this week at Bentley......

I hope this newsletter finds you all well. Today has been a truly special day in our school calendar, marking an important milestone for our children. They have had the opportunity to meet their new teachers and explore their new classrooms for the upcoming academic year.

During our morning Worship, we addressed the natural feelings of nervousness that can accompany such transitions. We reassured our students that it's perfectly normal to feel a bit anxious, but reminded them that they are all part of our wonderful Bentley family and that this sense of belonging can help ease the transition, making the change feel less daunting.

I had the pleasure of visiting each classroom today, and I'm delighted to report that the atmosphere was overwhelmingly positive. The children appeared incredibly happy in their new surroundings, and I must say, their teachers looked equally thrilled! It's heartening to see such enthusiasm for the year ahead.

Today was also a significant day for our newest members of the Bentley community. Our incoming Year R cohort visited the school for their first independent session in the classroom, without their parents present. Mrs Scott-Bromley shared that these young learners settled in remarkably well. She expressed pride in the courage they demonstrated - already embodying one of our core school values despite being new to our school. This is a fantastic start to their educational journey with us.

This week, our Year 4 children had the opportunity to visit the Anvil, Mrs Matthews writes:

This Monday Year 4 were treated to a trip to the Anvil Theatre in Basingstoke, to watch the Primary Prom by Hampshire Music Services. Schools from across Hampshire were in the audience. The hour was filled with impressive performances, which included a children's samba group (their song even included a tribute to Baby Shark!), a youth percussion group, a brass band, a choir and an orchestral ensemble. It was really wonderful to watch all of these performers and I think Year 4 were inspired. Thanks to the organisers of the Year 4 cake sale, this trip was kindly sponsored by the donations.

Also this week, Madam Jones organised a whole school French day. The children had a wonderful time, as some of our Year 6 children share:

Let's talk about French Day. When everyone arrived in the playground, it was a pool of red, white and blue - everyone was in the colours of the French flag. At break time, the Year 6s served all of the other classes croissants but only if they were requested in French! We were delighted by everyone's French and some children even had a superb accent! The theme of this year's French Day was the Olympics as Paris is the host this year. Many classes completed activities with this theme and we loved watching the younger year groups run around the playground with the Olympic torches which they had made. A particular highlight of the day was playing petanque - some classes got quite competitive! Jessica, Poppy, Sophie, George.

Thank you so much Madam Jones for organising such a wonderful day.

Looking ahead, I want to remind everyone about an exciting event on the horizon. Next weekend, on the 13th of July, we will be holding our PTFA sponsored family walk. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together as a community, enjoy some fresh air and exercise, and raise funds for our school. I encourage as many of you as possible to participate. Not only will it help us raise much-needed funds, but I it is also a great chance to have fun and strengthen our school community bonds.

As we approach the weekend, I want to thank you all for your continued support and engagement with our school. The success of our children and our school as a whole is a collaborative effort, and your involvement is invaluable.

Vicky Hallett

Head teacher

Attendance

This week’s whole school attendance is 95.34 %

Although the government sets a target of 95% for primary schools, our governors have set a target of 98% for our school. This is because an attendance rate of 95% still means that your child would have had approximately ten days of absence throughout the year; this is considered a significant loss to learning.

The class with the best attendance this week is year 5 with 100%. Well done year 5!

French Day 2024 – Les Jeux Olympiques

This year’s French Day was all about Les Jeux Olympiques. Following several weeks of learning about the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris in French lessons, Wednesday’s French Day was a celebration of this incredible event. Wearing red, white and blue the whole school community embraced the Olympics by participating in a range of diverse and exciting activities including a game of pétanque; designing mascots and the Olympic Village; making the Olympic torch and participating in our own torch relay. Speaking French was naturally an important part of the day and the children were given several opportunities to practise their French including visiting the Year 6 ‘Kiosque Croissant’ to order a croissant and learning how to talk about sport in French. Merci beaucoup to everybody for embracing French Day – it was a really great day!

Young ACAN Conference

On Monday, I took 7 members of the eco-council to the Alton Maltings to take part in the Young ACAN conference which had been organised by our very own Madame Jones. The theme of the conference was ‘From Me to the Sea’, focusing on how we can protect our rivers and oceans. The children took part in several informative workshops throughout the day, which saw them reflecting on the impact humans have had on the environment and how we can work together to protect our wonderful world. The conference culminated in presentations led by the children about what they had learned. Our eco-councillors represented Bentley extremely well, demonstrating thoughtful responses during each workshop and contributing confidently to the presentations at the end of the day. A big thank you must go to Madame Jones for organising such a fantastic event for our children to be part of.