Peterchurch, Herefordshire, HR2 0SG

"A forward-looking school with traditional values"

Welcome

We are proud to show you our outstanding school in the depths of rural Herefordshire, complete with students, adults and animals. One of the very smallest schools in Britain and one of the very best if Ofsted, exam results and league tables, parents and students are anything to go by. Small schools can provide a completely rounded experience and a full range of opportunities - social, creative, sporting, as well as superb exam results. It requires dedication, vision, commitment and energy and a mutual respect and purpose among everyone who works and studies at the school.

Please follow this link for more about the whole Fairfield experience.

History Year 11

Friday finally saw the Year 11 GCSE troops descend into the Big Pit in Blaenavon. Although the original trip was cancelled due to flooding, Friday was the first sunny day this year. Things weren't so comfortable underground however.
And yes, we were photo bombed in this one. Can you spot Miss Hart?

GCSE Timetable Summer 2014

The vital dates for GCSE are now available from this link, with an option to download and print out a copy.
Students should ensure they familiarise themselves very carefully with these dates and times both to avoid panic on the day and also to enable a systematic revision plan.
Attention is drawn to the fact that the official leaving date is after Friday June 27th, so no holidays or jobs can be started until then.

Fairfield Paris Trip - In Verse!

Fairfield students are pictured here just outside a Paris restaurant. A fantastic time was had by all - in spite of the floods before our departure on Thursday 13th.

For a rather wonderful poetic account of the visit, please follow this link - and enjoy!
Mme Gallagher

Spring Newsletter

Please follow this link for the Spring Update from the Head which includes updates on Academy status, weather arrangements, communicating with parents and other items of interest.

Half Term Work

Over half term our IT Network Team were carrying out vital IT upgrades to our systems. As a result of their work, students were not able to use remote access or the VLE. We were however able to provide students work from departments and homework.

Rain!

It's that time of year again...
Some weather forecasters are predicting the worst winter since 1947 - but they are often wrong. If there is snow and ice in your area when you go to bed at night or when you wake up in the morning there is the possibility that schools may have to close for safety reasons. There will be a list of school closures at regular intervals on BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester and on the council's website and Twitter feed, but your first point of call should be here on the school website where any information about school closure will be posted from 7:15 a.m. If there is a prolonged closure, work will be available via Remote Access.
The school will always remain open if the site and access are safe - though school transport may not always be able to run.
For a detailed local weather forecast, click here.

Year 9 Choices Booklet

is now available online here.

All students at Fairfield have been given the opportunity to develop their language learning skills using an addictive languages programme called Vocab Express. Students learn vocabulary from their chosen topic and are then tested to get it word perfect.

Although only in use since the beginning of term, some of our students have already accrued thousands of points and will shortly be receiving a certificate in recognition of their fantastic efforts.
Bravo Fairfield Language Students – et bonne continuation!

Red Letter Day

We invite you to read a very special letter just received.

Matt Catterall Wins Bronze

	All Matt's hard work training has paid off as he won a Bronze medal at the Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships at the NIAC in Cardiff on Saturday. This is a tremendous achievement as he has only just started running the 400m in the U17 age category, which means that the majority of his opponents were age 17.
We are now hopeful that Matt will be selected to represent Wales in the SIAB International meet in Cardiif this year and this could lead to selection for the Welsh Junior Commonwealth Development Squad. Well done indeed, Matt.

School League Tables

School League Tables were published last week. For a snapshot of Fairfield's performance, click here. For a fuller overview, please follow this link. A huge amount of information on schools is freely available from the Department of Education website and what better place to start than scrutinising Fairfield here?!

La Galette des Rois

Y9 and Y10 French students enjoyed sampling the special cake - La Galette des Rois - traditionally eaten at Epiphany in France. The tradition dates back to 1311 and is still widely celebrated in France.

Here are pictures of a galette and a lucky person who found the charm (fève) inside, earning the right to become Queen for the day! Bonne année à tous et à toutes!
Madame Gallagher

Smart Start

September saw the launch of a new ‘Smart Start’ initiative at Fairfield, which includes a daily check of uniform and equipment. Students have worked really hard over the last term to improve uniform standards and ensure that they have the right equipment, and this continues to improve. A massive WELL DONE to the following tutors groups that have been outstanding with their Smart Start and are the ‘Smart Start’ winners for last term -

7 Dore, 8 Dore, 9 Escley, 10 Monnow, 11 Dore.

Attendance

We have seen a brilliant start to this academic year with attendance, and a large number of students achieved 100% attendance in the Autumn Term. Well done! We are looking forward to seeing these figures further improve and more students being congratulated for 100% attendance.

Year 11 Countdown to GCSE

Year 11 are now entering the final and most critical phase of their education at Fairfield. There are not many school weeks left until the written GCSE exams begin on May 12th - and controlled tasks for practical subjects will start much sooner, if they have not done so already. Read more here.

Copies of letters sent home are available in the sidebar under Letters and Information.

Spring Term PE Clubs

From Basketball to Trampolining - and much more in between - there's lots on offer at lunchtimes and after school.
Follow this link for more information.

UPDATE - Charities afternoon raised £2500!!!

Charities afternoon was an amazing success, raising £2500.

We have also set up monthly sponsorship of child at a special school in India and 51 beautiful and generous Christmas shoe boxes are winging their way to Monte Negro to make lots of little people smile this Christmas.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Ofsted came and saw and reported. Above is their summary and here is the full report. Chair of Governors, Paula James, writes:

The new Ofsted framework is considerably tougher than those applied previously and Oustanding outcomes are not given lightly.

Congratulations are due to everyone associated with the school: the staff - teaching and non-teaching, the senior management team, the students, parents, governors, but above all, the head teacher, Mrs Gaston. Ofsted says: "The headteacher's strong and clear-sighted leadership is the main driving force behind the school's continuing success". This is high praise which the governors know to be fully justified.

Read Mrs James' full letter here.

Generosity

“Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.”

Our students are VERY generous! Here are some of the details of last school year's giving -

North Weir Charity £300
Concern Universal £300
Changing Faces £400
LEUKA (in memory of Rachel Davies) £200
Concern Worldwide £300
Operational Blessing £300
St Michael's Hospice £200
Cystic Fibrosis £200

WWYL day money raised
ActionDuchenne £200
Megan Baker House £173.50
St John Ambulance £173.50
Children in Need £143.14

Amazing totals - especially for such a tiny school!

"No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure."

Free money for Fairfield!!

When you buy online via The Giving Machine, a sales commission is received from the participating shop. 75% of this is converted into a donation on your behalf and sent to your chosen beneficiary(s) – ie Fairfield. 25% is retained to contribute to costs of maintaining the website and distributing donations. You are buying the same products, at the same price, on the same shopping websites as if you went direct but the difference is: by shopping via The Giving Machine you generate free cash donations at no extra cost to you personally.

Please follow this link to read about helping the school and how easy it is to be involved.

Tweet Tweet

We have a Twitter feed where we put new information - and especially URGENT information - on a regular basis. If you already use Twitter, just follow us and you will receive the latest news from school. If you don't yet participate, here's a good place to start! As with the web in general, there is a HUGE amount of rubbish on Twitter but, if you selectively follow the right people and organizations (such as Josie Pearson, Open Culture, some of the many BBC feeds and Hay Festival for example) you are kept up to date with interesting developments in news and ideas. You may wish to find out more about a particular topic by searching for it or you may be tempted to follow some of the "Trending" topics which the majority of people are following at any one time. Of course, if you have a phone which has friendstreams or widgets for sites like this, you need never miss a thing - but we would recommend five minutes a day catch-up as enough!
Whoever you follow, please follow Fairfield.

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