this week at Bentley.......

Yesterday, we all enjoyed the extra day of 2024 by taking part in our ‘Take a Leap’ event. This involved the children jumping forwards, from side to side and then clapping in time to music. If you think this doesn’t sound like much of a challenge, have a look at our Facebook page to see a video of some Year 6 children taking part – the coordination needed was very tricky indeed! The event was great fun and it was lovely to see the children make such quick progress in a short space of time. A big thank you to the PTFA for organising the event and for all those who came on the day to help out.

Year 5 have been away on their residential visit to Calshot Activities Centre this week and have had a fantastic time climbing, skiing and participating in team work activities. As part of the geography curriculum, they have also learnt all about marine habitats through the seine netting activity and coastal erosion in the Coastline Catastrophe activity. Have a look at their blog on our website to see what they have been doing.

A huge thank you must go to Mrs Ashby, Mr Goddard and Mr Metters, for putting their lives on hold for a week, giving up their own families, pets and hobbies to support the children on their visit. I know there will be a mountainous pile of washing for you to get through and some very tired children this weekend, but lifelong memories will have been made, new skills developed and new friendships formed during their time away.

Mrs. Miffling

Staff News

Mrs Patey, who has been a member of our super Learning Support Team for the last 8 years, will be leaving Bentley for a new role at a local secondary school at the end of the spring term. We are all really going to miss Mrs Patey and would like to thank her for all her hard work and support of the children during her time with us. We wish her lots of luck and very best wishes for the future.

Attendance

This week’s whole school attendance is 95.88%

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 to be a significant loss to learning.

The class with the best attendance this week is Year 6 with 98.15%.

Well done year 6 you hit our target!

Congratulations to…

Abbie in Year 6 and her pony Rocket, who came 2^nd in the 80cm arena eventing competition as part of the Pony Club spring championship. This is a huge achievement, which has taken a lot of hard work and commitment. To top it all off, Abbie’s team were awarded 3^rd place in the whole championship! Well done Abbie – we are all very proud of you!

ECO COUNCIL UPDATE

Already this half-term Eco Council has been super busy implementing their Eco Schools Action Plan. Our three projects are:

1. Waste – To raise awareness of the issue of food waste at lunchtime.

2. Energy – To reduce the amount of energy we use at school.

3. Marine – To help protect our rivers and oceans.

Last week, our fabulous Eco Council leaders, Sophia and Flo, started their weekly class ‘spot-checks’ to nominate the Eco Class of the Week. Congratulations to Year 3 who were last week’s winners!

This week our Eco Council has been talking to their classes about the issue of food waste in preparation for a three-week survey of food waste during lunchtimes. This is a huge problem for lots of reasons, including a waste of money, water and time, as well as being morally wrong when there are so many people across the world who don’t have enough food to eat. Eco Council will be working with our lovely kitchen staff over the next few months to raise awareness in school of the issues of food waste.

Finally, Eco Council has signed up to participate in the Keep Britain Tidy, Great Big Schools Clean (15-31 March). You and your family can also get involved with the Big Spring Clean (15-31 March). Please sign up for free, by clicking here

Climate Education

Emma Jones our Eco-Council Leader, is organising a climate education film and panel discussion at Alton College with Young ACAN and Ministry of Eco Education (MEE). Please see the flyer below.

World Book Day - Thursday 7th March.

Don’t forget we will be celebrating World Book Day next Thursday

Here are some of the activities we have planned for the day…

Dress up as your favourite book character. If you have the book that your character is from, bring it to school on the day.
A special book themed collective worship.
A story swap with all the adults and children in school.
A blind date with a book.
Lots more book themed activities throughout the day.

Happy reading everyone!

Mrs Blake – English Leader

Reading Challenge from Mrs Hallett.

I would love to set you all a challenge for World Book Day.

Your challenge is to find really creative place to read and to email me a photo of you reading there - there will be a winner from each class for the most interesting ideas!

Parents, please email the photo to WBD@bentley.hants.sch.uk

Please ensure you include your child’s name and class in the subject of the email. I cannot wait to see all of the interesting places you can think of to read!

Mrs Hallett