Weekly Update-Friday 16th October

What an autumnal week it has been at BWIS!

We started the week with our Harvest Festival at St Peter's Church. Our children filled the congregational pews and were in awe of the beautiful building. Once again, the church had outdone itself with a stunning harvest display and beautiful floral arrangements.

Each class had worked hard to prepare their own contribution, including dancing, poetry and story retelling. Year 1 and Year 2 also wrote their own harvest prayers, which they shared confidently and thoughtfully. Reverend Hunt spoke to the children about where our food comes from, and we all enjoyed singing our harvest songs, some of which I'm sure many parents will remember from their own school days! With Big Red Combine Harvester still ringing in our ears, we made our way back to school, walking beautifully alongside teachers and accompanying adults.

A huge thank you to all the parents who walked with us and became part of our congregation on this very special trip.

The Meon Valley Foodbank was extremely grateful for the generosity shown through our harvest donations. A few parents have mentioned that they forgot to contribute. Please remember that we have a foodbank donation box in our school lobby all year round, so if you are able to make a donation at any point, it would be very much appreciated.

Year R have been asking for wellington boot donations to support their outdoor learning. If you have any spare smaller-sized wellies at home, please consider bringing them into the school office. We would be very grateful for any donations.

Don't forget our Name the Halloween Bear competition at the front of the school! Entry is £1, and the winner will be drawn next Friday and will get to take the bear home. Good luck everyone!

Tonight we have our 'Crazy M' PTA Disco for Year 1 and Year 2. All of our teachers are ready to boogie, and a big thank you to Claire and Emily for preparing the snacks. Collection will be from your child's classroom door. To say our children are feeling fizzy with excitement would be an understatement. They simply cannot wait to dance the evening away!

Looking ahead to next week, Year 2 will be hosting their Great Fire of London Exhibition. The children have already been sharing some fantastic facts, and we had an excellent diary entry and a beautifully created collage brought out as part of Star Learner this week. I cannot wait to see the finished exhibition and celebrate all of their hard work.

Parent Teacher Meetings will take place during the week beginning 9th November. In response to parental feedback, we are trialling a hybrid approach this year. We will be hosting one face-to-face afternoon and evening session on Wednesday 11th November from 3.30pm to 6.30pm, alongside an online afternoon and evening later that week. There will be one appointment per child, and booking information will be sent out shortly.

Finally, on school photograph day, for the first time in the 17 years I have been at BWIS, we achieved 100% attendance! Nikky the photographer could hardly believe it. Every one of our evening family photo slots was also booked, and there were plenty of smiley faces all round. Thank you to Mrs Palmer for organising the evening bookings so smoothly.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend. Or, as one of the children reminded me today: "Only five more get-ups until half term!" 😊

Best wishes,

G Riches
Headteacher