Latest News | Bishops Waltham Infant School

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

SWEET SALE MONDAY 22 JULY

Fri 19 Jul 2024

Weekly Update Friday 19th July

Fri 19 Jul 2024

We have had an amazing week together this week, with lots of exciting events. Rock Steady performed their final concert of the year to Year R and their parents. Our Year 2 children visited the juniors to see their end of Year 6 production, and we had our inhouse Year 2 leavers Dress rehearsal to Year 3, Year 1 and Year R. The children have thoroughly enjoyed all of them! Below, is a round up of the week, and what is happening for the two days we are in school next week.

Standards

We have had AMAZING results again in our school this year at the end of Year 2, in our phonics test and in our 'Good Level of Development'. This year was the first year that year 2 children were not required to sit a test at the end of the year. teachers continued teaching and assessed the children on the learning they were doing in class (as it should be for young children!). formal 'progress for our Year 2 children will be measured when they leave Year 6 (end of primary school). However, we still continue to do teacher assessments. Please click on the link below to read our fantastic academic results in all age groups for 2024. We are so, so proud of our brilliant learners and staff.

Standards at BWIS

Leavers' Performance and Disco

Thank you to all the parents who came to watch our fantastic performance this week. The theme, as always, is about friendship. Something that money cannot buy you, but makes your life much, much richer. The children sang their hearts out, danced like noone was watching, and spoke their words loudly, clearfully and beautifully. The costumes brought in from home were spectacular and I am so glad the purple pirates became the new crew! Thank you to all of the Year 2 staff who have practised, directed, decorated and made it one of the best performances I have ever seen. Thank you to Mrs Moth for helping me find our rhyming mojo to change the story and write the new scenes. So many parents have said how much they enjoyed it, and special memories were made.

Each child had a Leavers book, bought by our PTA, which we are very grateful for. Thank you to Mrs Palmer and Mrs McIntyre for organising these and the inscriptions. The children were very excited to have a special keepsake from school.

We were then on to our Leavers' disco, which our PTA provided the funds for. We had a spectacular time dancing to Crazy M, with some magic and games thrown in. All of us teachers partied too, saying goodbye with a lot of fun.

Thank you to our PTA and the amazing fundraising they have done this year. They have been brilliant and our school has benefited from all their hard work and the volunteers who have helped along the way.

Sweets

Our PTA will be selling sweets in the turning circle on Monday straight after school. Please see the poster on this page for more details.

Break the Rules Day

Remember it is 'Break the Rules' Day on Tuesday, our last day of term. We look forward to having lots of fun! The rules are on the classroom doors, and on this page too. See you there!

Governors

Our governors held a special thank you cream tea for all of our staff this week, to celebrate the end of another successful year at BWIS and our OUTSTANDING Ofsted grade. It was a lovely end for all the staff and we all appreciated the kind thought. We even had a giant cake (which we are still munching our way through)

Parent Survey

We have emailed a Parent Survey out today, which will close at midday on Tuesday. Please fill in with your child. thank you in anticipation.

Staff

We will be saying goodbye to Mrs Charles on Tuesday, after many years service to teaching. Mrs Charles will be retiring, and her first holiday in term time will be to Barcelona with her family! We will be saying goodbye with the children on Tuesday, and I know many people have brought gifts in for her too. We wish you love and happiness for the future Kate, and we hope you enjoy your retirement.

Lastly we had some amazing news today-Blake in Year 2 brought his dad's powerlifting medal in, where he became a British champion this week. Well done to Mr Ejele-Blake, Roman and the whole school are very proud of you!!

Wishing everyone a lovely last weekend of the term!

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

BWIS presents 'Break the Rules Day'

Mon 15 Jul 2024

BREAK THE RULES DAY

When?

Tuesday 23rd July

(Last day of term)

Here's how it works

Pay 50p for every rule you would like to break This can be paid directly on ARBOR under 'DONATIONS' or in cash directly to teachers on the day. Please note no change can be given, so exact money only

Rules to be broken include:

Football kits and other sportswear are not permitted
School uniform must be worn
No sweets or chocolate bars allowed in lunchboxes
Tattoos (temporary) must be hidden under clothing
Hair must be natural hair colours and tied back
Games from home must not be brought into school
Telling jokes in class is never permitted
Children are not allowed squash or juice in their water bottles
There shall be no body/hair glitter anywhere
Children are not allowed to choose music played in class

We will see you there (Remember teachers are not allowed to break the rules either!)

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/FrArhC37v3flWsKV?ref=Link

Weekly Update Friday 12th July

Wed 10 Jul 2024

What a super sports day we had today! The weather held for us all and the children had great fun. We had fantastic footballers, excellent egg and spooners and our first mass Ceilidih with parents in Year 2. A huge thank you to Miss Turner, our PE Lead, and the staff for the organising and practising the events.Also thank you to CM Sports for supporting the event, and staff for providing and serving refreshments. A great day was had by all.

Year 1 have taken over the ramp display with their amazing home learning. What super lighthouses they are, and all completely different. Thank you to everyone for their contributions!

We had an excellent turnout for our Open Afternoon on Wednesday and some really lovely comments on the Response Forms on the Records of Achievement. Thank you to everyone who has filled these in. The children really enjoyed sharing their learning in school and celebrating their achievements.

Next week we have some end of term events in our diary. Please see below:

Monday 15th July

Year 2 will go to Year 6 Performance

2.15pm Rocksteady performance to their parents

Tuesday 16th July

School Governors will be attending school to interview children re the curriculum

Wednesday 17th July

Year R staff will be visiting new Year R children

Thursday 18th July

1.30pm Year 2 Leaver's performance to parents

5-6.30pm Year 2 Leavers' Disco (drop off at the hall doors)

Tuesday 23rd July

Break the Rules Day

We look forward to seeing you at your child's event (especially our Year 2 Leavers).

And lastly, I am sure we will all be having a little wish for Sunday. The Lionesses did it-now let's make it a double-Come on England!

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Weekly Update Friday 5th July

Fri 05 Jul 2024

It has been an eventful week in the news, where Andy Murray said goodbye to Wimbledon, we found out who will be playing in the quarter finals in the Euros and we have a new Prime Minister at number 10. In BWIS we have some news to share with you too; leading the catering from September 1st will be Cleverchefs caterers. After a rigorous procurement process, which included interviews, business presentations and tasting sessions, we are very excited to be working with Cleverchefs for the future. We will be developing our new menus with them over the next few weeks, so watch our Cleverchefs page under 'Parents' for our new menu choices in September.

Cleverchefs at BWIS

https://cleverfoodhub.com/#home

We also had our Transition Day this week, where all our children met their new teachers. Year 2 came back excited about BWJS, our Year 1 and 2 children felt very grown up and our new Year R children had lots of fun meeting new friends. If you have a child starting in September, please remember to sign up for a home visit, before they start.

We had Laura from our local library visit this week, and she did a special assembly all about the Summer Reading Challenge 2024 called 'Marvellous Makers'. The reading challenge runs from 13th July-7th September 2024. Thank you to Laura for coming in and launching this fantastic challenge with us this year. If you would like to find out more, please visit:

https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/marvellous-makers-books-landing

We also had a special assembly on keep ourselves safe, especially if we had something/someone on our grounds. We talked about the things that have been outside in Bishops Waltham, that we might need to stay inside if they were outside. We had lots of suggestions from a swarm of bees to wild pigs! After our assembly, we set off our special 'Lockdown Alarm' and followed our procedures. The children were fantastic. They were super calm and not a sound could be heard. Please see the email we sent out if you would like any more information about our lockdown procedures. Like all safety drills in school, we hope we never need to do one for real.

Next week we have our fingers crossed for our school sports day on Friday 12th July. Our timings will be the same as before (please see earlier messages on 'Latest News'. the forecast looks good at the moment, but as always please keep an eye on our website for updates.

This year, we had a special whole school photograph taken, where all children and staff who work in the school posed for one giant photo. The last time we took one of these was 12 years ago, and we thought it was a fitting time to do it, with it being Mrs Charles' last year with us and our successful OFSTED. If you would like to order one of these lovely reminders of our lovely school, please look in your inboxes for the ordering link, sent out earlier this week.

On Wednesday 10th July we have our Open Afternoon for our current pupils. It will start at 2pm and finish at 5pm, and our 'Record of Achievement' reports will be given out at the time. The class teacher will be available to answer any questions as you look through your work with your children, or take a tour around the school. We look forward to seeing you all.

On our last day of term this year, we will be having a a bit of fun with a 'Break the Rules' day (staff included!). For a donation, our children can have fun breaking the rules in school. A poster will be going out next week for the rules that cannot be broken at BWIS (unless it is break the rules day!!!). Please look out for details to follow.

Wishing everyone a fun sport watching weekend!

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Weekly Update Friday 28th June

Fri 28 Jun 2024

Year 2 had a lovely time at the Ceilidh School's festival this afternoon with several other local schools, including the junior school. We were the youngest pupils there, and we impressed everyone with how we have learned the steps to the songs. The children were fantastic and danced their socks off. Thank you to all the parents who helped us to walk down and to Jo Harmer at Folk Active for training the staff and delivering the day with so much fun. It was a memory that will stay with us all for a long time.

We had our final 'Stay and Play' sessions today, and we are looking forward to our transition day next Thursday, where we will see all the children who will be with us from September.

We also have some lovely staff news to share with you. Mrs Labram and her husband Jamie, are expecting their first baby together at Christmas time. I am sure you will join us in wishing them lots of good wishes for the exciting time ahead!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. Remember the Bishops Waltham Festival is on all weekend, and there are still tickets available for tonight's Ceilidh night, if you fancy going down (there looked like a very nice cider truck there ready for the weekend!). The link to the event is further down this page in last week's latest news.

Best wishes

Mrs Riches