Hello families and welcome to another packed newsletter. As you know, we've had an Ofsted Inspection this week so as well as the usual business of school, we've had a few other things to think about! Thankyou to all the parents who completed the Ofsted Parent View survey- we had a really good number of responses and and the great news was that the stats for each question were very much in line with the feedback we get from our internal anonymous surveys. You can look at Parent View responses for any school.. so if you want to have a little look at ours, just search 'Ofsted Parent View'.

We are not able to see the 'free text answers' but the inspectors shared some of them with us. We know the feedback from you all was overwhelmingly positive- thankyou for your kind words and support. We also know the circumstances for those of you who raised concerns- so inspectors were pleased that the survey results didn't tell us anything we didn't already know!

As you will probably know, we are not allowed to share the final grading until the report is published, but what we can say is that the next steps identified by the inspectors are exactly what we know we need to work on! I have been very honest with families about where I felt we needed to improve and in some of these areas we have really motored along. There are still areas we need to develop and for me, these improvements can't come quick enough... but we also know that to really do things properly, and to embed each step forward, then we need to be patient and make sure we're taking everyone along with us.

So without breaking any rules, I just want to reassure you that our school is improving at a good rate and is in safe hands. 

So many of you would have seen the amazing Christmas tree and lights in the George Hall either at the Fair, or picking up after the Discos we have had this week. You might have been wondering how tall is is...Oscar H 6S guessed the nearest height with a guess of 7m. The tree is actually 6.85m and it is apparently the tallest we have had at school for a very long time! Congratulations Oscar, prizes are on there way to you after entering 'Guess the Height of the Tree' at the Fair.

Thanks to our sponsors of the tree this year-  Trademark Solutions Ltd (TSL).

Values of The Week 

Today, teachers have presented the Values certificate to the following children for demonstrating Responsibility.

Christmas Fact of the week:

The Christmas biggest gift ever was sent in 1865.

Do you know what it was? 

The Statue of Liberty! In 1865, Edouard de Laboulaye from France gave the statue to the United States to commemorate their commitment to democracy and honour the late president Abraham Lincoln. 

We are excited to announce that we will be running Jobs January in the Spring term.

We would like to invite you to come in and talk to the children (in your child’s class/ year group or and or in other classes if you're able) about your work. We ask for around 20 mins of your time (or longer if you can offer a practical activity) to talk about what your role involves. Our aim is to showcase a range of professions so that our children feel inspired and excited about their futures and really get the message that they can be whatever they want to be!

If you think you might be able to contribute to 'Jobs January' then please get in touch with Mr Evans [email protected] 

Introducing the Christmas Menu!

You can now book this on Parent Pay for Wednesday 13th December.

Today in assembly we truly celebrated the music talent we have at BVPS. One of our flute groups played a brilliant rendition of ‘Boogie Woogie  Jingle Bells’ and our Year 6 Hand Bell Group showcased the 3 pieces they will be performing in Birmingham Town Hall on Sunday. Huge congratulations to all who performed.

Our flute group.

Music Photographer H. 6GW

Year 6 Hand Bell Group

Good Luck to our school choir and Year 6 Hand Bell Group for their upcoming performance  in Birmingham Town Hall. A reminder to parents that children must arrive at the stage door by 3.30pm in school uniform and with any medication required.

Please email Mrs Vaughan on [email protected] if you have any queries. All ticket queries must be directed to Sally Powell at Phoenix Singers.

Please can any children attending the Town Hall Concert arrive at 3:15pm to the venue.

If your child is going to Young Voices on Friday 26^th January, could they please do some home learning of the songs. Play lists can be found on ‘Spotify’ under Young Voices 2024 and all dance and lyric videos by clicking the following link.

https://yvmusicroom.com/parentRegisterReferral?code=Mjg1My8xNzAwODIwMDg0

We will also resend this link via Arbour to all those not yet signed up.

Home learning is important, as we do not have time before our first rehearsal next term, January 15^th, to teach the songs and dance moves.

The deadline for letting Mrs Vaughan know that you wish your child to stop music lessons is Friday 15^th December. No late cancellations can be accepted as we must give notice of change of contract to the Music Service.

Its a wrap - well - for the Christmas Fair anyway!

Thank you so much to everyone that came along to the fair last Saturday to make it the success that it was!

Feedback from our visitors:

"The Fair was really amazing"

"Full of Christmas Spirit"

"Relaxed and completely enjoyable"

We hope you appreciated the grotto timeslots which meant there was very little queuing, yet we manage to get nearly 150 kids into see Santa in the 4 hours. A new addition this year was reading in the Christmas Cottage by Mrs Cooper and Mr Rodgers - this is something we will definitely be doing again! Also, based on the evidence we have received, there is no reason why kids cannot continue to run the silent disco in future years - who are we as parents to stand in the way of their excellent (?) choice of music! It gives a new meaning to "give them an inch (to help out) and they take a mile (and make it way more amazing than any grown up could have done!)"

And now to our amazing Year 6 children and volunteer parents...

"Seeing our Year 6 children ‘doing their thing’ at the Christmas Fair was truly amazing. We are blessed with a fabulous cohort of children and they absolutely shone last Saturday. I know many of you stayed to help set up, support the Year 6 children on the day and donate cakes and tidy up in record timing too, and that added to the ‘family feel’ that we are working so hard to strengthen . A few hours out of a Saturday may not seem much to some but I know how precious these days are… and to see so many of you commit to helping at this key event was really heartwarming. You were tremendous, the children were brilliant and I can’t thank you enough for your time, effort, enthusiasm and energy! With much love, Mrs Cooper"

You did a great job all! Year 5 - it's your turn next year, but for now Year 6 have secured some pretty amazing Leavers Celebrations in July - well done!

Christmas Raffle

Tickets are now available on ParentPay for the Christmas Raffle Draw £1 per entry - see https://bournvillehsa.wordpress.com/end-of-term-raffle-december-2023/ for evolving prize list. The draw will take place on 20th December. We have added another set of prizes from local businesses, so please do take a look and get involved!

Also, we are still seeking donations from parents for Christmas Raffle prizes. Anything you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Christmas Cake Raffle

We have also secured a repeat donation of a Cake to raffle off - so Christmas Cake Raffle Tickets are on ParentPay. £1 per entry with the draw on 15^th December during the Carols in the Playground event.

Extension of the secret Present Room

Due to popular demand we are extending the "Present Room" and inviting Parents to add the item to their ParentPay cart and we will support their child/ren to visit the Present Room during school time, choose a present from a wide range of items, help wrap it and then bring it home as a gift for anyone you choose (Parents/Grandparents etc.). It worked well last year and helped those that could not attend the Fair to enjoy the experience. The "Visit to the Present Room for a loved one" is now available on ParentPay for £5 (same price as at the Fair) and they will visit the room in the last week of Term at a convenient time with the Teachers.

Discos and Disco Volunteers

72 Year 1 , 151 Yr/2/3 and 208 Yr4/5/6 kids came along to enjoy the PTA discos this last week! That is 77% of the year groups involved. So, we are assuming, when your kids come to our discos, your kids enjoy the discos and we have enough of the Parent community willing to step up and help them go smoothly. So, we will carry on doing them again next year! Thank you to all the parents who helped out this year - we could not have done it without you all. 

Silent Disco kit available for borrow/hire

If any Parents (or another local School that you are associated with) want to borrow/hire for a donation the silent disco kit (60 headphones, 3 transmitters) just get in touch [email protected]. We'd be happy to help you recreate the disco enjoyment at other times, and they were funded as part of the Commonwealth Games legacy fund - so they are available for all to benefit.

Christmas Carols on the Playground - 15^th December

We shall we opening the gates early at 14:00 on Friday 15^th December for Carols on the Playground.

We need to get all parents/guardians in place (with tea/coffee/mulled wine/mince pies!) before the whole School come out at 14:30 - 15:00 for us all to sing carols together. The children will then go back into class to pick up belongings and then be dismissed as normal from their normal doors.

We will then have a party in the playground and carry on until all the mince pies have gone - so feel free to stick around! We shall also be drawing the Christmas Cake Raffle during the event. It's the first time we have tried this sort of event so wish us luck - it should work well!

Christmas Raffle Draw will take place on 20^th December

Last Day of Term 

The Carillon will be playing for a bit after school, and then we will carry on with the party in the playground with some music to celebrate the end of term!

This week, we have to share with you the fantastic maths work of F in Year 4.

The children have been learning about Roman numerals, and F challenged herself to complete a multiplication calculation using her knowledge of place value and a different counting system. Well done! It’s great to see challenge in maths all across the school, keep up the good work!

Following a whole year group workshop in October, our successful sonnet writers (The Stanza Sisters) performed in the Sonnet Slam competition on Wednesday (6^th December) at Birmingham Library.

A sonnet is a poem made up of 14 lines with 10 syllables in each rhyming pair.

The sonnets were created to celebrate the Shakespeare memorial collection which is held at Birmingham Library. Over 10,050 items created by children and adults all over the world make up the collection. The Stanza Sisters’ work will also now become part of this amazing collection.

We are very proud of our children and their wonderful performance.

Here is the fabulous sonnet from The Stanza Sisters, 6S’ Sylvia M, Isla D, Erica B, Skyla HJ, Sapphire BM, Holly N:

Finally, here is a message from The Stanza Girls themselves:

On the 16th October, a poet called Spoz came in and taught us all about poetry and sonnets. We then got into groups and wrote our own sonnets about “Our Kind of Library”. Sonnets are a type of poem that are made up of fourteen lines. They can rhyme but they do not have to. We performed our sonnets and our teachers decided that we would go through to the final. It was at the Birmingham Library and there were 8 schools competing. We didn’t win however, we were really proud of ourselves and it was an amazing experience.

With the Christmas festivities just around the corner, children are looking forward to receiving gifts. For many, this may be devices that allow you to go online. Even with the best intentions, many parents have a false sense of how to keep their child secure, or think their child is more secure than they actually are.

Please Click Here to watch a short video on what is Safety Net and dates.

Booking School Dinners Update 

As of January, you can book all dinners (including Halal) on the same booking form. We apologise for the multiple changes regarding Halal meals recently, but we have been trying to find the most effective way of collecting orders and we have come to the conclusion, this is the way forward. Thank you for your patience.

Also, please remember if you want to book your child a school dinner, make sure your ParentPay account is in credit before doing so.

Fresh seasonal salad bar with fresh bread available daily as well as a daily selection of fresh fruit.

Message from Bring it on Brum!

To book Bring It On Brum! holiday clubs you will need your Bring It On Brum! code (BIOB code), sometimes called a Free School Meal Code (FSM code) or Holiday Activity and Food Code (HAF code). Our code is 3303353. 

If you haven't received your Bring It On Brum! code, but believe you are eligible for the programme, please speak to your school office. Alternatively, you can contact the Bring It On Brum! team via the contact form on the Bring It On Brum! website. 

In preparation for holiday clubs opening, we suggest you familiarise yourself with the booking process by checking out our 'How to Book' guide. 

https://www.bringitonbrum.co.uk/content/uploads/2023/03/How-to-Book-.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bring%20it%20on%20Brum%20News&utm_content=Bring%20it%20on%20Brum%20News+CID_76e227aa0d0060d31ac45468a282ffd3&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=View%20How%20to%20Book%20Guide 

Sincere thanks to all families who have been in touch this week with words of support; whether it's been an email, a chat on the gate or just a supportive smile, it has all been very much appreciated!

Have a good weekend everyone- we look forward seeing you all on Monday.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is the responsibility of everyone in our school and at all times we consider what is in our children’s best interests. We work to ensure our children our safe and cared for and by doing this we are protecting their health and development and preventing them from harm. If we are worried, we will raise concerns, share information, and take prompt action with the aim of ensuring families receive the right help at the right time.