15^th December 2023

Our last full week at school this year has been a fantastic one – albeit very busy. 

We have had such positive feedback about the nativities – the children put on great performances every time and I know you, as parents and carers, enjoyed yourselves. You will see below that we have a bundle of each performance with a photo of your child/ren available to buy. Please see the item on ParentPay if you would like to order it.

The U3A members, who the Reception children visited on Monday, loved the children's singing – it certainly put them in a festive mood, and they all went away with smiles on their faces!

This morning we welcomed over 60 grandparents, residents from local retirement homes and members of the All Saints congregation to our annual Big Sing event. I was so impressed with how popular the event has become.

The school council is really pleased with how successful the collections for their chosen Christmas charities have been. They have been so keen to make a difference in some way. We heard from the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal this week, and our school helped raise a whopping £457.56!

I hope that you have a good weekend – I am sure that there are lots of Christmas activities planned.

Mrs Reynolds

Christmas nativity memory – Whole school

We hope you enjoyed watching our Christmas nativity performances. The children did brilliantly! We would like to offer families a chance to buy a digital photo of your child/ren dressed in their nativity costume, together with a video link of your child's nativity performance. A huge thank you to Mr McGrath for taking some time out of his busy schedule to professionally film both performances for us today. Please purchase this bundle by the last day of term, Tuesday 19^th December. Your money will go straight to the School Fund. We aim to send you your bundle the first week back after the Christmas break.

Junior transfer deadline – Year 2

This is a gentle reminder to submit your application for your child/ren's transfer to Junior School by midnight Monday 15^th January.

Christmas party & lunch – Whole school

On Monday, 18^th December, we will be having our Christmas party and Christmas lunch. Children can wear their own party clothes instead of school uniform on this day.

Wellies – Whole school

Wellies will be sent home with your child today. Please remember to return them on the first day back after the Christmas break.

Spring term club sign-ups – Whole school

If you would like to sign your child up to any of our school-run clubs, please register here. We will let you know if your child is given a place and will try our best to offer all children at least one club. If your child has not been given a place in a club, they will be added to a waiting list and will be contacted should a place become available for them. They will also be first on the list for next term.

There are still a few spaces left in:

• Sandygate Stars
• Tidy Up Team
• Mindful Colouring
• Art Club
• Bible Bricks
• Sandygate Singers

To book clubs run by external companies, you can find the list here, please contact them directly.

Parking near the school – Whole school

We would like to remind ALL families to be mindful of our surrounding neighbours. Please do not block driveways or private parking bays when you park. We have had a number of complaints this week from our neighbours, which is very disappointing, as we have worked very hard to build up a relationship with them. We would also like to remind parents not to park on the yellow zig-zag lines during drop off or pick up times, as this has proven to be very unsafe for all children walking in or out of school. If you need to drive to school, please use the car park behind Gwenyth Court. Thank you for your consideration.

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.

Thank you to the families who have donated books already. These have been labelled and are being used throughout the school 

Silent Auction

Thank you to all who participated in this year's Christmas Silent Auction, whether you were one of our incredibly generous donors who supplied some truly fabulous items, one of our organisers who gave up a huge amount of time making the online auction a success, or one of our bidders who raised a whopping £2337! We are blown away by your support, thank you!

Bake Sale & Raffle

We hope you enjoyed the Festive Bake Sale in the Eco Barn at pickup today. A massive well done and thank you to Jo Jeremy and Claire Robinson who made it a huge success and baked some delicious looking treats. Thank you to everyone who baked or bought something. We hope your children enjoyed their treats.

The raffle prizes have been drawn, and we will contact the lucky winners individually. If you didn't pick up your prize at the time, please collect it from the school office before the end of term. Thank you!

Christmas Packs

Christmas packs should be coming home with children who ordered them today, please look out for them in book bags. Thank you to Jenna Williams who did a tremendous job creating quizzes & maps and created a pack rammed with boredom busters. 

Wycombe Wanderers Football Event

We are delighted to announce a brand new PFA event for football fanatics! On Monday 15^th January, from 3.30-4.30pm, we will be running a football training and skills event run by some of the real-life professional Wycombe Wanderers players. The event will start with a meet and greet with the players before the children spend 30–40 minutes learning pro-skills with the different WW players (goal scoring, ball skills etc.) before we end the session with photo opportunities and the players signing autographs. Spaces are limited, and we can only offer this to children attending Marlow Infants. We also ask that a parent stays for the duration of the event, and we will be serving teas and coffees in the barn. Tickets are available to buy on ParentPay for £15pp.

Family Bingo Fun

Tickets are available to buy for our Family Bingo event. Come and join us in the school hall on the afternoon of Saturday 3^rd February from 3.30-5.30pm for some family-filled fun! Bingo boards, bar, tuck shop, pizza and raffles (adults and children). There are lots of prizes for the bingo winners and a chance to get together with some Sandygate families for fun, games and a catch-up. Tickets are now available to purchase on ParentPay (£15 for a family ticket, maximum 2 adults with children, and £5 for additional individual tickets) along with pizzas (£15 each for a large pizza) to pre-order for supper on the night. 

And finally...

It's been a very busy first term of the year! We hope you and your children have enjoyed all the events and activities that have helped to raise money for the school. We wish you all a Christmas that's Merry & Bright, and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

Coming up…

• Second Hand Uniform: Friday 12^th January
• Wycombe Wanders Football Event: Monday 15^th January
• Family Bingo: Saturday 3^rd February
• School Disco: Saturday 2^nd March
• Wine & Cheese Tasting Evening: Saturday 16^th March