10^th November 2023

Earlier this week, sitting in my office, I could hear the children practising Christmas songs for the first time this year. They were in hymn practice in the hall with Mrs Downing and the songs they were practising were for our Advent Service which is planned for 5^th December at All Saints church. The children's voices sounded beautiful, especially when they started singing 'Donkey Plodding'.

There are so many activities planned over the coming weeks, and we start our real preparations for the Christmas Nativity plays today, by making the tickets available for parents & carers. You will find details below.

Last week, our class home pages went live and then immediately afterwards they completely disappeared from the website! I am pleased to say that they have been found, and are all live now. You will be able to log in and see an outline of this half-term's learning for your child's class as well as the presentations and information provided during the curriculum sessions held earlier this term.

Mrs Reynolds

Message from Rights Respecting Ambassadors & School Council

The Rights Respecting Ambassadors and School Council are pleased to inform you that they raised £1,962.03 during the last academic year. This is the most that has been raised by the school in a year!

Next Week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Football kit – First Soccer club

As the weather is getting colder and wetter, all children should have a change of clothes to play football in, even if they are in their PE kits for school PE lessons. It is highly likely that the clothing that they wear for football will get wet and muddy and this may mean that, if they don't have something to change into for football, they will be in wet and muddy clothes all afternoon. First Soccer advises that children must bring football boots with studs (due to the soft ground) and some warmer wear, not T-shirts and shorts. 

Advent Service at All Saints Church – Whole school

The whole school will be walking to All Saints Church on Tuesday 5^th December for the Advent Service from 9.45am-10.15am. We will leave school at 9am and return by 11am.

We will require at least 6 volunteers per class to walk with the children. If you are able to help walk with us and join us for the service, please click here.

Christmas Nativity Plays – Whole school

We are pleased to announce that the tickets for this year's Christmas Nativity Plays are now available; please book here! We have a limited number of tickets available per performance. Due to the capacity of the hall, we can only offer up to 2 tickets per family for 1 performance. Once the capacity for a performance is reached, we will contact you to change your booking, should it take us above that capacity. Tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We will confirm your ticket/s over the coming weeks.

The children will perform twice over two days:

• Reception Performance 1: Tuesday 12^th December - 9.30am
• Reception Performance 2: Wednesday 13^th December - 2.30pm
• KS1 Performance 1: Tuesday 12^th December - 2pm
• KS1 Performance 2: Thursday 14^th December - 9.30am

Also, we would like to inform you that The Christmas Lunch menu is now live on SchoolGrid for Monday 18^th December.

Headlice – Whole school

There has been a case of head lice in school this week. Please take this opportunity to check your children's hair over the weekend and treat them as soon as any head lice is found. Children do not need to be excluded from school if they have been treated for head lice. As a reminder, there are some tips on checking your child's hair in the leaflet here.

If you find live lice, don't worry – head lice are a normal part of life and nothing to be embarrassed about. Go to the pharmacist who can advise which treatment best suits you and your family. Treatments should only be applied if a living, moving louse is found – never 'just in case'.

Visiting Marlow Library – Butterfly class

Butterfly class will visit the Marlow Library on Wednesday 15^th November. If you would like your child to receive a library card during their visit to the library, to make it easier for those children wanting to join the library, please sign them up online using the link below for an online account.

Join the library | Buckinghamshire Libraries (spydus.co.uk)

You can then provide your child's online library card number. If your child already has a library card, please make sure it is brought in on Wednesday.

Anti-bullying week – Whole school

Anti-Bullying Week 2023 will take place in school next week from Monday 13^th – Friday 17^th November, with the theme 'Make A Noise About Bullying'. Our Rights Respecting Ambassadors will be leading school worship on Tuesday 14^th November to tell the rest of the school all about it. The children will be learning about friendships and who to speak to if they need help.

We will also be holding Odd Socks Day in school on Thursday 16^th November. All you need to do is wear odd socks! It's a great way to celebrate what makes us all unique in Anti-Bullying Week!

Wild World at school – Thursday 16^th November 

We are looking for a handful of parent/carer volunteers to help with our Wild World program from 9am – 1pm. There will be some light digging, pulling up vegetation, some hazel coppicing and planting some young saplings. We will also ensure that paths are clear for the children to use.

You will need appropriate weather gear and any gardening hand tools you might like to use. No power tools please.

If you are interested and are happy to help, please click here.

Walk to School week & Road Safety week – Whole school

Walk to school week is back! From Monday 20^th – Friday 24^th November we will be holding our first walk to school event of the year.

Walking, cycling or scooting has so many benefits from helping us to stay healthy, helping the children be ready to learn once at school, helping the environment and reducing traffic around our school and local area.

We would love as many pupils to take part as possible. We recognise that not everyone is able to complete their whole journey sustainably, but there are still ways to be involved. For example, park further away from school and then walk part of the journey.

The Travel Plan Team

Reading for pleasure – Whole school

This week's recommendation comes from Liam and Wren in Bee Class. Their recommended book is 'and tango makes three' by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.

Wren says, 'This is my favourite book because the zookeeper gave eggs to the daddies because they didn't have an egg of their own'.

Liam says, 'I like it in the story when you see the baby egg crack and see the baby penguin come out'.

Christmas wish list

We have made a wish list of books we would like in school as these will really help with our Core Read Aloud programme, and to instil a love of reading in our pupils in the future.

If you would like to purchase a book from our wish list as a Christmas present for the school, please click here. We will label these to show who they were donated by.

Christmas Wreath Making – Thursday 30^th November

Tickets for our annual Christmas Wreath Making evening are selling well. Don't miss out. Purchase one of the last remaining tickets! We're hoping that you can all join us and craft a beautiful wreath under the guidance of our expert. The cost is £30 per person, which includes all the materials needed to make your beautiful wreath and a few glasses of mulled wine. Tickets are available via ParentPay, and you're welcome to bring friends and family from outside school. 

Christmas Mufti Day – Friday 24^th November

Coming up…

• Light Trail: Sunday 12^th November  
• Christmas disco & Santa visit: Saturday 25^th November
• Wreath Making Workshop: Thursday 30^th November
• Second hand uniform: 1^st December
• Late Night Shopping: Thursday 7^th December
• Christmas Bake Sale and Raffle: Friday 15^th December

Job vacancy

Great Marlow School require a Facilities Team Operative to join an important part of their school support function.

Please click here to see the job vacancy and how to apply. Closing date: Monday 13^th November 2023.