this week at Bentley......

We had a fantastic day celebrating World Book Day on Thursday. Everyone looked great in their costumes and we enjoyed activities such as a whole school story swap, blind date with a book, talks by authors and much, much more! We love reading here at Bentley so it was great to see the children enjoying reading and sharing their favourite books with their friends. Your child should have come home with a £1 World Book Day voucher, which can be spent on a special £1 World Book Day book, or put towards the cost of another book. I hope you have fun browsing the bookshelves for new books to read.

In other news…

Year 5 have taken part in Bikeability this week. This is a cycling course that teaches children how to safely ride their bikes on the road and how to check and maintain their bike to make sure it is roadworthy. These are vital skills for the children to learn, especially as we live in such a lovely environment and we know how much families enjoy going on bike rides together.

At the time of writing this, Year 3 are looking forward to the first of two visits to Pax Hill this afternoon, where they have been invited to spend time playing some games with the residents. This links very nicely with our school Christian value of community and the work we do in RSHE.

We are looking forward to seeing you all next week, to update you on your child’s progress during our two parents’ evenings. There will be no childcare facilities available whilst you are seeing your child’s teacher, so please avoid bringing your children to school with you. If you really do need to bring your children with you, then I need to make you aware that the children will remain your responsibility during this time and the school gate will be open to let parents in. It is a good idea to provide children with a book, some colouring, or a game to keep them busy during what can be, for them, a long wait.

It has been so lovely to see the sun today. Let’s hope it keeps shining for the weekend!

Mrs Miffling

Attendance

This week’s whole school attendance is 96.5%

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 R with 99.5%.

Well done Year R you hit our target!

Well done to Year 2 and Year 3 who also exceeded our 98% target this week!

Teacher Led Clubs

Please remember there will be no teacher led clubs on Tuesday and Thursday next week after school because of parents' evening. Clubs will take place the week after (18^th to 22^nd), which will be the last week for this term.

Club choices for next term must be returned by 13^th March.

Year 5 Bikeability

During the course of two days, Year 5 were taught the importance of road safety by Bikeability. This included how to do U-turns correctly, indicating for other road users, emergency braking and when to use each gear. We were very proud to achieve our Level 2 certificate and badge at the end of the course and we all learnt that road safety when riding your bike is very important.

By Barnes and Arianna - Year 5

ECO COUNCIL UPDATE

Eco Council Update – Big Plastic Count (11-17 March)

Today you will have received a letter about the Big Plastic Count which every class will be participating in next week. You will find the Let’s Count Tally Sheet in your child’s book bag. To find out more, please watch this short video by clicking here. At Bentley, we are passionate about empowering the children to take action for the planet. The Big Plastic Count is a brilliant opportunity to make a difference – plastic pollution is an issue which the children really care about and the Big Plastic Count is one of our actions towards our Eco Schools marine project which aims to help protect our rivers and oceans.

In the letter is a unique class code which you will need to submit your results after the 17th March to your child’s class dashboard. The Big Plastic Count will then collate our data which we can then use to write letters to companies and to our MP. Please support your child with this really important survey.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Madame Jones, Miss Durrant and the Eco Council