This week at Bentley...

I can’t quite believe we are already in the final half term of the school year – it seems to have flown by! This is always one of my favourite terms, with so many exciting events taking place, including the PTFA sponsored bike ride and of course, the summer fair. We’re so grateful to our parent volunteers for helping to make these events possible.

This week, all our classes have had the opportunity to visit St Mary's Church as part of our special Prayer Week. It has been a peaceful and reflective experience, with the children exploring the key Christian value of peace.

Our worship focus for this half term is the value of justice. We will be encouraging the children to think about what justice means – fairness, standing up for others, and doing what is right – and how they can live this out in their everyday lives. One of the verses we’ll be thinking about is Isaiah 1:17 – “Learn to do what is right. Be fair and kind to others.”

I also wanted to take a moment to celebrate some fantastic news. Our amazing Eco Leader, Emma, has been invited to take part in some very exciting opportunities in recognition of her passion and commitment to sustainability and environmental education. She has recently been invited to join the WWF Education Teachers’ Panel and will be presenting at their upcoming networking day, where she’ll share the incredible work happening at our school – including our nature reserve and pollinator garden.

In addition to this, Emma will also be heading to London for the Ministry of Eco Education’s 'biggest eco teacher celebration of the year!' She is one of just 60 educators selected to attend and will be sharing her work with Young ACAN (Alton Climate Action Network). It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the power of collective action in eco education. We are incredibly fortunate to have Emma as part of our Bentley family, and we are so proud of her for this well-deserved recognition.

With regards to Sports Day, after much discussion with the leadership team, we have decided that if the recreation ground is still unavailable, we will host the event on our school grounds. We did explore the possibility of using Froyle Recreation Ground as an alternative, but unfortunately, the risk assessments and logistical challenges meant it wasn’t a viable option.

To ensure that every child has a chance to participate, KS2 will have their Sports Day in the morning, and KS1 & EYFS in the afternoon. Families are warmly invited to join us to cheer the children on, and we would love you to stay for a picnic lunch with your child(ren). We have not yet ruled out the possibility of the usual recreation ground being ready in time – and with the recent mix of warm and wet weather, we remain hopeful that the grass will grow enough to make it usable.

Wishing you all a wonderful start to this busy and exciting half term.

HOUSEPOINTS

This week’s housepoints totals:

227

163

193

238

 

ATTENDANCE

Governors have set the attendance target for the school at 97%. Last week the overall attendance rate for the whole school was 93.39%. The class with the best attendance was Year 1, with 98.67% attendance. Well done year 1!

Attendance figures for each class for last week are below:

 

 

SAFEGUARDING – EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS

Smartphone– Free Childhood

Smartphone Free Childhood movement that is taking force across the UK. As a school, we think it is vitally important to understand why this movement is beginning and how you can be part of it. Below are some key facts that you may find useful...

These facts have come from an extensive list of research that has been undertaken over the past 10 years and are being widely shared.

If you would like more information about how to sign up with the Smartphone free pledge, you can visit their website https://smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk  or equally find out more information about support/ preventing phone addictions at https://www.papayaparents.com/workshops    which is where we have got many of these facts from. We have a parents workshop booked in for Wednesday 18^th June at 2pm for you to find out more about this topic. We are also exploring options for student wokshops and more information will come out in the summer term regarding the Smartphone Free Movement.

 

ST MARY’S PRAYER WEEK

This week all classes have had the opportunity to visit St Mary’s church to participate in a range of reflective activities as part of their prayer week.

 

 

 

FISHBOURNE ROMAN PALACE TRIP

 “We went to Fishbourne Roman Palace on Wednesday. We saw amazing mosaic floors, including one with a dolphin. We walked through a Roman garden and learned how Romans lived. We tried on a Roman royal clothing and saw real Roman tools. It was fun and we learned a lot!” – Year 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SMARTPHONE FREE CHILDHOOD WORKSHOP

All parents and carers are welcome, whether your children already have smartphones, or whether you are delaying.

Please contact the school office to book your place.

 

TJ POWER PARENT TALK

 

 

PTFA

The next Frozen Friday is Friday 13th June. 🍦 

We only have 2 remaining big events of the year - the Sponsored Bike Ride and our Summer Party!

There is still time to sign up to the bike ride!

Sponsored bike ride, Saturday 14th June, 9-12ish - 25km, family friendly route and pace, organised by Trent Kneller. The ride is to start and finish at Bentley School, ending with a BBQ and refreshments. We plan to leave around 9am, and be back in time for lunch. 
Please email bentleyschoolptfa@gmail.com if you’d like to join. 

Summer Party, Saturday 5th July, 12-4pm. Add this date to your diaries for a fun, music filled afternoon! With music from Key Lime Pi - a 9 piece band performing at Bentley School! A BBQ, bar, inflatables and stalls will be available all afternoon. 
If you’re happy to have a Hampton’s sign advertising the event, please let me know! They generously sponsor us, so I need to provide them with a list of names. 🙂