Newsletters

MESSAGE FROM MRS ROBINSON

It has been wonderful to welcome the pupils back to school after the Half Term holiday and to see them settle down to their learning once more. We have had such a busy couple of weeks already, with Ofsted paying a visit almost straight away (more about that below), Milestone 2 assessments taking place, and of course our very exciting Book Week this week.

STAFFING NEWS

Mrs Baker, our Spanish teacher, and Mrs Taw, our additional teacher in Year 5 are both still poorly at the moment and will not be in for the rest of this term. I will let you know once we know any more about when they will be returning to school. Mrs Clarke continues to cover our Spanish teaching and Mrs Wicks continues to teach as part of the Year 5 team.

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT WORKERS

Some of you met our new Mental Health Support Workers, who were visiting the school during our pre-loved uniform event. They were able to chat to parents about the support they can provide and signpost other resources which are available. They will also be in school between 4pm and 4:45pm on Monday 20^th March as part of Parents' Evening.

YEAR 3

We have been continuing our focus on reading skills in Year 3 over the past few weeks, looking at a range of texts, story books and visual online texts. The children are really beginning to demonstrate increasing confidence and have approached some challenging questioning with positivity and determination!

Phonics continues to be taught regularly and we have enjoyed working together on our phase 5 alternatives... they certainly make our brains ache at times!  A reading highlight for the children has been our paired reading sessions with Year 5. The children have loved sharing their books with each other and we have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the 'buzz' that comes from doing this.

Our History unit on Ancient Egypt continues to be popular, most recently learning about the Gods.  We have also been making links with geography through our studies of the River Nile.  We have discovered some fascinating facts this week and hope your child has shared some of these with you.  We are looking forward to pulling all our knowledge together to create Egyptian fact files in English. 

Continuing the Egyptian theme, please enjoy some examples of our recent Egyptian artwork. We had lots of fun creating these and think you'll agree that Year 3 have transformed themselves into fantastic Pharaohs! 

YEAR 5

We have had a fantastic start to this half term. Year 5 have enjoyed their visits to the D-Day museum to find out more about life on the home front during WW2. The children have also enjoyed participating in some drama about evacuation. We are hoping this makes their evacuee letters in English really come alive. We are looking forward to seeing you next week for our Drop, Stop and Read workshop.

ECO NEWS

Action Plan Review 

As we are now halfway through the school year, Eco Club reviewed our Action Plan and found we are making good progress on several targets, have completed some, and have future plans to tackle the others. 

Progressing well: Monitoring Energy, monitoring Water use, working with the Junior Road Safety Officers, reducing use of toilet paper (and hence toilet water flushing), raising awareness of single-use plastics in lunch boxes. 

Completed: RSPB Bird Watch, planting bulbs. 

Planned: Beach clean on 13^th March.

Battery Recycling 

We heard from the Big Battery Hunt that our battery collection bin would not be emptied, so instead of collecting batteries at school, we now have to use individual battery collection boxes at home and take the batteries to a supermarket to be recycled. Every Eco Club member made a Big Battery Hunt box to take home. 

Eco Fortune Tellers 

Everyone made an Eco-themed fortune-teller by folding a ready-prepared template, then tried them out on each other. 

Biodiversity 

Eco Club visited the meadow to see the new identification board in position. We visited the Jubilee Orchard to see if the bulbs we planted are growing; the daffodils around the fruit trees are doing well but the crocuses planted in the shape of a big ‘E’ may not have survived an early mowing!  

When the Ofsted Inspector visited in February, he noted that Bosmere has a clear Eco focus and he celebrated the activities of Eco Club.  

Well done, Eco Club! 

WELLBEING TIP

Parenting really isn’t easy. Although it’s often amazing and rewarding to watch your children grow up, it can also be really hard work!  

Make sure your children know you love them and are proud of them. 

Even when things are busy or stressful, a hug, smile or wink can reassure them a huge amount.  

Be honest about your feelings - you don’t have to be perfect. 

We all get things wrong and shout or say unkind things from time to time. If this happens, say sorry to your child afterwards and explain why it happened.

They will learn from you that it’s okay to make mistakes and that it doesn’t make you a bad person. 

Be clear about what is and isn’t acceptable. 

Children need to know what is okay and what isn’t, and what will happen if they cross the line. Follow through on what you say as otherwise they may get confused. 

Most importantly… Own your role!  You are the parent, so don’t be afraid to make tough decisions and stick with them. 

If your child sees you are scared of their reaction and always give in to them, it can make them feel very powerful. Stand your ground. You are the adult and what you say goes. Rules and boundaries make children feel very safe. 

Remember, Mrs Lever is on hand to chat things through and sign post you to courses and other professionals that can help. 

Interests 

I like travelling, seeing new places and going for walks, something I would like to do a lot more of when I retire. To keep fit I do a couple of exercise classes a week. I am also addicted to doing number puzzles, particularly Sudoku (probably comes from being a mathematician!) 

Why I became a governor and what is expected of me 

I became a governor when my eldest daughter was in Year 4 as I wanted to understand better how Bosmere is run and be involved in its future to ensure that Bosmere children get a great education. I also wanted to be more involved in the local community and meet new people, particularly as this is not where I grew up. As a governor I need to make sure that I know the school’s strengths and contribute to how it can develop further. I love coming in to see what the children have been doing and also helping with trips, though as I still work full time I can’t do this as often as I would like.  

My current roles on the governing body and what they involve 

In addition to the overall responsibilities of being part of the governing body, I run the Curriculum and Achievement Committee which supports the Headteacher and staff in developing the curriculum and reviews what the pupils achieve. I am linked to Year 4 so when I have time to help with events and trips I focus on what Year 4 are doing. I am the governor with responsibility for monitoring and supporting the teaching of English so recently I have been learning all about phonics. I also work with our SENCo to review how Bosmere supports children who have SEND needs. 

Throughout my years on the governing body I have learnt so much about the challenges in education, how Bosmere tackles these and how good Bosmere School really is. 

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

The next 2 days of planned Industrial Action are due to take place on 15^th and 16^th March.

As with the previous days, we will not be in a position to provide parents with certainty regarding the situation until nearer the day, as teachers are under no obligation to provide information on whether or not they will be striking until the morning of the strike itself.

Please be assured that we will provide an update as soon as we judge that we can, although teachers in the NEU are still able to change their minds right up to the day of the strike. Please do be aware that, although unlikely, it is possible the situation will change even then.

Please be assured that the safeguarding of your child remains paramount to us at all times. Thank you for your understanding and support.

DIARY DATES