29th April 2022

Welcome back to the summer term at school. It has been great to see the children all back in school, rested and ready to learn. It seems as though they have grown over the Easter break!

There are so many exciting events planned for the summer term and we are looking forward to the Summer Fayre and our Jubilee Picnic which will both be happening before the haled term break.

We had an exciting surprise over the holidays when our resident Blue Tit laid her eggs in our new nestbox. You will see more information below and there is a live feed from the nestbox on the school website.

In school this week, the children have been starting their new topics and there has been some fabulous enrichment to launch the learning. This week, Reception have been reading the Smartest Giant in town and were giants themselves when they visited Bekonscot Model Village. In Year 1, they have had a visit from Jez Elkin from Greatmoor Recycling Centre to support their learning in the Tomorrow's World topic they started on Monday. In Year 2, they have been busy learning about Australian Frogs through the Tidalik, the thirsty frog story and the week after next, they will be visiting Mop End to explore different habitats.

The Headteacher's message next week will be written by a new headteacher - Miss Burns from Dragonfly Class will be taking over the reins so that I can have a rest!

Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend.

Mrs Reynolds

Report from the Rights Respecting Ambassadors

The Rights Respecting Ambassadors met with Mrs Howarth earlier this week to discuss how they would like to mark Refugee Week later this term. They came up with lots of ideas which Mrs Howarth then took to a meeting with a representative from Marlow Refugee Action in order to plan a co-ordinated activity across all the schools in Marlow. We will report back in the next few weeks with what has been decided. 

Next Week's 'Learning at a Glance'

Jubilee Celebrations 27th May

We will be celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in school on the last day of term, Friday 27th May, and we have lots of fun planned for the day.

This will be a non-uniform day and we would love the children to come in wearing Red, White and Blue for the occasion. They will be taking part in lots of activities during the day and at lunchtime we will be having a street party on the school playground.

Street Party Lunch

We would like all children to book the picnic lunch from Dolce on the 27th May and this will then be laid out on tables in the playground at lunchtime for our street party. The lunch will consist - sandwiches, sausage rolls, pizza bites, potato wedges, carrot & cucumber sticks, celebration cake and fruit. 

If you are unable to book the picnic lunch because of your child's allergies please email the school office and we will notify Dolce separately to ensure that alternatives are provided for your child. 

If you do not have a School Grid account as your child has never had Dolce lunches please let us know as soon as possible and we can order the lunch for your child. If you have any queries about this please contact us as soon as possible.

If you had already booked lunches for the rest of this term you should have received a notification from SchoolGrid that lunches booked on 19th and 27th May have been cancelled. This is because Dolce had a Jubilee picnic lunch planned in for 19th May, which is our census day please see below, we have asked them to switch this menu with that of the 27th May. 

After School Family Picnic 3 to 5pm

We would like to invite all Sandygate families to join us on the school field after school on the 27th for a Family Picnic.  This will be a lovely opportunity to come together with other families at the end of the term to celebrate the Jubilee. You will need to bring your own picnic and a rug!

Cake Competition

Buckinghamshire Council are running a Cake Competition for all schools to celebrate the Jubilee. If your child would like to take part then they need to bake a Jubilee Cake and bring it to school on Monday 9th May. They must also bring with the cake a list of the ingredients and a description of why they think the cake is fit for a Queen.

The school council will choose one winner, and we will then submit a photograph of the winning entry along with the list of ingredients to Buckinghamshire Council. All cakes will then be sent home to be enjoyed.

The schools in each Liaison group will all judge the best cake to put forward for the shortlist from their group and shortlisted entrants will be invited to present their cake at The Gateway council offices in Aylesbury in June when the final winners will be announced.

The overall winner will receive £150 of vouchers, 2nd will receive £100 and 3rd will receive £75.

So, get baking, and your creation could be a joyful and delicious part of the first ever Platinum Jubilee.

Year 1 changes to Timetable next week

As it is a Bank Holiday on Monday, Year 1 will have their library day on Tuesday so children should bring their library books in on that day. 

Also, as mentioned below, they need to wear school uniform and not PE kit on Wednesday as it is Class Photo day.

Class Photographs Wednesday 4th May

Next Wednesday the school photographers will be taking class group photographs. On this day everyone needs to have their school cardigan or jumper with them and Year 1 should wear uniform and not PE kit.

The photographers are using a new system this year and so you will not be receiving a paper form with a proof of the photograph. Instead, you will need to pre-register now, using the details below, and then you will receive a notification when the class photographs are ready to view on the website. 

Please go to http://www.photoordering.co.uk/ and use the code JRFGVCK to register. 

Census Day 19th May

You may not be aware of the way that the free school lunches that your child receives are funded. As a school we are invoiced for every meal that is ordered or taken each day however we do not receive funding based on those meals. The funding is calculated based on the number of meals taken a particular day in the school year - this term this is the 19th May.

This means, if we only have 60 children eating on 19th May we will only receive funding for school meals for 60 children for the year even if 160 eat a meal every other day - those additional meals would then have to be paid from elsewhere in our school budget.

It is therefore really important that as many children as possible eat a school lunch on 19th May. The menu on that day is Fish Fingers, Baked Bean Quesidilla, Farmhouse Roll or Jacket Potato so hopefully there is something there that your child will like.

Maypole at Summer Fayre

The Maypole Club will be performing at the School Summer Fayre on 21st May at 11.30am. It would be appreciated if all the members of the Maypole club could be on the field ready to dance at that time. 

School BirdBox

The bluetits in our school nesting box have been very busy over Easter - did any of you look at the live feed? There are (we think) 9 eggs which the female bird has been incubating since around 18th April. Blue tits incubate their eggs for around 15-16 days so we hope to see some start hatching next week.

The feed should be live at all times (barring technical issues!) so take a look and see who can spot the first chick hatching

https://www.marlow-infant.bucks.sch.uk/birdbox

Sunflower Project

We will once again this year be teaming up with Wild Marlow to grow sunflowers for distribution to Marlow residents as part of their Much Wilder Marlow campaign. 

We will be starting to plant sunflower seeds next week and are in need of small plant pots and peat free compost. If you have any surplus to requirements that you could donate for the project please bring them in to school next week.

Collecting for Ukraine

The URC are still collecting items to be sent out to Ukraine and they are open to accept items on Wednesday and Friday from 10 till 12 and Sundays from 4.15 to 6pm. If you are unable to get to URC at these times then please leave donated items under the barn and one of our parents, Mrs McEnroy, has kindly agreed to take them down each Friday morning.

If you would like more information about the project they are on Facebook ww.facebook.com/MaidenheadAidforUkraine

The current list of items most needed is:

Main Priorities

Instant food including: Pot noodles, pasta/rice, tins of food (eg stews), soups, biscuits, chocolate/sweets,

Over the counter medication including:  Throat antiseptic, anti-inflammatory gel/tablets, Nasal sprays, Adult nappies, size 2, Medical dressings, plasters, general first aid items

Other items:

• Candles, torches and batteries
• Kitchen cleaning items
• Toiletries
• Children Nappies (sizes 4-6)
• Milk for babies and other baby food
• Instant drinks
• Crayons, notebook, pens, markers
• Sleeping bags and blankets
• Thermos flasks (personal)

Lighthouse Marlow Need You!

Dear Parents, Lighthouse Marlow is planning to run this year from 1st to 5th August but we need your help. Lighthouse Marlow is a week long holiday club run for primary age children for one week each summer. The week is run entirely by volunteers and offers a week of fun to hundreds of children every year. Lighthouse is free for children to attend, we ask parents to donate if they are able.
Over the past two years we have not been able to run as normal due to the COVID pandemic but this year we really want to be back as big as ever. However, we currently have only a fraction of the number of volunteers we need in order to offer places to the number of children that we would like. If you would like your child to have a place at Lighthouse this year then the only way this will happen is if we get more volunteers - and if you volunteer for at least 3 sessions then your child is guaranteed a place at Lighthouse.
The main jobs where we need help are -
Lighthouse Keeper: looking after a small group of children. Within each year group at Lighthouse the children are split into small groups, Lighthouses, each with an adult, a Lighthouse Keeper, and a few teenage helpers, Lamplighters. The Lighthouse Keeper ensures the children are happy and helps them to take part in the activities during the day. No special skills needed, if you look after your own children then you can do this job!
Drama Helpers - one of the activities all the children take part in during the Lighthouse Day is 'Drama' this could be a role playing game, an action song or devising a sketch based on the theme of the day. Drama helpers do not need any great acting skills - just a can do attitude and a willingness and enthusiasm to get stuck in
Helpers' Children - this job only requires an hour or so each morning. Our helpers are on site for an hour before children arrive setting up for the day. Many of our helpers bring their own children with them and they need occupying and looking after for that hour so their parents can do this preparation work. We need volunteers who can come in for an hour to an hour and a half before Lighthouse starts at 10, activities and games will be provided. You just need to oversee a very small group of children and keep them occupied.
Site Set Up - if being surrounded by hundreds of children for a week in August is not your thing but you would still like to help then we need a Site Manager and others to help prepare our site before we all arrive. There are various jobs that need to be done in the months and weeks before Lighthouse - organising and arranging hire/loan/purchase of equipment and consumables, getting these resources on site and in place, liaising with the various organisations who provide resources for us.

If you want your child to be able to enjoy Lighthouse this year then we need your help