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- 16th October 2026
Newsletter 2 - 16th October 2026
Key DatesSaturday 17th October Monday 19th October Parents' Evening from 4:00 - 7:00 pm (for Year 5, Bracken class and Willow class only) Tuesday 20th October Parent Volunteering Briefing at 9:00 am Reception visit from Polka Theatre Parents' Evening from 4:00 - 7:00 pm Wednesday 21st October SCHOOL CLOSES AT 1:30 PM (Reception - Year 6) Thursday 22nd - Friday 23rd October Monday 27th - Friday 31st October Monday 2nd November Tuesday 3rd November Year 5 Sycamore visit to Reed's School Friday 6th November Tuesday 10th November Wednesday 11th November Thursday 12th November Friday 13th November |
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Click here for term dates for the current and 2027/2028 school years, including INSET days.
Key dates for families for the autumn term are published here. Some of these dates are provisional, and all are subject to change — please refer to this newsletter and communications via ParentPay for the latest information.
Reminders
Illness
If your child is unwell and will be absent from school, please inform us by 8:30 am on each day of absence. You can email the school office at office@fernhillprimary.org or call 020 8247 0300. If the office is busy, you may be put through to the answerphone. Please do leave a message and tell us the nature of your child's illness and the symptoms they have.
Year group weekly news
Don't forget to check the Google Classroom for your year group's weekly update and any important reminders from your teachers for next week.
School lunches
Please don’t forget to place an order for school lunch through ParentPay by 8:00 am on the day. Lunches for the second half of the autumn term will be available to order through ParentPay over the half-term break. There will be two special theme days - Children in Need on Friday 13th November and Christmas Lunch on Wednesday 16th December.
Class AssembliesClick here for the dates of all our class assemblies this school year. Assemblies are held in the Large Hall. Entry and exit to the Large Hall will be via the external doors (past the black gates by school reception) and not through the school building. |
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World Food Day & Kingston Foodbank Donations
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Parents' Evening
The Parents' Evening system has now closed for bookings. If you have not yet made an appointment to speak to your class teacher/s, please contact the school office. School closes early on Wednesday 21st October at 1:30 pm for children in Reception to Year 6. Please collect your child/ren promptly to allow teachers to prepare for their Parents' Evening appointments which start at 2:00 pm. Tree Tops will run from 1:30 pm until its usual finish. There are no after school clubs running next week.
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With the colder weather, please ensure that your child returns to school with a warm (and preferably waterproof) coat - we try to ensure that the children's break times are spent outside, even if there is a little rain. For outdoor PE, children should have a black tracksuit or black jogging bottoms and a black long sleeved jumper or jacket. They should not wear their school uniform jumpers or cardigans for PE. |
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This is the last newsletter of this half-term and we would like to wish all our families a well deserved and restful break. Don't forget that Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd October are INSET days and the children are not in school. The school office will close at 5:00 pm on Wednesday 21st October and reopen at 8:00 am on Monday 2nd November. Punctuality & Planned Absence
Please may we remind you of the importance of children being on time and settled in their classrooms before the start of the school day. The first 10–15 minutes of the morning are used for revisiting key skills such as handwriting, spelling, reading, times tables and arithmetic, which pupils start before the registers are taken.
Children may go straight to class once their playground gates are opened at 8:40 am; class registers are taken at 8:50 am when the playground gates are locked. Children arriving after the gates are locked should go directly to school reception to be signed in. Arrivals after 8:55 am are marked as late. Further information on the timing of the school day can be found here.
All planned absences, including those for religious observance, examinations and term-time holidays, should be requested in advance using the relevant request for absence form. These forms are online and are linked on the school website here.
If your child has a dental or medical appointment, you do not need to complete a form but please do inform us in advance by emailing the school office and attaching evidence of the appointment, for example a screenshot of the confirmation text.
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Home Learning Grids for children in Years 1 to 6 will be published at the start of next half-term and work should be completed in time for the Home Learning Showcase in school on Friday 11th December. |
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Did you know that you can set up notifications on your child's Google Classroom to alert you when your teachers publish a post? You can enable this for any device, including your mobile phone. Please see the step-by-step instructions
Eco School Litterpick
Tomorrow is our monthly local litterpick - everyone is welcome and we’d love for you to join us! If you’d like to get involved, please meet Miss Evans at 10:00 am by the Nursery gates. It’s a lovely opportunity to meet other families, have a friendly chat and help keep our local community clean and tidy. After the litterpick, we’ll head back to school to warm up with a well-deserved hot chocolate and biscuit!
Volunteering in schoolThis week, you will have received a letter from Mrs Davies about volunteering in school. We are holding two briefing sessions before the half-term break on Monday 19th October at 2:30 pm and Tuesday 20th October at 9:00 am. You only need to attend one of the sessions which will cover responsibilities and expectations including health and safety, safeguarding, confidentiality, how to support reading and phonics, and DBS checks. If you are interested in volunteering in school and can commit to doing so on a regular basis, please complete this linked form to let us know which introduction session you will attend and the year group/s you would like to support. |
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Mayor's Christmas Card Competition
Following the now well-established tradition, the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is inviting all children of primary school age, living or studying in the borough, to enter a competition to design the Mayoral Christmas Card for 2026. The winning design will be used for the Mayor's official Christmas card, and the winner will receive a prize and an invitation for the child, their parents and any siblings to join the Mayor for tea in The Mayor’s Parlour at the Guildhall. There will also be certificates for the runners up. For further information, please see the Mayor's letter and submission form. Entries should be submitted online directly to mayors.office@kingston.gov.uk by Friday 6th November.
Library Update
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Book of the Week
Reading ChampionsCongratulations to our new Year 6 Reading Champions: Elder: Adam & Eric Oak: Nadia & Tallulah Willow: Chloe & Sofia Here are some of their book recommendations: 'The Wizards of Once' by Cressida Cowell I think it is an amazing book with action and mystery. You should try reading Cowell's books! Sofia 'Small Wonder' by Ross Montgomery Small Wonder is one of my favourite books, because it is very suspenseful and it really hooks you in. Adam 'Murder Most Unladylike' by Robin Stevens I think that this is a great book. If you like mystery and adventure, you will love it! Chloe |
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Team Points Update
The overall House winner this week is HAMPTON
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KINGSTON 386 |
COOMBE 407 |
RICHMOND 394 |
HAMPTON 446 |
Attendance Update
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Weekly Attendance Well done to Year 5 who had the highest year group attendance this week with 97.8%. Congratulations to Chestnut class who had the highest class attendance at 99.7%.
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Year | Attendance % | Star Year ★ |
| Reception | 96.9% | ||
| Year 1 | 97.3% | ||
| Year 2 | 95.8% | ||
| Year 3 | 97.2% | ||
| Year 4 | 97.7% | ||
| Year 5 | 97.8% | ★ | |
| Year 6 | 95.6% | ||
PSA News & Events
Fern Hill PSA’s Fireworks Night is back on Tuesday 10th November 2026!!
Get ready to light up the night! Our Fern Hill PSA fireworks display will be back on Tuesday 10th November at school, with gates opening at 5:45 pm, so there will be plenty of time to warm up beforehand.
WHAT'S ON
A stunning professional fireworks display
Bevans hot dogs (with vegetarian options)
Mulled wine and beer
Hot chocolate, sweet treats and other refreshments
The return of our incredibly popular glow in the dark games
ENTRY
Tickets are priced at £7.50 for everyone attending. Children aged 2 and under are free to attend and do not require a ticket.
Please note there is a maximum allocation of six tickets per online order and a maximum of six tickets per family. This event is aimed at children who attend Fern Hill, their siblings, parents and primary carers only.
This is an extremely popular event and tickets do sell out extremely quickly.
Tickets will be available from 8:00 pm on Monday 19th October here.
We look forward to seeing you there!
