Hello families and welcome to this week's newsletter. Apologies for the disappearing edition last week- I'm afraid it seems I deleted it, shortly after sharing it with you all! (Not the best thing to do after our office team had worked so hard to produce it!)

We hope you enjoy this week's bumper issue with plenty of news about upcoming events; there is lots to read so I'll keep my bit super short! 

Values of The Week 

Today, teachers have presented the Values certificate to the following children for demonstrating Responsibility.

It is with some sadness but a great deal of pride that we announce Miss Abraham's departure from BVP at the end of this term. Miss Abrahams is embarking on her dream to become a social worker and we know she will fulfil this role brilliantly. 

So in January, Miss Kovacs will be stepping in to the role of Pastoral Lead with Mr Purcell taking on the Pastoral Assistant post. We will be working hard to ensure these changes have minimal impact on the children and families that the team work with.

In the meantime, please continue to get in touch with Lou and Steph using the usual channels.

Reception and Year 2's Carol Concert takes place on Wednesday 20^th December 2023 in the George Building at Bournville Village School. The performance will start at 9.15am and will last approximately 20 minutes. Please arrive from 9am through the Woodbrooke Road entrance so that you are seated in school ready for the event.

Due to limited space, we are asking that only 1 adult per child attend with no toddlers or babies. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

We are very excited for our Year 1 nativity on Tuesday 19th December at St Francis' Church. The performance will start at 9.30am and each pupil can have two guests come to watch the festive performance. We hope you can make it! 

Well Done Bournville Chess players!

On Monday, we entered a team of 4 into the Warwickshire Primary Schools Team Championship. We were placed into Zone 1, competing with Hallfield, St Mary’s, Blue Coat, Acocks Green and Waverley. We took 4 children; Owen S, Lewis R, Isaac T, and Asha A, who had to play against a player from every school. It was a very tough competition with some children experiencing chess in this way. Many of the children they played, had already been competing in events across the country. Bournville battled and did our best and managed to finish with heads held high.

Thank you to Hallfield School for hosting the event and a huge well done to all our players who played. You represented our school with a great attitude demonstrating all our school values.

We are delighted to announce that on Wednesday 29^th November, children in Year 2 will be taking part in a create a comic workshop with Steve Robert and Joel Stewart creators of the Tangletree Mystery book.

The pre-order link for an autographed copy of the book is below along with more information about the book and authors.

https://howbraveisthewren.com/product/tangletree-mystery-bournville-village-primary/

As many of you will be aware, we have an increasing number of pupils getting headlice.

In a bid to tackle the problem, we are asking all parents to ensure pupils with long hair come into school with it tied back.

Also, if your child has lice, please do not bring them into school until their hair has been treated. We appreciate your ongoing cooperation with this. 

The Year 6 football team were at it again on Thursday against St Lawrence on the Cadbury pitch.

They were raring to go at lunchtime, so the excitement was there for kick-off. The boys didn't disappoint with 2 early goals in the first half. An unlucky error meant that St Lawrence clawed one back making it 2-1. However, Bournville aren't shy of scoring goals, with us hitting the net another 6 times!

We are so proud of the boys who played and really showed all our school values. Well Done on your 8-1 victory!

"Amit Ghose came into school as part of our Anti-bullying assembly to discuss his facial disfigurement and how this was a focus of bullying for him, from other children. In Year 3 Amit had only one friend. No one would sit next to him.

In Year 5 he picked up the courage to ask other boys to play cricket with him. Amit loved cricket, he played it every day in his garden, bowling at his garden wall at the side of his house. The boys laughed at him and mocked him, they reluctantly played with him. Amit was a fast bowler, the batter was holding the bat with one hand and showing off waving it around. Amit bowled him out. This surprised the batter.

The P.E teacher was watching all of this and before long Amit asked to join the cricket team. He went on to take the most wickets of any bowler at school. Amit is a confident man; he is an inspiration to any young boy or girl with a dream. Amit told us that the actions and words of the bullies in his primary school still affect him to this day."

F. G  (Year 6 journalist).

The school is filled with children practicing for all the wonderful Christmas musical events we have planned over the next few weeks. Our newly formed school orchestra, is sounding fantastic and we can’t wait to hear them next term. Thank you to Mr Ali for his wonderful enthusiasm and guidance  and to Miss Lau and Miss Herborne for their invaluable support with our flutes and clarinets.

Our Music Ambassadors have been helping to organise the music in our celebration assemblies. Thankyou to H for being our music photographer and to S for the following report:

On Friday 17th November, we had two Year 3 oboe players play for us in assembly. They played a piece called ‘Clair Da La Loon’. They have only been playing since September and they were amazing! Today, our Year 5 and 6 ukulele players played 'Walking in the Air’ and ‘I’m a Believer’. Again, they were fantastic. We’re really proud of you and all our musicians at BVPS. 

If your child is going to Young Voices on Friday 26^th January, could they please do some home learning of the songs. Play lists can be found on ‘Spotify’ under Young Voices 2024 and all dance and lyric videos by clicking the following link.

https://yvmusicroom.com/parentRegisterReferral?code=Mjg1My8xNzAwODIwMDg0

We will also resend this link via Arbour to all those not yet signed up.

Home learning is important, as we do not have time before our first rehearsal next term, January 15^th, to teach the songs and dance moves.

If you wish your child to stop having music lessons in school, please let Mrs Vaughan know in writing by Friday 8th December. Please do not contact your child’s music teacher direct.

Hope everyone had fun today. Thank you for all your donations for the Tombola. If you missed out, or forgot to bring something in, don't worry, we will gladly accept more during next week and we will definitely use them to fill the big present boxes that are going under the Christmas Tree in the Hall.

Christmas Cards/Mugs/Coaster/Tags

Everyone should have their order now. Or, it is still with class teachers. Please first check school bags, then class teachers and then come back to the PTA if you have any queries. They were distributed on yesterday (Thursday)

Christmas Raffle

Tickets are now available on ParentPay for the Christmas Raffle Draw £1 per entry - see https://bournvillehsa.wordpress.com/end-of-term-raffle-december-2023/ for evolving prize list. The draw will take place on 20th December. We have added another set of prizes from local businesses, so please do take a look and get involved!

Christmas Cake Raffle

We have also secured a repeat donation of a Cake to raffle off - so Christmas Cake Raffle Tickets are on ParentPay. £1 per entry with the draw on 15^th December during the Carols in the Playground event.

Christmas Fair preparations - 2nd Dec 2023 11:00 - 15:00

It's all coming together nicely. All we need now is your support in coming along and enjoying the School in all its Christmas Fair splendor! Pop it in your calendar now and start arranging meeting up with class mates at the event!

We are still seeking donations from the Parent community for Raffle Prizes to be part of the Christmas Raffle. We had a hugely successful response to the previous raffle donation request that we are looking to repeat. Tickets are now on ParentPay and we have published the Prize List - which we will add to as the donations come in - see https://bournvillehsa.wordpress.com/end-of-term-raffle-december-2023/ for the list

Year 6 Opportunities

Thanks to all Year 6s that are coming to help at the fair. You should have had a text message from us letting you know the plan. If you haven't then it is probably because you still need to fill in the form at https://forms.office.com/e/BsSCE7n4nV

Discos and Disco Volunteers

The disco tickets are available on ParentPay now. Year 1 Disco- 5th December 15:20 - 16:30 (Elizabeth Hall), Year 2/3 Disco- 7th December 15:20 - 17:00 and Year 4/5/6 Disco 7th December - 18:00 - 19:30 (George Hall).

The tickets are £2.50 each and are on sale until the day before each Disco, or until sold out. There will be a tuck shop at Year 2/3 and Year 4/5/6 and we suggest no more than £2 would be sufficient - but that's up to you! Water will be available free of charge throughout.

To help us run a smooth event, please remember that the disco is only open for children who attend the BVPS in their respective years, and tickets are limited so be quick! We are also looking for parent volunteers to help us run the disco and tuck and help them have a fun time. Text 07974331102 and we will get you involved! 

Christmas Carols on the Playground - 15^th December

We shall we opening the gates early at 14:00 on Friday 15^th December for Carols on the Playground.

We need to get all parents/guardians in place (with tea/coffee/mulled wine/mince pies!) before the whole School come out at 14:30 - 15:00 for us all to sing carols together. The children will then go back into class to pick up belongings and then be dismissed as normal from their normal doors.

We will then have a party in the playground and carry on until all the mince pies have gone - so feel free to stick around! We shall also be drawing the Christmas Cake Raffle during the event. It's the first time we have tried this sort of event so wish us luck - it should work well!

Christmas Raffle Draw will take place on 20^th December

Last Day of Term 

The Carillon will be playing for a bit after school, and then we will carry on with the party in the playground with some music to celebrate the end of term!

This week we want to share some information about Resilience 

Check out this video about building children's resilience: https://youtu.be/T4_9k8UsxOI?feature=shared

Ways to build resilience:

In a previous newsletter, you may have seen that here at BVPS, we are taking part in Barvember. It is a month-long collection of reasoning and problem-solving questions and activities that can be solved using the bar model.

In Year 5, the children have really been getting stuck into the daily questions, and we have some fantastic work to share with you this week! These belong to A and L in 5H

– see how they have used the bar model to help them work out what the problem is asking them to do, and then calculate the correct answers. Well done girls! Keep up that super problem-solving 😊

Can you guess who's behind the book this week?

Are you ready for a challenge? Would like to learn more about volcanoes? Well, try this...

Let me know what you found out. Did anything surprise you?

It is important to know how bullying can also occur online. Here are some tips on how to approach conversations about Cyberbullying with your child.

To find even more information about Cyberbullying, please visit the website below.

https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/cyberbullying-conversation-starters-guide-6-10-year-olds/?_gl=1*1aks2t2*_up*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwbme6b6_ggMVrZKDBx2Z5gWmEAAYASAAEgKxDfD_BwE

The Halal meals have been up and running since Tuesday 14^th November and have been going down a treat! 

To answer questions recently asked by parents, the Halal menu is the same as our current one except all meat is Halal. If there is a day where the only meat served is pork, there are vegetarian options for your child. All halal meals are prepared separately and all meats are cooked by steam, the only food items cooked with oil are the chips and we use rye oil.  

If you would like your child to have the halal menu, please log on to your ParentPay account to book their meals.

Fresh seasonal salad bar with fresh bread available daily as well as a daily selection of fresh fruit.

Bring it on Brum

Clubs will be back in the winter holidays, offering a wide range of fun, free activities across Birmingham. Remember, to keep a look out for your BIOB code from your child's school. You will need this to be able to book your holiday clubs. 

In preparation for holiday clubs going live on Monday 4th December, check out the Bring It On Brum! website

https://www.bringitonbrum.co.uk/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bring%20it%20on%20Brum%20News&utm_content=Bring%20it%20on%20Brum%20News%20CID_11cda98ed3f641b2e9b2015ac9536913&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Visit%20Website 

Breakfast with Santa menu

Breakfast with Santa menu

Just a reminder that to check your children's clothes/ uniform for Ambassador/ Rep badges before washing! Some children are loosing their badges and it's really important that they are wearing them. 

We hope you have a good weekend folks, stay warm and safe and enjoy the 'switch on' over the road if you're around.

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 our 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.