We have lots of exciting plans for the term ahead and will be able to share PTFA plans for Bfest next week, In school we have started our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee work, with every child creating portrait of the Queen. These are going to be judged by the Parish Council next week. The children have enjoyed this art project and we are hoping one will be used for the Bentley Jubilee posters! Other plans include a super day of ‘Dancing through the Queen’s decades’ on Friday 20^th May, a special art activity morning and Jubilee lunch party on Friday 27^th May. Every child will be given a special flag, and they will bring home a decorated crown. You may also choose to order a Bentley Platinum Jubilee commemorative mug. Please see details below. Orders must be placed on Scopay by Monday 9^th May.

A reminder we have national testing back this term. It is important for all pupils to be present for these; please be aware absences will not be authorised during the testing windows. Please reschedule any appointments accordingly and alert the class teacher by email urgently if there are any issues for your child over the following dates:

Year 6 - Monday 9th - 12th May

Year 2 - Monday 16th - Friday 27th May

Year 1 - Monday 6th- Friday 10th June

Year 4 - Monday 13th – Friday 17th June

In class this week…

Year R began their new topic of plants. They're planted their own sunflower seeds, hunted for different plants in the school grounds and role played in our very own florist.

Year 1 have enjoyed using equipment and fun games to learn how to count in twos, fives and tens.

Year 2 were really interested to start learning about castles in readiness for their trip to Arundel Castle later this month.

Year 3 have started thinking about their Science topic of plants, and enjoyed learning about and writing acrostic poems to do with nature this week!

Year 4 had great fun at their skipping workshop at Eggar’s. They also put a great effort into make ear defenders in DT.

Year 5 have enjoyed reading 'Running Wild' and have learnt how to make their own writing using the same techniques as Michael Morpurgo, exciting and full of suspense.

Year 6 are getting really excited for their Young Voices performance to the O2 next week; they have been really enjoying learning the songs and dance moves!

Hopefully the weather will continue to be good over the long weekend. Happy Eid to those celebrating, and good luck with the packing for Year 3 & 4 who are off on their residential to Gordon Brown Centre next week.  Whatever you are up to, I wish you a super weekend. Enjoy!

Mrs Katy Pinchess, Headteacher

 

FREE SCHOOL MEALS

We are all aware of the considerable household budget squeeze due to inflation and rising energy prices, and we are conscious some of our families may be experiencing difficulties due to a change in circumstances.  It may be possible your children are eligible for Free School Meals.  You can check by clicking here, or pop into the school office or call us on 01420 525010 and we can check for you.

 

Sports this term

We were delighted to send two teams out of school for the first two sports fixtures of the term.

Rhys, Will, Ben & Annabel from Year 3 and Sam, Charlotte, Lucas & George from Year 4 all represented us brilliantly in a football friendly at Eggar’s. The entire Year 4 class also had the chance to take part in a fantastic skipping workshop at Eggar’s on Wednesday and wowed Mrs Rushin with their skills and development in their high energy workout!

We very much want our pupils to take part in as many sports activities as possible this term and encourage them to take up opportunities at home and afterschool too. ‘Giving it a go’ has been our ethos for a long time and children often amaze themselves with new opportunities. For example, ten years ago our girl’s cricket team made the national primary school finals! We still have some places in the Monday afterschool club running for five weeks this term with two amazing internal cricket coaches – sign up and see if your child finds a new passion.

Please be aware that some of the fixtures are still very Covid dependent and sadly may be cancelled at the last minute. Thank you in advance for getting forms back to us promptly and supporting with transport. A huge thank you to our amazing teaching team for organising and attending these sessions on top of a busy workload.

 

Clubs

Thank you for your prompt sign ups. Texts have been sent out today confirming all the club places given. Please ensure you go to www.scopay.com to confirm your child’s place and pay by Wednesday 4^th May.  We still have places in Peace Club, Choir and Cricket Club – if your child would like a place, please contact the office by email.  If your child no longer wishes to take up their club place, please let us know as soon as possible so another child may be given the opportunity.

 

Guinea Pig names

Here are our two newest school recruits…two baby guinea pigs! We need your help at home to suggest names for them. Click here to log your suggestions before Thursday 5th May.  We will be holding a vote in school shortly and will get back to you once we know the chosen names!

 

STEP AWARDS

Today at school we celebrated our commitment to manners and three children from each class were awarded a S.T.E.P. (Sorry, Thank You, Excuse Me, Please) certificates and badges.  Good manners are not only encouraged, but expected at Bentley and our children’s excellent manners and behaviour is often mentioned by parents, relatives and visitors who come to the school as well as when pupils are out on school visits.  This is not about manners only when prompted but about a great attitude which goes above and beyond every day at school and in every context. The whole school staff community checks the nominations as we all work hard to teach and promote good manners and behaviour.

The following children have shown superb manners over the term, in many different situations; we are proud of them all

Year R – Ottoline, Rose, Theo

Year 1 – Alana, Chloe, Elliott

Year 2 – Max, Neve, Seb

Year 3 – Anwita, Chloe, Hamish

Year 4 – Alessia, Finn, Merryn

Year 5 – Eva, Imogen, William

Year 6 – Annie, Bella, Luke

 

Thank you to…

…Laura Wellstead, Lisa Bowler & Mr Goddard for taking classes to special sports activities this week. The children had a great time!

…Year 1 for all the delicious cakes and biscuits – and to all those who bought, helping us raise over £90 today!

 

PArish Council Updates

Mrs Pinchess presented a report about the school this week at the annual Parish Council assembly. There was a good turn out and lots of great feedback about the school and its’ important role within our village community. The Council has a new website and if you go to it you can click the links to sign up for their facebook and/or instagram links too. There are also useful links to report local issues or contact local help to make reports, such as the police and road officers. There are several special events being planned in Bentley for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – keep an eye on their website and Facebook page here.

 

Walk to School Week – 16th to 20th May 2022

Hampshire is once again running Walk to School Week and, whilst we hope as may parents as possible will leave their cars at home, we appreciate many of our families cannot avoid driving.  To include as many children as possible, we encourage these parents to ‘park and stride’ - park safely away from school and walk the remaining distance.  It’s the perfect opportunity to discuss the green cross code with your child, as well as promoting the health and environmental benefits of walking to school. Children will self-sign their walks each morning and everyone who takes part over the week receives a special certificate.

 

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

We have lots of exciting plans ahead;

• Queen’s portrait competition in school
• Dancing through the Queen’s decades on Friday, 20th May – all children will need to come into school in PE kit which we will send home on Thursday 19th
• Special Jubilee day on Friday 27th May – art activities and Jubilee lunch party. Children may order a special Jubilee lunch bag from the kitchen or bring in a packed lunch.
• You may also choose to order a Bentley Platinum Jubilee commemorative mug which will of course have Bentley CE Primary School rather than the school’s name on the photograph! You can order these via Scopay until 9am on Monday 9th May.
  • White Jubilee thermoplastic mug £3 each
  • Glitter Jubilee thermoplastic mug £3 each
  • Bentley Jubilee ceramic mug £4.50 each

 

Year 3 & 4 are off on an adventure…

… to the Gordon Brown Centre in Hook for their first residential visit next week and are all feeling excited, with a little dash of apprehension!  With den building, camp fires, river study and hanging out with the goats, pigs, rabbits and other animals to look forward to, we know they will have a wonderful time.   You can check out the daily blog to see what they’re up to by clicking here.

 

Bombay to Bentley Bike Ride

The date for the Bombay to Bentley Bike Ride is drawing nearer with the big ride taking place on Saturday 2 July. A huge thank you to all those who have volunteered to help in the logistics and support and to those who have signed up to ride so far.

The aim of the ride is to raise money to fund new laptops for Bentley Primary School - a valuable and much needed resource for the school and students.

There are still a small number of places on the ride available and we’d encourage all of you who are sat on the fence to take the plunge! You will not regret it.  Please click here to register your interest and I will be in contact with more details.  You can also fill out this form if you would like to volunteer to support in any way.

It’s been great to see people coming together for training rides in recent weeks and exploring the wonderful Spring countryside and more training rides are planned in the coming weeks!

Happy riding everyone!

Ben Bingham, Bombay to Bentley organiser

 

Click here to find out what’s happening next week and

here to get more information about what’s going on in the local area