Latest News | Bishops Waltham Infant School

Weekly Update- Friday 29th September

Fri 29 Sep 2023

What a super week we have had this week in school. Year 1 and 2 learned about Emmeline Pankhurst as part of our assemblies about people who do extraordinary things on Monday. They had lots of questions about why women were treated so unfairly in history and all the children were in agreement that it ‘wasn’t right’. If you would like to find out a little more at home, I have put a learning link here;

Emmeline Pankhurst

Year 1 learned about first aid from the heart start team in Bishops Waltham, Year 2 learned about keeping safe at home from Hampshire Fire Service and Year R have started to learn their phonic sounds. We also had our school photographs with Nikky Wood. Don’t worry if your child was away- Nikky will come back to take retakes for absent children.

We also had our Open Morning for September 2024 intake. The children were able to answer all their questions and the prospective parents and children enjoyed their visit.

Next week is the start of ‘Walktober’. As a Hampshire school, we take part in this Hampshire Travel Team initiative, whose target is to reduce vehicles around the school, and develop healthy habits. We are very aware that some of you now live a very long way from school. During ‘Walktober’ we try to encourage all parents to leave a little earlier, and use our ‘Park and Stride’ car park at Hoe Road or Jubilee Hall. We hope you can all take part, even if it is for one day of the week.

Year 2 will be going to Little Woodham on their first school trip of the year next week. Thank you to all the parent volunteers who are coming. We couldn’t do our trips without you and really appreciate the support you give us.

On Wednesday, after drop off, the Year R team will be having a meeting in the hall for any Year R parent who would like to find out more about Year R now that your child is on school. It is a follow on meeting to the Welcome meeting we held in May. Any questions can be answered and our team are ready to help, so please come along!

All our extra- curricular clubs are now up and running, both after school and lunchtime. Please ask your children about their club- we have had great feedback in school!

The week has ended with some sunshine, and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Weekly Update-Friday 22nd September

Fri 22 Sep 2023

We had all kinds of weather this week and our Year 2 children have had fun charting the weather-from great downpours to strong winds and sunshine! What a week!

The Year 2 children also had lots of fun at their new clubs this week. We all look forward to teaching and playing in the clubs over the next few weeks.

Year R enjoyed their first full week of school, and have great fun chatting about their lunch choices with their classmates. They are very kind and caring and learning all the class routines in school. They were a little tired this morning, but enjoyed our Friday dance hello.

Year 1 have also been very polite around our school and the teachers are noticing how well they are displaying our BADGER values.

We had an update from our PTA on Monday at our AGM. A letter has been sent out to all parents regarding the future of our PTA, and we have a meeting scheduled on the 9th October at 2pm. On a personal note I would like to thank Shez, Kelly and Hannah for the great job they have done-we have had fantastic events this year-they even laughed when they were cleaning our the spiders in the PTA shed! We will miss all three of you and without your hard work, our Nest would never have been built. Thank you all.

We also had our first governing body meeting with our new Chair of Governors, Simon Brownlie. Mr Brownlie has been a governor with us for many years and has lots of experience of life outside of school. I am looking forward to the year ahead, with governors who are providing challenge and support to our school. We have been excited to receive 6 applications for the Parent Governor positions. Voting is open for two weeks, so please cast your votes!

Our individual school photographs are on Tuesday 26th September (next week). Please make sure your child has their cardigan/jumper wit them on the day. We also have our 'Heartstart' first aid session for Year 1 children on Tuesday, a visit from the Fire Service on Monday and our 'Open Morning' for Year R 2024 on Wednesday. There is quite a lot going on, so please read your Year Group emails to find out more!

Remember to also look at your child's Year Group section under 'Children' on our website. There are lots of activities you can do at home and links to learning that is happening in school too.

Let's hope the weekend stays sunny for us all. Fingers crossed for England and Wales in their rugby games this weekend! What an exciting tournament it is turning out to be.

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Open Morning

Mon 18 Sep 2023

We are holding an open day on Wednesday 27th September for children starting Year R in September 2024. Please contact the school office on 01489 892375 to book a space.

Weekly Update Friday 15th September

Tue 12 Sep 2023

We had a lovely week in school this week. Year 1 and 2 enjoyed an assembly about the Rugby World Cup. All children in 1 and 2 will be playing rugby this term as part of our team games this term. To link to the assembly and the World cup website, click below:

Rugby World Cup 2023

Most of our Year R children stayed for lunch and enjoyed eating with their friends this week. We have loved having them in school all day!

Year 1 and 2 had their grand Class Openings and welcome meetings this week. The children were very excited to share their learning environments with their families. We will have a meeting for Year R parents on Wednesday 4th October after drop off in the hall. Our welcome meeting for Year R was in May, but that seems a long time ago-now your children are in school there may be questions you would like to ask, so this meeting will give parents the opportunity to ask lots of questions.

Sometimes as a parent, we ask our children 'What did you do in school today?' and quite often in infant school the answer is 'played'. We learn through play in every year group in school, so they are probably telling the truth! However, sometimes it is harder for children to answer questions about their whole day. Below is a list of questions you can try to ask, which may help you find out more about their busy day and how they feel.

Who made you smile today?
Who was kind to you today?
What made you laugh?
What was the funniest thing you heard?
Did you try something new today?
Can you tell me one new fact today?
Did you show kindness to anyone today?
Is there someone you would like to say sorry to today?
Did you learn something new today?
What are you thankful for today?

I am sure you can think of many more, where you may get a different answer about their day!

PTA AGM

Please remember it is our PTA (PARENT/TEACHER ASSOCIATION) AGM ON MONDAY 18th September. It will be held at 3.30 in the school hall, and our Year 1 classrooms will be used for any children brought along (the teachers will be inside to look after children). We are trying this timing instead to hopefully encourage more parents to join, grow and develop our association. The purpose of our PTA is to fundraise for our school, so that we can invest in bigger projects, such as our outdoor learning area (The Nest). This year we will be focusing on developing our corridor areas and individual learning spaces. All these projects cost money, that our budget does not cover. Please come along and find which role would suit you this year.

Year 2 Clubs

All Year 2 children have the opportunity to join a free lunchtime club in school during Autumn and Spring Term. These are led by all the teaching staff who give up a lunchtime to provide these fun experiences.

This year our clubs for Year 2 are:

Monday Art

Tuesday Games

Wednesday Choir

Thursday Lego

Friday Sewing

Club membership changes at the end of the term. All Year 2 children have chosen their club and we are looking forward to starting our clubs next week. This year, 2 St Peter's choir members are coming to help us run our choir. In addition to these clubs, CM sports run a sports club every Friday outside at lunchtime, available free to all Year 1 and 2 children on the playground. They set up games and teach the children how to play them.

Special Mentions Book

Please remember we have our special mentions book outside our school office where any parent/carer can write about their child's successes for Celebration Assembly. The children love having their achievements at home shared with their friends

After School Clubs

Remember our after school clubs start next week too (except for Taekwondo which is the following week).

Football-Tuesday

DanceKidz-Wednesday

Royston Performing Arts-Thursday

Taekwondo-Monday 25th September

Rock Steady, our music club that happens during Monday afternoon in school time has spaces too, if your child would like to try an instrument/vocals in a rock group.

On that note, I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Keep an eye out for the Red Arrows on Saturday at 1.30pm, when they’ll be flying over Bishops Waltham on their way back from Southampton Boat Show. I know some of you will be watching the rugby- hopefully we will see some more magical drop goals from George Ford in the RWC.

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

School Dropping Off and Picking Up Arrangements and Times Reminder

Fri 08 Sep 2023

Please read the following information regarding picking up and dropping off times and arrangements.

We have an Early Bird club that parents can use, for a small fee. Drop off at this club is between 8am and 8.30am, which is when the school gates are closed.

The school gates will open to all children at 8.45am and the class doors open at 8.50am, when registration starts. Registration ends at 9am and the gates will close promptly at 9am as part of our site safety. Children arriving after this time will need to come through the school office. Please hold your child's hand at all times and not run off ahead through the crowds, as both gates are open during drop off time. All children need to be walked to their classroom by a parent/carer.

Scooters and cycles need to be walked around our site to make it safe for all children/parents and carers at this busy time. We also do not allow hot drinks to be brought onto site at any time.

Pick up time is prompt at 3.10pm. Gates are opened 5 minutes before and we would like all parents/carers to be standing outside the classroom ready for their children at 3.10pm. CM Sports run an after school club after school for parents to use if they cannot make pick up time. If there is a change in who is picking up, please let your classteacher know, as we will not be able to send children home with somebody else, without being informed first.

There is lots of space in our area outside the front of the school, and we encourage all parents to stand in this area when arriving, and not queue down the pavement. The staff car park is for staff only, but can be used by parents if they are picking up a poorly child.

Please see pictures below or read more about our site safety on our policies page

POLICIES. Below are refresher Dos and Don'ts

Weekly Update Friday 8th September

Fri 08 Sep 2023

What a lovely first week back we have had this week in the sunshine! Year 1 and 2 have been busy working interdependently to make choices about their classrooms and learning environments. We had a great assembly on our first day back all about the Lionesses and how hard they tried -only losing 2 games in 2 years. What an achievement for them and for future football. We discussed how the best learning happens when we make mistakes and try again.

Year 2 have also been completing their Road Safety training as part of our 'traveling to school safely' activities. This year we will be taking part in Hampshire's 'Walktober' in October, encouraging as many parents to walk to school/park and stride as possible. We are very grateful that there have been clear zigzags and double yellows around our school all week, so our children can cross the road safely-thank you everybody!

Year R children have made a super start to school. As I write this, they are having tours around the school with their classes, with the biggest smiles on their faces. Welcome to all our new parents, and hello again to all our parents who are with us again.

We currently have 2 parent governor spaces in our school. Miss McIntyre in the school office will be sending out information about the position and how to apply-so please have a look in your inbox. We have 7 full governing body meetings a year, one training event at school and access to all Hampshire Governor Training. If you have time to give, then please consider applying!

We also have our PTA AGM meeting very soon on Monday 18th September at 3.30pm. We will be organising activities in the classrooms for any children if parents would like to come. Since lockdowns, our PTA membership and meetings have struggled with attendance. We are hoping a different AGM time will allow parents to come along and listen to the great activities and fundraising that takes place, and consider becoming a member. We would like to build our PTA to have a wide supporting membership, that can help to raise funds to help us make our school environment and experience even more exciting!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, making the most of the sunshine. I have been looking forward to following the Rugby World Cup starting tonight-and loyally cheering on my home team. Tonight's game should be an exciting one-who will you be cheering on?

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Welcome Back

Mon 04 Sep 2023

Welcome back to our Year 1 and 2 children and parents. What a beautiful summer's week it has been. The children all looked very smart and were excited yesterday to share stories about their summer holidays with each other and their teachers.

Please note the following welcome date meetings for Year 1 and 2;

Year 1 Friday 15th September

Year 2 Thursday 14th September

The meeting will be in the hall-starting after the teachers have seen the children in and taken registers. Please can parents head to the school hall via the office after dropping their children off on these days.

When the weather is warmer, please can parents make sure that children have suncream on and a sunhat and water bottle in school. Teachers are following our school policies on reminding children to drink plenty and stay in the shade more during the heatwave.

We look forward to welcoming our Year R children tomorrow. Our Year R staff have had a lovely time meeting everybody on their home visits this week.

We will be sending out an email to all parents regarding the recent RAAC concrete concerns, raised across the country this week. Our Local Authority, Hampshire County Council, inspect all schools in the county on a regular basis for structural damage and meet with heads annually. We have not got RAAC present in our building.

Best wishes

Mrs Riches