Welcome to your newsletter for week ending October 11th

It was wonderful to see so many children wearing ‘red’ on Thursday, in support of World Homeless Day and St.Basils. Although we weren’t asking for donations, it was heartening to see so many families united in raising the awareness of this charity and their cause. Children across the school engaged in thoughtful conversation about homelessness, the reasons people across the world may become homeless and the work of different charities and organisations in their bid to reduce the number of people affected by this. It was a powerful exercise in developing compassion and empathy; so much so that some of our Year 5 girls have asked if we can have a 'bake sale' after school, so we can contribute further. This will be after school next Friday, so please bring plenty of small change!

As you see below, we have quite a bit going on in the last two weeks of the half term- please do make a note of events happening around school so you don’t miss out.

Before you read on, please can we remind you that dogs (or any other animals) should not be brought onto the school grounds without permission from a member of staff- we need to remember that there are children and adults in and around school that may be nervous of dogs or other pets. Thankyou

What's Coming Up

Values of the Week

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

Parents' Evenings

Booking for Parents' Evening appointments will be open from 7pm on Monday, via the Arbor App. Any questions, please ask! We're also pleased to announce that we will have a Scholastic Book Fair available for you to view (and buy books from!) during Parents' Evenings- please keep a look out for more info!

Multi-Skills Festival Success

On Wednesday afternoon a group of our Year 3 and Year 4 children participated in a Multi-Skills workshop at Bournville All Through School. The were joined by five other local primaries. Mr Rogers said "The children were incredible and threw themselves into every activity on offer, and were fantastic representatives of BVP. All the children went home worn out but still smiling!". 

As well as our Parent Voice meetings and working parties, we are looking for a group of parents/ family members who can help us with gaining specific feedback on aspects of school life- these include topics such as the ways you would like us to keep you updated on your child's progress and how well you feel your children are challenged in their learning. We are hoping to get a group of willing parents together, before half term to give us a 'baseline' from which to work on. We would then ask that we speak to these parents again towards the end of the summer term, to help us measure progress. if you feel you could spare us 30mins at a time convenient to you some time soon, and again in July, please get in touch via [email protected]

It's Rocktober...week 1!

The KS2 children have been working really hard on TT Rock Stars in the last week – here are the top rock stars in each class, with their number of correct answers in brackets. Bear in mind, this is only for the last 7 days, which makes these numbers really impressive!

3B – Teddy (609)   3P – Teson (642)   3S – Sophie (745)

4BW – Logan (6,173) – Top of the Rocks in KS2!

4C – Oscar (1,246)   4EW – Amber (3,243)

5H – Isabelle (537)   5LS – Francine (635)   5S – Archie (1,258)

6M – Maisie (4,110)   6OG – Amina (5,619)  6S – Charlie (1,763)

You said... "...the school needs to remain mindful of its population and their diverse set of needs, by engaging in racial awareness for both staff and pupil alike."

So we... have formed a Diversity Working Party and our first meeting is at 10am on Monday- it's not to late to join us! if you are able, please let Jogita know via [email protected]

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) as well as plans to visit the Memory Cafe, the Quadrangle (Bournville Almshouses). There are also plans for a tea party for elderly residents in our community.... so if you want to be part of all the excitement, please let us know!

Mrs Cooper's lunchtime 'singing group' for children in Years 3 and 4 starts after half term on a Tuesday from 12-12:30pm (with the support of Charlotte Barber, our pianist!). We will be asking children to 'sign up' for this before the end of the half term. 

As we mentioned last week, we are already preparing for the next Young Voices event. This year we will be joining children from around the country on Friday 28th February.

To help our Year 5 and 6 Choir get as much practise in as possible, please use the link here to sign up to the YV Music Room and access all the music and further information.

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, if they haven't already done so.

With so many books out there it can be hard to know which ones to go for, each week we will share some of our recommended reads.

Recommended Reads from Mrs May and Ms Kovacs....

The Hub of Hope is the UK’s leading mental health support database.

It is provided by national mental health charity, Chasing the Stigma, and brings local, national, peer, community, charity, private and NHS mental health support and services together in one place  Click here for the link to Mental Health Support Network provided by Chasing the Stigma | Hub of hope.

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.

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!

And finally...

We're looking forward to seeing lots of you in and around school over the next two weeks - as always, always pull us to one side or get in touch if there is anything we can help with. BVP is our school, with our children firmly at the top of the list, so we will do all we can to get things right for them all.

We hope the lovely Autumn continues to shine for just a bit longer and we look forward to seeing you 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