Welcome to your newsletter for week ending December 6th

We've ended the week feeling very festive! The trees are up and lights are illuminating the Elizabeth and George Halls! As we speak, the PTA and volunteers are getting everything prepped for the Christmas Fair tomorrow- this kicks off a fortnight of events to celebrate this special time in the calendar. Have a good look at the dates and details below- there are many opportunities for you to come in to school over the next two weeks and we are looking forward to welcoming many of you into school.

As you know, our wonderful Mrs Carter is retiring at the end of term.. and we have a few surprises up our sleeve to help celebrate the (almost!) two decades of her dedication to our BVP school family. In January, Mr Reece King will be taking over the DHT reigns; he has been in school quite a bit and the children are getting to know him, to ensure a smooth transition.

We have had a few parent workshops over the last two weeks- if you missed them you can find the details/ powerpoints on the website under the Maths and English pages and also the Year 6 page (for the SATs workshop info). Any questions about these, please get in touch.

Also, on Monday we will be sharing our Parent/ Carer survey with families- please do spend 5 minutes completing this if you can- by listening to and reflecting on your feedback, we know we have a better chance of ensuring the school experience is just right for our children. 

What's Coming Up

Values of the Week

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

This week some of our children have been learning about how to manage their big feelings using the ‘ I Notice, I Feel, I Am,’ strategy. This is a strategy we use in school and we have attached resources you may find helpful when supporting your child at home , along with a short video.    We have also included a link to guidance for  using Emotion Coaching, which also helps to support older children with emotional regulation.

I Notice, I feel, I can Video https://youtu.be/JwmnHOzytIU?si=Nog3G91TWVMeTcvG

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require support or have concerns about your child, either by telephoning the main office or via our email [email protected]

Parents Mental Health Support | Advice for Your Child | YoungMinds

the-waitingroom.org- This is your one stop directory for health and wellbeing services across Birmingham and Solihull. 

Have a safe, peaceful weekend and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.

The Parenting Directory (link here) provides schools with a description of each online and in-person course within the Family Hubs Best Start for Life parenting offer and within Birmingham Children’s Trust targeted parenting offer.  The description include course content, an outline of the modules, length of the programme as well as links to introductory/explanatory videos and information leaflets for professionals and parents (where available). Although primarily for school staff, we thought it was a useful resource to share with families.

Decembar is here!

No, that isn’t a typo, it’s the White Rose Maths annual bar modelling challenge! Previously known as Barvember, but now with a much better name, Decembar is all about encouraging children to solve mathematical problems using bar modelling. If you want to learn more for yourself, please visit the link below:

https://whiteroseeducation.com/resources/decembar?utm_content=327377089&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-2859397367#download

Attached are today’s problems for you to solve at home. Recommended difficulty levels are as follows:

Question 1 (Y2)

Question 2 (Y3-4)

Question 3 (Y4-5)

Question 4 (Y6)

Daily challenge – if you dare!

We will always include next weeks menu in our newsletters but if you would like to look at all menus for this half term, you can check our school website here: https://www.bournvillevillageprimary.org.uk/Page/Detail/school-meals 

Introducing this year Christmas Menu!!

The Christmas dinner will be on Wednesday 11th December for our BVP pupils.

If you would like your child to have a Christmas dinner, please book the School Dinner option on Arbor.

And finally...

We hope the rain doesn't dampen the Christmas Spirit over the weekend. We are looking forward to seeing lots of you at the Fair in the morning. The Choir are opening up at 11am and the we will hopefully have some members of our Year 3 and 4 Singing Group to entertain you at 12:30pm. 

That's all from me- read on to find lots more details about the Fair, Discos and Carols on the Playground.

Christmas events:

Christmas Fair 7th December 11:00 - 15:00

Come and join us tomorrow (Saturday) at the Christmas Fair. Doors open at 11:00 with the Yr5/6 choir and then 3/4 singing group at 12:30.

Santa's Grotto will be open straight away, so secure your ticket in a 15-minute slot to visit (£2.50 per child) so you don't have to queue!

You will be able to enjoy; craft (50p), games (20p), tombola, (20p) silent disco (free), Parent Gift Room (£5 for 1 gift, or £8 for 2 gifts carefully selected by your kids and helped to wrap in secret), cafe (with hot drinks, cold drinks, cakes, samosas, crisps- price list applies), uniform/books/DVDs (pay what you can), Christmas Story time (free) and we hope to have the mulled wine going again. So, no matter what the weather outside, inside the George Hall will be a warm, inviting and cosy for you to enjoy.

We have also got a great bunch of designer/makers from the community and some exciting enterprises from ex-pupils and existing pupils alike including 3D printing, bracelets, cards, key rings, bag charms.

Christmas Raffle

Tickets are now available on Arbor for the Christmas Raffle Draw £1 per entry which will take place on 20th December.

The prize list has been published and will be updated after the Fair as stall holders have kindly agreed to donate raffle prizes in return for their stall, expect more to be added! https://bournvillehsa.wordpress.com/2024/12/01/end-of-term-raffle-dec-2024/

Christmas Cake Raffle

We have also secured a repeat donation of a Cake to raffle. Tickets for the Christmas Cake Raffle are now on Arbor, £1 per entry with the draw on 13th December during the Carols in the Playground event.

Discos

Parents & Guardians: If you are able to help, please text 07974331102 and join the team. We ask that no phones are bought to the disco, or if absolutely needed, then handed into a member of the team upon arrival.

Year 1 Disco is in the Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday 10^th December. Those that have bought tickets on Arbor will be guided into the Hall for the disco. For those that can't make it this time round then they will be dismissed at the end of the school day as normal.

Year 2/3 Disco is in the George Hall on Thursday 12^th December straight after School until 17:00. Those that have bought tickets on Arbor will be guided into the Hall for the disco. A paid for tuck shop will be available, as well as water throughout. Children can bring own clothes to change into if they wish. For those that can't make it this time round then they will be dismissed at the end of the School day as normal.

Pick up will be from the George Hall following the one way in/out system that you be guided towards. For those that have got pushchairs at the 17:00 pickup please wait by the front door off Woodbrook Road and you will be escorted around to the Hall via step-free access. It will be better for you and better for us to run a safe and secure pickup.

Year 4/5/6 Disco is in the George Hall on Thursday 12^th December starting at 18:00 and finishing at 19:30. A paid for tuck shop will be available, as well as water throughout. Pick up will be from the George Hall following the one way in/out system that you be guided towards.

Carols in the Playground

Carols in the Playground will be held on Friday 13^th December. Gates will open at 14:00 for Parents/Guardians to come and enjoy a cup of tea/coffee and a mince pie. Please feel free to bring refillable mugs and we will happily fill them for you. Cash and card donations welcome.

The whole school will come out at 14:30 to sing with everyone in the lower playground. School will end at normal time through the normal process. We will also be drawing the Christmas Cake Raffle at this event.

PTA Gameplan

As a reminder, the PTA is a registered charity with the Charity Commission and is a separate entity to the school, with Trustees (currently David Roberts and Amy Cooper) and a formal Committee (nominated each year) who are responsible for the charitable activities of the PTA. 

The PTA Committee is ALREADY supported by 10-15 parents who form the PTA Core Team and then by +60-70 Parents that volunteer regularly at the discos and other events, and then by all Parents of the School as demonstrated by sending your kids to the disco, or buying Christmas cards, or coming the Fair. It is quite amazing what the whole BVPS Family can achieve when there is common ground and shared outcomes of making fun things happen around School, and the bi-product is being able to donate surplus funds to the School to help them create shared experiences and invest in the School in the areas that they choose to.

Each year we need to hold our AGM to comply with the Charity Commission, and nominate and appoint Parents to the PTA Committee. For the last few years David Roberts has been nominated and appointed to the role of PTA Chair, and Veronica Lapena has been nominated and appointed to the role of PTA Treasurer. Both David and Veronica are due to leave the School in July 2026 (both have youngest currently in Year 5) and as such we are establishing a handover plan to incoming PTA Committee members. 

There is already a plan for handover from David to Becki Newman (youngest currently in Year 2) who will be forming her team over the coming months. If you know her, please support her where you can. If you don't know her, please continue to support the PTA activities as you are doing now!

However, we are looking for someone to pick up the role of PTA Treasurer from Jan 2026 onwards from Veronica. This person will need to be confident with handling and managing money, understand basic bookkeeping processes and be willing to be part of the governance structure in processing payments, be fully supported by Veronica right up until July 2026, as well as fully supporting Becki and the new PTA Core Team with the activities that they make happen. If this is something that you think you can do/could do with the right support then please do contact us at [email protected] and we can go from there.

Many of the current PTA Core Team are also leaving in July 2026 and so we are seeking any Parents who understand what we are doing around School and come forward to be part of the evolving PTA Core Team.

Above anything else the School SLT, Teachers and Estate Team continue to provide an immense amount of support to whatever PTA team is in place - because they see the benefit of doing so to the School, the kids, and the BVPS Families. If you want a good thing to continue, then please do provide the support where you can and consider the opportunities available to get more involved!

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.

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