26th May 2023

What wonderful weather we have had for the last week of the half-term – let's hope it continues for the break!

The Year 2 children have now finished their statutory assessments and can now focus on continuing to learn across the curriculum. They have taken it all in their stride and have shown great resilience – in fact many of them have not realised that they were doing tests at all.

As you may have seen the Barn is almost fully converted now, and you will read in the news article below that the Barn has already been used by some children. The rest of the school have also been to visit it this week too. We still have some windows to be installed which will allow more natural light to enter into the area and some work to complete on the internal lighting and electrics. We are hoping that the windows will be installed the week after the half-term break.

I do hope that you have an enjoyable week's rest.

Mrs S Reynolds

Eco Warriors supporting 30 Days Wild – Whole school

30 Days Wild is The Wildlife Trusts' annual nature challenge where they ask the nation to do one 'wild' thing a day every day throughout June. We will be participating in this in school over the month, but the Eco Warriors would also like everybody to try doing some daily wild activities at home. It can be anything you like – having breakfast with the birds on Monday, feeling the grass between your toes on Tuesday, and watching wildlife webcams on Wednesday. There’s no set structure, so you can take part in a way that suits you. Alongside benefiting your local wildlife, taking part in 30 Days Wild is proven to make you feel happier, healthier, and more connected to nature.

Mrs Burkitt will put an activity on Google Classrooms for the children to complete.

Pentecost Service – Whole school

On Thursday 8^th June, the Year 2 Worship Leaders will tell us the story of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. Pentecost takes place 50 days after Easter and the word 'Pentecost' means 50.

We would like to invite parents/carers to this special service, spaces are limited. Please click here to book a ticket. The service will be at 9am for 20 minutes. 

Marlow Schools Day of Action – Whole school

On Friday 9th June most of the schools in Marlow will work together to support  British Endangered Animals. By donating cash or on ParentPay for the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, children can come in to school on this day dressed in colours of their favourite endangered animal.

Each class will choose one British endangered animal to learn about throughout the day. We will also have an electricity free day!

Singing in the Park – Year 1

Year 1 have been invited to sing at Higginson Park on Sunday 11^th June between 12.30pm – 1pm for the Marlow Regatta, other schools will also be participating. We would love to see as many Year 1 children as possible. Thank you to all the Year 1's who have registered already. Year 1 children have been practising some songs with Mrs Phillips and Sheila Wilson already. If you would like your child to attend, please sign up here. We kindly ask that children wear their red school jumper/cardigan.

Here are some details about the day for your information:

• Time to assemble in the park – 12.15pm
• Choir performance to commence at 12.30pm
• Meeting point to the left of the stage as you look at it

Phonics Screening Check – Year 1

As mentioned at the Year 1 curriculum evening in the Autumn term, and in the letter sent home to Year 1 parents and carers earlier this term, Year 1 children throughout the country will all be taking part in a phonics screening check during week commencing the 12th June.

The phonics screening check is a quick and easy check of your child’s phonics knowledge. It is a short, statutory assessment to ensure that children are making sufficient progress in the phonics skills to read words and are on track to become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for pleasure and for learning. If you have any questions, please talk to your child’s class teacher.

Dig In Day – Saturday 10^th June, 9am–11am

We have a few jobs around the school that we need to do and would like to ask families to "dig in" and help with a few of them. The more people we have, the more quickly we will finish. Some of these jobs include:

• Fence painting
• Gardening in the Bee Garden
• Planting some King's Coronation Seeds in the Nature Corridor
• Jet washing the Playground paints so that they look sparkly clean for the summer

We are happy for children to come with you as long as they are supervised. We will provide refreshments! Please contact the office if you are able to help.

Dogs – Whole school

Thank you to those who wait at the gate with their dogs at collection time. As we have a few nervous children, and allergies, please can we ask you to stand to one side away from the main entrance while you are waiting. This way the children don't need to walktoo close to them if they don't want to. Thank you.

Midsummer Dinner Dance – Saturday 17^th June

There are still tickets available for our FIRST EVER Sandygate parents Midsummer Dinner Dance event which will be held at Temple Golf Club on Saturday 17^th June 7.30pm.

Dust off your dancing shoes and join us for a fun evening of dinner and dancing with a live band. Tickets are £55pp and are available on ParentPay and include a welcome drink, 2-course dinner, band, raffle and photo-booth. We have the band 'An Absolute Shambles' providing live music, and it's set to be a great night.

It is planned to be a relaxed and fun evening; there is no table plan/specific seating so no need to worry about finding a group to come with – everyone is welcome (limited to the maximum tickets available), so please join us and support this new event!

Bag2School – Tuesday 6^th June

Our next Bag2School day is on Tuesday 6^th June. Please bag up items for donation and leave them by the office door by 9am.

Bag2School collect our donations and uses them for charitable purposes – the more it weighs, the more money they give us. Examples of items they are happy to accept include:

• Men's, ladies' and children's clothing
• Paired socks and shoes
• Handbags, hats, bags, scarves, ties and belts
• Jewellery and lingerie
• Soft toys
• Household linen/curtains/towels/bedding