Welcome to your newsletter for week ending September 27th 

It’s been a busy week full of 'highs and lows' but we’ve finished with some welcome blue sky! We’ve also had our usual Friday Values Assembly- this week just for KS2 as KS1 were busy hosting the second of two Phonics information workshops- thankyou if you’ve come along to one of those.

Our Cadbury building (Reception classes) flooded on Thursday afternoon. Staff spent yesterday evening and today clearing up and making sure all was well to open for our youngest children again on Monday. Thankyou so much to our Reception parents and carers who have been incredibly understanding. We are looking forward to seeing the Snaps, Buttons and Twirls classes back on Monday morning!

As we are having plenty of rain at the moment, please do make sure children are coming to school with waterproof coats- and please make sure they are named- thankyou.

We have lots of events coming up over the next few weeks- please keep an eye on the website calendar here for anything that might be relevant to you. Following parent feedback, we have included more opportunities for you to get involved with your children’s learning- the first of these events is the KS1 Reading Information workshop after school on Monday.

And don’t forget that on Monday afternoon, we are having our first Parent Voice meeting where we will discuss topics for future meetings, so please come along and bring your ideas!

What's Coming Up

Values of the Week

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

The Classes with the highest attendance this week are... 

Talent Shows!

The Talent Shows on Monday were fabulous- children and staff are still talking about the amazing acts and the wonderful atmosphere that the audience created in both shows. It was an absolute pleasure to welcome on stage so many amazing talents (including some that we really weren’t expecting!). Well done to everyone who participated, whether it was on the stage, cheering acts on from the seats or helping performers to practice! It really was a magical BVP family experience!

We are definitely doing it again next year and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can use the Cadbury Theatre once more.

At Year 4's Harvest Festival on Tuesday 8th October, we are asking families to consider donating to the B30 & South Birmingham Foodbank- more details here.

The website has up-to-date information about what they currently need, but just a reminder, no fresh produce please.

(If you are not a parent/ carer in Year 4 but would like to donate, children can bring produce into school on the 8th and we can take it over to the church for you.)

In last week's newsletter we talked about our new Parents' Diversity Group. Please look out for a separate email on Monday with more details about the upcoming working party meetings- it's open to all and we'd love to have lots of you helping us to increase racial awareness in and around BVP. All are welcome!

What to read if you already like.... 

Does your child love Julia Donaldson, Roald Dhal or David Walliams?

If your child has a favourite author they like to read repeatedly, it can be difficult to find books or authors for them to read next. It is important that children have opportunities to read a wide range of authors, but finding the right ones can be difficult.

Have a look at this article, which may help you and your child find their next favourite author. Remember, many of these authors are available for your child to borrow from our school library.

Happy reading!

Who’s behind the book?

The first of the new school year! As you know, the grown-ups at BVPS love to read. Someone is hiding behind one of their favourite books. Can you guess who it is?

School dinners

We would like to remind all parents that you can pre-book your children's dinners on the Arbor app! This will help reduce the number of incorrect meal charges. You can select whether your child has school dinner (halal option available as well) or a packed lunch from home (This really helps us in the office when children select a different option). 

Instructions:

Once you opened your Arbor App go to Menu>> School Meals>> Select Autumn Term 2024/2025>> Select the chosen day of the week and confirm your child's meal choice>>

If you tick the box to "pick for all future dates" it will apply the same meal choice until the end of term e.g if you tick the box for a Monday meal, it will add it to all Monday's till the end of term. 

If you're having any difficulty with this, please contact the school office for assistance!

Choir News!

Our Year 5 and 6 choir is going well with our new Choir Leader Mrs Stidwill doing a fabulous job of teaching the children plenty of new songs. There are a few spaces still available for this (Monday's after school) so if your child is interested, please email [email protected] to let us know.

We have our first 'performance booked for our 5/6 Choir on the 8th December with the Choral Society at Ladywood Arc (St. Peter and St. John’s Church).

Mrs Cooper will be starting a lunchtime singing group for children in Years 3 and 4 soon so ask your children to look out for news in school about this!

We have signed up for next year's Young Voices event. This year we will be joining children from around the country in February.

To help our Year 5 and 6 Choir get as much practise in as possible, we will be sharing the link in next week's newsletter. 

Once we have sent out further details about the event and confirmed who is going, we will also sign parents up to the relevant section of the YV site.

Thank you to all of the Parents and Carers who attend the myHappyMind information session last Friday.  We will be running our next session on Friday 8^th November at 2.30pm -3.15pm in the George building.

As we continue to develop our pastoral provision, we are committed to building positive relationships with our whole school community and ensuring that our families are able to access the support they need.   We will be holding a Pastoral Coffee Afternoon each half term.   The first will be a chance for you to meet the Pastoral Team and find out more about the role and the types of support we can offer.  It will also give you the opportunity to share your views and discuss what you would like included in these pastoral sessions moving forward.   We look forward to welcoming you and working together to support you and your children.

Date: Friday 11^th October 2024

Venue: George Building

Time: 2.00pm-3.30pm

Following requests from a number of parents, we have included some links to websites where you can gain more information and advice on emotional regulation.

Anger Management Techniques For Kids - Strategies To Calm Down When Your Temper Rises (youtube.com)

Brain Basics: Anxiety for Kids - with Lee Constable (youtube.com)

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/professional/resources/helping-a-young-person-manage-anger/

Behaviour Matters | Emotions Matter – Helping Children to Self-Regulate

https://youtu.be/nZnJMyNT620?si=f_Q367dvlbFQW4Hg

Since 500 Words began, it has inspired over a million children across the UK to write their own short-stories. This year the BBC want to hear from even more children, no matter what their ability. It’s all about telling great stories with no need to worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar. We can’t wait to read what children come up with and celebrate the best homegrown storytelling from all across the UK.

Fresh Seasonal Salad Bar (VE)

Deli bar with a selection of jacket potato, wraps and sandwiches

Selection of fresh fruit (VE) and fruit yoghurts (V)

And finally...

Apologies that we haven't included the weekly menu today- we will make sure this information gets to you ASAP. 

We hope you have a good weekend, take care of yourselves and each other and we look forward to seeing you all back again on Monday morning.

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