10th February 2023

In celebration worship this morning we talked about everything that had been happening over the last 7 days. The children had a huge list of things ranging from walking to Rookery Court to see signs of spring and making their moving winter images for Year 1; to Writing Workshops and a visit from a pilot (Thank you, Mr McFarlane) for Year; to finding different ways of making 8 and being astronauts in space for Reception. You can see some of the other things that have been going on in the News Stories below.

Yesterday, we held Ladybird class worship. I found their retelling of the story of Noah's Ark story inspiring and their rendition of 'Sailing' wonderful. Thank you to Mrs Howarth, Mrs Guinness, Mrs Higham and the rest of the Year 1 team for preparing the children so well.

We are already halfway through the school year - how time flies! I have been impressed with the progress that the children are making with their learning and how keen they are to persevere and how happily they share what their awareness of what they need to do to get even better. I am looking forward to seeing the impact this great attitude to learning will have on their progress for the rest of the year.

In the meantime, I hope that you and your families have a restful and enjoyable half-term break.

Mrs Reynolds

Safer Internet Day - All Year groups

Safer Internet Day on Tuesday gave us the opportunity to have an even sharper focus on Internet safety. As well as online safety lessons in class, the children earned about being SMART (Safe, Meet, Accept, Reliable, Tell) in collective worship. You can find out more information about the meaning behind the acronym here 

The theme for Safer Internet Day this year was making time to have conversations about staying safe on-line. Children aged between 3 and 7 are at the beginning of their journey through life with technology. It’s through these formative years that they learn to understand what they can access online, how they can access it and how it can benefit them, so its essential parents take an active interest in their children’s safety online. By starting the conversations at a young age, children become accustomed to having them as they grow up. ChildNet have some useful resources for parents and carers, their toolkit can be found here

As you may be aware, we use a range of sources to teach the children about online safety. National Online Safety provides us with some resources that we use in lessons, and we use the platform for training staff about online safety. They offer parents and carers who have children at Marlow Infants access to free training and updates about staying safe online. This takes the form of webinars and #WakeUpWednesday guides. There is a particularly useful webinar entitled Online Safety for parents & carers of children aged 3-7. You can access via the web address

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/marlow-c-of-e-infant-school

You will need to set up an account first and then search for the webinar. 

Each week the #WakeUpWednesday guides are shared on the National Online Safety Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles. The guides provide expert advice on the latest platforms and online risks that parents and carers need to know about - a brand new guide every Wednesday.

Trip to Woolley Firs - Reception

Today we sent a letter to all Reception parents, please read this carefully as we require some information from you. Please complete your consent via ParentPay for your child to be allowed to take part in this trip.

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.

Butterfly Class (Thursday 23rd February) Click here

Bee Class (Thursday 9th March) Click here

Ant Class (Thursday 16th March) Click here

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

The topic for Year 2 next half-term is the Great Fire of London.

Thank you to those who have volunteered. To make this day run smoothly we just need 4 more volunteers 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.

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.

If your child already has a library card, please could they give it to their class teacher prior to their trip to the library. We will ensure it is kept safe and safely returned. If your child does not have a library card please do make sure to return the paperwork promptly to ensure they will be able to receive a library card and take out a book on their visit. 

Thank you to those who have volunteered for the trip. To make this trip possible we still need 4 more volunteers to walk with Ladybird Class. Butterfly Class will go on the morning of 24th February and Ladybird Class will go on the 3rd March. Please click here if you are able to help.

New Library Day - Year 2

From next term, Year 2 will have their library visit on a Thursday instead of Tuesday.

Parent Consultations - All year groups

Thank you to all parents who have booked the Spring Parent Consultations. Everyone should now have a time slot. Please contact the office if you think you haven't received one. Consultations will be in the Key Stage 1 end of school, please enter using the side gate to the right of the car park, not the main school door. The children's books will be on display, you may like to arrive 5 minutes early to look through these.

Lateness & Medical Appointments - Whole school

If your child arrives to school late, they miss their phonics lesson, which is very important to their reading and writing development. Where persistent/continuing lateness is a problem, parents will be invited into school to discuss the matter with the Headteacher. This will be to discuss any difficulties that may prevent punctual arrival at school and to work together to find solutions.

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).

Please click here to read the full Attendance for Learning policy.

Curriculum Information Session - Reception

Monday 27th 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.

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.

World Book Day - Thursday 2nd March - Whole school

This year we have lots of events planned around World Book Day. Details of these are below:

World Book Day Dress up

On World Book Day itself, we are inviting children to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. The costume does not have to be elaborate or expensive and there are ideas for simple homemade costumes here. We love seeing which books the children are enjoying, and it's a great way to get reading ideas from your friends by looking at their costumes. 

Mystery Reader

We usually finish our school day with a story read by the class teacher or teaching assistant. During the week of World Book Day we would like to surprise the children with some 'Mystery Readers'. If you would like to come into school for the last 10 - 15 minutes of the day to share your favourite story with your child's class then please sign up to let us know.

We have a limited number of opportunities across the week for the Mystery Readers, so there is a chance that we will not be able to invite everybody in on this occasion.

Please email the school office if you are interested in being one of our mystery readers.

Challenge Time 

We are holding a creative challenge for all children linked to their reading. We would like all children to choose 1 of the challenges outlined below and send it into school the week commencing 27th February.

1. Take a photograph of yourself reading in an unusual or an exciting place
2. Paint, collage or draw your own inspirational quote or phrase from your favourite book or author
3. Create your own story props to tell one of your favourite stories
4. Make a book. You could theme it around your favourite book, author or illustrator

Online Book Fair

We also have an online Book Club running with Scholastic Books. Please click here.

All the books in the Book Club are discounted, some by as much as 50%. For every £1 you spend the school receives 20p to spend on books. 

Tidy Up Team - Year 2

Mrs Burkitt would like to recruit 8 children from Year 2 to help with litter picking after half-term. This will be every Monday for a short time during lunchtime. If your child would like to be part of the Tidy Up Team, please sign up here.

PFA meeting: Thursday 23rd February 8pm

Our next PFA meeting will be held at school on Thursday 23rd February at 8pm. Come along to hear about all of our upcoming events and get involved or suggest new ideas. We always welcome new parents to join us, and it's a relaxed meeting helped by having a few drinks alongside our discussions. If you're unable to make it but have any comments or suggestions you'd like us to consider, please email pfa@marlow-infant.bucks.sch.uk

   Wine & Cheese Tasting Quiz Night   

Tickets are selling for our inaugural wine and cheese quiz night being held on Saturday 18th March at 8pm in the school hall. It is being run by 2 of our reception parents (Helen doing the wine and Carly the cheese!) and looks like it's going to be a fabulous evening! Tickets are £25pp and family/friends from outside school are welcome to join (adults only). This is going to be a fun and relaxed evening of wine tasting (12 different wines!) and cheese eating in a quiz style and no prior knowledge about wine or cheese is needed. No other food apart from cheese and biscuits, but you're welcome to bring snacks. Bar and other games on the night.