At the end of last week, Mrs Blake took two teams to a tag rugby event at Eggars. Both teams represented our school brilliantly – well done to all involved, and thank you to Mrs Blake for organising and supporting the children.

Mrs Rhodes, our wonderful SENCo, is taking on an amazing challenge next week. In worship, we often talk about how far the children’s Runtastic laps would take them around the world… well, Mrs Rhodes is putting this idea into action herself!

She will be taking Claude le Croissant (one of our school’s French mascots) on an adventure to France, joining a team of runners in a relay race from London to Paris. Setting off early on Thursday 30th April, the team will head to the south coast to catch a night ferry across the Channel. Over the following three days, they will continue relay-style (with five runners sharing sections each day) until they reach the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday.

Mrs Rhodes and Claude will be running an incredible 75km as part of the challenge. They are raising money for Parkinson’s UK and Regain, and I am sure any sponsorship or messages of support would be hugely appreciated.

https://www.run2events.com/fundraisers/LizRhodes2047/run2paris-may-26

We wish Mrs Rhodes (and Claude!) the very best of luck – what an inspiring challenge!

Have a lovely weekend.

Vicky Hallett

Headteacher

HOUSEPOINTS                                                                                                      

This week’s housepoints totals:

234

339

277

163

 

ATTENDANCE

Governors have set the attendance target for the school at 97%. The class with the best attendance last week was Year 1. Well done 1!

Attendance figures for each class for last week are below:

 

SAFEGUARDING

We hope that lots of you will be planning to spend time outdoors over the weekend, to take advantage of the current spell of beautiful weather.

To help to keep the environment, and each other, safe, please remember to follow this advice from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOLD BOOK/GOLD CARDS

Well done to those children who were awarded a gold card. We’re very proud of you!

	Gold Cards	Gold book
Year R	Juliana, Ottilie, Oliver S-P, Amanda	Robyn
Year 1	Ella	Jesse
Year 2		Orla
Year 3	Finn Charlie	Theo
Year 4		Eleanor
Year 5		Elliott
Year 6		Alex

 

AGENTS OF CHANGE

Congratulations to George (Year 3) and Bertie (Year 4) who were awarded Agents of Change badges in recognition of their recent fundraising efforts. Well done to you both!

 

ARITHMAGICIANS

Well done to everyone who took part in the Arithmagicians competition over the past week. A special congratulations to Year 6, and to our top three players—Freddie, Lauren K, and Bertie—who achieved outstanding scores and should be extremely proud of their efforts.

Don’t forget to keep playing to earn points, which can be exchanged for house points, extra playtime, and even an ice lolly with Mrs Blake—something many children have already purchased ready to enjoy after half term!

AUTHOR VISIT

On Monday, Year R and Key Stage 1 had a very special visitor. Leanne Edney, a real life author, came to share her books and inspired the children with lots of ideas for their own stories. The stories feature a main character called Gigi, and the themes of her stories reflect our school values of Love, Courage and Community. Thank you Leanne for visiting us!

SCHOOL PLACES STILL AVAILABLE!

 

ECO UPDATE

The Attenborough Garden

This week Madame Jones has been in the garden with the garden design competition winners to plant some incredible smelling herbs from Pepperpot Nursery.  Planted in some old tyres, the children were delighted to discover the wonderful variety of smells from coca-cola to mint chocolate! The garden is now nearing completion with the opening date in two weeks’ time.  Sadly, Sir David Attenborough can’t visit us in person, but we did receive a lovely letter from his daughter telling us that he has had ‘a sudden rush of letters’ with ‘kind suggestions, invitations and requests for messages, interviews and endorsements.’  It is lovely to know that he is aware of our garden, named in honour of his 100^th birthday and all the incredible work that he continues to do for nature. 

 

 

Attenborough Day

To celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 100^th birthday on May 8^th, our school community will be hosting ‘Attenborough Day’.  Throughout the day, the children will participate in activities linked to the life and work of Sir David Attenborough. They will then come together with children all over the country for a live assembly at 2.15pm in honour of his birthday.  Our garden will be opened officially on this day at 2pm.  There will be a letter to the parents of all the children involved in the garden with information about the opening.

WWF’s Happy by Nature

This year the children at Bentley have been participating in WWF’s Happy by Nature programme which was launched by Steve Backshall last year.  The aim being to get children outside to increase nature connection and improve well-being, as well as a whole host of other benefits from increased concentration to academic attainment. Next week our Nature Guardians and children in Years R, 2 and 6 will be visited by Louise Purnell, Teaching Community Manager at WWF.  She will be conducting a bioblitz with the Nature Guardians in the Attenborough Garden and then coming to watch the children in Years R, 2 and 6 during their outdoor learning sessions as part of the Happy by Nature programme.  

Hidden Treasure Hunt – a national recycling challenge

Families are encouraged to hunt out unwanted or broken tech and electrical items at home and recycle them at Curry’s or Farnham and Alton Recycling Centres – click here for more details.  Please note, if you are NOT dropping off your items at Currys, please take a photo when you recycle them to upload as evidence – you will be asked to upload this photo when you register – click here to register and scroll down to ‘How to register your recycling’.

Every time a family registers their recycling, our school earns a Planet Care Point and moves up the national leaderboard. Schools can win thousands of pounds in Currys’ vouchers for Microsoft tech, and families who take part are entered into prize draws to win Currys’ vouchers for Microsoft tech too. As an extra incentive Eco Council will be awarding a ‘Dolphin Award’ to those children who participate.  Pupils should bring in a photo of them recycling their tech at Curry’s or a recycling centre.  Please note only one dolphin will be awarded per child.   

Please do get involved and share with your friends and family to help us to win some Microsoft tech for our school. The campaign runs until Friday 5 June 2026.
Find out more and take part at: hiddentreasurehunt.org

UNIFORM SHED           

The uniform shed is open again! A huge thank you to Mr Lucas and all the volunteers who have given it a good clean up and tidy. Please leave the shed as you would wish to find it.

ALTON ARCHAEOLOGY DAY

An Archaeology Day is being held at Alton’s Assembly Rooms on Saturday 25^th April 2026 between 10.00am and 3.00pm.

Last year they held a successful Heritage Day and now want to share the earlier history of Alton and the wider area. They are very lucky to have Weorod coming to give an insight into Anglo-Saxon life. Much of what they do is based on items found in Hampshire including those from our Mount Pleasant Anglo-Saxon Cemetery. There will also be displays by archaeological and historical groups from around the area who will have excavated items, reports and publications to view.

 

The event will be FREE but donations to Dementia-friendly Alton will be much appreciated. Refreshments will be available. Please do come and share the early history of Alton and the surrounding area. If you have any queries, please contact janehurst1@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MORE THAN A PITCH CAMPAIGN

We’re sharing an important local initiative from More House School that you may want to support.

“We know how powerful sport can be in a child’s life, building confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging. Yet this year, waterlogged pitches and cancelled matches have meant too many missed opportunities for young people.

More House School is working to change that by building an all weather 3G pitch for its students and the wider Farnham community.

To help make this happen, the community is coming together for the More Than a Pitch Celebrity Football Match.

📅 Saturday 9 May 2026
⏰ 3:00 PM
📍 Farnham Town Football Club
🎟 Tickets £12

Featuring Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Karen Carney, Wayne Bridge and Jay Bothroyd, alongside stars from Strictly Come Dancing, Gladiators and EastEnders, with more names to be announced.

Every ticket or donation brings us closer to a life changing facility that will give young people a place to play, grow in confidence and belong — all year round. This really is More Than a Pitch.

Buy tickets or donate:
More Than a Pitch Celebrity Football Match - More House School

Thank you for your support.

This pitch will change lives. It really is More Than a Pitch.”

 

CRICKET STATE SUPERSTARS

Twenty20 Community Cricket have launched their ‘State School Superstar’ programme.

It’s open to any young cricketer at a non-fee-paying school who are not currently in a county pathway; boys in year 4-6 and girls in year 7-9.

 Entries close on 30^th April with phase 1 skills assessments at May half-term.

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE ON PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING SERVICE

The nursing team are now pleased to launch the digital request for support form for Hampshire Public Health Nursing Service.

 Please use the links as below or the QR codes attached to make any referrals into the service with immediate effect.

Any referrals into the service using the old system will be offered a three-week grace period.

From May 18th they will no longer be accepting the old referrals and new requests will need to be sent electronically.

  

For Parent/carer referrals please use the following link:

 

Digital referral for the 5-19 Hampshire Community Public Health Nursing Service

 

PTFA

The uniform shed is officially open again!
 

To gain access, please get the key from the office and pay via cash or the QR code on the poster inside the shed.

For the time being, we do not need any more donations. Please use the clothes bin near Year R for any old uniform.

Thank you so much to Mr Lucas for working hard on maintaining the shed for us.

 

Colour Run – Friday 1st May, 2-3pm

The Colour Run Is Back — And This Year There’s EVEN MORE PAINT!

Get ready for an afternoon of colour, laughter, and lots of mess! On Friday 1st May, children will be invited to take on an exciting obstacle course around the school grounds… all while parents shower them in powdered paint. Expect bright faces, bright clothes, and a very bright school!


Sent home already:
• An application/waiver form
• A sponsorship form


Sponsorship
Children are encouraged to collect sponsorship from friends and family for completing the course. Donations can be made in cash or via our GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/e4ff95690
Please record all sponsorship on the form provided — the children love seeing how much they’ve achieved!

Sign-Up Details
There is an £8 participation fee which covers powdered paint and event materials.
Please pay online (www.pta-events.co.uk/bentley) or in cash (in a labelled envelope handed to the office along with the completed waiver).
Deadline for payment and waivers: Friday 24th April.

Please note: We must have a completed waiver in order for your child to take part.

Parent Participation & Event Timings
Parents and family are warmly invited to come along, cheer, and throw paint!
• Gates open at 2:00pm
• Event starts at 2:15pm

Viewing areas:
• Front playground (along the hedge)
• Back playground (via the sports hall)
To keep the children safe, please avoid standing in the centre of the front playground during the event.

Refreshments (card only) will be available.

What Children Should Wear
To help make the day as fun as possible:
• Children are encouraged to wear a white tshirt so their colours show up brilliantly. They can wear this into school instead of their uniform on this day. Any appropriate trousers can be worn. We have some spare white t-shirts available within the second hand uniform if you would like to wear them instead of purchasing new.
• Eye protection is mandatory to take part. This can include goggles, sunglasses, or protective glasses.

Volunteers Needed
This event relies on fantastic helpers!


We need volunteers for:
• Morning set-up
• Paintthrowing stations
• Marshals
• Refreshments
• Paint sales
Signup sheets will be shared soon — please save the date and support the event if you can.

Pick-Up Procedure – 3:15pm
To ensure every child is safely accounted for, we are updating our collection process.

At the end of the event:
1. Children will collect their belongings.
2. They will report to their teacher and line up.
3. Teachers will dismiss children once everyone is safely gathered.
Thank you for your patience while this takes place.

Collection points:
• Infants: Front playground
• Juniors: Back playground
Afterschool Club:
Please send a change of clothes if your child is attending ASC afterwards.

Please note: No colourful children may re-enter the school building after the run!
 

We hope all the children have an amazing, joy-filled Colour Run!