Reaching high for the best for your child

Our value for October is the value of being rights-respecting.

We will be thinking about what a right is, and making sure we understand our own rights, and those of others.

We will talk about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and every child's right to 

BE PROTECTED

BE EDUCATED

BE HEALTHY

BE TREATED FAIRLY

BE HEARD

We will talk about what happens when different rights are in conflict and the importance of showing respecting, understanding and tolerance.

It has been great to see all the children back at school today! Thank you to everyone for making the return to school such a success!

This term, we are all thinking about the value of Responsibility. We will be talking about how to show we can be responsible, by: 

- Following rules

- Being in charge of doing something

- Looking after things

- Taking responsibility for our own actions and choices

At home, why not agree a new responsibility that your child can have?

Well! Here we are at the end of what has possibly been the most unusual academic year in the history of Fairlands!

I want to take this opportunity to say some enormous thank yous...

... to all the parents & carers, who have been so supportive through everything, including rising to the challenge of home learning!

... to all the staff, who have shown such commitment and resilience and kept going, and going and going!

... to all our governors, who have supported the headship team wonderfully and helped us make sense of the hundreds of pages of government guidance!

... and last but not least, to all the children, both those at home and those at school, who have followed loads of new rules without complaining, shown such positivity and kept big smiles on their faces the whole way!

Have a fantastic, safe summer. We can't wait to see everyone BACK TOGETHER again in September!

This year's Summer Reading Challenge is still going ahead and has been redesigned as a digital version.

Let's Get Silly launched on Friday 5th June and will run into September.

Join a host of mad cap animal characters in The Silly Squad and celebrate books that make us happy and laugh.

Register for free on the Silly Squad website, a safe and secure platform set up by The Reading Agency.

Children will be able to set their own reading goal, collect virtual rewards and unlock activities.

This year children may read anything - from library to school books, ebooks or e-audio. We have a great selection to choose from in our BorrowBox digital library.

So get set to get silly and have loads of fun this summer!

This year, Fairlands have been working with Stevenage Sporting Futures (SSF) to enable children to participate in competitions and events across the town and have access to a wider range of sports and instructors. At the end of each year, SSF hold an annual awards evening with guest presenters and representatives from both secondary and primary schools from Stevenage and the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, this will not be able to happen in the same way this year and will be a recorded event; however, they will still hold the same prestige!

We nominated Scarlett (Y6) for the Young Sports Achiever of the Year and yesterday we were informed with the fantastic news that she has been shortlisted out of all of the nominations from Stevenage primary schools! Scarlett was nominated for the wide range of sports she participates in. She regularly represents the school at sporting competitions, festivals and events in a variety of sports.

Outside of school, Scarlett has had great success in both rugby and cricket. She now plays for Welwyn Rugby Club, both the U11 Mixed and U11 Girls Squads. In her first season at her new club, she has scored a total of 36 tries, a new season record! Scarlett also plays cricket to an incredibly high standard, representing both Stevenage Cricket Club and Hertfordshire County U13 Girls. Her dedication towards cricket in particular, is extremely strong. She trains all year round and follows national teams with passion, trying to pick up tips for how to develop her own practice.

We are looking forward to seeing what she achieves in the future. Cricket or rugby, we will be watching with anticipation and pride! We are incredibly proud of her and no matter what the result is on the evening, she should be proud of herself for being shortlisted as it is a fantastic achievement. Well done Scarlett, the Fairlands community congratulate you!

We have also discovered that we have been shortlisted by SSF for the SSFT award. This is an award to celebrate the commitment and enthusiasm shown by a school for the events arranged throughout the year. Fairlands have had the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities and the children have done so eagerly and showing great sportsmanship. Activities included ball skills for Year 1; UKS2 cross-country tournament; fitness sessions for Y3; multi sports for Y4; a Sports Relief activity morning for EYFS, staff gymnastics training and a 5-week healthy lives program for Year 2. Fairlands, you represented the school incredibly well – thank you and well done!

The winners of the awards will be announced on Wednesday July 15^th – keep your fingers crossed!

You might remember that at the beginning of the year, we consulted with you on our new Relationships, Sex and Health Education policy. This was agreed with governors back in March and we will therefore be continuing to implement the Jigsaw programme over the summer term. 

The mental health elements of the programme are more important than ever right now, so we will be making sure your child can access this learning, whether it is through learning on site or at home.

The summer term Jigsaw Puzzles are: 'Relationships', which includes understanding friendship, family and other relationships, conflict resolution and communication skills; and 'Changing Me', which includes looking at and managing change, and sex education elements in Years 4, 5 and 6.

Where sex education content is being delivered through home learning, we will will provide parents and carers with all the resources to talk this through at home, so please keep an eye out for these later this term.