Welcome back!

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you all had a lovely and restful summer, filled with joy and relaxation. It has been a pleasure to see all your smiling faces again and to embark on another fantastic school year together. A huge thank you to the teaching staff who have created such beautiful and inviting classrooms to start the new year. Let’s embrace the new opportunities ahead with enthusiasm and make this year our best yet. Here’s to a wonderful start and a year full of growth and success!

Mrs B

'The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart.'

We know that a smooth start to the day makes a huge difference to the wellbeing of children, parents and teachers. Therefore, we have decided to change how the children come into school in the mornings. All staff will be on the playground at 8.35 am. This will give parents the chance to talk briefly to their child's class teacher, if needed. We warmly invite you to stay on the playground or say a prompt goodbye! Doors will open at 8.45 am with our first lesson commencing at 8.50 am.

Please make sure that your Dojo account is working. Class teachers will shortly be sharing important information regarding your child's learning and homework. We will also keep you regularly updated with school events, trips and dressing up days. Please talk to your class teacher if you are having difficulties logging on. Please note that we do not pick up messages from parents via Dojo. If you need to get an urgent message to your child's teacher please telephone the office.

A letter from the Bishop

• Walking home unaccompanied form (Y5/6)

If you would like to give permission for your Y5 or Y6 child to leave the school unaccompanied at the end of the day (including after ASC sessions) please download and complete this form, or contact me to ask for a hard copy to be sent home with your child.

• Arbor contact details

Please take the time to check that all your details on Arbor are up-to-date. For example: Do we have the emergency contact details for at least two parents/guardians? Is/are your phone number(s) correct, including any work number? Is your doctor's surgery information still correct? You should be able to make changes via the Arbor website or app. If you have any problems, please don't hesitate to ask.

• Asthma medication & healthcare plans

Please ensure that you have provided your child's medication (e.g inhaler) to be kept in school - check with the class teacher if necessary. We also need an up-to-date allergy or asthma healthcare plan. it is so important that we have a plan that is 1yr old or less so that we can work with you to keep your child safe in school. Please ensure you speak to your medical practitioner ASAP to obtain an updated plan.

I will be running a check on our existing plan dates and will get in contact if we need a new one.

Breakfast Club - daily from Wednesday 4th September. £1 per session.

After School Club - Mon to Thurs, from Monday 9th September. £2 per session.

Wraparound Care is free of charge for pupils on income-related Free School Meals.

If you book a place for your child and do not then need it, please let us know in advance otherwise we will still charge you.

Please book your child(ren)'s place(s) via Arbor. You will need to add a credit payment to 'other clubs' first.

Pupils in Y2 to Y6 will have music lessons provided by Suffolk County Music Service, on Tuesdays, as follows:

Year 2, 3, 4 – Ukulele

Year 5, 6 – Guitars

Bardwell is an inclusive school where children are treated with equality and their individuality celebrated. Our school’s active uniform plays a key role in promoting pride, self-confidence, and a feeling of belonging. We strongly believe that this contributes to the children's well being, removing the additional pressures of deciding what to wear and the added stress of meeting the expectations of peers. In an ever increasing world of social pressure for young people, our uniform removes the points of difference between students and provides a greater focus on school based activities and learning. Therefore, in the interests of equality;

● Active uniforms should be worn at all times

● Spare clothes should be our active uniform NOT home clothes

● Hairstyles must not attract undue attention

● No make-up

● Piercings and jewellery should be discreet and safe to wear, e.g. single studs in ears.

Your child can wear any one of the six Cog colours (red, royal blue, navy blue, green, yellow, purple) as their polo shirt, OR a white one. These are the only acceptable colours for the polo shirt. Please note that the polo shirts do NOT need to have the Bardwell logo on but the sweatshirts MUST.

Colourful polo shirts are available in the school uniform ranges of all the major supermarkets. Logo'd polo shirts (white) and sweatshirts (all colours) are available only from our uniform supplier, Gooddies.

As always, children are also welcome to wear gingham dresses, in any of the six Cog colours, during any term.

PLEASE LABEL EVERYTHING! It is almost impossible for us to reunite you with 'lost' property without a name in it.

Year 5 parents/carers have recently received this letter by email and a hard copy of the parental consent form on page 2. Please return this before Friday 27th September.

Please note the course is designed to improve cycle control and your child should be encouraged to practice beforehand in a safe environment, especially signalling.

We do not teach your child to ride a bike, we teach them how to ride safely.

Cool Milk have asked us to circulate this information letter to parents/carers.

In short, if your child is under the age of 5 they are receiving funded milk in school under the Nursery Milk Scheme and there is no need for you to take any further action.

If you pay for your child to have milk after their 5th birthday, there will be a price increase - please see the letter.

If you have logo sweatshirts that you no longer need, please bring them (clean and with name labels removed) to the school office.

We are pleased to share that we are launching a new Barnardos NDD Advice & Guidance Service yourselves and young people and parents/carers can access if you are thinking about progressing on the NDD Pathway, are awaiting triage or assessment or 2yr post diagnosis. This service is funded until 11th October 2024.

Here are some of the areas we can help with:

• Provide support for children, young people (0-18yrs), families and professionals who are registered with a Suffolk GP (East and West), School Lane Thetford and The Grove Surgery Thetford.

• Provide advice & guidance for children, young people, families and professionals who are considering making a Suffolk NDD referral to Pathway, is currently awaiting a triage outcome, is accepted for either ASD and/or ADHD assessment or has received a diagnosis via the NDD Pathway within the last 2 yrs.

• Consider and Signpost children, young people, families and professionals to a range of services who can provide the most appropriate support following a discussion of the needs presented. Including a range of both universal and targeted support in a timely manner to ensure early intervention access for children, young people and families.

• Provide resources for children, young people, families and professionals whilst on their NDD Pathway journey. Including tips and strategies to meet individual needs and details for local services who can support children, young people and families.

The Service will not:

• Provide support for children, young people and families not residing in Suffolk or not registered with a Suffolk GP (East and West) or School Lane Thetford and The Grove Surgery Thetford.

• Assist with the completion and/or gather additional information for referrals to the NDD Pathway.

• Provide timeframes or information regarding NDD Pathway process at any stage.

• Act as lead professional or co-ordinate other professionals supporting the child or family.

• Complete direct interventions with children, young people and families.

• Provide diagnosis assessments for ASD and/or ADHD

• Access point for Crisis Support.

We have also attached a further poster for the Barnardos Suffolk Emotional Wellbeing Helpline Service, that young people, parents/carers and professionals can call if they require any signposting or resources regarding emotional wellbeing support.

[SA to add two pdfs]

The September issue of the Knowsley newsletter is available here. Please read it and ensure you are fully aware of what your child is accessing online.

This issue contains fascinating information about social media algorithms, and information about privacy on WhatsApp and SnapChat.

We'd like to remind you that stopping on the zigzags is not allowed between the hours of 8am and 4.30pm.

The Dun Cow pub on Up Street warmly invites you to use their car park at drop off and pick up times - marked green below. The walk from there to school is under 5 minutes. Thank you to Alan and Denise for this continuing offer.

You may also park near the Church porch from where there is a footpath that comes out to School Lane next to the Windmill.

Please ensure that if you park along School Lane you do not block any driveways and avoid the residents' parking spaces at 25-43 School Lane (marked red below, parking in the green spaces is fine).

Term dates for 2024-25 are now available - ask in the office for a hard copy. They are also available from the school website (scroll down for 2024-25).

Download PDF

Download Google Docs/Word

Please take time to check that all uniform items in your cupboards/laundry pile are yours.

Please continue to ensure that your child's name or initials remain readable in all items, so that we can reunite them.

Thank you.

The dates below have been set for the full academic year but are subject to change. Please keep an eye on the newsletter and your email for any date/time changes and for additional events.

25/09/24 - School photographs (Individual & siblings, all pupils), Please wear your clean, colourful sweatshirt.

27/09/24 - Flu immunisations - all pupils. Nearer to the date you will receive a link to the NHS portal - ALL parents need to complete the portal process to either opt in or opt out.

9th-11th October - Bikeability Y5 pupils.

School swimming (Y2-Y6) - Summer Term

Music lessons - to be confirmed

We have been asked by the trustees of the Bardwell Charities fund to encourage our local families to apply for financial support. They've said,

"There is money available whether for trips, music lessons, uniform or other need.
Please DO encourage parents/carers to apply."

You might, for example, wish to request some help with the Y5/Y6 residential, or with transport costs for HAF holiday programme activities. All you need to do is write a short email explaining:

• that you are resident in Bardwell
• what the need is and why it is important for your family/child.

Please note that, contrary to previous information, we have recently been informed by Bardwell Charities that this information only applies to Bardwell residents.

Send your email to bardwellcharities@btinternet.com

If you would like any help with your request, please ask Mrs Allman who is happy to help and will keep all information you share with her confidential.

To find out more, please visit our webpage at:

http://bardwellcharities.onesuffolk.net/

Please see the church website for more information.

Bardwell Church is open every day from 9am to dusk.

You may wish to consider setting Kiddle as your default browser on your home devices. They say:

Kiddle is a kid safe visual search engine. Kiddle returns results for each query in the order shown:

1. Safe sites and pages written specifically for kids. Handpicked and checked by Kiddle editors.
Typically, results 1-3.

2. Safe, trusted sites that are not written specifically for kids, but have content written in a simple way, easy for kids to understand. Handpicked and checked by Kiddle editors.
Typically, results 4-7.

3. Safe, famous sites that are written for adults, providing expert content, but are harder for kids to understand. Filtered by Google safe search.

Typically, results 8 onwards.

Since Kiddle results are either handpicked and checked by our editors or filtered by Google safe search, you know you get kid-oriented results without any explicit content. In case some bad words are present in a search query, our guard robot will block the search.

We are very keen to have children attending school if they are well enough. Please have a look at this NHS advice if you are unsure.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

If your child is ill, you must phone into the school before 9am, giving a reason for the absence ('unwell' is not sufficient), leave a voicemail if you need to. Please do not email in for absence.

We recommend that you are familiar with the Tilian Attendance Policy.

Suffolk County Council has asked us to share with families their updated 'Cost Of Living Support' information.

Your child may be eligible for free school meals throughout primary school. This could save you approximately £484 per year.

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To check or apply online, visit: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/school-meals-uniforms-and-trips/apply-for-free-school-meals/

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Check if you're eligible

Your child will get free school meals if you receive any of the following:

• Income Support

• Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

• Guarantee element of State Pension Credit

• Child Tax Credit but no element of Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenues & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190

• If you are supported under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

• Working Tax Credit during the four-week period immediately after your employment finishes or after you start to work fewer hours per week

• Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400 (£616.67 per month), as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods).
  

To check if your child is eligible, apply online for an immediate response or call 01473 260989.

We encourage you to apply, because the school receives additional funding (Pupil Premium) for all children on income-related Free School Meals.

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Email: bardwell@tilian.org.uk
Website: https://www.bardwell.org.uk/
Location: School Lane, Bardwell, Bury Saint Edmunds IP31 1AD, UK
Phone: 01359 250854
Twitter: @BardwellPrimary