Reaching high for the best for your child

Having received our accreditation for the Let's Get Cooking Scheme last year, cooking club returned two weeks ago and is once again a hit with those attending after school on Wednesdays!

Eight children from Years 5 and 6 are involved in the current batch of five sessions and will be whipping up a storm in our cooking area. After only two weeks they are showing great talent with one possible future Jamie Oliver amongst the group! They have already cooked "Spicy Chicken Fajitas" which tasted fantastic and made the teachers working late very hungry with the wonderful smells! In addition to Fajitas, the children have cooked Baked Apples using seasonal fruit accompanied with a Hot Fruit Drink. The fruit filled session was another success with children enjoying their hot drinks before braving the dark, cold evening.

Over the next few weeks they will also be baking shortbread, making Christmas mincemeat and learning how to prepare a Sausage and Bean Hotpot so they can give their adults an evening off kitchen duties. At the beginning of December, the children will be showcasing their new found skills at the KS1 Christmas Performances where they will be demonstrating their safe chopping techniques along with preparing and serving shortbread and hot fruity drinks. The club members will be designing the posters to advertise their goods aswell as handling the money during the performances. All of this and washing up too - they're going to be busy!

Cooking Club will be offered to children in Years 3 and 4 at the start of the spring term 2012, to Year 2 children in the second half of spring term and to Year 1 children in the second half of the summer Term.

Sixty years ago, in January 1951, Fairlands was born!

We plan to celebrate our sixtieth birthday in style - the children will be having a 'Celebration Day' on 26th September 2011 and will be working to create a fantastic exhibition entitled 'Fairlands through the Decades'!

Then, from 2.30pm - 4.30pm on Tuesday 27th September 2011, we will be inviting former pupils, staff, governors and friends to join us for a 50's Style Tea Party. Children will be available to show our guests around the school on guided tours and visitors will also be invited to come and look around the exhibition the children have made.

We would love you to come and join us for our Tea Party! Invitations are available from the school office 01438 351053 or admin@fairlands.herts.sch.uk

 Year One have had an exciting start back to the school term with their new topic 'Treasure Island.' The children came back to find their classrooms transformed to contain an exciting pirate ship leading to Treasure Island in Chestnut Class and Hook's Cave: a dark and dangerous cave where legend has it that treasure is buried in Cherry Class.

The children have had a wonderful time becoming pirates and engaging in role play from their imagination and from books they have read. The children have been fully interacting in role play taking hostages, collecting ransoms and generally becoming pirates in our fully equipped role play areas. The topic is full of all things exciting and piratey including working with maps, making a parrot to be a shipmate, conducting floating and sinking experiments and training to use their sword correctly at 'Sword School.' Feel free to send in any items that may help with our topic. Please do not be alarmed if your child begins to speak in pirate lingo!

To see more pictures of our wonderful role play, click here!

As you know, we have an INSET day on the 26th of April, and then we are back for two days only on the 27th & 28th, before we are off again to celebrate the Royal Wedding long weekend.

Make sure you come to school on those two days though - because we will be spending them doing a special ROYALS mini-topic!!

Everyone will be able to come to school dressed in patriotic red, white and blue for the two days! The whole school will be then sorted into big groups with children from every year group so that the older children can help the little ones. Then we have lots of exciting activities planned! These include making Union Jack iced biscuits, drawing Royal Portraits, making a London skyline and preparing for a whole-school street party lunch on the Thursday. Each child will also be making a Royal Wedding Souvenir Fridge Magnet, which they will be able to take home and keep!

More information is coming out in a Curriculum Information Booklet later this week - or download it from here!

On Wednesday, we are sending home our annual Parent Survey. This is a really important source of information for us, so please make sure that you complete the survey and return it to school through your child, before 25th March.

We will give you feedback on the outcomes of the survey after the easter break.

Don't forget you can always drop us an email to let us know about something - or feel free to make an appointment through the school office to see the relevant member of staff.