Hello families and welcome to this week's newsletter. It's been a busy first back after half term and it has been really lovely seeing all the children again. The winter weather is certainly upon us and we are enjoying the new heating system that was installed over the summer holiday. Now that the temperatures are dropping, please ensure children come to school with a warm coat and please label it (along with the rest of school uniform)!

Today we marked Armistice Day with assemblies for both Reception and KS1 in the Elizabeth Hall and KS2 in The George Hall. Our Year 6's led the KS2 assembly beautifully and then at 11 o'clock, one of our amazing Year 6 musicians played The Last Post for us; it really was an amazing moment, where children listened silently and respectfully from within their classrooms. Read on for a link that will take you to a recording of the event. It was also fantastic to see our Brownies, Cubs, Guides and Scouts in their uniforms, as part of the commemoration. 

This week we have been inviting prospective parents (and their children) to hear about BVP and have a good look around the buildings. Our House Captains were absolutely amazing in meeting and greeting visitors, giving them a guided tour and answering questions. Well done House Captains, we are very proud of you!

Next week is National Anti-Bullying Week and this will be the focus of assemblies and PSHE lessons for all children. Our older children will be taking part in workshops led by outside visitors and our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors from across the school will be meeting with Mrs Cooper to plan additional events and activities. 

Ahead of Remembrance Day Miss McCabe's Year 6 class have put together this poem to show their respect for our veterans.

N played in the British Junior Championship tournament for Squash, and he won the U9 category, making him the new British Junior Champion!

N also had a TV interview following this event, which was aired on Midland Today Thursday evening. 

The finals can be found on YouTube on the link below, with N’s match starting at 2:45.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFkRFysuHOw 

SPOTLIGHT ON PUNCTUALITY

It is very important that all children arrive on time as poor punctuality can also disadvantage children in many ways:

· Being frequently late for school adds up to lost learning- for example arriving 15 minutes late every day is the same as being absent for 2 weeks a year.

· When children are late, they find it harder to settle into the routine of the day.

· When children arrive late, they often miss key messages and teaching which continues to have an effect on their learning for the rest of the lesson or day.

· Poor punctuality disrupts the class and is embarrassing for the child.

· Your child being late disturbs the learning of the whole class.

If children are regularly late, parents will be expected to attend a meeting to look at how we can work with you to improve punctuality.

REMINDER: If your child has a medical appointment during school hours, please call the office or email our enquiry address to let us know in advance. Also, when picking your child up, please bring confirmation of the appointment to show to the office.

This week we saw the launch of our school orchestra. The children were amazing and had so much fun learning how to play together. Thank you to Mr Ali and to Miss Lau (flute) and Miss Herborn (clarinet) for coming to help the children. We can’t wait to hear how you progress.

Today in our remembrance assembly L played ‘Welsh Tune’ with such confidence and with a beautiful tone. Well done L we are really proud of you.

With 2 days notice,  N learnt the Last Post and played it before our minute of silence at 11a.m today; it was exquisitely played. Thank you to Mr Ali for coming to support N with what was a most memorable performance.

Watch and listen to this amazing performance by clicking here.

Final letters detailing arrangements for our Town Hall concert on 10^th December will be emailed and handed out on Monday 13^th November. Please look out for these letters as we need a form returned to school by Friday 17^th November.

Please can you ensure that words are now being learnt by heart for this concert. Home learning resources can be found on our school website under ‘Our School’, ‘Music’.

Stopping Music Lessons

If your child wishes to stop having music lessons in school at the end of this term, notice must be given in writing to Mrs Vaughan by Friday 8th December.

The Year 6 football team were in battle again against Paganel Primary School. It was our first away game and without having a practise session, we could tell there were some nerves!

The team got off to a shaky start in the first 5 minutes, but managed to gain some momentum in the game, hitting the post twice in the first half. In the second half, Bournville started to dominate the match and eventually, a through ball to A broke the defence and was neatly tucked away taking us ahead. Unfortunately, Bournville were unlucky and gave a penalty away soon after. While E saved the penalty, he was unlucky to stop the follow up making it 1-1.

It was end to end stuff for the rest of the second half. To penalties again, where Paganel were to step up first. After 4 penalties, it was on Paganel to score to win. Luckily, E was up to the task of saving the penalty, meaning we won the match on penalties 3-1. A big thanks to Paganel Primary School for hosting the match. A great achievement from the Year 6 football team, showing all our school values.

We are so proud of you!

Thanks to all for getting involved in a good start to the academic year. Reception Picnic in the Park to welcome the new starters, Quiz Night was great fun, that'll be back in July 2024, over 90% of the children ordering Christmas Cards and various School Shop opportunities to help everyone get hold of good quality uniform.

This half term we have got the Christmas Fair, extended Present Room, School Discos, Carols in the Playground and the various Raffles going on to help us get all the way to 22^nd Dec when we break up.

Christmas Cards/Mugs/Coaster/Tags

The order has been submitted and it's with the printers. As soon as we get delivery we will distribute ordered items through class.

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 20^th December.

We have added another set of prizes from local businesses, so please do take a look and get involved!

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.

Christmas Fair preparations - 2nd Dec 2023 11:00 - 15:00

We have got a great bunch of designer/makers from the community. We may have space for another couple, so go ahead and submit your interest here https://bournvillehsa.wordpress.com/christmas-fair-2023/ and we will contact you to let you know the latest availability and make any necessary arrangements. We are concentrating on designer maker craft items / physical items - rather than food or drink. However, if you are a keen baker and wish to help us stock and sell food and drink items in the cafe then please contact us on [email protected] and we can see what we can do. Thanks for those that have already told us that they are donating. It is really appreciated!

We are also seeking donations from the Parent community for Raffle Prizes to be part of the Christmas Raffle. We had a hugely successful response to the previous raffle donation request that we are looking to repeat. Tickets are now on ParentPay and we have published the Prize List - which we will add to as the donations come in - see https://bournvillehsa.wordpress.com/end-of-term-raffle-december-2023/ for the list.

Year 6 Opportunities

If you are not one of the 46 Year 6 pupils that have already submitted then you have still got a chance to submit over this weekend. We are seeking involvement from Year 6 pupils and parents that are able to either help, or donate raffle prizes or both. Please do complete and submit the form at https://forms.office.com/e/BsSCE7n4nV this weekend to avoid missing out.

We wanted to share some information and book recommendations for helping children who may be experiencing and struggling with feelings of frustration or anger: 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/two-takes-depression/202111/helping-children-understand-anger 

Our recommended reads...

White Rose Maths have launched their annual Barvember problem-solving challenge of the day. The questions encourage children to use bar modelling to help them reason and problem-solve.

White Rose uploads a new problem every weekday. You can find them here: https://whiteroseeducation.com/resources/barvember There is also a fantastic video from TV presenter Michael Underwood who does a live lesson on using bar models to help with fractions.

Questions 1 and 2 are suitable for Y2/3, Questions 3 and 4 are suitable for Y4-6. Each day also includes a further challenge question, as well as examples with pre-made bar models and answers.

Share your solutions and photos with us on social media! Tag us in your posts @bnvillevillage on Twitter/X and don’t forget to use #Barvember for the chance to win bar modelling kits, Tiny toys and badges, and new Tiny, Diddy and Bee stickers from White Rose Maths!

Next week, we will be sharing some examples of bar modelling around school or from your photos at home here in the newsletter. Happy bar modelling!

It has been wonderful to see all the fabulous reading children at BVPS have been doing over the last few weeks.

Over half term, children in Year 2 had a go at creating ‘Reading Rivers’ to show their teachers all the things they were reading over the holidays. The children quickly noticed how much reading they were doing every day – from books and magazines to road signs, supermarket receipts and restaurant menus.

We are delighted to announce our residential plans for current Year 6 children taking place in June 2024.

The chosen venue is Pikes Pool at Blackwell Adventure - www.blackwelladventure.co.uk/camping/.

Further details on the programme of activities, accommodation and venue will be shared during a presentation from the organisers at 15:30 on Thursday 16th November 2023 in George Hall – we invite you and your child to attend this presentation.

Unfortunately, due to the size of the campsite, the residential will be attended by our 3 classes consecutively and not combined. We have chosen to do this to strike a balance between costs to families, distance from school (in the case of anxieties/medical issues), the range of activities on offer and staffing.

The breakdown of how this will work is below:

Sessions: 2.5 days per class

Class 1 - (17th June AM – 19th June PM)

Class 2 - (19th June PM – 21st June PM)

Class 3 - (24th June AM – 26th June PM)

We will be travelling to and from the venue by coach and BVP staff will be accompanying the children. Further information on departure and return times will be shared closer to the time.

The cost of the trip will be approx. £170pp (this will include meals at the centre, camping, activities, insurance, and coach travel - you will need to provide a packed lunch for the first day). We have reserved enough places to ensure all Y6 pupils can attend.

To secure your child’s place, a non-refundable deposit of £30 can be paid via Parent Pay by Friday 24th November 2023.

We will be able to offer payment by instalments with the final amount payable by 20th March 2024.

Please confirm your interest by completing this form. If you have any questions about the visit, please contact Mr Rogers via [email protected].

If you would like your child to attend and need additional support in any way please contact Mrs Carter, in confidence, via the school office.

We would like to confirm that we will be holding a separate day trip in July that all Y6’s can attend together to celebrate their final year at BVP.

We are pleased to announce that from Tuesday 14^th November we can now provide halal meals to your child / children.

This menu will be the same as our current one - except all meat will be Halal - and any dinners containing pork will be replaced with the vegetarian option. 

If you would like your child to have the halal menu, please log on to your ParentPay account on Monday 13th November to book their meals.

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

Year 1 breakout!

We have had a few cases of headlice reported in year 1. This is a reminder to make sure you are doing everything you can to prevent this.

A few prevention methods are, frequently combing your child's hair, making sure your child isn't sharing hats, bobbles, hair accessories etc. 

If your child does have lice please treat this before bringing your child into school. You can collect lice treatment from your local chemist. all lice must be removed before your child is brought into school

If you are continuing to feel the pinch, you’re NOT alone! Get set to join us and our partners from right across Brum for a full week of special events dedicated to tackling the cost-of-living crisis. There is no cost to the council to deliver the programme – but LOTS of opportunities to celebrate and promote the life-changing work done so far; agree how we can work together; and get everyone involved and thinking about how they can support the cause. Find out more – and get involved!

This year's Children in Need will take place on 17th November. To support this worth while cause your child can come to school with a spotty addition to their uniform or/ and crazy hair (you decide how crazy!)

Please note, we are not taking cash donations as we are a cashless school so any donations are to be made via our ParentPay portal here.

We hope you all have a good weekend and we look forward to to seeing you back on Monday. Don't forget we're looking forward to seeing odd socks on Monday (for Anti-Bullying Week) and spotty additions to school uniform and / or crazy hair on Friday in support of Children in Need!