Skip to content ↓

This week at Bentley...

It has been an exciting week of building work as the Year 6 classroom is being worked on internally. We have been able to sneak a peek through the window and our Year 6 reporters are impressed with the hard work and pleased with the progress of the project. The class space will be bigger and there will be an internal sink in the room. This exhausts our building funds, so the governors will be looking at how we can be creative with funding, and the PTFA fundraising, to ensure we can afford the sound and redecoration works quite urgently required in the school hall.

In the classes there has been a wealth of super work this week. Teachers are pleased to see increasing stamina for writing as children are catching up on the missed time out of school. This is a key area on our School Development Plan as discussed with Governors last night at our first full governing body meeting of the year.

Our key development areas are;

Community; reflecting our school values through the Recovery Curriculum and our focus on Well-being for pupils and staff

Writing; building stamina and enhancing outcomes, particularly at Greater Depth level

Mathematics; developing fluency and supporting pupils with learning gaps

The wider curriculum; ensuring a broad curriculum across all areas where children can build on their next steps and enjoy their learning

Look out for your child’s autumn term ‘Short Report’ coming home in book bags tonight and have these to hand ready for parent meetings next week. Please ensure you have returned the Parent Feedback form ready for your phone calls with teachers next week – you can download one from the foot of this page or click to complete it electronically. Please check your time in advance and be ready for your call.  Teachers will have a tight turnaround and completing the feedback form will help to use your time wisely. Oh, and don't forget there are no teacher-led clubs next week.

In the classes this week…

Year R really enjoyed their exploding volcano Science experiment in the woods

Year 1 have been making their own symbols of harvest, having learnt about the symbol of bread for Christians in RE

Year 2 are fascinated by hydroponics as they have been learning about growing lettuce on the moon as part of Science work

Year 3 think taking away and adding with bigger numbers is a lot of fun. They are spotting the patterns on the 100 square to help them.

Year 4 impressed Mr G with their empathy and creativity in writing diary entries from the perspective of a spider (watch out for the plughole Incy Wincy!)

Year 5 think Shakespeare is really cool and have been inspired to create very gruesome writing from the perspective of different cast members

Year 6 had a really good debate about democracy in their class History lesson this week

Enjoy the autumn colours this week – they are looking beautiful!

Mrs Pinchess, Headteacher

 

COVID UPDATES

Keep it up everyone! We know there are more local cases but desperately want to stay COVID free as we go into our half term break. Thank you for your support for our school Community.

Q&A

We are really missing the usual contact with parents and carers; the quick chats at pick-up and messages at drop off, the volunteer readers in school and those parents who come in and help with class projects.  We don’t know when we will be able to resume those, but wanted to encourage our families to get in touch directly if there is anything you would like to know, or any way in which we can help.  We had some great feedback on the Q&A last week and wanted to make it a regular feature in the newsletter.  With this in mind, we have set up a ‘Do you have a question?’ page on the website. You can find it in the Contact Us section on the homepage or by clicking here.

If you have a question you would like answered in the Q&A, you simply type your question into the box and we will do our best to get you an answer as soon as possible.  You don’t have to leave your name or contact details if you don’t wish to.  Alternatively, you can email the school office at adminoffice@bentley.hants.sch.uk, put a note in your child’s reading record, drop a note in the Office Daily Collection Box which is at the school entrance each day or just give us a call – 01420 525010.  Let's keep the communication open!

Here are a couple of questions we have been asked this week…

Q: Are children going to need to wear coats in class as it gets colder and doors and windows need to stay open for ventilation?

A: Staff certainly hope not! The heating is now on in school and we are expecting our bills to be higher this year as we have to balance the heat and air flow. We are required to have windows open for ventilation but will take a measured approach, as long as the R rate stays down in our local area and we have no confirmed COVID cases at school. We did have an issue with the heating in the Sports hall which affected the Year 6 class as the weather has turned rapidly colder this week. It was quite speedily fixed and all is well again.

It is worth saying our young pupils often confound us by wanting to wear their jumpers on the hottest days and shorts when it is snowing! Older generations have long since advocated layering and a warm jumper and we shall have to do the same. It is a very pleasant temperature in school and staff ensure children are as active as possible with regular exercise and Runtastic energy boosts.  You can help at home by ensuring your child has a pair or black or green sweat suit bottoms/legging (no logos please if possible) for outdoor PE lessons and a change of socks in their PE bags in case they get wet. If your child does tend to get chilly then buy them some white vests to wear under their polo shirt.  

Q: Does my child need special support for the Recovery Curriculum?

A: Our Recovery curriculum is based around teachers noting the cohort gaps in the main but we ALWYS look at individual gaps where children need extra practice or an intervention. Reading your child’s short report will give you a good perspective on their current attainment levels in school. Remember that these are not their teacher’s predicted scores and teachers are planning for rapid progress where there are gaps. Teachers will let you know targets and if your child requires particular support next week.

You can help at home with regular reading as our Lexplore testing noted a drop in reading fluency for children in Year 2 upwards. This reflects a national trend but we want to help our children to improve rapidly and this needs some extra adult support at home and school. Get your child to read out loud more regularly than usual. Be creative about this to motivate and give lashings of praise and encouragement. Work on tricky words together and make it fun. They can read out loud anywhere just do it regularly; snuggled up in bed with you; on the phone to a Grandma/Godparent/uncle or to the dog! Of course getting children hooked on reading and reading ‘in their head’ remains important too. 

 

-------

PTFA COOKERY BOOK

We REALLY want a recipe from each family to make our Bentley 2020 cookbook. It has most certainly been a year to remember and having your special recipe would be BRILLIANT. Please send your photos/drawings and recipes to the school office.

 

FAMILY MINI PHOTOSHOOT

In need of Christmas present ideas for friends and family?  How about a super shot of your children or the whole family?

MiniClicks Photography will be at School on Saturday 7th November to take your lovely family shots in a mini shoot. 

You can book your mini shoot for a £10 fee and MiniClicks will give you access to a secure area on their website to select and buy your pictures.  Prints start at £6 and full resolution downloads are £20 per photo. 

MiniClicks Photography is a local business, run by Bentley CE Primary School parents Helen & Elliott Forrester, who are donating their time for free and all the profit from sales for this event, along with the booking fees, will go to the PTFA.  

Helen says “We offer a relaxed and friendly service, specialising in indoor and outdoor family portraits, and baby photography. We are delighted to be supporting Bentley School with this fundraiser. Please don't hesitate to get in touch to discuss your photography needs.”

The shoot will be conducted in the Sports Hall, with social distancing in mind, and the area will be de-fogged between each minishoot.

Just click here to book your slot. More information available from bentleyschoolptfa@gmail.com or www.miniclicksphotography.com

 

THE BENTLEY SCHOOL PTFA 100 CLUB

We have had a good response to our 100 Club but still have numbers to sell!  Just £5 for a number for this half term and you could win up to £75!  Deadline for buying your number is Sunday at 9pm so don’t delay in getting your number.  All the details can be found by clicking here

 

COMFY CLOTHES DAY

Don’t forget next Friday 23 October is Comfy Clothes Day! For a £2 donation to the PTFA your child can come to school in whatever they would like to wear – party clothes, onesies, pjs, school uniform, fancy dress, sports wear, anything goes – as long as it’s comfy and won’t hamper your child from taking part in the usual school day activities!

-------

CONGRATULATIONS TO…

… Mrs Patey who wowed the judges at her President’s Award tap dancing exam last weekend and was awarded Honours for her performance with a score of 93%.  Terrific tapping Mrs Patey!

…our New Year 4 librarians who wowed Mrs Morris with their lovely applications. Well done Sophie, Imogen, Oliver, Kate, Gemma, Evie-May, Harry, Ella, Lucas, Willa and Poppy.

 

APPLICATIONS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

The national deadline for applications to Year 7 in September 2021 is almost upon us - Saturday 31 October 2020.   If you have not yet made an application for your child, please do so as soon as possible.  Hampshire residents should click here to apply.   Parents of non-Hampshire children should contact their home authority for an application.

It is vital to apply by the deadline as late applications will reduce your chances of gaining a place at any of your preferred schools. 

 

THANK YOU FROM THE SCHOOL COUNCIL

Mrs Tewkesbury and Mrs Pinchess shared the cost of popular playground toys to some rather shocked children this week. There were many light bulb moments (hooray!) as they realised they did not have enough money from last year’s 5p collection to purchase what their class would like. A big thank you for the loose change and 5ps sent in today. It all adds up and the children have their shopping lists ready to pass orders to Mrs Tewkesbury! Please keep the small change donations coming on Fridays.

FLU IMMUNISATION NASAL SPRAY

All children for whom we have consent will receive their Flu Immunisation in school on Friday 23rd October.  If you haven’t already done so, please click here and use reference SH116279 to complete the consent form for your child.  If you do not wish your child to have the nasal spray, please ensure you click NO on the last page.  Whilst you do not have to give a reason for your choice, it is helpful for the Immunisation Team to know your reason.  If you would like more information on the Immunisation Programme, see the foot of this page.

 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN FOOTBALL?

⚽️Ever dreamed of coaching the next generation of football mad kids?!  Now is your chance!⚽️

As part of Binsted Football Club, we have a very enthusiastic U7s (Year 2) football team, with a sponsor lined up and full admin support in place, who are just looking for an enthusiastic coach to train them.

We have lots of support lined up, we’re just looking for someone to lead the team to glory :)  We’d look to train once a week, with matches on Saturday mornings. If you choose to become a qualified coach, full qualifications will be paid for by the Club.

If you might be interested and would like to know more, please call Vicky Soden on 07917 068568

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️