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.

• New Nursery and chidcare offer from September 2017

  Sat 22 Oct 2016 Peter Dunmall

  Up to 30 hours of free childcare a week for 3-4 year olds

  School leaders and the Governing Body are planning to improve our Nursery and childcare offer to better meet the needs of local families, especially working parents.

  Key improvements include:

  • aligning nursery session times and new childcare options to match that of the main school;
  • offering flexible sessions including early mornings, evenings and up to 8 weeks of school holidays to suit a wider range of needs;
  • keeping our excellence in education through teacher led learning and our values-based ethos, giving children the best possible start to Reception.

  Full-time nursery places, up to 52.5 hours per week will be available from 7.30am until 6pm.

  All parents are currently entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week for children aged three and four years old.

  From September 2017, we are aiming to give eligible parents an additional 15 hours of free childcare at Fielding Nursery bringing the total number of free hours to 30 a week.

  For the last 2 years, it has been increasingly difficult to fill all of our nursery places, reducing our income and funding from government, because our current morning and afternoon sessions do not match needs of parents. This year there are still 17 vacancies out of 50 places for the afternoon session. The government is also increasing free childcare for working parents of young children. Our changes reflect government policy and local demands.

  A promotional flyer is being delivered to local homes over the weekend. The Governing Body will finalise changes early November before admissions open mid-November for children starting in September.

  Find out more:

  • Fielding, Nursery
  • gov.uk, 30 hours of free childcare press release
  • Register your interest now to receive priority information about admissions

  

• Year 6 review and looking forward

  Fri 21 Oct 2016 Miss N. Jones

  Human body to Vikings

  The beginning of the year has been as busy and jam-packed as always, but exciting none the less! The pupils have already made steady progress across all areas. Self-reflection in English and Maths being a highlight: the pupils are building on their ability to recognise where they are in their learning and what is the next step. This is fantastic news for all!

   

  Our Learning Challenge driver: ‘What would a journey through the body look like?’ has been a great success. We will be building on all we have learnt this term, our trip to the Natural History Museum and continue to develop our skills for how to become a scientist.

   

  The creative home learning showcase was a brilliant event - thank you to all who attended and contributed your amazing home learning pieces! Adults were invited into the classrooms to witness the creative home learning made by Year 6 pupils, which came in an array of sizes, shapes and types including some very humorous entries – ‘Home exercise routine’ which outlined weight lifting with cat food and sofa lifting and a knitted Frankenstein monster with socks!

   

  But gigantic, enormous and mammoth news is coming to Year 6… The Vikings will be taking over.

   

  We will be beginning our History topic for Autumn Term 2. ‘

  .'Were the Vikings always vicious and victorious?’ is our focus and we will be exploring this fascinating Historic period with Viking day to experience a day in the life of a Viking. All information regarding Viking day will be revealed in due course. Get your helmets and tunics at the ready!

   

  A great way to begin the last year of primary school. 

  

• Recording the excellence in music

  Fri 21 Oct 2016 Michael Mappin

  Access to a professional recording studio needed

  Earlier this half term, we had the first of our Fielding Music Assemblies, where we heard performances from some of our talented musicians in Y6...you may have read about it in an earlier article.  One thing we were treated to was an original composition:  a song written and performed by five girls all from the same class, featuring piano, drums and a couple of hand-percussion instruments.  As Music Teacher, I was totally impressed by the quality of the music, both as a performance and as a composition.  It has all the features of a song:  verse, chorus, middle 8 and coda, the lyrics are catchy and it was expertly performed.

   

  I frequently record students' work, not only so we can self-assess, but simply to have a record of what's been going on.  But occasionally I come across a piece which I feel deserves more than I can offer with my hand-held Zoom, especially when working in a regular classroom.  The girls' song is one such piece, and I would love to make a professional recording of it.  This is where you might be able to help:  do you have access to a recording studio which might meet our needs?  If you could help, I'd love to hear from you.  You can email me on this link, or let your friend in Abbey Road Studios know of our plight...well, you never know.

  

• Better play

  Fri 21 Oct 2016

  Sand, woodland, dens, climbing trees, mounds and a tunnel

  Building works to create better play opportunities for pupils at break and lunchtimes start soon after half-term.

  The first phase of improvements will focus around the existing Captain's Ship and fenced off nature area adjacent to Fielding Walk, underpinned by a 'natural' play theme including:

  • a large open sand pit surrounding the existing Captain's Ship
  • refurbishment of the existing ship, including a new double slide, mast and sail
  • grass mound landscapes, stone boulders and a large tunnel to promote travelling around, along, over and through things, 
  • 3 'climbing trees' with hand holds to promote climbing at height, along with associated safety surfacing
  • large balance logs and log piles for climbing in, over and through
  • grass will be left to grow longer, giving the whole area a more natural feel.

  The overgrown, wild nature area, which has been fenced off for safety reasons for many years, will also be transformed and opened for play:

  • new informal pathway to allow children to access the area with the expectation that they will also play away from the path on the natural woodland floor
  • existing trees will be trimmed and thinned out
  • wild brambles and other shrubs will be trimmed allowing children to explore and hide
  • mini-beast hotels will be added
  • materials for building log dens will be available for children

  A new partial pathway will also mark the start of a new running circuit around the perimeter of the site.

  The playground edge from the sand pit, in-front of Year 1 classrooms will also be extended to give more space (not shown in the plan, below), especially during congested drop-off and pick-up times.

  We want to give children more chances to play and explore in a slightly 'risky' way - falling over or off logs, getting messy with sand and mud, or even getting prickled by a bramble.  These improvements will allow children to learn to assess risk in a safe way while enjoying play.

  The improvements to the natural area will enable us to create our own 'forest school' experience over time.

  Further phases of improvements to our playground and play opportunities for older pupils are also planned to be completed by Easter.

  Changes will be shared with children in school during assembly on Monday 7th November.

  

• Parent information session, 'increasing the awareness of autistic spectrum disorders'

  Thu 20 Oct 2016

  Open session for all parents

  On Tuesday 15th November at 9am, we will be delighted  to welcome Dawn Clegg from Springhallow school, 'a school for pupils with autism', who will talk to parents about autistic spectrum disorders and how they might present the classroom. 

  As you know Fielding is a community primary school. All pupils, whatever their background or individual needs are welcome. Every child at Fielding has different relative strengths, weaknesses and needs, this is what makes them unique. There are a number of children in our school,  who have more complex, additional and special educational needs, including autism.  This information session is open to all parents to find out more about these needs so that as a school community we  can show tolerance and embrace these children and their families as part of a rich and varied community that makes Fielding so special. We hope to see you there.

• Year 5 creative home learning showcase

  Thu 20 Oct 2016 MIss Davinson
  Year 5 have enjoyed their creative home learning showcase this week. The creative home learning was based on the drive "Why is the Amazon Rainforest so important to Brazil?" The children had the opportunity to create something and share this with the class. The Year 5 teachers were impressed with the range and quality of work. Thank you to all the support you provided at home.

  

• PTFA Christmas Cards

  Thu 20 Oct 2016 PTFA

  This year we are using a different company to produce the children's Christmas Cards. We hope that the online ordering and payment system will make it easier for parents and carers. The children will be working on their creations this week and after half term the masterpieces will be sent home with details of how to order and what to do next. 

• Individual School Photographs, Friday 4th November

  Thu 20 Oct 2016 School Office

  A reminder that individual school photographs will take place on Friday 4th November for all children including Nursery (AM & PM). As its PE for Year 3 on this day, please have your child come in full uniform and bring PE clothes with them. They will have their photographs taken first. 

• Sharing of home learning in Year 3

  Thu 20 Oct 2016
  Year 3 have enjoyed sharing their home learning  based on our Fielding Challenge Curriculum driver, 'Why do people visit the Mediterranean?' The Year 3 teachers were impressed with the range and quality of work. Thank you to all the support you provided at home. Miss Allen commented, "Wow! It was lovely to hear the children talk about their learning in such a positive way."

  

• QPR Football and London Scottish Rugby

  Thu 20 Oct 2016 Karen Esprit

  Please be reminded Rugby and Football clubs finish at the end of this week. If you require childcare for after Half Term this is bookable through Laser.