Reaching high for the best for your child

Typically, since the pupils returned to school we’ve seen some wonderful weather, which hopefully everyone has managed to enjoy…. although Tuesday’s rain was a reminder that autumn is truly on its way.

You will have probably noticed we’ve had some special visitors in school this week. Our last Ofsted inspection took place in October 2012, so we have been expecting an inspection for some time. Our inspection was led by Katherine Douglas, Her Majesty's Inspector (HMI). Katherine and her team spent Tuesday and Wednesday in school speaking with and observing staff and pupils across the whole school and reviewing your parent/carer feedback. The governors met with Katherine over Zoom and were able to provide her with examples and evidence of the strong governance, quality of education, behaviour and curriculum we have here at Fairlands.

As a governing body, we want to thank all the staff, pupils and parents/carers who have supported the inspection over the last few days and making it such a positive process. We won’t get the official report for a few weeks, so watch this space! In the meantime, take a look at the Parent View results here!

In other news, we will be holding a parent governor election later in September. I wanted to give everyone a chance to get back into school/work life before reaching out.

Finally, I couldn’t write a blog without mentioning COVID-19, given the current outbreak within the school. I wish everyone currently impacted by COVID-19 a speedy recovery and a safe return to school.

Kind regards,

Claire Peacock, Chair of Governors

In our weekly Values assemblies, we will be thinking about the value of Responsibility. 

We will be thinking about taking responsibility for our own success... and how we are 'the authors of our own stories'!

We will be working hard to be the best we can be!

We hope that you have all had a wonderful holiday and we are looking forward to seeing and welcoming all of our new and existing pupils!

School starts at normal time on Thursday 2nd September - please arrive via the normal entrances you have been using in the summer term. 

Many of us will be enjoying some of the spectacular sights this country has to offer this summer when we enjoy a 'staycation'. Please remember that if you are heading to the coast, it is recommended you visit a Lifeguarded beach and always swim between the red & yellow beach flags. 

Did you know that many of the beaches supported by the RNLI offer free wristbands for children to help keep them safe around our beautiful coastline? These free 'snap wristbands' are available at lifeboat stations, lifeguard huts, Coastguard stations and RNLI shops all along the coast. You write your mobile number on the wristband and if a child becomes separated from the adults they are with, lifeguards on the beaches can simply call the number on the wristband and reunite them. This small assurance goes a long way for ensuring your child's safety on the beach. 

For more beach safety advice please visit https://rnli.org/safety/beach-safety

Our Year 6 children have been learning that the sea is not the only body of water that poses a potential danger. They have been learning how to stay safe in water and how to spot possible hazards which could cause accidents. We are lucky to have Fairlands Lakes in Stevenage and it is a popular place that many of us will visit over the summer holidays (weather permitting of course!). There are some great resources available online to help children understand the importance of water safety and tips to keep us all safe. Websites we recommend you talk through with your children are: 

https://www.rospa.com/leisure-safety/water/advice/water-safety-code 

https://www.sta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Water-Safety-Advice-Booklet.pdf 

We hope you enjoy a safe and fun time around water this summer!

This morning, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Mayor of Stevenage, Councillor Sandra Barr and her daughter the Mayoress, Louisa Barr to our Nursery. We were lucky enough to be the first school that the Mayor and Mayoress has visited since being appointed in their new roles. Our visitors commented on the children’s exemplary behaviour, we were so proud of our Nursery children. 

The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to a story chosen by the Mayor, ‘In a Minute Mum’. We were delighted when the Mayor gave us a copy of her favourite story, to share at Nursery!  

At Fairlands, we have used the catch up funding to invest in high quality picture books that the children have enjoyed sharing with their parents, at home. We have also invested in books with matching resources to promote a love of reading and promote language and vocabulary.  

During the pandemic, children engaged well with our remote learning offer but we understand the importance of children spending time with their peers to develop their communication and language skills and social interactions. Many of the children have benefitted from the additional small group interventions, since returning to school. Interventions included Early Talk Boost and Nuffield Early Language Intervention. The NELI programme helps children to make excellent progress, for some children this can be an additional 4+ months.  

Finally, we shared the creativity our staff team have shown throughout the pandemic and the first hand opportunities that have been planned for the children returning to school from hatching chicks to the Big School Camp, which will be taking place at the end of the Summer term. The Nursery children invited the Mayor and Mayoress to meet our chickens. The children explained so articulately how they have watched the eggs hatch into chicks, this will support their transition to Reception in September where they will continue to care for them. 

We would like to thank the Mayor and Mayoress for visiting and look forward to welcoming them to our school in July, for the school raffle!  

We are focusing on politeness during the month of June. 

We will be talking about:

- Remembering to say please, thank you and excuse me.

- Showing good manners, especially when eating.

- Treating others respectfully, especially people who are older than you.

- Using the right language at the right time.