Westwood Farm Schools

Newsletter
Issue 1 Friday 7th September 2018
Contact WFI:
officeinfants@westwoodfarmschools.w-berks.sch.uk 0118 9426113
Contact WFJ: officejuniors@westwoodfarmschools.w-berks.sch.uk 0118 9425182

Website: www.westwoodfarmschools.w-berks.sch.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Pupils

Welcome back to you all – I do hope you had a lovely Summer and managed to make the most of the
beautiful weather. The children all look lovely and smart in their new/fresh uniforms and they all seem
happy to be back at school and we trust you are all happy for us to have them back! We have missed them
all – the buildings have been very quiet over the holidays without them!

A very big welcome to all our new families joining us in EYFS this week and the new families joining across
the schools. A big welcome to our new staff; Mr David Howells (our new caretaker - more to follow), Miss
Sam Harrison (Teacher in Simon Class), Miss Niamh Howlett (TA in Donaldson class), Mrs Watkins, Mrs
Wilks and Miss Keskin (Lunch Time Assistants) and to our student Miss Kayleigh Phillips working in Year 1
with Miss Wakeham.

(Warning to all new families – I have a very silly sense of humour and tend to over-use exclamation marks
so I hope you weren’t hoping for a serious tone to my newsletters – you will be disappointed!!)

Our new children in FS2 – Donaldson and Milne classes have had their first visits with us this week and
have had a wonderful time in their lovely small groups – all of them are confident and happy to come to
school with very few tears! The teachers have been busy in the afternoons with Home Visits which are
really useful for us and ensure a positive start for your child so if you haven’t managed to arrange one yet –
please see Mrs Finn in the office. Our new FS1 (Nursery) children in Carle class will be starting on Monday
– welcome to you all!
New FS2 parents - don’t forget to join us for coffee on Monday after drop off in the staffroom – a chance to
meet each other, ask any questions and maybe share tissues and tears (or happy smiles of relief...?!)

As mentioned above we have a new caretaker who is very tall and very lovely! He has worked tirelessly
without a break all through the summer holidays making the school look great – not even having a chance
to move into the bungalow fully yet! There are a few jobs that have been more difficult and expensive for
him to tackle and one of those is the pedestrian gate to the playground in the corner (which is out of
action) and the rest of the fence. We have just received a quote to replace this which is a scary £16,000 so
we are planning an alternative which will of course takes longer so please bear with us!

New (Revised) Behaviour Policy

We have been working hard on revising our policy and have launched it this week with the children. The
policy will shortly be on the website for you to view and we have summary leaflets in the offices available
for parents if you would like one. In the meantime below is a short summary of the ‘Westwood Way’;
 1. ‘Do be gentle’ – those children who play well together and don’t hurt anyone
2. ‘Do be kind and helpful’ – those children who are kind to others and are polite
3. ‘Do work hard’ – those children who always make an effort to do their best and don’t
waste their own, their teachers or their friends’ time
4. ‘Do look after property’ – those children who show respect for things that belong to
the school and to other people
5. ‘Do listen to people’ – those children who do not interrupt and demonstrate good,
polite listening skills and act on instructions
6. ‘Do be honest’ – those children who tell the truth even in difficult situations

New KS1 Toilets!

We have at last had these replaced by the Local Authority – they are amazing and if you are keen to see
them please do come and have a look (and a sniff...!!) Sorry if you are a Yr3 child (or parent!) who has
missed the chance of using them – but least they are now so much better for our future generations of KS1
pupils!

Have a lovely weekend!

Barbara Hunter
Executive Headteacher Westwood Farm Schools

Meet the Teacher Times

We will be holding our meetings with the class teachers for you on the following dates and times. These
meetings are really useful for you to meet the teacher and get to know the routines etc for the class and
ask any questions. Please come if you can – we look forward to seeing you. If you do have children in
different year groups on the same day you are more than welcome to come to half of one then the other
or see the teacher to catch up at another time.

Tuesday 11th September Year 2 & 4 3.20/3.30-4.00pm

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Wednesday 12 September Year 5 & 6 3.30-4.00pm
Thursday 13st September Year 1 & 3 3.30-4.00pm

Term Dates for 2018/19

Westwood Farm Schools Term Dates for 2018/19 are attached to this Newsletter. They can also be found
on the home page of our school website. Hard copies are available from either school office.

New Year 1 trip to Milestone Museum

A reminder to Year 1 parents that your child will be going on a trip to Milestones Museum on Friday 14 th
September 2018 as part of their 'Memory Box' topic. Can all outstanding consent forms and payment be
given to Mrs Finn in the school office my Monday 10th September. (Please don't forget the extra £1 in a
named envelope if you wish your child to visit the "Old Fashioned Sweet Shop"). Thank you.

ISS School Lunches

We have been advised that ISS have increased the price of a school lunch for KS2 pupils to £2.35. This took
effect from 5th September 2018. We do apologise for the late notification but have only just received this
information ourselves.
Sleep Workshop
'We would like to invite parents to attend a short workshop about helping children sleep better, run by
Parenting Special Children. The workshop will start with an informal chat with tea and biscuits to discuss
what we would like to get out of the session followed by a talk from the specialist and then a chance to ask
questions. The workshop will be on Wednesday 19th September 9-10:30 in the Happy Hub.
ALL PARENTS WELCOME'

Lunch ordering in FS2 and KS1

School lunches can be ordered online by registering with www.feedinghungryminds.co.uk
This ensures that your children receive the meal that you would like them to have. Alternatively pupils can
order via the interactive whiteboard in the classroom on a daily basis.

Fruit and Snacks

As you are aware, we are always encouraging the children to eat healthily and we do ask that all snacks
and packed lunches are in line with this. All Foundation Stage and KS1 children have fruit provided for
them so there is no need for them to bring a snack to school for breaktime (if your child doesn’t eat fruit at
home, you would be amazed at what they will eat in school when with their friends!) KS2 children do not
have free fruit so will need to bring in a snack if they would like one. We encourage fruit, raw veg, piece of
cheese, raisins, and breadsticks. Crisps, biscuits or cakes are not allowed at snacktimes and sweets and
fizzy drinks are not allowed in school for snack or lunchtimes. We do ask that you do not send in nuts at
any time as we have several children with severe allergies to nuts. Thank you for your support with this.

Lost Property and Labelling!

If you haven’t already spent all summer sewing, ironing or sticking name labels in – please could you spend
this weekend doing it? We always have soooo much Lost Property and the vast majority of it is left
unclaimed as it has no name in it! We even had expensive coats in there for ages last year! We promise
we do help your children to look after their belongings but unless they are named it can be very difficult as
it all looks the same! Thank you for your help with this. We are always looking for some parent volunteers
who could come in on a fairly regular basis to sort through our lost property and even help with washing
unclaimed property and helping to sell it as nearly new (see below).

Second Hand Uniform

We have some very kind parents who have sorted/washed and catalogued donations of good quality
second hand items of school uniform. Katherine Green has produced a spreadsheet of what we currently
have – attached to this newsletter. All items are priced at 50p and are on sale via the WFS Facebook page.

Parking
Please continue to support the school and our pupils and residents with considerate and safe parking. It
continues to be a problem for some so we continue to ask for your co-operation with this. It upsets our
local residents if parents and carers park across their drive if they need to get out – please think of all of
this when you are thinking of where to park. Thank you for your support.

Bracknell Bees Basketball

Please find attached a flyer and voucher to purchase reduced rate tickets for upcoming Bracknell Bees
School Zone Ice Hockey tickets. The attached voucher is for £10 per adult with 2 kids going free in the
School Zone (Block 4 downstairs) and is the promotional rate for School Zone Games only. It also includes a
free public skate for all after the game!

Tilehurst Beavers
If your child may be interested in joining Beavers, 79th Reading Beavers are holding an open evening on
Tuesday 18th September from 5.45-6.45pm at 79th Reading, Armour Road, Tilehurst RG31 6JH. Further
information is available by contacting Kim Williams by email on kim.williams@berkshirescouts.org.uk
Diary Dates
We will only be sending the termly and yearly (when completed) dates out in the newsletter at the
beginning of each term and not always on a weekly basis. We would please urge you to use the website for
any changes to dates and extra ones are added there all the time. If you have any difficulty in access to our
website or the Internet, please ask one of our lovely ladies in one of the offices who will provide you with a
printed list.

Autumn Term Dates so far

Monday 10th September Coffee morning for new FS2 parents 9.00-9.30am
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Tuesday 11 September Meet the Teacher Year 2 & 4 3.20/3.30-4.00pm
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Wednesday 12 September Meet the Teacher Year 5 & 6 3.30-4.00pm
Thursday 13st September Meet the Teacher Year 1 & 3 3.30-4.00pm
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Tuesday 18 September FS2 Reading Chronicle ‘First Day Photo’
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Wednesday 19 September Yr 6 Parents Greatwood Residential information meeting 6.00pm KS1 Hall
Friday 21st September Bag2School event
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Monday 24 September Harvest Festival Assembly for pupils with Dan Dwelly
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Friday 5 October Dress Down Day for Autumn Fayre
Saturday 6th October FOWFS Autumn Fayre 2.00-4.30pm
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Monday 8 – 12 Oct Yr 6 Greatwood Residential
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Monday 15 October Parents Consultation Appointments 3.30-5.00pm
Tuesday 16th October Tempest Individual School Photos – whole school
Wednesday 17th October Flu Nasal Vaccines for FS2, Years 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
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Wednesday 17 October Parents Consultation Appointments 5.00-7.30pm
Friday 19th October Last Day of Term
Monday 22nd October to Monday 29th October – Autumn Half Term Holiday
Tuesday 30th October Back to School
Tuesday 6th November Diwali Celebrations (more to follow)
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Friday 9 November FOWFS Disco (4-5pm FS2 & KS1 5.30-6.30pm KS2)
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Wednesday 5 December FS2 Performance to parents 9.30am
Friday 7th December FS2 Performance to parents 2.30pm
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Wednesday 12 December FS2 & KS1 Panto Trip to Bracknell
Thursday 13th December FS2/KS1 Xmas Lunch
Friday 14th December KS2 Xmas Lunch
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Thursday 20 December Last Day of Term – break up at 2.00pm