At school this week, children have been very honest and reflective in their work over Kindness week. Here are some of their Kindness pledges;

• I will share my toys more with my brother
• I pledge to see if someone looks lonely, I will ask them to play with me.
• I will try harder to include everyone in my games.
• In the future I will really think about my words and how they will impact on others.
• I will try and help my mummy to set up things for Christmas.
• I will try harder to keep some opinions to myself.
• I promise to share the animals with other children.
• My pledge is to not laugh at people if they get something wrong.
• I will try not to hold a grudge.

As ever, I feel inspired and impressed by their aspirations and hope you do too. They want to be kind, to forgive and move on and to try their best to keep to these aims.

A reminder to check the ‘What’s Happening…’ page as we have a jam-packed week ahead, which I hope will be full of much joy for everyone! We have bright clothes on Tuesday to raise awareness for road safety; we have an INSET day on Wednesday so school will be shut; we welcome children to come to school in whatever outfit they wish in exchange for donations for the Christmas raffle prizes and it is the amazing PTFA Christmas Fair on Friday! Wow!

Have a restful weekend in preparation…

Mrs Katy Pinchess, Headteacher

 

Covid Updates

As many people will be aware Covid has been going through many local schools in recent weeks. Whilst we may be easing into some more normality in many aspects of life, we remain vigilant in school with more frequent handwashing, good ventilation and raised expectations for cleaning. We log our attendance daily with the DfE around Covid figures and numbers of our community having PCR tests. We have strict guidelines to follow PHE guidance if numbers start to raise. As you know from our Risk Assessment, should an outbreak occur we may have to return to more stringent Covid measures.

We very much hope we can fulfil all our plans for the last three weeks of term when we have so many special events taking place for the children. I want to remind you that health guidelines remain paramount and should any member of the household be required to self-isolate this must of course come first.

Please remain vigilant for Covid symptoms of;

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If you or your child has had close contact with someone with Covid then you are required to get a PCR test and stay at home until you receive your results.

Thank you to everyone in our community for following the expectations, seeking advice when you are not sure and for keeping everyone safe.

 

Thank you …

… to all parents, carers and staff in advance of the Christmas mayhem for all your support creating costumes out of tea towels, for raffle donations and enthusiasm! It is much appreciated.

… to all the PTFA Reps and parents for all your planning and enthusing to get us prepared for a fantastic Christmas Fair next week! The children can’t wait!

… to Mrs Scotton and Ms Cordina for running the second hand uniform sale today.

… from Mrs Miffling our English leader who set up the super Scholastic book fair for a third year. Thank you for your support which will also benefit the school as Scholastic will give us books for the library. We hope the children enjoy their new books.

 

Be Bright, Be Seen!

As part of our road safety awareness learning, we invite everyone to wear something bright or fluorescent to school on Tuesday 23rd November.  With the winter nights drawing in it is even more important to make sure we can all be seen when walking home from school or clubs – wearing bright clothes or something fluorescent can make a huge difference in keeping us safe.  We look forward to seeing your brightest outfits!

 

Lost property

Do any of these items belong to you or your child? Please contact the office to collect.

 

Cold water swimming challenge

Throughout the month of November I have been submerging myself in cold water as part of my 30 Day Cold Water Challenge. So far, I have completed almost three weeks and have swam in some fantastic places such as Frensham Pond, Clevedon Marine Lake and even the Thames. I think I am just about used to feeling cold a lot of the time! I am doing this slightly bonkers challenge to raise money for Cancer Research UK which is one of our school charities this year. It is such an important charity, the work they do is vital as cancer will affect all of us in some way throughout our lives. My fundraising page can be found at https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/alfarrant-coldwater  and any donations or support are so gratefully received.

Miss Farrant

Poster Competition Winners

The environmental poster competition organised by Alton Lions has been judged and we are delighted to announce three winners from Bentley!

Gabriel, Year 2, has been awarded third prize in the infant section and Benedict, also Year 2,  has been highly commended in this section.

Ella, Year 5, has been awarded first place in the junior section.

We are incredibly proud of you all – well done!  The winning posters are now on display in Alton library. 

 

Christmas Trees

It’s only 36 sleeps until Christmas so it’s almost time to start thinking about getting the decorations out and making our homes look festive for the holidays.  We are delighted to be able to offer fantastic deals on super Christmas Trees again this year.  Order via the PTFA website – www.pta-events.co.uk/bentley - by 12pm on Friday 3rd December and collect your tree from the staff car park at school between 2pm and 4pm on Saturday 11th December.

The trees are amazing value priced at 4-5ft for £30, 5-6ft for £35, or 6-7ft for £45

 

Calling all Elves... 

We have organised an Elf run on the recreation ground on Friday 3rd December from 2-3pm.   All children will take part in the run but we would really love it if every children could be registered your child on the PTFA website www.pta-events.co.uk/bentley and if you can to get some sponsorship to raise money to replace one set of class laptops which are now very old and slow! By paying a £3 registration your children will receive a free Elf hat and a homemade cookie as a treat once they have finished their run.  This is a great opportunity for us to raise some money for the school whilst getting the children active outside.  Children are encouraged to dress up as elves or in a Christmassy outfit.  We will be sending through link to a donation site very soon, please can you ask friends and family to sponsor your child’s elf run if you can.   Please do come and watch - the more the merrier to enjoy some Christmas fun!

 

Need a fabulous Christmas Gift?

The super Mrs Nonhebel has collected tiny self-portraits from all the children and created a fabulous tea-towel which is now available to buy on the PTFA website.  They cost £5 each or – for a limited time only – three for £12.  They would make the perfect Christmas gift for grandparents, aunts and uncles and all the profits go the PTFA.  Click here to place your order - the offer closes on 25th November! 

 

Bonfire Night

We are delighted to be able to tell you we raised over £2,250 on Bonfire Night! Thank you again to all who helped out and attended on the night.  An amazing total! The Parish also raised over £2,000 which will go to good causes in the local community.

 

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