will be visiting Woolley Firs for the day. Woolley Firs is an environmental centre near Maidenhead run by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxford Wildlife Trust.

This trip will be to support the Understanding the World era of learning. The children will be finding out about and describing the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air).

We will need 15 volunteers to make this trip possible. The coaches will be leaving school at 9.15am and returning in time for the end of the school day. If you would like to be considered as a volunteer for the trip, please click here and complete the online form.

There will be more details for parents and carers, sent out via email before half-term.

Great Fire of London Day - Friday 3rd March - Year 2

The topic for Year 2 next half-term is the Great Fire of London. On Friday, March 3rd, 'History off the Page 'will be coming into school to give the children enriching experience of the topic by immersing them into Stuart Britain. This is a fabulous day for the children when they become archaeologists, candlestick makers, leather makers...the list is huge.

The day is very hands-on and to make the day work, we will need the help of a large number of volunteers. 10 volunteers will be needed for the morning and 10 for the afternoon. If you are able to help either in the morning, or in the afternoon or even all day, please click here and complete the online form.

Parent Consultations are now LIVE - All year groups

The Spring Parent Consultations will be on Tuesday 21st (3.30-6.30pm) and Wednesday 22nd (4-7pm) February. These will be in Key Stage 1 end of school. You will be able to choose and book a 10-minute time slot by logging into your class homepage on the school website.

Home Readers - Year 1

Year 1 children will now be able to change their home readers on a daily basis. The teaching team staff will give the children a general reminder to change their books, but the children will be changing them independently.

Library Membership - Year 1

Year 1 parents, we are off to Marlow Library next half-term. This trip is to develop the children's enjoyment of reading. Your child will come home with a library membership form today. If you are not already a member of the library, please fill in the form and return it to your class teacher. Due to the library membership policy we would also need a copy of a form of ID from you with proof of address. All copies will be destroyed once the process has been completed. If your child already has a library card, please let your class teacher know and they can take this with them on the day. This will mean that when we visit the library your child will be able to collect their membership card and also a book.

We will also need some parents to volunteer with the trips. Butterfly Class will go on the mornings of 24th February and Ladybird Class will go on the 3rd March. Please click here if you are able to help. Each class will need  5 volunteers to make this visit possible.

Cancelling lunch orders - Whole school

If your child is unable to come to school due to illness, and you have booked them a school dinner, please cancel their dinner as we still get charged for the meal. Thank you.

Class Home Pages - Year 1

We have resolved the issue, and you should now be able to use the Year 1 class home pages. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

Wild World

We are looking for a team of volunteers who can help us maintain a safe outdoor environment for the children, along with updating and improving the school garden ready for summer!

If you have an interest in gardening and would love to help, please register your interest here.

School Disco - Saturday 4th March - All Year Groups

This year's school disco is being held on Saturday 4th March in the school hall with Dave the Disco running the show. To keep the children safe with adequate adult supervision, we will be holding 2 identical discos and are limiting the number of tickets/children to each disco to 90. The timings of these will be 2-3.30pm and 3.45-5.15pm. Tickets are £8 per child and are available through parent pay. This will include the disco, snack bags during the event and a small edible treat at the end. We will be needing parent volunteers to help us run the discos but will be in touch about this once we know who is coming to which disco, but please consider helping on the day. 

   Sandygate & Holy Trinity Charity Golf Day 

The inaugural Sandygate and Holy Trinity charity golf day is taking place on the afternoon of Friday 17th March at Harleyford Golf Club. Ladies and gentlemen golfers of all abilities are invited to join in. Entry fee will be £60pp, and you can sign up either as an individual or a team of 4. There will be lots of games and multiple prizes to be won on the day. There are also sponsorship opportunities available for the event.

If you or anyone you know is interested in signing up please contact Patrick Tomnie directly on 07976761616 or patricktomnie@gmail.com (see flyer below).