Welcome to your newsletter for week ending September 19th 

We're ending the week with a lovely bit of warm Autumn sunshine which has helped with the Friday feeling across school today! It's been a busy week with some different opportunities for you to be in school. We've also had our Values assemblies which are always a fabulous celebration of our wonderful children. Our Reception children will be joining assemblies a little later in the half term.

Thank you for coming along to the 'Welcome Back' meetings, it was lovely to see lots of you in school at the start of the year.  We've added the slides to a new page on the website, so if you want to look back at the information or catch up with what's been covered if you were not able to attend, use the link here or look in the 'Families' page on the website. 

Don't forget to keep your eye on the family calendar- most dates are there for the year now!

What's Coming Up

Today the following pupils received the Values Certificate for Respect...

'Values Assembly' Information for our New Families

For parents who are new to the school, we have a Values assembly most Fridays at 9am- one in the Elizabeth Hall for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children and another assembly in the George Hall for children in Years 3-6. We work through our school values across the year (one value per half term). For each assembly, teachers select one child who will receive the certificate and invite family members of that child to come along. If your child is receiving a certificate, you will get an email from the class teacher by the end of school on Wednesday, before the assembly on Friday. if you can't make the assembly, please don't worry- let your class teacher know and we can sort something out. 

Attendance Armadillos 

This week the attendance armadillo's were handed to... 

SEND Coffee Morning

Thankyou to those who came along to Mrs May's SEND coffee morning today- it was lovely to see so many of you there. if you'd like to look at the information that was shared, please use the link here.

2026 New Intake Open Evenings

If you or someone you know has a child starting Reception in September 2026, BVP have some upcoming open days. For more information click here and email [email protected] to confirm which day you would like to attend. 

Making Waves for a Good Cause!

Next Thursday (25th September), two wonderful Year 6 girls (Annabel & Francesca) will be diving into a challenge with heart and determination. At Linden Road Pool, they’ll be taking on a sponsored swim, aiming to collectively swim one mile — that’s 64 lengths of the pool!

Their goal? To raise funds for our climbing frame. 

We’re incredibly proud of their enthusiasm and community spirit. If you’d like to support their swim, donations can be made via the Arbor portal/app.

Let’s cheer them on as they make a splash for a great cause!

After School Art Club: Tuesday 

There is still space on our after school Art club on Tuesday. this has now opened up to year 2-6. if you're child is interested in all things creative, please contact the details below 

In the Summer Parent/ Carer survey, some of you said that you would like more opportunities to get to know teachers at the start of the year. We hope the opportunity to meet teachers at this week's 'Welcome Back' meetings was helpful.

If you are a teacher, you will know that we are limited to how many 'parents' evenings' we can host in a year, but in order to give you an earlier chance to talk to teachers about how your child is settling in, we have brought the October evenings earlier in the term. This year the first Parents' Evenings will be the 8th and 9th October*, so not too long to wait. We have also brought the 'Spring' Parent's Evenings earlier - these will be on the 14th and 15th of January, instead of having to wait until February.

To give a further opportunity to meet with teachers before the end of the year, we are holding an Open Evening straight after school on April 15th, just after the Easter holiday.

We hope the shift in dates and the five chances to come in and speak to teachers across the year helps you to keep updated with how your children are getting on. Of course, if you struggle to make these, we are always happy to arrange a separate meeting with staff, straight after school one day, or a phone call if that's easier. 

*Please note- October Parents' Evenings for children in 3BW will be the 7th and 8th of October.

Eco Girls!

The "ECO Girls" accompanied by Mrs Cooper, spent their lunchtime clearing litter from in and around Bournville Park today (Friday). Helping to keep Bournville green and tidy. Well done girls!

Yr5 & 6 Hand Bell Group Availability 

Calling Year 5 & 6 pupils! We have 2 places remaining on our new Hand Bell group starting Monday 29th September. If your child would be interested please head to Arbor>> Clubs to register your child. Spaces are limited so it will be a first-come-first-served booking. 

Red and Green Thoughts

At school, we’re helping children learn how their thoughts affect their feelings and actions. We use the idea of Red Thoughts and Green Thoughts to make this easy to understand.

• Red Thoughts are the unhelpful ones that can hold children back, such as “I can’t do this” or “No one likes me.”
• Green Thoughts are the helpful ones that encourage resilience and confidence, such as “I can try again” or “I’ll ask if I can join in.”

It’s natural for children (and adults!) to experience Red Thoughts sometimes. The important skill is learning how to notice them and gently switch to a Green Thought.

How you can support at home:

• Encourage your child to talk about their Red Thoughts without judgment.
• Ask them: “What could a Green Thought be instead?”
• Celebrate when they choose Green Thoughts, no matter how small the step.
• Model it yourself—share times when you’ve replaced a Red Thought with a Green one.

By working together, we can help children build resilience, optimism, and a positive mindset that will support their learning and friendships.

We recommend this short video for you and your child:

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

Love The Pastoral Team

Next week we will be on WEEK 1.

You can pre-book meals in advance on Arbor till the end of the academic year (Arbor>> Meals>> Meal Choices Available>> Select Meal Choice)

Reminder: Even if your child is a packed Lunch, parents will need to book that lunch option on Arbor! 

Theme Day Menu!

On Thursday 2nd October we will have our first themed menu of the academic year! Please see below the film inspired menu and if this sounds like something you're child would like to have, please pre-book on Arbor:

Arbor>> Meal Choices Available>> Select the Thursday on "week beginning 29th Sep 2025">> School dinner/ halal School Dinner.

Campfire Reading Evening

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

Thank you so much for all your donations to the School Shop. We opened last week, and this week again because we had so much great stock. If the weather stay reasonable during October, we will try again.

The Heritage Day was very well attended, we reckon around 500 people came through the doors. The BVP Alumni Team did a great job running the cafe. They do this to gain valuable experience, and hone their skills ready for applying for higher education and jobs and we welcome them back.

We also welcomed the new Reception Classes at the Picnic and Duck Race last Sunday, another event delivered by the Alumni Team. The Duck Race winners were split across all classes, so we will be working with all the class teachers to get the silent disco kit to them to use. The actually winner was P Farmer - so congratulations, we will be in contact!

This week we were delighted to hold our Talent Show at the Cadbury Theatre. The children were fantastic, and it was wonderful to see so many of their talents celebrated on stage. A big thank you to all families for your support, and our apologies for the late finish – it was certainly worth it for such a special occasion!

We would also like to thank everyone who has kindly made donations. These can still be made through Arbor, and every contribution, no matter how small, helps us as we work towards funding a new climbing frame for the children.

And finally...

Lots of information in this week's newsletter so we will keep this bit short and sweet!

We hope you have a good weekend and we're looking forward to seeing you on Monday, bright and early.

Take care all!

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: 

International Day of Birmingham

Stop smoking support

Making our roads safer

Women’s T20 World Cup 2026

Message from Reverend Richard: 

We are very much looking forward to your Harvest Service in St Francis Church on Wednesday 8 October. We are once again collecting food for the B30 and South Birmingham Foodbank at all our Harvest services this year.

If you are able to bring a donation when you come to the service, that would be great and very much appreciated by the Foodbank. Their website has up to date details of what they need/don’t need: https://b30.foodbank.org.uk/ Finally, just to add no fresh produce please.