This week at Bentley...
WOW! What a week this has been at school. It might have seemed relaxed at drop off and collection each day but internally it has been go-go-go!
We filmed every class performing on Tuesday and we so glad to capture some of the Christmas sparkle going on inside our school. Their performances made me laugh, shed a tear and smile in turn. You are in for a truly joyous treat and I urge you to set aside some time in the holidays to enjoy the DVD together as a family. Those orders made today are guaranteed for delivery by the end of term but additional orders may still be made via the PTFA website and will likely come back in the New Year.
We have been telling the Nativity story each week in our Collective Worship and the Advent excitement is truly building with so many amazing Christmas activities for the children next week. We have our St Mary’s Christingle, our Christmas shop for parent gifts, an iRock staff concert, hot chocolate and lots of other end of term treats going on – a very special last week of term. Children are very welcome to wear their festive hats to school (please label!) every day and do remember Christmas jumpers/outfits for our delicious Christmas lunch on Thursday.
You may have spotted some headlines about a possible extra day off school next week. At Bentley we will not be changing our plans and children will still be dismissed at 12 o’clock next Friday. Whilst the government have offered to let us move INSET days we already have plans in place for ours and need to keep them on January 4th and July 9th so have none to spare! Please see the COVID section at the link below for more information. We are all looking forward to being able to see our families again over the Christmas five day window as laid out by the government and are doing everything we can in school to help all of us stay out of self-isolation. In school, we very much appreciate your continued support with government expectations for Tier 2 as we remain in the banding for ‘High Alert’, to ensure that we minimise all contacts for children, and adults, at home as well as at school.
In class this week…
Year R made their own Stick Men and Stick Ladies and practised re-telling the fantastic Julia Donaldson story in the woods. Great storytelling Year R!
Year 1 thought up fabulous descriptive adjectives for the Evil Pea in our new Learning Journey in English.
Year 2 have written some amazing descriptive writing about a beautiful wintery scene – you can see your child’s on Seesaw!
Year 3 have wowed our supply teacher Miss Triggs with their super gymnastic work. They showed strong positions and creative sequences of movement. Well done!
Year 4 showed great teamwork and problem solving in their ‘build a torch’ project this week. (They also had a lot of giggles today when SIRI decided to chip into Mr Goddard’s input in maths…the joys of technology!)
Year 5 have demonstrated their maturity and a good understanding of the UNICEF ‘Rights of the Child’ in their persuasive speech writing.
Year 6 have been busy today making thoughtful cards for the elderly residents at our two local care homes. Thank you for thinking of this Year 6 – it will bring a lot of joy to many people this Christmas.
I hope this weekend can be a restful one to get our young learners ready for all the fun of our last week of 2020 at school!
Mrs Pinchess, Headteacher
COVID UPDATE
As you are all aware we expect any member of our school community to self-isolate and get a test if they have COVID symptoms. If we then receive notification of a positive case where a child or adult has had face-to-face contact within school then we have to alert all parties to self-isolate as required by Public Health England. This remains the case in school term time, but also for six days after we break up for Christmas to maintain the school’s role in contact tracing. This timing allows for any positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases to be identified and confirmed by test and for relevant contacts in the school to be traced.
If a pupil, member of staff or visitor to school develops symptoms within 48 hours of being in school, and they then test positive, you must contact the school in term time by emailing adminoffice@bentley.hants.sch.uk. From Saturday 20th December we require you to ring or text our school mobile on 07519 146 546 with your child’s name, class and the details of whether you are self-isolating with symptoms or have a positive COVID case confirmed. Mrs Pinchess will have the phone at home and check it for calls and messages between 10am and 12pm every day up until 24th December.
Should you have to self-isolate, or have a positive case confirmed after this date, then please email the school office as we will have passed the point where new cases require the rest of the whole school bubble to self-isolate.
Details of the current rules for Tier 2 can be found by clicking here.
Guidance for parents and carers can be found here.
A Christmas Number 1 this year?
Can you help Mrs Miffling, Madame Jones and Mrs Scott-Bromley to Christmas Number 1 this year?All three have lent their voices to a Rock Choir version of 'Keeping the Dream Alive', which is released for download today. 4,550 Rock Choir members across the UK recorded themselves at home singing their harmony part for the song and sent in photos to be included in the official video. The download is available to buy from all the well-known streaming sites and will raise much needed funds for the Mental Health Foundation, while also promoting the value of singing for mental wellness. Here’s the link https://slinky.to/KeepingTheDreamAlive
Lost Property
We have a couple of FANTASTIC Year 6 children who have taken over the staff task of matching lost property with their owners – thank you Emily and Michalea – we are really grateful. We had a flurry of boys’ jumpers today, which should be coming home in book bags and they have returned all labelled items. A few unnamed items have been washed and passed to the PTFA Uniform sales, as no one has claimed any of them this half term. Thank you SO MUCH to all parents for being so diligent with your labelling this year. It makes life so much easier for us in school and helps your child to keep track of all of their possessions. Please continue to label, and rename, items over the Christmas break. Please see the photo below for the last few items we cannot match with owners! Please email the office so we can pass them back to their owners.
The Christmas Production DVD is on sale now via the PTFA website – click here for the link – orders received by 4pm on 11th December will be delivered to school for collection before we break up on the 18th. If you miss the cut off time, we will still order your DVD but cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas.
The Christmas Gift Shop will be open on Tuesday 15th December for the children to visit to buy a gift for their special grown-up. The children wanting to go will visit the shop during the school day with their class. All the gifts will be £2 each. Children can bring £2 in cash on the day or pay via Scopay up until 9.30am on the 15th.
Our super Cook Book is at the printers and all the orders will come home with your children next week. We have ordered a few spares so you can still purchase one for delivery before Christmas if you hurry over the PTFA website and order it now!
And finally, there is still time to buy your tickets for the Christmas Hamper Raffle – you could be the lucky winner of one of thirteen fantastic hampers! Ticket stubs and payments need to be in school by the end of the day on Monday ready for the draw on Tuesday.
Details of what's happening next week can be found by clicking here
Details of what's happening in the local community can be found by clicking here.
