Latest News

Keep up to date with all the news happening in school

• Weekly Update Friday 13th September

  Fri 13 Sep 2024

  We had a little bit of sunshine this week, which made all the difference to how much we could get outside in our lesson time! The children have had a great week. It was lovely to welcome the children in Year R to a whole day, and they have been loving their school lunches! Please remember we are a nut free school, so please do not put any nut products in lunchboxes, and we would suggest 4 items (5 at a push) for children if bringing a packed lunch, as otherwise they find it too overwhelming. Children can bring a sealed carton of juice/squash at lunchtime if they wish (not fizzy).

   

  We have been asked by parents about our policy of giving sweets and cakes for special occasions. Sadly we are unable to give items out, due to the amount of allergies in class, and ask that treats are given out at birthday parties instead.

   

  Year 1 and 2 had their Welcome meetings, which were very well attended, and the children were really proud to show their new classes to their parents.  Remember that each year group has their own email, should you wish to get in touch, which are answered in the school week. You will be pleased to know that as of today, we are able to use our email again. It has caused us quite a few issues, but we are all back to normal now.

   

  We have started to see a few large bows of different colours coming into school. Please can we keep hair decorations to a minimum and in school colours. We also ask that all shoulder length hair is tied back. We had a mainly headlice free year last year, and would like for this to continue (which I am sure you want to support!).

   

  Over the last couple of weeks, some children have had some nasty trips and bangs when being allowed to run ahead. We do ask that children walk with their parents at this time, due to their safety and the safety of others, as it is so busy. We also do not allow bikes/scooters past the gates, or hot drinks for this reason too. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

   

  Some of you may have seen me out at drop off time this week, reminding people of the highway code regarding parking on school zigzags and double yellows. We have passed our concerns and the concerns of several of the residents who have telephoned or come in person to complain, to the police and council. The markings are there to enable all children to travel to school and cross the road safely. Please read the law below:

   

  You'll see time plates on poles near the zig-zag road markings, typically 8-9am and 3-4.30pm, though these timings may vary. The Highway Code states: “You MUST NOT wait or park, or stop to set down and pick up passengers, on school entrance markings.” (Highway Code rule 238, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.)

   

  The Highway code applies at both drop off and pick up. The following applies to Blue Badge Holders:

   

  The Blue Badge is not a licence to park anywhere. If you park where it would cause an obstruction or danger to other road users you could be fined or receive a Penalty Charge Notice or have your vehicle removed.

  Do not park where it would endanger, inconvenience or obstruct pedestrians or other road users. Examples of dangerous or obstructive parking include the following, although there are others:

  • school entrances, bus stops, on a bend, or near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
  • parking opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space 

    The Blue Badge scheme: rights and responsibilities in England

    Updated 9 July 2020

   

  Please do not endanger our children because of convenience, weather or in a rush. We have safe parking spaces in Hoe Road, Jubilee and Town, with a short walk to school if you have to bring a car.

   

  This seems like a negative to end this weeks update, however we have had so many resident and parents' complaints re parking and driving over the last few weeks, it has been necessary to mention. I would like to finish on a positive and say that all the children have been lovely to teach since we have come back and their smiles have been enormous when I am walking around the school and seeing their learning. They have had a little introduction to their next projects in Key Stage 1 and are raring to go!

   

  Wishing you all a lovely weekend in the sunshine (at last!)

   

  Mrs Riches

  Headteacher

   

   

• Open Day for September 2025 Year R

  Wed 11 Sep 2024
  

• Parking

  Mon 09 Sep 2024

  Dear Parents and Carers

   

  We have had a very upset resident come to our school today regarding the conduct of parents attending our school and the juniors. There has been damage to property outside of the house and parents are parking in private areas, including blocking garages. Living near a school poses its own problems with an increase in traffic during term time, and I think many parents would be upset if this was happening in their street.

   

  Please can all parents park considerately and legally outside our school when picking up and dropping off children. All infant children need to be walked to their classroom door, meaning there are a lot of parents arriving at our school at these times. The double yellow lines and zigzags are there as part of safety measures to enable children to walk to school safely. 

   

  I will be passing on the resident's concerns to the parish council, police and local traffic wardens.

   

  Kind regards

   

  Mrs Riches

• Weekly Update Friday 6th September

  Thu 05 Sep 2024

  We have had a lovely first week back together this week, with lots going on in our classrooms. Year 1's start of the year project in 'Knowing me, Knowing you', where they have been getting to know each other, and practise what they know, and making decisions about their learning space, including their class charter. Miss Daniels-King has had the loveliest start o her teaching career, with the loveliest of children.

   

  Year 2 have been busy with their project of 'We are all in this together', getting ready for their Grand Class Opening. They have also been busy learning about Road Safety, so that they can safely walk to school in the mornings.

   

  Year R finished their home visits this week, then the wait was over and they started school! The two mornings whizzed by and there were lots of happy (and tired) faces. We welcomed Miss Wood to our learning support team and she is working with Year R this year. 

   

  We have our Welcome to Year 1 and 2 meetings next week, and after each meeting there will be the Grand Opening of their classrooms. Clever Chefs will be available to talk to before the meetings n the hall. I will be posting pictures of every lunch for every day of the 3 week cycle, so that you can see the amazing lunches we are having. All vegetables (bar peas and sweetcorn) are prepped by our Chef Gaby, and the smells wafting from our kitchen is making our mouths water all day! The children have unanimously said they love the food when I have sat having my dinner with them in the hall. Remember all infant children receive a hot lunch every day completely free, and with 4 things to choose from, our children are really lucky at BWIS.

   

  Bishops Waltham Football School came to talk to Year 1 parents this week and will be in the Turning Circle again next Thursday, to talk to Year R parents. It runs on a Saturday morning and Priory Park and is a great fitness/skills club for 4-6 year olds to join. Come and talk to them on Thursday afternoon , if you are interested.

   

  Governor Space

  We have a Parent Governor space on our Governing Body. If you think you have the time to commit to the role, please look out for the paperwork being sent out by the office next week. This will be sent via Arbor, so check your junk emails too, in case it has slipped in there.

   

  School Absence

  If your child is not going to be in school, you must inform the office as soon as possible by using our message option via telephone. Please do not email in, as often unknown emails are sent to our junk folders, and the message can be missed. At 9.30, office staff will be making calls to all parents if they have not contacted us, as part of our safeguarding procedures. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

   

  Keeping everybody in the loop

  Every Friday, your Year Group will send out an email with weekly round ups, and a 'what's coming up' section. Please have a look for these on a Friday to keep up to date. I will also write a whole school weekly update on this section, often with links to other parts of our website to read. Please talk about it with other parents, to make sure everyone has seen this. At the end of each month, there will be a newsletter sent from school too. This year these will be in an electronic format only. A copy will also be put on the website.

   

  Special Mentions Book and Achievements Book

  Please remember we have two books to write/send pictures into to celebrate what your child has done at home. Our special mentions book is for day to day achievements, to say thankyou etc. Our achievements book is for pictures of certificates/children and what they achieved. Children love having their name read out in our special mentions assembly on a Friday, so please send some in!

   

  Open Morning for Year R 2025

  We will be having an open morning for parents getting ready to choose their school in 2025.  It is on Wednesday 27th September, and there are two slots to book on: 9.30 and 11 am. Please call the school office to secure a place, if you would like to come.

   

  We hope that as parents, you have had a great start back too. Please remember we are here to help and if you have any worries, contact the office, or the Year Team via the email addresses, which we answer during school time. Thank you for bearing with us this week, whilst our email system has been down! You have all been very understanding.

   

  Wishing you a lovely weekend

   

  Mrs Riches

   

   

  

• Another day, another yummy lunch!

  Thu 05 Sep 2024

  Today we had meatballs as our main dinner with garlic bread and salad. Another great day of yummy homecooked food with Clever Chef. All sauces are made from scratch with fresh ingredients. They were very filling and the children were finishing their plates!

   

  

• What a lovely roast dinner!

  Wed 04 Sep 2024

  We had our first carvery roast with Clever Chefs today and what a treat it was! Carrots, savoy cabbage, parsnips, roast potatoes and carved turkey with yummy gravy. The plates were full of delicious food. We also had salad and bread on the tables to choose from, a jacket potato or pasta choice. Mrs Moth tried the cauliflower cheese roast and said it was delicious too. Thank you to Clever Chefs and our kitchen for making one of the tastiest roast dinners I have ever had for school lunch.

   

   

• First day back for Year 1 and 2

  Tue 03 Sep 2024

  We have had a lovely first day back with Year 1 and 2 today. They all looked super smart and have been telling us all about their summer holidays. We had our first day of new lunches with Clever Chef. The sausages were very tasty and our jacket potato and pasta children said they were really tasty too!

   

  Please can everyone remember that if they are bringing in a packet lunch, that it cannot contain nuts of any kind. We are a nut free school due to the severe allergies some of our children suffer from.

   

  Clever Chefs will be around to talk to parents of Year 1 and 2 children on the before the welcome meetings next week, if anyone has any questions.

   

  Year 2  Welcome Meeting 12/9/2024 9am

  Year 1  Welcome Meeting 13/9/2024 9am

   

  Best wishes

   

  Mrs Riches

   

   

   

   

  

• Welcome Back

  Tue 27 Aug 2024

  Dear Parents and Carers

   

  We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back next week, and hope you are enjoying the last few days of the summer holidays.

   

  Year 1 and 2's first day of term is Tuesday 3rd September

  Year R's first day of term is Thursday 5th September (Part-time until Thursday 12th September)

   

  Gates open at 8.45am, class doors open from 8.50am-9am. Gates close promptly at 9am.

   

  Pick up time at end of day is 3.10pm. (Gates will be open 5 minutes before).

   

  If you are traveling by car, please use our voluntary one way system, and consider parking further away at our free Park and Stride site at Hoe Road.  We would also like to ask everyone to park considerately to avoid upsetting local residents. 

   

  Our Early Bird club is open from 8am (entry between 8 and 8.30am), and our After School Providers and CM Sports. Both accept childcare vouchers.

   

  The local football club in Bishops Waltham is also starting back this week, so please scan their flyer to sign up. All girls and boys in reception and Year 1 are welcome. Please see the flyer below.

   

  We will see you all next week

   

  Best wishes

   

  Mrs Riches

  Headteacher

  

• Goodbye from all of us!

  Tue 23 Jul 2024
  

• Last few words Tuesday 23rd July

  Tue 23 Jul 2024

  Dear All

   

  Our 'Break the Rules Day' has been full of glitter, colour and fun today-what a great way to finish off our year. The children had a great time and thank you for your rule breaking donations that amounted to £359.30. This will go towards extending our phonic reading book collection in Autumn term. Thank you from our whole school.

   

  Congratulations go to Rabbit Class for winning our Euros Sweepstake. It wasn't to be for England's men team this time, but the children enjoyed cheering them on through the few weeks we watched. Now we are all looking forward to the Olympics through the summer.

   

  Thank you to the parents who filled in our survey this week. We had 60 responses in total and overall very positive. Please click the link below to see our survey results:

  https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-pNcqcyQH84zznVvCw9Jqyg_3D_3D/

   

   

  Thank you again to our incredible PTA who run another successful sweet stall last night-their energy and enthusiasm is amazing and we really want our learning space developed as soon as possible. We are just a little way off ordering it now, and hope that we can do this at the start of the Autumn term. Thank you for all your hard work.

   

  Our Year 2 Leavers banner is up on the green gate as you walk out of school by the car park, if you would like to take a photo with your child today. Our Year 2s are going to be greatly missed in the school and we wish them the very best of luck in Year 3 next year.

   

  We said our goodbyes to Mrs Charles today, who started working in our school in January 1993. We held a special assembly, attended by all staff, where we looked back on Mrs Charles long career in teaching. We also had a slide show of all the classes Mrs Charles has ever taught in school. She has taught many of the parents currently at our school, and even some of our teaching staff! We will all miss her a lot, and wish her every happiness in her retirement. Thank you Kate, for helping to make BWIS such a great place for our learners.

   

  Statistics tell us that sometimes the summer holidays can put a strain on mental health and finances. Please remember that there are lots of links on our 'Health Hearts and Minds' tab under 'Children', if you do need help during the summer break. There are directories on there, with numbers to help in general or an emergency. Please remember to check in on parent friends, even if it is a quick hello. It can really help people to not feel isolated and alone.

   

  Lastly, I would like to thank our whole school community-children, staff, governors, helpers and parents for being you. It has been a truly amazing year for BWIS and we couldn't do it without you. We hope that you have time to reconnect and recharge, and we will see some of you in September.

   

  With very best wishes

   

  Mrs Riches