This week at Bentley...
We had a really productive INSET day on Monday. Led by the Governors, we reflected on all the feedback collected over the last year about our school’s Vision and Values. We discussed strategic plans and what we want to achieve over the next five years for our pupils. We have now moved into collating all the work and look forward to sharing it with the school later this term.
We had another event on Tuesday with our House Day. A big thank you to Mrs Scott-Bromley for organising the activities and to all the houses for great ideas in choosing the new House Names. We plan to have a day each term where children come together in their cross school houses to work, create and think together.
In other learning this week…
Yr R – The whole class created the most amazing obstacle course yesterday. They impressed all their teachers by testing the course and improving their ideas; by never giving up on the difficult parts and by having great teamwork. Well done Year R!
Yr 1 - The highlight of the week was apple picking and it was great to have so many helpers, thank you! The class sorted apples by size and used great language which linked into their maths work this week.
Yr 2 – Have really enjoyed learning about native wildlife in their reading comprehension work this week. They used fact files and looked up information on the internet too.
Yr 3 – Wowed the teachers with their resilience with some tricky maths. They were applying their number facts to reasoning and were really terrific at supporting one another and talking through their logic.
Yr 4 – Enjoyed their science experiments to see how temperature can change a liquid to a solid (or vice versa).
Yr 5 – Have written super diary entries about Shackleton’s arctic journey. They are now writing them up into a finished edition.
Yr 6 – Are enjoying rugby lessons this term as we are all enjoying the world Cup in Japan. They are keen on the fun teamwork and they think that practising passing the ball is helping their hand eye coordination.
It has been great to hear about the apple picking underway to support the PTFA’s delicious apple juice. A big thank you to Cress Mizen for coordinating and to Lucy Slater for letting us pick the apples again. Thank you also to those parents and younger siblings who are doing apple picks for local people who REALLY appreciate it – you are great and it is lovely to hear that our school family is helping the local community. Please come along and join in with the class apple picks if you can – the more the merrier! If you have bags of fallen apples please leave them by the trees in the staff car park.
We hope that lots of you will be able to come along and enjoy our Harvest Collective Worship next Thursday morning.
Enjoy the autumn colours this weekend
Mrs Katy Pinchess, Headteacher
Communications
With so many things happening in school each week, a huge range of extra-curricular activities many of our children are involved in, a growing number of working parents and lots of grandparents getting involved with childcare, it’s really easy for some things to fall through the cracks. We have a number of parents who are keen to get a reminder on a Sunday evening about what’s happening in school the following week and so, starting this coming Sunday, you will be receiving a text from school at 6pm with a link to the ‘What’s Happening…’ page on the school website. We hope this helps you with your planning for the week!
Special Responsibilities
At the end of Year 5 the children are asked to think about which special responsibilities they would like to have in Year 6. These are passed, along with each child’s vote for Head Boy and Head Girl, to Mrs Pinchess for consideration. We are delighted to announce the responsibilities for this year:
Head Girl – Maddison Head Boy – Bart
Deputy Head Girl – Holly Deputy Head Boy – Cam
Sports Ambassador – Spencer
Red House Captains – Harry and Rosie Green House Captains – Charlie and Idan
Yellow House Captains – Alex and Oliver Blue House Captains - Milo and Katie
Music Leader – Avril Digital Leaders - Gabriel, Fred and Max
Play Leader – Sarah Eco Leaders - Sophia and Olivia
School Councillors – Issy and Basit
Church School Councillors – Connor and Chloe
Pet Leader – Isla
We were particularly pleased to have inspired Olivia and Sophia with our eco focus last year, as they requested to be Eco Leaders. They will be working with Mrs Kremple and Madam Jones to ensure everyone at school has a renewed focus to do their part in maintaining our beautiful planet.
Governor Recruitment
Are you passionate about education? Do you have a positive attitude? Do you have time to give? We have one remaining vacancy for a School 'Parent' Governor - could it be you? If you would like to learn more about the role, we would love to talk to you. Please contact the school office or click here to arrange a chat with either Mr Ibbotson, our Chair of Governors, or Mrs Pinchess.
Thank you to….
…to the Bentley family for the donation of used school uniform
…to the Barker family for the toy cash register
…everyone who bought Christmas cards this year - all profits support the school and we hope that you love the children’s work
…to Mrs Stuart-Bruges for her donation towards Kaira Konko charity in memory of Catherine Isabelle Beagley
School Applications
The deadline for applications for Year 7 places at Secondary School is approaching. Please ensure you have made your application by 31st October through your local County Council website. If you are still undecided about the best school for your child, please make an appointment to see Mrs Pinchess who will happily talk through some of the options available to you.
Applications for Year R places for September 2020 open on 1st November. We have set up a number of Open Mornings which can be booked through our website by clicking here, or by calling the school office. Even if you already have a child in school, we are keen for you to come and have a look around again – every child is different and we are keen to talk to you about what is available for your younger child.
If you live in Hampshire applications for Year 7 or Year R places can be made by clicking here.
Dyslexia Awareness week
Next week is Dyslexia Awareness week. If your child struggles with memory, spelling or decoding it can be useful to find good strategies to support them. At school our SENCo supports teachers to ensure that all children are given support through high quality first teaching which encompasses strategies to support children who are dyslexic.
We are very fortunate that we have the Helen Arkell centre very locally and they are able to offer support and resources which parents may find useful www.helenarkell.org.uk
