Latest News
Keep up to date with all the news happening in school
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Weekly Update Friday 5th January
Fri 05 Jan 2024It has been lovely being back in school this week and the children have been really excited to share their Christmas break stories with us. It was great to see so many tickets in our weekly 'Regular Reading Raffle' and congratulations to Walter in Year 1 for winning for the first time. Some of the children found it really tiring being back and I think some were ready for their beds by Friday afternoon. The teachers have been delighted with the children's phonic assessments and the children have been very proud to show how many words they can read. There has also been some interesting discussions in Year 1 about what we could measure in-I still don't think they believed Mrs Moth about hands for horses-they didn't look convinced!
INSET day Staff Training
We had a great INSET day with a guest speaker Laura Kerbey who is an expert on working with neuro-divergent children, especially children with PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance). The day was filled with strategies that can be used with all children and it was reassuring that many of the strategies we were already using. Head teachers and teachers from other schools joined us and it was a good opportunity to engage in professional dialogue with fellow colleagues too.
M and M Productions
Our pantomime this year saw a magic beanstalk, a pantomime cow, a villain and a hero with clever scenery and quick costume changes. M and M theatre did a fantastic job of engaging all our children in a great production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Our children sat beautifully throughout and joined in with the songs, clapping and booing!
OFSTED
We received our draft OFSTED report this week to fact check, and we hope to have our final copy to share with the community soon. There is a pause in inspections at the moment, following the recent enquiry, which I am sure many of you have read about in the news. We had 2 inspectors who inspected professionally with rigour, but also put staff at ease. They were also really lovely with our children, who couldn't wait to talk to them. This helped all staff and governors to relax and be as 'normal' as possible when being interviewed and observed. We will send out the final report as soon as we receive it.
Attendance
Part of our school role is to regularly let parents know what their child's attendance figure is in school. We follow the DFE guidance, that also classifies any child who has attendance less than 90% as being a 'persistent absentee'. We fulfill this role termly, and all parents and guardians will have an email about this today. We know that a lot of attendance is due to illness and we have had some nasty bugs doing the rounds. We need to stress, please do not bring your child to school if they are too ill to attend. If you would like to discuss your child's attendance or need support, please telephone the school office to make an appointment.
Pick up and Drop off
We have had a telephone call from a local resident today who said a parent from our school 'screamed, shouted and continually blasted his horn' at the Sainsbury's delivery driver delivering to her home. Please can I remind all parents to behave courteously to local residents when dropping off and picking up children at school. Existing harmoniously in society can only be for the better for us all, and demonstrating kind, polite behaviour (especially in front of children) is a key part of this. Frustrations will come our way, concerning lots of things through the day, but screaming and shouting will never help the situation. It isn't the first call I have received from the resident, and I said I would pass it on to you all. I have made the suggestion to the resident that a note re school times is added to delivery times when booking a slot to ease congestion and possible frustration during this busy time.
Applications for Year R and Year 3 (juniors)
Lastly, we still have few first choice spaces on our application list for September 2024 entrants. The closing date is on the 15th January, so please make sure you put your application in promptly, to be considered in the first round. Late applicants and their choices are considered afterwards. The closing date for Year 2 applicants for Year 3 is also on the 15th January. From our list, we can see that many parents have not yet applied for a junior school. Please can all Year 2 parents make sure they apply promptly by the 15th January.
Wishing everyone a peaceful weekend (hopefully a lot drier than this week!)
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
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Welcome Back and Happy New Year
Wed 03 Jan 2024What a great first day back the children had today; they were excited to see their classmates and teachers to tell them about their Christmas holidays.
The excitement carried on through the day, when we had our theatre visit from M And M productions. They performed a brilliant version of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ pantomime. There were lots of songs to join in with and the children clapped and cheered along.
Mrs Labram and Miss Meek helped with some great dancing, and lots of fun was had by all.
We would like to thank the PTA for raising funds so that we can have this fantastic experience every year.
Happy New Year to you all
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Weekly Update Friday 15th December
Fri 15 Dec 2023We finished our Christmas week with our special 'Wishing Assembly' today. Each class thought about what their wishes could be for the world for 2024. In the assembly, class members were chosen to read the wishes out, and we lit a candle for each wish, with a few Christmas songs too.
Our wishes are displayed all year by my office and the children often come back to read them through the year. Their wishing stars are displayed below, and I am sure you will agree with me that our children have very good ideas about what they believe would be a good wish for the world.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a lovely break.
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
PS -Keep a look out for our Christmas Nativity photographs in the Hampshire Chronicle this year.
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Grandparents’ Service in St Peter’s Church
Thu 14 Dec 2023We had an awe filled afternoon this afternoon at St Peter’s Church. Our children sang beautifully, and told the Christmas story through readings and a nativity tableau. Reverend Hunt showed us all the things that important in our lives for free, particularly peace, love and joy.
Our furthest travelling grandparents came from Cumbria, and I think everybody felt joy throughout the service. Thank you to all the grandparents who attended. It was really lovely to see you all.
At the end of the service, our fantastic PTA prepared hot drinks and mince pies. There were so many happy faces, and we all had a lovely time
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Father Christmas came to BWIS!
Wed 13 Dec 2023After two days of performances our children had a great day having fun today making their party hats, having Christmas lunch and partying with games and dancing. We had a very special visit from fFather Christmas himself who brought a present for every child in the school. The children were all very excited to see him- I didn’t think Year R were going to let him leave again!
Thank you to Father Christmas and our PTA for sprinkling our party day with some very good cheer. The teachers will put more pictures on tapestry of their classes too.
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Heavenly Host
Mon 11 Dec 2023When you come to school to watch your children’s performance this week, please come and see our beautiful angels, designed and crafted by our Year 1 children. They really are beautiful to see. Thank you, Year 1, for bringing Christmas to BWIS!
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Christmas Week Events
Mon 11 Dec 2023Monday 11th December
9.30am Year 1 and 2 Performance
1.45pm-Year R Performance
Tuesday 12th December
9.30am Year R Performance
1.45pm Year 1 and 2 Performance
Raffle Draw (straight after Year 1 and 2 performance)
Wednesday 13th December
Non-Uniform Party/Christmas Clothes
Christmas Lunch Day
Christmas Party Afternoon (with a special visitor)
Thursday 14th December
Grandparent only Church Service at St Peter's Church
with refreshments by our PTA
Friday 15th December
Christmas Jumper/Top day (non uniform)
Donations will be online (link to be sent out)
We will finish the day with our special Wishing Assembly
(These wishes for the world for 2024 will be published her on Friday)
3.10pm Break up for Christmas Break
If you haven't got a party/Christmas outfit, please do not worry-just come in non uniform. Please make sure sensible footwear is worn on these days
We will be having a collection after each performance/church service. The money raised will go towards replenishing our Christmas items and our chosen local children's charity of Naomi House, which has supported so many children at our school.
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Weekly Update Friday 8th December
Fri 08 Dec 2023We have had a busy week this week with all year groups practising for their performances and a dress rehearsal to an audience. The children were very excited and cannot wait to perform to their grown ups next week. ((Please remember that there are no babies/primary aged children in the hall and they will need to be booked into the free crèche which is run by staff).
Our Christmas Shopping bazaar was fantastic as always, with lots of lovely gifts being chosen by the children. Thank you so much to the fantastic PTA , all the parent helpers and staff who helped make this event such a success.
Next week we also see the return of our popular grandparents service in St Peter’s Church. It will be starting at 1.30pm on Thursday 14th December. It is for grandparents only and there will be mince pies and tea available afterwards.
It is Christmas lunch and party day on Wednesday. Children can come to school in party clothes with sensible shoes please ( as they will still be going outside to play).
We also had 2 members from the parish council come and share some exciting news with our children this week. Mrs Labrum is so excited by it all she is writing a piece for our latest news, so watch this space.
it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
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Albany Road Play Park Project
Fri 08 Dec 2023Bishops Waltham Parish Council are designing a new play park for Albany Road. We were lucky enough to have Councillor Rowan and Councillor Ricky come into school and give an assembly about it! They asked the children what things they would like to see in the play park and showed them some designs. The children were very keen to give ideas and advice! The children are able to vote for their favourite design at the Jubilee Hall so be sure to get your vote in!
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Weekly Update Friday 1st December
Tue 28 Nov 2023Well this week turned out a little more eventful for us all with our OFSTED visit on Tuesday and Wednesday. The children really enjoyed sharing their learning with the inspectors and our staff are all relieved that the wait is over. We cannot let anybody know what our grading is at the moment, but we can let you know how much our children loved sharing their learning with the inspectors, how proud they were of their books and how brilliant the inspectors thought the behaviour was in our school. This inspection used a different framework to our previous inspection and over half of our teachers had not had an inspection before, so were understandably a little nervous. Everybody wanted to show how special our little school is, and what a lovely nurturing place it is for children to learn in, and adults to work in. We look forward to sharing our report with you all and the wider community in January.
Our Post Box is now up for any Christmas Cards that are being sent. Please remember to put the child's name and class on the envelope. Our LSAs (or Christmas Elves as we know them), have done an amazing job of making our school all Christmassy today, and I would like to thank them for all their hard work doing this. Thank you also to the PTA elves who worked together to make our Christmas tree happen and look beautiful in the front of our school.
Next week will be our Christmas Bazaar Shopping Day for all children. Thank you to everyone who volunteered. We can't wait to get started! Everybody has a shopping list in their bookbags this week. The key things to remember on Tuesday is:
Correct money (in labelled purse/secure envelope)
Shopping carrier bag with name on
Shopping list
And we will all take care of the rest!
I also was lucky enough to come to Year 2s fabulous New Zealand outcome this week. Our children were amazing geographers, sharing their skills and knowledge with their parents and grandparents. One of our governors who came along was very impressed, especially with the facts the children could recall and tell him, and of course with their Hakas. Well done to the Year 2 team for another successful project!
Year 1 have started their angel project and have been busy looking at how angels are depicted in art. I can't wait to see their finished, unique designs!
Year R had amazing fun on their Gruffalo trail through our grounds. Luckily, the rain help off for us to be able to go outside a lot more than the past few weeks!
Lastly, I would like to thank all the parents who wrote us kind messages and gave us chocolates and cake during the inspection. We have lots of parents who work in education and understand the pressure of the two days. We also thank the parents who filled in the 'Parent View'. We really appreciate you taking the time to do this too, and remember our door is always open f there is something you would like to let us know (which many of you already do).
Wishing everybody a lovely peaceful weekend-somehow I think it may be slightly noisier due to elves and advent calendars!
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
