Fairfields Primary School

Dear parents and carers,
We have had a really productive week in school. Well done to Year One for their fantastic Toy Museum on Wednesday. It was great to see such a high standard of writing and the children were really keen to show their work to all of the visitors.
Throughout October we have been talking to the children in assemblies about Black History month. This is incredibly important to our school as it celebrates the achievements of people in the past. It also raises the subject of inequality based on the colour of someone’s skin.
We discuss this using our Core Values of Love and Respect. We celebrate the diversity in the school and bond together through these important values. So far we have talked about the lives of Mary Seacole, Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela; which are also threaded through our curriculum. I have asked children to imagine what our school would be like if these people hadn’t been as active as they were in the past.
Parents Evening 1st and 2nd November
We have made arrangements for Parents Evening after half term which include face to face and virtual meetings.
Face to face appointments will be available on Tuesday 1st November from 3:40 – 6pm. You will be able to come into school to view your child’s work and meet with their class teacher in the main hall.
Virtual appointments will be on Wednesday evening between 3:40 – 6pm. These can now be booked on SCOPAY. Please make a note of the day and time.
If you have booked a virtual appointment a pack with the Zoom meeting code and work will be sent out to parents on Tuesday 1stNovember.
Help with Keeping your Child Safe Online
Mr Hewlett, our computing teacher, will be running a workshop for parents on Tuesday 1st November, during Parents Evening. This will be a 30-minute session on the risks of online gaming, messaging and how this can be monitored and supported by parents. Parents are able to bring along their child’s phone or device to be shown how to install monitoring systems and how to check what their child is accessing.
The formal workshops will run at 3:40pm, 4:40pm and 5:40pm in the Library. Parents are able to bring their child’s devices at any time between 3:40 – 6pm to learn how to keep their child safe.
Harvest Festival
Thank you again for the huge amount of food donated for our Harvest Festival. As a school we donated enough food to make 384 meals!
Toy Appeal
As well as the Food Bank, we work closely with Spotlight UK who are looking for donations of toys to give to vulnerable families over the Christmas period. They have asked for us to send out a leaflet to our community asking for any donations to be delivered by the 11th December to Hart House, Priestly Road, RG24 9PU.
Parent Representatives
We are looking at the way that we communicate with our families. With 37 languages spoken in the school and some parents not able to communicate in English, we are looking to establish a system of Parent Representatives for each cultural community. The role is yet to be developed but will involve distributing key information and dates to members of their community in their home language.
I will be canvassing parents during Parents Evening with a sign-up sheet. If you are interested in becoming a Parent Representative, please email admin@fairfields.hants.sch.uk.
Top Tips for Parents
Our Behaviour Policy in school focuses on restorative justice. We recognise that children make mistakes and our consequences are always issued through discussion and match with the problem they have caused. For example, if a child breaks a pencil in class, we may agree that they will sharpen the pencils for the class. We call these ‘Fix It’ times and the children are then rewarded for repairing their mistakes.
This can also help at home. If you have a ‘Fix It’ approach to consequences as opposed to punishments, you are more likely to build your child’s self-esteem and they are less likely to repeat the mistake.
Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and I look forward to seeing you in our final week of this term.
Miss Kelly Dillon
Headteacher