Benhall Infant and Pre-School Parent Portal - 6th January 2023

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Friday Letter - 6th January 2022

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year to you all, we hope that you had a lovely Christmas break and were able to enjoy the festivities with all those you love. It has been wonderful to have the children back in school with us this week and we are delighted with how they have come back in with their "purple learner" enthusiasm for their learning.

Our reception children have been out and about this week, enjoying a muddy welly walk to Benhall Park. The whole reception team were so proud of them and I was especially proud to receive a phonecall from a local resident telling me how impressed they had been with the way the children were walking to the park - "ready, respectful and safe." Thank you to the parents who joined us on the walk, without you it would not have been possible.

In assemblies this week we have been focusing on New Beginnings. With this in mind we will be focusing on school routines including appearance. Please take time to look at the uniform requirements and class routines that are at the bottom of this letter.

Love from Miss Morris and team xx

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Pre School News

Happy New Year and welcome back to everyone and also to our new starter. Our learning focus this week and next is the traditional story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This week we have been reading the story and understanding the plot, the children have been sorting and comparing bears into sizes, they have been using their imagination playing with the small world toys that represent the story. The children have enjoyed some outdoor play and also going to the school hall on Friday for games. Reminder on Wednesday 11^th January Parents are invited to join us at 2.20 till 2.50 in the school hall, for an information session on Letters & Sounds Little Wandle. Have a pleasant weekend, The Pre-School Team.

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Year Group in Focus - Year 1

It has been so wonderful to be back with our Year 1 friends this week and catch up about our Christmas adventures. Like true Purple Learners, the children were so excited to dive straight into our new learning challenges, all centred around our focus text, 'The Queen's Hat' by Steve Antony. We enjoyed listening to the story whilst treating ourselves to a royal feast! We got chatting all about London and our new monarch, King Charles. We couldn't wait to find out more! The children created fabulous crowns to wear whilst constructing models of Buckingham Palace, writing descriptions of the king and conducting lots and lots of research. Did you know that Buckingham Palace has 78 bathrooms? What a terrific start Year 1! We can't wait to see where our learning journey takes us over the next few weeks!

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School Lottery - please consider signing up to our weekly lottery draw. Guarantee one person from Benhall will win a small prize each week and entry to the larger £25k too. https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/benhall-infant-and-pre-school?fbclid=IwAR0rUMXuSJkEwlSv70blK4UUdKENqdBxoF-bk_MQ1-nfMgxgef-7zEQpwQs

School Council

We had a fabulous School Council before the holidays and it is now time for new School Council elections. The new team will run from next week until the Easter holidays. Over the next week the children who would like the opportunity to stand for School Council will get the chance to explain to their class friends why they should be part of the School Council team. Each class will then vote for one boy and one girl. The new School Council will be announced on Friday 13^th January in our Celebration Assembly.

Purple Learning Focus

To start the term off we thought it would be good to recap the purple learner skills that we focus heavily on in all aspects of school life, we hope that children can take these skills and also use them outside of school too. The purple learning skills are:

I can celebrate others
I can learn from feedback
I understand that effort is the key to success
I can embrace challenges
I can persevere

Please do email Miss Bilton on rebeccabilton@benhall.gloucs.sch.uk if your child has shown purple learning skills outside of school and we will share this in our weekly purple learning assembly. You may have seen last term our purple learner board which is opposite the hall doors in school. This board shows the skills as well as purple learning evidence such as photos, work, comments from children and also from our staff team. Children’s learning or photos from Tapestry are chosen to go onto our board and if they spot themselves they then get a purple learner note home. This note is signed by a member of staff and a comment about why they have received it is written onto the back. We hope that this information has helped you understand a little bit more about purple learning at Benhall.

Purple Learners of the Week

Frankie
Liam
Isaac C
Alix
Naomi
Annabelle S
Mrs Lewis

Well done everyone, we are all really proud of you.

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We would like to wish members of our Benhall Family who have celebrated their birthday a really happy birthday. Happy birthday to:

Mrs Smurthwaite
Honey
Rex
Alayna

Class Routines

PE Kit

What a great start to wearing school PE kit on PE days – thank you parents for your help with this.

PE Kit reminder:

Navy blue shorts or tracksuit bottoms
Plain white or purple T-shirt
Navy blue hoody or sweatshirt
Trainers

If your child has joined an after school sports club they can wear their school PE Kit on club days too (no football strips).

Orange Class
PE Days - Monday and Wednesday
Forest School Days Starts 27/9/22 - every other Tuesday
Book Bags - Every day please
Book Changes - Bring in on Wednesday go home on Friday
Sound Books - Back in on Wednesday
PPA Day and Cover - Weds am by Miss Everett

Yellow Class
PE Days - Monday and Wednesday
Forest School Days Starts 27/9/22 - every other Tuesday
Book Bags - Every day please
Book Changes - Bring in on Wednesday go home on Friday
Sound Books - Back in on Wednesday
PPA Day and Cover - Weds am by Miss Bilton

Green Class
PE Days - Wednesday and Thursday
Forest School Days - Starting on 29th September then every other Thursday
Book Bags - Every day please
Book Changes - Friday
PPA Day and Cover - Weds pm by Miss Bilton and Mrs Smurthwaite

Blue Class
PE Days - Wednesday and Thursday
Forest School Days - Starting on 29th September then every other Thursday
Book Bags - Every day please
Book Changes - Friday
PPA Day and Cover - Weds pm by Miss Bilton and Mrs Smurthwaite

Indigo Class
PE Days - Monday and Friday
Forest School Days - Starting on 28th September then every other Wednesday
Book Bags - Every day please
Book Changes - Friday
Homework - Thursday (Tapestry)
PPA Day and Cover - Tues by Mrs Aitken

Violet Class
PE Days - Monday and Friday
Forest School Days - Starting on 28th September then every other Wednesday
Book Bags - Every day please
Book Changes - Thursday
Homework - Thursday (Tapestry)
PPA Day and Cover - Tues am by Miss Morris