The National Education Union (NEU) will be holding a second day of industrial action in schools across the South East on Thursday 2^nd March 2023.

At FCC, a very large proportion of our teachers are members of the NEU, (currently over 80%). We remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all our students, and feel that we would be unable to provide this with the very limited staff we will have available. I am sorry to have to inform you that Felpham Community College will be closed on Thursday 2nd March for the majority of students, and we are asking you not to send your child into school on this day.

On the day of the strike, students may wish to work at home on their set homework tasks, or alternatively work on education platforms such as The Oak National Academy or BBC Bitesize.

As we can only accommodate a limited number of students on the day of the strike, we will prioritise students with exams this summer:

• Year 11 – we will be running additional mock exams for year 11 and they should attend school from 8:45am until 1:30pm. (The canteen will be open at lunchtime with a limited selection available.)
• Year 12 & 13 – the Sixth Form Hub will be open for private study.
• Children of critical workers and our most vulnerable children – if you wish to book a place, please complete the form here.

I am sorry that you will have to make alternative arrangements for your child next Thursday, and that they will experience disruption to their education. It is possible that the industrial action will be called off, and if this were to happen, we will contact parents to confirm that the school will be open.

There are two further national strike days planned which may affect FCC this term: 15^th March and 16^th March. Details of the arrangements for these days will be provided nearer the time.

If you have any questions, please contact the school and I will do my best to respond.

Mark Anstiss
Headteacher

Felpham Community College ended a busy half term holding a non-school uniform day, fundraising for the Little Princess Trust. Students and staff were invited to pay a £1 fine to wear what they wanted on Friday 10^th February, with sixth form students getting involved and dressing as what they wanted to be as grown ups when they were little.

Georgina Chester, FCC Charity Co-ordinator, commented: “Within the first half term of each academic year, students across year groups vote for what charities we should support each year, through a variety of events. We always try and choose a mixture of local, national and international charities. Since September we have supported My Sister’s House, UK Harvest, The Royal British Legion, Save the Children, Stonepillow, Age UK and now the Little Princess Trust – and we are only half way through the academic year!”

For more information, please visit https://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/

The Felpham Community College year 5 primary events continued this half term, welcoming year 5 students from Bersted Green and Bishop Tufnell.

Bersted Green students got involved developing their spellbinding ideas with our drama department, and Bishop Tufnell looked at Ancient Magic with our Religion, Philosophy and Ethics teacher, Miss Wyatt.

Mr Whiffin, Deputy Headteacher commented:
“It was great to see the students, supported by our FCC Student Helpers, have some fantastic ideas and work so enthusiastically with their activities. It was also an opportunity for them to tour a secondary school and ask lots of questions about how things are different from primary, so that they can start to look forward to it instead of them possibly worrying. Year 5 students from Downview primary school visited us before Christmas, and we are now looking forward to continuing next term with a number of other local primary schools”

Felpham Community College started the new year off continuing their busy programme of charity events, this time co-ordinating a school-wide collection for Age UK. A wide variety of goods were donated, including clothes, books and toys, which were then delivered to the Bognor Age UK donation shop at the beginning of February. 

Lucy Oliver, Head Student, commented:
“We have a packed charity annual timeline at FCC including non-school uniform days, donation drives and sponsored events such as dog walks, quizzes and sporting activities. Students and staff vote for what chairities  they want to support each year and we try and choose a wide variety of local, national and international charities. It is great that the FCC community come together and do so much, we are proud of what we achieve!”

For more information on the charity please visit Age UK.