Welcome to your newsletter for week ending September 5th 

It has been really fabulous to see out children back in school this week. A special ‘welcome’ goes to our new reception children and their families and also to other new children who have joined us in classes in KS1 and 2.

Luckily we’ve ended the week with some sunshine which has been a relief- just a reminder that children need coats with them every day (and please write names in them).

Thank you so much for all the responses to the Summer Parent/ Carer Survey. We have added a summary of the main questions to the Parent Voice page on the website here. (A summary of the free text responses will be added next week.)

You’ll see that the majority of responses are positive which is great but there are still lots of areas we want and need to work on. As usual, we will be sharing our actions and improvements through ‘You said, we did’ features in the weekly newsletters.

Discussions and feedback from families is incredibly important to us and we are pleased to let you know that our half termly Parent Voice meetings are diarised for 25-25. They are all on the website calendar under ‘families’ on our website. Read more about ‘Parent Voice’ on the website under ‘families’. we'd love to see lots of you there. 

What's Coming Up

Welcome Back Meetings

We are looking forward to seeing lots of you at the upcoming Welcome back meetings (see above or the website calendar for the dates). There are open meetings where you will have a chance to hear about school improvement updates, reminders around expectations, some year group information and meet class teachers. There is no need to book for this or let us know if you are coming along. We are also not booking specific times for you to speak to teachers- they will be around for you to chat to and if needed, we can arrange a different time for further discussions.

We aren’t holding a ‘welcome back’ meeting for Reception parents but please do not hesitate to speak to your class teacher or Mrs Cooper using [email protected] if you have any queries.

Year 1 and 2      Tuesday 16^th September 2025 6.00pm to 7.00pm

Year 3 and 4      Wednesday 17^th September 2025 6.00pm to 7.00pm

Year 5 and 6      Thursday 18^th September 2025 6.00pm to 7.00pm

Cricket Taster Sessions at BVP 

BVP will be holding cricket taster session from 10/09 - 24/09. If your child is interested please read the poster below and book through their contact details . 

*Please note: these taster sessions are for a club offsite and will not be held at BVP after the taster sessions are completed*

Music Lessons Sept 25

Music lessons will start on Monday 8th September. We will have encouraged your child to look at our music board in school for their music lesson next week. If they are still unsure please remind them it's the board by the cottage! We update these lists every Friday afternoon for the following week for pupils to check if they're unsure.

We hope all goes well for their first lesson and hopefully we'll have some more budding musicians at BVP!

It’s a familiar scene for many parents: you ask your child what they did at school, and the answer is a quick “Nothing,” “I don’t know,” or “I just played.” While it can be frustrating, it’s especially hard when your child is settling into a new school or you’re worried that something isn’t quite right. The reassuring news is that there are gentle ways to help your child share more about their day.

Try some of these approaches:

Separation Anxiety

We know that as well as the  excitement the beginning of a new school year can bring , it may also come with feelings of apprehension and worry.  Please feel reassured that  during this period of transition we are available throughout  school to help and support.   

Whether this is something you know that your child finds difficult or is a more recent issue we know how distressing this can be for both children and their families. We have attached some information that you may find useful- copies of these can also be collected from the school office. 

If you find that this is becoming an ongoing difficulty please don’t hesitate to contact us.

School Anxiety and Refusal | Parent Guide to Support | YoungMinds

As we begin a new school year we wanted to remind our families that our website now contains lots of mental health and wellbeing information , something we are adding to this all the time.  Please do get in touch if there is something you feel would be helpful and is not yet featured and we will ensure it is included.  https://www.bournvillevillageprimary.org.uk/Page/Detail/our-pastoral-team

Our Pastoral Drop in sessions will now take place each week on Mondays 3.30pm-4.30pm as requested by parents on our last survey.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the team via  [email protected], school office or class teacher.

This half term our children will be learning about  myHappymind Places. This is a series of lessons designed to help children to understand their emotions, explore strategies to feel safe, calm and happy, and develop self regulation skills. These lessons will follow the same structure as the myhappymind modules.
You can create myHappymind Places together at home, either as a physical activity or by
accessing the interactive version on the Parent App.  To access the resources or to find out more about the myhappymind programme  click on the following link to our website

myHappymind

Want to learn more?We recommend you take a look at the parent book, 'My Happy Mind: Help your child build life-long confidence and resilience by Laura Earnshaw.' 

If you would like to borrow a copy of the book just pop into the office and pick one up!

Please do reach out if you do require support over the break at [email protected]

Wishing you all a restful and joyful summer

Love The Pastoral Team

Next week we will be on WEEK 2.

Don't forget to pre-book your child's meal option on Arbor! (even if your child is having a Packed Lunch) Top Tip: When selecting your meal choice, tick "Pick for all future available dates" to confirm your selection until the end of term!

Theme Days 25/26

Throughout the academic year we will be having different themed dinners. We will always notify parents/ guardians when this is coming up but for now, please see below some that we have scheduled...

Goodbye, Sumdog... Hello, Numbots!

We will be saying goodbye to Sumdog on Thursday 18^th September. Children in Y2 and Y3 will not be able to access the games on their account following this date. But don't worry! We are replacing Sumdog with the excellent Numbots program, which will be available for all children in Reception, Y1 and Y2. Our launch week for Numbots will be from Monday 29^th September, so stay tuned for more information soon...

Maths Parent Workshops

Reception, Y1 and Y2: Introduction to Numbots

Where: Elizabeth Hall

When: Monday 29^th September, 3.30-4.30

Y3 and Y4: Introduction to Times Table Rock Stars

Where: George Hall

When: Thursday 2^nd October, 3.30-4.30

Robot/Rockstar Day!

We would like to invite the children to come to school on Wednesday 1^st October in costume to celebrate the launch of Numbots and TT Rock Stars!

Reception, Y1 and Y2: Dress up as robots (tin foil, cardboard boxes, a picture of a robot, or just own clothes)

Y3, Y4, Y5 and Y6: Dress up as rockstars (band t-shirts, big hair, inflatable guitars, or just own clothes)

There will be special events in assembly, as well as opportunities for the children to try out Numbots or TT Rock Stars in their maths lessons. There may even be certificates for the best-dressed robots and rockstars! For KS2, this will also mark the start of 'Rocktober', our annual celebration and competition for practicing times tables. Stay tuned for more information soon...

Campfire Reading Evening

On Tuesday 30th September we will be holding our Campfire Reading Evening in our Forest School Area. Please see the attached poster for more information. 

Each week, we will be recommending a book for you and your child to read at home.

Reception

A book about trying to fit, building confidence and making new friends.

Year 1

Ever thought about if your neighbour was a dinosaur? A book about accepting and understanding others.

Year 2

A teacher favourite from a very popular author!

Year 3

A funny book with funny names, made up words and crazy chapter titles. Something to read at home together.

Year 4

A rollercoaster of a story. Can also be suitable for older readers with its language and content.

Year 5

A great book about moving school, celebrating friendship, tolerance and football! A good read for all KS2

Year 6

A classic book from this author, including his humour, which makes it a warm, funny and insightful story.

Many of you have said that we need more information on the website about what your children are learning- we definitely agree and have been working on creating year group pages that are much more useful to you.

They are not complete yet but we will have everything on by next Friday! Please have a look at the Year Group pages under the ‘Learning Tab’. You will see the contact details for the team, PE days etc and some details around topics including some of the ‘Knowledge Organisers’ that summarise the key facts we aim for children to know in the Foundation Subjects (English and Maths are Core subjects). By next Friday, all subject information will be there for you so you have a good idea of what your child is learning each half term.

Any feedback around this is welcomed- just let Mrs Cooper know via [email protected]

And so it begins again! 

Making lots of fun things happen around School right from the beginning of Term!

Duck Race/ Picnic in the Park

This Sunday 7th we are supporting the Friends of Bournville Park with their Duck Race/Picnic in the Park - an open event for everyone around the community.

PTA School Shop 

Friday 12^th we open the School Shop straight after school for good quality second hand uniform, and if the weather is nice we will hold onto summer by the fingernails and get the ice creams and freeze pops out as well. If you have any donations that you have sorted through during the summer break, then that would be a great opportunity to drop them off directly to us. Failing that, you can drop them into the office at any time and we will pick them up from there.

Heritage Day 

Saturday 13^th our alumni team are running the Heritage Day Cafe in the George Hall. This is a great way for alumni to give back AND to get valuable experience that they can talk about when applying for jobs, further and higher education and volunteer positions. If you have older kids that have already left BVPS that might want to get involved the email us at [email protected] and tell us that your older kids is keen and able!

Picnic in the Hall/ Duck Race

Sunday 14^th we are running the Picnic in the Hall and Duck Race for the new Reception classes and their parents/carer/grandparents. 11:00 in the George Hall until 14:00, with the Duck Race in the park at 13:00. You can buy your duck entry and practice using Arbor at the same time. Winner gets free use of the silent disco kit for their class!

During September we will undoubtedly launch the Christmas card design activity through class, so look out for that!

Yr6 Production Recording 24/25 

We are just about to distribute the Year 6 Production recording from last academic year - so if you are waiting for that ... its coming! If you have younger kids still in school and didn't buy your copy, just donate to the PTA through Arbor, and let us know and we will send you the recording link.

Volunteers for Christmas Fair

The big event we focus on this term is the Christmas Fair, and like previous years the new Year 6 will have an opportunity to step up and run it, with their Parents help, and we have already started to encourage the KS1 classes to make sure that they make it along. That's on Saturday Dec 6^th and we will need 60+ kids, as many of their Parents to help from 10:30 - 15:30 in two split shifts, or for the whole event. More details will follow, but it's a really important event to get right as it funds much of the Year 6 Leavers activities that are planned in June/July 2026 for them.

Events This Term

In between now and the end of term we will have the discos for Yr1, Yr2/3, Yr4/5/6 (so get ready for those dates Disco Teams), Carols in the Playground (at some point in December), and anything else that we fancy making happen.

Handover of the PTA leadership to Becki Newman will formally happen in January 2026 - in line with our transition plan to keep all this activity going, and I know that she will be pleased to have all your continued support and enthusiasm into 2026.

Handover of the PTA Treasurer will also happen at that time, as we welcome Magda into that role, all being well!

So, welcome back, and looking forward to a good term!

Best,

David, Becki, Veronica

And finally...

Keep your eye on the website calendar under ‘families’ with key dates for the year. All key events will be on there by next Friday which hopefully gives you plenty of time to plan ahead.

We hope you have a good weekend and that the rain holds off a little! Take care all and we look forward to seeing you all bright and early on Monday morning. 

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 are 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.

Going On In Your Area...

Birmingham Bulletin

Click here to view last weeks Birmingham Bulletin including: 

Cost of living 

Cycle September

Emergency Alert test and more

Shaping Birmingham's Future Together 

Click here to keep on top of the latest updates. 

Message from St Francis Church

Come and mark the start of a new term and join our All Together Service and Blessing of the Backpacks at St Francis Church, Bournville on Sunday 7 September at 10.00 am. All welcome

Friends of Bournville 

Click the link below to view Friends of Bournville's summer newsletter. 

Karate Club in B30 & B29 Area 

Established in Stirchley since 1999 Birmingham Goju Ryu Karate is a traditional style of Karate, originating from Okinawa. We teach self-defence, kata, bunkai (applications), bag/pad work, grappling, kumite (sparring), hojo-hondu (equipment training) & Kobudo

If you have ever thought about taking up karate but always put it off, and would like to take that first step, we are welcoming new students from Friday 12^th September 2025 at Stirchley Baths Community Centre. & Saturday 13^th September 2025 at Weoley Hill Village Hall