The Final countdown!

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a restful break and is ready for an exciting final summer term! As we approach the end of the school year, we have many wonderful activities and accomplishments to celebrate.

A huge congratulations to our Year 6 students who completed their SATS last term. Their hard work and dedication paid off, and we are incredibly proud of their efforts and achievements. It's now time for our Year 1 students to shine with their phonics checks and for our Year 4 students to demonstrate their skills in the multiplication tests. We wish them all the best and know they will do wonderfully. Last term was bustling with exciting events! Chestnut Class enjoyed an adventurous trip to PGL and Willow Class an educational visit to the Food Museum. These trips were not only fun but also enriching, providing valuable learning experiences outside the classroom.

We have been immensely proud of our students' behaviour during these outings. They represented our school exceptionally well and were a joy to take out and about. Their exemplary behaviour reflects the values we uphold at our school and makes us all very proud.

As we move into this final exciting term, we have many more activities and events planned. Stay tuned for updates and details on upcoming events.

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation. Let’s make this final term a memorable one!

Mrs B

Our pop up Peace Gallery will be coming to the Tithe Barn for the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings. The artworks will transfer to the Bardwell Funday where they can be purchased.

As part of the D Day commemoration, our cook will be presenting Thursday's menu differently (sausage roll / veggie sausage roll) and will swap the usual carrot cake with a themed iced sponge alternative. There will be no pasta option on Thursday.

Surely we will get some more sunshine soon! When we do, please ensure your child has a hat or cap in school to wear when outdoors. We would also advise that you apply a high factor 'once a day' sunscreen at home each morning before school. We are unable to apply sunscreen to children during the day.

Here are some products that we have found:

Aldi, Boots, Asda, Superdrug, B&M, Morrisons.

Ivy Class pupils made the most of the rainy weather as they waved goodbye to some of the older children going off on residential.

Please can all children attending swimming lessons bring either lightweight pyjamas OR a T-shirt and shorts/leggings with them to their next swim lesson after half term. They need to wear these over their swimwear so they will be coming home wet.

Ofsted - The Big Listen – we want to hear your views!

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is carrying out a short survey on behalf of Ofsted. We want to hear from parents/carers of children who are under 18 years old. It should only take around 10 minutes to complete. We are interested in views of, and any experiences with, Ofsted, including Ofsted’s inspection, regulation and reporting practices. We really want to hear from a wide range of parents and carers, even if you don’t have strong opinions about Ofsted, or haven’t had any experience of Ofsted. The survey findings will be used to help Ofsted improve the way it works in the future.

Please click on the following link to find out more or take part in the survey:

survey.natcen.ac.uk/TheBigListen

You can look at our Taking Part webpage for more information about the research, and our Privacy Notice for what will happen to any information you give. Links to these webpages are also included in the survey.

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

This issue contains important information about messaging whilst gaming, positive body image and the Kik platform.

What risks are there with chatting online?

•Bullying

•Inappropriate chat – children may encounter explicit or inappropriate content.

•Contact from strangers – talk to your child about who is contacting them online.

•Sharing personal information – talk to your child about what information they share with others including images.

•Sextortion - this is a form of blackmail where somebody threatens to share a nude/sexual image of you.

Our current voicemail superstar is Emelia, so it's her greeting you will listen to if you need to leave us a message.

Thank you Emelia!

Mrs Allman

Applications for our 24-25 season for our County Music Groups (Suffolk Youth Orchestra, Suffolk Youth Wind Band and Suffolk Young Strings) have just opened.

These groups rehearse during the school holidays and members get to attend rehearsal weekends, a residential course and a European music tour as part of the season. Aimed at musicians of grade 4 and above, aged 21 and under, this is a great opportunity for young musicians to take their musical skills to another level and make music with like-minded people and make new friends.

Over the years these groups have produced some incredible musicians who have gone on to professional careers in the music industry. We have received some quotations from them below based on their time in our ensembles:-

• “Playing in SYO gave me some of the most formative and exciting musical experiences in my journey to becoming a professional musician.” –

Ben Parry – artistic director and principal conductor of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and Director of professional choir ‘London Voices'

• So much of what I have achieved in music I owe to Suffolk Youth Music, and in particular SYO. As a youngster, the inspirational leadership, fearless programming and hugely positive environment opened the door into this magical world of music and music performance.

David Lale – professional Cellist, composer & London Philharmonic Orchestra musician

• "Being a member of Suffolk Youth Orchestra not only helped me grow as a musician, but also as a person"

Sam Taber – professional Trombonist & South Danish Symphony Orchestra musician

• “The experiences and friendships made whilst playing in SYO have stayed with me for life”

Caroline Clarke – professional violinist

• "Being part of SYO was a great experience for me - I made many lasting friendships and it set me up for my later career!"

Isaac Barrow – Development Assistant at Welsh National Opera

Dear Headteacher / Music Coordinator,

Please see the attached poster about our FREE upcoming Singing Workshop on Tuesday 6th August and Wednesday 7th August, which may be of interest to your pupils. If you would be able to share widely within your community we would really appreciate it.

During the workshop, the children will learn a variety of songs based around a musical theme. The workshop runs from 10.00-16.00 on Tuesday and 13.30-18.45 on Wednesday, with a concert for family and friends at 6pm on Wednesday. The workshop and concert will be at Thetford Grammar School.

Parents can register their children here: https://tinyurl.com/Thetford24

Any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes,

Polina Sosnina

Director

Thetford Voices

Monday - Cooking

Tuesday - Games (board games and outdoor)

Wednesday - Coding

Thursday - Forest

As always, please provide a snack. Every club will start with the chance to play outside before starting the main activity.

We have recently become aware of someone photographing a family's car at the school gate. Whilst we realise this may be distressing or concerning, on this occasion we believe that the photographs were being taken for a valid reason concerning parking. However, if you are photographed in this way and you feel uncomfortable, threatened or harassed by it, we'd encourage you to go to the Suffolk Police online reporting tool to report it.

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).

We are writing to remind you of our upcoming free online parent/carer workshops! Please see the flyer attached for dates and booking information for parent/carer workshops on mental health and wellbeing.

All our upcoming workshops can be booked for free on our Eventbrite page, a referral is not needed to access them. Information on all our workshops, past and present, as well as workshop recordings, can be found on our website.

Yours sincerely,

Psychology in Schools Admin Team

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1axiJucVbTbbTZEgaOiXaQUr39DFIU9m4/view?usp=sharing

If you are a parent of a child aged 0-11 we need your help to tell us how and where we should plan extra provision to be most convenient to parents.

‘Wraparound’ provision will be increased where there is demand – this means term time childcare before school (from 08:00am) and after school (until 18:00pm). Wraparound provision can be with a school, or with a private, voluntary or independent provider or with a registered childminder.

Wraparound care is a service which would need to be paid for by families.

Wraparound childcare questionnaire parents and carers

Contact: wraparound@suffolk.gov.uk

Information from Suffolk County Council

The new Separating better app offers free support for separating parents. It has been created by relationship experts at OnePlusOne, a leading relationship research and innovation charity.

Separating better will equip parents with the practical information and emotional skills they need to help them self-manage their separation and put arrangements in place that work in the best interests of their children.

For full details please click the link above.

In addition to the app, which can be downloaded from app stores or OnePlusOne’s website, Suffolk residents also have free access to the following online courses offering relationship support:

• Me, You and Baby Too – a course for new and expectant parents.
• Arguing better – a course to help improve conflict resolution and communication skills.
• Getting it right for children – a course to help separating and separated parents co-operatively parent together and develop positive communication skills.

To access the courses, parents can visit the Parent resource sign up page on the OnePlusOne’s website and select Central England and then Suffolk from the list of options. They can then create their own personal account to access the courses as often as they’d like.

Contact: ReducingParentalConflictTeam@suffolk.gov.uk

Easy fundraising- we have had two recent cheques for £114.02 & £113.89 Thank you to all those families using this facility- it all adds up and helps us to subsidise the cost for trips and special one off items for our school.

Gary's Marathon final total: Thank you so much for all your donations for Gary's marathon - the current total currently stands at £559! This is an amazing total raised for our school and are so grateful for all the effort with your training and running for us. Thank you Gary!

Ivy Class Bake Sale: A HUGE Thank You goes to Ivy Class for their great spread of cakes and savoury bakes for or termly cake sale - £58.36 was raised. Thank you!

Welly boots: Last call for welly boots! find a member of the PTA we have, 9,10 and 12 left in a variety of bright colours!

Bardwell Village Funday - Sunday 23rd June! Please see poster with information about our village Funday! Put the date in your diary! Always a fun day with races, games, raffle and stalls! If you would like to help out at this event please contact a member of the PTA.

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

Over the half term, 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.

We have a space on our Governance committee for a parent governor. If you are interested in joining us to help support the school please contact the SGC Chair via the office and register your interest. If you have any queries please don't hesitate to ask.

• 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 hestitate to ask.

• Asthma medication & healthcare plans

I have recently contacted you if your child's healthcare plan or medication is out of date - 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.

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.

We are matching with SCC term dates and PD days for the 2024-2025 academic year, please see our Term Dates page on the school website or ask in the office if you'd like a printed copy.

Summer Term (event, year group(s), day, date, time)

Swimming lessons, Y2-Y6, Thursdays.

SET Ixworth Y6 into Y7 Meet the Tutor evening, Y6, Thursday, 13/06/24, 4pm to 7pm

Sports Day , All, Friday, 14/06/24, 1.30pm

YR transition session (1 of 2), September starters, Wednesday, 19th June, 1.30pm.

Sports Day reserve date (if weather is poor), All, Friday, 21/06/24, 1.30pm

Transition day 1 of 2 SET Ixworth, Y6, Tuesday, 25/6/24,

Transition day 2 of 2 SET Ixworth, Y6, Wednesday, 26/6/24,

YR transition session (2 of 2), September starters, Wednesday, 3rd July, 10.00am.

Transition Day TCC Day 1 of 2 (and Parents' Evening), Y6, Wednesday, 10/07/24,

Transition Day TCC Day 2 of 2 (and Parents' Evening), Y6, Thursday, 11/07/24,

Leavers' Trip, Y6, Tuesday, 16/07/24,

Leavers' Service at Church , All, Thursday, 18/07/24, 1.15pm

Next academic year

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

27/09/24 - Flu immunisations. 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.

You may be aware that we have a large minibus taxi transporting some of our pupils to and from school. We have an established risk assessment with the taxi company and Suffolk County Council's transport safeguarding team, developed to ensure the safety of transported children, drivers, staff and other families. This states:

• the minibus has to drop off and pick up children at the gate entrance to meet a member of staff for handover
• in the morning they drop off between 8.30-8.35am and leave promptly at 8.35am
• in the afternoon, they may wait along School Lane, then pick up promptly at 3.30pm.

The taxi takes priority for access at the gate during these times, so we ask that all other families are aware of this and time their entrance to / exit from school accordingly.

The school premises open at 8.35am to all pupils.

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 services and information.

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.

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