It has been great to be able to finally share the Ofsted inspection report with parents, carers and staff. Thank you very much for all the positive feedback, cards and messages from our, your feedback means a lot. The report is due to be published on the Ofsted website very soon and we will update our website link as soon as it is so that all friends of the school can read it too!
Hooray! We have finally made it to half term. This is always such an important half term for pupils, as they settle into their new classes, and I am so proud of our pupils for their growth in all areas since September.
Last Friday after school I attended the COP-26 event set up a by Damian Hinds our local MP. I was hugely inspired by the passion and vision of everyone at the event. From retired people to Bentley parents, to East Hampshire teenagers and our very own Bentley ECO council (via a film which got a huge round of applause from the audience of about 400 people).
At our governing body meeting this week, we were discussing our long plans for the next five years and governors also agreed sustainability must be a vital part of our work.
It was lovely to share our Harvest Collective Worship with children and parents yesterday. We always enjoy our Thursday sessions with Yann and Gemma from St Mary’s Church and it was delightful to hear the children’s prayers, songs and reflections about being thankful for the harvest. With recent worries about petrol and getting to work on top of other concerns, it can be easy to forget how lucky we are. Thank you to everyone for your generous contributions of food, which Mr Lucas delivered safely to the Alton Food Bank. They will help many people.
As I have been bringing together thoughts and ideas for this week’s newsletter, I realised there is a real theme for this week about ‘Pupil Voice’. This is something we care very much about as a staff and we have many ways in which children share their thoughts, emotions and ideas with us at school. We have pupil groups such as the School Council, ECO Council and other special responsibilities. We have ‘HAS’ (Happy, Angry, Sad) books where children can draw, write and record their feelings). We prioritise listening to our feedback from our children, both as staff and governors. This helps us to try to address any concerns, but also ensures we collate feedback and reflect upon it at all levels so we remain truly child centred in what we plan.
We have been delighted by the good attitudes, resilience and ‘stickability’ of our pupils this September. They have tackled the new challenges and expectations of their new year groups with Bentley courage. Well done everyone!
Receiving the Ofsted ‘call’ on Monday morning is never expected but as we had been waiting for over fourteen years for another inspection it was very much welcomed. Whilst we knew the length of time between inspections was for very positive reasons, the school governors and I were aware our report was out of date and written around a framework which has been reviewed, updated and replaced several times since 2007!
The school staff are looking forward to seeing your friendly faces at the Welcome BBQ today. We have great organic meat sausages and burgers (sourced from the super Country Market butcher), stacks of rolls and condiments, plus vegetarian and Gluten Free options too! Please do come along and feed the family, catch up with friends old and new, plus support our PTFA. We will see you between 4-7pm – bring a positive attitude, a raincoat/umbrella and we’ll all be fine!
It has been a great start to the school year and we have been so impressed with how our children are settling back into school routines again. Well done and keep it up everyone!
We have really enjoyed the changes without the Government prescribed ‘bubbles’. Being able to come back altogether again in Collective Worships as a school has been really special and it is lovely to see all the adults properly without face masks outside at long last! We are still reviewing our Risk Assessment and Contingency Plans after staff consultation and will get that out to you as soon as possible. As ever, please consult the NHS websites if anyone in the household has Covid symptoms to ensure you are following the very latest guidance.