Newsletter Issue 9
FERNCUMBE FRIDAY
Friday 18th January 2019
our school vision statement
A very happy new year to everyone! As we all begin our journey into 2019, it seems a fitting time to share with you our updated School Vision Statement, which the children have been familiar with since September. It encompasses our core values of Love, Learning, Dignity, Respect and Wisdom, and underpins everything that is at the heart of the Ferncumbe school community.
Our School Vision can be seen by following the link… https://www.ferncumbefamily.co.uk/ethos-charter-and-vision/
Our aim is to share with you weekly evidence of our vision in action, via the class Twitter feeds. If you happen to hear or see our vision in action, we would love to hear from you.
restorative justice
You will know that Ferncumbe has adopted a Restorative Justice approach to behaviour in school, and an overview was given to parents last week by our RJ trainer and expert, Lynne Russell. Many thanks to those of you who attended, we do hope you found the session helpful. In addition to the leaflet handed out at Parents’ Evening last October, the following summarises what lies at the heart of Restorative Justice practices.
The aim of the restorative approach is to develop our community and to manage conflict and tension by repairing harm and building relationships. This is shown in restorative school values, which are:
● Respect – we value, support and empathise with each other
● Responsibility – we are responsible our own actions
● Reparation – we try to put things right and display the value of forgiveness
● Reintegration – we can always make a fresh start
For effective teaching and learning to take place, we believe that there should be good relationships within the school. The restorative approach puts repairing harm done to relationships at the heart of the school. This allows us to build, nurture and repair relationships.
The restorative approach gives us two main opportunities.
● It primarily provides those who have been harmed (victim) with a forum to ‘have their say and be heard’, which is vital to the healing process.
● Secondly, it presents the offender (harmer) with an onus of responsibility for their actions, an opportunity to make some form of retributive acknowledgement.
The main tool in the restorative approach is the Restorative Conversation. This is the place where the two parties are able to discuss the situation with the intent of restoring things to a good learning environment. The conversation takes the form of a series of questions. In school we use the questions during these conversations:
1. What happened?
2. What were you thinking/Feeling at the time?
3. What needs to happen to put things right?
4. What will you do differently next time?
The conversations show that actions have consequences to how people are feeling which has an influence on how they are able to learn. Discussing these will encourage people to accept responsibility and repair relationships. This approach is being successfully adopted across the whole school.
Honiley’s worship display takes pride of place
During our Worship theme of ‘Peace’ last term, Year 2 created a beautiful, glistening Christmas tree using their hands as templates for the branches and messages of Peace for the candles of light. Together they enjoyed colouring Christmas presents for their display whilst sharing Christmas traditions, hopes and wishes. This was then shared at the Chase Meadow Community Centre Crib Service and at St Michael’s Church, Budbrooke.
Miss Grubb
national online safety
‘fake news’ online safety guide
Fake news can be false information, photos or videos purposefully created to confuse or misinform. It can also be genuine information that has been manipulated to deceive. It is important that we learn how to distinguish between real news and fake news. Follow the link for a useful guide… https://2j39y52a62gm1afygb3g1xbu-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/NOS-fake-news-Jan-1019.pdf
let’s rid Ferncumbe of nits!
Look at the size of that nit comb!
I’m sure sure you heard about the exciting ‘Nit-busting’ assembly that took place last Friday, when children heard the facts about nits from our very own nit expert! You will have received an information leaflet with detail on how to check your child’s hair for head lice, and how they can best be treated - we ask you for your total support so that nits at Ferncumbe will become a thing of the past. It is recommended that schools identify three times in the year when all parents are asked to check their child’s hair. Do look out for our next nit-busting weekend.
no idling!
Dear Parent/Carer,
This year, as part of our commitment to becoming an Eco-School and in light of the Government’s new Clean Air Strategy, we are launching a No Idling campaign to improve the quality of air around our school and protect our health.
As part of this campaign, please help us establish a No Idling Zone to improve air quality and create a healthier environment for students, teachers and parents. This zone is an area where all vehicle owners and bus drivers are asked to turn their engines off whilst they wait.
Idling harms our health: vehicle exhaust fumes are damaging to everyone’s health, but it especially affects children, who breathe more and at a faster rate than adults. By turning off your engine, you can improve the quality of air that students, parents, teachers and neighbours breathe while they are at or near school. More background information can be found here if you would like to know more - https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emissions/idling/
Idling pollutes the air we breathe: an idling engine produces unnecessary pollution and can produce up to twice as many exhaust emissions as an engine in motion. By not idling, you reduce the level of harmful emissions being released into the atmosphere.
Thank you very much for your support with this matter,
Kind Regards,
Peneli Grier
SPRING TERM CLASS NEWS
Please do take some time to read the updated Spring Term news on our school website class pages. The pages are found under the curriculum tab on our website homepage...
key stage 2 enrichment
We often share photos from our Key Stage 2 Enrichment activities on a Thursday afternoon. This week we have some of the amazing comic strips which children have been creating during their Art enrichment sessions. We are fortunate to have a fantastic team of ‘expert’ parents who offer to lead or support sessions, with small groups of children. These activities range from Photography and Sewing to Art and First Aid. If you feel you may like to bring some of your expertise to Ferncumbe Enrichment sessions, and can commit to a regular 1 hour slot on a Thursday afternoon, please do get in touch with school. We are always looking for willing volunteers to support these very valuable sessions.
With best wishes for a lovely weekend,
Tracey Webb, Deputy Headteacher