Welcome to your newsletter for week ending June 21st

It's been great finishing the week with some sunshine- at last we feel like it's the summer term! It's been as busy as ever in and around school with class trips and residentials too.

Today we held our last Parent Voice meeting for the year. We discussed how to ensure we make meetings accessible for as many parents and carers possible and we also started thinking about some topics and focus areas for next year. To ensure we cover the points that are most relevant to families, we will add a question to the Parent/Carer survey which is coming out in the last week of term. As always, get in touch at any time if you've got some thoughts on this.

Today we also had our last Rights Respecting School Ambassador meeting for the year and we finalised plans for a 'Celebrating Culture' day (date and details coming very soon!), along with firming up plans to have a world map on display on the playground- our RRS Ambassadors are keen for parents and carers to 'put a pin on the map' to show where pupils have family links to, across the world. Finally, they decided on the resources they would like to buy, in order to set up a 'democracy station', enabling children across the school to easily have a say in decision making. 

Read on for more news about the week!

What's Coming Up

Values of the Week

Today the teachers presented Values Certificates to the following children for demonstrating Collaboration.

This week's winners are:

* ASHA (Reception) - RGR

* AXEL (KS1) - 1RT

* ATTIE (KS2) - 5H

Message from our lovely lunchtime supervisors:

Dear families, 

We are in desperate need of some toys for lunchtime play - specifically construction toys, cars, etc. Any good quality items you can donate would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you! 

We would also like to remind parents to provide their child with a blanket for the "Picnic Lunch" on Thursday 27th June (See menu further down for more details).

Guinea Pig Updates

This week we are very excited to announced the names of our Guinea Pigs… Dolly and Hillary, who the children have now nicknamed Hilly!

It has been a very calm week in The Den with children from across school being able to meet our new arrivals. We have had children proudly bringing their work down to show Dolly and Hillary, as well as the opportunity for children to spend time reading to them. We have been incredibly proud of the respect and care the children have shown to our new BVP family members, with children having a wonderful time cleaning, feeding and talking to them.

We are aware that all of our children are excitedly waiting to meet Dolly and Hillary, but in order for this to be done in a way that is not stressful or overwhelming for the guinea pigs, we are doing this individually and in very small groups over a period of weeks. Miss Flood is our very own Guinea Pig expert teaching us such a lot this week and ensuring that Dolly and Hillary are settled and happy, while also introducing them to Reception.

We wanted to say a special ‘Thank you!’ to Miss Flood and Mrs Plant for all of their wonderful donations, we are very grateful and Dolly and Hillary are feeling very spoilt and very loved. 

Quick reminder that on Tuesday The Pastoral Team will be available after school from 3.30pm-4.30pm in The Cottage, so please feel free to pop in and see us.

Have a lovely weekend. The Pastoral Team  x

A Visit From Andy Day!

This week, pupils in YR – Y3 had a very exciting visitor. Author and TV presenter Andy Day came to visit the children and talk about his brand-new book “Dino Dad”.

He shared an extract from his book, tested the children on their dinosaur knowledge, gave a crash course in illustrating, and even entertained us with a rap! It was wonderful to see the children so inspired and excited, and many of the children had signed books to take home.

We can’t wait to hear what the children think of “Dino Dad” and we are already looking forward to book number 2 in October! We would love to see your youngsters reading their new book, so please send them our way: [email protected]

Who's behind the book? The reveal!

Did you guess correctly?

Can you tell who's hiding behind the book this week?

We are excited to welcome a new arrival to BVP!

Meet Tiny, the maths-loving tortoise, who has joined our school team and is excited to see what maths the children will be learning around school.

Children from Reception upwards will recognise Tiny through our White Rose Maths scheme, and although he has a reputation for getting it wrong, he will surely learn a thing or two from being in our classrooms.

Tiny will come and visit a new class each week, and if he spots any fantastic maths learning, he may reappear in future newsletters – possibly along with some photos of children and their work!

Impress your friends and family with this leak proof bag trick!

You will need:

• Sharp pencils
• Plastic sealable bag
• Water

Instructions:

1. Half-fill the bag with water.
2. You need to be brave for the next part. Make sure your pencil is sharp and push through the bag, you don’t need to be especially fast, slowly and carefully works well.
3. Once you’re done, show your audience your leak proof bag.

This trick works because the plastic bag forms a temporary seal against the edge of the pencil. If you were to take the pencils out the bag would leak.

Now try this

• Does a blunt pencil work as well?
• How many pencils can you push through the bag?
• Does the thickness of the pencil make a difference?

Fresh seasonal salad bar and fresh bread available daily, as well as a daily selection of fresh fruit and fruit yoghurts.

Picnic Menu- Thursday 27th June 

8 Ways to support the PTA...

1) Book your Quiz Night tickets for 5th July. Click Here - tickets available on Arbor to purchase.

2) Buy Raffle Tickets for the End of Term Raffle Draw - available on Arbor - draw on 19th July at 11:00 - if you have anything that you want to donate to promote your business/support the school please send email to [email protected] with the details

3) Buy disco tickets. We will need the +60 volunteers again! Join the team by sending text message to 07974331102

4) Bring books in - The Big Book Giveaway worked well - we will do it again! 

5) Bring unwanted uniform in - we are always looking for good quality pre-loved uniform for the School Shop

6) Year 6 buy your Production recording on Arbor now

7). Volunteer to help with Year 6 Leavers events: send a text to 07974331102

8.) Borrow the Silent Disco Kit (60 headphones, 3 transmitters) and donate to the fundraising pot. If you know of any other Schools or Groups in the area that might want to borrow the kit let us know.

And finally...

Next week we will be welcoming our newest children and parents to the school family, and we will also be welcoming a new member of staff to the Reception team. Miss Zara Flynn will be joining us in September and before the end the term, we will be giving her a spotlight in the newsletter. And as we say 'hello' to Miss Flynn, we will also be saying farewell to Mrs Cotterill and Miss Han, both based in our Early Years Department. Again, we will give them a proper 'goodbye and good luck' before the end of the term.

We hope the sunshine continues over the weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone back again, bright and early on Monday morning.

Take care all. 

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is the responsibility of everyone in our school and at all times we consider what is in our children’s best interests. We work to ensure our children are safe and cared for and by doing this we are protecting their health and development and preventing them from harm. If we are worried, we will raise concerns, share information, and take prompt action with the aim of ensuring families receive the right help at the right time.

Going On In Your Area

Bring It On Brum!

Is your child eligible for Free School Meals? If they are, your child is also entitled to FREE holiday clubs during the summer holidays!

There are a huge range of activities available including sports and games, arts and crafts, cookery, dance and music. Programmes vary depending on the type and location of each local club and each holiday club will give your child a nutritious meal too.

Booking Information

You will need your Bring it on Brum! (HAF/FSM) code to book your holiday activities. This code will have been emailed to you. If you have not received this, please contact the school office.

Holiday clubs can be booked via the Bring it on Brum! website at www.bringitonbrum.co.uk or directly with the holiday club of your choice.

The summer holiday clubs will take place from Wednesday 24^th July- Tuesday 3^rd September (excludes Bank Holidays and weekends). Bookings open from Monday 1^st July. 

Click here to read Selly Oak and Hall Green's full newsletter!