Good afternoon families and welcome to your weekly newsletter. I’m writing this before our Friday begins as I’m off to Young Voices with Mrs Vaughan and the older members of our amazing choir this afternoon. Last year this was the first ‘off site’ school event that I attended- it was a brilliant experience for our children so I’m very much looking forward to joining them again.

By the time this is shared with you, we will have celebrated children who our displaying our school value of Integrity in our Friday assemblies and we will have held our first Parent Voice meeting. Look out for more details of how this went, in next week’s newsletter!

Our children and parents in Reception and KS1 classes may well have noticed that we are missing one of our key members of staff at the moment. Miss Setchell is away from school as she has had some (planned) major surgery. The great news is that all went well and she’s back at home on the road to recovery. We are sure you will want to join us in wishing Helen all the best as she recuperates; we are all looking forward to seeing her back at school, hopefully towards the end of term. Please bear in mind that whilst Miss Setchell is off, she won’t be accessing her emails so please do direct them to me via [email protected] during her absence.

Please enjoy the rest of the updates and more school news below!

Values of The Week 

Today, teachers have presented the Values Certificates to the following children for demonstrating Integrity.

Dr Seuss was an American writer and illustrator of immensely popular children's books, which were noted for their nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures. Some of his bestsellers are "Green Eggs and Ham", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Cat in the Hat". 

We are delighted to announce a visit from A.F. Steadman, author of Skandar And The Phantom Rider.

She will be visiting school to see KS2 on Wednesday 31st January.

The children will have the opportunity to see a presentation by the author, to ask questions and have their books signed.

If you wish to purchase a book, 'How Brave Is The Wren' bookshop in Kings Heath has secured a discounted price.

Please see below for the links.

https://howbraveisthewren.com/product/author-visit-skandar-and-the-unicorn-thief/

https://howbraveisthewren.com/product/author-visit-skandar-and-the-phantom-rider/

We have been inundated with amazing name suggestions for our Attendance Armadillos. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted one! We needed three special names for each of our Armadillos: one for reception, one for KS1 and one for KS2. After reviewing all the entries, we have finally chosen three names. Drumroll please...

Introducing:

* ASHA (Reception) - suggested by C.S YrR

* AXEL(KS1) - suggested by E.A.B YrR

* ATTIE(KS2) - suggested by A.R Yr3

We think all three winning entries were the perfect fit for our new friends and to say thank you, we will be awarding each of you one gold values token.

The class with the best attendance from each key stage will be the first to meet our armadillos! We will be announcing the winning class each week, so let’s make sure we are all maximising our attendance!

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Jobs January so far. The children have enjoyed hearing about a diverse range of careers.

Below are just two parents that gave up some of their time to come and speak to our pupils. 

W.M's mum (left) is a physio - specialising in chest and lungs - and D.S's dad (right) works for the Environment Agency in flood prevention. 

Here's this week's Anti-Bullying Poster from Bethany, one of our tremendous Anti-Bullying Ambassadors! Bethany has perfectly illustrated the scale from which 'having fun' can start to become bullying behaviour.

Year 4 are enjoying learning about the Vikings this half -term. We have loved building our own Longships!

Thank you to all the children who shared their ‘Be active’ moments  over the week.  A special congratulations to A.K in YR 6 for being the first person to complete our challenge and for sharing photos of his fitness workout. Well done; we were exhausted just looking at them- you have definitely inspired us!

This week we are focusing on ‘Connect!’. Building good relationships is so important to our mental health and wellbeing – making a connection with other people can feel amazing!

They can help you:

• Increase feelings of belonging and self-worth
• share positive experiences
• provide emotional support and allow others to support you
• increase our happy hormones

We can connect with others in lots of different ways; try and connect with someone everyday.

Why not try:

• Speaking to someone new in school that you haven’t spoken to before.
• Writing a note to a friend or family and leaving it somewhere for them to find
• Smile at someone or say hello
• Make time to chat or play games with your family
• Ask a friend what they did at the weekend and spend time really listening to what they tell you.

We would love to hear the ways you have connected with others this week and how it made you and them feel.  You can email photographs ([email protected].), draw a picture or come and tell us in The Cottage so that we can celebrate together. 

We know that life can give us challenges and it isn’t always easy to know where to turn to for advice so this week we  would like to share with you a link to https://www.youngminds.org.uk/  Their mission is to  empower parents and adults who work with young people, to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives and It is full of advice and information.

This week, teachers have been asking their classes, “What is a sentence?”. In 2T, they found the activity really valuable and a great opportunity to “say it again better”. The children kept going until they had a really good definition of a sentence.

For example:

This is an exclamation, not a traditional sentence. For something to be considered a sentence, it must include a subject and a verb. However, exclamations can omit the subject or verb and still convey a complete thought or expression - this is probably where the confusion comes from, as we often describe a sentence as making sense on its own, which this exclamation does. Some exclamations or imperative sentences may not explicitly contain a subject or verb but still convey a complete thought or command. For example, "Go!” can function as an imperative sentence without a visible subject - it conveys a clear command.

Some other examples are:

ttrockstars.com – Perfect for: Y3-6 – Practise your tables and rock out in single and multiplayer games; earn coins to jazz up your rock star! All KS2 children have a login – ask your class teacher if you’ve lost yours.

White Rose 1 minute maths app (App Store and Google Play) – Perfect for: Reception-Y2 – Short, snappy fun maths games to practise those key skills!

Available on Topmarks website or as an app (App Store and Google Play) – Perfect for: Y1-6 – Quick recall games where you hit the button! Choose your own difficulty.

And finally – Sumdog! Available on PC but best experienced in the app (App Store and Google Play) – Perfect for: Y1-2 – Fun, rewarding and motivating games and character customisation. And you also have tailored maths practice too! All Y2 children have a login – ask your teacher if you’ve lost yours. Y1 children and parents – your child will be receiving their login details week beginning 29^th January. Don’t forget, there is also an after school introductory session in Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday 30^th January from 3.30-4.00. We’d love to see you there!

Materials

• Deep plate. A glass baking tray or baking pan work well, too.
• Flour
• Action figure or doll that can stand upright—preferably a heavier one—and permission to temporarily glue skis on its feet.
• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Glue

Preparation

1. To make skis for your action figure, cut two identical rectangles out of cardboard. The length should be a little shorter than the height of your action figure. The width should be about double the width of the feet of your action figure.
2. Pour a layer of flour about ¾ inch deep onto the plate. Sweep the top layer with the edge of a piece of cardboard to create a flat surface.

Instructions

1. Imagine that the flour is fluffy snow. What will happen when you place your action figure there?
2. Place your action figure on the flour. Pick it back up and observe. Was your prediction correct? Do you see footprints in the flour?
3. Do you think it would be easy to make your action figure sink into the flour? Why? Place your figure back on the flour, but this time, press it down. Was your prediction correct?
4. Pick up your action figure and let it stand on the flour without pushing it in. Try to knock it over to the side, the front, and the back. Is it easy to make your action figure fall?
5. Glue the skis onto the feet of your action figure. The feet should be about halfway along the length of the skis. Let the glue dry.
6. What do you think will be different if we use the action figure with skis for the tests we did before?
7. Smooth the flour again with the edge of a piece of cardboard.
8. What type of footprints does the action figure with skis create? Are they deeper or shallower compared to the action figure without skis?
9. Is it easier or harder to make this action figure sink into the flour? Why would that be beneficial when you want to slide over the snow?
10. Can you knock over the action figure with skis as easily? Is knocking it so it falls to the front or the back as easy as making it fall to the side? Why would this be so?

EXTRA: Freeze a plastic tray of water to make a frozen pond and see what happens if your action figure stands on ice. Does it leave footprints on the ice? Do people sink into ice like they sink into the snow? Could you still benefit from wearing skis when walking on ice?

Watch the link below to help you understand what Cyber bullying is and how you can spot it. 

Next week will be Menu- Week 1

Fresh seasonal salad bar and fresh bread available daily, as well as a daily selection of fresh fruit and fruit yoghurts.

Thanks to all that made it to the PTA AGM last Friday afternoon. It was good to review the activities of 2023 and reconfirm the purpose and objectives going into 2024.

We were able to report at the AGM a gross surplus of £12,500 raised throughout Jan - Dec 2023 which means we now have an amazing £24,000 available to the school to further the experience of our children at BVP. 

It's an astonishing amount and a testament to your willingness to simply come along and enjoy our events - we must be doing something right! As ever, we don't always need more volunteers , but we always need you to want to come along and hopefully enjoy yourself! Our focus continues to be making fun things happen around school. The by-product of these fun things is raising funds for BVP. 

To demonstrate this, the School Shop will continue to be "pay what you can"; you won't have to pay for every event (like the Christmas "Carols in the Playground" - we didn't charge for tea/coffee/mince pies); we will keep prices at existing levels where we can (protecting against any possible inflationary pressures); and we will continue to spend money on Year 6 Leavers' events and celebrations as a way of saying thank you for +7 years of being part of the community. These are just a few examples amongst many other demonstrable ways of keeping the costs down for our community.

At the AGM, we nominated David Roberts as PTA Chair, and it was acknowledged that David has been a trustee of the charity for 10 years this month - and allowed him to pick the first biscuit as a result. We also nominated Veronica as treasurer for another year and thanked her for her continued financial control of the charity. They are both looking forward to providing continued energy, enthusiasm and financial control throughout 2024, and both welcome anyone who wants to join the growing core team.

We did note that with both David and Veronica leaving the School in July 2026, we will want to put in place a succession plan to ensure the good work of the PTA continues. 

If you are reading this and are thinking "I would like to volunteer, but there is no way I'm putting the music on in the playground, or standing up in front of everyone and doing a presentation", then please do not be put off. We play to strengths of those around us, and you don't need those skills to be in a formal role. One of the key skills is simply putting the right people, in the right place, at the right time, to do a great job. Consider it carefully if you think you can help the PTA to continue its good work. Mrs Cooper will continue to be a trustee of the charity in her role as Headteacher of the school and Matt Rogers is getting closer to the activities, so there is plenty of support around.  

We opened the school shop today for the first time this term and also gave out bags of bird seed so children (and adults!) can participate in the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend (https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch).

We continue to welcome any good quality washed uniform donations, these can be left with any member of school staff at drop off or pick up or bring them along to us on Friday. 

Thank you from the PTA!

Ladywood Family Hub opens end of January

More support for families in Ladywood is coming in the form of the Ladywood Family Hub network.
Following research, co-production and partnership working to determine the right place for the
Ladywood hub, we are very pleased to announce that the main hub will be located in the Soho
Children’s Centre with the Ladywood Children’s Centre as a satellite hub. Both will be open by 29
January 2024 with a family focused launch in mid-February.

Local residents have had the opportunity to get involved in co-producing the Family Hub, by being part
of the developing Ladywood Family Voices which is a group of people local to Ladywood who are
interested in helping to design the hub services. If you would be interested in joining this group or a
group in your area please email [email protected].

Everyone in Birmingham already has access to our ‘Family Hubs’ and ‘Best Start for Life’ website which is packed with information, advice and support for families with children 0-19 (25 with SEND) years old. A reminder that a further 8 Family Hubs will be opened across the city by February 2025.

KOOTH - Online Mental Health Support for Children and Young People

A reminder that Kooth, free, safe and anonymous online mentalhealth support is available for all young people in Birmingham.Please find a link to digital resource hub where there is a widerange of online material. Click here to find posters, social mediacontent, FAQs, guides, infographics and more, which can beshared with everyone to use.

Thankyou for the overwhelmingly positive feedback following the release of our Ofsted inspection report. (I will get back to those who added their names, as soon as possible.) As I said in my email to you all on Tuesday, you are one amazing village- thank you!

Have a good weekend all and we look forward to seeing everyone bright and early on Monday morning for the penultimate week of the half term!

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.