Latest News | Bishops Waltham Infant School

Weekly Update Friday 17th April

Fri 17 Apr 2026

🌼 A Lovely Start Back to the Summer Term 🌼

We have had such a lovely start back to school this week. The blossom is out on the trees 🌸, the school is feeling bright and welcoming, and we are pleased to say that the drain at the front of the school has finally been fixed – thank you for your patience while this was completed.

The children have returned full of enthusiasm and have been keen to share their stories from the Easter break 🐣. It has been wonderful to hear about family time, adventures, and restful moments at home.

🌦️ Weather Watch

The weather has been quite changeable recently, so please ensure your child has a coat in school each day, just in case of showers.

Many children came home telling you about what was the loudest hailstorm I have experienced in my 17 years here, which happened during Assembly on Monday! ⛈️ It was truly deafening, and we all agreed that weather changes can be quite exciting.

🐸 Pond Area Volunteering

A big thank you to Matt Howell and his family, who have been volunteering their time in our pond area to get it ready for pond‑dipping season 🐞💦. They are doing a super job.

We would love to form a small, regular volunteer working group to help maintain this amazing resource. The children absolutely love learning in this space, and we are very lucky to have it.

👉 If you can spare some time and would like to get involved, we would be very grateful – please let the office know.

👕 Bags for Schools – Clothing & Fabric Collection

We have organised a Bags for Schools clothing and fabric collection on Tuesday 12th May 👜.

Bags can be dropped off either the morning of the collection or the day before. A wide range of items can be included, so if you’re having a clear‑out, please take this opportunity to fill a bag. Every contribution helps support the school.

👟 School Uniform Reminder

We have noticed that some children are starting to come to school wearing cartoon or multi‑coloured socks and incorrect footwear.

Please can we ask that children attend school in the correct uniform.
✅ Black trainers are allowed, as long as they are waterproof.

We also have a number of school uniform items available from the office for a small donation, so please do have a look before buying new.

🌍 Sustainability Day – World Earth Day

On Wednesday 22nd April, to coincide with World Earth Day, we will be holding our Sustainability Day 🌱.

This is a key strand of our school strategic plan, and we are excited to be launching our learning programe with the children. Our Sustainability Leads, Miss Martin and Miss Daniels‑King, will introduce the day with a whole‑school assembly.

All activities and future plans will be shared on our website afterwards. We cannot wait to share this work with you and enhance our curriculum even further.

📚 Secret Reader Success!

We were delighted to launch our ‘Secret Reader’ initiative this week 📖✨. Most classes had a parent volunteer, and the children absolutely loved the surprise of seeing their grown‑ups come in to read.

Unfortunately, Hedgehog and Frog Class did not have a volunteer this week and were a little disappointed. We were also grateful to have a library helper stand‑in for one parent who was unable to attend on the day.

Please do sign up and get involved in this brilliant initiative, led by our English Leads, Miss Turner and Mrs Labram. The next Secret Reader session is on Monday 20th April at 2.55pm. We are hoping this will continue to gain momentum each week.

🎪 Summer Fayre – Help Needed

Our Summer Fayre will soon be with us ☀️🎉, and we will be asking for donations for the stalls. Collection days will be happening in May and will be advertised next week.

The PTA are also struggling for volunteers to man the stalls, particularly the barbecue. All staff and our small PTA team (including family members) are already helping, and there is only so much we can do.

👉 If you are able to help, please let the office know and we will pass your details on to Claire, our PTA Chair.

⚽ A Final Note for Saints Supporters

Lastly, for any Saints supporters, what a game the quarter final on Easter Saturday was! One more week until Wembley 🏟️. Lots of children have been chatting excitedly about it in school.

🌞 Wishing everyone a very lovely weekend and hoping for some sunshine. 🌞

Best Wishes

Mrs Riches

Headteacher

Bag2school collection

Mon 13 Apr 2026

We are pleased to announce that we have organised a clothes & shoe collection with Bag2School.

As well as raising funds for our school it also helps the environment by helping to divert unwanted textiles away from landfill.

By getting involved in our Bag2School collection, you have an opportunity to sort through your cupboards and wardrobes and donate unwanted textiles – this can include adults’ and children’s clothes, shoes (tied together please), hats and belts.

Weekly Update Friday 27th March

Fri 27 Mar 2026

What a fantastic final week we’ve had in school, filled with Easter fun, sunshine and celebrations! 🌞🐣

🐰 PTA Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday we enjoyed our brilliant PTA Easter Egg Hunt, complete with a special appearance from the Easter Bunny! The sun was shining and the children had a wonderful time racing around and collecting eggs from their teachers – did you guess the right word? 🥚🔤

A huge thank you to our PTA, teachers and office staff for making this much‑loved event such a success every single year. 🌟

🎉 PTA Quiz Night

Last Friday we held another successful PTA night, with Andy as our fantastic host. Congratulations to “Harry’s House of Trivia” who were our winners! 🏆🎉

🎨 Easter Egg Competition

Today we welcomed Tracy Conduct and Kevin Jones from the Parish Council who came to judge our Easter Egg competition. They were genuinely amazed by the creativity, care and imagination shown in every single entry. They took their time, carefully inspecting each design, and were incredibly impressed by the effort the children put in. 🌟👏

A big thank you to Tracy and Kevin for being so thoughtful and thorough in their judging.

We were delighted to award five winning eggs per year group:

Year R: Eric, Zara, Robyn, Cora, Hughie
Year 1: Jasper, Arlo, Sadie, Ella, Charlotte, Mabel
Year 2: Louis, Arlos, Jemima, Ophelia, Heidi

There were prizes for everyone who entered. Thank you to all the children (and families!) for making the day so special. 🐣💛

👋 Goodbye to Mr Churcher

Today we say goodbye to Mr Churcher, who has been covering maternity and sickness leave across Year 1 and Year 2 this past year. He has been a super teacher, a supportive colleague, and a valued member of our team. We will all miss him and wish him every success in his future teaching career. 🌟📚

🍃 Welcome Back, Mrs Moth

We are delighted that Mrs Moth is now back full‑time. She will be teaching Hedgehog Class for the remainder of the summer term and will also be our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo). All the children know her from last year, and we are sure they will give her a big, warm welcome back. 🦔💐

🛍️ PTA Easter Extravaganza Sale

Don’t forget! Our PTA are holding a big Easter extravaganza sale in the turning circle today. Bring along your pennies and enjoy a little treat! 🍬🌈

🌷 Wishing You a Wonderful Easter Break

We hope you all have a lovely, restful Easter holiday, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 13th April. 🐣🌼

With warm wishes

Mrs Riches

Headteacher

Easter Egg Hunt

Mon 23 Mar 2026

Weekly Update-Friday 20th March

Fri 20 Mar 2026

What a wonderful week of learning, creativity and collaboration we’ve had in school! The children have been busy, enthusiastic and full of curiosity—as always—and we are so proud of everything they’ve achieved.

🌱 Year R – Incredible Mini Gardens!

Year R have been arriving with the most beautiful gardens this week, and we have all been amazed at just how inventive and creative they are. Each garden is completely unique—full of tiny details, imaginative touches and brilliant ideas. Well done, Year R! Your hard work and creativity really shine.

🍓 Year 1 – Fabulous Fruit Fiesta!

Year 1 have been enjoying a fruit‑tastic time with their exciting Fruit Fiesta project. They have been working interdependently to design special fruit dishes for the Year R children, combining teamwork with imagination. The class have absolutely loved discovering lots of different fruits—trying new flavours, sharing favourites, and learning how fruits grow. It has been such a joyful project.

🎩 Year 2 – Wonderful Writing About Nelson’s Hat

Year 2 have been getting creative with their writing, using Nelson’s hat as their inspiration. Their progress this year has been incredible—their vocabulary, sentence choices and confidence have all grown so much. We can’t wait for mums and dads to see the project outcome… you’re in for a wonderful surprise!

🐣 Looking Ahead to Next Week – Easter Fun!

🥚 PTA Easter Egg Hunt – Thursday 26th March

Our fantastic PTA will be hosting the ever‑popular Easter Egg Hunt next Thursday. This is always such a fun and exciting event—children love racing around to find all the hidden letters before meeting the Easter Bunny!

🌟 Remember to buy your tickets, as this event usually sells out.

There will also be a lovely tea and cake area for adults to enjoy, including Krispy Kreme doughnuts on sale!

🎨 ‘Decorate an Egg’ Competition – Friday

On Friday, we’ll be holding our much‑loved Decorate an Egg competition.

Eggs must be 3D (no flat paper drawings please).
They can be real eggs, papier‑mâché, or any other creative material.
Judging will take place for each year group.

We also have:
🐣 Parent Category – for grown‑ups who want to get creative!
🐥 Pre‑School Category – if we have enough entries.

Every entry will receive an egg‑themed prize, with larger prizes for our winners. We can’t wait to see your “egg‑citing” creations!

🍬 PTA Big Easter Treats Sale – Friday After School

To finish the week, our PTA will be hosting their big Easter Treats Sale in the turning circle. Expect plenty of goodies, surprises and delicious treats to take home.

❓ PTA Quiz Night – This Evening

If you're coming along to the quiz tonight, we look forward to seeing you there!

💛 A Huge Thank You to Our PTA

There has been a lot of behind‑the‑scenes work over the past few weeks to prepare all of these wonderful events. We want to say an enormous thank you to our PTA for their incredible effort, dedication and creativity. All funds raised are going towards developing an exciting new sensory and imaginative play courtyard, and we’ll share more updates as quotes come in.

🌞 Enjoy the Sunshine This Weekend

We hope everyone enjoys the lovely sunshine over the weekend. Thank you for your continued support—you help make our school the warm, joyful and creative place it is.

Have a wonderful weekend!

With warm wishes

Mrs Riches

Headteacher

Weekly Update Friday 13th March

Fri 13 Mar 2026

🧹🕰️ Year 1 Step Back in Time

On Tuesday, Year 1 walked into a very different classroom… the Victorian era had returned!

The children threw themselves into their role play with huge enthusiasm — some even told me they had to sweep the chimneys when they got home!

It was lovely to welcome parents to their learning outcome. The children are becoming fantastic young historians:

👑 ordering monarchs on a timeline
🕵️‍♂️ examining artefacts for clues about the past

Well done to the Year 1 team for planning and teaching such an inspiring project

🌞🌿 Year R Enjoy Sunshine at the Arboretum

Year R were treated to the only sunny day of the week (their sun dance certainly worked! ☀️).
They enjoyed a whole day outdoors at the Arboretum, learning:

how plants grow
exploring nature
taking part in hands-on activities

They couldn’t wait to tell us all about their adventures, and they’re excited to use their new knowledge when they grow plants in their classrooms 🌱

A huge thank you to the parents and grandparents who joined us — our trips simply couldn’t happen without your support 💚

⚓📜 Year 2 Dive into History

Year 2 have delved deeper into their project on Horatio Nelson, and they are becoming wonderfully curious and thoughtful historians.

A special well done to Cobi and Arlo for their incredible writing about sailors this week — their effort, improvement and pride in their work gave me the biggest smile. We are all super proud of you! 🌟✍️

📚💙 Celebrating Success Beyond BWIS

Today we had a visit from one of our past parents, who is returning as a reading volunteer — wonderful news in itself, but she also shared that her son Samuel, who I remember as a blonde, fluffy haired 6 year old, has been offered a place at Cambridge University for September. A huge congratulations to Samuel — we are incredibly proud of this wonderful achievement! 🎓👏

❓🍞🧀 PTA Quiz Night — Tickets Still Available!

We still have some spare tickets for our PTA Quiz Night on Friday 20th March.

🎟 £10 per ticket (includes sharing platter of meats, cheese & bread)
🍹 Licensed bar
🤩 Hosted by Andy
🎉 Open to current and past parent/carer/grandparent teams

Come along for a fantastic night of fun — we’d love to see you there!

🐣🥚 Easter Egg Trail & Egg Decorating

Tickets are also on sale for our always-popular Easter Egg Trail.
And don’t forget to get creative for our egg-decorating competition on the last day of term! 🎨🐰

🌞Tenant Partnership Team, Winchester City Council

Please remember if you are a tenant of Winchester City Council, then there is a workshop on Saturday 14th March (tomorrow) for you to attend:

Housing Improvement Workshop, at The Jubilee Hall, Little Shore Lane, Bishops Waltham, Southampton, SO32 1ED on Saturday 14^th March at 11am – 12:30pm. The Topic we will be discussing is ‘Complaints & Learning’.

🏉 Six Nations Super Saturday

Tomorrow is the final day of the Six Nations — and after the dramatic Italy and Scotland wins, it’s going to be a Super Saturday indeed!
England and Wales are battling it out for the Wooden Spoon… though I suspect Wales may just take that title. After Rhys Carre’s joyful try last week, welsh fans are certainly rallying behind the youngsters in the team! 🏉

💐💛 Happy Mothering Sunday

Wishing all our mums and grandmothers a very happy Mothering Sunday this weekend. We hope you are all thoroughly spoiled and have a lovely day.

Here’s hoping for a little more sunshine next week! 🌼🌞

With warm wishes

Mrs Riches

Headteacher

Weekly Update Friday 6th March

Fri 06 Mar 2026

🌼What a wonderfully busy and joyful week it has been in school! With the sunshine finally joining us and our spring flowers dancing in the playground, the children have been able to enjoy so much outdoor learning and play. Long may it continue! 🌞🌷

👩‍🏫 Parents’ Evenings – Thank You!

A huge thank you to everyone who attended our two Parents’ Evening sessions this week. We were absolutely thrilled with the fantastic attendance — the vast majority of parents came into school to look through children’s learning and discuss their next-step targets with class teachers.

Your engagement and support make such a difference, and we are so proud of the home–school partnership we continue to build.

Our third meeting opportunity will take place during our Open Afternoon in July, but please remember:
👉 Our door is always open for any questions or concerns at any time.

📚 World Book Day Magic!

World Book Day was a truly magical celebration of reading!
Children (and staff!) arrived in their cosy pyjamas, ready to share their favourite bedtime stories. The whole school was filled with calm, warm reading moments that showed just how special books can be.

In the afternoon we held a Giant Book Swap, where children voted for which storytime and adult they wanted to visit. 📖✨
The smiles, excitement, and gentle buzz of storytelling made it a day we will all remember. We hope it inspires a lifelong love of reading well beyond their time with us. 💛

📚 Special Visitor

Year 2 had a special visit this week from Mr Martin, Miss Martin's father, who shared what life is like in the Royal Navy now. The children were relieved to know that times had changed since Nelson's time! What a special treat this was for the children-thank you Mr Martin!

🍫 PTA Thank You – Chocolate Bars & More!

A big shout-out to our amazing PTA for their wonderful chocolate bar initiative! 🍫
The children absolutely loved this small but very special treat. Thank you to everyone who supported it.

And don’t forget:

🧠 Quiz Night – 20th March → tickets still on sale!
🐣 Easter Egg Hunt tickets are also available now!

🥚 Annual Easter Competition

For those who love to plan ahead…
This year’s annual Easter competition is to decorate and make an egg!
🎨🐣 Get creative — glitter, paint, googly eyes… we love to see it all!

Eggs will be judged in year groups
We kindly welcome any donations of chocolate Easter eggs for our prize table
Please bring all entries and donations into school on Friday 27th March

We can’t wait to see your egg-cellent creations! 🥚✨

🌞Cleverchefs

We had a catering meeting yesterday, where we discussed our current menus, the new menus coming up. The new menus will be coming with photographs, which we have asked for since the company started. They are also making the descriptions easier to understand for young children.

Cleverchefs have also brought out online food magazines for teachers and parents. Please follow the link below for more information

Cleverchefs magazine

🌞Tenant Partnership Team, Winchester City Council

We have been contacted by Annie Hall the Tenant partnership Officer for Winchester City Council, she has asked for family's who are tenants to come along to a meeting to be held soon, to give their opinions and discuss improvements. Please find the details below:

Housing Improvement Workshop, at The Jubilee Hall, Little Shore Lane, Bishops Waltham, Southampton, SO32 1ED on Saturday 14^th March at 11am – 12:30pm. The Topic we will be discussing is ‘Complaints & Learning’.

🌞 Spring Sunshine

We have welcomed some glorious sunny days this week, and the children have loved every moment of playing and learning outdoors. With the flowers blooming and the brighter weather lifting everyone’s spirits, it has truly felt like spring has arrived. 🌻🌼

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support and for being such a wonderful part of our school community. We are incredibly proud of everything our children achieve each week.

Warmest wishes,
Mrs Riches
Headteacher

Table Top Sale

Wed 04 Mar 2026

Bishop’s Waltham Parish Council will be having a Tabletop Sale in the Jubilee Hall on Sunday 15^th March.

All money raised will be going towards the Priory Park building project.

Weekly Update Friday 27th February

Thu 26 Feb 2026

What a wonderful week it’s been in school! Year 2 had an absolutely brilliant day on their trip to the Historic Dockyard. They returned buzzing with excitement and bursting with new historical facts – they were like little encyclopedias! Both our helpers and the dockyard staff commented on how delightful, polite and eager to learn our children were. They really were a credit to their families, and we are so proud of them.

We’ve also enjoyed a few sunny days this week which have brought a lovely “back to school” feeling. The children have come in with huge smiles and couldn’t wait to tell their teachers all about their adventures over the break. It has been such a joy to see.

Celebration Assembly today saw lots of children sharing their excellent multiplication learning, using exciting vocabulary to engage the reader as well as handwriting improvements. The children are so proud to share their achievements and it is always a pleasure to lead the assembly to celebrate their success with their peers.

Looking ahead to next week, we have two parent–teacher evenings. If you haven’t done so already, please do sign up for your appointment. A quick reminder that our crèche will only be running until 6pm this time due to staffing, so please keep this in mind when booking one of the later slots.

We had a great PTA meeting last night where we discussed our upcoming events:

Quiz Night – Friday 20th March
Easter Egg Hunt – Thursday 26th March
Wonderful Chocolate Bars

Both events are shaping up to be lots of fun, so please don’t leave it too late to book your place. Early bookings really help our PTA plan and cater for the correct numbers. Well done to Claire and her team for their continued enthusiastic fundraising ideas. Our next project is to create a sensory play and learning area in the Courtyard of our school. Exciting times ahead!

Another exciting date for your diaries is World Book Day on Thursday 5th March. This year we’ll be celebrating with bedtime stories and pyjamas! Children are invited to come to school in their PJs, and every child will receive a book token to spend on a special World Book Day book. Our PTA are also helping us celebrate World Book Day this year with their 'Wonderful Chocolate Bars'. They will be on sale next week. Will you be luck enough to win a golden ticket? Please see the poster sent out today to tell you more!

Some of you may also have seen the government White Paper in the news this week. As this has not yet been finalised, we encourage parents who wish to share their views to do so via the government’s consultation process. You can read the White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, and understand the proposed reforms here:
🔗 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving

Thank you, as always, for your support and involvement in school life.

Wishing everyone a lovely, restful weekend!

Best wishes

Mrs Riches

Headteacher

Weekly Update Friday 13th February

Fri 13 Feb 2026

We hope you are all looking forward to a well‑deserved half‑term break! Before we finish for the week, here are a few important updates and some wonderful celebrations from across the school.

👩‍🏫 Parents’ Evening – Monday 2nd & Thursday 5th March

Appointments for Parents’ Evening are now available to book via Arbor.

A crèche will be available on both evenings until 5:50pm.
To book a crèche slot, please email the school office with your child’s name and age. Spaces are limited.

💃🕺 Bounce and Boogie – Total Raised: £4,057!

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our Bounce and Boogie event.
Together, we raised an amazing £4,057 – a fantastic achievement that will greatly benefit our school community.

🍬 Thank You to Our Wonderful PTA

A big thank you to our brilliant PTA for organising yet another successful Sweet Sale.
The Valentine roses were especially popular and went down a treat with the children!

Don’t forget – the PTA is hosting another Quiz Night on Friday 20th March.
Get your teams together, sign up, and let’s get Quizzical! 🧠✨

🐖 Year 1 Visit to Manor Farm

Year 1 enjoyed a fantastic day at Manor Farm, learning about what life was like for Victorian children. The staff at the farm were full of praise, telling us what a lovely and polite group our children were.

A special well‑done goes to Molly from Robin Class, who impressed everyone with the best guinea pig impression the staff had ever heard!

We are incredibly proud of all our Year 1 children for representing our school so wonderfully.

📅 Important Dates After Half Term

Monday 23rd February – INSET Day (school closed to pupils)
Tuesday 24th February – School reopens for all children
Thursday 5th March – World Book Day
This year’s theme is Bedtime Stories.
Children are invited to wear their pyjamas and bring along their favourite bedtime story to share with their class. We’re looking forward to a cosy day of reading together.

Wishing all our families a lovely, restful half term.
We look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday 24th February.

With warm wishes

Mrs Riches

Headteacher