The votes are in!

The democratic process has spoken and each class has taken to the ballot box after 2 weeks of hustings. The speeches were impressive and the pupils have chosen their class representatives. Congratulations to Stanley, William, Joshua, Phoebe, Polly and Raffy! You will all represent your classes admirably and we look forward to hearing your ideas on how to improve the school at your first Council Meeting. We're looking forward to next week's House Captain vote which will be just as exciting!

Many thanks to all of those parents who have joined us for Meet The Teacher. Please contact the office, if you still require an appointment. We are very nearly at 100% attendance.

Mrs B

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

Come and join us, straight after the morning drop off, for a chance to look at your child's learning so far this year. This will be a low key event where the children will share what they have accomplished during the last 7 weeks. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes, however tea and cake will be available!

Look out for the PTA refreshments stall. Come along and see the school in action, buy a tea, coffee or fruit juice and a cake and meet the members of the PTA!

Could you help us spread the word that Bardwell really is the best school in Suffolk?! We need to get the word out that we have spaces available in our 2025 Reception class. We need help to distribute flyers to places where prospective families could see them, such as supermarkets, play spaces, sports facilities and Dr's surgeries. Please also let any families that you know, with a 2025 Reception starter, that we have spaces available. Flyers will be available from Friday 18th for distribution.

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

Autumn Term 2024

23rd October, prospective starters, YR 2025 taster session

25th October - Open Morning for Parents - Come and look at your child's learning

25th October - PTA Bake Sale. Pupils in Box Elder class to supply cakes (no nuts please), for the whole school to buy. Please ensure your child has some money.

31st October, Y6. SCC deadline for secondary school applications.

4th November, PD Day 3 of 5. School closed for pupils, staff in.

12th November, prospective starters, YR 2025 taster session

Wednesday 11th December, Thursday 12th December, Friday 13th December, 2pm - Nativity performances. Please look out for an email about ticket allocations.

Spring Term 2025

6th January, PD Day 4 of 5. School closed for pupils, staff in.

15th January, pre-school children. SCC deadline for primary school applications.

3rd March, National offer day (secondary), Y6,

6th March - World Book Day

16th April, National offer day (primary), pre-school children

Summer Term 2025

22nd April, PD Day 5 of 5. School closed for pupils, staff in.

Swimming lessons Y2-Y6, Thursdays

We actively discourage children bringing mobiles to school, however we recognise that for those children who have permission to walk home unaccompanied from school, a mobile phone gives you peace of mind.

We are therefore happy to store a child's mobile phone in the office on the days they need to bring it into school. We will lock the phone in the safe when we can, but please be aware that this is not always possible. Your child's phone could therefore be stored in the office which is unlocked and occasionally unstaffed through the standard school day. We do not take any responsibility for loss or damage to phones that are at school.

Please let your child know that their phone needs to be switched off before entering the school premises (from the gate) and must not be switched back on until they have exited the gate. Mobile phones must not be used on the school premises.

We encourage you to look at this NSPCC/Vodafone toolkit and recommend that you discuss phone and online safety with your child as well as setting up the relevant parental controls.

If you would like your child to bring a mobile phone into school, please complete this waiver form.

Thank you,

Mrs Boyd

Our school has been chosen to take part in an important national research study focused on Type 1 Diabetes. As part of this study, your child has the opportunity to undergo a simple test to assess their risk for Type 1 Diabetes. Participation is completely voluntary, and all information will be handled with the utmost confidentiality. This is a valuable opportunity to contribute to medical research and potentially detect early signs of this condition. Places are limited to 20 children on a first come, first serve basis. We sent you a letter and further information on 1st October.

Congratulations to Frankie, Teddie, Karl, Seren and Violet for being Aspirational, Courageous, Kind and Resilient - You make us all very proud.

Congratulations to Isabelle who has achieved her Silver Chief scout badge! This is a combination of multiple badges: Adventure, Outdoors, Personal skills, Team leader. It has taken her over 2 and a half years to achieve! She is now working towards her Gold chief scout badge.

Every month, The Book Trust review dozens of books for children and teenagers. Here are the ones we like best in October: guaranteed to get your child reading...

Welcoming all young guitar enthusiasts - Come and play as part of our South Suffolk Youth Guitar Ensemble at Northgate Arts Centre, Ipswich.

Rehearsing weekly, you will make new friends, develop your skills, and play, enjoy and perform with others.

Beginning on Thursday 7 November 2024 (4.30 – 5.30pm)

South Suffolk Youth Guitar Ensemble Poster

For further information and to sign up please visit: Area ensembles - Suffolk County Music Service (suffolkcountymusicservice.co.uk)


Contact: county.musicservice@suffolk.gov.uk

On the 24th August 24, the DFE changed how holidays or time away from school are authorised. Headteachers are no longer able to authorise term time absences for family holidays. There are a few exceptions but these will need to be discussed with school before holiday forms are submitted. Please note, that holiday absences are now dealt with directly by the local authority who will issue fines for term time holiday absences. If you would like any more details, don't hesitate to come and talk to Mrs Boyd.

The Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation is a charitable music foundation which aims to help young people under the age of 18, and living in Suffolk (UK), with small but useful grants to help with studying or playing music. These grants could be used for almost anything, such as buying an instrument, funding your music studies, or paying for rehearsal space. Just let the foundation know what you’d like to do when applying! The application process closes on 31st October 2024. All applications must be received by this date. Please visit the website for how to apply –

https://www.essmf.com/

In the interest of safety, the outside gate will be locked until just before 4.30 pm. If you would like to collect your child earlier than this, please ring the office before 3 pm. After school club leaders do not answer the phone during the session as this would mean leaving the children unattended. Many thanks for your cooperation.

Many thanks to all those parents who completed the Google form to ascertain if there was a need to open the club on Fridays. Very few parents expressed a need for a Friday opening. Club will therefore continue to run from Monday - Thursday.

Please make sure that your Dojo account is working. Class teachers will share weekly information regarding your child's learning as well as reminders about 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.

As part of the drive to ensure children's services meet the needs of Suffolk’s population, service users and stakeholders are invited to share their views on Healthy Child Services and Family hubs. This includes the School nursing service.

Please encourage children and parents that use the service and staff that refer to the school nursing service to give their views by 29 November 2024.

To complete the survey please visit: Healthy Child Service and Family Hubs (0-5 services) user feedback - Suffolk County Council (suffolk.gov.uk)

• 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. We recommend reading this advice from the NSPCC before making the decision. They offer guidance on walking home alone, being at home alone (not recommended for under 12s), being cared for by siblings and important facts to discuss 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 have recently contacted everyone whose plan is over 1 year old or who needs to update an inhaler. Please do this as soon as convenient.

Wow! Where did September go? For those of you who are new to the school we are Bardwell PTA! At Bardwell we have a fantastic PTA who work tirelessly to raise funds to make our school trips affordable and buy resources for school that otherwise they would not be able to purchase to enhance learning at the school!

We also run a swap shop for school uniform jumpers. Look out for the poster! We also have the last few pairs of wellingtons available in sizes 9 & 10 in bright colours- if you are interested please do get in contact with penny and make a donation to the school (suggested donation £1)

We also use easy fundraising as a way to enhance our income. Easy fundraising are currently offering all new download bonus until the 27th October of an extra £2 - just for downloading the app! Please see the poster - Simply download and use the app to make your purchase and a percentage of your purchase will be sent by cheque every 3 months to Bardwell school!

Lets fix our school ECOGreenhouse. We are currently Collecting (empty) 2 litre bottles to fix our eco green house. When we have collected enough we will be looking for helpers to fix it! Watch this space.

Look out for the PTA refreshments stall at the school open morning. Come along and see the school in action, buy a tea, coffee or fruit juice and a cake and meet the members of the PTA!

Boxelder Class cake sale - Friday 25th October - Boxelder class to bring in your cakes (homemade or shop bought) for sale at the open morning and after school! - (to those new to the school it is Boxelder class turn to provide the cakes and the rest of the school get to purchase and eat them!)

Thanks for Reading - From Your PTA!

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.

We will be running two taster sessions for prospective YR pupils due to start school in September 2025.

• Wednesday 23rd October, 1.30-2.30pm
• Tuesday 12th November, 1.30-2.30pm

Children are welcome to attend with a parent/guardian and younger sibling(s). Please dress for the weather as part of the session will be outside.

Please complete this Google Form to let us know which of the two sessions you'd like to attend.

Please promote these dates to your friends and family who have children born between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2021.

Please be aware there are foraging wasps/bees in the holly hedge at the front of the school. They are feeding off the ivy in there, but there are no nests so our pest control company cannot remove them.

Staff and the children are aware.

We are pleased to announce our upcoming free online parent/carer workshops for the autumn term!

All our upcoming workshops can be booked for free on our Eventbrite page. Information on all our workshops, past and present, as well as workshop recordings, can be found on our website.

Many thanks,

Psychology in Schools Team

If you or your child is in need of urgent mental health support please call the First Response Service on 111 and choose the mental health option

We have recently sent out information from Abbeycroft Leisure/Explore Outdoor. to all families in receipt of Free School Meals, detailing their half term clubs and activities offer.

You may find that activities in the Babergh and Mid Suffolk are more convenient, they have sent the following:

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils have put together free holiday activities and food for children that are eligible for means tested free school meals over the October half term holiday.

In order to book onto these activities, guardians of eligible children will need to book spaces though BMSDC’s Eequ page. Schools will not be providing the Wonde codes for eligibility for this holiday. The Eequ system will complete the eligibility checks.

A non-visual link is available here: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/lLcLcPawByx21dgB?ref=Link

Sports Camp 29 Oct-1 Nov 2024

Tuesday 29 Oct: 9.00am-12.00pm Gymnastics or Karate

12.30-3.30pm Dance & Musicals or Parkour

Wednesday 30 Oct: 9.00am-12.00pm Football or Skateboarding or Multi games

12.30-3.30pm Football or Bmx & Skateboarding or Target Games

Thursday 31 Oct: 9.00am-12.00pm Inflatables & Multisports

12.30-3.30pm Inflatables & Multisports

Friday 1 Nov: 9.00am-12.00pm Nerf and laser Tag

12.30-3.30pm Nerf and laser Tag

Ages: 5 – 13 yrs

Venue: Beyton, Thurston Sixth (IP30 9AA)

£12 per workshop

Please see this flyer for more 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.

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

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.

Circulating for the University of Cambridge/Cambridge Biologists.

A day of hands-on biological sciences activities suitable for all ages.

Hills Road Sixth Form College, Saturday 12th October.

The October issue of the Knowsley newsletter is available here with useful information about young people and mobile phones.

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 has a new landlord and landlady! Polly and Kevin warmly invite 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.

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

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/

We are working to promote fully funded CACHE courses with certification, available in levels 1, 2 & 3, for school support roles that are funded by the ESFA (Education Skills Funding Agency).

Funding has been made available in your school's area for our next course for this academic year, which starts on 30th September and we would be very grateful if you could make the parents/ carers at your school aware of this.

As the funding has been awarded by the ESFA there are some eligibility criteria that must be met for a fully funded place, which is listed on our website: www.studysmartuk.online

These courses are designed to make it easy for parents/carers who are looking to gain the necessary qualifications for a school support role, as the classes are run online, within school hours and during term times. Allowing parents to fit the classes in with school drop offs and collections.

Upon enrollment learners are asked to complete two short initial assessments online, in English and Maths to determine which level they should start on. However, the funding allows each learner to progress up to level 3, if they wish to.

We have funding in your school's area and wondered if you could share the attached poster to parents and carers at your school, so they can be made aware of this opportunity. I have attached the poster in both a PDF and JPEG for you to choose from, depending on the platform you use to communicate to parents.

We work closely with your local job centre and are able to offer a job interview to those who complete the course.

The deadline to enrol is the end of 25th September!

If you wish to see further information about the courses, please head to: www.studysmartuk.online

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 £480 per year.

​

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/

​

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).

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

​

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