Welcome to your newsletter for week ending January 23rd

The wet and windy weather has meant a few break and lunchtimes have been inside this week, but inside BVP we have been as busy as ever. We've had more Jobs January visits which children across school have enjoyed and we've had another author visit, all on top of the usual events such as our Values Assemblies and Forest School for Reception. This morning we had Emma Daley from West Midlands Speech and Language Service in for a Coffee drop-in. Thankyou to the parents who attended.

Thankyou also to the 45(!) parents who expressed an interest in their children participating in the Bourn View Care Home Partnership group- we have an amazing 45 children who are interested. For those parents who completed the survey or got in touch, please look out for an email over the weekend with details of our first visits to the home and events when groups of residents will be visiting us. As part of the partnership, we will also be setting up a pen-pal initiative which will be available to a wider group of children. 

Thankyou for checking names are on jumpers, fleeces and cardigans- so far we have fairly empty lost property boxes- let's hope things stay that way so you're not having to keep replacing uniform!

Read on for more news about what's coming up and what we've been up to. 

To view more dates, please visit our website calendar under the 'Families' tab or click here.

Today the following pupils received the Values Certificate for demonstrating Integrity...

Attendance Armadillos 

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

NSPCC Number Day - Friday 6^th February

We are excited to announce that we will once again be celebrating NSPCC Number Day on Friday 6^th February. On this day, children may come to school dressed as a number - whether it's a number on a football kit, a Numberblocks character or a crazy costume - we would love to see which numbers you choose! There will also be several special events during the day. Our KS2 children will have the opportunity to take part in the NSPPC Rocks TTRS competition in school, with the chance of prizes to be won. And our Reception and KS1 children will have some fun Numbots-themed activities to do during the day.

Y1 and Y2 writing competition 

Last week, we were very lucky to receive a visit from children's author B Ware, who shared with the children some extracts from her latest book, 'Warning: May Contain Dragons'. B Ware gave the children a challenge to come up with some ideas of our own and do some writing, so this week we have launched our very own writing competition! If your child would like to enter, they need to be in Y1 or Y2, and write a short story or a poem about a topic of their choice (it doesn't have to be dragon-related). Then, they need to give it to their teacher by Friday 30^th January. The winner will be announced in assembly the following week, and their story/poem will go in the newsletter. The prize is a toy dragon provided by B Ware herself!

Young Voices: Rescheduled date, Friday 27^th February

We are delighted to say Young Voices have rescheduled the event to Friday February 27th 2026! The details of the event will remain the same as before - start time, collection from BVP etc.

If you are unable to attend the revised date, we kindly ask that you follow the below procedure:

Parents please wait for further instructions before contacting the YV office regarding refunds. Any calls received by the YV office will be redirected back to the school, as all communication must be managed through the school.

Once all schools have been reallocated, we will provide further information outlining how affected parents can claim a refund.

Please also note that e-tickets for the original concert date have been removed from the AXS app. New e-tickets for the rescheduled date will appear in due course.

Also, it has been brought to our attention that Young Voices sent parents the rescheduled date as 26th Feb - IGNORE THIS.

We are going on Friday February 27th as we have our governor's meeting on the 26th.

Please ignore any comms from Young Voices relating to the 26th date and do not hesitate to contact the office if you are unsure about anything.

Thank you for your understanding and we hope you can make the new date!

This week we said goodbye to Rachel Fasham from St Francis Church. We have been incredibly lucky to have had her support during lunchtimes, whether through the Lego groups or the Year 6 lunchtime sessions in the Cottage. The children have thoroughly enjoyed her visits and always looked forward to spending time with her.

We would like to say a massive ‘Thank you,’  for her dedication and the positive impact she has had on so many of our children. You will be greatly missed!

We wish you all the very best for the future and hope to see you back again soon.

We have just come to the end  of the first module -  ‘Meet Your Brain’ in the myHappymind programme.

We have learnt:

• The different parts of our brain and how they help us.
• How to use Happy Breathing to help us when we feel sad, stressed or worried.

What happens in our brain when we learn something new and how we can look after our brain

As always please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Pastoral Team if you have any concerns or require additional support- this can be via the school office, class teacher or directly at [email protected] 

A friendly reminder that there are still spaces on some of our afterschool clubs! Click here to access all contact information for external clubs where you can book directly with the provider. 

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! 

Resources for Autism- FREE Support Sessions

NEXT FACE TO FACE COURSE -  Starting Thursday 29^th January @ B29 7EL (Selly Park) for 4 weeks (2.5hr sessions) 

Dear Parents/Carers,

Is your child currently on the Birmingham NDP Autism Assessment / Diagnosis waiting list?

We are writing to share information about our Free Autism Support Sessions for Parents/Carers of children and young people (up to 18 years) who are waiting for an autism assessment through Birmingham Neurodevelopment Pathway NDP service.

Navigating the Wait Together - Turning the autism assessment waiting time into a productive and positive time (Birmingham).

The sessions will explore what autism is while providing practical information, advice, resources and strategies on navigating the system.  They will also cover key topics such as sensory processing, behaviour, communication, sleep, wellbeing, and more!

The aim of these sessions, is to help you build practical skills to support your child, gain confidence in advocating for their needs, safeguard yours and your family’s wellbeing during the waiting period for diagnosis, and connect with others on a similar journey—creating a valuable community and peer support network.

We recognise that some families may be newly added to the waiting list, while others may have been waiting for some time for a diagnosis and already gained knowledge around autism. Regardless of where you are in your journey, we warmly encourage you to attend. We welcome the sharing of experiences and insights, as together you can create a supportive local community for families going through similar experiences.

We will be offering these face‑to‑face sessions across Birmingham, delivered over several weeks (up to 10 hours of support), as well as online sessions.

👉 Please register your interest HERE.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Getting involved

If you want to get more involved in School life (which includes engaging with the PTA) then there are things that you can do:

- Come along to ANY of the PTA events and meet the team that is running it

- Find any of the PTA Core Team members in the playground - you can email [email protected] first if you want to agree a convenient time and    location

- Join one of the Teams (listed above). It’s a great way to meet likeminded Parents focusing on events (leaving Class WhatsApp groups for day-to-day school       chat), and there is no way the events would happen without these groups.

- Find out if your employer allows paid time off to volunteer at a charity of your choice - and make the PTA your charity of your choice!

Big Garden Birdwatch

If you were able to pick up your free bird seed from School today, the link you need is https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch to participate in the Big Garden Birdwatch.

And finally...

We've got our Parent Voice meeting in school on Thursday at 2pm - hopefully we'll see lots of you who want to know more about school and have an opportunity to give some feedback. If you are planning on coming, please email [email protected]  so we can be prepared.

Have a good weekend all- and if you're celebrating Burns Night, have fun!

See you 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 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.

Message from St Francis Church 

Birmingham Bulletin 

Click here to view this weeks Birmingham Bulletin.

Events In Birmingham 

Click here to view this weeks Events In Birmingham.