Newsletter - 21st July 2023

It’s been a busy term and we are all looking forward to a well-earned rest over the break. We hope the children have enjoyed their year and hold memories that they will cherish. You can read about some of the term's highlights in Mr Scott's end of year letter in our letters home section.

Today we say goodbye to all of our Year 6 children. We wish everyone the very best in their new secondary schools and hope they carry forward the values they have learnt and demonstrated at Fern Hill on to their exciting journeys ahead. We loved watching your performance of A Glint of Gold last week and being a part of your Leavers' Assembly yesterday. We will miss you all! We also say goodbye and good luck to the staff members leaving. You will all be dearly missed by the Fern Hill family.

We hope you have a wonderful summer and that the children return on Wednesday 6th September, re-energised and ready for the exciting term ahead.

The first week back at school in September is Welcome Week when the children will take part in lots of different activities to create a sense of belonging and togetherness and explore the diversity of their class, celebrating their different cultures and identities. It will also be a time to set expectations and establish the routines for the new school year. 

As part of Welcome Week, we will be holding a Parents' Welcome Meeting for each year group where your new class teachers will share information on what the children will be learning throughout the year. The meetings will be held at 9:00 am in the Large Hall. Please see the Key Dates section for when your child's year group meeting will be. 

School lunches are changing!

We are delighted to welcome a new caterer, Culinera, who will be providing our school lunches from September. We will continue to use ParentPay as our meal ordering system however the deadline for ordering will greatly improve – you will be able to order (or cancel) a meal up until 8:30 am on the day.

We’ll be sending you more information and details of the new menu over the summer break. 

Free School Meals for pupils in Years 3-6

Many of you will already be aware that from September, all state funded primary school children in London boroughs will be eligible for free school meals for the full academic year. This means that all children in Years 3-6 can have a school lunch at no charge, just as children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 do today,  under the Universal Infant Free School Meal scheme. This extended entitlement for children in Years 3-6 is being funded by the Mayor of London in response to the cost of living crisis and will run initially just for this coming school year. You do not need to apply for this, but you will still need to place an order for lunch through ParentPay.  Further information from the Mayor of London is available here. 

To prepare for September, Culinera would like to gauge how many families with children in Years 3-6 will be likely to use the take-up the entitlement. Please complete the short survey they have created here. Thank you.

Top Ten Books & Authors of the Year

We've had a look at the library stats and made some videos for our library Twitter account. Altogether Fern Hill pupils borrowed 6,431 books from the library this year! Here are our top ten books and top ten authors of the year - demonstrating the impact of an author visit.

Top Ten Authors

Top Ten Books

Reading Recommendations

If you need some recommendations for your children's summer reading, don't forget our 100 Book Challenge Reading Lists which are all available on the school website.

Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge is an excellent way to keep your children engaged with reading over the holidays. You can sign up at your local public library and your child will receive a certificate once they have completed the challenge. Find out more on the Summer Reading Challenge website.

Happy summer reading!

~ Mrs Rouillard, School Librarian

Team Points

At the end of every school year, the number of team points each House receives is allocated based on their position (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th) each week of the three terms.  

This year, COOMBE house is the clear winner - well done!

Together, the children have earned 37,276 team points this year.

• Kingston - 73
• Coombe - 106
• Richmond - 65
• Hampton - 69

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