On Tuesday…Year 2 visited Southampton to learn more about the Titanic disaster. They thought about the experience of people living at the time. Year 5 led the Collective Worship and spoke about the value Love (very appropriate for this week of Valentines!).

On Wednesday and Thursday…Year 6 joined their parents for the first time to attend Parents Evening. We do this as part of secondary school preparation and transition work. The Year 6 pupils reported that they found it a useful experience and enjoyed hearing about their strengths and next steps.

On Friday…all the staff are busy learning and preparing. The teachers have all gone to view behaviour systems in a wide variety of schools around the county; the Teaching Support staff are reviewing intervention programmes as part of our benchmarking and the office team are catching up with the end of half term admin. We are really excited that the playground markings are finally being done today after poor weather cancelled it on two occasions. Hooray! A busy day indeed.

We hope that everyone can enjoy a restful, healthy and happy half term. See you all back to school on Monday 24th February.

Mrs Katy Pinchess, Headteacher

 

SCHOOL UNIFORM

We have noticed over the last half term children have been sporting an interesting array of headwear.  Please may we remind you, if your child (male or female) would like to wear something to keep their hair out of their eyes, this needs to be a simple hairband; no cat’s ears, unicorn horns, bandanas or large bows (e.g. JoJo bows).  If your child has a hairwrap put into their hair whilst they are on holiday, please remember to remove this before returning to school.  Thank you for your co-operation.

 

HEAD BOY AND GIRLS’ REPORT

We have both been enjoying our roles as Head Boy and Head Girl at Bentley this year. We have responsibilities which we share with the Deputies, such as welcoming all the school community into daily Collective Worship, giving good ideas to the Headteacher and representing our school with visitors and at special events.

Bart notes; “It has been a good term and we can see that everyone is working hard in school. We are enjoying Year 6 and think other children are representing our school well with their good behaviour and attitude. I have been lucky enough to take part in a few sports events after school and these have been well attended and everyone has had a great time. We have won a lot too – our best ever year for the Hampshire Games!”

Maddison says; “I am pleased to see whenever I am around the other classes that people have heads down and are working hard in lessons! The Play Leaders has been a successful new role as you can spot them in their high vis jackets and all the children can get help or play with them. I think our school all really enjoy shared playtimes because it helps us all to have friends and trust other children who bigger and smaller than us. Keep up the good work Bentley!”

 

SPORTS UPDATE

It has been another terrific week of sporting events. A big well done to all the Bentley participants who attended the Perins Cross Country last Friday after school and the Alton Cross Country on Tuesday. An even bigger thank you to all the adults who supported with speedy changes, transport and cheerleading from the side.

We are incredibly proud of everyone for giving it their best and we are very proud to announce Bart, Idan and Milo from Year 6  will be representing East Hampshire in the Hampshire Cross Country Finals AND Bentley is currently second in the local Cross Country table. Go Bentley go!!!

Our Year 2 gymnasts represented us in style by winning at the KS1 Alton Cluster Gymnastics Festival. Thank you to Sophie Ince for her coaching and Laura Brace for getting our team there safely in the school minibus.

 

CORONAVIRUS

With the holidays approaching and more travel planned for many families this advice was given for Hampshire Schools yesterday which we thought would be helpful to share;

“This was the There are a small number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the UK and understandably, there is some concern among local school communities. However, there have been no confirmed cases in Hampshire. The Government’s Chief Medical Officer continues to advise that the risk to the public is moderate, with risks to individuals remaining low.

The current advice to the public (as at 13.02.20) is:

• If you have travelled from Wuhan or Hubei Province to the UK in the last 14 days you should immediately:
  • stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as you would with the flu, whether you have symptoms or not
  • call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the area
• If you have returned to the UK from any of the other specified areas (see the Government’s advice for travellers) in the last 14 days and develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath, you should immediately:
  • stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as you would with the flu
  • call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the country
• If you believe you have had close contact with a confirmed case of Coronavirus, and haven’t been contacted by Public Health England, you should contact NHS 111 for further advice.
• Otherwise, if you have not been contacted by Public Health England in relation to a known case of Coronavirus, you do not need to take any action at this time. This means that everyone else should continue to go about their daily routine, e.g. going to work or school as they would normally.

N.B. This guidance is being constantly reviewed by the Government. It is important to check the latest information at www.gov.uk/coronavirus