Newsletters

Autumn 1  2023  

STAFFING NEWS

Mrs Kemp has changed her working hours to be able to provide more ELSA support across lunchtimes and in the afternoons. We welcomed Miss Crawford to our Year 3 team to replace Mrs Kemp’s LSA role at the start of October and she has already settled into the team brilliantly.

We say goodbye to our Sports Coach and Year 5 LSA, Mrs Pullen, at the end of this half term. She is leaving in order to be able to devote more time to her family. Mrs Pullen has done so much to develop sport at Bosmere over the last few years, developing the children’s skills through their games lessons and offering a wide range of sporting clubs. We wish her the best of luck for the future.

I am pleased to be able to inform you that Mrs Pullen’s Sports Coach role will be filled by one of our existing HLTAs, Miss Emery, who is already an experienced sports coach. She is really looking forward to sharing her love of sport with the children. The knock on effect of this staffing change will be as follows:

• Miss Emery will move to supporting in the Year 5 team in addition to her sports coach role. This will allow Mr Kershaw to also teach some of the sports lessons.
• Mrs Cronin will move into Year 6 as the HLTA for this year group.
• Miss Faithfull will move solely into Year 4 as the HLTA for this year group.

We will also be welcoming another Mrs Browne, who will replace Mrs Pullen’s LSA morning role. Mrs Browne will be starting with us on 6^th November, supporting in 5K.

ROCK AND POP BAND LESSONS WITH ROCKSTEADY!

As some of you will already be aware, we are very proud to host the Rocksteady Music School at Bosmere Junior School. Rocksteady provide an incredible opportunity for your children to learn to play their favourite songs in their very own band with a choice of drums, keyboards, electric guitar, bass guitar or vocals.  As well as learning new musical skills, lessons also boost children’s confidence, wellbeing, social skills and teamwork. Lessons take place every week during school time.

These fun and inclusive lessons are taught by highly trained, professional musicians who know how to inspire a life-long love of music. At the end of each term each band will perform in a concert for the school and their families, so you can see how far they have come! A musical workshop has already taken place in school, where the children tried out the instruments and saw what it is like to learn to play in a band.

Here’s what you need to know:

- All instruments are provided

- No musical experience necessary

- Suitable for all ages

- Most lessons take place during school time

- Your child will learn up to 300 instrument, band, and performance skills

- You’ll receive regular online updates via the Rocksteady Parent Timeline

- There’s a money back guarantee for the first month

- You can cancel at any time.

You can sign up for lessons online at rocksteadymusicschool.com.

If you have any questions about Rocksteady band lessons, you can call 0330 113 0330 (local rate, office hours are Mon – Thurs 8am – 8pm, Fridays 8am – 6pm). Letters are also available from the school office.

YEAR 4 NEWS

Year 4 have had a fantastic start to the year, returning to school after the summer holidays full of smiles and ready to learn.  They can all feel incredibly proud of themselves; we have 'hit the ground' running this term, and the sheer quantity of work that the children have completed already is testament to their efforts. Thank you to the parents who popped in during our drop-in session; the children love sharing what they've been up to and we appreciate you coming in to touch base with us too.

We have thoroughly enjoyed beginning our topic on Ancient Rome, and we all enjoyed a memorable trip to Fishbourne!  Hopefully, in amongst the excitement of cancelled trains and hill rolling (!), the children shared some of their experiences from the day.  It was wonderful to see the pure awe and wonder as they explored the Roman mosaics, and we were delighted to see the children participating enthusiastically in the activities during the workshop: bridge building, archaeology, writing using the Roman alphabet on wax tablets and Roman games to name a few.

Homework projects have started coming in and we have been very impressed with the standard so far.  While there are no guarantees, homework tasks are certainly an opportunity to earn Headteacher awards.  Please encourage your child to complete at least one of the tasks before half term.

Thank you to all of our families who have resumed regular reading, my maths and times tables practise, as well as making time to look at the spelling lists each week.  Please try and build these into your weekly routines; it really does make a huge difference.

Finally, if you are able to spare some time to come in and listen to children read, your support would be greatly appreciated.  We understand lives are busy, but whether or not you can spare an hour or two a week, or a couple of hours a month, your support will be invaluable.  If you would like to volunteer, please contact Mrs Austen to confirm availability (l.austen@bosmere.hants.sch.uk).

YEAR 6 NEWS

Year 6 have had a busy start to the year. They have all settled in brilliantly and have risen to the challenges of being role models in school.

House Captains and Prefects are now all in post and are representing school well.

The team building evening was a great success and a wonderful way for us all to meet each other out of the normal routines of school. Thank you for all your contributions. I expect many of you have been dragged out crabbing or fossil hunting with your children following our fun days at Dell Quay. We learnt lots about adaptation and evolution in a practical way. 

REMEMBER the Bikeabilty sessions for those who have signed up start from

1^st – 3^rd November.

A LETTER FROM OUR NEW CHAIR OF GOVERNORS

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Since leaving full time employment I have run my own business making repurposed suits into bags. I belong to three book groups and run a local second-hand bookshop in partnership with an ex- colleague.

What do Governors at Bosmere School do?

The Governing Body has three specific roles these are:

·         To be strategic

·         To act as critical friend in the development of the school

·         To be accountable to the whole school community 

How we Work

The governing body has established a number of committees and statutory panels.  We meet as a Full Governing Body every half term. The Governing Body committees also meet together every term to review and discuss the details of school life. These committees cover: 

 ·         Curriculum and Achievement

·         Finance and Resources

·         School Support

As Governors we also share a common objective which is the wider school community – working in partnership with you as parents and carers and staff  to ensure that every child can succeed and reach their full potential.

I consider governance to be a very important voluntary contribution to the community. It has given me the chance to use the skills that I have developed in my working life for the benefit of children. I am proud to be part of the Bosmere School community.

Jackie Lowe

Chair of Governors

ECO NEWS

Walktober

Information about the Hampshire County Council competition linked to sustainable travel to and from school was shared; see the website News article here.

Planting Acorns in Recycled Newspaper Plant Pots

Everybody made a recycled newspaper plant pot, filled it with compost and planted 3 acorns to take home with advice on how to care for them. Click here for more photos.

Rain Gauges

We watched a YouTube video clip of heavy rain and looked at a chart showing monthly average rainfall in Havant; 8cm in October. We talked about people who live in areas of the world where there is very little rain, where children have to carry water for long distances to provide for their families. Then we upcycled empty plastic bottles to create rain gauges to measure rainfall at home. Click here for more photos.

Learning How to Help Hibernating Hedgehogs

We looked on the hedgehog street website (https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/hedgehog-hibernation-all-the-facts/) to find some facts about hibernating hedgehogs and how we can encourage them into our gardens by feeding them and providing suitable hibernation conditions.

Making Lavender Bags

We used lavender flowers grown, cut and dried on the Bosmere school grounds, together with recycled fabrics, to make lavender bags to take home. They should help us get a good night's sleep but maybe not quite as long as a hibernating hedgehog! More photos here.

Those people who were not keen to handle the lavender flowers used donated mealworms to stock up our bird table to feed our local bird population.

Autumn Bark and Leaf Rubbings

Eco Club did some brilliant rubbings in the copse and area around the Learning Tree, and identified some of the trees against identification charts. Thanks to Mrs North for her help. More photos here.

WELLBEING TIP

No parent wants to see their child upset, but sometimes it’s hard to know how to react when your child is nervous or afraid

Don’t Be Too Involved By telling your child exactly what to do or even what to say in stressful and challenging situations, means they will not able to solve problems on their own or learn ways to cope by themselves. Try to get them to problem solve first before offering a helpful hand.

Don’t Avoid Activities When children constantly avoid situations that make them afraid or uncomfortable, their fears never go away. You don’t want to expect too much at once as it can take them a while to conquer a fear.

Have a chat - Give them some one-on-one time and listen without judging or discounting their anxiety. The best time to talk it out is when they are feeling calm as they’ll be able to listen to you more easily.

Don’t Overly Reassure - Telling your child that “everything will be okay,” might actually confirm to your child that there is something to fear or give false reassurance.

Be Patient - Not knowing how to help can be hard and frustrating, but don’t let those emotions show. Your child can sense how you’re feeling. Revealing your emotions could make your child feel like they’ve upset or increase their nervousness. React calmly to help your child feel calmer.

Do Empathise -  Even if what they are afraid of seems silly to you, it’s important to show your child that you understand. Although they may not truly have anything to be fearful of, the emotions they are feeling are very real.

Don’t Wait Until They Are 100% Anxiety Free to Reward Their Behaviour Encourage and praise small accomplishments. Being brave while facing things they are afraid of or are feeling nervous about is something to celebrate!