Latest News
Keep up to date with all the news happening in school
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Bug Club
Thu 18 Mar 2021We are experiencing a few technical issues with Bug Club at the moment. We are aware of the issue and this will be fixed as soon as possible.
Don't forget you can use Oxford Owl and the SLS library too.
Happy reading!
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2021 Schools' Bird Box Project
Tue 16 Mar 2021Dear Parents/Carers,
Check out our bird box live stream http://www.seenature.org.uk/school-zone/school-streams/
Click on any school with a green dot and you can watch as the birds start building their nests, laying eggs, eggs hatching, baby birds feeding and fledging.
Sometimes our live feed may be interrupted by technical issues overnight, we will get it up and running again in the morning.
To support the project See Nature will be publishing articles on their website for our pupils to listen to and view. Click on the links below to read the following articles:
Identifying Birds by the sounds they make
Garden Birds - All about The Robin
http://www.seenature.org.uk/see-nature-news/the-robin-2-2-2/
Nuts about Nuts (To be published 17/3/2021)
Play Zone 1 (To be published 17/3/2021)
We have already had an inquisitive visitor who has taken a peak inside our bird box, fingers crossed she/he will start building a nest soon, last year we had six Blue Tit chicks.
School Office
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First Week Back
Sat 13 Mar 2021Dear Parents and Carers
It has been a lovely first week back for our children- so many happy, smiley faces. They have all been full of enthusiasm in class, and we have enjoyed teaching them!
The children have all been excited to see their friends and be in school again. As mentioned, we have started using the Trickbox activities. One of the first ones of these is ‘Mirror Mirror’ to develop self belief and confidence. Children stand in front of a mirror and, out loud, compliment themselves. It isn’t something that has been used once- it is used, and will be used, as part of our day, whenever children have a little doubt about themselves, or their abilities. It is also a great way to start your day at home too- ask your children to demonstrate it for you. One teacher reported that she couldn’t believe the difference in her art lesson after the children had used their ‘mirror mirror’ trick.
We have been looking, as a school, at ways to develop better long term retrieval and memory in our learning. One of the ways that really help with this is asking your child to ‘teach you’. Even if you already know how to do something, pretending you don’t, or aren’t quite sure, enables young children to feel like they are the expert- they love this. How many of you have been at a pantomime, where the actors are getting things wrong on purpose on the stage? You will usually be blocking your ears from the sounds of children shouting the right answer to them! It is that kind of approach with children. We use it a lot in teaching as the teacher, ‘oh silly Mrs Riches has forgotten how to.. can you help/ remind/teach me?’
Have a go at home. When they tell you how to do it, repeat it back to show you understood and were listening ‘oh, so I do this first- am I doing it right’ The more you engage, the more confident your child will feel recalling their knowledge/skill and using it to teach you.
It was lovely to have parents of children who was ‘star of the week’ join us for assembly on Friday. Thank you all for keeping it a secret- your children had a great surprise seeing you! This is something we wanted to continue with, when we opened to all again. There is a little message on Tapestry for everyone with a star award.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend with your families. Hopefully a little more sunshine for us, after the last few stormy days.
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
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School time amendment
Tue 09 Mar 2021After reviewing the new drop off and collection times and also listening to feedback from parents there is a small change to timings.
Year R times will remain unchanged.
Year 1 and 2:
Drop off between 9.00 and 9.10am
Collection between 3.00 and 3.10pm
This is effective from today.
The swimming pool gate from the Junior school will continue to be open for entry into school only. Parents who do multiple drop offs can wait in the area between swimming pool gate and Year R playground.
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Thank you to the family who very kindly sent the staff some biscuits, they are very much appreciated.
Tue 09 Mar 2021
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Welcome Back
Mon 08 Mar 2021Dear Parents and Carers
It was so lovely to welcome all the children back today. Lots of smiles and giggles around the school. The children were so excited to see each other and their teachers. Thank you for helping to make drop off as smooth as possible. Remember, for those entering from 'Free Street', our entrance near the pool is open too for coming in (not going out).
Lots of parents have been commenting on the beautiful crocus wheels that were planted by Bishops Waltham Rotary club for the 'End Polio Now' campaign. The purple represents the ink used to mark people who have been immunised. The Rotary Club have long been involved with the worldwide effort to eradicate polio. We have wheels at both schools and one on the entrance to the estate too.
On Friday 19th March, we will be supporting the 'Comic Relief' day again. The theme this year is 'Heroes'. It will be a fancy dress themed day and children can come dressed as a hero-it can be a superhero, a made up hero or as somebody who is a hero to them. Mrs Charles will be sending out some more information this week.
Thank you to everyone who responded to our remote learning questionnaire before half term. Please find the results on our 'Parent Info' page. On the whole, it was a very positive survey about the school but did reflect how hard lockdown was for everybody, especially when juggling work and family. Hopefully, that is the last we will see of lockdown!
Parents also received an email about obtaining 'Lateral Flow' tests for their children, if they wished to do them. We will not be testing children at infant schools, but please see the information regarding this on our 'Parent Info' page/in the office email.
Some parents have asked us about finding out about 'Trickbox'. We have not introduced it yet and will be introducing it slowly over the next few weeks, as advised by the trainer. Our main priority at the moment is getting all the children settled back into school routines. We will give more information on how it can be used at home in the summer term.
I hope you all managed to find some time to sit down with a cup of tea today and enjoy the peace and quiet again! We are enjoying the noise of happy children around the school.
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
Headteacher
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Happy World Book Day
Thu 04 Mar 2021Dear Parents and Carers
We hope you are enjoying the stories you have heard so far. Remember there are lots of activities on our 'World Book Day' page.
A parent also let us know of a lovely opportunity to receive personalised Julia Donaldson books at Steyning Book Store online, until 12th March. They are available through this link
Personalised Julia Donaldson books
If you are in Year 1, please remember that it is your Winter Warmer evening tonight. Your special Winter Warmer goodie bags are available to pick up at school, so please come and get yours before this evening.
Today is a day to share reading with your children. Encourage them to find out what family members liked to read when they were their age, whether it be fiction or non-fiction. My son was astounded when I told him that I had no internet to find things out and that we had to books! Living in a tiny village, that meant waiting for the mobile library van to come around once a fortnight and putting a request in-not the instant stream of information in different media that is at our children's fingertips!
Have an amazing day!
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL PARENTS AND CARERS
Tue 02 Mar 2021STARTING BACK TO SCHOOL INFORMATION -Monday 8th March
We will be opening the school to all parents on Monday 8th March. We have all been very excited since the announcement, and have relooked at our procedures and what we need to put in place, within the new guidelines.
DROPPING OFF AND PICKING UP
We will continue to have our one way system in place. There will be two entrances to the school and one exit.
Entrance 1: The small blue pedestrian gate on the approach to school.
Entrance 2: The pool gate in between the infant school and the junior school. To use this gate, parents must use the Free Street entrance on to the junior school and only walk on the path, not cut across the field. Mr Campbell is happy for this route to be used, and the scaffolding has now started to come down , making the access easier for all again. Both entrances will be manned to ensure entry only (not exit).
Exit
Year R and Year 2 will exit through the blue gates and down the ramp. Year 1 will exit through the car park, if Mrs Ely is available to man. It is a live car park and parents will need to walk near the grass verge, with their children near at all times.
At all points around the school, children need to walk with their parents, not run on ahead.
Masks are to be worn by all adults.
To limit adult contact it is 1 adult per group of children (family group/childcare group).
Drop off and pick up will need to be brief, with parents 2m away from doors. If you need to pass a message on/would like to speak to a teacher, please telephone/email and a member of staff will get back to you.
Timings
There will be a 10 minute drop/off pick up time for each year group. Please do not come onto site before the allocated time. Gates will be locked between the timings.
Year R:
Morning: 8.45am-8.55am
Afternoon: 2.45pm-2.55pm
Year 1 and 2:
Morning: 9.05am-9.15am
Afternoon: 3.05pm-3.15pm
Children will need to adhere to their own time slots. With children in different schools, we understand that there maybe waiting/overlap. This is unfortunately unavoidable. We will reassess the school routine at Easter Break.
Please maintain social distancing at all times when on the school site.
What will my child need to bring?Please bring a water bottle, lunchbox (if needed), a coat/sunhat (depending on weather) and their book bag. Fruit snacks will be provided. Please put sunscreen on, if the day is sunny.
Children will need to be in school uniform, unless it is their PE day, when they can come in PE clothes. From now until September, our shoe policy is relaxed. Children can either wear school shoes or trainers, Footwear needs to be suitable for running around and outdoor learning (not thin canvas shoes as these become soaked when on wet grass). If children are wearing school shoes, they will need to leave a pair of trainers in school/bring a pair, in case we are running around.
PE days:
Mon:Year 1
Tues: Year 2
Thurs: Year R
What will happen at lunch time?
We will continue to have lunch in our class bubbles. There will be three options for school lunch. The menu is under 'school menus' under the parent tab. You can being a packed lunch if you would like to.
Are Early Birds and Treetops clubs running, before and after school?
Yes, both clubs are running as normal from Monday 8th March. They will be running from the hall. Year group bubble will still be kept apart, as per the government guidelines for the club. Please explain this to your children, if using the clubs.
What will the curriculum look like?
Our curriculum will continue to be taught through our projects and will be broad and balanced. We will continue to update to Tapestry in all Year Groups and parents can also update to tapestry too. The Year R curriculum, where observations are part of the EYFS curriculum, there will be more updates than in other year groups. Children will be assessed and taught appropriately, ensuring and knowledge/skills gaps are taught. Our teachers work as year teams and moderate regularly between themselves to ensure all classes have the same teaching, experiences and resources.
We will also be revisiting our Learning Values and Badger Values, to revisit school expectations with the children.
What about my child's mental health and well being?
From our remote learning questionnaire feedback, we looked for ways that we could further develop well being in BWIS.
As part of our whole school, well-being approach we are introducing Trick Box, which is a fun and effective personal development programme, to help children to;
Build confidence
Manage emotions and anxiety
Develop communication skills
Make positive choices about actions
Coach themselves through challenges
From Reception to Year 2 your child will be introduced to 12 'tricks' and a simple self-coaching model called the Letter Box, designed to give them positive habits for life. We'll be practising the tricks at school and it would be great if you could also practise these tricks at home with your child. There are 12 more tricks in the Trick Box to help your child now or during their school journey as juniors.
You will find more information about Trickbox at:
This will be a new approach for us and we are busy training and looking at ways we can introduce this with our children.
What can I do to help?
Being at home, children will not have been handwashing as regularly as they will at school. We will be giving lots of reminders, but if you could talk to your children about this too, this will really help.
We will not be mixing class bubbles inside, but children will be mixing outside in their year group at play/lunch times. Children will have their own space to sit, like last term. One thing we did notice, when we came back in September, was how much time we spent explaining playground rules ie. only jump where it is safe to, using equipment appropriately (ie not climbing on musical instruments and playhouse roofs). If you could also talk to your children about how school and home are different, as they are so young, this will help us too.
What do I do if my child or a household member displays COVID-19 symptoms?
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
- a high temperature
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
- a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
If your child/member of your household develops any of these symptoms, please follow the NHS advice:
- Get a test to check if they have coronavirus as soon as possible.
- You, your child and anyone else you live with should stay at home and not have visitors until you get the test result – only leave your home to have the test.
Anyone in your support bubble should also stay at home if your child has been in close contact with them since their symptoms started or during the 48 hours before they started.
If the test is positive, please contact the school immediately by telephone in school hours and QR code on Parent Information page, out of school hours, so that we can put our Track and Trace into place.
For advice on what to do please click on either link below:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/coronavirus-in-children/
What happens if we have to isolate/a bubble has to isolate?
Don't worry! We will be updating our remote learning plan, to ensure children are educated throughout.
I know there is a lot of information to take in on here, and I hope that I have covered everything. We are looking forward to seeing you all so much. If there is any aspect of the start back, you need further clarification on, please don't hesitate to get in touch. It has been a really tough few months for parents and we are under no illusion that this has been easy for anybody. Life is not yet back to 'normal'. We are still under lockdown regulations, with our lives being very different for a while yet. Many parents have found ways to cope, whilst many are struggling. We hope you have felt supported by us and remember we are here to offer advice/support as well as teach.
You have all been truly amazing throughout the lockdown. Thank you for your messages, goodies and support for both your children and us. I cannot end this message without mentioning our AMAZING school team at BWIS. We are learning all the time, developing new skills and knowledge month after month. Our teachers, LSAs, office staff, cleaning team, lunch staff and kitchen staff have worked incredibly hard to make everything run as smoothly as it possibly can, and will continue to do so. It all looks easy from the outside, and it can only look like this with everyone giving 100%. I am very proud of our whole team and would like all the parents and carers to know that your children are really and truly at the heart of BWIS. They drive every decision, and are always at the forethought of all we do.
Hopefully, schools are a very small step towards normality and seeing family and friends soon.
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
Headteacher
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World Book Day Thursday 4th March
Fri 26 Feb 2021World Book day is on Thursday 4th March and we would like to invite everybody to a day of Reading celebration!
Every half hour a teacher will be reading a story, that EVERYBODY can attend. The timetable is as follow:
9am Miss Salter
9.30am Mrs Riches
10am Mrs Campone
10.30am Mrs Charles
11am Miss Turner
11.30am Miss Miners
1pm Miss Apsey
1.30pm Miss Harper
2pm Miss Whitehead
2.30pm Miss Campbell
A link will be sent out by Mrs Greenwood to join the story session. You can attend as many as you like. There will be no class zooms on Thursday. Instead, the story sessions will be running and there will be a World Book Day Activity Page. This page will have loads of different activities to do or try, and you can pick and mix the ones you think your child will like the most to do. Please click the link below to find out more (the activities will be uploaded between now and Thursday).
This year, we will not be dressing up in school/bringing things to school, and the day will be about celebrating reading instead. However, if you are at home and would like to dress up, please do so. You could also bring your cuddly toy to the story sessions in your house and add a photo of you reading to your tapestry.
Mrs Greenwood will also be sending a World Book Day token that can be exchanged for a £1 book.
In the evening of World Book Day, Miss Salter will be running her 'Winter Warmer' experience virtually for Year 1 children. We will have a winter warmer pack for your Year 1 child ready on Wednesday from 1pm onwards to come and collect (with goodies inside). This Winter Warmer runs every year for Year 1 children and we didn't want them to miss out this year!
Your child needs to be ready to log on with you at 5pm, dressed in their nightclothes (you can too!). You will receive a zoom link from Miss Salter next week to click and join.
We look forward to seeing you all virtually next week. remember to send your reading pictures in. We will add a slideshow on the website to celebrate your fantastic reading!
Best wishes
Mrs Riches and Miss Salter
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Thank you!
Wed 24 Feb 2021Thank you to two families who have sent in cakes for the staffroom this week.
