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Aspiration in abundance
Head Teacher Newsletter - week of 28th November 2022
Lillie Ivy puts Jacob through his mathematical paces
Amelia is astounded by India's phonics
Levi and Hope discuss literature
Lottie shares her new (and excellent) reading skills
Maple Class use drama to explore their feelings of anger and frustration
Maple Class' thoughts and opinions of The Little Match Girl ballet
We enjoyed a week filled with peer learning as our older students visited Damson Class to help our newest readers, whilst Year 1 challenged them with some incredibly tricky maths questions. Mrs Box began to put us through our paces on the dance floor and Nativity fever began to grow. Please do come and let us know if you are still unsure about your child's costume and start to plan your own, sparkly get up! Please do support the PTA's toy sale and chocolate raffle if you are able as the money always goes to supporting school trips and classroom extras. More information about these can be found below.
Have a great week
Mrs Bx
Diary reminders
Church every Thursday 1.10 - 1.30 pm. Please join us if you are able.
Wednesday 7th December - pupil and staff Christmas Lunch. Wear a festive jumper or accessory with your active uniform.
Tuesday 13th December, 4-6pm, Thurston Community College - U9s Dodgeball competition for selected pupils. Please complete Arbor 'trips' to confirm attendance if you have received an email for your child.
Wednesday 14th December at 2pm and Thursday 15th December at 11am and 2pm:Nativity performances. Please ensure you complete this form to book your place(s). Audience members - be as sparkly as you can be!
Nativity Sparkles!
Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper (or Accessory) Day
We have now informed the cook of our pupil numbers. If you haven't let us know that you will be providing a home packed lunch we will be catering for your child(ren). If you pay for lunches, please ensure you make a payment (£2.30) onto your Arbor account in advance to cover the lunch charge.
PTA - Toy Sale & Christmas Raffle
The PTA is hoping to hold both a Toy Sale and raffle after each of the Nativity performances so please bring cash with you. We'd really appreciate small donations of chocolate and sweets for the raffle prizes, please bring these into school by Friday 9th December.
Reading for Pleasure
Here are this week’s recommended reads from me - with an advent and nativity theme. These books are often in demand at this time of year so hopefully this will allow you to beat the rush.
Also, for those who are glued to the Men's Football World Cub, how about this football related reading list from the Book Trust?!
Many thanks,
Miss Mansfield, Literacy Co-ordinator
Nativity performances - a reminder to book your place(s)
Dear parents and carers,
This year, Nativity performances will take place on:
- Wednesday 14th December at 2pm
- Thursday 15th December at 11am
- Thursday 15th December at 2pm
We have space for two adults per family to attend, and hope to have extra spaces available for those that would like other family members to come along, but please note that these additional places will be limited.
We therefore need to hear from you which performances you would be able to attend. If you need to, please complete a separate form for each parent/carer (e.g. if you need to come to different performances).
Note that we may not be able to offer you your preferred time/date, but will do our best to accommodate all requests.
This year, we will be performing in our Hall, not outdoors. So, if you have younger children/babies, it would be very much appreciated if you are able to make childcare arrangements for them if you feel they may struggle to sit through an hour long show. This is because, talented though our pupils are, it can be very distracting for them to try to be heard over noises from the audience. If this is not convenient for you, please don't worry, we will understand if you need to bring them!
Please complete this form by no later than 3pm on Monday 5th December so that we can let everyone know which performance they have been allocated to. If we haven't heard from you we will allocate you to a performance and may not be able to make any changes.
We hope to let you know your allocated performance by Wednesday 7th December.
Last year's Nativity - Bethlehem The Musical
Bookvent
Dodgeball Competitions
If you have recently had an email about the forthcoming U9s competition on Tuesday 13th December, please login to Arbor to confirm whether or not your child is able to take part.
U11s - please return your washed kits (shirt, shorts, socks) as soon as possible as they may be needed for the next competition.
Holiday Activity Fund (HAF) programme
- Children with SEND (EHCP/BSP)
- Young carers
- Children in care
- Foster children
- Children at risk of exploitation
- Children in financial hardship
- Ukrainian Refugees
Therefore, if you are would like to have a funded place on any of the activities offered by the local council, please speak in confidence with Mrs Allman or Mrs Boyd, who will make a referral/arrange a voucher for you.
Families with children in receipt of Free School Meals should have received a voucher on 25th November which will allow you to book directly with the activity provider of your choice.
HAF posters - these are the posters advertising the activities available at, for example, Bury St Edmunds Cathedral, Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserves and Curve Motion.
HAF Christmas timetable - the full programme of times and days, all in one place.
For those in or near Thetford, we have also been given a flyer for FREE gymnastics classes at Breckland Leisure Centre. These are running both as holiday activities and a termtime club. Please scroll down for the flyer, or ask Mrs Allman for a hard copy if your child has not brought one home.
School Milk Scheme
Our school provides a milk scheme that is available to all of our pupils. School milk is free for under-5s, and for over-5s it is available at a subsidised* price or free to those on income-related free school meals.
Each child that registers with Cool Milk will receive a cup (c.189ml) of semi-skimmed milk every day, delivered fresh and chilled. Their school milk will not only provide them with essential nutrients, but as it is rehydrating and energy boosting it also bridges the gap between breakfast and lunch to help children stay focused. For more information on how milk can benefit children visit www.coolmilk.com/why-milk-is-great.
How to register
If your child is under five:
The school has already registered them and they are receiving milk.
If your child is five or older:
· Register and pay online at www.coolmilk.com
· You can pay Cool Milk either online, over the phone or at a local PayPoint in half-termly, termly or annual instalments.
· Please pay by a Tuesday at 5pm for your child’s milk to start the following week
Kind regards,
Mrs Allman
Office Manager
* The UK government continues to support school milk. Milk for under-5s is fully funded by DHSC via the Nursery Milk Scheme. Milk for over-5s is subsidised by Defra via the School Milk Scheme.
Severe weather letter
School Nursing Service
The Suffolk School Nursing team are pleased to share with you, a new video explaining the service and how to contact us.
This video is aimed at Primary School pupils and we are asking for your help in sharing this far and wide with your school community.
The video can be promoted in many ways such as assemblies, social media platforms and websites.
Suffolk School Nursing Service | Supporting primary school aged children in Suffolk.
Suffolk School Nursing Service | Supporting primary school aged children in Suffolk.
As a reminder the School Nursing website and how to contact us can be found at School nursing | Suffolk County Council
Many thanks in advance for your support to the School Nursing Service and we do hope that this video will be well received and helpful for your school community.
Kind regards
Health Business Centre
Children & Young People’s Services
Suffolk County Council
Allington Clinic
427 Woodbridge Road
Ipswich IP4 4ER
Tel. 0345 607 8866 (option2–School Nursing)
What's on in Bardwell Church - December 2022
- Sunday 4th, 10am - Communion Service.
- Saturday 10th, 10-12.30 - Christmas Coffee Morning in the Tithe Barn.
- Saturday 10th, 2.30-4pm - Messy Church, Christmas Angels.
- Wednesday 14th, 10.30-12.00 - 'No stress' Coffee Morning in Church.
- Sunday 18th, 11am - Carol Service with mince pies to follow.
- Thursday 22nd from 5.30pm - Carol Singing around the village. Meet at the Church at 5.30pm or at the Dun Cow from 6.30pm
- Saturday 24th, 4pm - Crib Service
- Saturday 24th, 10pm - Christmas Eve Communion
- Christmas Day, 10-10.30am - Family service of Celebration
Allergy Awareness
We are an allergy aware school and would like to remind all families that there may be pupils in school with a peanut allergy. If a child with a peanut allergy comes into contact with peanuts, or with a pupil who has eaten peanuts, then this could lead to an anaphylactic reaction. Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to a trigger such as an allergy.
Because of this the school cannot accept products containing peanuts to be provided in lunch boxes or for eating at other times.
SCC information for Cost of Living Support
Suffolk County Council has asked us to share with families their updated 'Cost Of Living Support' information.
Free School Meals - could you be eligible?
Your child may be eligible for free school meals throughout primary school. This could save you approximately £437 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).
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.
Absence reporting process - including current NHS COVID isolation guidance
If your child is absent from school please ring into the school office giving the reason for the absence ('unwell' is not sufficient), please do not email for absence. If you need to, leave a voicemail.
The School must be notified by the parent/carer of the absent pupil on the first day of absence AND on every day of absence thereafter, before the register is closed. If a telephone call is not received, the school will contact parents/carers directly.
Please see the Attendance Policy for more information.
If you suspect or know that your child has COVID, the NHS guidance for children now states:
"If a child or young person aged 18 or under tests positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days. This starts from the day after they did the test.
Children and young people tend to be infectious to others for less time than adults. If they’re well and do not have a temperature after 3 days, there’s a much lower risk that they’ll pass on COVID-19 to others."
About Us
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