Newsletter 5 - 3rd July 2026

Key Dates

Monday 6th July 
Richmond borough schools Year 6 transition day

Tuesday 7th July 
Author visit from Cath Howe

Wednesday 8th July 
Fern Speak Final

Thursday 9th July 
Beech class parent assembly at 9:00 am

Friday 10th July 
Home Learning Showcase for Years 1 - 6

Thursday 16th July 
TKA Talk for Year 5 parents at 9:00 am

Year 6 Production at 6:00 pm

Friday 17th July 
Year 6 Production at 9:15 am

Year 1 visit to London Zoo

Year 5 Enterprise Fair at 3:00 pm

Saturday 18th July 
Eco School Community Litterpick

Sunday 19th July 
PSA Kingston Dragon Boat Race

Monday 20th July 
Class changeover day 

Nursery closed - new to Reception & Nursery Stay and Play sessions

Year 6 Leavers' Party 5:30 - 7:00 pm

Tuesday 21st July
Year 6 Leavers' Assembly at 9:00 am

Wednesday 22nd July
LAST DAY OF TERM - SCHOOL CLOSES AT 1:30 PM

Nursery Summer Concert & Picnic at 11:30 am

Thursday 23rd July - Wednesday 2nd September 
SUMMER BREAK

Thursday 3rd September 
INSET day - school closed for children

Friday 4th September 
INSET day - school closed for children

Monday 7th September 
Children return to school

 

Click here for term dates for the current and 2026/2027 school years, including INSET days.

Key dates for families for the spring and summer terms are published here. Some of these dates are provisional, and all dates are subject to change — please refer to this newsletter and communications via ParentPay for the latest information.

Reminders

Year Group Weekly News
Don't forget to check your child's Google Classroom for your year group's weekly update and any important reminders for next week. 

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 our voicemail. Please do leave a message, telling us the nature of your child's illness and the symptoms they have.

Home Learning 2

Home Learning

Home Learning activities for this final half-term are due in school by Friday 10th July in time for the Home Learning Showcase. Your child's Home Learning Grid and any supporting resources are published on their Google Classroom.

Parent VoiceIn line with the Department for Education’s updated statutory guidance, we have been reviewing our Trust-wide policy and Relationships and Sex Education curriculum for implementation in September 2026 and we would like your feedback to help ensure that our curriculum continues to meet the needs of our pupils, and reflects the values of our community.

Please see this letter from Ms Crook for further information and links to both the draft policy and the google form survey. The survey will close on Friday 17th July.

Spark!Spark! Competition

Congratulations to the winners of our Spark! Pupil Competition:

Kai - Bracken (also a Runner-Up in the Inter-School KS1 Competition)

Aline - Yew

Bonnie - Sycamore

Rayva - Elder

Our competition winners and the children who produced the best Spark! Reading Booklets, also had the opportunity to attend the live filming of the Spark! Final Award Ceremony at TKA. 

Absence from school

Please may we remind you that all absences, including those for religious observance, should be requested in advance. Our Request for Absence Form is now available online. It is also available to download from the school website here and the school office can provide a paper copy on request. This form is reviewed by Mr Scott who can grant an authorised leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. For further information, please refer to our Attendance Policy. 

Summer Reading ChallengeSummer Reading

The Reading Agency's Summer Reading Challenge starts tomorrow, online and in libraries across the country. This year's theme is Read to the Beat, inspiring children to explore the connection between stories and songs, discovering how reading and music both ignite imagination and creativity.

The Summer Reading Challenge is aimed at children from 4-11 years old to help prepare them to get back to the classroom in the autumn, support their move into a new year group or key stage and boost their confidence and self-esteem with independent reading.

InclusionYoung Carers at Fern Hill

A Young Carer is someone under the age of 18 who is caring for another person at home who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems. They often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. There are at least 700,000 Young Carers in the UK but many do not recognise themselves as one and are not supported in their role. We know that Young Carers may need a little extra support to enjoy, and do well, at school and we are committed to ensuring that these pupils are identified, and supported effectively. Linked below are two leaflets that provide further information on the role of a Young Carer and how we can help them to enjoy school and make good progress.

Fern Hill Young Carers Information

Young Carers Project Kingston Information

If you think your child might be a Young Carer, or is affected by any of the issues highlighted in the information linked above, please let us know by completing this short form. Any information that you provide will be treated sensitively and no information will be shared without your prior knowledge and consent.

Music ExplorersKingston Music Service

Kingston Music Service are running two fantatsic, hands-on courses over the summer to keep the musical momentum going, both at the Hook Centre in Chessington.

FUEL Music Explorers (Primary - Years 2-6): 3-day (22-24 July) and 5-day (27-31 July)
Fun-filled music making and arts activities. Open to those with some musical experience and complete beginners! Free lunch is included.

Songwriting and Recording Bootcamp (Secondary - Years 6-11): 5-day (20-24 and 27-31 July)
A small-group studio experience blending band performance with real-world audio engineering. Students will build a band track from scratch, learning microphone techniques, overdubbing, and mixing.

Click here for further information and booking.

FOLAR 2026Community

The Friends of Latchmere Recreation Ground (FoLaR) are running their Music on the Rec event again this year, on Saturday 11th July, all day from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm. There will be a children's disco and plenty of live music from local bands, a bar and food. It's free entry!  

Book of the Week

Evolution'Choose Your Own Evolution' by Jules Howard & Gordy Wright

Winner of the 2026 Spark! Book Award for Non-Fiction

If you enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure series, you’ll love this natural history alternative. You start in the ocean, 570 million years ago, as a hungry blob called a Dickinsonia. From here you can choose three options: to develop your sea legs, become something slimy or grow a backbone. You can follow your choices through to the end, dip in out or skip ahead to the evolutionary family tree to trace your favourite animal back to its origins.

This innovative and beautifully illustrated book creates a thrilling, interactive adventure out of evolution - highly recommended!

Team Points Update

The overall House winner this week is RICHMOND

KINGSTON

292

COOMBE

234

RICHMOND

294

HAMPTON

289

Attendance Update

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 1 who had the highest year group attendance this week with 98.8%. 

Congratulations to Larch class with 100% attendance!

 

 

 Year Attendance % Star Year ★
Reception 95.2%  
Year 1 98.8% ★
Year 2 95.1%  
Year 3 96.9%  
Year 4 96%  
Year 5 95.8%  
Year 6 85.4%  
     

 

PSA News & Events

Click here for Fern Hill PSA's latest newsletter.

Newsletter April 2026 1

Newsletter April 2026 2

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