Keep up to date with all the news happening in the school at the moment. Articles are added during the week. Parents are encouraged to check regularly. Our weekly bulletin, emailed directly to parents, summarises content for the week.

• Stay COVID-safe in school as national restrictions relax

  Fri 30 Apr 2021 Peter Dunmall

  National restrictions for COVID-19 relax as the government continues to follow their road map. Government expectations for schools remain mostly unchanged.

  We all need to work together so that we stay open to as many pupils as possible for as long as possible:

  • pupils remain working in class group bubbles, for most of the school day including lessons and breaks;
  • if it is not practical to work as a class bubble, for example, eating lunch, childcare and specialist clubs, we use larger year group bubbles;
  • strict social distancing of 2m for all adults, including teachers, parents and visitors while on the school site;
  • adults may wear a face-covering if they wish;
  • the older the child, the higher the expectation on social distancing, especially keeping 2m away from adults. Children in Reception and Nursery are not expected to socially distance from adults due to their age;
  • ventilation of classrooms with windows and doors open as much as possible, blasts of fresh air to blow the virus away;
  • most staff continue to use a LFD test twice a week to check for any COVID-19 infection;
  • starting to return to inter-school sport competitions with strict COVID-safety measures.

  If there is any confirmed case of COVID-19 in a child or adult, we will tell you in Latest News and contact you by email if your child needs to self-isolate. It is likely that a class bubble will be sent home if a child or adult tests positive.

   

  Thank you for working with us so that we all remain COVID-safe, staying open to as many pupils as possible for as long as possible.

• PTFA - Virtual Balloon Race raises over £2,000 with 760 balloons sold

  Wed 28 Apr 2021 PTFA

  During the Easter break, the PTFA was involved in a Virtual Balloon Race which saw 764 Fielding Balloons released from Istanbul in Turkey.  The wind took the majority of balloons south over the Sea of Marmara before coming up against the hills around Bursa - about 300 km south of Istanbul.  A number of Fielding balloons were in the nationwide leading pack and made it over the hills only to pop as they gained height. The chasing pack were blown back down the hills and ended up heading east along the bottom of the ridge and managed to find a gap before making their way south again over the Mediterranean Sea and towards Egypt.   

   

  During the seven day race, there was a jostling for position and the winning balloons travelled over 750km. The Fielding top 10 included balloons from the following from families (in order):

  1. Turabi
  2. Kay
  3. Prevett
  4. Williams
  5. Forshew
  6. Llewellyn
  7. Wheldon
  8. Kaushik
  9. Barlho Sow
  10. Yeung. 

  A full list of the final positions and the individual balloon names is available by emailing

  • fieldingPTFAevents@gmail.com

   

  Although none of the Fielding balloons managed to win any of the nationwide prizes (Turabi family were just outside the prize pool by 4km), we do have Fielding based prizes for the top three winning balloons.  We will be in touch with these winners over the next week.

   

  Thank you to everyone who took part and also to Sargeants Estate Agents for sponsoring the event - which raised over £2,000.  If you have any feedback on the event please email fieldingptfaevents@gmail.com

  

• PTFA - Comedy Bingo raises over £400

  Wed 28 Apr 2021 PTFA

  The PTFA would like to thank the 28 families that took part in the Comedy Bingo on Friday evening.  Many family members came to the bingo party with comedy hats, while our Bingo caller, Brendan Riley set the tone with pumping music and audience participation.  

   

  During the course of the two games, there were prizes for those first to complete a line on the bingo card and also for those with a full house.  We also had a number of spot prizes during the 80mins zoom call.  Winners will be contacted individually and prizes delivered over the next week or so.  If you have any feedback on the event please email fieldingptfaevents@gmail.com.  Money raised (£400) helps go towards the £28,000 target the PTFA need to hit by the end of the Summer Term.

  

• Year 6 parents, increasing your awareness about risk for your 11-13+ year old

  Thu 22 Apr 2021 Peter Dunmall

  The Internet Watch Foundation launches a campaign to raise awareness of “self-generated” child sexual abuse material.

   

  In the last year, “self-generated” child sexual abuse imagery has increased by 77% and is a third of all child sexual abuse material identified and removed from the internet. These included images of girls aged 11 to 13 years whose abuse had been recorded via a webcam in a home setting.

   

  To help prevent the creation of this type of abusive imagery, a campaign has been launched by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) backed by the Home Office and Microsoft. It aims to help raise awareness of this type of criminality among parents and carers of young teens, empower and educate girls aged 11 to 13+ to spot the techniques used by sexual predators and give them the knowledge to Block, Report, Tell someone they trust.

   

  A national campaign is running from Wednesday 21 April for six weeks. You can find out more on the IWF website, as well as specific sites for parents and young people.

• Pupils could miss out on PTFA funded enrichment projects (Meeting 26 April)

  Thu 22 Apr 2021 Nolan O'Connor and Peter Dunmall

  The PTFA have commitments to fund a number of school activities over the course of the academic year.  These include the ongoing costs of the Kitchen Garden, Librarian services, class based music tuition, Forest School and subsiding school trips.  The total cost of these projects is a staggering £42,000.

   

  Some of the core members of the PTFA have been working hard to create new online events to hit our current target of £28,000. We are still over £10,000 short with just three months to go. We need your help and ideas.

   

  We are asking parents to give their views on fundraising activities during this Summer Term at our next meeting on Monday 26 April.  The meeting takes place twice - once at 10am with both of us (Peter Dunmall, Head teacher, and Nolan O'Connor, Chair), and again in the evening at 8.30pm with Nolan.

   

  We are asking all reps to join one of these calls to ensure communication can get to all parents.  

   

  Both meetings are run via Zoom.  Please register to attend here:

  • 10am Meeting: https://bit.ly/3xf548B
  • 8.30pm Meeting: https://bit.ly/3gqyXwJ

• PTFA DEADLINE Extended 24 hrs for Comedy Bingo Bookings - Support Needed

  Wed 21 Apr 2021 PTFA
  The PTFA desperately needs families to join this Friday's Comedy Bingo Fundraiser in order to raise funds for school trips planned for this Summer Term.

   

  Kick-start this weekend (6pm) with 80mins of Comedy Bingo as our professional host, Brendan Riley, entertains us with his unique form of family comedy. 

   

  Join other families as we find out who will complete the first bingo line and who completes the whole bingo card - with lots of prizes up for grabs. 

   

  Each family member will play two bingo game cards and we're also looking for participants to join the online party with whatever 'HAT' they can find around the house.

  
  Family tickets are just £15 (plus 50p booking fee) and we start at 6pm via Zoom.
  Ticket sales close at 10pm on Wednesday 21 April. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/fieldingptfa/

• Ramadan, pupils who are fasting

  Mon 19 Apr 2021 Peter Dunmall

  Ramadan ends around 12 May. For Muslims, this is the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. For an entire month believers will fast during the day. We recognise that although fasting for the entire month does not become obligatory until the age of puberty, sometimes Muslim children begin to fast before this age.  Children can get a sense of achievement joining families in taking part in the spirit of Ramadan. However, the younger the child, especially where Ramadan falls at this time of year, the more difficult it tends to be for children to fast without their physical stamina and concentration levels being affected.

   

  It is for parents and families to decide whether a child fasts or not. We understand that breaking the fast before the correct time may be regarded as worse than not fasting at all by some children and parents. Parents may decide that:

  • pupils fast during school holiday days and/or weekends under the care and supervision of their families;
  • during the school week, pupils take 2 shorter periods of fasting from dawn until lunch; eat lunch at school; then fast again after lunch until dusk;
  • and/or, pupils fast on some days but not others.

   

  If parents would like your child to fast, please discuss your wishes with your class teacher.  Pupils who are fasting during lunchtime may sit at the outside dining tables, away from other pupils in their age group who are eating lunch.  All children are expected to participate in all school activities during Ramadan.

• Parent consultations, check your booking and how to attend.

  Tue 13 Apr 2021 Clare Haines

  Thank you to all the parents who have booked their parent consultation appointments for Thursday 22 or Monday 26 April. Due to the glitch in the system before the Easter break some parents now have two appointments booked. Please could you check and if you do have two appointments please delete one of them so that other parents can book.

  To join your parent consultation meeting you will need to log on to Microsoft Teams with your child's details. Each block of time will be set as a meeting  in the class calendar.  Please click on the meeting in the calendar on the day and  time you have booked. The system will alert the class teacher that you are waiting. They will then let you in to the meting.