THIS WEEK AT BENTLEY...

The last couple of weeks have been assessment week for many of our classes, and I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the fantastic attitudes shown by our children. It has been wonderful to see their resilience and determination as they tackled their assessments, working through challenges with perseverance and a positive mindset. We are incredibly proud of them all!

It was wonderful welcoming you in for Parents' Evening. It does always feel like a long time ago since the last one, but it was fantastic to have you in school to discuss your children’s progress. If at any point in the year you feel you would like an update, please do book an appointment with your child’s class teacher – they are always happy to chat things through with you.

After an initial blip with football at lunchtimes, our Year 5 and 6 children took the initiative to work with Mrs. Miffling and myself to find a way to safely reintroduce it. The children came up with some brilliant suggestions, and I am delighted to say that our first session on Wednesday was a great success! It was fantastic to see teamwork, support, and plenty of smiles back on the football pitch. Long may it continue!

A huge thank you to our Year 3 and Year 4 children, who will be leading the Easter service about the Easter Story. I know they have been practising lots and we are all looking forward to it.                                                                                                                                

The end of term also means that we will be saying goodbye to Mrs. Ashby. We are incredibly sorry to see her go, but as we always say – once part of the Bentley family, always a part! I am pleased to announce that we were successful in appointing Mrs. Lucy Williams for the summer term. Mrs. Williams is an experienced junior school teacher who has taught Year 5 for several years. I know that Mrs. Ashby and Mrs. Williams are already carrying out a detailed handover to ensure a smooth transition. A huge thank you also goes to Mr. Goddard, who returned to teach on Mrs. Ashby’s day off. He has been a fantastic support, and we are delighted that he has promised to return to cover classes whenever we need him.

The children also thoroughly embraced April Schools Day and had a brilliant time tricking the staff! We had children arriving dressed as bins, Donald Trump, animals, and even members of staff! What a fantastic idea from our wonderful PTFA – thank you for bringing so much fun and creativity to the day.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of After-School club lead to Miss Clara Miles. Miss Miles helped establish an after-school club in her previous place of employment.

Over the Easter holidays, we are encouraging the children to find interesting and creative ways to raise £20.25. Yet another amazing idea from our PTFA, this challenge is a fantastic opportunity for children to use their imagination, develop entrepreneurial skills, and have fun while doing it! We can't wait to see what they come up with.

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter break.

Mrs Hallett

Headteacher

 

ATTENDANCE

Governors have set the attendance target for the school at 97%. This term (up to .3.04.2025) the overall attendance rate for the whole school was 94.04%. The class with the best attendance was Year 1. Well done year 1!

Attendance figures for each class for this term are below:

Year Group	Present Marks (%)
Year R	91.3%
Year Y1	95.74%
Year Y2	95.36%
Year Y3	94.68%
Year Y4	93.72%
Year Y5	94.73%
Year Y6	93.32%

 

HOUSEPOINTS

Last week’s housepoints totals:

218

251

331

243

 

 

END OF TERM

A reminder that parents of children in Year 3 and Year 4 are invited to our Easter church service tomorrow, Friday 4^th April at 11 a.m. at St Mary's Church, Bentley.  

Parking is limited at the church so please park at school and then walk up to the church if you can. If you are parking at the church then please make sure to park in a considerate way for our local residents.

Year 3 and Year 4 children, along with their siblings, may be collected from the church at the end of the service by an adult.  All other children will return to school to be collected at 12.30 p.m. when school finishes for the Easter break.  

The bus will still run on Friday, leaving school at 12.30, but there will be no after-school club.

The summer term begins on Wednesday 23rd April.

 

SPORTS COMPETITIONS

On Monday last week a team from Bentley attended a Dance competition at Amery Hill School. The team had a lot of fun and were very well behaved. Well done Bentley! A huge thank you to Sarah Forbes for accompanying the children.

 

 

 

 

This week a team of children attended Eggars School for a Netball competition.  Bentley won their section and the team all played so well and had so much fun. A big thank you again to Sarah Forbes for accompanying the children and to Lisa Brigstocke for all her help too.

 

 

 

 

PARENT GOVERNOR

 

TICKS

We are really lucky to have such a wonderful site for our children to use, including the woods. The downside to all the fabulous outside space is that we sometimes share it with wildlife! Therefore, there is a risk that children may pick up unwanted ticks. We therefore ask all parents to be ‘tick aware’ by checking regularly and removing a tick as soon as possible if you spot one. For further information please consult the NHS website.

 

PARENT WORKSHOP

At school, we use The Zones of Regulation as an approach to explaining and teaching children about their emotions.  Mrs Rhodes will be running a parent workshop on 30th April 2-3pm in the Sports Hall.

She will explain we use the Zones of Regulation in school but also how you can use them at home to support your children’s emotional development and regulation.

 

 

ECO UPDATE

Alton Community Share

For the past couple of weeks we have been promoting the relaunch of the fantastic Alton Community Share  - a lending library aimed at families who want to borrow games, toys and jigsaws for free! The Community Share relaunches during the Easter holidays on April 12^th, at the St Lawrence Parish Centre in Alton. Please do visit and support this wonderful initiative, which enables you to save money and resources by borrowing rather than buying! See poster for more details.   

Bentley Butterfly and Bee Garden Competition – the results are in!

Last week Eco Council and Chair of Governors, Elise Cavanough, had a joyful session judging the fabulously creative and detailed ‘Butterfly Garden Design Competition’, which over a quarter of our children entered.  After much deliberation, we are delighted to announce the winners who will be creating the garden during the Summer Term. Congratulations to the following children:

YR – Jessica

Y1 – Bea

Y2 – Christopher and Amelie P

Y3 – Amelie and Eleanor 

Y4 – Alex and Lyra         

Y5 – Alex and Rayyan

Y6 – Alex, Annabel and Arianna

 

 

Young ACAN Animation Competition

Following the Young ACAN ‘Treasure Not Trash’ Eco Conference in January, children across our schools’ network were invited to get creative and to write an educational story about a superhero character defeating a waste monster. It is wonderful to announce that several of our Bentley pupils are amongst the winners!  Congratulations to Annabella, Dottie and Montanna (Year 4) and Lauren and Mollie (Year 5)  whose ideas will be turned into a short animation educating primary children how to reduce waste. More details to follow in the Summer Term.

 

Food Waste and recycling in school

As a result of the Simpler Recycling Scheme, we are now required to separate food waste and dry recycling from general waste. This is great news as it allows us to recycle more and waste less.  It is also a great opportunity to educate the children about recycling right.  If your child brings a packed lunch into school, we will be asking them to bring home all their waste in their lunchbox. This will enable you to see what they have eaten (or not) and also prevent any confusion about where to put their waste in school.   It will also reduce litter on our school site.  More information about recycling and reducing plastic to follow after Easter.

 

PTFA 

Over the Easter holidays, children are set a £20.25 challenge. The child with the most creative way to raise £20.25 will win a prize. Maybe they could do 2025 star jumps? Or swim 20 lengths? Or read 25 books? Or stay quiet for 20 hours and 25 minutes?! We can’t wait to see what they come up with!
Bring in your £20.25 in cash after the Easter holidays. Mrs Hallett will choose the winner!

                                                                                                                                                      

 Colour Run  Friday 2nd May

Waivers and sponsorship forms were sent home in book bags. THESE MUST BE SIGNED AND RETURNED FOR CHILDREN TO TAKE PART. Please return any forms by Friday 25th April.

Payment of £6 (to cover the costs of the paint and equipment) must be paid via www.pta-events.co.uk/bentley or cash to the office.

In order for this fun event to go ahead we need your help, please signup where you can, you’ll get a good view helping as a marshal or paint thrower!!

Setup
https://volunteersignup.org/4HJTJ

Refreshments
https://volunteersignup.org/TLLF9

Water Person
https://volunteersignup.org/QCX9F

Paint Stations
https://volunteersignup.org/Y83YE

Obstacle Marshall’s
https://volunteersignup.org/P99PF

Tidy up Crew
https://volunteersignup.org/FEK9E

Thank you in advance

Sponsored Event Saturday 14th June - This year we are having a family bike ride, with a route around 25km. More info to come soon! 

Thank you to all our cake bakers! Each class made a fantastic total. These will be sent to the class teachers to spend how they feel is needed most in the classroom.

 Summer Party  Saturday 5th July