You will see the dates and INSET days for next year listed below to help you plan ahead. We have been working with two possible providers to have childcare available but are not in a position to confirm this yet. An additional alert in that schools are still waiting to hear the County decision on when the additional day will be set for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The possible dates are either May 3^rd or July. We will let you know this as soon as we can.

I shared with the children today my own ‘Learning pit’ experience this week of presenting to over 450 heads and safeguarding leaders at the annual DSL (Designated Safeguarding Leaders) conference for Hampshire. Gulp! Between worries about the technology and the vital importance of Child Protection it was somewhat nerve wracking, but, just as the Bentley children feel after their tests, I am glad I challenged myself and was proud I did it! I am not sure if I am quite as brave as our Year 2 class though, as they said they’d like even more tests – and even harder ones every week! 

We are very excited to meet our new Year R parent cohort (virtually!) on Wednesday and have much to fit in, to celebrate and enjoy every day of our last four weeks of term. We still have fingers crossed for the Covid ‘Road Map’ opening up for our last week but have plans ready in case this does not occur. With cases on the rise again in this local area please keep us posted of any tests or required self-isolations. We know the Bentley Fete has been cancelled for this year in light of the ‘Road Map’ extending which means larger events are still not possible as yet.

Learning to highlight this week...

Year R had a great first school trip to Alice Holt where they looked for signs of summer and followed instructions really well. There was some excellent singing on the minibus too!

Year 1 had their first ever try at reading and writing grid references in Geography.

Year 2 completed their SATs and celebrated by having a Pirate Day as a 'Well Done' for all their hard work.

Year 3 had fun making shadow puppets with torches as part of their exploration of light and shadow in science.

Year 4 have been experimenting with stitching and design in Design and Technology.

Year 5 have been exploring Egyptian lifestyles and linking their discoveries to their current English book 'Secrets of a Sinking'

Year 6 have been finding out lots of facts about the Second World War.

Mrs Katy Pinchess, Headteacher

 

Covid Updates

We emailed all parents and carers on Wednesday about rising numbers of positive Covid cases in local schools:  

The newer 'Delta' variant is now responsible for the vast majority of infections in the UK, and it is more transmissible. Several schools in the local area have experienced outbreaks of the new variant over the last week and some have had to close entirely and revert to virtual School. I wanted to raise this with you to stay alert to the symptoms for you and your family. A huge thank you to the school staff and to all of you at home who continue to take the twice weekly Lateral Flow Tests.  

It appears the new variant has also changed the most common symptoms of COVID to now include one or more of headache, runny nose, sore throat and/or sneezing - see BBC article here. Please also remain vigilant for the 'classic three' symptoms of fever, persistent cough (three or more times in 24 hours) and loss of taste/smell.  As always, if your child develops these symptoms, please keep them at home and book a PCR (lab test) via the Government website here as soon as possible.

We have now been alerted by Public Health England that in the South East people in close contact of PCR positive individuals in schools are being encouraged to take a voluntary PCR test through the NHS Test and Trace as soon as possible rather than waiting until day five of their 10 day isolation period. Even if tests come back negative, anyone self-isolating must complete the full 10 days, as it is thought up to 1 in 3 people with coronavirus have no symptoms.

Should a self-isolation be required we will continue to supply online learning from school for your child to complete at home.

 

Cake Sale money

You may not be aware that the children decide where cake sale money is spent. With the sales happening a little later this year some class purchases will rollover for their class for next year as there is limited time to spend the money now!

Year R – are hoping for a good outcome today as they would like to save the money for when they start in Year 1 but will maybe use it to buy some books, a new toy for the class or to go on a special class visits. STOP PRESS Year R raised £128.40 today – thank you everyone.

Year 1 are going to use some of the money for a treat on their special beach day. The rest will be saved towards a class visit next term.

Year 2 are going to buy some new colouring books and some new reading books. They are also going to have a beach day treat this term!

Year 3 would like to buy some hula-hoops and more tennis racquets for their playtime bag next term. They are having a jewellery making day this term and will ask Miss Hand to buy the resources to make this extra special.

Year 4 have plans to buy some additional playground toys and wet playtime games. They would like to order some brand new books and a new DVD for a special treat afternoon.

Year 5 have their eyes on some new resources to make the Year 6 reading corner the best in the school! They also have a long list of new books they would like to purchase to fill up the spinner too.

Year 6 have chosen to part-fund their Go Ape day next week.

Well done to all the bakers, buyers, volunteers and cake munchers. Your hard work and generosity has helped the classes and also helped children to understand maths in a real world context!  

 

Thank you...

...Year 1 for raising £212.50 in their no-cake sale last week.  The weather was so dreadful Year 1 parents decided to make donations instead of cakes!

 

Assessments

The Department for Education stopped the typical testing and national data collection for a second year due to the Covid pandemic. This affected; EYFS results, Year 1 phonics, Year 2 phonic re-tests, Year 2 SATs, Year 4 Multiplication tests and Year 6 SATs. At Bentley we have chosen to run all assessments this term using the usual examination expectations and procedures but using a past paper for all tests.

Our decision was made to celebrate successes and allow the children their typical ‘rite of passage’ in experiencing the process. We work hard to teach the children to deal with risk and do not view tests as something to fear but a fair and rigorous way to assess where to work next.

These results will be reported to you in the end of year reports, as we felt this would be helpful for parents to have a benchmark against ‘typical’ results. Parents, and staff, should of course remain aware outcomes have been affected by two periods of lockdown for all children currently in school. 

Year 2 SATS

Over the past two weeks, the Year 2 children have also been completing their SATs papers in reading, maths and GPS (grammar, punctuation and spelling). As we finished the last of our six papers yesterday afternoon, we celebrated with a cheer, high fives and a big sigh of relief...then there came a little sadness! The children explained how they didn't want to have to wait until Year 6 before they get to do them again! Year 2 found huge success and pleasure in completing these test papers and I personally don't have enough effusive language to express my unbridled pride for each and every member of the class. They showed such resilience, courage and love for their learning! Today, we celebrated in Pirate-y style with a treasure hunt, treats and a chance to swashbuckle our way into the weekend. Congratulations Year 2, what an accomplishment!

Year 6 SATS

Mrs Miffling, Mrs Rushin and Mrs Patey have been really proud of everyone in Year 6 this week as the children have spent the week sitting their SATs tests. Although the end of Key Stage 2 tests were cancelled by the government this year, it was decided that the children would still take them (using past papers) as the SATs tests are an important rite of passage for children at the end of primary school.

Mrs Rushin said, “I was really proud of how resilient the children were when they tackled the maths papers. Some of the questions have multiple parts and I could see the children working their way steadily through each one – well done Year 6!”

Mrs Miffling said, “The children showed fantastic stamina during the reading test. There are three texts to read and answer questions about and only an hour to complete the test in. The children used their time wisely to make sure they answered all the questions. Great work Year 6!”

Mrs Patey said, “The children have really done themselves proud this week, putting all their effort into showing us what they are capable of. Good job year 6.”

No SATs week would be complete without the delicious breakfast of sausage and bacon rolls after the tests each day and these were thoroughly enjoyed by the children. A big thank you to the kitchen for buying, preparing and cooking them for us.

Year 6 are now looking forward to their activity week next week and finding out which other special activities are planned to mark the end of primary school.

 

KS1 Multiskills Event

We had lots of fun with many different activities at Eggar's School today when I took some Year 1 and Year 2 children to take part in a sports multiskills event.  Each station leader commented on how Bentley were such a great team and had beaten previous efforts of others schools. I saw some great sportsmanship with super listening to instructions :)  Great job Bentley - you made me very proud!

Miss Wiggins, PE Leader

 

Term dates for the next academic year

Autumn Term

Thursday 2nd September 2021 – Friday 17th December 2021

Half term – Monday 25th – Friday 29th October 2021

Inset days – Monday 27^th September, Monday 1st & Wednesday 24th November 2021

Spring Term

Tuesday 4th January – Thursday 7th April 2022

Half term – Monday 21st – Friday 25th February 2022

Inset day – Tuesday 4th January

Summer Term

Monday 25th April – Friday 22nd July 2022

Half term – Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June 2022

Inset day - Friday 8th July 2022

 

Keep eating those yummy vegetables Bentley!

The School council noted the ‘Eat them to defeat them!’ campaign is encouraging lots of them to try some new fruit and veg. This week we were on the hunt for peppers and next week we are attacking the carrots…yum, yum! There’s a super activity sheet at the foot of this page for you to print out and colour in.  Colour in sheet

 

Click here to find out what’s happening next week and

here to get more information about what’s going on in the local area