Weekly Update 3223 June 2023 (by admin) |
Dear Fairfields Community,
It has been an incredible Healthy Lives Week in the school. The children have really motivated by the activities, and I hope that they are able to share some of their favourite ones.
The finale Sports Days was a success; with children taking part in both running races and other field events. A special thank you to Miss Bradley for organising the day and also to students from Queen Mary’s College for helping to run the events.
The final scores were:
Foundation Stage and KS1
Dragons 300 points
Griffins 252 points
Phoenixes 250 points
Unicorns 228 points
Key Stage Two
Griffins 400 points
Dragons 375 points
Phoenixes 325 points
Unicorns 300 points
Well done to the parents for safely competing in the parent races and supporting the entire day!
Fairfields Primary School Historians
Well done to Tanvi, Reuben, Toby and Samuel for their excellent work on the history of Basingstoke. This is now on exhibition in the Willis Museum in town. This afternoon the children attended the opening and met the Mayor and Dame Maria Miller. Thank you to Mrs Cox for continuing to create a love of history within the school. Please see photographs attached from the event. A leaflet is attached with details on how you can the exhibition yourself.
Summer Holiday Activities
We will be sharing fliers for agencies we work with to support parents with childcare during the Summer holidays. Please find attached the programme from Kala The Arts and also Magna Camps. There are free places available for pupils who are eligible for free school meals.
County Council Consultation
The County Council has launched a consultation to understand people’s views across Hampshire on options to help the Authority deliver a balanced budget over the next two years, through to April 2025, as it tries to balance the books in future in the face of rising costs, higher demand for local services and years of underfunding by central Government.
To date, by planning ahead and using its reserves carefully, the County Council has successfully found ways to deliver services differently and more efficiently, saving £640 million from its budgets since 2008, but despite these measures, there will still be an anticipated gap in the County Council’s budget of £132 million by 2025/26, and by law, councils must set a balanced budget.
With much less money available, some very difficult decisions are needed, and it is important that the County Council listens to the views of residents and stakeholders, many of whom are likely to be affected by the outcomes.
Read more about the why the County Council is asking for the public’s views in this consultation: Residents’ views sought on difficult decisions for balancing the budget.
How to provide your views
The Budget Consultation runs from midday on Monday 12 June to 11:59pm on 23 July 2023. The County Council would like to hear from as many residents and stakeholders as possible, including across Hampshire schools, to help understand and consider the potential impact of any changes proposed. No prior decisions have been made regarding the proposals.
Complete the consultation online
You can take part in the consultation via the online response form on the webpage: www.hants.gov.uk/budgetconsultation. The views submitted through this consultation will be collated and used to inform decisions by Executive Members, Cabinet and the full County Council this autumn.
Your views are really important - so please take the time to respond to the consultation online, and encourage others to do the same.
Support for your child’s mental health
We have the Mental Health in Schools Team coming to the cabin on Monday 3rd July from 8.40 until 10 for anyone who wants to drop in for an informal chat about their child. The team support with issues such as sleep difficulties, anxiety, worry, challenging behaviour, phobias, panic, low mood, OCD and single event trauma. If you would like any advice or guidance around any of these issues, please do come along and chat to them. Our Home/School link workers, Terri and Tracey, will also be there and we will have refreshments on hand too. We look forward to seeing you then.
Staffing Update
We are in the final stages of organising the teachers into classes for next year. The whole school structure will be sent out to parents on Monday 10th July. Your child will come home with the name of their teacher on Wednesday 12th July in preparation for the Open Evening on Thursday 13th July. This will be a time when parents are invited into school to look at their child’s work and to also meet their child’s new teacher. Please do make time to come and visit between 3:40 – 6pm.
We would like to congratulate Mrs Thomas on the birth of her grandchild. She will be leaving at the end of July to spend time as a new grandparent. We will really miss Mrs Thomas and her incredible skills in being able to move seamlessly between classes in the school.
PTA Updates
PTA Challenge Year 2
It is Year 2's turn to organise an activity as part of the PTA challenge next month so please can interested parents contact fairfieldspta@gmail.com for details. There is a great opportunity for Year 2 to combine their efforts with the Diversity Party on 3rd July. The challenge is for the PTA to give each year group £20 to see how much money they can raise from that for the PTA on behalf of the school. The winning year group gets a prize.
Fairfields Circus and Fair 21st July
On 6th July we will be doing a Circus ticket swap and sale after school. If you haven't already picked up your tickets for the Circus on 21st July yet then this is the ideal time to do so. Tickets are also still available at https://fairfieldspta.uk/product/circus-ticket/
If any parents are able to donate second hand good toys to use at the fair - that would be much appreciated. These can be dropped off at the school office.
Further donations needed by year groups. Please can parents donate items as per the below list and they can be dropped off at the school office next week (please ensure expiry dates are post 21 July else we’ll be unable to use them).
Year R, Year 1, Year 2: Wrapped Chocolate/Biscuits (no nut)
Year 3, Year 4: New toys/dolls/Alcohol/non-alcohol bottle (for game prizes)
Year 5, Year 6: Alcohol/non-alcohol bottles
We still need volunteers to help, you can sign up here; https://fairfieldspta.uk/summer-fair-volunteer-sign-ups/ you will not miss the Circus by volunteering and will receive a free ice cream or drink token and VIP fast track access to the circus without needing to queue for the best seat. If we do not get enough volunteers then we will have to cancel some activities.
Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Kelly Dillon
Headteacher
