John the Baptist Catholic Primary School

Birkwood Primary School www.birkwood.org.uk Newsletter 5: Friday, 6th October 2017

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Dear Parents and Carers, Safeguarding ~ Following a number of concerns at the beginning and end of the school day, as a whole staff we have reviewed our procedures. There are some changes, so please read the attached carefully. At Parents’ Evening on Monday, teachers will be checking with you if Year 5 and 6 children are allowed to walk home alone, this will also be passed on to Mrs Porter, Mr Campbell and Mrs Sutton for after school clubs. These changes are to make sure that your children are kept safe at the beginning and end of the day, thank you for your support and understanding.

To save any confusion with letters ~ could we send all letters to Class Teachers please, rather than the School Office, Mr Campbell, Mrs Porter or Mrs Sutton. Thank you.

Please could you return the Data Collection sheets asap please as we don’t have up-to-date contact details for some children in case of an emergency, especially our Foundation Stage children. Thank you.

Over this weekend the 7th and 8th October, we are having some further work completed in the Nursery and Foundation Stage outdoor learning area ~ there will be a new water play area and den building zone! We will have some ‘Come and Play’ sessions when we’re all sorted.

Our Cleaning Team of Gill, Kerry, Claire and Kerbie, led by Lisa Hutchinson actually won the Finals with Barnsley Norse last Friday night! They won the National Cleaning Team of the Year ~ we are all so proud of them and appreciate their hard work each and every day.

Macmillan Coffee Morning The final amount is £500!! Thank you so much and really well done!

Last Week: Our Year 1/2 Multi skills children on Monday did really well and came 2nd place. Really well done to all of the children who tried so hard on the day and to Mrs Porter and Mr Campbell.

The Year 2/3 Kingfishers and Year 3 Woodpeckers visit to the National Coal Mining Museum on Monday was a great success and the children all really enjoyed learning more about their mining heritage. Their favourite was definitely watching TC tickle Finn the horse’s neck! The children were all really well behaved and everyone was very tired at the end of a busy day. Thank you to Mrs Sutton and Miss Betts for organising this opportunity and all the staff who helped.

Yorkshire in Bloom Awards, Silver Gilt Award ~ On Wednesday, Miss Betts, Miss Greenwood, Mr Froggatt and I, Aiden Ford-Allsop, Layla Hill, Nicole Iacobescu and Jodie- Rose Sanderson attended the Ceremony at the Town Hall. We were delighted to receive the Silver Gilt Young Enterprise Award! Well done to everyone in the Gardening team, we were all very proud.

A special Happy Birthday to Father David for Sunday, we will be celebrating with him this afternoon. Next Week:  Monday ~ Flu vaccinations for years F2 – Year 4 who have given permission Parents’ Evening for all year groups ~ 9th October (appointments are still available) Choir will be cancelled on Monday due to Parents’ Evening Parent’s Evening for Sunflowers and Daffodils ~ 9th and 10th October  Tuesday ~ Year 6 will be attending a special day at Outwood Shafton ‘The Awe and Wonder of Science’ (please see separate letter for full details)  Year 2 Robins visit to St John’s to celebrate a wedding! ~ Thursday, 12th October (see separate letter)

The House Winners last week were:

Team Water (Earth)

The proud winners of the Attendance Award last week were: The Dragonflies and Kingfishers with 100%

Class Assemblies ~ parents will be invited to share their child/ren’s work in the classrooms during the Autumn Term; Assemblies will take place in the Hall during the Spring Term. You would be most welcome to come to the following Class Assemblies: Year 3 Woodpeckers Class Assembly ~ Wednesday, 18th October at 2.45pm Year 2/3 Kingfishers Class Assembly ~ Tuesday, 24th October at 2.45pm Sunflowers and Daffodils ‘Singalong’ ~ Wednesday, 25th October at 2.45pm Year 2 Robins Class Assembly ~ Tuesday, 14th November at 2.45pm Year 6 Zebras Class Assembly ~ Wednesday, 15th November at 2.45pm Year 1 Grasshoppers Class Assembly ~ Tuesday, 21st November at 2.45pm Year 5 Lions Class Assembly ~ Wednesday, 22nd November at 2.45pm Year 4/5 Panthers Class Assembly ~ Tuesday, 28th November at 2.45pm Year 4 Jaguars Class Assembly ~ Wednesday, 29th November at 2.45pm Year 1 Dragonflies Class Assembly ~ Wednesday, 6th December at 2.45pm Dates for your diary: o Key Stage 2 After School Cross Country Club at Cannon Hall ~ Wednesday, 18th October o Harvest Open Day for Nursery children on Thursday, 19th October ~ 11am and 2.30pm o Birkwood Brass performing with GCB Centenary Concert ~ Friday, 20th October at Elsecar Heritage Centre o Year 6 Residential Visit setting off at 11.45am on Sunday, 22nd October. Returning Friday, 27th October at approx. 3pm o Year 5/6 Dodgeball ~ Monday, 23rd October (details to follow) o Year 2 Robins ~ ‘Room on the Broom’ trip to Anglers Park, Wakefield, Tuesday, 24th October (details to follow) o Year 3/4 Benchball ~ Tuesday, 24th October (details to follow) o Singalong for Sunflower/Daffodil parents in Foundation Stage ~Wednesday, 25th October at 2.45pm o HALLOWEEN DISCO (tickets £2 with free pop and crisps. Hot dogs 50p each) on Wednesday, 25 th October 5.30 – 7.00pm (Year 1 children don’t usually come to this disco as some of the outfits are scary) Please can all children be collected at the end of the disco as it will be dark o Year 3/4 Boys’ Football ~ Thursday, 26th October (details to follow) o BINGO Thursday, 26th October at 6pm (Everyone welcome, excellent prizes ~ please come and join us!)

With many thanks for your continued support. Mrs Julie Allen MBE, Headteacher