This week at Bentley...
I have found myself continuing the theme of ‘Happiness’ from my Collective Worship this week. At a time when it is much harder to do my usual class observations, I have very much missed the everyday interactions with the children at school, which is something I usually enjoy very much. There has been a lot more paperwork and strategic planning which has kept me office bound (with less joy!) since March 20th, but fortunately this week I have managed to creatively follow the government guidelines and had a lot more interaction with our lovely Bentley pupils.
I have undertaken observations of individual pupils in my current SENDCo role and I also had the pleasure of speaking to our Year 6 home learning pupils. I was so impressed by their manners, self-composure, honesty and the passion they showed for learning; plus they all showed an interest in others and how our whole school was doing. They showed impressive empathy and a big picture for our whole community. Many of them have found interesting ways to extend their hobbies at this time, from cookery to reading, music to exercise. A great example of this is Sarah’s amazing design work in our photo this week. She has learnt how to create small figures – entirely from scratch – with skills which Art College students would be proud to master. Well done to everyone still learning at home! We still miss you hugely at school, but be proud of the many new skills you are mastering and how much you are learning from your parents.
News from school...
Bubble 1 have really enjoyed maths based on ‘The very busy spider’. They have created their own patterns and found patterns outside in nature.
Bubble 2 have also loved ‘The very busy spider’ maths work. They created great sand art, with complex web patterns.
Bubble 3 - Our Upper juniors have worked on haikus and got stuck into fractions, with great results.
Bubble 4 have loved their art this week with Eric Carle inspired collage. They used lots of different textures and ideas which the children loved.
Bubble 5 – Reading has been our favourite this week and both year groups have responded well to the activities, exploring and questioning the text as well as responding to it.
Bubble 6 have used ‘The tiger who came to tea’ and planned fantasy tea parties. We wrote invitations and a menu including details about where it was going to be set and who was going to be invited.
And at Virtual school...
Year 2 have really excelled with their Sound Collector poems in reading. Great work everyone!
Year 3 have really impressed us with the way they have tackled fractions work, really building and securing their understanding.
Year 4 made fantastic life cycles of apple trees with beautiful presentation of how the tree changed over the seasons.
Year 5 – In maths our home learners remembered the tricky concepts for equivalent fractions. They have worked hard. Well done!
Enjoy a lovely weekend. Hopefully a little less windy than last week!
Mrs Pinchess, Headteacher
STAFF NEWS
We are delighted to announce Mrs Vogel will be taking on the role as Infant Leader as part of our Senior Leadership Team.
We are also welcoming new staff to the team in September. Mrs Ingrid Phillips and Miss Alex Farrant will join the school in September as LSAs. They are both also going to be working in our very popular Breakfast Club with Gillie and Mandy.
Mrs Phillips is a very experienced LSA returning from a break looking after her grandchild. She has worked at Bordon Juniors and in Guildford most recently. She has a real passion for maths and, like all of our staff, she believes that all children can achieve with the right support!
Miss Farrant is doing a Foundation degree and plans to do teacher training in a couple of years. She has been working at Potter's Gate in Farnham, and has experienced both Year 1 and Year 4 there. She is very excited about joining the Bentley team and developing new skills in a village school setting.
And finally, Mrs Alison Morris will be joining our team as Admin Assistant when Mrs Gallagher leaves us at the end of July to spend more time with her family. Mrs Morris comes to us with a wealth of skills and will be spending two days each week in the school office and one day in the school library.
We welcome them all to our school family and know that you will do the same. The final position to be filled is our SEND leader whose post we are currently making.
END OF TERM
We wanted to confirm the arrangements for the end of term…
Friday 10 July
Open Afternoon – virtually and at school. Child and parent (at home) to review their learning journey work on Seesaw or child and teacher (at school) to review their work in books since lockdown. We will write next week with more details for home learners about how to undertake this review and celebration.
Wednesday 15 July
Year 6 children currently in school have their last day in Bubble Group 3.
Thursday 16 July
School is open as usual for all Year R to Year 5 children currently in a Bubble Group, and tasks continue on Seesaw for all other children, including Year 6, with tasks on Tapestry for Year R children not in school.
Friday 17 July
School is open as usual for all Year R to Year 5 children currently in a Bubble Group and tasks continue on Seesaw for all other children, including Year 6. Tasks will continue on Tapestry for Year R children not in school. This is the final day in school for all children in Years R to 5.
Monday 20th July
History Day virtual learning tasks for all children from Years R-5.
School is open for all Year 6 children who should arrive between 8.45am and 8.55am and be collected at 1pm from outside of the courtyard. Further information with drop off and pick up instructions will be sent by email next week.
Children will have the opportunity to say farewell to their current teachers who will be hosting online ‘farewell’ events for their classes at the following times:
Year R - 9.15am
Year 1 - 10.00am
Year 2 - 10.45am
Year 3 - 11.30am
Year 4 - 12.15pm
Year 5 - 1.00pm
Log in details will be sent out next week by email.
Tuesday 20th July
Science Day virtual learning tasks for all children from Years R-5.
School is open for all Year 6 children who should arrive between 8.45am and 8.55am and be collected at 1pm from outside of the courtyard.
The Year 6 Leavers event will start at 6pm and finish at 7.30pm. Due to limited space and social distancing restrictions, this event is only for Year 6 children and their parents.
Children will have the opportunity to say ‘hello’ to their current teachers who will be hosting online ‘welcome’ events for their new year groups at the following times:
Year 1 with Mrs Scott-Bromley, Mrs Siers and Mrs Alieva at 9.15am
Year 2 with Mrs Vogel and Mrs P at 10.00am
Year 3 with Miss Hand and Miss Farrant at 10.45am
Year 4 with Mr Goddard and Mr Fay at 11.30am
Year 5 with Miss Wiggins and Mrs Phillips at 12.15pm
Year 6 with Mrs Miffling, Mrs Rushin and Mrs Patey at 2.00pm
Log in details will be sent out next week by email.
Wednesday 22 July
French Day virtual learning tasks for all children from Years R-6.
All our families will be welcomed to the school playground between 10am and 11.30am to drop off library books and any uniform they wish to donate to the PTFA and to collect their school workbooks, medications and any lost property before the summer holidays begin.
Miss Kirby will be in the playground between those times for everyone to say a final farewell before she takes up her new Assistant Headteacher post at Ropley CE Primary School. Staff members will be on hand to direct you and we ask you to be mindful of the social distancing restrictions still in place. Children need to remain with their grown-ups at all times. The site will be closed at midday. Any uncollected items will be disposed of.
Monday 7th September
Autumn Term begins. At this time we are planning for all children to be back in school from this date with a staggered start for our new children in Year R, for whom more details will be sent by the end of term.
ART CLUB
One of our resident artists, Mrs Scott-Bromley, has been running a virtual art club. You can see some of the children’s submissions by clicking here. This week’s theme is ‘The view from my window’. Your artwork can be in any medium you choose – drawing, painting, sculpture, junk modelling, animation, etc – and you have until midday on Monday to submit a photograph on Seesaw. We are looking forward to seeing your ‘view’.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO…
…Phoebe, Isabelle, Francis, Katie and Elliott! We are sorry the whole school couldn’t all sing Happy Birthday in collective worship as we usually would, but Bubble Group 1 have sung it instead :) You can download the audio file from the foot of this page.
We hope you enjoyed your birthdays!
Bfest
We were delighted to see so many super videos of the children's performances. Here is a montage of some of the best bits...
SUMMER READING CHALLENGE 2020
About this time of year representatives from Alton Library visit school to promote the summer reading challenge. The great news is that the challenge is still going ahead and there are lots of books that are available online for children (and adults) to read. If you would like to know more about the summer reading challenge please click here or visit the website by clicking here. Happy reading everyone!
ADVICE TO PARENTS AND CARERS ON KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE FROM ABUSE AND HARM
Published 25 June 2020
Call the NSPCC helpline for support and advice if you have a concern for your own or another child’s safety on 0808 800 5000.
If you feel your child is in immediate danger, call the police on 999. You can report concerns to the police on their non-emergency number, 101.
You can also contact the Hampshire social care team to report a concern about a child or adult at Hampshire Children’s Services Public phone number: 0300 555 1384. In an emergency, call 999.
The DfE guidance has been updated and can be found here - it has many useful web links and support ideas to help children and adults stay safe.