Fairfields Primary School

Dear parents and carers,

It has been a busy week and not helped by the adverse weather conditions we are experiencing.  On Friday we had a Local Authority review of writing in the school.  They were impressed with the work the children are producing and I was really proud to see how much focus there is on learning new vocabulary. 

Eco Schools

We are really excited to have had our first committee meeting of the Eco Council.  Congratulations to the following children who applied for the position and were successfully appointed:

Jack- Rome         Lucas- Warsaw 

Emilie- Budapest              Sophie – Madrid

Mya – Ankara                    Sophia- Kathmandu       

Penelope – New Delhi    Benny - Canberra

Tanvi – Cairo      Tristen – Nairobi              

Nadir – Lima       Violet- Ottawa

They have decided on three main areas of focus for their work:

Biodiversity – They would like to look at creating a wild flower garden outside the front of the school where the current grassy area is.

Waste – They would like to look at how much plastic is used and thrown away in the school in an attempt to reduce this through more sustainable products being used.

Energy – They would like to reduce the amount of electricity being used in the school.  They will be talking with their classes about ensuring that things are switched off when not in use.  They will also begin inspections of classrooms in April.

If there are any parents who would like to help with these projects of who have a specialism in them, please let us know!

CCTV Cameras for the corridors

You may have heard that we have installed CCTV cameras in the corridors outside the main block of toilets, the boys toilets and in the library.  These are not live yet as we need to update the privacy statements and clarify settings for storage or images. 

This is due to the amount of vandalism we are experiencing each day.  This includes food items being put down the toilet which blocks the toilets, writing on the wall (including swear words), children filling the sinks up with tissue and leaving them, children urinating on the floor and on the toilet roll holders.  We have tried a number of things to reduce these incidence including recording when children go to the toilet and making sure that children go to the toilet without anything in their pockets or hands.  Unfortunately,  this has not helped and we have even recently had a child write words on the wall with their own poo!

This is a daily occurrence and we have spoken to children about being respectful in the toilets. We have also recently found that a child has scratched words into the new library tree house which is very sad for us.   The aim of the cameras will be to record children who are entering the main doors of the toilets The footage will only be of the corridor outside of the toilets and the cameras are placed facing away from the main toilet door.  We will only record the footage for the day and then these will be deleted.  

Ramadan

We are beginning to get nearer to the period of Ramadan for our Muslim families.  The Discovery Centre has sent through some activities that children are invited to take part in.  The end of Ramadan is celebrated by the festival of Eid-al-Fitr and we would like to celebrate afterschool on Friday 21^st April or Monday 24^th April 3:15 – 3:45pm with some activities.  If you are interested in helping to organise activities for this celebration, please email the school office at admin@fairfields.hants.sch.uk. 

Funds Raised for Turkey and Syria

Thank you to all the families who donated money to this cause.  Please could we have any final donations in on Monday as we know that some parents are still considering bringing this in.  Please could we ask that parents who have family members in Turkey of Syria, who are victims of the earthquakes, approach us personally to let us know how we can send the money to their relatives and for what cause. 

Strike Update

There has been no movement towards Government and Union talks and so we can only assume that the strikes will go ahead.  At present, we are planning to close to all year groups other than Year 6 for both Wednesday 15^th and Thursday 16^th March.  The challenge of opening other year groups is that the teachers may choose to strike on the day and we could lead to us closing the classes at short notice.  We also do not know the impact of other school closures on the childcare of staff who are not taking industrial action.  We will be looking at a timetable of zoom activities based on the theme of Science Week which begins on Monday 13^th March.  A letter will be sent out next week with arrangements for the days. 

Parent Tips – Playfulness Parenting

“Play is not a break from learning. It is endless, delightful, deep, engaging, practical learning. It’s the doorway into the child’s heart!” ~ Vince Gowmon

We have been talking amongst ourselves about the power of play when addressing behaviour in the school.  Often, we can forget the option to de-escalate a situation by simply being more playful, humorous or by exchanging the activity for a play-based one.  We see this work with children who are visibly distressed, angry and frustrated.  We have seen a marked difference, and even a calm moment appear, when we bring an object to play with or offer a suggestion of play before tackling the upset.  This may mean at times that we play with the object (a toy car or fluffy toy) on our own in sight of them until the child joins us.  We are then able to discuss the cause of the upset later when the child is calm.    

How often do you choose a play response when your child is upset?  How often do you delay resolving the problem until a later time when everyone is calm?    

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Kelly Dillon

Headteacher