Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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27th May 2022
Fri 27 May 2022Dear Parents and Guardians,
We have ended the half term with so much fun today. It was great to see the children wearing red, white and blue. In school they made crowns and enjoyed lots of learning and activities about the Queen and the Platinum Jubilee. Our picnic lunch was perfect in the sunshine today and we followed that with a party this afternoon. Rosefinch made us some delicious scones for the whole school which were enjoyed with jam, strawberries and cream.
After school the parents played football against the Year 6 football teams. It was great to watch and certainly tense towards the end but it was good to finish with a safe score of 8 all.
I am hoping that we have equally nice weather for Sports day in July. With half term next week I thought it would be a good time to ask for the children to have a t-shirt ready for the day. It has been several years since we have had a 'normal' sports day but we ask that the children come into school on the day wearing their PE shorts and a plain t-shirt either red, blue, green or yellow depending on their team. I will give the colour list to the class teachers so please ask if you do not know which colour team your child is in. If you wish to buy a t-shirt over the next week and wish to know the colour, I am happy to respond to an email.
It has been such a busy half term and we have so much more to look forward to next half term. It has great to see the progress the children are making and the development of their learning behaviours. I must reiterate the importance of strong attendance in what I know has been a difficult time. There is an impact on learning when children are absent and whilst this is unavoidable with illness, holidays should be taken outside of term time.
I would like thank all the staff for their hard work and dedication and I wish you all a wonderful half term. NSsport holiday club is running Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week and then on the Inset days the following week.
Thank you for your support this half term and I hope you enjoy the photos I have added.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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20th May 2022
Fri 20 May 2022Dear Parents and Guardians,
I find it amazing how the weeks fly by but also how much we fit into every week. This week I have had the pleasure of working with some of our Year 2 children whilst they completed their SATs assessments. They worked with such resilience and I know they enjoyed a treat on Thursday. Mrs Metcalfe organised the SATs brilliantly and the whole Bullfinch team should feel proud.
Mrs Guillaume was straight in on Tuesday to some Early years training on Therapeutic thinking which I know she enjoyed and found valuable.
I am sure you will have seen the Goldfinch DT projects. It has been great to see them working outside with such focus and determination. The thunder and lightening on Wednesday night caused great concern but that was followed by relief that their houses had survived!
Each Wednesday the teachers have a staff meeting and this week we were moderating our Year 6 writing. It is a wonderful opportunity to see the progress the children have made as well as to make sure that as teachers, we agree with our judgements when assessing each piece. The writing in KS1 and KS2 is teacher assessed and we will continue to collect pieces of evidence over the next month.
On Thursday Mrs Dodds attended an Emotional literacy training session which gave me the opportunity to teach in Chaffinch. It was such a pleasure and I was impressed with their Maths work on Time.
As a school we are always keen to support Reading University with trainee teachers. This week we welcomed two trainee teachers who have come from Bohunt to experience a day in Primary. What a difference that must be! They both enjoyed the day and spoke highly of our children, their questioning, independence and their attitude to learning.
Our governors have met this week which provided time for celebrate all that we are achieving as well as the various aspects of school development. We currently have two parent governors, Sam Lamb and Keith Thomas. Sam was elected a few months ago and it is great to have her onboard. Keith has dedicated so much time and expertise to our meetings and to the life of the school and he has enabled us to make some significant changes over the past few years. Keith is keen to continue in his role once his term of office comes to an end but at that time, we will send a letter out to parents offering the opportunity to stand as parent governor.
This afternoon we had Bullfinch parents joining their children for the after school sports club. We had a great number of parents joining in and the sun even managed to come out. Thank you to everyone who joined in, Rebecca and Florence as Sports leaders today and Mr O'Reilly. Next Friday will be the Year 6 football team with parents/grandparents (or a teacher depending on who the children can convince to play!) from 3.30 to 4.30 so I am looking forward to that; I think it might be quite competitive! I will email the parents of the relevant children to see if they wish to participate.
Looking ahead, we have further rehearsals for WASMA next week. Mrs Gan and Mrs Coulson are working so hard to prepare everything and I am so proud of our strong involvement as always.
We will be celebrating the Platinum Jubilee on Friday 27th May, we will have a special picnic lunch with school lunch and packed lunch children all eating outside together. We have some activities planned for the day and invite the children to come dressed in red, white and/or blue for the day.
We have had a couple of Covid cases this week with a headache being the main symptom. I thought it may help to remind parents that if a child tests positive they should not attend school for 3 days and can then return if they are well.
I would also like to remind parents that we are a no nut school and it is important that no nut products are included in packed lunches or as birthday treats.
I would like to thank Adele Baker and the FOFSA committee for their hard work with all sorts of school developments as well as the enormous job of organising the Summer Fair. A sign up sheet has been put up and we would be grateful for any help that can be given on the day. We have such a dedicated committee and they really need everyone's support.
There are a job opportunities with Caterlink (the company who provide our lunches), Beehive and we also have a lunchtime position available. On Monday I will share the relevant information on the Office Updates page but please contact me if you may like to have more information.
I wish you a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you next week.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
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13th May 2022
Fri 13 May 2022Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope you are well and are now enjoying the sunshine.
This week our Year 6 had their SATs tests from Monday through to yesterday. I felt so incredibly proud of their calm attitude. They enjoyed the yoga and brioche in the morning and it was clear that Mrs Wirth did a wonderful job of keeping the children focused and happy. I know they enjoyed the ice cream treat which Mrs Pasha organised for them.
Our Collective worship has centered around caring for each other. The children have produced some beautiful art work which they did as a whole school in the hall. The children also enjoyed making the footprints on the playground with parents. In Mental Health week, I wanted the children to understand the importance of helping each other in appropriate ways by showing compassion, giving attention etc. but also knowing that sometimes we just need someone else to be with us and that can be enough. I have attached photos and I hope you enjoy them.
Looking to the week ahead, we move into more assessments but for the infants. They will not know that they are doing them and I know they will be delighted with a glossy booklet to complete!
A letter went out today regarding WASMA tickets, so please read it ahead of the tickets going on sale on Tuesday so you are not disappointed. Their next rehearsal is on Monday after school.
We have finished the week off in style with a Chaffinch football tournament. It was great fun and lovely to see so many mums and dads getting involved. Mr O'Reilly and the Sports leaders organised it brilliantly and we just about avoided parent injuries! We have decided to change the date of the Year 6 football team Friday club and it will now take place on Friday 27th May, we hope this does not cause any problems for those parents/guardians.
Thank you for the support you are showing the school, we have had so many thank yous this week which means a great deal to us all.
I wish you all a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you next week.
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
Finally, here are any notes or reminders from class teachers:
Rosefinch -
Bullfinch -
Chaffinch -
Goldfinch -
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6th May 2022
Fri 06 May 2022Dear Parents and Guardians,
For a short week, it has certainly been busy; I hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday weekend.
We went straight into the week with swimming for Chaffinch and Goldfinch. I went with Goldfinch which apart from saying 'hurry up' repeatedly, was a pleasure (the timings are tight but they did well!) The teachers were so impressed that all of Goldfinch are swimmers which is rare for them to have within a whole class.
On Thursday the school council led their fundraiser for Ukraine. The art work was beautiful and the bags of hope the children have are wonderful. Most items went home today but I know Rosefinch will get theirs on Monday. We have raised an incredible £306.40. The children should feel so proud and I thank you for your support. We have also had so many donations of second hand and new uniform and the staff and new arrival families have been blown away by the care and kindness shown by our school community, thank you so much.
This week we have had the pleasure of welcoming two new arrival families to our school. We are learning so much about routines etc. which is a privilege to learn. Whilst language can feel like a barrier, we have seen children join together through laughter, learning together and of course football!
The children who are representing the school at WASMA this year had their first joint rehearsal on Thursday. Through Covid singing has been limited and opportunities to perform with other schools had stopped. I think it was a powerful moment when so many children began singing together and I can't wait for the Hexagon performance in June.
This evening Mr O'Reilly along with Elinor and Isabella (our Sports Leaders) led our Rosefinch Multisports session for children and parents. It was great fun and lovely to see parents together with their children enjoying sport. Thank you to all those who joined us, we hope you enjoyed it.
Next week we have SATs week for our Year 6. They have all worked hard over two difficult years and we are proud of them. The children usually enjoy the week once it arrives and I know Mrs Wirth is great at keeping them calm and relaxed. Whilst the SATs are important, the children all know that this is a snap shot of their learning and a chance to show their best. They also know how valued they are for all of their qualities, talents and their value set. They must approach next week with confidence, resilience and a proud smile.
It has made the staff smile to think as well as SATs week that it is also Mental health awareness week next week. The focus of the week is Loneliness. Through our Collective Worship we will work with the children for them to understand that it can be good to be alone but not to be lonely.
This week we have read the poem Footprints in the sand. On Thursday we would like to invite parents onto the playground at pick up time to use chalk to bring our footprints together. We would like parents and children to draw round their shoes to show that we are together and here to look after each other. We will also provide some refreshments on the playground if you have time to stay for a chat.
I wish you all a lovely weekend
With kind regards
Jacquie Vanstone
