Latest News
Keep up to date with all the news happening in school
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Attendance
Mon 11 Oct 2021We always strive to achieve high attendance, as children learn best when they attend regularly. Attendance at BWIS is usually very high, and this has been reflected in the amazing progress the majority of children make during their time with us. Due to no fault of their own, we are having an increasing number of children unable to attend due to COVID. All teachers will be in touch with their children if this is the case, to find out if your child is well enough to learn. If they are learning will be provided for the 10 days of isolation.
Like last year, we will not be giving out attendance certificates this term. Instead, we will continue to help families who are finding attending school difficult at the moment.
When families take unauthorised holidays for 10 sessions or more, all schools in the Swanmore cluster will be following the DFE guidance regarding penalty notices.
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Our children in the news
Mon 11 Oct 2021It was lovely to see one of our families on tv this weekend welcoming Daddy home from his ship after an extra long time away. You were all brilliant ( Mummy too!) and gave your Daddy the best hug in the world! Welcome back and we hope you enjoy some lovely family time together.
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Harvest Festival 2021
Mon 11 Oct 2021Today we celebrated our Harvest Festival and were lucky enough to be joined by Reverend Hunt. We were blown away by the kindness and respect the children showed when listening to and performing for each other. Here is a sneak peak of some of what we got up to. More photos to follow...
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CHILDREN STARTING SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER 2022
Tue 05 Oct 2021If you have a child starting school in September 2022, applications open from 1st November, and can be found here:
https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/admissions
We currently have our two videos that we made last year to give you a flavour of our school on our site. One was made by our children and one was made by the teachers. They can be found here:
https://www.bwis.org.uk/why-choose-us/
If you are still undecided of which school to send your child to, we will be advertising group tour dates after half term. Please only book on the group tours if you are considering our school as your first choice, as spaces will be limited. Coming on a tour does not mean you will get a place at school, as this is done with the Hampshire admissions team. There is lots and lots of information on our website to help make your choice, so please look on here, especially on the class pages, where you can see all our super learning in action!
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Year 1 Project Power visitors
Thu 30 Sep 2021On Wednesday we were visited by Dr Raftery. She spoke to the children about her job as a doctor, showing them the equipment she keeps in her doctors bag and how to use it. The children enjoyed learning about her role and asked lots of questions.
On Thursday, David, Di and Janise from Meon Valley HeartStart came into school to teach the children what to do in a medical emergency. The children learnt the different steps to follow (DRSABCD). This included looking for any dangers and checking whether the person was breathing. They were told when to call 999 and when not to. They also learnt about the recovery position and practised this with their friend. They asked and answered lots of questions.
Thank you very much to Dr Raftery and Meon Valley HeartStart for enriching the children's learning.
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Parenting Support Pack
Mon 27 Sep 2021We are a few weeks in now, and some parents mentioned at our recent welcome meetings things they might need help with at home, such as routines now they are in school. On our information page there is an excellent 'Parenting Support Pack' with lots and lots of ideas.
Please click here to follow the link (scroll down):
https://www.bwis.org.uk/information-letterspamphlets/
Please don't hesitate to call us, if there is something in the pack that you are unsure about, or need further guidance.
Kind regards
Mrs Riches
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Keeping your children safe online
Wed 22 Sep 2021At this time of the year, we complete our annual safeguarding audit. Part of our audit includes helping parents be aware of how to make sure their children are safe online. The internet can be an amazing place, and we want you to be able to be confident that your child is using it safely. In school, we have stringent firewalls set up by Hampshire IT that ensures our children do not access any material they shouldn't. We also teach the children how to keep themselves safe, especially when talking to friends or meeting new people on the internet.
Hampshire has brought out some great practical advice for parents to access when setting up their device at home. The link for this can be found here:
The NSPCC also has advice on their website. Their 3 step motto in their 'Share Aware' online guide is:
- Talk to your child
- Get the family involved
- Safety starts with you
They have a handy 'Net Aware' tool to explore what sites and Apps are acceptable for children at:
A video link to explain being 'net aware'
And their general advice about online safety can be found at:
If you have any queries about any of the above, please get in touch.
(all these links can be found on our safeguarding page under 'key information' )
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Firefighter Visit
Tue 21 Sep 2021Year 2 were really lucky to have a real life firefighter visit today; kicking off our new project! We had so much fun. We learned all about fire safety; including what to do if we burn ourselves, how to prevent burns, how often to check our smoke alarms and what to do in an emergency. Ask your children if they can remember any of the songs or rhymes from their session today. The children have also come home with a postcard. It’s really important for your child to know their address so helping them to write it on this postcard and reminding them of their address would be really useful.
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Our Pond Development
Mon 20 Sep 2021Thank you to Matt Howell, his volunteers and our staff and their families who came and cleared out our pond area and flower/vegetable beds this Saturday. Lots of hard work and what a difference already. Matt and I are now working with the Woodland Trust for our next steps in making a pond dipping nature area that is usable for the children. Thank you to all involved!
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Our first two weeks back
Fri 17 Sep 2021Dear Parents and Carers
What a great first two weeks back we have had. The atmosphere around the school is really exciting, with all the children enjoying their learning. It has been lovely to see Year R enjoying their first few weeks at school too. I know we have had the occasional tears saying goodbye in the morning, but by the time I walk around the classes to say hello, these have all stopped and there are very happy children waving at me.
We have a few reminders and information bits below, to make people aware of. Please have a read, and if anyone would like to share any information or thoughts, please email the admin office (address on home page).
Clubs
Clubs are starting next week. Please check the day/time and pick up with the organiser. Year 2 Lunch Clubs will start in October.
Solar Panels
You may have noticed some solar panels to generate energy being fitted to the roof of the new wing. We are waiting for the electric to be joined up and will give a few more facts on them in the newsletter at the end of the month.
1 person dropping off and picking up
Yesterday, a staff member had a rude response when reminding adults about one person picking up and dropping off, telling her it was 'ridiculous', and ignoring her request not to come in. I had to stop people in the end, which isn't nice for any of us.. We have kept this one request in place to try to limit the amount of people our staff members are coming into contact with. Covid is still prevalent, and I am sure you do not want your child's teacher absent for 10 or more days ill or isolating after contracting covid.
If every child brought 2 people at this time, we will have over 650 bodies (including children) crowding on our site at the start and end of the day, who are not working in our school. We have a duty of care to keep our staff as safe as we possibly can. Please do abide by our request (we have even seen people pretending not to be with each other when they walk past staff members), and help to keep us all safe. We also request that everybody keeps moving and wait for friends/stop and chat to friends outside of the school. If you are asking somebody else (a relative or friend) to pick up/drop off, please make them aware or our request too. Hopefully, now we have explained the numbers of people accessing our site, and our reasoning more fully, you will all understand how important it is to make sure your child's teacher and adults working in school are safe.
Special Mentions Book
Our special mentions book, that is read out in assembly, is looking a little empty. If your child has impressed you this week, give them a mention-it can be linked to anything and we love receiving them. They will get a shout out in our Friday assembly. We also have a book to share achievements (such as a certificate) that we read out. Please send a phot (email will do) and what their achievement has been, and we will pop it in there.
PTA Meeting
We had a brilliant PTA AGM last night, and it was lovely to see new faces. Cathy and her team did a great job last year and they have all decided to stay on this year. Cathy will be letting you know all the exciting things we chatted about yesterday, but our big drive this year is creating 'Forest Classroom' area around the school grounds, to further enhance our learning. We will let you know a little more about this in our September newsletter.
Pond Area
This weekend a group of volunteers organised by a parent in Year R, including some staff, are clearing out our pond area, in order to create a working wildlife area we can use. It is the first of a few grounds days we will be organising through the year. We are full of volunteers for tomorrow, but if you would like to put your name down for future days, please let us know.
Parking
Yesterday evening, a local resident, John, had a bad fall in Willow Road whilst trying to climb onto a kerb with his walking sticks. The dropped kerb, where he normally gets up, was blocked by a car. His wife is our local lollipop lady, and he walks down to meet her after she finishes work. Thank you to the two mums, Ms Barrett and Mrs Armstrong, whose quick thinking kept him calm and stable until the ambulance arrived. Thank you to Mr Wu, who directed the traffic until we got down there and could help. John has a broken hip and cracked elbow and is being operated on today. We all hope he makes a full recovery.
Please, please, please, park with care and consideration , if you bring your car onto the estate. It is very busy and dropped kerbs should not be parked in front of at any time. Every parent has pushed a pushchair at some time, and knows how hard it is to try to come off the pavement at another place. Some of our elderly residents depend on the dropped kerb, for their mobility and safety. I am sure you will join me in wishing John a speedy recovery, and hopefully consider parking further away, such as the Jubilee Hall, town or Hoe Road in future and walking the extra part of your journey to school.
Photographs
Just a reminder that it is our individual photographs on Thursday morning. Please send your child in with their jumper. Nikky, our photographer, is great at getting some lovely shots, and hopefully they will be back well in time for Christmas presents (only 99 days away, so it said on the news!).
Labeling Clothes
Please label all clothes, but especially coats/jumpers and cardigans. They are often left on the playground, and they will find their way back to class IF there is a name on them. If there are no names, then this becomes less likely, and children also take them home, thinking it is theirs. Even if written on the inside with a biro every Monday, please make it part of your weekly routine to check there is a label inside. Thank you.
We will be sending out a newsletter by the end of September, where we will share some of the things mentioned her in more depth. We hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
