Latest News | Bishops Waltham Infant School

Weekly Update Friday 23rd October

Fri 23 Oct 2026

As we reach the end of a very busy half term, it’s lovely to take a moment to reflect on some of the wonderful learning and memorable experiences our children have enjoyed. Year R told me this week that they had been in school "forever" and I think, by yesterday, both the children and staff were feeling much the same! It has certainly been a packed half term, filled with learning, laughter and achievements, and everyone has thoroughly earned a well-deserved break.

Last Friday, our Year 1 and 2 children enjoyed a fantastic evening at their disco party with Crazy M. There was dancing, bubbles, snow and even limbo, all packed into one fun-filled event! The teachers couldn’t resist joining in and having a boogie too. A huge thank you goes to our wonderful PTA volunteers, who organised snacks and drinks and helped make the evening such a success. We had so much fun that we have decided to put on an additional Year 1 and 2 disco in February. Keep an eye out for the flyers coming in the new year!

Year 2 amazed us all this week with their Great Fire of London Exhibition. The children spoke confidently about the causes of the fire and the changes that followed, demonstrating a fantastic understanding of this important historical event. They were able to place events accurately on a timeline, explain how historians use sources to learn about the past, and proudly share the wonderful home learning they had completed. We were incredibly impressed by their knowledge and enthusiasm.

Congratulations to the winner of our "Guess the Teddy" competition. The winning name was Parker, and together you helped raise £21. Thank you to everyone who took part and supported this fun fundraiser.

Looking ahead to next half term, Mrs Moth will be hosting a new SENDCo Coffee Morning on Wednesday 11th November at 9.00am. This will be an informal opportunity for parents and carers to chat, ask questions and connect with others in a supportive environment. We would be delighted to see you there.

Our Parent-Teacher meeting booking system also went live this week. This year we are trialling a combination of face-to-face and online appointments in response to feedback received from parents in previous years. Following the meetings, we will send out a short feedback form which will help us decide whether to continue with this approach in the future. If you were unable to secure a face-to-face appointment, please do sign up for an online slot so you can hear all about your child’s progress and celebrate their successes.

Today, our staff enjoyed a brilliant training session with Marie from the Hampshire SEND Department. We explored the science behind sensory circuits and learned more about how different activities can support different needs and behaviours. Marie was incredibly impressed by the enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment shown by our team. We are excited to further develop our sensory circuit provision and continue strengthening the support we provide for all children, particularly those with SEND.

As always, thank you for your continued support. It has been a wonderful half term and we are incredibly proud of everything the children have achieved.

We wish all of our families a happy, restful and enjoyable half-term break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back refreshed and ready for another exciting half term of learning.

Have a wonderful break and take care.

Mrs Riches

Headteacher

Weekly Update-Friday 16th October

Fri 16 Oct 2026

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 Thursdayand 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

Guess the name of the teddy

Wed 14 Oct 2026

Pop into reception to have a go guessing the Halloween teddy's name. Winner will take the bear home next Thursday.

Weekly Update Friday 9th October

Fri 09 Oct 2026

As we move further into the term, it has been wonderful to see the children’s confidence, enthusiasm and curiosity growing every day. The school has been buzzing with exciting learning opportunities, and we are incredibly proud of the way all of our children continue to embrace new challenges with such positivity and determination.

Year 1 had a fantastic Learning Outcome this week, where they shared their learning about being healthy. The children set up a variety of healthy tests for their parents and families to take part in and really put all of their new knowledge and skills into practice. I was particularly impressed when two members of Squirrel Class expertly demonstrated the recovery position on me! The children spoke confidently about what they had learned and were clearly very proud of their achievements. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported this special event.

Year R have been busy strengthening their fine motor skills through a wide range of engaging activities in their classrooms. From careful cutting and creative construction to mark-making and threading activities, the children have been developing important skills while having lots of fun. They have also been exploring and developing their gross motor skills in PE. We are especially pleased with how independent they are becoming. We certainly have some super independent clothes changers this year, which is a fantastic achievement so early in the school year!

Year 2 continue to amaze us with their enthusiasm for learning. They are learning more and more facts about the Great Fire of London and have demonstrated excellent recall and understanding. They have also been drawing on their experiences from last week's visit to Little Woodham, remembering many details from the trip and making valuable connections with their classroom learning. It was certainly a memorable learning experience for everyone involved.

One of the greatest strengths of BWIS is our children. Every day they show kindness, resilience, curiosity and a willingness to learn. Whether they are supporting one another in class, challenging themselves with new learning or representing the school so positively, they continue to make us enormously proud. It is a privilege to watch them grow in confidence and independence each week.

This week we also held a successful PTA Extraordinary Meeting, and we are delighted to announce that our PTA will be continuing. However, additional support is needed to ensure its future success.

We are pleased to introduce our new PTA committee members:

Jesse Staple – Chairperson
Nick Thakrar – Treasurer
Emily Vidovic – Secretary

We would ideally like a representative from Year R, Year 1 and Year 2, so if you are interested in becoming involved, please do get in touch. Additionally, if you have excellent IT, design or social media skills and can help create attractive publicity and promotional materials for events, the PTA would love to hear from you.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Claire, Baz, Cath and Emily for their incredible commitment and hard work over the last three years. During that time, they have helped organise many wonderful events, created memorable experiences for families and raised significant funds for our school. Everyone at Bishop's Waltham Infant School is extremely grateful for the support they have given us. Thank you all so much for everything you have done.

Hampshire Road Safety have asked us to share information with all parents about modelling good road safety behaviour on journeys to and from school. Please take a few moments to look at the information via the link below:

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/xEzqLOV8RGtXGhKN?ref=Link

Finally, a reminder that our Harvest Festival takes place on Monday. Donations for the Meon Valley Foodbank are very welcome. More and more local families are relying on this essential resource and this is one small way that BWIS can contribute to supporting our wider community. If you forget to bring your donation on the day, we also have a collection box in Reception.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. Together we create such a caring and positive school community, and it is wonderful to see our children thriving as a result.

With warm wishes,

Ginene Riches
Headteacher

Weekly Update-Friday 2nd October

Fri 02 Oct 2026

As another busy and exciting week draws to a close, it has been wonderful to see so much fantastic learning taking place across the school.

Our Year 1 children have enjoyed a very special experience this week, taking part in Heartstart training led by one of our former parents, Kath Bell. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning these important life skills and discovering more about how their amazing bodies work. They have shown great enthusiasm throughout the project and are incredibly proud of what they have learned. We know they cannot wait to share their Healthy Heroes Learning Outcome with their families next week.

Meanwhile, Year 2 have had a completely different adventure as they stepped back in time with their visit to Little Woodham. The excitement has continued long after the trip, with children talking non-stop about the characters they met, the fascinating history they experienced and, of course, the smoky fires that made such a lasting impression! A huge thank you to all the parents who gave up their time to help. Your support makes these valuable learning opportunities possible, and we are very grateful.

As a reminder, due to changes in Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, only parents and grandparents who have completed a returned DBS check will be able to accompany school trips. The process is free and only takes a short time to complete. If you are thinking about helping on a future trip, please pop into the school office and we will be happy to help you arrange this.

At our school, we are fortunate to have three members of staff trained in Mental Health First Aid. During recent training, they were introduced to the Hub of Hope app, which helps people find local mental health and wellbeing support services. We wanted to share this excellent resource with families. You can find out more by visiting: https://hubofhope.co.uk/

This week, we had very few entries in our Reading Raffle during Celebration Assembly. We know how much our children love sharing books with the important adults in their lives. They beam with pride when they successfully decode new words and are always eager to talk about the stories they are reading. We ask that children read at least three times a week, although a little reading every day is even better.

We completely understand that family life is busy, but we are encouraging all families to make reading a priority wherever possible. Reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. It opens doors to new worlds, builds confidence, develops independence and supports learning across every area of the curriculum. Most importantly, reading for pleasure can become a lifelong habit that enriches children's lives for years to come.

As the author Dr Seuss famously said:

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

Finally, a reminder that our PTA Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) will take place next Wednesday at 6.00pm in school. We are very hopeful that we can continue the wonderful tradition of having a parent and school fundraising group supporting our community. The PTA makes a real difference to the experiences and opportunities we can provide for our children, and we would love to see as many families as possible there.

Have a lovely weekend, and thank you for your continued support. We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday for another week of learning and fun. 😊

Best wishes,

Mrs Riches

Headteacher