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This first half term has again flown by. It has been great to see the children settle so

quickly into their new classes and year groups.

This newsletter highlights some of the key things that are happening in terms of our

curriculum provision. We are delighted with our new Reading Lounge. Many thanks to

Mrs Galpin for leading this project from beginning to end, and to yourselves for the

fundraising that was involved. It now provides a stimulating base for the children to

use, containing a huge range of new reading material. Reading is obviously

fundamental to each child’s learning.

You will also see an article on P4C (Philosophy for Children). This allows children to

develop their oracy and critical thinking skills. P4C sessions can be used to develop

children’s thinking in any subject area.

Finally, you will see that some of our children were lucky enough to visit the Houses

of Parliament. This ties in with our work over the last year on looking at the values

that underpin everything that happens in school and the taught curriculum. The

Parliament trip fits into ‘Democracy’, a key element of our British values, we also

uphold key Christian values as a Church School, and hope to instill Global values, that

will prepare our children to be the next generation of world citizens.

Many of you will have noticed the large amount of scaffolding at the front of the

school. This is for our flat roof repairs, which should be completed by the end of

November. It is not for the proposed physical expansion of the school, which is still in

the pipeline.

Best wishes for an enjoyable half term break.

Mr Leah

October 2019

Fleckney School Newsletter

Dear Parents, Governors and Friends,

Houses of Parliament Trip On Monday 9th September, we took 21

children to visit the Houses of Parliament. The

day was absolutely fantastic from start to

finish.

During the main tour, the children got to visit the

many different areas of Parliament, including the

House of Commons and the House of Lords. We

got an insight in to how Parliament is run and a

better

understanding of the very interesting history of

how Parliament came to exist.

As an added bonus, we got to meet our local MP,

and the children got an opportunity to discuss

issues and suggestions for our local area.

We also visited the exclusive seating area that

only MPs and their guests are allowed to visit—a

real treat indeed!

The children represented the school superbly and

we hope that the trip has inspired some future

politicians!

Mr Scranage

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Page 2 Fleckney School Newsletter

H-A-R-V-E-S-T! Our Harvest services, on 27th September,

were enthusiastically led by some of our

Year 2, 4 and 6 children. They all read and

played their parts superbly, visually

delivered the message of sharing the good

things we have with a generous heart.

Father Philip gave us some amazing facts

about gold and reminded us that all we have

is from God and how it is good to be thankful

and to share with those who have less.

Joseph in year 6, played the piano

delightfully whilst the children presented

their harvest gifts at the front of church

during the service.

Thank you, to the many parents and

members of the community who attended

the services and supported us in our

worship.

Also, a huge ‘thank you’ for all your food

donations; these are gratefully received by

Open Hands in Leicester and will be used to

provide emergency aid to vulnerable and

disadvantaged people in the community.

Mrs Fremmer

Labelling Please ensure that all items of clothing and footwear are clearly

named so they can be easily reunited with your child if they lose

them!

Lost property is placed in the KS2 pavilion. Children and parents are

welcome to look there for any missing items. Please look in the locker

under the first bench on the right hand side.

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Application for First-time Admission to Primary

School 2020 All parents need to apply to County Hall for a school place for their child, even if

they live in our catchment area. If your child is 4 years old before 1st September

2020 and therefore starting school for the first time, the closing date for applica-

tions is 15th January 2020.

Parents are encouraged to apply online at www.leics.gov.uk/admissions where you

will find an online application form and guidance notes. This is quick and easy and

an emailed receipt is sent so you can be sure the application has gone through. For

more information, contact School Admissions on 0116 3056684 or email:

admissions@leics.gov.uk

N.B. Applications received after the closing date will be dealt with after those re-

ceived on time; if the closing date is not met it may not be possible to offer a child a

place at their local school if all available places have been filled.

We are already looking forward to the next academic year. We will be welcoming

new parents and children into our Foundation Stage at our Open Afternoon on

Thursday 24th October. They will have the opportunity of seeing the Foundation

Stage and meeting the staff. They will also have a tour of the whole school, to look

at our excellent teaching facilities and view some of the children’s work on display.

Foundation Stage The youngest children in our school have settled into their new routine very well.

They have had fun getting to know new friends and experiencing new opportunities

in the setting.

We have had an assortment of new activities including, writing in the outdoor foam,

making musical sounds, joining our phonics groups for the first time, getting a first

reading book, painting our portraits, riding the balance bikes, learning new songs

and creating interesting designs in the workshop area.

Following on from the Little Red Hen story, the children have made bread rolls to

take home. We hope they enjoyed the eating as well as the making!

Mrs Teear

Year 1 Pizza Making On Wednesday, 25th September, the

Year 1 children had great fun making

pizzas as part of our Design and

Technology work.

They had shown great curiosity in

trying a variety of fruit and vegetables

that were new to them, and on the

cooking day they were able to add

these to their pizzas after handcrafting

their pizza bases.

It was great to see many of the

children trying new things, and to hear

their feedback on how the pizza had tasted! Well done, chefs!

Miss Hamilton

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The NEW Reading Lounge I am pleased to announce that the Reading Lounge is

now up and running! Due to the wonderful support

and commitment from yourselves (as well as support

from The Ernest Cook Trust, FSA and Fiona Cairns) we

now have a space in school where children are able to

work in small groups, peruse books and share books

in comfort.

The room

hosts new

furniture, a

new carpet,

sofa,

beanbags

and an

ample

amount of

shelving

space to display books.

Picture books have been categorised into

areas such as: Going Global; Values and

Character; and mixed themes.

New books have been ordered in and

collections of books are displayed and

available to use for class and group Book

Talk activities.

It’s an ‘inviting’ space, a space where

reading is promoted and enjoyed.

We hope you were able to have a look

during parents evening.

During this academic year, we will be

looking at ways to add to our book

collections and provide a class set of

books for each class in school. If you

are able to help in anyway (or have

any wonderful ideas), please let us

know!

Mrs Galpin

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Year 6 Warning Zone Trip On Monday 30th September, Year 6 went to Warning Zone in Leicester. Warning

Zone is an interactive education centre that teaches children about how to stay safe

in the world as they get ready for increased independence and their transition to

secondary school.

It was an excellent day. The children learnt lots and their behaviour, as usual, was

exemplary. Well done. A huge thank you to the volunteers at Warning Zone who do

such a brilliant job of conveying such important messages to our students.

Mr O’Connell

Philosophy for Children Over the past 2 years, teachers at

Fleckney have been embarking

upon a pedagogy which focuses

upon improving children’s

thinking and speaking skills.

Philosophy for Children (P4C)

creates a safe space for children

to explore their creative, critical,

caring and collaborative thinking.

It promotes multi-layered

thinking and provides teachers

with the opportunity to model

language and help children to

articulate their ideas.

On September 25th, Rosie

Wilson (from Lifeworlds

Learning) came into school

to support teachers to

develop their practice

further. As part of this

support day, 12 children

from Year 4 and 5 were

invited after school to attend

the staff meeting, where

Rosie conducted a P4C

enquiry for all teaching staff

to watch and take notes.

This was a very effective

method of training, and we are extremely grateful to (and proud of) the children

who took part.

Many thanks to: Dulcie, Seth, Matthew, Jacob, Ella, Meredith, Emily, Heidi, Max,

Imogen and Oliver.

Mrs Galpin

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Year 6 Spy Day

Year 6 have been studying spy

stories and have focussed on

Anthony Horowitz's

Stormbreaker. We have started

reading the book, written our

own spy stories and watched the

Stormbreaker movie.

On Monday 16th September, we

had a spy day in school. The

children got dressed up in some

very impressive costumes. We

solved some mathematical

puzzles and designed our own spy

story book covers.

Thank you to all of the children for

working so hard during this unit of

work and entering into the spirit

of our spy day with such enthusi-

asm.

Mr O’Connell

Aldi Team GB Stickers This term we’re collecting Team GB stickers with Aldi’s Kit for Schools. Until 3rd

November, when you spend £30 or more in any Aldi store, you’ll receive a special

Team GB sticker.

Please send any stickers you receive into school with your children, or hand to the

school office, and we will add them to our Aldi’s Kit for Schools sticker posters.

We have already completed one poster with 300 stickers and have partially

completed our second one. For each completed poster will we will receive an

exclusive school sports kit, in addition to entry into a £20,000 prize draw.

Children in Need We will be supporting

Children in Need again on

Friday 15th November.

Further details will follow

after the half term break.

Macmillan

Cake Sale A few of our Year 6

children organised a cake sale on Friday

27th September. They raised the

fantastic sum of £87.80 for Macmillan

Cancer Support. Thank you to all the

children and parents who supported it by

baking and purchasing the wonderful

cakes.

School Kitchen Award

We are extremely pleased that our school kitchen has recently

been inspected and again has been given a 5 star rating by a

Leicestershire County Council Environmental Health inspector.

Congratulations and thanks to the kitchen staff for all their hard work.

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Page 7 Fleckney School Newsletter

School Terms and Holidays 2019—2020

Dates 2019-2020 Autumn Term 2019 Mid Term Break

Mon 14th—Fri 18th October

School Closes

Fri 20th December 1.30pm

Spring Term 2020

School Opens

Tues 7th January

Mid Term Break

Mon 17th—Fri 21st February

School Closes

Fri 3rd April

Summer Term 2020 School opens

Mon 20th April

May Day/VE Day

Fri 8th May

Mid Term Break

Mon 25th May—Fri 29th May

School Closes

Fri 10th July

Diary Dates October Fri 11th Last day of half term Mon 14th to Half term break Fri 18th Mon 21st 3.20 FS Education City session Tues 22nd 3.20 FS Education City session First choir practice Weds 23rd Year 1 baking First Year 3 swim session 5.30-6.30 FS Parent phonics workshop Thurs 24th Book Fair in hall 8.15-8.45am FS Open Afternoon for 2020 starters 3.30-5.00pm 3.30pm ASD support group First Group 2 KS1 spy club Fri 25th Book fair in hall 3.15-4.00pm Mon 28th to Year 6 PGL Residential Fri 1st Mon 28th Book fair in hall 3.15-4.00pm Weds 30th 2.45pm KS1 parents reading session 7.30pm FSA meeting at Golden Shield

November Mon 4th First KS2 gym club Weds 6th First Yr6 cooking club—group 2 Mon 11th Remembrance Assembly Fri 15th Children in Need day Mon 18th 2.45pm Yr3/4 parents reading session Thurs 21st Final KS1 spy club—group 2 Weds 27th Flu vaccinations Final Yr3 swim session Thurs 28th 3.30pm ASD support group Sat 30th 10.30-1.30 FSA Christmas Fair

December Mon 2nd Final KS2 gym club Weds 4th Final Yr6 cooking club—group 2 Mon 9th Final lunchtime French club Tues 10th Final Yr1-4 multiskills club Weds 11th KS2 pantomime trip Fri 13th Christmas services at St Nicholas Church Tues 17th Christmas dinner Thurs 19th FS & KS1 pantomime trip Fri 20th Last day of term—school closes at 1.30pm Save the Children Christmas Jumper day