Newsletter 11.06.21
11th June 2021
Dear Parents and Carers,
Please see the calendar on our website for up-to-date event information
Key Points from the Governors’ June 7th meeting
- Governors were delighted to hear that funding has been received for the ‘Talk for Writing’ programme. Part of the training for staff has already been delivered and TfW strategies are being introduced into teaching and learning. https://www.talk4writing.com/
- The Governing Body is currently supporting the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) in the process of reviewing the School Development Plan (SDP) and preparing the new SDP for the forthcoming academic year
- Following a presentation from the Diocesan Board of Education, the school’s vision and values are being refreshed. Parents and pupils will be invited to share in this review.
- Governors were pleased to accept and approve the nomination of Laura High as parent governor. Laura has been a governor in the past and is looking forward to her new role.
- Each Governor has completed a Skills Audit which helps to inform future training and recruitment plans. It is good to note that our Governing Body has a wide range of skills and experience.
NB: Talk for Writing is an engaging teaching framework developed by Pie Corbett, supported by Julia Strong. It is powerful because it is based on the principles of how children learn. It enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally, before reading and analysing it, and then writing their own version.
COVID Update
At the time of writing this, we are still operating under all of the COVID restrictions that have been in place since the height of the pandemic – bubbles, limited social contact, restricted adults in school etc. which is in line with DfE and LA directives. As a result, we are still not able to run the school “normally”. We don’t yet know what/when this will change, although we are waiting with interest for more information on Monday. This uncertainty has made the planning of summer term events very difficult. Like you, we are very much looking forward to being able to return to normal, but we have been very lucky not to have any COVID cases in school, or close any bubbles, and we don’t want to have to do so this term either.
Unfortunately, one of the casualties of COVID is the swimming pool. We are as disappointed as you that we cannot use the pool again this year, but there is a lot of work in advance and in the background to enable the pool to open and COVID restrictions have made this impossible for us this year, as it has for many other small schools with pools. The children at BGPS are fortunate to have been able to swim every summer prior to COVID, so have had more opportunities to swim than children in many schools where they only swim for one term in the whole of their time at primary school. As physical activity is so important for mental health, Miss Chubb (our PE lead) has been very busy organising increased land-based activity for this term instead.
PE Days
For the remainder of the year, Class 1 and 2 will have PE on Wednesday and Friday; Class 3 and 4 on Monday and Thursday.
Sun Safety
We have enjoyed the better weather this week, although a little hot at times! Please remember to send your child with a sunhat, and apply long-lasting sun block before they come to school. We are not able to apply sunblock to children in school, I am afraid.
Dates for the rest of the Summer Term
Please be aware that some of our plans for the summer may be impacted by risk reduction measures, so details of the following events may change.
Wednesday 16th June – school photographs (class photographs – the photographer will be socially distanced from the children)
Thursday 17th June – French Theatre visiting KS2 (Y3-6) This will be a socially-distanced event in the hall, with no mixing of bubbles.
Thursday 17th June – Y5 Maths Challenge
Monday 21st June – Training Day – Talk for Writing
Tuesday 22nd – Friday 25th June – Science Week
Tuesday 22nd June – Y4 Mini Olympics
Tuesday 22nd June – 5:30pm meeting for parents of children in Y4 (face-to-face if possible)
Wednesday 23rd June – Y6 mini athletics event at LVC (if restrictions allow)
Friday 25th June – Science Curriculum Day
Monday 28th June – Class 4 trip to the Historical Archives in Ely
Tuesday 29th June – Sports morning: starting as soon as registration is finished. It may or may not be possible to invite parents to join us, as this will depend on COVID control measures in place at the time.
Wednesday 30th June – new YR transition afternoon
Thursday 1st July – Year 6 at LVC (if restrictions allow) and “Meet your new class” morning at BGPS
Friday 2nd July – General Knowledge Bee
Monday 5th July – Year 6 leavers’ trip to Go Ape
Monday 5th July – Annual Reports out to parents
Tuesday 6th July – Parent Consultation Meetings (YR – Y5)
Wednesday 7th July – new YR transition afternoon
Wednesday 14th July – new YR transition afternoon
Thursday 15th July – Parent Consultation Meetings (YR - Y4)
Monday 19th – KS2 performance to the rest of the school (with social distancing if still necessary)
Tuesday 20th July – Reserve Sports morning in case of bad weather on 29th June (restrictions may apply)
Tuesday 20th July – 6:30pm KS2 performance*
Wednesday 21st July – 6:30pm KS2 performance*
Thursday 22nd July – 9:15 Y6 Leavers’ Assembly (Y6 parents to attend if restrictions allow)
Thursday 22nd July – End of Summer Term
*The KS2 evening performances are dependent on DfE and LA restrictions being lifted to allow an audience of parents.
PTA News
Lands End to John O'Groats Sponsored Walk - update!
The children are on the final day of their walk, attempting to cover the 874 mile virtual route in their daily exercise around the playground, and have done amazingly well already.
The map below shows their overnight position following the miles covered yesterday (just on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park).
Since Monday, they have covered 695 miles in hot, humid conditions and with only 179 miles (!) left to go.
Their teamwork and persistence is fantastic and we think that they all deserve a medal (or sticker) and a virtual round of applause for their efforts!
Thank you to everyone who has been willing to support the children with moral support or donations - the PTA is truly grateful.
Should you wish to do so, donations via the link will continue until a week today (18th June). Could we ask anyone with paper sponsorship forms with cash or BACS transfers to also return their forms to the school office by this date too.
https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/fundraising/bgwalk
Virtual balloon race will see the summer term finish with a bang. We will be offering the chance to buy a balloon for £3 to participate in our virtual balloon race, launching from Manaus in Brazil on 17th July. There is a chance to win some fantastic prizes - please take a look:
We will be sending out full event information in the next few days! Thank you in advance for your support Amazon Smile and Easyfundraising - these provide a great boost to PTA funds and thank you to everyone who has signed up already.
If you have not previously been aware of this option, you can visit the links below and allocate 'Burrough Green PTA and Friends' as your chosen charity. Any future online purchases made via the retailers on these sites provides a donation to us at no extra cost to you.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_ge_ul_lm_raas
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk
Amazon Wish Lists
A big thank you to parents who have brought items from the wish lists, it is very much appreciated that you are supporting the school. You can find our wish lists here:
Class 1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3NPNW0VXC5B5L/ref=cm_go_nav_hz
Class 2: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1G7U68RHVFQ87?ref_=wl_share
Class 3: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/DT99H5C97OM9?ref_=wl_share
Class 4: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/IR87MQS5XAYJ?ref_=wl_share
SEND: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/13UO05HZ9BPYF?ref_=wl_share
Playground: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3KFS6BWV51LF3?ref_=wl_share