It was also a joy to welcome parents back to our celebration worship last week. Sharing these special moments with our wider school community is always a highlight, and we are so grateful to everyone who joined us.

I would also like to take a moment to celebrate the success of last week’s KS1 and KS2 discos. The children had a fantastic time dancing away, and we are incredibly grateful to our wonderful PTFA for organising the event. Their hard work and dedication made the event such a brilliant experience for the children—thank you!

On a different note, we are reaching out to see if any members of our community might be able to spare some time during lunchtimes to support our children with football games. If you could spare 30 minutes a few times a week to help supervise and encourage positive play, we would be hugely grateful. Please contact the school office if this is something you would be willing to support.

Thank you, as always, for your continued involvement and support in making our school such a special place.

ATTENDANCE

At Bentley CE Primary School, we believe that good attendance ensures children have the best educational start in life and that arriving on time builds good habits for the future and starts each day positively. 

The Government sets a standard of 95% attendance for primary schools.  Our Governors have set a school target of 97%.  Achieving an attendance rate of 95% means that your child would have had approximately ten days of absence throughout the year. 

To support your child to have good attendance, please avoid making routine doctor or dentist appointments during school hours and only request a leave of absence if it is for an exceptional circumstance.  Please be aware that there are very few reasons for which the school is able to authorise absence.  To promote good attendance in school, we will announce the class with the best weekly attendance in our collective worship on a Friday as well as displaying this in our newsletter.  We understand that sometimes children do get poorly and absence from school is therefore unavoidable.  In these circumstances, please inform the school office as soon as possible so they can make a note that your child will be absent.

 

Attendance figures for last week are below:

HOUSEPOINTS

This week’s housepoints totals:

SWIMMING GALA

On Thursday, a team of 16 swimmers from across Key Stage Two took part in the Alton Cluster Schools swimming gala at Alton Sports Centre.  Each competitor had to swim in an individual race (either freestyle or backstroke) as well as compete as part of a relay team.  Every child swam brilliantly and the teamwork and encouragement amongst the children was a delight to see.  A special mention to Elliott in Year 4 who came first in his race, Arthur in Year 4 and Finley in Year 6 who came second in their races and Rowen in Year 3 and Annabelle in Year 6 who came third in their races.  Well done team Bentley!!

 

A REQUEST FOR TISSUES

 

It’s that time of year again when noses seem to become extra sniffly and it would be great if every family could help keep those germs at bay by donating a box of tissues, so we can ‘Catch It, Bin It, Kill It’!  We would really appreciate your donations this year in:

January – Year R, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6

February – Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5

 

Please give your box of tissues to your child’s class teacher or hand them in at the office.  Thank you!

 

ECO UPDATE

Design our Bee and Butterfly Garden Competition

Entries have already started arriving in school for our latest Eco Council competition to design our Bee and Butterfly Garden.  The closing date for the competition is Monday 10^th February and all children are welcome to enter with the winning entries being invited to help create the garden.  See the poster for more information and also check out the internet for inspiration such as the BBC's guide or Nestle's Guide to a pollinator-friendly garden.  If you are interested in helping us create our paradise for bees and butterflies, please do get in touch with Madame Jones via the school office.

 

A Fruit Tree for Every Garden

Fruits trees are a great way to attract wildlife in your garden and also to provide you with healthy food at a very low cost. If you would like a fruit tree in your garden, now is the time to order them thanks to the ‘Fruit Tree For Every Garden’ project led by PeCAN in Petersfield.  There is a great variety of trees on offer at the bargain price of £12.50 each - we have already bought some for the bee and butterfly garden!  For more information and to order, please head to the PeCAN website by clicking here.

Eating for Tomorrow Film Screening – Saturday 25^th January

Presented by Sustainabites, an ACAN group focused on sustainable, planet-friendly eating, the film Eating for Tomorrow is being screened on Saturday 25^h January. See poster below for more information and details about how to book.

 

 

PTFA 

PTFA Fun Club

Tickets are available to book on www.pta-events.co.uk/bentley 

Join us for a film, playing, crafts and a hot dog dinner on Friday 24th January 3:15-5pm. 

Break The Rules Day

On Friday 7th February, children are invited to break the rules! Keep an eye out in book bags for more information. The children are all very excited about this day! 50p per rule. 

Bingo Night at The Anchor

Hosted by The Anchor, in aid of the PTFA, the bingo night is great fun. Thursday 13th February, 7:30pm. Bingo cards are cash only. Food and drink is available too. 

Quiz Night, hosted by Naomi Blake

Friday 7th March, 7:30 arrive for 8pm start

Put the date in your diaries for our annual quiz night. 8 per team!