Newsletters

13th September 2024 - Friday Letter

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 Friday Letter  - 13th September 2024

Dear Parents,

We have had a wonderful first full week back and I have been delighted to spend time in all the classes this week.  In every class, I have found children and adults who are excited by their learning.  

The children in both pre-school and reception are happy and settled. 

This term we will be rolling out a revised school vision that embodies everything that is unique and exceptional about our school family, with Purple Learning as the purple thread that runs through school and pre-school.

We are also focusing our attention on 4 main school development priorities this year, which are around:

  • How we teach writing in KS1
  • Developing children's love of the Arts
  • Embedding a culture and ethos across the school that ignites a love of learning.
  • Creating a robust assessment structure that supports teacher planning to provide appropriate challenge for all children

We hope that you all have a wonderful weekend and that everyone gets some rest after a very busy week.

Love from Miss Morris and the team 

Meet the Parents - for Reception and Pre-School
2:30pm – 4:30pm
21
September
Flu immunisation for all school children
9:00am – 3:00pm
27
September
PTA clean school event
10:00am – 12:00pm
28
September
School photos (individuals) for school and pre-school
9:00am – 3:00pm
07
October
Years 1 and 2 to Literature Festival
9:00am – 12:00pm
11
October
PTA school disco
3:15pm – 6:00pm
17
October
Curriculum meeting for Reception parents
6:00pm – 7:00pm
23
October
Inset Day - school and pre-school closed to children
9:00am – 3:00pm
25
October
PTA Autumn Event - Scarecrow Trail
12:00pm – 3:00pm
26
October
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Pre-School News

We have all had a lovely time at Preschool this week. All our new children have settled in excellently and are making lovely relationships with the staff and the children in our setting. Our children have been exploring inside and outside with a highlight of our week being a dinosaur landscape which the children created in our outdoor area. We also wanted to say how fantastic our returning children have supported their new peers by showing them around, making them feel included in their play and drawing them lovely pictures. We are incredibly excited about the year ahead and all the learning which will take place. 

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Arriving and Leaving School

We have reviewed our risk assessments for the beginning and end of the day and we have 4 important notices that must be followed to ensure that children and staff are safe.

  • Parents must not drive onto the school car park at the beginning and end of the day as this is an access route to the KS1 playground.
  • No dogs are brought onto the school site or tied to the fences at the entrances to school.
  • Children are not to play on the climbing frames or timber trail before or after school.
  • The gate between the reception playground and St Marks will be locked.  Please use the main footpath to move between the two schools.  

Thank you for your continued support in keeping everyone safe at school.  

Communication between home and School

We understand that as a school we have a number of tools that we use to communicate with you and it can become frustrating when messages are coming at you from all directions (especially if they contradict each other!).  

In response to parent feedback, we have moved away from Scholarpack and are now using Arbor as our management information system, which will include a parent app - see the picture for information about how to set up the app for your child.

We will begin using Arbor for text messages next week and hope to have the APP ready to roll out by the end of the week.   We will send you a message when it is ready for you to login.

Arbor - will be used by the admin team to share information about day to day routines and events, such as reminders about parent events, school closures due to adverse weather, clubs, first aid etc.  You can use the app to alert us of your child's absence, changes to contact details, book parents' evenings, My Plan meetings with Miss Everett and performance tickets.

Newsletter - You will notice that we have moved diary dates to the top of the letter.  This section will show the next 15 events at school.  If you want to know any dates further ahead please use the calendar on the website. Benhall Infant and Pre-School - Calendar (benhallinfantschool.co.uk)  The newsletter will be used to inform you about what is happening at school and update you on our vision roll out and progress towards the School Development Plan Priorities.

Tapestry - Is your child's online learning journey.  This is an important tool for recording key information about your child's day.  Teachers will upload posts that give you a snapshot of what is happening in the classroom, sharing wow moments, sticky spots, homework and reminders about events or changes to forest school or PE.  

Please use tapestry to celebrate your children's purple learning at home.  This is a useful tool to make contact with the class teacher if you have a question about your child's learning.  If you need a teacher to know something that may impact your child's day please post on Tapestry by 8am that day.  If this is not possible, let the office know or speak to the teacher at the door.

Email - You are welcome to email your child's class teacher directly, but please note that they may not see emails posted after 8am before your child arrives at school, so please do not use email to alert us of any absences, changes to pick-up arrangements etc.  This should be passed on at the door or through the office.  Please email Miss Morris head@benhall.gloucs.sch.uk if you have any feedback about school in general or specifically about your child.  Miss Everett can also be contacted via email senco@benhall.gloucs.sch.uk if you have any concerns around inclusion.

 

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Purple Learning

We are now well underway with our first focus of the year ‘I am curious about the world around me.’ In our purple learning assembly we have been thinking about the word curious and what this means. We discussed the importance of asking questions, listening, learning from others and wanting to find out new things. We know that at Benhall we have the most curious of learners and this is why it makes our school so much fun. From bobbing in and out of classrooms, we have already seen our Reception children being curious about their new environments. Year 1 have been curious in their outdoor area – helping animals in the storm and our Year 2 children have been showing curiosity through friendships with their wonderful ‘All about Me’ posters.

Our Purple Learners this week are:

  • Ava R
  • Ronnie S
  • Rufus
  • Benji
  • Henry H
  • Mrs Skelton

Well done everyone.

School Council

School Council is such an important part of the Benhall family and the children have been impeccable at voting. They understand the importance of their right to vote and how it should be your choice.

Violet Class: Mason and Felicity
Indigo: Scott and Elsie B
Green: Archie and Poppy
Blue: Wilf and Harriet

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PTA News

WELCOME TO THE NEW PARENTS AND PUPILS IN RECEPTION!

The PTA would like to welcome the new parents and pupils to reception, we hope your first couple of weeks has been full of fun and excitement!

We would like to invite you to an event at school on Saturday 21st September from 2.30pm to 4.30pm, this is an opportunity for the new parents and pupils to meet each other and meet members of the PTA. 

There will be a second-hand uniform sale so it is an ideal opportunity to pick up any extra bits you need. Don't worry this isn't a recruitment event! It is an opportunity to meet your fellow reception parents and pupils and there will be cake! We hope to see you there! Any queries please email pta@benhall.gloucs.sch.uk Thanks, your PTA 

Save the Date!

Our PTA are an amazing bunch of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and teachers who give their time to planning events to raise vital funds for our school.  Here are some dates to pop in your diary:

○ 21 SEP: Meet new parents 1430-1630

○ 28 SEP: School clean-up day / event 10:00-12:00

○ 17 OCT: Disco 1515-1800

○ 26 OCT: Autumn event / Scarecrow trail 12:00-15:00

○ 28 NOV Xmas adult craft evening event 19:30-21:30

○ 06 DEC: Christmas fair! 1530-1800.

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Benhall PTA Scarecrow Trail

Date: 26th October

Time: 12-3pm

Location: Benhall park

Join us at any time between 12-3pm for a fun family afternoon - spot your favourite Hero and Villain characters in scarecrow form around Benhall Park and Woods.

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PE in the Autumn Term

Reception - Wednesday and Friday

Year 1 - Monday and Friday

Year 2 - Tuesday and Thursday

Children should come to school in their PE kit which is-

  • Navy Tracksuit bottoms or shorts
  • White or Purple T-Shirt
  • Navy Jumper
  • Trainers or daps
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Forest School in the Autumn Term

We are thrilled that Mrs Stephens will be leading forest school sessions for us again this year.  Children will wear their uniform under the waterproofs provided by the school.

A huge thank you to the PTA who support us with purchasing our new waterproofs this year.

Please make sure that your child wears trousers as part of their uniform on Forest School Days which are as follows -

  • Reception - Thursday (every other week starting from 4/10/24)
  • Year 1 - Tuesday (every other week starting from 17/9/24)
  • Year 2 - Wednesday (every other week starting from 18/9/24)