1
Colneis Junior School Colneis Road Felixstowe Suffolk IP11 9HH Tel: 01394 284052 Fax: 01394 273425 Email:[email protected] www.colneisjunior.co.uk
Letter from Mrs Reed 1
Colneis 2-6
Fairfield 7-12
Joint School 13-15
Term dates 16
Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope you and the children have a very happy week together next week. I do
however know that this is not always an easy time for working parents. I have my
three grandchildren coming to stay for part of next week!
Please look out for the new reading initiative that we are launching at Colneis and
Fairfield. We have always expected children to read at home with their families at
least four times a week and now we shall be turning this into a class competition!
More details on page 15.
I expect you will have read in local papers or seen on local news that Suffolk schools
and the local authority have been in the spotlight again and not in a positive way!
Please be re-assured that Fairfield and Colneis are both schools where all children
make very good progress and attainment is high. Our excellent work is recognised
across the County and I continue, on behalf of the local authority, to support schools
that have not yet been judged ‘good’ by Ofsted. Many of the staff share me in this
work by welcoming colleagues from other schools into their lessons and sharing their
expertise. It’s pleasing to know that another school we have been supporting has now
received the Ofsted ‘good’ grade and our support was recognised in the report.
‘The school has been provided with good support and challenge since the previous
inspection. A wide range of advice and training has been provided, and the school has
willingly looked beyond its four walls for expertise and new ideas.’
What really struck me when reading through this newsletter is that the school
community is really compassionate and ready to give. The Friends of Fairfield and
staff gave so much time last weekend and the fair was a great success. The Friends
of Colneis are now getting ready for their fair too. You have all given so generously
recently and supported a number of school fund raising events. Today I seem to have
a school of children ready for bed! Lots of the children at Colneis are in their
pyjamas on our non-uniform day raising money to support the Nepalese appeal. Thank
you all. We do appreciate your support and know we are lucky to have parents and
families who will engage and help us with all we strive to achieve.
Kindest regards to you all,
Mrs Reed, Headteacher
Fairfield Infant School High Road West Felixstowe Suffolk IP11 9JB Tel: 01394 283206 Fax: 01394 283895 Email:[email protected] www.fairfieldinfant.co.uk
May 2015
Information on School Website www.fairfieldinfant.co.uk www.colneisjunior.co.uk
We have recently added new information onto the school website that you may find useful in supporting
your child at home.
Music in Felixstowe concert lyrics & music—Click ‘Curriculum’ tab, ‘Special Events’
Learning Powers – Click ‘Curriculum’ tab, ‘Our Curriculum’, ‘Learning Powers’ link.
Maths challenges and Investigations – Click ‘Curriculum’ tab, ‘Maths’
Please remember we are now on Twitter! Log onto the school website to ‘follow’ us.
Newsletter
http://www.colneisjunior.co.uk/http://www.fairfieldinfant.co.uk/http://www.fairfieldinfant.co.uk/http://www.colneisjunior.co.uk/
2
COLNEIS JUNIOR SCHOOL
Dates: Friday 22 May Non Uniform Day (Colneis only) - Nepal Earthquake Appeal
Friday 22 May Y5/Y6 Cricket tournament at Dellwood
Monday 25-Friday 29 May Half Term
1-5 June Y6 Residential Trip to Mersea Island
Tuesday 9 June, am Treasure Island Panto (performance for the children only) Tuesday 9 June, am Y5 to Fairfield for Buddy session with Y2
Wednesday 10 June Y1/Y4 cross over day
Thursday 11 June Y5/Y6 Rescheduled football tournament
Friday 12 June Alice in Wonderland day (both schools)
Tuesday 16 June Y5 at FXA for DT
Thursday 18 June, 5-7pm Friends of Colneis Summer Fair
Friday 19 June, 1.30-3pm Year 3 Parents Afternoon*
Monday 22 June Colneis Y3 & Y4 working together day (half to Fairfield am/half pm)
Wednesday 24 June Y6 World at Work at FXA
Wednesday 24 June Rounders tournament at Grange
Thursday 25 June, am Y2 walking to Colneis for Buddy session with Y5
Friday 26 June Y5 Tudor Bag Sewing- Parents in to help
Tuesday 30 June Sports Day
Thursday 2 July Y3 To Foxburrow Farm
Monday 6 July Y5 Tudor Week
Wednesday 8 July, 2pm/7pm School Choir, Music in Felixstowe Community Production ’Oliver’, Orwell Hotel
Thursday 9 July, am Y5 Tudor maths with parents*
Friday 10 July, 6.30-8pm FOC summer disco
Tuesday 14 July, 3.30-5pm Open evening at Colneis
Wednesday 15 July Y2/Y3 swap over day
Wednesday 15 July, 2pm Y6 Leavers Assembly
Wednesday 15 July, 6.00-7.30pm Parents information evening for new Year 3
Thursday 16 July Y6 beach visit studying Andy Goldswothy (art)
Friday 17 July, 6.00-8.30pm Y6 Leavers disco
Monday 20 July Whole school moving up morning
Wednesday 22 July Last day of term
Thursday 3 September Back to school
* The Parents’ Open Mornings/Afternoons: Parents are invited into school to work alongside their child in the
classroom in a practical curriculum based activity which supports learning. This will be followed by tea in the hall
and the chance to talk to members of the Senior Management Team and a School Governor.
Colneis Assemblies
The following class will be leading our assembly at 10.20am:
Wednesday 3 June Class 3R Thursday 18 June Class 4R
Thursday 4 June Class 3C Wednesday 1 July Class 4T
Wednesday 17 June Class 5L Thursday 9 July Class 4M
Family members are then invited to join their child’s class following assembly to share numeracy or literacy based activities
3
Pupils’ Success
This information has been removed for
data protection purposes
4
On the ball!
Pupils from Year 5 and Year 6 have been linking up with other schools in a small tournament. So
far we’ve had a 3-2 win against Causton and a 7-4 loss against Witnesham. We’re looking forward
to the remaining matches against Hadleigh and Whatfield. Well done to those who are involved for
their super teamwork and enthusiasm.
Pupils’ Success Cont’d...
Super Alice Story Hugh Cullum, Jamie Last,
Antonia Pintilie, Abi Cairns,
Jade Soames
Fabulous ‘Kennings’ poems Fleur Campbell,
Joshua McTiernan
Jayden-Lee, Max, Hugo and Isabella
worked really hard over the Easter
holidays to make these beautiful helmets
and mosaics to support their history
work. They have done some excellent
writing too!
Stop Press! We won 3-1 at Whatfield
5
Eco-Warrior Projects
Our Eco-Warriors have been very busy.
Additional recycling bins have been bought for
Colneis, and the children were challenged to
place different types of rubbish in the correct
type of bin. It wasn't as easy as many
thought! The Eco-Warriors will be monitoring the
use of the bins over the next few months to
ensure the children recycle as much of their
waste as possible.
The Eco-Warriors also had a fantastic day at Landguard Nature Reserve, organised by Suffolk
Wildlife Trust, learning all about various coastal conservation issues.
Children’s Art Competition
Well done to the Colneis pupils who had their
artwork featured in the May edition of The
Felixstowe Magazine. Children were asked to
design a poster to express how we can help
others for an ‘Education is Freedom’ project.
This was to raise awareness of education
across the globe.
Image courtesy of The Felixstowe Magazine
6
Friends of Colneis Summer Fair
Thursday 18 June, 5-7pm
Yes it’s that time of year again! Time to start thinking about the Colneis Summer Fair – our
biggest fundraising event of the year.
It will be a fun, action packed evening with games, a BBQ, bouncy castle, Pimms tent and a grand
draw to win £150 kindly donated by Marketing Force.
We are looking for people to donate raffle prizes and contribute to our silent auction. The more
donations we are able to get, the more money we can raise for the school.
We would like to ask you for donations for the fair such as toys, games, books, comics, bric-a-
brac, tombola gifts, wine/bottles, fruit, cakes and plants. Please send the last three items to
school on the morning of the fair – other items can be sent in from Monday 15 June. We also
need baskets, containers, ribbons etc for packaging the fruit tombola.
If you donate several items, preferably a mixture of the above, your child will be entered into a
draw to win £5.
We are also looking for willing volunteers to help out at the fair on the day.
For more information or if you are able to help in any way, please contact Tracey Spalding. Thank
you.
7
FAIRFIELD INFANT SCHOOL
Dates:
Monday 25-Friday 29 May Half Term
Monday 1 June, 9am-10.25am Y1 Den building day
Wednesday 3 June Nursery/Reception Summer Walk to the Grove
Friday 5 June – Friday 17 July (excluding 12 June) Y2 Friday Swimming
Friday 5 June EYFS Mad Hatters tea party
Friday 12 June Y2 Alice in Wonderland day
Tuesday 9 June, am Y5 coming to Fairfield for Buddy session with Y2
Tuesday 9 June, pm Treasure Island Panto (performance for the children only)
Wednesday 10 June Y1/Y4 cross over day
Wednesday 17 June, 1.20pm-3.15pm Reception Parents Open Afternoon
Friday 19 June Nursery visit to the beach
Monday 22 June, pm Y2 Paarlauf at Causton
Thursday 25 June, am Y2 walking to Colneis for Buddy session with Y5
Monday 29, Tuesday 30 June, Wednesday 1 July x3 reception class trial mornings, parents stay
Monday 29 June Y2 cookery morning and trip to the beach
Tuesday 30 June Y1 trip to Jimmy’s Farm
Thursday 2 July, 10am and 2pm Induction day for new Nursery and Reception Parents
Tuesday 7 July Y2 Open Afternoon
Wednesday 8 July Nursery Sports Day
Wednesday 8 July, pm Selected choir members to perform in Oliver
Thursday 9 July Reception, Y1 & Y2 Sports Day
Monday 13, Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 July New reception children in classes
Wednesday 15 July Y2/Y3 swap over day
Thursday 16 July, 3.30-5pm Open evening at Fairfield
Monday 20 July Whole school moving up morning
Tuesday 21 July Nursery Graduation Day
Tuesday 21 July, 2pm Y2 Leavers Assembly
Wednesday 22 July Last day of term
Thursday 3 September Back to school
* The Parents’ Open Mornings/Afternoons: Parents are invited into school to work alongside their child in the
classroom in a practical curriculum based activity which supports learning. This will be followed by tea in the hall
and the chance to talk to members of the Senior Management Team and a School Governor.
Fairfield Assemblies
The following class will be leading our assemblies at 10.25am:
Thursday 11 June Class RD
Thursday 25 June Class 1R
Family members are invited to join their child’s class following assembly to share numeracy or literacy based activities
ALSO Tuesday 21 July, 2pm—Y2 Leavers Assembly
8
Pupils’ Success
This information has been removed for
data protection purposes
9
Friends of Fairfield Summer Fair
A huge thank you to all who came to the Friends of Fairfield Summer Fair. It was a great
success, and thankfully the sun shone. Special thanks to all those on the Friends of Fairfield
team for their hard work and preparation.
The total amount raised was a fantastic £2092.81.
Reception year meeting the Spring
lambs with caretaker and
shepherdess Sheila.
Vasco has been learning all about
George and the dragon
in Nursery and made this beautiful
dragon all by himself to celebrate
St George’s Day!
Lambs visit Reception St George’s Day Dragon
Grace, Poppy, Darcey, Sky Harvey,
Esther and Ishan came to share
their lovely work with Mrs Reed!
Grace from Y1 with a beautiful
holiday diary!
A visit to Mrs Reed’s Office Holiday Diary
10
Victorian Day in Year 1
All the children looked fantastic for the Year 1 Victorian Day. They experienced how it would
have been had they been at school during Victorian times, then in the afternoon enjoyed a Punch
and Judy show.
Water Aid
Thank you to all who contributed to our fundraising activities for Water Aid. We were delighted
to forward a total of £234.03 to this worthy charity.
Year 2 have been learning about Water Aid and the way the money raised will be used to help others.
11
Reception 'Stay and Play'
Reception 'Stay and Play' mornings continue to be a huge success. It has been lovely to see so
many parents, grandparents and carers come and share in their children's learning with us. Our
last session had the theme of 'Time to Play-Board Games' which aimed to encourage the children
to play board games co-operatively, take turns and follow instructions, whilst reinforcing their
phonics and maths learning along the way.
An Unusual Visitor!
On Wednesday 6 May Year 2 were visited by a time traveller... who emerged from the staff
room! The time traveller believed she was travelling back to the Houses of Parliament in 1605
looking for Guy Fawkes and was surprised to find herself in 2015 at Fairfield Infant School.
The time traveller shared her lunch of unleavened bread with the children while she showed
them artefacts she had collected on her travels. The children had to make conjectures about
where they thought the artefacts had come from and had to convince us they were correct.
Before the time traveller left the children showed her the Easter artefacts they had collected
and took advantage of the time traveller’s visit to ask whether she could bring back an original
artefact from the time of Jesus and the Easter story. After some collaboration they decided
upon the artefact they felt best represented the true meaning of the Easter story. The time
traveller left saying the artefacts would be left for the children when she was next passing
through 2015. We look forward to receiving these!
12
‘Coppers for Cows’ Christian Aid Fundraising
This year Christian Aid week commenced on 11 May 2015. At Fairfield we have been learning
about the charity Christian Aid and how it aims for people all over the country to raise
awareness and money to help those less fortunate than ourselves. This year the focus was on
‘Mooove over, poverty!’ and we created our own fundraising project called ‘coppers for cows’. The
children learnt about how cows are such an important thing to own in Ethiopia as they provide
milk, butter and a status which allows the poorer people living in the community to have a voice.
In class, the children made cow money boxes using recycled milk bottles. The children then took
their money boxes home to their families and asked if they had any spare change they could
donate to Christian Aid. The children did a fantastic job remembering to return their cow money
boxes and we were amazed at the staggering amount of money we raised. In total we raised
£552.68. We have decided to donate £450 to Christian Aid. This will purchase three cows, and
will instigate the changing of people’s lives in Ethiopia. The remaining money we are donating to
the Nepal disaster fund, another worthwhile cause at this present time.
We would like to thank everyone for their generosity. You really have helped to make a
difference.
Mr Gooch and Mrs Wheeler
13
JOINT SCHOOL INFORMATION
The Federation of Fairfield and Colneis—Governor News
It doesn’t seem possible that we are nearly half way through the summer term. This school year
seems to have flown by! Once again, governors have been busy supporting the school through
visits and by attending various committee meetings. Finalising the budget and deciding on
refurbishment projects in both schools have been priorities. At the beginning of term, several
governors joined staff for lunch and then stayed to look at a range of pupils’ work in every
subject. Each governor is linked to a specific subject and it was very interesting to talk to the
subject leaders and see the high standards of work in books. The pupils do have really good
experiences in both schools and when we come to class assemblies we enjoy looking at what they
have been learning. This is a good way for governors to see at first-hand what is being taught.
As you know, the curriculum has changed and staff have worked very hard to make sure that
everything is being covered. One change is that ‘computing’ instead of IT is being taught.
Governors are looking forward to learning more about this at their next governing body meeting
just before half term. We are also going to look closely at the schools’ website to make sure
that it contains all the information that it should. Have you had chance to look at it recently? It
really is very informative.
Cycle Helmets
It has been brought to our attention that there are a number of children cycling to school with
no helmets. We would strongly recommend that your child wears a helmet when travelling to and
from school.
The Oaks and Sea Breeze Children’s Centres
A full diary of events at The Oaks and Sea Breeze Children’s Centres is available from the school office. If you require any further information or would like to discuss any groups please call one of the centres on the following numbers: The Oaks tel 01394 694750. Sea Breeze tel 01394 279809.
MDSA Vacancies at Fairfield and Colneis
We are currently looking for additional midday supervisors to join the Fairfield team and the
Colneis team. Pay £7 per hour. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact the
School Office for details. Interviews will take place to select the successful candidates.
Free Open Day
Felixstowe Tennis Club
on Saturday 13th June
14
Saturday School
A couple of Saturdays ago, Colneis was open to children from across Felixstowe when we held
workshops for more able pupils. We had gifted and talented artists from year one and two,
environmental experts from year three, budding poets from years 3-4, future film makers and
computer experts from years 5-6. mathematical problem solvers also from years 4-5 and lively
and graceful dancers from year six. All the children had a great morning, behaved extremely
well and produced some great work.
Flying the Flag!
Following the article in our previous newsletter
announcing that the Fairfield and Colneis flag design to
represent Suffolk in the 2015 Magna Carta celebrations
had won, a very proud Mrs Reed visited London over the
weekend to see for herself our fantastic design flying on
the corner of the square opposite the Houses of
Parliament. It features the sea, waves, sand, the sun
rising in the east and a Martello tower.
Our flag along with 78 others representing other
counties are all flying in Parliament Square and will
shortly be displayed at another venue. We are looking
forward to it returning to our schools in the future.
Maybe we will have to think of ways to raise money so
that we can have our own flag pole!
15
Felixstowe Parent Hub Venue: Salvation Army, Cobbold Road, Felixstowe
Date: Friday 5th June 2015
Time: 9:30am – 11:30am
Topic: Do you struggle to get your child/teen to school? Just 5 minutes late each day = 3 days in a school year!
Speaker: Sharon Everitt (Educational Welfare)
Let’s Get Reading!
We are inviting you to take part in a new competition that we will be starting after half term.
After half term, every pupil will be encouraged to read at home, to an adult, at least 4 times
each week. We then ask that the adult signs the child’s reading record as evidence that this has
been done.
Listed below are some suggestions to help you develop a conversation to aid your child’s
understanding of what they have read.
Your child’s teacher will then check reading diaries throughout the week and will collate the
number of children who have completed the challenge that week.
The winning class will then be commended in assembly and will receive points towards a class
treat. At the end of each half term, children that have read 4 times every week will be entered
into a draw to win a book token.
We understand that families are very busy and that it can be hard to juggle attending clubs,
doing homework and having free time. However, we all know the importance of regular reading to
every child’s attainment. Reading with your child, for 10 to 15 minutes, 4 times a week will
impact on all areas of the curriculum. It will help to develop fluency and provide them with a
greater opportunity to access a wider vocabulary. This in turn will develop their literacy skills.
We hope you will support your child and rise to this challenge!
Points for discussion during reading sessions Fiction Texts:
How do you think (the character) felt at the end of the story? How do you know?
Why do you think (the character) did that? How do you know?
What was your favourite part of the story? Why?
Who is your favourite character? Why?
How do you think the story will end? Why?
Could the story have ended differently? How?
Tell me something about (a character), how do you know?
Non-fiction texts:
What fact interested you the most? Why?
Have you learnt something new? What was that?
The fact that most interested me was …. because….
Where would you find information about….. how do you know?
Why have the diagrams been set out this way?
Why has the information been organised like this? Do you like it?
16
Term dates for 2015-2016
Summer Term 2015:
Start of Summer term: Tuesday 14th April
Bank Holiday: Monday 4th May
Half term: Monday 25th May-Friday 29th May
End of Summer term: Wednesday 22nd July
PD day: Monday 13th April
Autumn Term 2015:
Start of Autumn term: Thursday 3rd September
Half Term: Monday 26th October-Friday 30th October
End of Autumn term: Friday 18th December
PD day: Wednesday 2nd September
Spring Term 2016:
Start of Spring term: Tuesday 5th January
Half term: Monday 15th February-Friday 19th February
End of Spring term: Thursday 24th March
PD day: Monday 4th January
Summer Term 2016:
Start of Summer term: Tuesday 12th April
Bank Holiday: Monday 2nd May
Half term: Monday 30th May-Friday 3rd June
End of Summer term: Wednesday 20th July
PD days: Monday 11th April
Friday 27th May
Thursday 21st July